Merdeka Meh?

So I know that everyone's been basically bitchin' about how there's no real Merdeka feel this year for whatever reason. And I have to agree even more after a trip to MidValley earlier today. At one of the biggest malls in the country, I counted there were only four Merdeka buntings on display. FOUR! And there was some sort of Merdeka-themed art exhibition at the Gardens next door. Pfft.

The stores basically made no effort to raise any sort of Merdeka mood, and the word itself was used in only one context: MERDEKA SALE.

Me, I bought a few CDs (including Metallica's ...And Justice For All) and the Ron Jeremy biography at Borders. Happy Merdeka everyone!

PS: Last year I wrote a much cheery piece in conjunction with Merdeka titled "30 Coolest Things About Malaysia/Being Malaysian". Click here to read it

Gents, Vote Wisely...

Yeah, voting season is not over yet. And you don't even have to brave the weather or flying water bottles for this one.

Over the past couple of months, CLEARASIL together with gua.com.my have been going around college campuses auditioning fresh new faces for a hosting gig with gua. And last Tuesday, the Top 10 gals were unveiled at a PC at Cineleisure.

clearasil

Quite a bummer tho that only 5 of the gals managed to turn up (the rest had exams apparently). But they did manage to strut their stuff via an impromptu hosting challenge.

I must say that the quality was quite good. All of them are eloquent, know their stuff and most importantly, have the confidence to do the job.

Next up is the voting process where one gal will eventually crowned the winner, taking home some cash prize plus that coveted hosting job with gua. So peeps, start voting now at freshfaces.com.my!

Ceraiya Launched part II (Pics Only)

CERAIYA Launched!

So a few hours ago, gua.com.my’s latest drama, Ceraiya, was launched at Restoran Rebung (co-owned by our Dato’ astronaut and Chef Ismail) in Bangsar.

Just as it has these past couple of days, it poured heavily here in KL in the early afternoon and it remained wet till evening. But poor weather or not, the turnout for the launch was pretty respectable.

Tony Eusoff was the first of the stars to arrive, fully decked in all-new light purple baju melayu (which was the dress code) complete with sampin and songkok. Apparently Tony had another set of baju in the car but actually went to a mall just before the launch to get himself all new gear just for Ceraiya. Thanks dude!

And whaddyaknow? Tony’s co-star, newlywed Melissa Maureen arrived minutes later wearing a purple outfit as well! A cute coincidence you might say : )



Anyway, the launch had all the necessary ingredients – Q&A, photo op, my speech – and went really well overall. And the food was absolutely fabulous. So if you’ve not been to Rebung before, make a reservation for buka puasa next week!

But before I proceed to the pictures, a quick synopsis. Niki (Melissa) and KP (Tony) are newlyweds who already HATE each other after only 3 months. And as the title suggests, they decide to get a divorce on the eve of Ramadhan. But when that doesn’t happen, the unhappy couple has to endure the whole balik kampung journey together, perhaps for the very first and last time...

Ceraiya, co-produced by KL Motion Picture, debuts on GUA on the first day of Ramadhan (1st September) with new episodes coming on every Monday-Friday for 3 consecutive weeks.

Okay, now on to more pictures!

Me & Tony

Group photo - normal

Group photo - with (fake) action

Q&A + Doa

The director, "Chunk" - who's actually my jr in uni

Read more about CERAIYA here, here, here, here

Glorious Gang Starz!

So just a couple of hours ago I was at the Gang Starz 2 Grand Finale at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam. It was a big night not only for TV3, but also for us at Alt Media.



The team was in full-force to unleash a full new media experience for Gang Starz and I must say the guys (and gals, of course) did an awesome job. Not only we delivered live streaming on tv3.com.my, but there was live blogging, live photo gallery, behind the scene videos and a lot more. Congrats guys!


As for the show, kudos to TV3 for putting up an excellent show with plenty of colour and creativity. And One Nation Emcees fully deserved to win the crown and USD100,000.

But the job is not over done yet for us. As I’m writing this, there are people furiously mixing and mastering the songs from last night’s show and by 12 noon today, the Gang Starz 2 Final digital album will be made available exclusively on http://www.guamuzik.com.my/. So be sure to check that out!

