1.      Yazoo: Upstairs at Eric’s (1982)

2.      The Human League: Hysteria (1984)

3.      Thompson Twins: Into The Gap (1984)

4.      Talk Talk: It’s My Life (1984)

5.      Duran Duran: Rio (1982)

6.      Duran Duran: Duran Duran (1981)

7.      Yazoo: You and Me Both (1983)

8.      New Order: Technique (1989)

9.      Pet Shop Boys: Please (1986)

10.   ABC: Lexicon Of Love (1982)

Syntikkapopin klassikkoduo Yazoon kummatkin levyt oli helppo valita listalle. Alison Moyetin ääni ja Vince Clarken loihtimat upeat syntikkamelodiat ovat täydellinen yhdistelmä. Don’t Go, Situation, Only You, Goodbye 70’s, Nobody’s Diary ja Happy People ovat upeita biisejä, joiden taika on vieläkin tallella. Human Leaguen Hysterian ja Thompson Twinsin Into The Gapin ostin samaan aikaan loppukesästä 1984 ja kuuntelin niitä taukoamatta. Kummatkin levyt ovat täynnä upeita ja monella tapaa raikkaita popbiisejä, joiden tahdissa on ollut mahtavaa bailata. Talk Talkin It’s My Life -albumiin sisältyy paljon muistoja Anu -nimisestä tytöstä, joka oli yksi suurista nuoruuden rakkauksistani. Varsinkin äärimmäisen kaunis Renée tuo muistoja mieleeni. Duran Duranin kummatkin listalla olevat levyt ovat yksinkertaisesti täydellisiä. Girl on Film, Planet Earth, Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf ja Save a Prayer ovat suurenmoisia. New Orderin Technique -levy on minulle tärkeä, sillä sitä tuli kuunneltua parhaan kaverin kanssa todella paljon levyn ilmestyttyä. Albumin kappaleet rullaavat vaivattomasti eteenpäin ja koko levy on hieno kokonaisuus. Pet Shop Boysin Please -levy sisältää West End Girlsin, joka on mielestäni yksi parhaista kappaleista koskaan. ABC:n mestariteos Lexicon Of Lovea kuuntelin yhdessä Inka -nimisen tyttöystäväni kanssa. The Look of Love ja All Of My Heart ovat mielestäni täydellisiä popkappaleita edelleen.

Tämän listan levyt eivät ole valikoituneet tähän pelkästään musiikillisten ansioidensa takia, vaan ne ovat myös täynnä muistoja discon tanssilattialta, suurista rakkauksista ja parhaiden kavereiden kanssa vietetystä ajasta. Listan ulkopuolelle jäi monta hienoa levyä ja toisaalta listalla olevien bändien jokin toinen levy on monen mielestä varmasti parempi kuin listalla oleva. Totta, mutta muistoni nostivat nämä levyt niiden musiikillisesti parempien ohi. Listan ulkopuolelle jäi myös Depeche Mode, sillä se olisi vienyt kaiken tilan, eikä se olisi ollut tarkoituksenmukaista.

Haastan sinut tekemään samanlaisen listan ja lupaan kommentoida, kun listasi on valmis.

According to Wikipedia:

• a type of behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time
• a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any decisions or tasks
• procrastinators are thought to have a higher-than-normal level of conscientiousness, more based on the dreams and wishes of perfection or achievement in contrast to a realistic appreciation of their obligations and potential

Human make decisions all the time, be it big or small. With decisions made, there will always be consequences. Tapi sebelum keputusan dibuat, semestinya kita sebagai manusia perlu mempertimbangkan the pros and cons. Procrastination is good. A positive one. To ensure that the project-to-be will be on track, all involved with the project is aware with the cons-points,  all plans will be well-executed and at last, successful. BUT, the cons-points have to be good. Big. Yang logik akal. Sesuai dengan peredaran zaman. Jangan la pulak ko pegi bagi point yang tak logik. Kalo ya pun logik (according to you la), but immaterial. Let's say the total cost of the project is 200K, point yang ko nak bagi tu, kalo terjadi pun, will only cost about 0.0000014K. Itupun kalo terjadi la. Ni yang aku menyampah nih!

