Friday, July 31, 2009

One piece of advice

Wonderful Liz Danzico asked established designers what one piece of advice they would give an aspiring designer. (via swissmiss)

I'm no designer, but I would have said, "Making money is just a small part of the creative career which is the additional motivation. The journey, the process, the results, they all work on passion. If you want to earn lotsa money & that's all you ever think about, forget creative career and go for the multi-level marketing instead." (Photo from la boudoir)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

On top of the world

There’s something peculiar yet an interesting familiarity about London that I can’t quite put a finger on. For instance, today my attention was brought to a project by a certain Anthony Gormley called One & Other.

“For anyone that hasn’t heard about it, Anthony Gormley’s ‘One & Other’ is a public art project where 2,400 people are taking turns standing on the 4th plinth for an hour each to create a living portrait for 100 days. Participants are chosen anonymously by a computer - aiming to represent the population of the UK proportionally by choosing a certain number of people from each region with an equal number of men and women. People can do anything they want while they’re up there, as long as it’s legal.” – from Design Assembly.

Shafina was saying she would do a 360 sketch if she was chosen to be up there. I was thinking to split the hour into 15 minutes each – 15 for taking pictures of the bystanders, 15 for reciting haikus written on prompt (I am actually unbelievably good at writing nonsensical haikus), 15 for reading a love sonnet as part of my public love declaration for peri-peri chicken Azry, and another 15 to tap dance, though I am yet to learn. (Photo from Design Assembly)

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

My love affair with small towns

Small towns intrigued me.

I was in Ipoh for a work trip yesterday, and I was taken back to the times where I did not fret over deadlines or lose sleep over not having many tasks striked out my list. It was a day of bright yellow painted shop amidst the run down shoplots, old Chinese lady cycling in a relaxed manner around town, cars which do not speed up upon seeing the yellow light instead they slow down and a little girl and her cute little umbrella of which I used to own one (the umbrella, not the girl). Many other things. There was a burned down building down the road of which most of its construction components were still intact. I was tempted to walk in & explore. I was in a room listening to a briefing; instead my mind wandered off of how good the bright sunny Ipoh would look like on my supersampler prints.

By the way, the photographer over at our Ipoh office took pictures of the briefing with a film SLR. Does anybody even do that anymore? Lovely! (Photo from picturepal as I haven't developed my own roll)

Floating camping

I agree with swissmiss, this floating camping looks very relaxing. The idea of not knowing where the land will float away adds to the thrill.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Farewell to the woman who had touched our lives through her gorgeous works

Al-Fatihah to Allahyarham Yasmin Ahmad, acclaimed Malaysian film & advertising director. You will be greatly missed by many. As one was saying, 2009 is indeed not a celebrity-friendly year.
Check out this graffiti tribute to Yasmin Ahmad from artists Jeng and Kioue (via tweeting @klue) & some of the best of her work. (via tweeting @95_percent)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Please pray for Yasmin Ahmad & make sure our next generation is educated in good English


This is so funny I'm at loss for words. Before you go throwing Molotov cocktails at my house for being so ignorant & unemotional, I was talking about the "passed out/away" fiasco at Twitterverse over Yasmin Ahmad's collapse, not the event itself.

Get well soon, Yasmin. We love you. (Photo from Twig Hutchinson)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Sky play

I once overheard Azry told a cousin of mine, “I won’t worry anymore once Zana gets her hands on any camera plus a bright day with clouds. She is at her utmost joy.”

Clouds definitely made me happy. They tell thousands of stories, depending on how you see them. Holding true to my roots, I often see bunnies and kittens.

Monday, July 20, 2009

I’m not going to blog about the Man U vs Malaysia game last Saturday

I’m not going to blog about the Man U vs Malaysia game.
I’m not going to blog about the Man U vs Malaysia game.
I’m not going to blog about the Man U vs Malaysia game.
I’m not going to blog about the Man U vs Malaysia game.

I am just going to post an awesome video.

By the way, I am so NOT going to the rematch tonight. I already have got some nail scratches on my arm to support my traumatic experience. They were, you see, as a result from all the pushing to climb aboard the LRT after the Saturday’s match. I don’t care if Michael Jackson were to rise from the dead and perform at Bukit Jalil and I was given a free ticket, I am not going to waste my time anymore if the crowd is to be this immature.

