Of life, love and death

I guess I’ve been depressed lately. I’m not sure why. Something about airplanes maybe. So while some of my friends were happily diddling about at Urbanscapes, I rebelled against sunshiny fan fares and hid under the sheets.

Oh but I wasn’t alone. I’ve got company. It’s kinda of a combination of sub-par yawn yawn company that is thankfully neutralized by something more astonishing.

When I mention sub-par, I’m referring to this book I’ve been reading. It’s called Urban Odysseys: KL Stories. The title itself is a giveaway to anyone who has at least some form of intelligence, so yea, it’s a collection of short stories about KL written by supposedly up and coming, young Malaysian writers.

I don’t know why but there are at least 3 foreign writers in this book. Which is blasphemy considering it’s an avenue for local writers to show off their  craft. Anyway, it’s bad company simply because the stories are pretty much bland. Most of them have dog poo for a plot and recycles the same old Yasmin Ahmad heartstrings shit that cannot even kid a 5 yr old anymore.

I will single out Joanne Chin’s Clear Skies and Lee Eeleen’s Scenes from the Shopping Complex to be the only worthy read. The rest, I can shove it down my incinerator chute (if I had one to begin with). I’ve got a big complain about the local story telling scene, especially when it comes to books and film. Granted, I’m guilty for not being the biggest supporter (I’m trying to change that!) of the local arts, but what I’ve seen so far appals me. The stories in Urban Odysseys are drier than a 70 year old’s cunt. I practically have to force myself to finish it and at the end of each story, I go, WTF!? What was the point of that utter nonsense?

Let’s talk about film. Will you please stop doing that nonsense heart string tugging crap anymore Yasmin? Let’s try something different shall we? Or how about TV? Please no more Project Runway Malaysia. Or Ampang Medikal. Or So you think you can dance Malaysia. Fresh ideas please.

Celeste went to the screening of Free Flicks, and came home unsurprisingly disappointed. In her very own words, pointless. Now I trust her taste in a good solid story and if she said it was pointless, I believe her. She did mention a few worthy films – Kolam and whatnot, so to be fair there could be decent films out there but in a nut shell, we’ve got a long way to go. Oh yea she just turned 24, so everyone, say it with me.

Happy Birthday Celeste!

So what do I do now? Well, I turn to my brilliant  company for grace.

My old buddy from Dublin, birthplace of Guinness. He’s been busy these days. First writing a song for Woman of the Century, Aung San Suu Kyi and now, lending voice to the Dalai Lama by contributing another song to the Save Tibet CD, Songs for Tibet – The art of peace.

Listen. Listen. Just listen.