I am tired with this kind of people. Mind me (not you, since entry ni aku dedicate kat diri aku sendiri), not the people that I hate, but the habit. When I am all excited to start on something, when I am all armed with the justifications (positive ones, sebab aku sentiasa berfikiran positif :)), suddenly a hamba Allah (sesapalah) will point out the 0.0000014K points. Hmmmmphpft!

Itu on procrastination isu. Tak masuk lagi isu the boss-is-always-right. Ala-ala nak serupa jugak la dgn isu procrastination ni. When you have completed, let's say in this case, the monthly report, all printed out to perfection, fonts and sizes, the numbers are all correct and its 5 minutes to clock-out time, boss suddenly decided to change some wordings which somehow will still bring people who reads the report arrive to the same conclusions as when they read the previous wordings. Boleh tak? To me, as a boss, part of your job is to let your sub-ordinates grow. That is to trust them, to let them try and do things their own way, with the understanding that you and your subs have a common goal to achieve. You are there to supervise and to guide, among other things, so that the company can achieve it's goal. The above is a simple example of a 20K worth of a report being amended with a 0.0000002K idea. Yang tak membawa apa-apa perubahan pun kepada report tu. Not value-adding at all. True, as a boss, you are more experienced, you know better, etc, but then your subs also have experience though young. What a boss can do, ideally (to me la), is to consider the idea, respect your subs idea/ hard work. In this report case: if the wordings convey the message and not offensive, so why not? The boss can suggest what he/ she has in mind instead of just crossing out your work to be replaced with his/ her idea. Kalo dah banyak sangat, it gets demotivating, and you'll tend to buat lewa je untuk akan datang sebab dah tau nanti mesti bos nak amend punya.

Enough of that.

Eid Mubarak to everyone, especially beloved friends: Ziah, Nash, Intan, Rina, KakLong, Adah and anyone who reads this blog (mcm ayat perasan glamer laks!)

Maaf zahir batin. Semoga Ramadhan yang kita bakal tinggalkan ini lebih baik dari yang lepas. Semoga kita semua Allah panjangkan umur agar berkesempatan bertemu dengan Ramadhan seterusnya.

**The Who’s
Who Was The Last Person You Talked To? Tie, my team mate at work
Who Was Your Last Kiss? My husband, before he went off to work
Who Knows The Most About You? Me and I... heheh
Who Can Make You Laugh No Matter What?  the Bujang Lapok... dah tgk berjuta-juta kali pun akan tetap gelak
Who Can You Always Count On? My family…
Who Has Your Heart? My husband and our babies
Who Is or Was Your Favorite Teacher In School? Puan Chun
Who Is Your Best Friend(s)? My husband
Who Loves You? Obviously everyone who knos me… I’m very lovable. Hahahah! (tiru Ziah)

**The What’s
What Is Your Favorite Song At The Moment? My favorite song of all time, Nothing but the radio on
What Are You Looking Forward To? Next week, celebrating Aidilfitri in Kelantan
What Is Your Favorite Color? Green
What Website Do You Visit Most? Maybank2U, my friends' blog
What Is Your Favorite Smell? Fresh made coffee, fresh baked buttercake, baby's smell, hubby's smell
What Is Your Favorite Movie? None. Anything is ok, depends on the mood
What Makes You Mad? Cakap tak serupa bikin people/ procrastinators
What Curse Word Do You Use A lot? I don't curse... hehehehehehehh... *muka innocent*
What Kind Of Phone Do You Have? A pink Sony Ericsson phone
What Was The Last Song You Listened To? Nothing but the radio on (the ringtone everytime my husband calls)

