Turn Ur Swag On

I've always thought that people 'back then' had more style than people nowadays. Seriously, if you look at the photos of my parents back in the 70s, you'd see what I mean (bellbottoms, tight printed shirts and side-parted hair notwithstanding). But in this post I'm gonna put in some of my favourite pictures of some of Hollywood's most stylish (according to me). Coz, well.....they're cooler. hahaha. I'm just gonna let the pics speak for themselves. Albeit with a lil' comment here and there. hihihi.

Of all the Old Hollywood actresses, I adore Bette Davis the most. Probably the reason why the song 'Bette Davis' Eyes' is always on my playlist.

Greta Garbo. She's just effortlessly stylish. And she pretty much kept to herself. You gotta admire a Hollywood actress who's not an attention seeker.

The Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford & Sammy Davis, Jr. Well, there are more of them actually but I kinda like this picture of just the four. So, yeah. They're the epitome of cool.

 How can you NOT like James Dean? I tell you how: you're crazy. Like asylum crazy. He's THE ultimate.Yeah, that it. Just the ultimate.

 
I know most people prefer Audrey Hepburn, but for some reason I've always preferred Katharine Hepburn. She's kinda rough looking but I think she's absolutely divine, dah-ling.

Well, hellooo there Mr. Paul Newman. I always feel kinda guilty and kinda icky for liking old/dead people who used to look like THIS. But hey, I'm only human. And I kinda like the fact that he was married to his wife for 50 years! Well, 2nd wife. But still.

 Natalie Wood & Steve McQueen.What more can I say? I love them as an on-screen couple. And I love them separately too, of course. Just trying to save up some space here. hoho. Fun fact: that guy who plays Jeremy on The Vampire Diaries is his grandson.

Lo and behold, the original Factory Girl, Edie Sedgwick. Personally, I prefer her to Twiggy. Coz she's got that I-don't-give-a-shit attitude. And also coz I love her hair and eyes.

And last but not least, Sid and Nancy. Yeah, I know. They look like a couple of drug addicts. Maybe that's coz they were. But they look good together in pictures. I'm not really into punk music, but the style I kinda like.

I've always loved this one. He's like, "Beetch get a move on, will ya?" and she's like, "Alright, don't get your knickers in a twist!" Okay, so SHE's not British. But it's my imaginary dialogue. So bugger off!

Honorable mentions: Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty.

Inception My Arse

From the title of this post, most of you would assume that it will be about the movie Inception. No, it's not. Although I will say one thing about that overrated piece of "stunning" and "complex" cinematography: I don't fucking see the point. And don't get me started on Avatar. I've seen better storylines on Cerekarama at TV3. (Ok, so I don't watch Cerekarama, but still. You feel me, bro? You feel me.) However, I do like the idea that one can enter the dream state of another person and.......well, experience what's happening there. And knowing that even when it's a complete nightmare, Freddy Kruger can't really kill you. Unless you suffer some kind of shock from seeing his ugly face and get a heart attack. Hmmm. Indeed.

So anyhoo, while the movie gave me a massive headache and a newfound hatred for anything "intellectual", it also got me thinking: what do I dream about the most? If someone were to enter my dream, what will they see? Well, I don't really remember all my dreams in detail, but I do have a recurring theme: falling. I am always falling in my dream; falling off a cliff, a building, a chair, etc. So recently I googled the meaning of dreams and got this website as the first hit: Dream Dictionary. It has everything from Cheese to Facebook to Zombies. I'm not even kidding. This is what it says about falling:

To dream that you fall and are not frightened, signifies that you will overcome your adversities with ease.

To dream that you fall and are frightened, indicates a lack of control, insecurity, and/or lack of support in your waking life. You may be experiencing some major struggle and/or overwhelming problem. It may also imply that you have failed to achieve a goal that you have set forth for yourself.

Oh no.......but touche my friend, touche.

But my favourites are the ones about animals and food.

Papaya

To see or eat papaya in your dream, indicates a healthy sex drive.

