Mamma Mia!

Another musical starring an all star casts?! Can you shout out Moulin Rouge and Chicago? Anyway I am a fan of musicals and if Pierce Brosnan I know someone who's dying to see the movie with me. Since Nuffnang is so kindly giving away free tickets to the first 215 Gliteratti members I'm game. Music from ABBA, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan what more reason can I say but to watch it. Show me the tickets!

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Malaysia - The New Villages

If you take a look around and closely scrutinise your surrounding you are sure to find great places where you were never aware. I've always been fascinated with the new villages which according to your history books came about during the Communist insurrection as a result of the Brigg's plan to relocate far flung settlements into a centralised area to prevent smuggling of aid and food to communists. Largely these new villages were predominately Chinese in nature and today there are still countless of these villages in existence most often haphazard wooden housings with community centers and commercial activities to sustain them. The luckier ones have been given their land titles and thus secure against any eviction or urban renewal, those not so fortunate often find themselves living in limbo, wondering if the years they have settled can be swept away in an instant if the government so wishes it.

I found myself one morning walking the streets of one such village, Salak South, a collection of wooden houses, modern brick bungalows, shoplots, makeshift factories and temples located along the hills and surrounded on all sides by the modern city. So much so it looks like a little oasis cut off from much of the development surrounding it. It is fascinating to watch the individual houses as each is different fro m its neighbour so unlike most of the modern housing estates . Walking by you can observe old uncles sitting by the roadside coffeeshop sipping black tea from chipped cups and saucers as they exchange in a lively debate on everything from the weather to local politics. Elsewhere you find a blue Moris Minor being put up for sale, proclaimed with the price written on its windscreen yet it looks as if no takers have been inquiring from the weeds that have grown around it. Down the road, school children in similar blue and white uniforms rush to make it before the school bell rings, old ladies with goods laden behind their bicycles heading to the market, a salvage shop noisily dismantling a wrecked car for scrap metal, a priest coming out to make the morning offerings off joss sticks, old grandmas sitting out in the porch watching strangers go by, men in suits and ties going into their Mercedes Benz while driving out from their wooden kampung house, and many more unique sights can be found.

The next time you pass a New Village take some time to soak in the atmosphere and see for yourself. Written for The Malaysia Pages.

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A flurry of Summer Movies?

"After cleaning up the earth and discovering some robo-steroids, Wall-E can finally be all the robot he can be."

This is for an entry for two special passes to watch Evangelion: 1.0 You are (NOT) Alone. The rest is some fun I drew up in a couple of minutes. Feel free not to laugh if the parodies are too lame.

Announcer: Attention all passengers flying 'Air Apa', flight had been delayed again due to unforseen circumstances. We'll be giving away free coupons for delays amounting to over 3 hours, please have a good day.
Announcer: "ping pong", attention all passengers whoever parked his $#$#% car in the disabled zone, congratulations its been stomped by a giant robot.
PM: My fellow citizens, I had to take the ERL here due to the fuel hike and to show my support to the rakyat (please vote for me again if the Pakatan manages to steal my ministers). We are being invaded by an unkown crazy killer robot that is causing chaos, destruction and mayhem in the capital and no its not those PAS people again protesting everything under the sun. I wish to ask you to remain calm as we have asked some of the most famous summer blockbuster heroes to come to our aid. Let me first introduce this radioactive fellow, Mr Hulk?

Hulk: Me SMASH!
#SPLAT#
PM: Oh nasty green smudge on the robots feet. Eer next lets welcome mr Batty himself.
Batman: No worries I'll sort this out for you good citizens.
No2: Mmm he's in good form gotta find out how much costs he pays for those bat mobiles and other gadgets, maybe we can outfit our military with them things, hopefully he'll offset the costs of our next angkasawan to space.
PM: He's doing fine, look he just threw his batarang but seems like no effect. Mmm maybe we should stick with our scorpion subs and helicopters for now. Ouch he just got whacked, too bad. Next!
No 2: Mmm this big boy seems promising, he's big and mean and look at all that weaponry
PM: No can do la we ban such violent movie characters like then in the past, I still think we should have done more than change Hellboy to Super Sapiens. Cut!
No2: Next one is not too much of a hero but Mr Night
Night: "I see dead people"
PM: Eer ok but there's a giant robot loose can you do something?
Night: I got rid of an alien once by beating it with a bat will that do?
PM: Eer maybe something more than that? If you can't do the job you're out!
Night: This isn't Happening!!!!!
PM: Terrible la this people who's next?
No2: He says he's new but is destined to be the destined one and he'll do his best but suspicious la, he's only wearing an old brief.
Panda: Hi how are you doing? Panda's the name, kung fu's my game whooahhh.
PM: Look out!
"Dosh"
No2: Dang told you we should have passed that endangered species trafficking law now our hero just got bonked and is likely to end up in some back alley shop being served as soup!
PM: Sigh looks like we have to contract it to someone local, is Mr Cicak still in employ
No2: Mmm No la seems he's off promoting his new cicakman 2 movie in Indonesia so no go.
PM: I got an idea, lets just direct him north to the next state and then we can make it a Pakatan problem and let them see how they take care of it.
No 2: Good idea, at least this took people's mind off from the high fuel costs and rising food prices, now got more rebuilding to do and we can award the contract to the cronies so we can plan for the next election.
PM: Agreed, make it so.

*All people, names and places portrayed here are fictacious and are in no relation to anyone living or dead unless you think you have an uncanny resemblence to them

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