Books galore.

 

The other day I happened to be at the Big Bad Wolf book sale and above were the total damage done.

I'm beyond happy.

It's been the longest time since I bought a book, the last time was last year, I think in March or April. 

I used the book vouchers worth of 2 hundred as the books totaled to RM 198. 

I'm hoping to expand my reading genre so I bought a lot of non fictions and also biography books. 

Also bought a couple of books for my nephews, cooking books for my mum and sisters and since my eldest sister is expecting her third child, I wanted to give her a book to comfort a mother to-be, hence the book ' A Cup of Comfort for Mothers' is especially for her. 

My other sister requested for some motivational/inspirational or political books, so I bought a couple of inspirational books like 'How to Save Your Own Life', 'Simplexity' and 'Social Q's'. For political, I couldn't find anything interesting so I bought 'The Bush Tragedy'. 

My book shopping's highlight would be the Paulo Coelho's biography, 'Warrior's Life', Bono's biography, 'Bono on Bono', 'We Are Iran' and 'In the Blink of An Eye'. 

I just finished reading 'Landscape of A Distant Mother', a satisfying read, I would say.

I'm looking forward to read the rest of the books. 

Excited!! 

Alhamdulillah~

'Matahari seakan tak lagi
Menyinari hati sepi ini'

Laugh,Cry and Marvel.

백야 (White Night) - 넬 (Nell)

Today, I again fall in and out of love with the detritus of what is left of you, in me.
How you might be.
난 니가 필요해(I need you).
Every time I try to erase you the world crumbles, by the roots.
At the endless time,
Deeply imprinted in all of its space,
your breath is all that remains.
Today, I, again, waste it,
Forcing together the pieces of promises,
Remains of memories.
How you might be.
I can’t get over you.
You just keep shining on and on through my time.
난 니가 필요해(I need you).
Every time I conjure you up the time ices over, by the roots.
My best won’t do.
Every time I breathe, it’s as if your memories are talking to me.
Being left behind and letting it be gone would all be mine.
It wouldn’t come back, as if a movie, as if a lie.
Come back to me.

source

p/s: I'm happy that I got this yesterday for FREE! 

London 2012 Olympics .

as of now, China is the captain of the medal tally and it's safe and right to say that China's team is a MONSTER! 
they've been slaying all the golds from  Day 1.


i'm still reeling in disappointment over the loss of Lee Chong Wei. however, it's still a job well done despite he keeps doing his always predicted mistakes over and over again whenever he clash with Lin Dan. 


and I have to say, super Dan  is still superb.
 I'm in no way of supporting him but I do respect his mad talent and skills despite his awful temperament and his arrogance. I think he deserves it. 
his wife, Xie Xingfang looked different last night.  I remember she used to resemble Lee Chong Wei  a little bit during her playing years but last night she was positively glowing. 


sadly this year, I've been keeping up on updates and latest news of Olympics mainly on twitter or live-stream due to certain unfortunate conditions. so the fastest way to keep track of everything is by following  hash-tags.


and my oh my, reading the tweets from hash tags like for our very own pocket rocket man, #azizulhasniawang is, for lack of better words, so detestable.
some tweets were amusing and supportive but some were *ohmygodwhatareyouevenslamsheadonkeyboard* moment. 


Example no 1:

there were people that does not even know who is azizulhasni awang. 
and there were people who supports the athletes for the sake of free ice cream. is it really the only thing that matters? 


Example no 2: 

and then there were some of who were just following the trend. like, it is an 'in' thing to do to support one athlete and you jump on the bandwagon without barely knowing anything.

Like how a sprint cycling run. Like who the heck is azizulhasni awang.

do me a favor, use your smartphone, iPad, tablets, laptops or whatever medium. find out!!! it's as simple as ABC. don't be so ignorant. 

things to learn: stay away from twitter's hash-tags.  

#update, azizul has just ousted from the quarterfinals and placed eighth in the sprint's event but fret not, pray to Allah that he'll succeed in tomorrow's (August 7th) Keirin event.  Josiah Ng also will be joining him carrying the BIG responsibilities and hope of Malaysians. 

/salam Nuzul Al- Quran. let's recite the Quran and understand the contents of it. Recite the Al-Quran and try to read the tafsir to understand the meaning of it. InsyaAllah, the beauty of Al-Quran will prevailed upon us./
:)

Run

Younha performing Run on Lee Sora's 2nd Proposal.

I'm so so in love with this song. 

Younha is finally releasing a new album titled, Supersonic after a nearly of two years hiatus.

I LOVE her. 

and her comeback to Korean music scene is like a breath of fresh air. 

she has a very beautiful voice and her voice make every songs worth it to be heard. there's something electric of her voice. 

though this album is a not a super great album coming from her with Someday remained as my favorite from her but it's still a good effort of her. 

and what's more she has been under the radar for almost two years. 

Run is the title song of this album and it's a great choice, a kickoff to something amazing. 

be it a new love, a new path, a new resolution, a new day or a new tomorrow.