Contoh ayat: “I have quite an insatiable papaya, y’all!”

Orangutan

To see an orangutan in your dream, signifies your wild inner character and sexual desires. Alternatively, an orangutan suggests that you are being manipulated. (Baby Kailan: take note. snake no more). 

Waffle

To dream of eating a waffle, indicates that you need to come down from your lofty ideals and approach life from a more pragmatic perspective. The dream may also be a metaphor that you are "waffling" or undecided over some matter. - Guess I should stop buttering my waffle then. hmmpfh!

 

Mayonnaise

To see or eat mayonnaise in your dream, represents disappointment in your waking life. It also suggests that you are being insulted or disrespected. Contoh ayat: "How dare you mayonnaise me last nite!"

However, this one trumps them all:

Maxi Pad

(let's not put an image here)

To see a maxi pad in your dream, indicates that you need to release some pent up anger or tension. It may also mean that some creative energy is being released or recognized. If you see Always Maxi Pads in your dream, then the dream may be telling you "always" is the answer to some question or comment. 

Make of that what you will. hohoho.

What do you guys often dream about? Seriously. I wanna know. I've had some weird ones but nothing I could confess publicly. or I shall have to kill you & make it look like an accident.

You're Not My Facebook Friend Anymore?

Recently, The Slim One asked me why I only have 182 friends on FB eventhough my account is almost 3 years old. Truth is, every once in a while I 'spring clean' my friend list (oh no she didn't!). Yup. That might seems harsh, but I only defriend ppl I hardly know, or don't have any r'ship with. I mean, we don't even comment on each other's wall, or hangout. or ANYTHING. WE are NOT friends. Basically either you or I made a mistake. Shouldn't have added you in the first place. Besides, I don't think you would notice. Since you have 675 "friends" and all.

Oh, and I also block creepy dudes who posted comments or send messages like "comelnye die......", "eh awak ni lawa la nak berkenalan boleh?" or "boleh x kalo saya mintak no fon awak?". I mean, seriously? Ni bukan e-kawan ok. e-harmony pon x. cube bertenang skit.

Anyways, I'm writing this post bcoz I came across an article on a website entitled The Tricky Art of Defriending on Facebook. It's pretty insightful.

Here are a few hilarious responses from ppl who read the article:

What I don't get is when you de-friend someone, and they try and re-friend you. It's like the ex-boyfriend who drunk dials you crying at 2 AM. Have some PRIDE, dude.


rhymeswithfeather


I unfriended an ex-boyfriend partly because I wanted to stop checking his page everyday and partly to get his attention. A few months later I saw him at a bar and decided I was capable of acting like an adult, now. So I refriended him and explained why I had defriended (though he hadn't noticed.) And I invited him to my birthday party, at which he ended up calling the cops (I've got underage friends). And so I unfriended him again, because that was a dick move.

treeofsneezes


This is kind of my issue with Facebook - it makes everyone feel so goddamn self-important.


schrodinger


I had a girl on facebook who constantly switched religious and political beliefs, and would post sweeping, uninformed generalizations about new and old beliefs. I finally got sick of it and defriended her.


But then she sent me a message asking why I'd done it, and all I could come up with was, "Oh, it must have been a glitch." We're now facebook friends again...


indiesandy


The only defriending I've done is either because I'd never said a word to a person in real life, or the person was just too offensive. I doubt they cared.


remedios

I weigh my friending very, very carefully. I consider every possible ramification. Currently I'm 'ignoring' my mom, my husband and more than a few nutty cousins. If they ever call me on it, I say, "Jeesh, ya know, I'm NEVER on that thing!" or "Wow, I didn't see your request, must be something wrong with my FB page!" Heh heh.


mandy462


She had hundreds of "friends" and I thought she wouldn't notice but she did and sent me an angry note.


MakeFetch


I periodically go through my facebook and defriend people. If I haven't spoken to you in over half a year, and you haven't spoken to me, and we live in completely different places, and never speak outside of facebook, I defriend you.


