How soon is 2008?

This gonna be the first post of 2008.

"Remember, remember the fifth of July..."

Heh! Thank you.

How soon is now?

+ This picture is stolen from: http://www.photogalaxy.com.

This gonna be the last post of 2007 and to tell you my exact emotion right now; I feel relieve for what 2007 have done to me.

Being out of job on December 2006 and then began to work with a bad [and almost full throttle shitty] atmosphere working place on February 2007 wasn’t a good way to start a new year.

Frankly speaking, I’m not a person with a well built new resolution in every single New Year whenever it has knocked on my door and I’m also not a good life planner myself whatsoever. But life has led me fairly a good quiet life since July 2007 whenever I’ve been decided to take myself on a secluded place and try to find myself even more intimate.

And to my surprised, I’m finally got engaged in 2007. Not only me, but my entire family and close friends even shocked while I’m saying that I wanted to get engaged. Well, for me it’s not a big deal since I’ve actually predicted that I’ll be getting married by the age of 30. As this year on September I’m already 29, so on July 2008 it’ll be just another 2 months to reach 30. She’ll be about 26 and 4 month years old, which is the right time for us to get into another phase. We’ve been through some of ups and downs a lot since 1999, and on the next year it’ll be 9 years we’ve been sharing bittersweets of life. And now it has been already 9 days of our engagement. All this while, it’s so far so good.

But it is actually a thing called love for the most part of it. Sorry, I’m not good in explaining how does love is vital for me. But like what Morrissey have said, “I am human, and I need to be loved, just like anybody else does”. I think it’s good to explain everything.

Literally, I have to put aside some of the projects awhile, be it the upcoming zine or the release of my band. I’ve to concentrate on my wedding reception [and whatnots] soon. But the progression of those projects is now reached almost 60% of development. So, don’t worry about that. Do wish me luck for now and then. Thank you.

See you all next year!

F.I.D.eously insane.

The photo up here is my new favourite cartoon characters… err, not! It’s actually the FLAGITIOUS IDIOSYNCRASY IN THE DILAPIDATION, a grindcore band from Japan. They’re probably one of the new grind monsters produced by the land of the rising sun. You can witness the insanity by yourself here.

Belief.

"This is indeed a confrontation. But in order to confront them with our ideas we have to speak a little bit of their language otherwise our thoughts hard to be delivered and meaningless”.

As for the opening, yes, I do believe in god. There must be The Almighty. But it doesn’t restrict me to be someone that you and your momma called as Punk. Religion to me as some sort of spiritual tranquillity… and Punk, it saves my life. If it wasn't Punk that taught me, I could be someone else today.

Okay, go on… say anything that you want. Go spouting words of disdain or everything that suits the reflection of my previous statement. I don’t fucking care. True enough, I’ve been asked about this several times by people that close to me, but personally I won’t give any serious attention about it.

Let me explain... Punk has taught me how to walk since it first shook its hand with me and it’s still with me to this present day. The way I look may not be directly portray any kind of its subculture has offered and I’m not the one who walking around the mall spitting the wall of corporate bourgeoisie, also not the one who kicks the huge dustbin looking for garbage to eat behind the Mc Donald’s. No colourful mohawk, studded accessories, leather jacket, safety pins, dreadlocked, torn jeans, boots or even sloganeering patches stitched throughout my clothes. I used to be like that in my crucial phase; the good old days. Err… except eating garbage, of course. I have an ultra sensitive stomach by the way.

No, not that I said it was useless but to me it’s the learning process that everyone should experience in order to be a human. It’s the matter of what it really takes. I’m neither superhuman nor extraordinary one, but in being normal (well, not really) like everyone does, I do concern that as a human, we’re not perfect. But it also doesn’t mean that we can’t be the best. It’s the most important thing on which we often ignored.

So how about random sexual activities, drugs and booze that often told being associates within Punk, blatantly exaggerated by mainstream medias/tabloids? Those things would be always a personal choice and it’s up to individual him/herself either engage in it or not. And it’s not including in the principle or the ethical of Punk itself. The act of substance consuming is the matter of the willingness of the person themselves. Every human for him/herself and don’t judge it by the institutions or groups they’re in, because in the larger group of people on the certain institutions or groups it has always comprised by many persona of different backgrounds. The different backgrounds contributed to different characteristics, so it would be unfair to judge as the whole even though they’re living under the same sacred flags. Did I committed and practise those things? Well, I’m always keeping it personal and it’s not nice to talk in here even further. Thank you.

I’m neither detested nor support the acts but its all still depends on the individual themselves. Yes, Punk is promoting freedom and it’s also one of the fundamental elements in Punk itself, but please do have at least a little bit sense of rationality that every person has their own interpretation according to anything. And the degree of understanding of each person is always diverse from one another. Please take note that my understanding about freedom isn’t like yours and yours is not the same with the others. It will never be. But the mutual understanding is what always counts. Okay, go figure it out yourself.