Only if you pay me a hefty sum of money, then I’d reconsider.

Friday, July 17, 2009

I'm going to be cool and name this post 'Untitled' because I have no idea what to title it

“Picked up the paper it was more bad news, more hearts been broken and people being used.” - Jewel, You Were Meant For Me.

When bad things happened around our neighborhood, just like every other normal person we tend to worry a lot & we want to take part in changing the circumstance as close as possible. It makes me wonder, when we were kids, did these bad things happen a lot too & we were just too young to understand & we let our parents do the worrying/fighting part? Or there wasn’t just as much as these bad things when we were little?

On the other hand, Azry was nominated as a recipient in one of the categories for his company’s awards day or something. Hence the reason for all the long hours working. I couldn’t be any prouder for him; I’m going to let him sleep until afternoon tomorrow.

By the way, it has been 2 years since my first post!

Happy weekends! (Photo from svghnsydn)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

White box

White Box from makoto yabuki on Vimeo.

Clearly something can be created out of nothing, eh? (via swissmiss)

Clever ideas Thursday

It's Thursday but it strangely feels like Friday today. Last night Azry stayed up till 3 am working and then he went to work this morning forgetting he hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday although I've bought dinner and that left me feeling terribly upset that something that is supposed to be one minor albeit vital part of our lives (i.e work) has slowly taking over us. And also being notoriously anal(ytical) I went around thinking what a terrible wife I have been until a friend snapped me saying it was not entirely my fault. "Your fault is when you did not remind him to eat." She said.


Don't work so hard people, you don't know what you might be missing. Today it's probably just dinner, tomorrow it might be your wife purchasing a new car *hides Honda City 1.5 leaflets*.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A letter to 16-year-old me

This viral tag is stolen off from a blog friend and fellow angry woman, Lisha of which I shamelessly tagged myself and began writing right away.

Dear Zana,

When it comes to writing, I, er, you, er, you and me both are not the best person somebody can consult with. But here I am, er, you, that’s it in another 11 years, damn it this is confusing I am just going to address me as me and you as you, GEDDIT?

Ahem, where was I?

Anyway, turning 16 may have seemed just a fine start for you. Seeing that I used to be you, you will do pretty well in academics, showing flair in writing (and suck at Maths, don’t deny it I know you do) and having your school compositions photocopied and paraded around the school as one of the best ones. However satisfying this may seem, I assure you to not completely rest on your laurels. The world ahead, waiting for you is full of bumps, sweat & blood you could have never imagined you would experience.

Oh boy, I might have scared you and started us off in the wrong foot. But hey, let me whisper in a secret that might change your life for eternity.

You may not expect at all, but do you notice the fair-skinned boy in the class next door whom every girl is crazy about, the one you despise because he seems so full of himself and makes the world knows about his presence every time he’s near you – yes, that one? YOU WILL MARRY HIM.

Now, stop shrieking and get off that table and don’t hit me with that ashtray, but yes, you both will be hopelessly in love, dating for 6 years before finally tying the knot and continues to still be hopelessly crazy retarded in love. Guess what? However you may find this hard to believe, he undeniably loves you with all his heart. The reason he has been bragging loudly when he’s near you is because he wants to get your attention. It’s a guy’s thing, we will never understand.

Now if you don’t believe me you just have to wait for just another 2 years before you finally meet him back after school days and he will ask you out. In which during the first date he will be late for 3 hours because the bus he takes breaks down. It was a bad start, but he said he fell in love with you ever since you both were 13, and it was safe to believe him because it definitely shows.

Moving on.

Our dad might have been the most disagreeable person you have come across, but 11 years later he will be one of your best friends – the one in which you confide with mostly anything, mostly related to your career. Our mum, on the other hand, might be the rotan-whipping schoolteacher even at home and would not spare even a minute for you to watch the TV in time for SPM, but yes, she too, will be your best friend in years coming on. You would have noticed as them and we age, we have come in terms with each other, mellow down and can talk about almost perfectly anything. That time will come.

