Random Rants and Ramblings ...what it says

A throwback to when I was a kid and was too shallow to notice these great music around me because all the radio played were boy/girlbands and pop 'divas'. Although these weren't stuffs I listened much to back then, they grew to become soundtracks to memories from that time. Heck, listening to them now is nostalgic!

Matchbox Twenty - Kyle Cook has definitely gotta be one of the most overlooked guitarists of the 90's. Listen or watch Matchbox live; you'll see what I'm going on about.

Also watch this cover of the Beatles classic, another point of reference:


No Doubt - Gwen may have made it big and the band may be sufficiently loaded too, but there's no doubt that No Doubt made pretty good music to back up the heavy airplay they had. Gwen's slightly pitchy in this vid, but when you're looking that good while moving that much, it's forgiven yo.


Garbage - The name's an extreme misnomer. One of the sexiest women in rock music at that time , fusing pure intensity and style in the band's approach. Warning though, they can be a slight bit of an acquired taste if you've had too much artificial sweetening in your bubblegum pop-rock!

Live - Man, this band's really something. If one were to describe Ed's singing voice as how one describes wine, it sound something like 'heavy notes of love and sincerity, with prevalent overtones of spirituality and hope'.

Not one of their 90's songs, but I think this song captures what I mean perfectly.



Of course this 90's throwback does not just happen out of a vacuum, in a way I feel life has a way of coming back full circle. About 3/4 done with relocating back to my old house which is where I spent a good part of the 90's, which is actually much longer ago than I would have like to have thought! 15-20 years ago mang!

Sometimes it's the atmospheric ambient sounds spanning across the spectrum that I find myself submerged in; sometimes it's the sparse lyrical web weaved with the intricate lines of a lonely sole accompaniment. Ahhhhhh...

No Chequered Shirts.
No Thick Rimmed Glasses.
No Skinnies.
No Converses.
No offset guitars.
No semantically insignificant lyrics drenched in pretentiousness and repetitive wailing.



Just.

Heart and soul.

Oh there was a recent election in Sarawak, which was won by Barisan Nasional, the self-proclaimed one-and-only champion of all races' rights. Apparently, they did not win too many seats this time around, due to the Chinese Sarawakians turning their back on the party. So what does PM Najib, head honcho of BN suggests?



And recently, Anwar the face of the Opposition in Malaysia, has been bestowed the great honor of being the only one who has been accused of being a CIA agent , a sodomite and also a porn star! Wow, who says politics is boring!



There was also the seizure of about 35,000 Al-Kitab, the Bible in the local Malay language in Port Klang during 2009 and again this year at Kuching's Port because of the "threat to national security" it poses. Of course, after some angry lobbying from extremists (and also some enemies in the fold), the Home Ministry suddenly went back on it's position of viewing the Good News as a menace right before the Sarawak Elections and resolved with a pretty acceptable 10-point resolution.

But of course, the persecution never ends as there are now claims by the media (which are skewed towards Malay extremism) that Christian leaders are plotting to overthrow and banish Islam! Wow, paranoid much aren't you. The low that these extremists stoop to just to dig their hands into feces (but not of porcine or canine origin, itu haram) to try to smear the reputation of others just amazes and bemuses me.

Hmm, that's pretty much what I can gather from the top of my head about what's happening in our beloved country at the moment. Oh, and also, did I mention that Murni has an outlet in USJ! It's actually been here a while but it never came up, I guess it's not to bad to bring it up now, no? Never hurts to end with a bit of a positive note!



The only thing we still have going for us in this country perhaps?

I still don't know who the real 'star' is, but hey, food for thought.

Honestly, I have yet to be able to understand what the difference is. But that's not why I decided to take a bit of time out to post, no siree.

There was this man I met when I was at a previous job, a man who nailed a job as a Manager in Maju Holdings, one of the reputable local conglomerates. I recall very vividly his saying that he finds it personally offensive when he hears people comparing Malaysia to Singapore, out of his Bumi pride. There was this bitterness and anger that I could feel beneath his pride, something I believe is common to a number of others who share similar ethnicity as this man when faced with a question like "Dude, why the hell Malaysia so pariah compared to Singapore leh? Your kind can't run Govt like their kind in SG isit?

I've been going through a bit of a turbulent period recently. I'm not penniless, but far from making progress to even save up. I've been drawing Excel charts and whatnots to keep track of finances, but believe me, there is always something that comes up and punches the wind out of my piggy bank's guts.



Pretty naturally, there are things in life that I would love to afford, things that fall in my 'wants' rather than 'needs' (which is a bulging list in itself). The frustration I feel at not being able to cross off items off either lists is overwhelming, and I sense it pouring over at this point; hence this rant.

So that's why I started off with the Malaysia vs Singapore story. The 'elites' of this country are content with their pride, so much so they fail to see that besides masturbating their egos with politics and oppression of the country's minority, we Malaysians have got our feet dipped in shit. Not that drastic that we're in deep shit (I foresee not gonna be long), but in fecal matter nonetheless.

As all my posts have an image to go along with it, here, feast your eyes on this, as this is my main point for this rant:



32 minutes to buy a kg of rice, as compared to 17 minutes in Singapore. 52 hours to buy an iPod Nano as compared to 27.5 in Singapore.

Have your pride pay for the food that fills your fat belly, Mr. Maju-Manager. Thanks to your kind for screwing us all up. Looking at the way your kind runs the country, perhaps it would have been better you had been ruled by immigrants than be declared independent.


*I am by no means an overt racist, although I have my prejudices and biases. I just have this issue with the finger-pointers and ISA-wolf-cryers who actively abuses and lords over the minority of the country.

She asked me what my love language was. I didn't really answer, but I knew what it was. Just a matter of learning how to express it.

Allow me to introduce my song of 2011's Valentine's. Of course I mean no insult to such a beautifully crafted song by associating it with something as commercial (and sinful according to scholars of the Muslim faith) as Valentine's. Perhaps one of the better love songs I've heard in recent times. The original meaning of the song (I believe) references a 'twisted' parting shot at the dissolving of a romantic relationship, but it takes on a slightly different meaning for me. Realizing that despite the fading of passion's embers, love remains and the magnitude of which is still the same and unequaled, regardless of time and consequence, taking on a morbid yet syrupy taste to it.

Happy Valentine's to all, and enjoy.