”I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any regime except the regime of liberty” - Gustave Courbet, a Realist painter/thinker.

One more important thing is moral. It’s usually pain in the ass while talking about this because morality always come as somewhat a package with moral majority (moral + majority = morality?) and collective agreement as a total. But in living in the so called Totalitarian and State-Democracy territory on which the law is on the hands of the few, the moral cases will be always depend on them. As usual the blindfolded nation will be always unconsciously followed without questions. Therefore the act of strengthening its power might no less to make the totalitarian democratic state even stronger.

However it takes, as on the part of millions anti-establishment comrades out there I would rather disobey to those nonsense thus to stick with this quote; "Whoever lays a hand on me to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant. I declare him to be my enemy”, it makes me feel alive on every single day encounters. Thanks to J.P. Proudhon for the words of wisdom, in case you didn’t know where it’s actually come from.

Okay, here’s another quote, a good one; “If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it; let us fight against destiny, even though without hope of victory”. Thanks to Miguel de Unamuno for this.

And on speaking about Punk or the musical term which is Punk Rock that being popularized within the culture itself; I’m not interested in Sex Pistols that has been said being the sole source of Punk to land its first root in the late of 70’s. I couldn’t agree with that because it was not even Punk when it’s just a shock slogan or even chaotic fashionistas statement that’s wanted an attention from the surrounding. It should be more than that, more thoughts, more agitate and most importantly more politically aware.

Ramones are okay, but the enjoyable anthem equally songs and with a little bit tinge of Bubblegum Pop/Rock plus the faster version alike of The Beatles; it's often failed to tickle my sensitive tentacle to think even further.

But thanks to Napalm Death, I’ve discovered about their existence at the age of 12 in the year of 1990. Blame it to my uncle… he gave me the ‘Scum’ tape without any hesitation because at the first beginning he thought the tape that he bought was a Hair Metal, Heavy Metal or at least Thrash Metal ala Metallica of the late 80’s. He was wrong. It was actually a hellish Grindcore from UK with a Stenchcore/Crust Punk attitude added to it. So he gave me the tape right after listening to the intro of Nicholas Bullen sang “Multinational corporations, genocide of the starving nations” repeatedly with a ripping sore throat vocal.

Okay, I’ve got ‘Scum’ in my hand 3 years after it was released in 1987, then the fact that I was just only 12 years old at the time and being able to hear a nearly noise music at the early age while my other friends mostly were into Glam Rock; I can be considered cool. Am I? After listening to Napalm Death my ears likely was bleeding and even melting to death. Haha!

But the complete result always doesn’t come in a split second, so does the progression… I’ve began searching the records/tapes of the most names (whose caught my attention) listed in the thank list of the tape sleeve. Names such as Heresy, Amebix, Larm, Doom, Discharge etc running out loud from my mouth and none of my friends knew about them. So I decided to bury my goal to hunt those names and try to let myself into the norm of mainstream serenades.

But the kick that I’ve got from ‘Scum’ can’t be compared with others at the time even though I’ve been shoved into mouth by thousands of bands with crystal clear sound; Napalm Death’s ‘Scum’ still cannot be beaten down easily. The rage is there, agitations are everywhere, thought provoking and hell yes, politically charged lyrics that’s what most important to me. Awareness is the main key that has been injected into ‘Scum’ as a whole. Even the shortest song, “You Suffer” has its deep meaning and can be more subjective if we take a full glance of its whole lyrical and musical content/structure. I owe those geniuses so much.

To some extents, it’s surprising that the album still being able to inspire me to this present day. Not many of the records or bands can do like what Napalm Death (and ‘Scum’) did to me. As for the homage of ‘Scum’ I’ve covered the “Instinct of Survival” song (included with the intro of “Multinational Corporations” as well) twice while performing with Opprobrium Adornment (RIP), if I’m not mistaken circa 2001/2002. Okay, that would be another story… the bands phase of mine that I’ll tell later in this rambling.

Personally I grew up with Rock music from the late 70’s to the late 80’s before knowing about Napalm Death in 1990. In my daily life, I listened to Heavy Metal, Glam Rock, Hard Rock or even Thrash Metal, but of course it’s the mainstream ones. My eldest sister was a fan of Glam/Ballad/Hard Rock (and I bet that she still is until nowadays) and she was about sharing every single records at each times she bought the newly one. Local bands such as Search, Wings, Burnmarks, Bloodshed, Junction, Rusty Blade, Bumiputera Rockers and even the international ones such as Whitesnake, Scorpions, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Queen etc were her favourites back then. I’m grateful for that because she had no bad taste in choosing the right ones. But somehow the overly melodic of those Glam/Ballad Rock bands sounded alike made me wanting something new, something fresh and something that’s harder. Despite Hard Rock, it seems fine to me until today, seriously.