"Time, please pass by a bit quicker

With a hot light, please embrace me
Take me to a dazzling tomorrow
So I can fly further than anyone else"

oh Younha, can I just curl up on my bed and sleep in your voice?

memeing Juno

the other day I re-watched Juno for the umpteenth time. 

this scene is made up of so much win. 

and I miss my father a  lot.

don't pretend.

{I heard him promise you forever}

{But forever's come and gone}

I love Backstreet Boys.
and it's safe to say that this is my most favorite song from them.
four of them, Brian, AJ, Nick and Howie D performed this song live from the O2 Arena, in 2009. This was during Kevin left the group. oh Kevin.


I have fond memories of BSB and their songs.


Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely is my personal favorite from Millennium.


my classmates in primary school danced to As Long As You Love Me for their performance in the weekly assembly.


I remember watching MTV and screamed inside every time their songs came out.


I would never forget the time when my brother bought the album and VCD's of their MVs, albeit the pirated one, cause you know, at that time CDs, VCDs and cassettes were all the prime source for entertainment aside from the radio. 


I used to download their songs from the internet and played it on Winamp. 


such a happy, high time for me. 

and for me, Black & Blue remained as the best album from them so far,
with so many greatest hits came out from Black & Blue and this album mainly set their status as the best selling boy band ever, leveling the record set by The Beatles.


don't pretend that you never did love them even for just a little while. 
long live, Backstreet Boys.

hari ni cuti. 
1may=hari pekerja.
and,
Man U kalah.  0-1 .
sekian.

50/50

So the other day I watched 50/50, a 2011 movie starring my Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston and many more. 


It is an honest, good light-hearted movie with sprinkling of humor everywhere supplied wonderfully by the main characters, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his bff Kyle(Seth Rogen) who is obsessed of getting laid. 
Seth Rogen is very good here, playing Kyle with expressive-aggressive type of friend to Adam but beneath it all, all he wanted to do was to be there for Adam. such relationship between friends is beautiful.


This movie is based on a true story of it's very own writer and I'm such a sucker for true story turns to films. Definitely this movie has been on my radar since I watched the trailers. 


The main theme of the story is how a young man, aged 27 who discovered that he had a rare type of spinal cancer and what follows is how he rebounds and discovers what is the important things in his life that he never pays any attention to before. 
It's poignant at certain times, made you think of what could be and made you think that every little things you do does affect other people. 
Even a simple hi or hello and small little talks with your parents or your loved ones could make a difference. 


Joseph Gordon-Levitt once again effortlessly nailed his character, where he displayed such a range of emotions of Adam. 
When he hurts, you feel it and cry with him. 
When he smiles, you smile back at him(read: at the laptop's screen). 
He earnestly embodies the character of Adam, it's like there is Adam in your world and you wished you know him to help him get through of this together. 
In much simpler words, honesty. Yes, the honesty that he brings to the performance is much deserving of a high praise. 


The rest of the cast also did well and delivered. 
Overall, such a good movie and one to be re watched multiple time, anytime soon. 


A conversation between Adam and Katherine;


Adam: I wished you were my girlfriend.
Katherine: Girlfriends can be nice, you just had a bad one.
Adam: I bet you'd be a good one


Ain't that sweet?  

music is universal.

have you ever listen to any songs and you feel light, like you've been transported to other place?
your imagination starts being tricky and you imagined, pictured all sort of things with all kind of feelings.
that's what good music do to me, at least.

current playlist:

from Nell's Slip Away:
1. Hopeless Valentine
2. Losing Control
3. Beautiful Stranger
4. Slip Away

from Monoloque's Hikayat Halimunan Abad ke-21 Jejak Tanah:
1. Cinta
2,Tiada Kata Secantik Bahasa
3. Penghormatan Terakhir

from Yuna's Terukir di Bintang:
1. Memo
2. Someone out of Town
3. Sparkle

Playlist291111

1.Neon Bunny- A Polar Bear

2.Neon Bunny- LaLaLa

3.Neon Bunny-Falling

4.Neon Bunny- Come a Little Bit Closer

5.Zitten- By My Side

6.Adele- Set Fire to the Rain

7.Gym Class Heroes ft Neon Hitch- Ass Back Home

8.Christina Perri- A Thousand Years

9. Jung Il-woo- Someone Like you

10.Broccoli, you too?- A Universal Song

11.Yuna- Decorate

12. Rihanna- We Found Love

Fever's End part 2

Tablo's part two of Fever's End just released on November 1st. so easily my favourite track is track no 8.

