...Be seen, or you're a nobody..

A quote captured my attention as I flipped through yesterday's The Star newspaper this morning:

"Be seen, or you're a nobody"

..hence it concluded all my flickers of thought for the last two days.

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Yesterday

Remember a blog post I wrote July last year entitled "More than meet the eyes"? The title was a quote extracted from the movie "Transformers", but the post was all about another coming-soon movie "Cloverfield"; or to be more exact, it was about marketing and promotion strategy of the movie.

I went for the movie yesterday. Cloverfield is finally released and all the puzzles they played around with in their marketing and promotion strategy, finally revealed... and the revealing might bring some complaints from some audience who felt being cheated by their publicity strategy -- well, for me, the movie was not bad, it was unique, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, they succeeded to draw your attention, and make you spent some bucks and go into the cinema.

I used to say that the publicity strategy was brilliant, and now I still have the respect for it.

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Still yesterday

Came out from the cinema my buddies and I hung out in the ever-grand-and-always-expensive Pavilion, and we met a group of Salsa-Jazz band performing in front of Parkson. There was no host of emcee or wh0-so-ever telling us the name of the band (if any..), but they managed to draw the attention of the crowd with their music.

I started to ponder:

1. If the Salsa-Jazz band was trying to make their name known, shouldn't they be introduced with a name?

2. Cloverfield became everybody's topic of discussion in www world without its name being introduced, so what's the matter about 'being introduced with a name'?

3. But Cloverfield used the name of J.J. Abrams to draw the attention of the world, and the brand of 'J.J. Abrams' was a major factor that worked the magic of their publicity strategy out. Do we see a symbiotic relationship where one side is taking advantage of another side here?

4. So if the Salsa-Jazz band wishes to introduce their music to the crowd, performing in *the* Pavilion is definitely brilliant as part of their publicity strategy which applies a symbiotic relationship. But will that help to make their name known as well?

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The day before yesterday

The board of committee of our department young professional club was having a meeting and discussing about volunteerism.

No details here but here's how I look at what we've discussed:

If the Salsa-Jazz band can be a metaphor for our club; then let's say 'sending music to everybody's heart' is our volunteer effort....

Condition 1: we can be as anonymous as we like, to reach out to those in need -- -- like the Salsa-Jazz band, only be called as a Salsa-Jazz band, no name, but still playing wonderful music, sending it to everybody's heart;

Condition 2: we attach to a big name in volunteerism, so that we can reach out to something bigger, help in a larger scale -- -- like the Salsa-Jazz band performing in Pavilion, so that their music can reach to more people -- -- talking about symbiotic relationship, but still, we remain unknown.

Condition 3: we make our name known, for something which is *potentially* bigger, in volunteering, or in something else -- -- like the Salsa-Jazz band, if they got their name becoming a brand, they'd have much more potential to achieve their mission, which is promoting their music to much larger crowd -- -- here we refer back to the case of J.J. Abrams, because of the brand attached, Cloverfield managed to introduce another genre of filming idea to a bigger crowd, onto a bigger screen. Yes, The Blair Witch Project had the same way of filming, but it never hit the big screen, remember?

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Today, right here right now

I'm still not clear.

Is the word 'BRANDING' a magical word that we need to brush up on? A BRAND needs to be come with true quality, or a true quality will automatically bring up a BRAND?

Are we dealing with a 'chicken or egg' question?

"Be seen, or you're nobody" or "Make yourself SOMEBODY, or you'll not be seen"?

Are we dealing again with another 'chicken or egg' question?

World, here I come

Do we need a theme for a new year? Well I don't think so.

In fact, I don't really believe in the stuff we call 'New Year's Resolution'.. But as we're approaching to the end of year 2007, my life approaches to some endings in various perspectives -- I'm checking out Impiana Hotel tomorrow, checking out my 4-month 'expatriate lifestyle' tomorrow; I finished my thesis and hence officially ending my student life towards end of the year 2007 -- the whole situation affects me both mentally and maybe emotionally, and it made me somehow think that 2008 will be a whole new kick-start for me, and hence I'm thinking of a theme for it.

And hey guess what I managed to grab something out of my almost-invalid student identity and it opened up opportunities for me to explore the world in the year ahead by using all the privileges of being a 'student' -- Yeap, as you can see in the picture, that's my UNIESCO-endorsed International Student Identity Card (ISIC), read up the link and you'll know what are the 'opportunities' about.