I’ve only had a chance to hear the ‘extreme’ ones from my uncle who lived in Kuala Lumpur; quite far from our house at the time. Each times when we visited my uncle, I’d be the one who happier than others. There in his room I could hear loud music from Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Black Sabbath, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Destruction, Kreator, Sepultura etc and it was shitloads of them which I can’t remember each one of it. But one thing of sure, he was a huge fan of Loudness on which I don’t give a fuck that much. I admit for some Japanese Rock/Metal fans, Loudness is a god. Well, I don’t care about your god really; my god is not your god by the way. My uncle tried to get me to listen to Loudness, but he was just fairly failed several times. Sorry Uncle Zainal, if Loudness were as good as Iron Maiden, then I would be excited to give it a try.

But all of these bands had been easily beaten down by Napalm Death with their ultimate weapon called ‘Scum’ which has been changing my life ever since. So, it’s clear that my uncle which is now an old rocker, still unmarried (okay girls, now it’s your chance to date a really cool uncle at least once in a lifetime: Highly recommended!) and lonesome who’s actually accidentally opened a door for what has made me as I am as you can see today.

After that I’ve tried to look after any bands that come across in the same vein of what Napalm Death does. I still failed not until I found Youth Of Today’s ‘Break Down The Walls’ tape and decided to steal instead of buying it from a record store located somewhere nearby the small town of Kota Tinggi, Johor. At that time, I don’t even know that shoplifting is an act of political awareness, minimizing consumerism, reclaiming the space or somewhat ethical conduct whatsoever. And I don’t even know that The Smiths have one song dedicated to shoplifting culture which given title as “Shoplifters of the World Unite”, or else I’d be just taking the tape, singing that catchphrase and just leave as if there’s nothing ever happens instead of sweating all over my face and looking completely suspicious.

Back at home I was quickly put the tape on the player and suddenly dumbfounded to hear such fast songs; realized it was even harsher and straightforward comparing to ‘Scum’. As 14 years old kid with thin ears, I admitted that ‘Scum’ is much noisier, but comparing to ‘Break Down The Walls’, Napalm Death undoubtedly were more melodic than Youth Of Today itself. By the way, it was the lyrics that caught my attention for the most part of it. They have full blast positive messages and somewhat a little bit preachy at a time which is fine to me. Youth Of Today rules my day since then and I’ve been always playing it nearly everyday.

It’s weird that my parents didn’t say anything about it even though I’ve played it loud and my appearance was about to change bit by bit; I shaved my head bald, wearing tight pants/jeans (Skinhead alike), started wearing sweat wristband and other ‘weird’ accessories. Yes, blame that to Ray Cappo and John Porcelly. I’m started being a bit contrast than most of my colleagues in 1992.

One might wonders what has happened in 1991… hmm, this would be another story too but still I’d like to point out that within that year until the middle of 1992 I was quite a die hard fan of Rap/Hip Hop/Techno music. Well, Napalm Death was still my favourite though but as I told you that would be another story. Haha! Kris Kross, Run DMC, LL Cool J, Vanilla Ice, Public Enemy, Mc Hammer, EMF, Beastie Boys, Snap, NWA etc were in my pocket. For local, Rap/Hip Hop groups such as Krash Kozz, 4U2C and Nico were among my favourites. KRU? Feminin? Never! Because KRU have one song dedicated to Dr. M. Err, what a jerk ass they were singing about that ‘M’? I just couldn’t understand… plus their appearance was into boy band type made me hates them even more. So, KRU wasn’t for me and it’ll stay never be. As for the Feminin, they were too soft kind of rappers for those who love Public Enemy, Beastie Boys and NWA like me in case when it comes to Rap/Hip Hop/Techno genre. But were they really rappers or just jokesters anyway?

And either you believe it or not I was even entered, and then won the 3^rd place of a break dance competition in group category during that year. It was “The Power” by Snap and “Jump” by Kris Kross; those two songs we choose to dance to. During the competition I was wearing huge baggy pants, white/black Reebok Pump (borrowed from a friend) and Metallica’s ‘…And Justice For All’ black t-shirt. Heh!

To be continued…

Hear, hear...

I am now officially engaged.

It was on Saturday, December 22nd in the year of 2007.

Both sides are agreed that our wedding date would be on Saturday, 5th July in the year of 2008.

[From me to her]

[From her to me]

Don't be surprised that both sending of gifts were made all DIY. We made it ourselves... with our own bare hands!

+ Okay, my cell phone is lost so I've changed my phone number. The new number is: 012-3420243. Please keep posted and do call me whenever you're free. Thank you.

Not a stretching durex, it's a...

Instead of its aesthetic value, what a piece of artwork like this can do to you? Besides can be a sort of income for the makers/artists and the art traders alone, it does also stimulating the brains of each observer like you and me.

Every single earthling should be familiar with this piece of work, especially those graduated art scholar and artsy fartsy wannabe out there. If you haven't, please blame on our educational system and the lack of exploration of yours. Those ‘who are up there’ have successfully restricted people's creativity and instinct. And mind our own ignorance too.

