I have this uncanny feeling that I’m being
stalked by my playlist. The other day was ‘Price of Gas’ during the oil
price hike uproar, this time around it was ‘Needle and Thread’ playing
as I was, you guessed it, sewing my dad’s ties that needed mending.
I
just got back a couple of days ago from Tioman. The sun, sea, sand and
great company of (somewhat unbalanced but nevertheless wonderful)
friends did wonders for this soul, masya Allah. It was almost obscene
how much noise we made (to the point that we were made to sit outside
the ferry, which was really a major bonus) but looking back, I wouldn’t
change a single thing. Well, except maybe for the part where I talked
in my sleep in front of everyone. That was embarrassing. I’m glad we all left in high spirits and made it home safely, Alhamdulillah.
Presently
though, I’m down with the flu, in addition to the cuts and bruises and
tanned faces shared by the rest of the girls, courtesy of the island. I
hope this flu blows over soon in time for the final showdown between ze
Germans and the Spaniards. Until then, check out this cool Nike ad, courtesy of Luts. Don’t you just love football ads?
Naj
passed on a cupcake recipe which I tried for kicks last night. Other
than some trouble with the frosting (which turned out looking very
un-frosting-like), the batch came out pretty perfect, all moist and
chocolaty. Ummi usually doesn’t hand out compliments freely unless you
really deserve it, so when she gave the thumbs up for both the taste
and texture, I was all smiles. It’s very hard to get praises from any
of my parents, so Alhamdulillah on that too. Of course, it could’ve
been because I served her the cupcake without the disastrous frosting, but I’ll take what I can get. Buzz me or Naj if you want the recipe, it’s fairly easy to make.
A thunderstorm raged the other day. It didn’t
occur to me that I was feeling a little down until that thunderstorm
came along and cheered me right up. I love a good thunderstorm - it
makes me feel safe. I have two songs by Elbow that you should try
listening to during a downpour. One is their cover of Massive Attack’s
‘Teardrop’ which is so very good. They manage to capture the essence of
the original song and still inject their own personal flavour for a
different take on the track. I’d say its a better cover than Newton
Faulkner and Jose Gonzalez’s attempts. Another song is ‘Great
Expectations’, which is so heartbreakingly beautiful that listening to
it once just isn’t enough. The words will wash over you, especially
when Guy starts the line ‘you were the sun in my Sunday morning’ and
repeats it till it rises into this climatic pitch. You can hear real
emotion in this song, despite it being simply about a guy on a bus who
wants to marry this girl.
Speaking of songs, time for a bit of sharing.
Currently playing is Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy - That’s When The Audience
Died.
Fascinate, fascinate, fascinated
With the underclass,
She broke down, she broke down, she broke down,
And decided to act.
This song is amazing, even more so when played live. Pallett reminds me so
much of Bird in this video, especially the live looping and the distinctive
violin-playing. It’s a shame that this is the onlytrack by him that I like. His other work isn’t as
good, although I confess ‘This Is The Dream of Win and Regine’ makes me happy,
and I highly recommend listening to his cover version of Joanna Newsom’s ‘Peach
Plum Pear‘. It’s a fantastic cover.
The name ‘Owen Pallett’ might ring a bell because he’s worked with bands like Arcade
Fire and Beirut before, plus a few remixes for Stars (’Your Ex-Lover is Dead’
post-Pallet sounds like something you’d hear from the Amelie soundtrack.)
If you decide on looking around for more of Pallett’s songs, I suggest some caution
since he’s queer, for lack of a politer word. How a guy who plays music that
good would prefer men when women are practically at his feet is beyond me. I
read some of his lyrics have references to his sexuality, and I don’t want to
be held responsible if you discover yourself wallowing in gay music. I don’t
care how many states legalise same-sex marriages or how cool Ellen D is, it’s
still gross. They’ll be tabling a Bill for rights to commit incest next.
But I digress. If you choose to look past that one detail about him, and
just focus on his music instead, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Does anyone remember Radiohead’s
video for Just off their ‘The Bends’ album from ‘95? It’s got a wicked
concept, featuring a short silent film with subtitles to show the dialogue
between the characters. There’s a man who’s walking down the street before
suddenly stopping, and then goes on to lie down on the pavement. The rest is
for you to watch and guess what he says at the end. While you’re at it, take a
look at the comments left and what others had to say. I thought some of the
guesses were pretty funny. And Thom Yorke looks so weird in this, I love it.
—————
It happened again. I
spaced out.
I was on my way to fetch my sister, and a few minutes into driving, my eyes
glazed over. It was like there was a thin layer of film covering the surface of
my eyes. I felt like I wasn’t there in the car anymore. I was vaguely aware of
what I was doing, but my mind went hazy. The next thing I knew, my sister was
sitting in the passenger seat and I was looking around, wondering how in the
world I got there. I’ve sleep-walked and sleep-talked before, but is there
really such a thing as sleep-drive? Or maybe I just got really high on
fahrvergnügen (I like this word). Whatever it is, I’m working on fixing it.
Spacing out is fine if I’m alone, but not when I’m driving other people. When
you drive for others, you’re holding a lot more than your life in your hands.
They’re placing theirs in yours too.
I’ve had comments that I drive slow, but that’s how I drive when I’m with
company. I’d rather take those comments than facing their families later,
trying to conjure up an explanation as to why their loved ones now lie in a
morgue. Parents should never have to bury their children.
There’s been too many deaths this year.
Enough said here.
