Look at Me, I'm a Running Blade

Shave my head and carve a symbol
Am I cool, or am I feeble
Look at me, look at me, do I look different?

Eyes widening, jaws dropping
They could remember my name, the first time calling
I'm so cool, I'm so happs, I'm a freak.

They're scaremongering now
Afraid of pale stereotypes and Hollywood kung-paos
The Orient loses its mystic, they speak English, from the dictionary.

You shake your hips, twirl your hair, I don't care
You shut up, just this once, I'll ask you dance
You puncture yourself with holes, paint yourself with ink
You desecrete God's temple, what is your mantle?

Look at me, look at me, look while I'm still around
I follow Mother Nature, you tail the Metro Hound
Be afraid of what you can't see, terror's biting from the front
Use your brain, feel the heart, the moon turns to sun.

"There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't be out there in the first place."
- The Follow, BMW commercial directed by WKW

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"Sushi. That's what my ex-wife called me - cold fish." - Blade Runner Rick Deckard

Being an ardent Star Wars fan, I can't believe I haven't watch the other sci-fi flick that made Harrison Ford famous. Blade Runner was out-of-this-world. A typical storyline: future humans literally make human-like "friends" called replicants. Bad replicants rebel, our hero Deckard is assigned to wipe them out. What is different about this film is the emotional element, and life-probing questions it poses. The manufacturer's motto is "More human than human". But what defines human? Emotional responses? Goodness? Quest for survival? Director Ridley Scott created a superbly detailed futuristic Earth, dark and murky because of pollution, where technology cannot repair nature. Which mirrors the concept where replicants cannot change the nature of man. Harrison Ford turns in a wonderful performance, deeply troubled with his killer's life, but still exudes his Han Solo/Indy Jones charm when a social situation calls for it. The supporting casts were solid, each displaying the 'pei'-ness of their pathetic existence. However, the standing ovation goes to Scott, for integrating an intriguing drama into a simple sci-fi action flick, without the use of CGI. 10/10.

"Accelerated decrepitude." - replicant Pris' blunt description of her mortality
"Can the maker repair what he makes?" - Roy Batty meets his maker
"If we gift them with a past, we create a cushion or a pillow for their emotions, and consequently, we can control them better." - God to us. I mean, the maker Tyrell to Batty
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die." - the more human Batty

Deft and Peppered

Freakin' exhausting, yet max satisfaction back-to-back gigs.

Deftones@Manchester Academy 100706

Me being the smart alec, we were 9 mins late for the concert!! Missed Hexagram, but the rest of the songs were just so brilliantly executed that made my night an unforgettable one. Been my dream to see the real Chino (Moreno) since I first heard Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) 8 yrs ago. Chi creating the dark atmosphere, Abe's pounding beats, Steph's vicious riff-raffing. But above all, Chino's melodic screams and gibberish really brought the house down. The varied setlist was also impressive: crowd-pleaser My Own Summer (Shove It), heavy metal Korea, threatening Bloody Cape, moody Change (In the House of Flies), Sade cover No Ordinary Love, and the 'sucky' ending 7words. At the end of the show, me and Phing hung around for some celeb-spotting, except that I wasn't wearing specs and she doesn't know how Defts look like!! Long story short, Chino WALKED PAST US!!! and we were too dungu to do anything bout it. Nevertheless, simply wonderful gig for one of my all-time fave bands. Too bad they didn't play Digital Bath or Teething (all-time fave 'noisy' song).


Red Hot Chili Peppers@MEN Arena 120706

Simmering anticipation from the very start after we collected our tickets from the box office. Sitting around, chick-y Nando's staff were distributing (advertising) free wings, wearing t-shirts printed "Red Hot Peri-peri Peppers", and the amusing captions "give it away, give it away, give it away...now" haha. More laughs ensured after the doors opened and we were seating in front of the stage, with 4 inflatables bouncing around the crowd, or onto the 'beer guy'. A really bad group with a horribly gay frontman were opening, I thank them for spoiling the mood quite abit. Flea and John started jamming around 8.45pm, to mark a pleasant entrance to a fantastic opening set. Can't Stop, Dani California, Charlie, Scar Tissue, 21st Century, Otherside..as if that wasn't high enough, they followed with some more happening jams, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, then Me and my, me and my, me and my Friends. Any remaining gig chi left from the Defts gig was now totally gone and sapped to my bone's core. For the next hour, I was basically trying to keep my balance, wipe other ppl's sweat off my brow, and enjoy a musical journey with the Peppers. Blue-cap Chad and pixie-suit Flea were at their pumping best, and soulful John dishes out his orgasmic solos with careless abandon. The dissapointment of the night was Anthony though, he looked fatigued throughout and was unable to complete most of the popular choruses. Still, it was an insignificant letdown by the time By the Way came around, where the crowd was at its absolute rowdy madcap. The sing/dance-along encore of Under the Bridge and Give It Away was awesome, and tired Anthony left the stage early for the rest to round off the gig. A crowd-pleaser and fantastic concert from the legends, how proud I am to say I've seen them twice.