I did just average in university, and for that, I wish you could change that for me. What I did was: Focus, take notes about everything, ask and ask and ask, make Google your best friend, help friends and don’t expect anything back in return etc. but I guess I should have focused/done more. Perhaps I did not pray much. We were not very religiously inclined in the first place and that is something I wish you and me both could change as well.

You’ll do, I reckon, very well in your career. You started off doing graphics design & copywriting, in which you are deeply passionate about but you will be devastated because despite the hard work & long hours you are still not paid very well, so you will venture into the corporate world. You’ll meet people who inspire you, amaze you, break your heart, stab you on your back, people who hate you at first but soon become your best friends, as you persevere to survive in the rat race to get to the top of the food chain.

You don't socialize much, but you have a fair share of close friends of whom you cherish with all your heart.

Wait, I didn't remember seeing the grumpy fellow in the last photo...

Anyway.

Overall, I would have wished that we would be more adventurous in our life. To think about it, we have never even sneaked out of school, cheated in exams, skipped a single class, gone to a full-blown concert, slept under the stars, hitch-hiked, danced or sang in public, or even gotten a speeding ticket.

Some things remained though - you will still love kittens, you will still think that your dad is the greatest person in the world, Mum is still the loveliest person on Earth, and that you will always think you are different from the rest in ways only both of us know.

I may have said & advised a lot of things, but you and me both, we are still learning. It’s a never-ending process. Our 56-year-old us might be struggling to write or type us a letter, we might not know, but I reckon she’s got a lot to tell us. Or we might not make it until 56. We'll never know.

Until then, I hope I could be you again. Because there are things I wanted to change. Like going up to the fair-skinned boy in the next class & yelling out to him loudly, “YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU WILL MARRY ME!” and break the hearts of all the girls in school.

I rest my case. See ya buster.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I want to be a Katie!

People with constant positive outlook on life fascinates me as how they go through their day maintaining their optimism despite things that happen. One of them is adorable Katie Sokoler of Color Me Katie, and read what she has to say about her most important rules to live by. This was my favorite:

Don't grow up: Well, not completely anyways. I think it's important to keep that little kid inside of you. I see a lot of people turn into grumpy old men that just complain about everything. I know that we're all adults and we have important adult-like things to do but that doesn't mean we have to let go of that playful side of ourselves. I'm still all about blowing bubbles, running around in the rain, and playing with my food and I always will be!

As one of the commenters was saying, the world would be a better place if there are more "Katies" in this world!

How to get shot by The Sartorialist

Sometimes I wonder what does it take to get shot by street fashion photographer Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist - is it by having a hot bod, implement some layers in your outfit, wear a quirky hat, possess some cool attitude (by the way there's a whole blog dedicated to coolness all the way), move to Milan or Paris or to wear a feather boa although I know I'd sneeze all day?

Luckily Pipeline is kind enough to post a flowchart on how to get The Man to shoot your picture. Pstt hey, do you know that there's also a fashion blog for cats? Total linkdump today yeay! (Photo of Jude Law from Mary McCartney because well, you have to agree he's synonymous to fashion in a way.)

Monday, July 13, 2009

The word of the day

Is there something wrong with me when the first word I clicked on the photographic dictionary is 'balloon'?

Actually, I tried to find 'kitten' first...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Mine is an intergalactic year

Photojojo kindly let us know of an interesting project a certain Sven Birkir is working on, that is collecting images from 1976 to make a visual anthology of the year he was born. Holding true to the words of Pablo Picasso who says that ‘good artists copy, great artist steal’) I embarked on the same mission except that I am going to have everything in one lengthy blog post. And here’s what I found out:

1982 was the year of Space Mountain & Rocket Jets. That is why 1982 babies are so unearthly awesome.

During the year I was born, the late Michael Jackson was still black.

Photo credit

And Steve Jobs still had a lot of hair, but sadly not even a computer table in his apartment.

Photo credit

Here was probably the image of some of our fathers 27 years ago.