**The When’s
When Was The Last Time You Went To The Mall? 21th September 08
When Did You Talk To Your Crush Last? My last crush was during uni time, back in 2002 and he didn't even know that I exist... huhu
When Do or Did You Graduate? 2003
When Is The Next Time You’ll Do Something Fun? Hari Raya! 6 more days to go... yeay!
When Was The Last Time You Ate or Drank Something? This morning during sahur, I had 4 bijik kurma and a cup of kopi
When Is Your Birthday? 4.3.1979
When Was The Last Time You Went To The Movies? Took Damia to watch Kungfu Panda, 2-3 months back
When Is Your Parents Birthday? Mak's in April and Ayah's in July
When Were You In The Car Last? This morning, on the way to work
When Will You Be 21? Dah lepas la... sob! sob!
When Will You Be Taking Your Next Vacation? 30th Sept till 6 Oct, raya! raya!

**The Where’s
Where Do You Live? bawah ketiak mak ayah :p
Where Is The Best Place To Be? right now I just want to be at home, tido dan tido dan tido sebab selsema
Where Was Your Last Vacation? Melaka bandaraya bersejarah
Where Were You Born? Hospital Bersalin Kuala Lumpur
Where Is Your Best Friend? Right now, he's at work
Where Was The Last Place Your Were Besides Your Own House? The office
Where Do You Think You’ll Be In 10 Years? Still breathing, insyaAllah, enjoying my family, friends and life
Where Is Your Cell Phone? Next to my office's pc
Where Are Your Parents? Kuala Lumpur
Where Was Your Display Picture Taken? At home, on the bed

I want to buka posa with roti bom and kari ikan today. Beli kat kedai mamak Bismi.

:mrgreen:

• Timeline for contribution management system's project (before the 1st committee meeting Wed, 24/9)... argggh... lusa!
• Discussion note on CSR's Jumble Sale (isk... tekanan... tekanan...)
• Balance Scorecard
• Distribute report of visits to the respective file's owner
• Kemas bilik opis
• Bayar biskut raya & kek lapis
• Settle all monthly bills (not work-related, but internet access is available only in the office, so considered part of office work la)

At home:

• Kemas bilik
• Kemas baju nak balik kampung
• Raya sandal for me
• Raya shoes for Damia
• Nak buat biskut raya (heheh)

My cuti raya will officially start on the last day of Ramadhan, InsyaAllah. This year, we'll be celebrating raya in Kelantan and will be back in KL on the 6th of October.  

it's getting towards the end of the decade again...yikes.

i can remember this feeling ten years ago. that 'shit, was that the 90s?' feeling. even though i started the 90s as a child, it seemed like it went too fast. i'm not looking forward to all those shows and compilations to start appearing, showcasing the 00s.

anyway, to combat this feeling that time is running away with us, rewind to the early 90s. pretend it was all a dream, like bobby in dallas. and if you're old enough to know what the hell i'm talking about there, you will be shitting yourself at the thought of the end of another decade too.

check out previous ibiza and chillout posts:

when it was all just fields retro chillout: think playing fields, those flea dart things, ice cream vans...

ibiza: a post about chilling a look back at what the 90s could have been ..crystals, sunsets and new age music

balearic classics

audio deluxe - 60 seconds

a man called adam - barefoot in the head

bbg - snappiness

beloved - the sun rising

blow monkeys - la passionara

the grid - flotation

klf - what time is love

sheer taft - cascades

simple minds - theme for great cities

st etienne - only love can break your heart

sub sub - past

talk talk - life's what you make it

[caption id="attachment_555" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I jeszcze ręcznie robiona!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_556" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pokój dla wierzącej osoby znającej ortografię."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_558" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kler tylko na wagę? W sumie się nie dziwę"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_559" align="aligncenter" width="192" caption="Cipolle to dobra przekąska do piwa?"][/caption]

Aha.. no i kopyrajty. Możesz umieszczać u siebie te foty. Ale musisz podać linka do Krewety. Inaczej Kreweta się zdenerwuje.

