Q & A time (tagged)

Ok, got tagged by Ridzzy the Snakeman with this list of questions. Here goes:

1. Do you think you’re hot?
No. However, me is confident of me "charms" & is comfortable in me own skin.

2. Upload a favourite picture of you.

3.Why do you like the picture?
It was taken at me old pub - Broadwalk - a couple of weeks before me was handing it over to new owners (me had just sold it). A customer who works in sports events management managed to give me & the regulars a fooking fantastic farewell pressie by bringing PHIL NEAL (winner of FOUR European Cups with LFC) to me pub. Pix is special as we got to meet an Anfield legend & the pose with Shankly overlooking us just make it look all that much better. Plus me is surrounded by some of the noisiest, rowdiest &, of course, nicest Kopites around who were responsible fer making Broadwalk special.

4. When was the last time you ate pizza?
Two nites ago. Wifey & meself were fooking tired after work. So had to make do with a frozen pizza in the oven . . . sigh . . .

5. The last song you listened to.
Just finished Bob Marley & The Wailer's Rastaman Vibration album. Continuing with Megadeth's United Abominations as me finishes this. (Me has me headphones almost permanently at work, much to the chagrin of me colleagues as me canna hear me fooking phone going off the hook!).

6. What are you doing right now.
Pretending to work . . .

7. What name would you prefer besides yours?
Anfield Devotee!(No, Ridzzy, its not Fook)

Orrite, that's me done. Me is supposed to tag another two persons fer this & me tags Madam O (http://psychomocha.blogspot.com/) & Aunty Akuani (http://iroa.blogspot.com/).

ps: Me will be going fer Harith Iskandar's stand up routine tomorrow. Anyone else going?

pps: If you are having problems viewing text or any portion of me posting, please highlight the area & the missing text should appear. Blogger fooked up lar fer now . . .

Celluloid Gold

Wifey has been hounding me to do this post fer fooking ages & now me has been tagged by JonC to list me top5 films of all time. So here goes, (from top to bottom according to pix):

Seven Samurai (1954): Often cited as one of the most influential films of all time, this tour de force from Akiro Kurosawa is a master class in movie making. From the soundtrack to the grand cinemascope, you can see why it is legendary. Story is how impoverished farmers turn to a group of ronin to defend village from bandits & ensuing tensions between the farmer & warrior classes are revealed. Poignant & subtle with its anti-war message, this is Asian cinema at its best. Without Seven Samurai, there would be no Star Wars (Lucas decided to make a sci-fi version after seeing it), Magnificent Seven or . . . er . . . Last Man Standing (The Bruce Willis shoot-em up tribute).

Escape to Victory (1981): Still get goosebumps whenever me watch the final match portion. Was on the telly recently & it still makes me want to jump up & cheer when Pele scores dramatic equaliser with overhead kick. Simple tale of WWII prisoners challenged to a game against the occupying Nazis in France. Still has the magic ability to make me feel fooking twelve all over again. Also Sylvester Stallone's finest hour as an actor. (I am fond of pointing out to footie fans that the Allied team managed to come back from three goals down with a team comprising world cup winners Bobby Moore, Pele & Ossie Ardilles. LFC did it in Istanbul with the likes of Djimi, Djibril & Dietmar!!!)

Gandhi (1982): First time me ever shed tears watching a film. The tragedy & sheer human waste in this film is absolutely gut-wrenching. The struggle of one man fer freedom, equality & justice fer all is brilliantly brought to cinematic life by Ben Kingsley (who deservedly won an Oscar fer his potrayal). I was but a wee lad when this came out but it had a profound effect on me & I probably watched this over a dozen times over the next few years (having video taped a TV screening of the fim). It was to me utter disgust that later around 1985, all me school friends (mainly Chinese guys) had dismissed this film as unimportant (eg: "who cares about some Indian guy?" - Yeonzon Yeow / "Its not a classic like Star Wars is it? - Soo Teck Loong). Yup, this film formed an integral part of me formative years & highlighted the differences between me & me chosen friends . . .

Godfather II (1974): Six fooking Oscars. Cast with the magic pairing of Al Pacino & Robert De Niro (though they did not appear on screen together). Story telling of epic proportions, this film acts as both sequel & prequel. Showing the rise of new Godfather, Michael Corleone (Pacino) interspersed with the story of his father's (De Niro) rise from orphaned immigrant to New York overlord. Filmed in wonderful sepia tones, turn of the century Big Apple soon turns to the blood bath of 50s gangland. Legendary director, the late, great Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey / A Clockwork Orange / The Shining - who is not known to give praise to anything or anyone) quipped to an author friend, "Godfather II is the best film ever made. End of story."