Photo credit

Computers were still making its way into the household during our time and they were big & bulky & still were out of this world! (check out the Apple II & Atari 800 floating in space)

Photo credits I & II

As today we are ogling over the Porsche Boxster, Aston Martin, Lotus Elise and whatnot, this fiery red Pontiac Firebird was the ultimate hotrod as I was pooping in my diaper.

Photo credit

And here is what totally awesome: A total lunar eclipse called Totality Trio was spotted at Chesapeake Bay in July in the wonderful year of 1982. It’s where a composite of three separate images captures the Moon at the beginning, middle and end of the total lunar eclipse. Try to Google if you could find any other years in which you could see a scenario like this, and you won’t probably find any other than nineteen eighty two, foo!

I was hoping I could draw a better conclusion and I know it seems repetitive and we who were born in 1982 were just so awesome we do not need any conclusions for this post.

I had too much coffee apparently.

Monday, July 6, 2009

When in doubt, dance

(via Wani Ardy's blog, of which her following post consists of a man butt naked running towards the ocean)

Why can't we love with all we've got?

After the passing of Adik, I wasn't really pondering of how she was killed thinking it was just another accident, until something happened while I was running some errands at my front lawn yesterday which shed some light into what kind of a sick world we are living in.

I was doing some sweeping as I noticed a gray MyVi zooming in a normal speed from the distant. At about the same time a stray cat happened to cross the street & lo & behold the arsehole in the MyVi instantly put his feet flat on the accelerator speeding towards the cat. As the poor feline cluelessly zigzagging its way out of the way as fast as it could to escape alive, I thought I saw a smirk on the driver's face as he passed by.

Now being the one who talks before I could think, I yelled out "BASTARD!" fast enough before noticing the driver having his car window rolled down & (un)fortunately loud enough for him to hit his brakes and stormed out of his car towards me. My heart thumped faster. I was not exactly ready for things to come as he bellowed, "Oi what did you call me lah?"

Gathering all the rest of courage I had left (I wasn't exactly the perfect negotiator nor debater) I picked up from Dad saying that all I had to do was stay calm, and replied, "I called you, in exact words, a bastard for trying to run over that poor cat."

"What's wrong with you lah har? It's just an animal what. Crazy. Cannot call people bad things over that."

"Sir, I can't tell you how ashamed I am over your seemingly selective and lack of compassion. In that case I am going to exercise the same & push on the accelerator as, say, your son is crossing the street. How about that? Can lah har? It's JUST a kid anyway. You can always make another one."

Now I could go on about how people who enjoy killing helpless animals are just a step closer towards becoming a psychopath, but just to avoid any further conflicts as well as before losing my cool & throwing a fit which I assure you won't be a pretty sight, I excused myself as he called out to me crazy woman, chi sin, action speak English only & whatnot.

I'm glad we had this conversation anyway. (Photo credit goes to the original owner via visualize.us)

70 designers who shaped the world

Extra, extra, read all about it! Saul Bass, Tom Dixon, Zaha Hadid, Dieter Rams, Peter Saville, Stefan Sagmeister (of course!), Tord Boontje and lots more!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

But I don't want to go to work!

Oh yes, people, it's Sunday and don't we all wish it would never end this soonest don't we? That definitely looks like me dragging Azry out of bed every Monday. Or him dragging me. It depends. (Photo from Cute Overload)

Friday, July 3, 2009

I would love to be here

...covered in red umbrellas & whatnot. Would you too? Reading the comments criticizing on the lack of creativity & urging for more innovative ideas I guess people sometimes forget to loosen up and divert their focus on the emotional impact on this - how soothing this can be. Or probably I am just way too easily pleased.

A-Z

This is very much worth mentioning as we all love wonderful, futuristic ideas and it’s even more interesting as it comes from the creative folks over at one of my favorite agencies, Wieden + Kennedy. As the post from their blog was saying, Selfridges & Co launched Future A-Z, a collection of 25 crazy-sensible future products exhibited along Orchard Street, ranging from the stupidly clever Airbag Cycle Helmets through to the darker dimension of Designer Organs.

However, product X is missing and W+K is challenging the public to come up with a product the letter X could present in year 2019. Are you up for it? I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Xtra Sensitivity Boss Radar but I might change my mind later on.