EDIT: Jeszcze piosenka. Wybaczcie ale nie znalazlem lepszej jakości - Talk Talk - It's my life

I całkiem dobra przeróbka No Doubt:

Questo post è dedicato a coloro che pensano che dai talent-show (non dai reality: "Amici" è un reality, "X factor" è un talent) musicali non venga fuori niente di valido. La musica ormai, quella nuova, quella dei giovani in rampa di lancio, è invece destinata a passare sempre più dalla tv. Triste, se vogliamo, perchè vuol dire che le porte principali sono chiuse dai "senatori", ma spesso le porte di servizio sono migliori.

Quentin Mosimann ha 20 anni è nato in Svizzera da mamma elvetica padre francese. Ha vinto "Star Academy" 2008, il talent francese e adesso sta sbaragliando le classigfiche col suo primo ablum "Duel". Pop di plastica? Nemmeno per idea, perchè Quentin ha una voce jazz e la sfrutta, suona benissimo il pianoforte e l'album è un capolavoro, cantato in tre lingue diverse, italiano compreso.

Doppio album, completamente jazz da un lato e completamente elettropop dall'altro, ad unire le sue due radici musicali (Mosimann è anche un dj:si faceva chiamare John Louly). L'unico inedito per ora è "Chercher le garcon", che potete sentire in alto (qui invece la versione remix). Il resto sono cover di brani di anni '80, proposti a volte in entrambe le versioni. Ma a fine 2008 uscirà un lavoro completamente di brani nuovi.

Qualche esempio delle cover? Ascoltate quella electro di "Il mio rifugio" di Riccardo Cocciante oppure, per chi si ricorda l'orginale (che sta qui) quella straordinaria jazz di "C'est la ouate" , mitico inno alla pigrizia firmato Caroline Loeb (qui c'è anche quella elettro, per i patiti del tunz tunz).

E che dire della storica "Such a shame" dei Talk Talk (ah, come sono vecchio!)? Facciamo il confronto. Qui c'è quella originale, qui invece il remix di Mosimann. peccato invece non aver trovato in rete le sue due versioni di un altro pezzo storico della dance anni'90, vale a dire "Etienne" di Guesh Patty.

In compenso, abbiamo trovato "Je l'aime à mourir", lanciata nel 1979 da Francis Cabrel: qui la versione jazzata di Mosimann e qui l'orginale dello chansonnier francese. Davvero un album sublime. Risentiremo parlare di questo ragazzo. Ma senza "Star Academy" non l'avremmo mai conosciuto...

Handbag idaman. Alahai...! Birthday aku nak dekat dah ni.... *batukbatuk!* :p

After almost 4-years of marriage, at last, I am presenting to you... THIS!

Ketupat sotong!

Somi tersayang been asking me to learn how to cook this ketupat sotong since the early days of our marriage. My excuse: this is the kind of food that's very the very rich with lemak and cholesterol and also very sweet, and I want my husband to be healthy, to eat healthy. Bahaya makanan banyak lemak dan gula nih! Dalam kurungan: malas sebenarnya aku nih!

Last Ramadhan, we frequented this one gerai that was selling all kinds of Kelantan delicacies, and they had this ketupat sotong. One sotong was RM3 at that time. So this Ramadhan, we were hoping that this gerai will still be there so that my husband can get his ketupat sotong supply there. First Ramadhan, the gerai was there, but ketupat sotong was not there. Husband was a bit frustrated, I think. Hari ke berapa tah, jumpa! Suka somi akak. Tapi, satu sotong RM4, dua dah RM8! Sotongnya kecik, pastu keras. Tak berapa puas hati la. Sian somi aku.