My point is rather straightforward here. See how the circle works? We're getting to the end of something, and at the same time we're beginning a lot of new ventures --

Yes I'm checking out from those luxurious hotels but I'm so much looking forward to stay into a little apartment that I'm going to share with 2 buddies of mine;

Yes I'm no more a student and no more having those conveniences of quiting office hours sesuka hati, but I think I'm ready to be back to my position in the industry.. (and yet, by having ISIC, I still can enjoy the privileges of being a student, worldwide) ;

Yes year 2007 is finishing (Gosh another 23 hours to go..), but 2008 is coming, with new friendships, new families, new outdoor plans (Fariz my dearest big brother, this is for you and me!), new travel destinations, new diving trips, new hobbies (a photography studio, maybe.. *smirk*) and old pals coming back...... 2008 is so much anticipated with ALL the new buzz!

So have I thought a theme for 2008 and for myself?

Goodbye, 2007. Welcome, 2008. World, here I come. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!

A rendezvous

"Hey you are so much thinier than I thought..."
"... and you're not as tall as I imagined..."

Ok, obvious enough. They met for the very first time, face to face, after knowing each other virtually for more than a year -- Yeah Jannah, you dropped by my blog and left your first comment in the post entitled "Love is in the air", dated 2nd September, 2006.

Still remember those old days where we made jokes about the half-blind date meeting up our pen pal whom we never knew how he/she look like or even the gender? Yeah obviously this kind of joke is extinct in the era of ..erm.. internet.. But that does not mean that the 'half-blind' date is not anymore exist.

The dinosaur is still here, it just switched into another form of appearance. Well what I'm trying to say here is, yeah you don't have to worry about 'is a she or he or he-she that I'm going to meet' or 'will I eventually fall in love at first sight' yada yada.. but there are still something bothering about meeting someone whom you were virtually in contact with.

"Do I walk too fast for you? Let me know if you find hard to keep up the pace..."
"Is that your normal behavior to talk in English?"
"Do you always laugh like crying?"
"I like that blue. Do you like that blue?"
"Do you really like green?"
"You don't really go for fast food, do you?"

---- Yeah things like these. We asked weird questions, like kids meeting their favorite cartoon characters in real life -- so familiar yet so uncertain.

Nevertheless, the date went naturally smooth. Only a few occasionally shocking moments that made me rejudged the sanity of the girl. For example, erm.. for example.. hmmm.. hey how could you consider a girl as a complete sane creature when she suddenly burst into loud laugh when an emotionally intensive scene was rolling on the big screen and everybody in the cinema was almost in tears?

"If we have a bigger blogger gathering it would be cool, kan?" "Yeah, we should ask Sayuti, Flo-C and even Red Ruby out next time, ULAM panels reunion..."
"Hah.. what happened to ULAM?"
"..........."

The dinner was cool, not about the food, but the atmosphere, and the live band. Personally I thought I shouldn't go out with a girl until night time, but her 'Cinderella Time' was in fact up to the last LRT train. "Huh?!! You actually allocate one whole day time for this date?" I once asked her with all the innocence that you could think of from a Kampong boy, and I forgot what was her response. I hope she did not think that I AM SUCH A NERD or what ever equals to that.

..Nevertheless, I got to admit that I think she's a DRAMA QUEEN to me.. bubbly, adorable, but still a DRAMA QUEEN. Just look at the way she posed to the big face of Josh Holloway of Davidoff billboard or James 'Sawyer' Ford of Lost, well.. hmm.. as if he could realy feel her..

Owh whatever, maybe the whole day for both of us, was truly a day where people we only in touch through a screen, came alive.

ps.. what this Drama Queen says about the date and me? Here.

The reason to get wet..

Yes I know, my hometown in Kelantan is very flooded. I could imagine my house over there is like an island appears in the middle of ocean, and I miss the flood in my hometown -- I know I know the death toll is climbing -- but the fact said it true, flooding season is like carnival in Kelantan.

And here's a Kelantanese lad who used to spend all his childhood anticipating flooding season to complete his year-end school holiday, now trapped in KL, far far away from his childhood playground.