Dear TV / 해열

Dear TV,

Desensitize me.
Gimme more genocide please.
The world is your aphrodisiac,
so you stay turned on every minute,
every second I breathe.
You weaponize greed,
kill me with incessant I-needs.
Got me checkin’ out those,
and checkin’ out these.
Mainstream me, disinfectin’ my breed.
I’m lookin’ for nirvana but you Geffenize me.
Point me to the skies till heaven’s eye bleeds.
Anoint me with your lies then divinize me.
If heaven is a show, well, televise me.
But I won’t lie my way in, no fakin’ IDs.
I’ll die standin’. Try breakin my knees.
I’ll do a handstand like I’m breakin’.
Now freeze. Don’t act like you know me ’cause you recognize me.
You sell my record, not me.

only Tablo can make 35 seconds of rap seemingly poignant and genius.

another favourite track should be Thankful Breath. it's a moving song, full of hopes and love. i love how Tablo mention Epik High and also his wife and daughter in this song.

then Expiration Date- it's a quiet song with melancholic feel, accompanied by Tablo's breathy singing voice.

Tomorrow and Source tied at fourth place- Tomorrow is a bit mainstream with Taeyang's voice adds on to easy listening and Source reminds me of old school Epik High, with the featuring of scratch by the one and only DJ Tukutz!

Overall, as expected Tablo never fail to amaze me with his genius and deep lyrics. now all I could ask is for Epik High to be together again once Mithra Jin comes back from the army.

Thank you, Tablo

for staying strong and continue making beautiful music for us.

welcome back, Tablo

he's one of my most beloved singer-rapper-songwriter-composer.

his talent is overwhelmingly indescribable.

and here is my most favourite song from his latest album, Fever's End part 1.

the video:

It's Bad

the lyrics:

They say something has changed.
They say I’ve changed.
They tell me somewhere I turned cold, that I used to be so affectionate.

They say something has changed.
They say I’ve changed.
They tell me somewhere I turned cold, that I used to be so affectionate.
They claim they don’t understand.
They tell me I used to be cheerful but now my eyes and tone of my voice lost its light and admits fear.

Unsure whether it’s because of the painful memory but I go on by emptying my heart.
Lucid hearts are defective products of this world. That’s why I badly want to taint mine.
They tell me that if you love, you start to take after each other; maybe I want to take after you a bit.

Atrocious. Love is atrocious.
You were the very reason I breathe for, but now you’re suffocating me.
Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only gets worse as you dig deeper.
Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only pains as you learn about it.
More you know, worse you become.

The words I wouldn’t normally get riled up about: “You don’t seem yourself”.
I question, “What is me?” but of course I know only too well.
I can’t bear to look at myself.
Whether I’ve been embraced or have closed my eyes, I just can’t sleep at ease.
I yearn for alcohol, something I usually have hard drinking.
Drunk on anxiety, as the dawn drizzle pours down I stagger through the street
I start to quarrel and my mouth that once used to whisper so many kind words has been tainted by a profanity.
Can’t rest till this small thing becomes a catastrophe.
I end up telling lies like a second nature and you keep harassing me in the name of ‘Love’

Atrocious. Human are atrocious.
You were the very reason I opened my eyes for, but now you’re concealing them.
Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only gets worse as you dig deeper.
Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only pains as you learn about it.

Only thing that’s worse than you is,
I, who couldn’t forget you and ended up being tainted.
I, who continues to act cold towards the other people.
Only thing that’s worse than you is,
I, who couldn’t forget you and ended up being tainted.
I, who is cold towards the other people.

Atrocious, it’s atrocious.
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
What we call love.
Love is a sickness.
Can I get a witness?
Atrocious, it’s atrocious.
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
What we call love.
Love is a sickness.
Can I get a witness?
Love is a sickness.
Love.

Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only gets worse as you dig deeper.
Love is so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Love only pains as you learn about it.

cr: musictology

it's so beautiful.

a masterpiece.

i'm so buying this album.

A to the E

flawless

write in the sand

a story tells that 2 friends were walking through the desert. during some point in the jourey, they got into an argument and one friend got slapped in the face by the other. the one who got slapped was hurt but not saying anything, wrote in the sand, 'today my best friend slapped me'. they kept on walking until they found an oasis and they decided to take a bath. the one who got slapped before was drowning and the friend saved him. after he recovered, he carved in the stone, 'today, my best friend saved my life'.

when someone hurts us, we should write it in the sand where winds of forgiveness can take it away, but when someone does something good for us, engrave it in stone where no winds could carry it away.

cr: IslamicThinking@twitter

Sonnet seventeen

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz

or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:

I love you as certain dark things are loved,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries

hidden within itself the light of those flowers,

and thanks to your love, darkly in my body

lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you simply, without problems or pride:

I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,

so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,

so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

.Pablo Neruda.

april's book- have a little faith

a little girl came home from school with a drawing she'd made in class. she danced into the kitchen, where her mother was preparing dinner. mom, guess what?she squealed,waving the drawing. her mother never looked up. what? the mother said tending to the plates. guess what? the child repeated, waving the drawing. what? she tends to the pots. mom, you're not listening. sweetie, yes I am. mom, the child said, you're not listening with your eyes

-page 59, have a little faith, Mitch Albom-