Ketupat sotong in progress

So, last weekend, I called up his aunt, asked for the recipe, and.... taadaa! Berjaya jugak akak menjadi isteri mithali dengan menyediakan juadah berbuka puasa favorite somi. First time jugak aku merasa ketupat sotong ni. Sedap. Chewah... mcm puji diri pulak. Huhu... kembang kejap. So, sotong 10 ekor RM10, pulut tak sampai RM1, garam gula secukup rasa, gula melaka RM3 kot, santan RM1.60, daun pandan amik belakang rumah, semua sekali RM15.60, dapat 10 biji ketupat sotong yang sedap... heheh ayat puji diri lagi nih. Kalau beli RM16 baru dapat 4 biji yang kecik dan tak berapa sedap. Terer kan aku? Hahahahah... *gelak riak nih*

Sebelum buat ketupat sotong, kena la beli sotong dulu... nak jugak tepek gambo anak aku.. huh!

Sekarang aku dah pakai bedak, cantik tak? *sambil tunjuk penumbuk*

p/s: I am not responsible for this entry. A blog-entry of a good friend has triggered this entry.

Saja je nak perasan cantik. Hihi.

In 1985, the Ministry of Culture, in association to the newly-formed Ministry of New Generation of Greece and the French Ministry of Culture, decided to have a two-day rock festival in Athens.

Back then, the Greek minister of culture was the actress Melina Merkouri, a member of the "socialist" government, which helped, in a way, the festival "Rock In Athens" to take shape.

After the fest, It was very funny to see Nina Hagen kissing and hugging Merkouri...but...anyways.

The festival dates: July 26 and July 27. The ticket price was 1500 drachmas for one day or 2000 for both days and the bandlist consisted of: 

• July 26: Culture Club, Depeche Mode, Stranglers (the ticket also mentions Brigades Musicalles, which was the parody rock greek band Mousikes Taxiarhies.  In the end they refused to take part in the event.)
• July 27:  Nina Hagen, the Cure, Talk Talk and the french band Telephone.  (The ticket also mentions a "guest star" which turned out to be the Clash). 

I remember both days were hot and in the audience there were .. I don't know, maybe 25-30.000 people each day.

Maybe more.

We were surprised by the presence of so many..."punk rockers"...well, many people were dressed as punks or new wavers for the occasion...the punks were not more than 500 in Athens back in those days.

Here, it seemed like they were...millions...

So, the Stranglers started the show on the first day, they did all right, I was in the mosh pit and I still remember someone throwing a slipper (!!) at Jean Jacques Burnel.

Stranglers Midnight Summer Dream (Greek TV)

Depeche Mode went on stage when night came so I pulled back (i was never a fan of theirs).

When Culture Club went on, all Hell broke loose. First there was a black singer singing (never got his name) and when Boy George showed up, plastic bottles full of water or sand were thrown by the audience.

John Moss threw his drumsticks at the audience and Boy George kept his attitude saying, "If I was a bad lady I would have shown you my ass..."  Truth be told, this band's performance was excellent.  Very good musicians.

Telephone opened the next day.  I didn't pay much attention but Talk Talk really shook my boots off.  Man, these guys were really great. I knew them from a couple of songs but, man, they were something.

Talk Talk - Rock In Athens (Greek TV)

The next act came from The Cure, and although they didn't have a strong fan-base in Greece just yet, I assume this gig, and the ones which followed during the next 22 years, really helped them to establish their name in Greece.

I found their playlist of that day on their site and the following is their tracklist:

• Intro:
  - the glove - relax
• Mainset:
  - the baby screams
  - play for today
  - secrets
  - kyoto song
  - the hanging garden
  - inbetween days
  - primary
  - cold
  - let's go to bed
  - the walk
  - one hundred years
  - give me it
  - a forest 
• Encore:
  - three imaginary boys
  - 10.15 saturday night
  - killing an arab
  - forever 

The Cure - Rock In Athens (Greek TV)

Nina Hagen followed with a big flying saucer on stage (sic) and then came the Clash.

The last line up of this great...huge...band.  Only Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon were there from the original line up but...they were great.