Go figure it out and do remember; back to the basic and do explore the fundamental first before talking out loud your ideas, you artsy people!

Dogma.

Tukang Buat: Aku bukan kau.
Tajuk: Dogma
Saiz: Aku tak ukur lagi. Mungkin esok aku ukur...
Tarikh: 1999 mungkin. Aku agak lupa.

Tekan SINI kalau tak faham. Tak faham lagi? Fikir sendiri! Terima kasih.

+ Nota ibu jari kaki: Tadi aku nampak bebudak belasan tahun pakai baju Mai Kemikel Romen. Aku geli geleman. Rasa nak sepak punggung seseko. Aku kekecik dulu pun rasa mual bila nengok bebudak Punk Bodo (read: Chaos) pakai baju Sepetols Seks. Uwekk!!! Okey, okey... 'nota ibu jari kaki' ni takde kena mengena sikit pun dengan hasil seni minimalis/konseptual di atas. Jangan kao memandai nak kait-kaitkan. Aku tak suruh pun.

New artwork!

Title: The Coincidental Incident
Size: 1ft x 5ft

Day/Date: Friday, December 7th, 2007.

[The detail]

This artwork is actually a middle finger response and a big FUCK YOU to those demotivated incidents that I’m facing since the day one I’m trying to live by the arts that I’ve been creating of my own. Arts would be so easy for me (I do mean it!) if those leeches aren't existed in the first place. This is also a tribute for my 5 precious artworks which are gone missing in 2002. To hell those leeches, here I come with the new one!

ICWT!

Alrite, this is a sneak preview for the upcoming 'In Capital We Trust!' [ICWT!] zine. No exact date regarding to its birth for now though.

...and now back to our programming.

My, oh my... it's Conflict playing their 'hit' song, "The Serenade Is Dead" at the Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, California back in 1985. Down here is the lyrics; fuckin' sing along now or fuckin' die.

The Serenade Is Dead (January 1984)
She wakes up in the morning; the sun is shining in her face
She turns her head around; she shares the blanket on which the love embraced
She looks out of the window; it's a lovely day outside
She tells herself that things are fine, he pulls the sheets to cover his eyes
The essence of the fresh air, that garden held the love affair
Thinking back their minds are torn in muddle and confusion
So far away another sits, who tries to make the best of it
He don't know quite what's hit him, it's another love illusion
He gazes in his empty room eyes fixed upon her picture
The loneliness, dejectedness, God how the fuck he's missed her
His eyes turn turn to the window, the military roar by
He wonders how much hatred could evolve out of the sky
What God had done for peace on earth, what man destroyed from day of birth
They are concerned with feelings; they're just ashamed to cry
And one mans plan to push the button makes other sacrifice
The serenade is dead and now the only question's why?
Why when we are young, we're told it's right to love
Told it's human nature and that comes from God above
As time moves on we realise that we all look from the pit
While a plan hangs above us, to keep us in the shit
Because the minute we are born, we're told what's right and wrong
Raised with certain morals, never mentioned in their songs
As we grow up, we find out that the paths been neatly set
In a world of such destruction, we only can regret
Regret that is the word of it, as we look for our way out of it
Why can't they understand we don't want any part of it?
The pain they create everyday, that just ain't gonna go away
We've got to stick together, but still you're asking why?
The system stands strong, as our movement starts to crumble
The pressure we once held, has just turned into a rumble
They've got us where they want us, and you all just accept that
Well don't you think its time; we started to hit back
They are the enemy; they want a rope around your neck
And if they will go that far, then what the fuck is next?
Forget the revolution, we've heard it all before
Heard all of the promises of nineteen-eighty-four
Its an impossible task, "oh yes", it stands before us all
Well maybe you'll believe it when your back's against the wall.

Obey your masters!

In `What's the story, midnight gory?’ enty I’ve wrote, “The rest of research will be posted here (perhaps!) soon”. So down here’s some excerpt from the research. Surely I’ll not show the full-blown research, but somehow I’m being kind enough to reveal some of the batik makers’ addresses in here. If you keen of a good quality (and of course the cheapest ones) of batik, I suggest you to contact all of these masters.

Tuan Haji Fadzil Hj. Abdullah
“Batik is in my blood, wherever I go or wherever I’ve been pushed around, I’m still heading back to the Batik business".