My Own Summer

A bewitching summer in Manchester indeed, 15-18degs is summer?! The extended daylight is very much welcome, though. To complement the run-up to World Cup Finals, I'm also in-line to attend gigs by Collective Soul, Deftones & Red Hot Chili Popiah. Can't wait, can't wait. The 'Chino' in my nick came from Deftones' lead singer Chino Moreno 9 yrs ago. 'Devean' is just a nice-sounding word. Furthermore, 3 outdoor music festivals will be held in the city centre end-July. One electronica, songwriters' competition & jazz festival. WOOHOO, can watch for free!

This morning, I enjoyed a leisurely stroll towards Castlefield, where exists remnants of a Roman Fort from 200 BC. Apparently this is where the first town in Manchester sprung up, a Roman outpost called Mamucium. Across Liverpool Rd is the Museum of Science & Industry, wide collection of stuff from this former industrial capital. Inside was a very interesting expo called 1001 Inventions, which showcased the Muslim heritage and how their inventions preceded many European inventions. However, having been to a few mammoth Chinese museums, I believe the Chinese are still a whole lot more advanced than the Muslims, what more the Europeans. One thing I would give them credit for is their mathematics, funny how our current numbers has a Hindu-Arabic origin. Arabic numerals, the 1 to 9 we use today, are said to be based on the number of angles contained in each numeral. Number 1 has one angle, 2 has two angles, and so on. See for yourself:



Interesting, ain't it? And 'zero' has a pretty long history too. After that, I went to the contempory artsy URBIS, which was hosting an interesting expo about Manc city 10 yrs after the IRA bombing. However, I couldn't find the postbox which 'survived' the bombing. Further on, I stumbled into the Chinese Art Centre, before settling for a hearty fish&chips in an English cafe. An ID made in URBIS, trying to signify the lack of privacy in city life:




Tram tracks in Piccadilly Gardens (courtesy of YW), instantly reminds me of my fave Beyond song 灰色軌跡 (Grey tram tracks):

踏著灰色的軌跡 盡是深淵的水影 我已揹上一身苦困 後悔 與唏噓
你眼裡卻此刻充滿淚 這個世界已不知不覺的空虛 喔哦...不想你別去

Don't leave, indeed.

Spain pt.3 - Madrid & Art

Arriving at Madird International, we experienced a mix-up because our plane landed at Terminal 2, and the Nebraskans at Terminal 4. It didn't help that their flight was delayed a good hour. After sorting out the confusion, and a 17-stop metro later, we reached Peurta del Sol around 10pm. This is where "Kilometer Zero" is, the point where all Spain's highway distances are measured from. Ooo -_-. Our hostel RC Miguel Angel was off nearby Calle del Arenal, a cosy lil' home business with a friendly tauke and helpful family. I shared an 8-bed dorm (22eu) with some cute American girls, sure don't see no cute girls in the UK. After a pretty good KFC supper (I'm NOT the biggest fan of Kentucky), me, Simon, Roy&Phing, strolled along the surrounding alleys. I think we pretty much covered the main streets in one night, passing by the cheap-looking Plaza Mayor, nice cafes located at sharp corners, clubs, Chinese massage therapists, and a seedy street lined with prostitutes. Simon&I crapped so much that Phing said I didn't layan her.

Where's the palace?; amazing ceiling; cou-not-ple@oriental plaza

We had breakfast in the kitchen, then set-off for sightseeing courtesy of my direction, with CM chipping in his previous experience here. There's hardly any tourist spots in Madrid, but it's a nice place to just walk, walk, walk. Unfortunately, the weather was hot, hot, hot, a scorching 35 degs. Plazas seem to pop up every 200m, but our general direction was west along Calle Mayor. First spot was the Catedral de Neustra Senora de la Almuneda, a big but dissapointing-design cathedral. Next to it is the magnificent Palacio Real, a royal palace reminiscent of Paris' Versailles, except the latter has a much more beautiful garden. A room-by-room tour of golden tables, crystal chandeliers, oriental designs, paintings (Caravaggios and Velazquez'!), wonderful ceilings, silverware that looks like the World Cup - quite impressive indeed.