The audience went insane.

There were people out of the stadium trying to get in for free.  The cops started beating them and chasing them in the streets but inside everybody was dancing and singing, etc.  I will never forget, I think I saw Pete Burns somewhere at one point...I was sure it couldn't be him...

There never was a Rock In Athens Vol. 2.

Even if the tickets were a bit expensive back then, I sometimes compare those prices with today.

Take a look and keep calm:

Madonna (coming in September 2008) -
The cheapest ticket sells for 80 euros -- for singing with her 300 euros.

Jennifer Lopez (coming within the next 2-3 months) -
The cheapest ticket for j lo is 60 euros -- for dancing with her 350 euros.

(Ok, skip the singing and the dancing part...I mean the cost of the most expensive tickets.)

Now compare this with the lowest paying wage of a Greek worker per month:  about 700 euros.

Porque si, da pena, vergüenza ajena y chirrían los dientes, al ver a los elegantísimos Talk Talk en algo tan patético para una canción flipante.

Que pena, si, "Such a shame"

Back to the above entry, it was 5-plus-minus-years since we last met. Adah has not changed at all. Still the gentle, caring and thoughtful person that I used to know. Meeting her made me realized how I miss my uni friends: Tinah, Nina, Kaklong, Pidah, just to name a few. (aku tak rindu sgt kat ko Nash, sebab selalu jumpa, haha, ko pun Ziah, sebab hari-hari dok singgah blog ko) That carefree time, with only classes, exams and assignments to worry about. Apart from the occasional tak-cukup-duit, especially towards the end of the semester, sebab loan dah nak abis. Haha.

Anyway, we had a very nice lunch at Thai Express, borak-borak, queued to buy Jco Donuts and we didn't even notice the long wait because of so much things to borak about.

Hope we can do this again :).

p/s: Sila maafkan saya kerana menampal gambar-gambar menggoda di atas di bulan Ramadhan ini.

Semoga Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik dari yang lepas-lepas dan kita semua dapat menunaikan ibadah puasa dengan jayanya.

The first time I got through pretty easy, not too long a wait but although they could see that there was a problem they couldn't see what it was. After thinking about it they gave me a another number to ring, they would know.

judging from the accent I think the call centre was not on the UK mainland but ok first suggestion, change the splitter, tried that didn't work so rang them back, got a young lady this time also with exotic accent who said yes, it was a problem with the exchange and would be fixed within 24 hours. And indeed it was.

But so slow it was almost comatose, so I searched to see if other people were having this problem and discovered there is a forum, the Talktalk members forum which you can find here where I posted all relevant details (after registering) and got a reply within a quarter hour. It seems I had been set on a fixed 512 KB/s speed level and that was altered the next day.

I was also told that the profile I was on could be altered to something faster it the line could take it so I'll try that next week some time ( I'm getting between 2 and 4MB at the moment).

So my trust in Talktalk is still pretty intact.

Right and you need to shut up.

2.) Five Minutes : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. (^_^) miow!
Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more
Minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3.) Nothing : This is the calm before the storm. This means something,
And you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing
Usually end in fine.

4.) Go Ahead : This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5.) Loud Sigh : This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement
often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an
idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing
with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6.) That's Okay : This is one of the most dangerous statements a women
can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard
before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7.) Thanks : A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say
you're welcome.

8.) Whatever : Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9.) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning
this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but
is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's
wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.

Copy and Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can
avoid if they remember the terminology.

Copy and Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause
they know it's true.

Talk Talk - Going from the banal (sub Duran Duran) pop of 'All you do to me is talk, talk...' to the wonderful sonic explorations on 'Laughing Stock'

XTC- After a bit of a quirky new wave start they eventually found their feet on 'English Settlement' and then creating one of the best records of all time 'Skylarking'

And a bad one-

Jefferson Airplane - 'White Rabbit' to (Jefferson) Starship - 'We Built this City'