31.12.09

Out of Service

How should I put it? Mixed feeling?

Today, I fitted something to the car. It costs. But you know lah, cars, the big boys' toy? I'm sure you get the drift.

Rewind a little to much earlier.



I don't have much cash with me. Nor cards. I canceled them during the robbery. Remember?
(Yeah, I know. The bank can send a new one over. But hated the bank. Given them my IC, and other photocopied documents, and still, they got my surname spelled wrong! Yes! So, decided to apply from other banks. And no, I can't apply for one. Not without my IC. Not with the temporary one. Just got it. Haven't got the time.)

Armed with only some cash and ATM card, what else is there to do? So off I go to the bank nearby. To my surprise, the balance was low. So low, I can't even make a minimum withdrawal. Are you kidding me? Someone hacked in? Not at this time, man!

Checked at the next machine. The same.

Checked at another bank. It's still low. I'm getting nervous here.

Checked at the last bank. WOI! What the fuck happened!? Where's all my money!?

Eyed the machine's card slot next to me. Jumped over. Inserted the card. Looked up.



"OUT OF SERVICE"



Okay... there's something digitally wrong with the screen. Try to take it out. Eh? Where's the tone? Fuck! This machine is not electronically connected. How am I suppose to get my card back?! It was printed on paper. Please don't laugh. Things happen. You know?

There were people around. I started to blush from "What is this idiot doing with an out-of-service ATM?", "hAhaHaHaHhaHaH. Sor hai!", "Aduh! Tengok lah dulu...", and other variance.

Yes. Very embarrassing. Sigh. The same old filling up forms and other bullshit again. In the end, Since Primary Two had to swiped for me. Will involves wire later.



As I'm writing these on my lappy, in the living, I catch a glimpse of the car. Well yeah, I'm happy with the look now. Oh, I found out the hard way that MEPS machine can't detect other accounts linked to the ATM card; stay calm all the time, don't easily panic; and sleep well, as in more than the 5 hours I had kinda well. Okay, okay. I've got it now.

But the stupidity stays.



Happy New Year, people.

27.12.09

The exhaust is alive!

Some months back, I was tailing this "souped-up" MyVi on the way to work. At the back of its windscreen, there's a large sticker running from one end to the other; I guessed he got it from the shop that modded the car.

S
peed Racing Exhaust
. Wow. Bold, white font. Slanted typeface, very "racing-look". The "S", is framed in reverse, with a very faint red/pink/maroon (couldn't really make up the colour, and no, I'm not colourblind) square background. It reads otherwise.

Oh, do Pampers come standard with it?

These exhaust guys seriously need to re-brand themselves.



Brands; could make you smile, could make you cringe. Not going too much into details about it, but here's a blog about branding. It's a good read, even if you are not in the branding business.

21.12.09

I let go. Again.

Met Banana today.

She looked exactly the same the last I saw her more than a year ago. Skinny body frame; almost too skinny to have the front and back visible through the loose black dress. Long straight hair. Indistinct voice and laugh (Har!? What? Speak louder la, please!). Same old, same old. Oh, took off the braces already?


She suggested a Thai restaurant nearby. As usual, the makan-minum-ing and other catching ups came along. After enjoying devouring the last piece of pandan chicken, I suggested to have some coffee instead of scaling the mall. "Too lazy to walk la after makan."


There's a lot to talk about. Hopefully not to miss out what had changed in this year. Being a very close friend to Her and me, she's very concerned.


"Have you let Her go? Fully?"

I knew this gonna come. I knew I can't get away from this. Just when.



"Yes."



Back then, I thought I let Her go already; after spending the night looking at each photos taken throughout the years; wetting my cheeks; laughing, and smiling at each; archiving them. Over the year, I kept telling myself, I had let go. Each time I said that, there's a sharp pain deep inside.




For the first time, I've answered this again.

Without telling just to myself.
Without doubt.

15.11.09

Today's Special: Dead Meat / 地肉

Ingredients:
1 2009 Hell-O Campaign (3/4 fermented)
1 Nihon-go no Niusurataru
1 Video
1 Pitch

Where to get the ingredients:

• This campaign is the last batch for the year 2009~2010 that is available only for the ASEAN region. Will expired early 2011. Use them wisely.
Nihon-go no Niusurataru, or the Japanese Newsletter is an exotic and rare monthly ingredient that is only available in Jeisi Ke-eru. May need a translator.
• Video is a relatively easier-to-get-ingredient. You may get one from a medical supplies manufacturer.
• Pitch is a very seasonal ingredient. The economy may affect the growth of pitch. Chefs cooking skill play a strong role in the movement of the pitch too. For this dish, preferably get a Baker's Pitch.