Gran Via scenes

More gardens ensured - Plaza de Oriente, Jardines de Sabatini and Plaza de Espana. However, we were undone half-way by the weather, popping into a restaurant for a paella and San Miguel beer. My pistachio gelato afterward was fantastic, and CM was raving about the gelateria waitress who could speak English. WH and his girl friend (note the space in betw) went off to confirm their Eurorail seats, while the rest of us slugged down Gran Via ("Great Way"). This main street is lined with modernist structures, but we were more concerned with hiding in the shade than looking at architecture. Eventually we reached the amusingly-named Plaza de Cibeles, then Plaza de Neptuno, where we split because I was the only one interested in art galleries. CM&co visited the great park El Retiro and did some lake rowing, which sprung some cheeky stories hehe.

Phing likes Retiro trees; (ahem) Cibeless Plaza; rowing kings

Madrid has two world-class art galleries - the Prado has an elite collection of Spanish, Flemish and Italian art from the 15th to 19th centuries; the Reina Sofia showcases Spanish contempory culture. However, the main highlight was a joint Picasso exhibition by both museums, which I was really lucky to catch, having just started 2 dys ago. With a severe time limit of 2+ hrs, I raced through the expo, then the main highlights and fave artists of both museums. My fave Prado highlights: classic Botticelli & Raphael, Rennaisance masters Titian & Veronese, differing style but outstanding landscapes by Patenier & Lorrain, naturalists Rubens & Rembrandt, favoured Spanish Velazquez & de Zurbaran, and new-found love for Ribera. The museum has 7 rooms for Goya & El Greco too, but I've no love for their works. I only went to see Dali in Reina Sofia, and came out so happy that words can't describe. I've seen pictures of these since I was 10!!







Madrid Museums highlights: (CW from top left)
Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary (Sicilia's Spasimo), Raphael, c.1516 - moody and intense
Charon Crossing the Styx, Joachim Patinir, ?? - Elysium on the left and Hell on the right, haunting and brilliant
The Three Graces, Peter Paul Rubens, c.1637 - joyful splendour of nude expressions
The Great Masturbator, Salvador Dali, 1929 - the title explains its extreme vulgarity
Las Meninas, Diego Velazquez, 1656 - wonderful family portrait, with a tinge of awkwardness and dysfunctionality
The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali, 1931 - reminds me of WKW movies instantly, must be the melting clocks

For someone who can't appreciate modern art beyond Dali, this trip has opened my eyes to Picasso. Barcelona's Museu Picasso was an excellant introduction that showcased his transition from normal artist towards contempory juggernaut. I love the depressing Blue Period, Rose period was too happy, Cubism was as weird as Matisse' late works, respect for his Pacifist stance, and I just don't understand his 2 yr obsession with Velazquez' Las Meninas. Having a great deal of Picasso during this trip, I admit I do admire his vision and experimental mentality, although I've yet to become a true fan.







Revolutionary Picassos that I saw: (CW from top left)
Bread and Fruit Dish on a Table, 1909 - early Analytic Cubism
Las Meninas, 1957 - a unique take on Velazquez' masterpiece (see above)
Accordionist, 1911 - late Analytic Cubism
Massacre in Korea, 1951 - protests against indiscriminate killings of refugees by US soldiers, during the Korean War
La Vie (Life), 1902 - super-depressing painting questions life&death
Guernica, 1937 - anti-war salute to German bombing of Spanish town

Back in Madrid, we had an excellant dinner at an Italian-Spanish fusion restaurant. Bidding goodbye to the Nebraskans, the remaining 5 had a couple of drinks in Plaza Mayor before bed. A sluggish morning was given a kick by the local breakfast delicacy - churros, Spain's version of 'yau char kuai', but dipped in chocolate! Followed up by souvenir shopping, the trip was gonna end on a high before I lost my wallet on the metro heading towards the airport. Dissapointed I let my guard down on the last day, but also lucky that only lil' cash and 2 ATM cards lost. However, this trip has been really fun & brilliant, so the mishap wouldn't be enough to potong stim. Hearing egostitical stories, yakking w/ Simon nonstop, planning maps & getting lost, telling CM to 'relax' (complete with hand action), having no chance to talk to Dog, and best of all, Joseph&Phing's infallibly amusing chemistry. Thanks to all, and will be seeing Simon&WH soon enough.