Pulp Fiction (1994): Quentin Tarantino is a fooking genius! I know his recent films haven't been all that great but anyone who can capture our attention with dialogue about what a fooking cheeseburger & a Big Mac is called in France deserves all the plaudits he can get. A noir crime thriller with a spectacularly non-linear sequence, the film saw sterling performances & ultra-hip, cool dialogue from Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis (again, wearing his trademark singlet - Pagoda should fooking sponsor this dude la) & John Travolta. Anyone who has not seen this should be interned in a prison fer crimes against cinema! (ps: the soundtrack is spectacularly eclectic & started the trend of including snippets of dialogue on albums).

There you have it. Since its only five, there was no space fer any of the Scorcese classics like Goodfellas or Mean Streets, Glaswegian drug craziness of Trainspotting or James Cameron's awesome Titanic (only kidding!) . . . Happy viewing!

ps: Afif (http://afifplc.blogspot.com/) & @dam (http://adamscreek.blogspot.com/), you've been tagged!

pps: Before anyone starts asking who me dream date to the movies would be, sorry, its still wifey!

A Toxteth Tale

I was tagged by Tuan Kerp to say me two sen's worth on the much trumpeted (but rarely practised) concept of Muhibbah. I have mentioned before despite me frequent postings on race relations, I am not some rabid extremist Macha. I can proudly say I have close friends from various races & we all get together to share a few laughs over a beer or two. Yes, even me Melayu-jahat (most of em anyways) friends drink; alcohol is kinda of a social glue that bonds us all together.

Anyways, I digress. I'd like to share a tale or two with you which me thinks highlights the concept of muhibbah. Although it was a few years ago & me was then a young, long-haired metalhead studying in Liverpool, it still resonates with me till today.

In me final year, I was living in the seriously fooked-up ghetto section of Merseyside known as Toxteth (rent was cheap). Me flatmate & meself were the only two non-Malay residents in an apartment block filled with loads of Bumi students.

Story 1:
So every Friday evening, the Malaysian contingent would gather at the plastic turf pitch (the same one where Robbie Fowler honed his skills!) behind our apartment blocks fer a kick about. I got to know most of the Malay students here & always had a good laugh. In particular, there was this Kelatanese guy who was very amiable and friendly. Then one day I found out he had casually asked the other guys, "Apo namo Bala?"

"Bala la," came the reply. "Tok, namo Melayu dia," he asked again. The other guys chuckled & told him me full name & that me really was a Macha, not Melayu (me mixed blood heritage means I am more chocolate than Guinness)! Guess what, the amiable & friendly Kelantanese fooking stopped speaking to me after that . . .

Story 2:
Me & me mates took turns cooking & since most of the other diners were Moslem, I made sure all food stuff were purchased from the Halal butcher store. One such store was run by this pak cik sailor (there were quite a few in Liverpool) who never returned after the war.

So one fine fooking day, I was there waiting fer him to chop me bird, he makes small talk. Telling me how I need to study hard & do well in me exams . . . so far, so good . . . coz as a Malay I needed to go back & reclaim Tanah Melayu from the dastardly Cina & Keling!!! Fooking hell, I was at boiling point but held me tongue as this was an old man & didn't want to tell him to fook off (in hindsight, I should have).

I recounted me experience with me other Malay friends who saw the funny side of the story but nonetheless, in a show of solidarity, decided to boycott the racist muthafooker. Considering the pak cik's shop was the closest & most convenient Halal butcher to us, I was quite touched that they saw a need fer affirmative action against a fellow (ex-)Malaysian.

Anyways, here's are two sides of the coin that to me show the kind of polarisation we face. On the one hand, there are those narrow-minded fookers who only befriend their own kind. But all is not lost as there some who can still see thru the bullshit.

ps: Sorry fer the long-winded tales. Please feel free to share yer own experiences by posting in the comments box.

pss: JonC & Bernard Chong, you have been tagged. Please do write about this topic in yer respective blogs (on me blog roll).

tagged . . .

Tagged by senorita

senorita's Q: you have been speeding when the Patrol car pull you over to give you a speeding ticket. you know that you cannot have another ticket under your name or your merit points will be 0 and you can never drive again. what will you say/do to convince the officer to not give you a ticket? (no corruption allowed and pls be creative).

the instruction: I'll tag you a question which you'll answer on your blog, and then you create your own question and tag it on to someone else.

My A: Happened to me once, not speeding but was fooking pissed drunk & I nearly swerved into a patrol car behind me! Of course, was stopped & threatened with arrest. Told em I was entertaining police officers at me pub & they could call said officer to confirm. Thank goodness I had a cop friend who duly backed up me story. Phew . . .

If it was speeding as per original question; I'd just give em me licence & put me hands up & say, "yup, I was wrong, I deserve a summons". This usually leads to a warning rather than an actual ticket.

Me Q fer anyone interested in answering: How much abuse will you tolerate from yer boss before telling that him/her to fooking fook off; or will you just swallow it to keep yer job?