Preparation:
1. Finely dice campaign into smaller pieces of print ads, pillar ads, wrapper, catalogues, leaflets, flyers and TVCs. Diced print ads will continue to ferment into more press and magazines. May take out some budget. If so, discard leftovers.
2. Marinate newsletter at an earlier time, for over a period of 2 weeks with Nihon-go no Komen and Amanu Mendo. Add 1 or 2 designers to spice it up. Stir with boss. Boss may appear bubbly over time. Listen carefully to the Komen.
3. Prepare video over a storyboard, and leave it as it is for 9 days. Video may turn into ambient over time.
4. Baker's Pitch may required some packagings. Well prepared pack may turn into TVCs.
5. Put all ingredients into a creative mind. Split them into smaller, different ideas. Add some concepts. Add some copy. And some pinches of seasoned Rotcérid Evitærc. May ignore it if doesn't enhance the taste.

Cooking:
Put all ingredients on a frying iMac, and stir with hot coffee. Add servicing and burnt clients to spice it up. Cook accordingly, but don't overcooked. Deadline may taste bitter, and may loose the sweetness of campaign and pitch. Over time, take some samples for the traffic to mock dish. To enhance the look of the dish, colour sep. may be required.

Best served:
Throughout the day. Preferably late nights.

2.11.09

A feet long rusty parang

I was robbed at knife point few days ago. Parang to be exact. And it happened right outside my home.

It was about 15 before ten, and I just got back from work. On most days at this hour, neighbours will be outside gossiping about stuffs. There will be cars coming in and out. T
hat night, was extremely quiet.

Crickets seems so close to you.

I couldn't do anything to fight back or even a shout. They came fast. The parang wielding one, pointing it against my abdomen. I could feel the pressure he's applying to it. Any wrong moves I would be seeing my own internals. The other one is searching my whole body for stuffs. The experience wasn't as traumatizing at first, till they about to leave.

That's when the adrenaline start rushing in.

They ordered me to turn around and walk inside the house. I couldn't see a shit what they are attempting to do. They could just slash me right there and then. I couldn't even walk. My legs was basically shaking. And I thought, are they coming in my house? My whole family is inside. Well, they sped off. Couldn't get a glimpse of the bike plate. That was a smart move.

No blood spilled. Lucky for me.

They left me with nothing except my clothes, and some coins. They forgot to check my neck. I am still wearing the chain. The few days after that was so~ tiring and tedious. Police reports. Calling up banks for cards cancellation. Registration department. Calling up the locksmiths to change my car and office locks. Changed house locks. T
emporary barring and reactivation of handphone. Reentering contact numbers...

Sigh. Didn't have good nights.



Indian, or Chinese robbers would have did something big. Banks. Armoured vehicles transporting money. Goldsmiths. Jewellery shops. Containers with goods. Warehouses. If they are small fries, at least they come in a car. Malays? They could only do so much.


Alhamdulillah
.

28.10.09

The dream brief


Original link

This is what I called a brief. Clients should see this. After all, they pay us to solve their problems. Not giving more problems.

22.10.09

Client's comment of the day...

...or would I say, the year?

"The picture and the text same size."




I never see this coming. I'm impressed. Wow. If comments can be awarded, this would at least claim a Gold, if not a Grand Prix.


So, is this a comment or a request? To make the pictures the same size as the body copy? Same size proportionately to the column width? To the point size? To x number of lines? To the paragraph length? Which paragraph?


Clients.


You'll never know what can be blurted out by them at any time of the day. Till the servicing is back from them, I'll just do nothing.

30.9.09

Irony #78

Slow Internet. Blown TV.



If these are your only not-wanting-to-get-out-from-the-house kinda entertainment, don't they pissed you off if they are not working as you expect them to be? It happens.



The Internet.
Damn. Bloody. Slow. Even Google take ages to load. What to do, Streamyx mah. I would have choose a better service if other providers are equally affordable as them. Can't do much if one business owner monopolizes the market.

Till others get cheaper, I shall wait.

The TV.
No visual. No sound. No nothing. Just imagination. It started having this problem some time back; on and off kinda thing. But it's been 2 days.



Should I resort to radio? Sigh.

29.9.09

Peak of boredom #215

Searching every single profile in your Facebook friends list in the hope of finding a blog to read.

16.9.09

Kelapa sakti gila

Kepala sakit lagi.



Well, yeah. A little. The sakit that requires no medication. I refrain from taking drugs at most time. If I can take, no, endure the pain. After all, drugs aren't good for the body.

I was asleep earlier. I'm sure I was. I think I was in the half-asleep-half-awake (HAHA?) stage. And I totally blown it. The worst part is, I can't go back to sleep. Something is mingling in my mind. That? No. I'm so over with that already. Not sure what was it. Maybe the power nap that I accidentally had while watching TV earlier.