CW from top left: knackered crew; best bud Team Malat President; sipping sangria; brilliant ppl; CM, relax..; The King & the Clown

Spain pt.2 - Gaudi & Waterfront

Spain consists of 17 autonomical districts, most having both legislative and financial autonomy. Wrecked by war and dictatorship during the first half of the 20th century, Spain has emerged as a fast developing nation that had no problem entering the EU in 1997. An illustrious history of Islamic renaissance and European empire, its developed culture and history attracted many envious glances, resulting its taking part in many wars. All this history contributed to the segmentation and fierce independent view of the spanish people. For example, Barca ppl would call themselves 'Catalans' and speak Catalan (Barcelona is in Catalonia), rather than say they're from 'Espanyol'.















Day 2 Barca started off promptly at Park Guell, a steep climb from metro stop Lesseps. We entered through the back gate, straight to the strange Hill of the Three Crosses (Calvary). Coming around to the brilliantly coloured serpentine plaza, doric collonades, organic-looking rock support columns, flower beds, gingerbread houses and of course, the salamander. An interesting fact: the plaza was constructed such that the rainwater from the plaza was re-directed to come out as a fountain from the salamander's mouth!! Simply amazing. More Gaudi pictures are found in a previous Gaudi post or friendster.

Fei Zhai trying to act cute; hanging on for dear life for the sake of photography; more useless photos

A bocadillo (baguette roll) and metro stop later, we were at what probably is the only unfinished cathedral in the world - La Sagrada Familia ("The Sacred Family") embodies all of Gaudi's belief and naturalistic concepts. Being typical Malaysians, we gawk, took photos, and complaint incessantly about the progress. Really, more than a 100 yrs and it's still 50% complete? NO SIESTA HAHA. There were original plans in the underground museum, and we also spent an hour getting stuck in a jam, trying to climb up the 400+ odd steps tower.

CW from top left: Hosanna in Escelsis; Gethsemane; The Passion facade; Body & Blood of Christ; stained glass window; and finally, NO FINISH NO SIESTA HAHAHA

Phing&I were surprised that the day's itinery was becoming Gaudi Day, but we still led our less-than-impressed crew to La Pedrera (Casa Milla). I was highly impressed by the structure and showcase apartment, tranfixed by the excellant Gaudi museum, but I just didn't get the rooftop designs. It looks like moulding play-doh into fingers, flowers and a stupa. A brief hostel stop later, we had a high-quality, small-portion dinner at restaurant QuQu, leaving somebody complaining to no end about the portions. A hilarious episode in Zara ensured, when somebody was feeling paiseh shopping for the gf, 'diao diao diao' non-stop hahaha. We enjoyed a night stroll towards Placa de Catalunya, where the Dog can buy his Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses. Continuing through El Raval, Barca's version of Rusholme, searching for Phing's ideal kebab shop, we walked seedy alleys and stumbled into a dodgy former-hospital-turned-plaza. The day ended with a refreshing chat at the hostel bar - free drinks, Paris and dodgy relationships, very interesting night indeed hehe.















On a more relaxed 3rd day, we strolled down Barceloneta towards the beach. Brilliant sunshine, nudes, hazy horizon, nudes, smell of sea and sand in feet, I thought I was back in Redang. Ah, the difference is ppl sunbathe topless here! More fooling around with slippers, camwhores, and sunblock, then the group split - WH etc for city centre shopping, and Manc gang for more sightseeing. After a stupid detour, we found our way to Parc de la Ciutadella, beautiful park right next to the city zoo. Pretty landscape, old buildings (incl. the parliament!), mammoth statues, oriental pavilions and the super-chun Cascada, emerging like a red rose among the white. Walking past the zoological dept building (formerly a castle), we headed for Barcelona's version of the Arc de Triomf (yeaps, correct spelling). With a severe time limit, we split again - Roy&Phing towards the post office, CM for food, and I rushed to Zara. Some expensive frankfurters later, we've hauled our luggage into the aerobus heading for Barcelona International.

CW from top left: Splendid scenery, CM&Phing korean drama moment; random pavilion; triumphal arch in backgroung; sublime Cascada