KungfuKid


I defriend people who begin to over-include me in the ups and downs of their romantic relationships. Yes, friend, I am interested to know about that gig you just played, but I did not need to know that 'it wud have been perfect if dat special some1 had been there :('.


MySandwich


Oh, I've got one. How about defriending on Facebook as a way of saying, "we're breaking up after 2-and-a-half years". That's right. The defriending came BEFORE the actual breaking up conversation. What an idiot. I'm glad he's gone.


HarmonyLane


My cousin recently friended me. I haven't really seen him since we were kids, so I had no idea what kind of man he turned out to be. Thanks to his status updates, I now know he turned out to be a total douchebag. Defriending him is not worth the potential drama, but he is definitely hidden.


kfkerfuffle

That's it for now, folks. Hmmm. Maybe I should check my FB page now & feel sorry for myself. Since I have 'only' 182 friends.

p/s: Do you guys think defriending ppl is a dick move? (bak kate treeofsneezes)

I Can Be Taylor Momsen

My Unintended

forgot how much i hate his voice
even his laughter is liquid ice
a snarling hyena, ready to pounce
the coughing fit, an off-wall bounce

his know-it-all smirk keeps the mocking company
paper cut sarcasm with zero subtlety
nyeh-nyeh-nyeh continuing endlessly
I wish to God he'd drop friggin dead already

after all this time, she shivers still
his deep-set eyes ready for the kill
this unnerving effect remains his best weapon
one slip of the tongue, and you're part of the destruction

I can taste the regret oozing from her eyes
her only defence now is lies
panic inching through her every fibre
his move is made, he's waiting for her

his calls are never merely social
much less anything moral
the impending scheme fills me with dread
her sentiment is her own undoing, the trap is set

he knows where we live now, he'll come again and again
in our existence, an infinite bane
it's far too late now for any salvation
the swirling orange fire is already in motion

I guess we'll all burn at the same time.

p/s: where's my blackliner?

I wanna I wanna I wanna

These are on my watchlist. Since the Pirates of Penang were absent when I went there, I shall continue my hunt in K.L. Damn u, expensive original DVDs! I shall not succumb to thy oppression! But nyeh. I don't think half the list will be available. Kang wat apek konfius je - "Ape itu? U tgk ini la, step up 3D. Best wooo....." Suke ati bagi random movie mainstream kat aku. No! Anyone knows any movies I should add to the list?

Requiem for a dream (dah lame nak tgk)
catfish
World’s greatest dad
Pathology
The good guy
the dead girl (sex with a corpse. not in a sexy vampire way. more zombie.)
My girlfriend’s boyfriend
Frostbitten
Dead snow
Day watch
Memento
Mulholland drive
the romantics
the kids are all right
the runaways
thirst (korean vampire priest. cool or what?)
get him to the greek
the other guys
red sands (lama x tgk shane west)
splice (adrien brody. woot!)
slither
trick r’ trick (ramai kate best. Sookeyh! aka anna paquin ade)
the girl with the dragon tattoo (Hollywood is gonna screw this one up)
winter's bone
joan rivers: a piece of work
the last exorcism

O’ Burning, Flaming Heart!

Ok so…….I’ve heard of Tyler Shields before. But I always thought that he’s overrated, like Lady Gaga. Just another pop culture product we’ve been churning out in excess nowadays. Recently, I’m surprised to find myself having a change of heart (& mind) over these two artists. I can’t even bring myself to call them just photographer and singer/performer anymore. They transcend beyond that now, at least for me.

The reason I was always so stubborn & adamant to NOT like them is because to me, someone who present themselves through shocking & violent images are nothing but a couple of ‘shock jocks’. They like controversies because: 1) obviously, they get a lot of attention for it 2) MOST people would think they’re cool and deep, all artistic-like. While to me, these only suggest that they’re trying too hard, pretentious even. Like those school girls I often see, hanging out at malls, wearing dark clothes, short skirts and tons of black eyeliner, all dark and ‘gothic’ and shit. So suicidal and edgy, yet oh-so-sensitive. They can’t be tamed y’all (Stingray: Auw. Jgn marah).