67 years old (born in 1940) and he started active in batik making since 1968 at the age of 28 after leaving his career as a teacher. He learned the skills from his parents as a successor. He was one of the persons who struggle to build Koperasi Serbaguna Pembatek Kelantan Berhad (KSPKB) in 1972 (and established on August 2nd, 1973). He’s also appointed to be one of the committee members at the age of 32 during that year. KSPKB is a business centre/market in order to improve the economy of its member according to its own principle and until now, it already has 451 memberships. It’s also an operation centre for any activity for Persatuan Pembatek-Pembatek Melayu Pantai Timur (PPMPT). The PPMPT has formed on July 29th, 1966 at Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Until today 517 members had register to membership of this association. The main purpose of PPMPT is to gather all the entrepreneur of Batik industry under one roof. “Come to our glorious era, I’m surprised to eyewitness that second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak with his cane has come to see the grand meeting around 12:00 pm that we have at the time”, said Tuan Haji Fadzil Hj. Abdullah about the gathering of PPMPT/KSPKB in 1974. Nowadays he is the Yang Di Pertua (President) of PPMPT and in being the president of the association himself, he has to take care of batik makers’ welfare in Kelantan and keep the activities that related well organized. He approaches all the batik makers to be educates more on marketing strategies, all new techniques (in designing, tailoring etc) and to grab any opportunities that came across because it’s rare to come twice. Along with it he also approaches the government to help batik makers in expanding their efforts thru strong supports such as financial loan, intellectual property policies (licensing), welfare and controlling the mass production (made by machine) which plagiarized the works of batik.

Address:
Koperasi Serbaguna Pembatek Kelantan Berhad,
3512-A, Jalan Sultanah Zainab,
15000 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 09-7441493


Kamarrozaman Bin Haji Mohd. Salleh
Naib Yang Di Pertua Persatuan Pembatek-Pembatek Melayu Pantai Timur (PPMPT). He’s the 3rd generation of the batik pioneer, Haji Che Su bin Haji Ishak who starts batik making in Kelantan since 1911. As being the owner of the Samasa Textiles Industries Sdn. Bhd., he’s also concentrating in textile industries along with his batik making. Samasa Batek Sdn. Bhd. is established since 1977.

Address:
5450 B Batu 2, Jalan Kuala Krai,
15050 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 019-937 6474


Nik Soh Bin Nik Yahya
63 years old (born in 1944). First involved in batik making and worked under his brother in law named Haji Wan Baharom since the age of 13 in the year of 1957. Nowadays he’s not making batik because of the age factor, current situations and no heir to continue his works.

Address:
No. 497, Kampung Penambang,
Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan,
15350 Kota Bahru, Kelantan.
Tel: 09-744 2820


Azman Bin Hassan
The owner of Mey Batik. 45 years old (born in 1962). Almost 15 years making batik since at the age of 30 in 1992. He first worked in batik making is under his brother in law along with the other siblings. He’s still making batik until now and has a shop to sell his own batiks.

Address:
No. 5080-C, Kampung Sireh,
Bawah Lembah,
15050 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 012-981 9569


Kamaruddin Bin Yaacob
Batik’s block maker. 65 years old (born in 1942). Being batik’s block maker since the 1960’s at the age around 18 years old until now. He learned the skills from his relative. His son is now helping him to sort out several works according to batik’s block.

Address: Use the same address as Azman Bin Hassan.


Muhamad Ariff Fadhilah Bin Awang
The owner of Dagang Batikraf. 30 years old (born in 1977). Almost 10 years making batik since at the age of 20 in 1997 replacing the business after his father passed away. He has two batik factories/workshops that located besides his house. He concentrates on making school uniforms, private firm uniforms and government bodies.

Address:
No. 751-753, Tingkat 2, Tangga 2,
Pasar Siti Khadijah,
15000 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 012-945 6755


Mohd Ali Bin Abdul Latif
57 years old (born 1950). He involved in batik making since 1970 at the age of 20. He gained experience in batik making on his own from working at batik factory which available at that time. After gained much experience, in 1973 he established his first batik factory/workshop. Like other batik makers, he also emphasizes more on new techniques, which make his creation more malleable to recent market situation.

Address:
Lot 260, Kg. Che Latiff,
Jalan Kuala Besar,
15350 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 09-7711210


Mohd Azilan Bin Mohd Ali
The owner of Aziz Batek Collection. 33 years old (born in 1974). He’s a diploma holder in Business Management graduated from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR). He started in batik making since 1990 at the age of 17 until now. Apart of being a batik maker, based on his education background he’s now helping his father (Mohd Ali) in marketing strategies for their batiks.

Address:
No. 39, Tingkat 1,
Kompleks Bazaar Buluh Kubu,
15000 Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Tel: 012-955 8669


Taufik Bin Talib
36 years old (born in 1971). He first established his own batik factory/workshop in 1990. He learned about batik making since teenager thru his father. Besides taking orders from his customers, he also produced batik for school uniforms, private firm uniforms and government bodies.

Address:
Lot 2305, Kg. Bechah,
(Masuk Depan Rumah Cikgu Taib),
17030 Tendong, Pasir Mas, Kelantan.
Tel: 012-956 0549


Haji Wan Deraman Bin Haji Wan Nik
The owner of Gong Kapas Songket & Batik. He’s 59 years old (born in 1948) and a government retiree. As been told, he retired early because he wants to continue his father enterprise in batik making. This happens after his father passed away 30 years ago circa 1970’s. Besides just handling a batik factory/workshop he also tries to bridge the gap between the traditional side and the commercial market success thru his creations.