Heard thunder. The atmosphere is getting cooler. I haven't smell the rain yet, but it looked like it's gonna rain. And the best thing to do in this condition is to sleep. Which I have no privilege of getting anytime soon.

I think I should make the sheep count me.

13.9.09

You are over five thousand years old!

Fun Size recently asked my age for a cake she'll be getting for my day. Though, I'm not a fan of bakeries, I appreciated that. I told her to just get ONE candle.



"Why one?"



The candle blowing part on birthdays are just a made up tradition that been past down from generations. I don't expect to see cakes and candles every year. Since we are doing it, let's do it the logical way. We've gone through only a year since our last birthday. Why should we celebrate things that are long gone.
Why should we celebrate the years before?

Assuming you add one candle to every year we passed, and you lived to 100 years old, you have blown 5050 candles. Are you 5050 years old then? I guess not. I didn't count this. There is a formula and method to this.

We have already gone through the details. Live to look at the whole picture.



Well, there is no cake that day. Only beers.

1.9.09

Happy 52nd Birthday, Malaysia...

...NOT!







Are you people misinformed? Have you forgotten what was taught in Sejarah? Why kept saying "Happy <insert your year here> Birthday, Malaysia" over and over again on independence day? I've been hearing this for years now. Newscasters are saying it. TV hosts are saying it. Even ministers are saying it.
Why the government are not saying anything to correct it?



I'm gonna write about this to newspaper real soon.



Malaya (Malaysia, then) gained its independence back in 1957, on the 31st of August. "Malaysia" was not established until 1963, on the 16th of September! Come on, Malaysian! For whatever sake. Bangun!



You all really need to be properly informed. Sheesh.







Anyway, Happy 52nd Independence Day, Malaysia. Merdeka!

25.8.09

Who approved this?

LG aired an ad about their new air-cond on radio recently.

It come with some kind of an ionizer system, which can relaxes you. Or so they claimed. That's new. That's a fresh and new approach to sell an over-saturated product. Couldn't find a link or the script to it, but it goes something like this:




Wife was asking the husband to go to sleep because it is already late. And he looked tired.


He refused, as he still have works to rush. He claimed his head is heavy and he felt groggy.

The wife then relate someone she knew who had the same problem as he is.

They solved it by changing their air-cond.

The rest of the dialogue is just the wife telling the benefits of the new LG air-cond.



Seems fine? Right? No, it isn't.

No matter how advanced an air-cond is, it can't solve the work part. He still have to stay up late to rush work. Why would the creative team include this part in?

So, who should I point my finger to? The client, the creative team, or the creative director who gave the green light?

4.8.09

The work

I stumbled upon advertising purely by accident.

I don't know what I want to do after school. Yeah, everyone has an ambition. I had some, at least. But they changed.

I salute you who sticks to their ambition when they were young. For those who are like me, don't worry. People adapt to changes of the environment. That's how human survive. We change accordingly to what we are going through.



I always admired designs. I thought I like designs.

Ended up taking graphic design at an art college, which pisses me off. The whole three years syllabus was more about drawings than doing actual graphic designing. I quit after a short while.

The time between the quit, and the self-made second choice was kinda long. So, not gonna talk about it this time.

So, I took computer science. And did pretty well. But the job hunting after was hell. Been to a number of interviews, but none have feedback. Practically jobless for months, until a friend introduced me a job as a graphic artist at the place where she work. Well, since I (thought) like design, I took up the offer.

After a while of doing it, I didn't like it. It's not that I don't like it at all. Just that I prefer the process before the execution of a design. The brain storming part of it. The whole idea behind. Damn.

I was not fortunate like many of you. I don't have anyone to guide me of what I do. I was like thrown in the middle of the sea to find my own land. And there's a huge difference between advertising and design.





And here I am, after years of doing it, I'm still fiddling with my brain everyday
for ideas, trying to earn a mark for myself. And love every moment of it.

But if anyone of you wants to work in advertising, don't!

3.8.09

The beginning of a long short

No. I'm not a writing material.

I'm not even an expressive kind of person. Not in recent years. I kept too much things to myself. The only journal/diary I remember writing is about the daily things I've did in school, or at home. And that was like, 20 years ago. It stopped not long after. I don't see a point to it.

So. Me? Writing?

I wasn't sure. I was reluctant at first.
My recent broke up had gotten me back into writing. People had suggested me to write about my feelings, if I can't in real life. But this blog isn't rants about how sad I am about the break up. Enough people had done that already. This is basically how I see life. About everything.

But how do I even start?

What should I even write about?

Do people even care what I write, or what other people writes?

Should I reveal myself?

Or should I keep my anonymity?



Well, Mr. Anonymous. For now. And this is the beginning of a long, short thoughts.