I’m all about self-expression. And one of the best ways to do this is through what we wear (Coz I can’t paint or sing worth a damn. Words & clothes are all I have). Yeah, sure, ideally, we all want to wear whatever best express ourselves and whatnot. But I gotta be honest, most of the time I just grab whatever it is I have in my closet and dash out. Also, nowadays my primary concern is whether this shirt or that jeans can hide all the flaws that I have, rather than making a personal fashion statement (Yeah, I’m fat now, there’s now way around it. So sue me). I also realize something: why the hell do I want to follow trends? There’s nothing personal about that. That just sucks me right into conformity. A well-dressed conformist is still a conformist.

That’s why I’ve been slightly wary about people who claim they’re unique (or being claimed as such). We live in a world where everyone’s connected, especially with the internet being so widely used now. Nobody escapes from being influenced by somebody else. We ARE all conformists, we are ALL shallow; just at varying degrees.

I got too much time on my hands nowadays, and as these thoughts came creeping into my head much too often (note to Coy Mistress: otak aku kadang2 tak kosong), I decided one day to open my mind and let my prejudices flew out the window and really listen, really see. And so it was that I saw and listened to Gaga’s performance at the AMA 2009. I was blown away. She was amazing. I’m not saying that I’m completely in love with her now, because I’m not. But I understand her vision a little bit better. Still don’t like some of her antics (wtf is up with the Alejandro vidclip? Gay orgy extravaganza y’all), but I can appreciate her efforts.

A few weeks ago, I accidentally clicked on a link at youtube. I was looking for the trailer for Mad Men season 4, but I found a link to a ‘video potrait’ of Vincent Kartheiser instead (Connor from ‘Angel’, anyone?). The sarcastic voice in my head: ‘Yippe kay yay! It’s by Tyler Shields, young photographer extraordinaire’. But, remembering that promise to myself (to keep an open mind), I clicked on it.

It was……..heartbreaking. Completely, and undeniably, heartbreaking.

I look for his other video portraits. A LOT of up-and-coming actors/actresses participated (the hawt Sean Faris, Kellan Lutz, Deborah Ann Woll, Matt Dallas, Sara Paxton, Ashley Greene….etc.). I love them all (personal fav: the one with Matt Dallas, Alessandra Torresani and Tyler Shields). You have to check all of them out. They’re all on youtube, and they’re short. Most are under less than one minute. The concept is so raw and simple, but they speak to me. Just like that Gaga’s performance, I understand. They made sense. My heart literally aches as I watched the images on screen.

So I guess, maybe it’s not too late. Eventhough sometimes it feels like everything has been said and done (‘Shakespeare is frikkin’ dead!’ – J-Pop Girl), there’s always room for a lil’ bit of personal expression and experience. That despite the cynicism, the predictability of a mundane life, we can each try to be our own person and less of a robotic conformist who clocks in and out from 9 to 5. We can say more, think more and offer more to the rest of the world.

Maybe, just maybe, I can be....... more.

Silences (a.k.a Killing Me Softly): a very short one-act play

Act 1, Scene 1

Random Makcik on LRT: What EXACTLY do you want to be doing after your Master?

Me: I dunno yet. (jokingly) Take a long nap?. hahaha.


silence.


Act 1, Scene 2

Cousin: Ko ni biler lagi nak kawen ni?

Me: (continue eating)


silence.


Act 1, Scene 3

Old Friend: Wow. Ko tak berubah ek. Tapi badan lain la........

Me: (bitter laughter)

(silent curse)


silence.


Heavy sigh. Contexts y'all. Three things I'm still figuring out. So *shut ur pie-hole!

*pembetulan
- setelah menyedari yg perkataan f**k mungkin agak kasar utk pembaca2 blog ini yang igt pie-hole itu adalah nama kedai menjual pai atau tat telur. dlm erti kata lain, pembaca2 innocent yg x suke mencarut. good for you.