Address:
PP 54, Tingkat Atas (Tangga No. 3),
Pasar Besar Kedai Payang,
20000 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.
Tel: 019-983 6153


Haji Shafiee Bin Ghazali
The owner of Nozi Batek. 45 years old (born in 1962). In the beginning he just sells batik at the market’s sidewalk and the night markets around Kuala Terengganu. He first established his own batik factory/workshop in 1990. He learned about batik making since teenager thru his friends at Kampung Losong, Kuala Terengganu who active in batik making circa 1979; he was 17 years old at that time. Being a creative person by nature himself, he started to make his own batik since then. Besides taking orders from his customers, he also produced batik for school uniforms, private firm uniforms and government bodies.

Address:
Batu 12, Jalan Kelantan,
21060 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.
Tel: 019-983 7098


Tuan Haji Suhaimi Bin Embong
The owner of Desa Murni. 39 years old (born in 1968). He first established his own batik factory/workshop in 1990. He continues his father skills in batik making since 1972. His factory/workshop produced digital batik unlike the other batik makers who concentrate more on traditional way. His method somehow has been said by some of the traditional batik makers as a just normal textile printing not the batik as they knew. But Tuan Haji Suhaimi said it’s just an evolution for the previous ones and also a method in order to have a large quantity (mass production) of batik at a time. Besides taking orders from his customers, he also produced batik for school uniforms, private firm uniforms and government bodies.

Address:
D, 323 Kg. Pulau Rusa,
20050 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu.
Tel: 019-983 4594

What else do I need to say?

The recent event last week on Saturday, November 10^th, 2007 really caught my attention. Those puny minds never stopped such act until they've encountered themselves those tear gas and pepper spray that they've spilled over the people. I wouldn't be surprised if one day there will be a big riot (or coup d'etat, perhaps) concerning to corruptions on which Malaysia government has done. Personally I don’t want it to be as worse as Tiananmen Square Massacre, in case for example. But somehow as being documented by Brutal Truth for their debut album title; ‘Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses’, it just make sense for any consequences. Just wait for the moment, there are many events that happened but still the government didn't overcome it wisely. Name it all the nonsense such as useless tolls, taxes, overprized fuel, high cost of living/education, 'legal' crime, the constant failure of public transportation, twisted parliamentary agendas and so on.

I do understand that we can’t please everyone at a time. But somehow in being a government if they failed to do such things to satisfy the people why they even bother to rule them in the first place? And why there are always be restrictions for those whom able to think for themselves? Or is it just to use ‘the power that be’ to slave the people for their own benefits? This could be meant something. And I smell gasoline burnt up their stinky asses. As the end result, we all know that those feeble slogans are only for the weak who can’t think by themselves. It has been already revealed wide open bits by bits. People now can see the absolute truth behind it all. So the ‘responses’ can be happens anytime from this very moment as the conditions rapidly goes extreme and uncontrollable. Don't underestimate the power of the people, so does the fellow earthlings.

Okay, for the people who love to dance at the streets and like to play with the bludgeon games, read here for more empowerment.

Good luck for now.

What's the story, midnight gory?

Kelantan: Greeny life, that is.

Terengganu: After the rain. It's the boat to carry passengers across Terengganu River to Seberang Takir.

Finally, I'm back in KL today. 5 days outside the city life (hence the condition without the townscape, internet connection, the usual atmosphere and less carbon monoxide), I've learned more about the real beauty of human being. A trip to Kelantan and Terengganu for Batik research (also in searching of its prominent figures) had opened my eyes about one of the greatest artistic legacies throughout Malay Archipelago district. I'm impressed by the high skilled of these Batik activists and the workers while decorating floras/designs on every piece of white clothes. It such an amazing moment while witnessing it right in front of my eyes about the process from its very beginning until the finishing works. Most of the Batiks are produced in very limited numbers, which means on the other hand it has made those Batiks more precious and high valued in mainstream market. Every each Batik workshops normally have their own specialty or method which means they might have different techniques and special ingredients in order to attract more consumers to buy their masterpieces.

The only turn off situations of these two places are actually about their drinks and its weather: Kelantan's drinks are too sweet and Terengganu weather is too hot.

But the foods are always yummy! Name it from Nasi Dagang, Nasi Kerabu, Kuih Akok, Keropok Lekor (Pasar Payang rules!), Tom Yam soup (especially at Rantau Panjang), fresh grilled fish, pulut panggang, budu etc. I even found a packet of Gula Tarik (which is the only packet that has left)! When I was a kid, Gula Tarik is the only candy that I've enjoyed eating. This candy made from traditional ingredients (a mixture of palm sugar, coconut milk and a lil' bit of flour) without any chemical or preservative. Be warned that this candy is too sweet but somehow it really brought back memories of the past. Oh, before I forgot, the prices of goodies at these two places are extremely cheap, reasonable and it’s mostly out of my mind! So, you have to make sure to bargain for the best price when you're buying.
Alright, back to our mission. We have found the conclusion that Batik in Malaysia is actually started from the southern side of Peninsular Malaysia which is at Muar, Johor. It's started there earlier long before it has landed in Kelantan during the year of 1911. The rest of research will be posted here (perhaps!) soon. But please don't wait.
Okay, down here are another pictures that I’ve taken during the trip. Enjoy!