Miserable? Yes if he did not find a way to get out of the blue. So, a white water rafting trip in Slim River, Perak sounded perfect enough for him.

With a group of cool wet-getters, sunk and dunk in the rocky stream of Slim River, huff and puff along the white water current, thrilled by capsizing moment, laugh out loud while getting REAL wet...

Reasons to get wet? New friendship, back to nature, for fun, escapism, back to childhood days.............. WAIT, do we really need any reason for that?

"Rafters, hold your rope, sit in, LET'S GET WET!!"

A world that fits..

Out of a very sudden he felt like he's just like a piece of puzzle, the piece of jigsaw puzzle who is still looking for the right place to fit himself into the world.

Life could be simpler, but he chose the complicated one. It's complicated with controversy. While he has no any strong life philosophy to back him up, sometime the 'puzzled' feeling dragged him down, emotionally and spiritually.

A recent picture-hunt outing chilled his mind out and reminded him about a world that fits.

"You gotta raise your camera and aim through the viewfinder in order to snap a picture. People might look at you curiously and they might even shout at you when they feel uncomfortable to be aimed at -- and this is definitely normal, " his gut feeling tells him this.

".. you just need to be in a world that fits your behavior. A world where people don't mind to be aimed at, don't mind smiling to you when you're trying to snap their portrait ---

-- A world that fits your behavior, your act, your intention and your passion."

He went to Central Market. A place where people can sing and dance and showcase their passion on the street without getting any people feel annoyed. This is the world that fits for these artists.

..but how many worlds that can actually fit them in except Central Market? How many worlds that can fit his philosophy, his passion, and his behavior in this mama-said-everything-need-to-be-accordingly-in-place world?

This is a piece of puzzle, this is your maverick.

...of being eventful and packed..

Literary, I called it "EVENTFUL".

But do note that the word 'EVENTFUL' here comes together with huff and puff and rush, plus a lot of fun and fun and fun.

.. and seriously, I can't do the thinking now, regarding how should I put the whole stuff into this post.. let's just.. hmm --

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This was the most recent one. It was the annual Hari Raya Celebration of our own department. OK I'll try to put this to be sounded as humble as possible: I know the seniors just love to have this event organized by us, the young ones -- for whatever reasons you could think of, but 'having MORE FUN' is definitely one of it.

I happened to be pulled into this fun pool of organizing the event without realizing exactly when and how.. (.. but I sort of knowing the reason, will explain later.. ) Regardless of all the huff and puff which happened along the process of putting-up the show, being able to meet a bunch of new cool friends is one of most precious thing I got out of the fun pool, and realizing that these new cool friends are actually living under the same roof in the company, it hypes me up and up again.

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This happened on last Sunday. I had a date with Mr Terry Fox, I mean, the late Mr Terry Fox. PETRONAS sponsors a team for the charity run. The run is to fund-raise for The Terry Fox Foundation. Click HERE if you want to know more about the foundation.

I was carrying my DSLR 'Nicka' while running -- I thought it wouldn't be a problem; I thought having a 14 hours of sleep (NOTE: 14 hours of sleep to compensate my last 34 hours of staying awake. Gonna explain later...) was more than enough for my to get freshly kick-started for the run; I thought I have had practiced enough for the run; I thought merely 6.5km was still within my endurance level --

-- but things turned into something else when I felt my DSLR was getting heavier and heavier; my breath just couldn't got synchronized with my pace as I was running in a forestry area which forced me to puff a lot; and another dramatic surprise was, I ran into extended route which, seriously I did not know how long had I ran until I saw the finishing line.

It was not an easy run for me to be very frank, as I couldn't concentrate enough on the run. But I did a lot of reflections during the run when I compared my tiny effort to of the Late Mr Terry Fox. There was a marshal whom I encountered in the middle of the route, showing a short-cut to some participants while saying out loud this:

"Nobody's judging you... but Terry Fox wouldn't take a short cut for sure..."

Well, whether or not you think that was sarcasms, for me, that was painful enough to hear especially when you're about to turn into the shortcut like I almost did.


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This was the reason why I stayed awake for 34 hours on last Friday to Saturday. And this was also the probably the main reason why I was in the fun pool of organizing committee of Hari Raya Celebration. ...and for those who wondered about my 'very weird' question posted on Yahoo Messenger few weeks ago regarding the acronym 'MSK', well this is all about it.

