Keeping It Fresh

Who would have thought that a documentary related to social networking would make a big hit? At least I didn't, not until I watch Catfish. Some people would not really classify it as a documentary, claiming that it is all staged. Well, we are actors and the world is the stage (trying to be philosophical but apparently failed doing so =_= ). While I try not to spoil too much about it, I feel obliged that I must write something. Catfish capitalizes on the craze of social networking and unsurprisingly, they succeeded on doing that. This movie features Facebook, Youtube, Google Map, and gadgets such as Iphone and GPS devices. People can actually relate to that as there are alot of us who are using those tools and devices. This made the movie somewhat viral and highly anticipated by geeks all over the world. For me, the movie is like eating a donut coated with chocolate but filled with bitter vinegar. I know, bad example, who would do that right? But that is how I felt after watching the movie. The relationship started all sweet, just like what we would see in romantic movies. But once truth came creeping out from the closet, they started looking for answers. The woman in the movie had a problem and she felt that she could not do something that she had always wanted all this while and with the main character in the movie, Nev Schulman, she felt that she could do all that. Up to that point, I could really felt the depress and sorrow faced by her. As this is not exactly a review about the movie, maybe I should not divulge too much information about it, for now.

Working with people from different background is really eye-opening once we had a talk with them and listen to whatever that they want to tell us. It is not exactly a heart to heart session but we can learn something from other people by doing that. I have a friend who is in her 30s. She used to be married but she is already divorced and now a single mother. I did not know that she is already divorced until she told me about it herself. I mean, who am I to poke into other people's private life. I was afraid to talk about her divorce as I did not want to upset her. But she was fine about it and told me things that really taught me something about getting married. During her marriage, she felt like she is not herself anymore. She did not do things that she used to enjoy, small things like reading books and spending time to herself. She became a dull, boring woman. While change is inevitable in a marriage, she felt that she is being forced to change into something that she is not. Now divorced, she said that she can now do things that she could not before this. She is back to her old self. Happy and not bitter.

So from these two women, though they live distance apart, they are much like each other, want to be free and not being changed into something that they are not. While change into something better is never a bad thing, there are alot of things to consider in asking someone to be exactly picture perfect like what we have in mind, as if we have some sort of mould that they must come out from. The role of a man is not to dictate what a woman should be but to make the relationship fresh, just like a catfish.

Cerita Piala Dunia

Early last year, I started blogging again after years of hiatus. I continued writing after reading some blogs that in my opinion are really good in terms of their delivery and choice of words. Being an admirer of good writings, I was hooked on Lucius Maximus' Trankuiliti Tronoh. As I was thinking of a new name for my blog, I chose shrineofserenity (SS) as in resemblance of his tronohtranquility (TT) which I found was catchy enough for me. So when his writings about football and 2010 World Cup on Sokernet are being published, I did not hesitate in buying his book, Cerita Piala Dunia, just to dig into the book. For those who are used to reading his piece either on Trankuiliti Tronoh or Sokernet, they would realise that he would always stay true to his style, being cynical and at the same time preachy yet entertaining. Once I finished reading Cerita Piala Dunia, there are few things that I would like to point out:

1. This book is not exactly a review of the World Cup. If you want a book on statistics about how many goals were scored and whatnot, this is not it. This is a book for football fans who care much more than mere statistics. This is a book that relates football to politics, history and passion. For every game that he wrote about, he would only state the result in mere two or three lines. The rest would be on football and facts that we may never know. I personally like pieces on how he compared how Malaysian football can be improved by implementing steps that have been taken by other successful countries like the declaration done by Japan and the football academy initiated by Germany. Sure, you can say that we can easily google the facts. But for those who are really into writing would know that while looking for information would be easy, organizing them into a fine piece of work is not. And that is what Lucius Maximus has done with his writings.

2. Comparing his writings on Sokernet, the writings in the book are a bit mellowed. This is actually understandable as the book is actually intended for the masses. We do not want any officers confiscating the books right? I can actually see that the books will be snapped up and they will have to do a second printing, hopefully, even with the toned down style.

Reading this book, I can sense that we Malaysians are really passionate about football and would like to see improvements done for a better future. While we, the civillians, would like to see much change is done to our state of football, some people just would not want to let go of their power yet still thinking that change can be done. Well, keep on dreaming while the true, passionate football fans continue writing books like this and actually working on the revolutions of football.

Reliability.

The good thing about emails is that we can expect to get a prompt reply rather than waiting few days using snail mail. I make it a point to send emails to relevant authorities such as Majlis Perbandaran Seremban, PosMalaysia and even to my MP and ADUN to make suggestions and complaints about certain things. While some did reply and took action, some were not really enthusiastic about the emails that they got and some were not even bothered to reply. So one day I decided to email the MP of Rasah and tell him what I feel about the representatives around my neighborhood, including him. I told him while I know what he has been up to, I could not say the same about the ADUN of Rahang. It's a good thing that he took the time to reply and explain about the whole situation. I dont know about your MP, but my MP took the time to reply my email and at least that shows that he is concerned about any comments that he received, unlike Majlis Perbandaran Seremban who up until now have not replied my email. Go figure.

Merapu.Not Merapi.

What I did during my free time.

Remember,remember.

She: You used to crack jokes when you're with me.

He: Yeah, and you used to love me.

Boleh lah.

Just like my international students,these are among the first few words that they can speak once they are here in Malaysia. "Boleh lah","boleh kurang?" for them to bargain something at the shopping complex, and "cukup, cukup" I assume they use it when they order foods, maybe?

Maybe now if I wear a blue contact lens, colour my hair blonde and upload a video teaching Malay language, I would get alot of hits on Youtube. Having a tanned skin is not a problem, right?