Kelantan: Not so busy night.


Kelantan: Working on her masterpiece.

Terengganu: Soal: Siapa Bakar? Soal balik: Abu Bakar? Haha!

Terengganu: The behaviour. At the stairs of Pasar Payang.

Terengganu: The tidbits.


On the way back.

Before I’ve forgot, I have a news to tell. Today, around 3:30 pm during our stop for lunch at Kemaman I’ve received a forwarded message from friend, Pat about another friend of mine named Syukree being hospitalized because of chronic stress. Personally, I’m neither shocked nor surprised when receiving such news like this. For me, stress also known as a panic attack, pressure, hypertension, manic depressive, mental depression or whatever you want to call it. This happens as a result from frustration, lack of rest and so on which usually lead to an odd high/low blood pressure. Somehow it’s also will make the person goes limp and in the state of vegetable.

Syukree not the only person who encounters this problem and so far there are some of my friends also stumble upon this condition before. This is almost a normal thing that would happens for those who unable to manage their time and psychological properly. Based on my experience last time, as being an editor of a comic/lifestyle magazine that released twice a month, I also had heavy migraine several times. Going back late from work, insomnia, unorganized lunch/dinner schedule, piles of workload, deadlines etc. These contributed to a stress which made me numb most of the time.

Okay, back to the main story… I’ve called Syukree but his brother picked up the phone and told me that Syukree’s condition is not as good as I’m expected. He mentioned that he doesn’t know when Syukree can be fully recovered and leave the hospital for good. At this moment Syukree is still remain silent and voiceless. This is weird concerning to the real Syukree that I’ve known and it’s certainly doubtless that this is a serious matter. After talking with his brother, I’ve sent messages about Syukree to several friends and the reaction almost the same like mine.

The plan so far is I’m with the other comrades will visit him at the Psychiatric Ward, 3rd floor, Menara Timur, University Malaya Medical Centre (that’s where he’s being hospitalized) on this Sunday, November 18th, 2007 but nothing yet sure until further confirmation. Hope Syukree will be back to normal soon. We pray for that...

All apologies...

Nota buat rakan:

Terlebih dahulu aku nak minta maaf sebab dah lama tak jumpa kawan-kawan, terutamanya yang rapat macam kau ini. Kerja dan urusan peribadi banyak ambil masa kualiti aku sejak kebelakangan ini.

Sebenarnya aku ada benda nak beritahu. Bulan Disember bertarikh 22 haribulan nanti aku ada majlis separa besar. Tarikh itu adalah hari pertunangan aku.

Aku kenal dia dah lama. Sejak tahun 1999. Aku pasti kau tahu siapa dia.

Sebarang pertanyaan dan kemusykilan? Hubungi aku.

Sekian terima kasih.

Darn it YourSpace!

Okay, first of all "FUCK MYSPACE!". The uploaded songs of my band (click here, here and here) can't properly played in there. It's such a waste of time to upload your songs in there. It has always been a hard time for me to check out and hear songs from the other bands as well. I'm thinking of deleting the account soon. So, no more MySpace for Nuisance Drilled. Thou shalt not post any message or comment over there. I'll definitely not reply any of those, seriously. But one thing for sure that it has moved to the other application as well. As for now I've uploaded 3 songs of the upcoming CDEP in the iLike account. You can listen to those 3 songs without hassle and frankly speaking the sound is much more better than the MySpace itself. Simply click at the image below to hear the songs and do enjoy every bit of it!

You can consider this as a sneak preview, pre-hearing, leaking or whatsoever (and I don't fucking care). Added to it, I need more labels to join me in releasing this piece of shit. I'm dead serious here. I do need more... and 100 labels would be more better! The genre? Nuisance Drilled is a manic depressive Sludgecore band with a tinge of Crust & Roll, you bugger!

It's rainy day...

EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION
Issued by Malaysian Meteorological Department
Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation
at 7.30 pm 07/11/2007

A moderate earthquake has occurred with these revised parameters:

Time of Occurrence: 7.04 pm on 7 November 2007
Coordinates: 3.8 South 100.7 East
Location: Mentawai Region, Indonesia, 167km west of Bengkulu, Indonesia. 678km southwest of Johor Bahru.
Magnitude: 5.0 on Richter scale

Assessment
No tsunami threat.