GUAMuzik Rocks!

Uh huh. Apart from the awesomely eclectic library of tunes, Guamuzik has so far organised the Supergig and also given away tons of prizes to our loyal downloaders.

And yesterday, we gave away Sony MP3 players to the top downloaders for July. One In A Million finalists Ayu and Shila did the honours of giving the prizes away. What more could people want? So download your music on www.guamuzik.com.my and be prepared to win cool prizes. You even get to visit my office. Haha!

GUAMuzik & One Stop Music Collaborate!

So last Friday, a signing ceremony between GUAMuzik and One Stop Music (OSM) took place at the theatrette in Sri Pentas.

OSM is considered as the "fifth major" (after Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG), and they represent some 47 local music labels. With this collaboration, GUAMuzik would have at least another 100,000 songs in our library.

And most importantly, GUAMuzik would now have more Chinese and Tamil songs, apart from Malay tunes, current and from yesteryears. We would even have tracks in Iban and Kadazan pretty soon as well!

As usual, my kata-kata aluan...

With OSM chairman Ng Chong Hock
"Look! We have thumbs!"

Several artistes were also in the house including Farawahida, Suhana, Duta band, John, Desiree, Leon...

MZul The Record Breaker

Well, kinda. Last year of course gua.com.my's drama "Kerana Karina" was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as "The First Online Drama Series in Malaysia".
Malaysia Book of Records
And the edition finally came out a couple of weeks ago. Tried to get a complimentary copy but apparently they don't give away copies even to "record-breakers"...
Malaysia Book of Records

Anyway, there's a picture as well of the orang-orang kuat of KK taken at last year's final ep screening party.



Only thing is - they've actually misspelt the name of the show and it appears as "Kerana Kirana" in the book. SHEESH. We should be entitled to at least partial refund!

Kerana Karina on DVD Now!

Kinda late on this one, but in case you didn't know, the first season of "Kerana Karina" is now out on DVD! And apart from the feature film, there's also a photo gallery, Marsha's "Yang Mana?" music video and a pretty cool "Making Of" feature.

The DVD is cheaply priced at RM16.90 and from what I've heard, we've managed to sell some 1,500 copies so far. Pretty decent indeed! So get your copy now, ok?

Back From Bangkok...

The Secret

Oh yes, I'm a believer.




I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs.I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs.


There. Instead of just trasmitting my wishes to the universe, they're now all over the blog universe.

I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs. I’m a millionaire. I’m cool. I weigh 75kgs...

Guamuzik Supergig '08 The Album Unleashed!

What better day to release something huh? So on 080808, Guamuzik unleashes the Supergig '08 Live digital album, featuring the likes of Butterfingers, Altimet, Andy Flop Poppy, Pach, Nabil, Meet Uncle Hussain, and many more!

There are 14 tracks altogether including "Nuri", performed by Ella and Faizal Tahir, the first time these two powerhouses have ever collaborated.

The album is only available on www.guamuzik.com.my and the first few downloaders will also receive an autographed limited edition Supergig crew T-Shirt! Why? Because we love you... obviously : )

I Got My MTV Asia Awards...

So just like Daughtry, tix for the MTV Asia Awards arrived rather late. But as the cliché goes, better late than never huh?

Surprisingly, the drive up to Genting was rather smooth without the expected lat-minute traffic. And the weather was just right as well.

The show itself started at 7pm on the dot. It was rather odd seeing the arena still half-empty as the Pussycat Dolls opened the show. But that’s Malaysia(ns) for you…

Overall, it was a good show. Not great though. MTV delivered in getting the big names like Panic At The Disco, PCD and Leona Lewis, but the sucky sound system ruined things a bit. Thumbs up for the enthusiastic crowd, though oddly enough, the majority of them were from Korea.

With my peeps. Pls don't ask what the dude on the left was doing, ok?

And of course the usual suspects from Media Prima were there as well

There was of course a post party to attend.
Didn't stay long though. But I did manage to snap a pic of adidas MD Darren Choy holding a banana... I guess that's his secret for looking young always : )