Yup, to you all, and especially to Claire, this is our project about -- A filming of an Aidilfitri short video, to be showed during our annual Hari Raya Celebration of our department. And yup, Claire, as you can see from the pictures, we proceeded with 'green screen' or 'Chroma Key' technique, because we needed to create a non-existed MAKTAB SUKAN KEDAH, which brings to the acronym: 'M-S-K' (Tada~~!!)

The shooting of the video started last week with a super duper tight shooting schedule. Well, to be frank this wasn't my FIRST experience of doing filming but this definitely was my VERY FIRST TIME holding a camera and yielded 'CAMERA ROLL!' or 'ACTION!' or 'CUT!' or whatever command I needed to give, in order to put the whole things jived as close as possible to what Azlan and I imagined during the script-writing and screen-playing phase.

This time round I did not have my old team of filming which I used to work with (Fariz, Azlan Ali and Azrul; read more here if you want), but I was so grateful to have Azlan a.k.a. King Kong to be my partner as I strongly believe that both of us have the same mechanism of generating ideas, and almost the same view on the imagination of the outcome.

Not to forget the whole team of committee who settle all the logistic issues almost at the snap of fingers. And the talented actor Nik and actress Pedot.

And to you Claire again, no I'm not going to show you the video here. Sorry for that, but I what I can tell here is, Alhamdullilah, we have not received any negative feedback regarding the video yet. I really hope everybody will love it.

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.. yes I know, YES I KNOW ---- I'm STILL working on my MSc. thesis. I do not abandoned or gave it up *yet*, even though all the activities I have been participating in were much much much more interesting than the boring thesis.

..but.., c'mon. I'd rather die if you ask me to sit still in front of my desk and do nothing except my thesis. I was the bad and stupid student who skipped classes and went for mountain hiking and made myself darn tired, twice, remember?

Docking of a dream..

Watching the live telecast of Astro from International Space Station (ISS) answered one of my trillion questions regarding living in outer-space -- YES, we can take pictures in outer-space!!!

About 9 minutes before I saw crew in ISS snapping pictures using their compact digital camera and also digital SLRs while waiting for the hatch to be opened, and let their 3 new crew members walk into ISS from Soyuz TMA-11.

One of the new members who newly departed from planet Earth, is Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie.

Soyuz TMA-11 and ISS docked just now, and now I believe the hatch now is the only door separated Dr Sheikh from fulfilling the dream, after blasted-off on 10.10.2007 on 21:21 hours, of living in outer-space.

(00:13hrs Malaysian time. Equalization of pressure between ISS and Soyuz TMA-11 is still going on. Hatch not yet opened.)

Back to the question regarding taking pictures under zero gravity circumstance, I believe digital camera helps. Not sure whether a camera with film can operate properly -- WHY BOTHER? you might have thought so. Just like some of my friends who don't bother to care enough of the programme, and so of them even complaint about this hundred-million-dollar project is actually a waste of money.

But -- --

(0021hrs Malaysian time. I heard a crew saying "WELCOME ON BOARD" -- the hatch has opened!)

-- --but, sorry to say, I was so hyped up on the day of blasting off, and I could feel my heart throbbing when the moment the rocket launched and blasted off from the Earth. I don't care the debate about the rationality of the Angkasawan program, I strongly believe most of us are excited about the program as I am, just because of one reason -- there's still a little kid living inside us.

What else could I say about sending a Malaysian Angkasawan to the outer-space? When I was asked about my ambition when I was 6, I drew a picture of an astronaut and pasted it on the wall in the living hall -- THIS is what I could say about sending a Malaysian Angkasawan to the outer-space.

It's about a dream of every boys, no matter how old he is, the boy is still inside his body, the "flying to the outer space" is still inside his dream.

(0033hrs. The hatch is fully opened. Dr Sheikh entered ISS.)

So to Sue and my baby sister Cheer, I don't blame you all for being cold-eyed to the program, because after all, except for Peggy Whitson and others women astronauts in history, wearing a bulky astronaut suit is something rather far away from being fashionable.

0041hrs.. "Selamat Hari Raya" from Dr Sheikh's father from Roscosmos to ISS....