This will be the final information issued by the department for this event unless there are further developments or additional information becomes available.
______________________________________________________________________


Due to the heavy rains that occur today at 1:30 am, I've quickly browsing the net to find some information about it. This rain is so unusual for me; based on my experience living a life in Cyberjaya since 2001 until now. The heavy rain which includes the stormy wind falls like it'll never stop forever. It makes me worried, seriously. So, after browsing the net, I've found the information above. Simply click here to know more about it. The information will be changed from time to time I guess, but as for now (Thursday, November 8th, 2007, 2:21 am) the site appear the news abovementioned. Yes, it's November and December is coming all the way, so I think you guys better check the weather first before submitted yourselves for any outdoor activities. It's pretty risky anyway. I hope this entry helps a lil' bit. Thank you.

When nature calls: A great masterpiece by Hokusai.

"Who are you and why you're here?"

If you think that we're only in it just for the fuckin' mindless loud music, so please move your fuckin' hippies' ass out of here. Because it isn’t even worth a shit.

Be alert that the decisive and half baked cursing words which I'm using above is all about a reflective reaction towards an excitement of my today’s discovery. That’s all.

The reasons why I'm happy and all excited:

Reason number one: How about these three issues?

Reason number two: This debut?!! The oldest one?

It's Profane Existence, man! Thanks a lot, Slobodan Burgher! You're really made my day!

I love D-Beat!

+ Pic taken from here.

Read about this news today. Apparatus is definitely one of the best D-Beat bands from Malaysia. They've been around since the year of 2000; if I'm not mistaken. I'm glad that they're still thrashing hard until nowadays. So better hurry up and wait no more. Get this EP as soon as possible because I believe it's gonna be very limited in numbers!

Alright, I end this entry with a cheesy (somehow cliché) quote; “D-Beat raw 'crust' punk in your fuckin' sorry face!!!”

Darkthrone!

Fuck. Off. And. Die.

The Norwegian ‘New Wave of Black Heavy Metal’ band, Darkthrone (1987 - present) is back with their (new) 13^th album, “F.O.A.D” (an acronym for “Fuck Off and Die”) on the October 1^st this year. Some sources stating that this album had actually released on September 25^th (some also said it was on September 13^th); on which I don’t know the exact date. But on June 29^th, in the Darkthrone site it has stated that this album will be released around September (without stating on which day). “F.O.A.D” obviously in musical term is the continuity from the previous 12^th album, “The Cult Is Alive” (Peaceville Records, 2006). Where the influences (for both of the releases) came from various genres such as Thrash Metal, Power Metal, NWOBHM (akin to Motorhead, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost etc), mixed with a tasteful joy of numerous Hc/Crust Punk bands (name it yourself!) and of course, Death/Black Metal (in the vein of their earlier stuffs). Peaceville Records still responsible to produce this album and it contains 9 songs. I can’t decide whether this is a crossover album or not, but the strongly essence of Lemmy Kilmister in the Nocturno Culto vocals gave me a hint of Motorhead and the groovy drum beats of Fenriz reminds me of G-Anx, Totalitar, Amebix and the like. It’s also stated in their site that, “This album is the soul of a lifetime of rock and metal, and it sounds like a war between Atlantis and the rest of the planet”.

Judging to the musical preferences, “F.O.A.D” should be interesting… plus the sound is somewhat unpolished and raw. Instead of going to hi-tech (to get the hi-fi ‘metal’ sound), they’ve decided to record themselves on their own little studio, Necrohell Studios. Which made “F.O.A.D” is kind of like ‘old metal with old sound’. Added to it, Fenriz also said, “The demo sound is like an architects’ dream... and the plastic modern album sound is the result of the architects compromise with the little people, trying to please everyone (and everyone sucks)".

Okay, for me this is the best Darkthrone’s stuff ever since their debut album, “Soulside Journey” (Peaceville Records, 1990) because it defines and includes all the best riffs that anyone could create for the rest of old metal/crust punk madness. Name it yourself those oldies, I bet they’re all including in here precisely.

So then, never mind Driller Killer gone metal, here come Darkthrone for the punks! Haha!

The tracks of “F.O.A.D”:
1. These Shores Are Damned
2. Canadian Metal
3. The Church Of Real Metal
4. The Banners Of Old
5. Fuck Off And Die
6. Splitkein Fever
7. Raised On Rock
8. Pervertor Of The 7 Gates
9. Wisdom Of The Dead

+ Last but not least: Up the punks (err… and the metalheads also)!

Darkthrone in the 90's

Darkthrone, this present day

When all is said and done...

This is the (new) official music video for the song "When All Is Said and Done" from the album, "Smear Campaign" by Napalm Death. Happy Grinding!

AOTKPTA

Okay, this is the (new) official music video for the song "AOTKPTA" from the album, "New Erections" by The Locust. Enjoy your watching!

Selamat Hari Hartal!

"Bagi memperingati perjuangan rakyat menuntut demokrasi dari penjajahan kolonial, ingin aku cadangkan supaya tarikh 20 Oktober dijadikan sebagai hari perayaan kebangsaan dan cuti umum buat seluruh rakyat Malaysia sempena menyambut "HARI HARTAL" - hari perjuangan demokrasi rakyat." - Fahmi Reza.

*See those images above? Please click here to see more about "Hari Hartal".