Perpetuum Jazzilee - Africa

I first listened to this amazing choir when I visited Mrs. Miller's blog --> http://mrsmillerlite.blogspot.com/

Perpetuum Jazzilee is a jazz choir from Slovenia. You should listen to them coz they are great. They have great range of voices and great arrangements. Great performance!

The two guys on the left of the front row are really cute. Especially the one with the yellow scarf. Wat up with those dimples? (lalalalaaaaa...) And those guys on the right amaze me, they make musical instruments sounds... My favourite of all is the guy who looks like he's playing a drum. Wow!

You can visit their official website here --> http://www.perpetuumjazzile.si/en/

I hope they'll come to Malaysia... I'll definitely go to see their performance... hopefully the ticket price won't be too expensive.

They are a lot of videos of them in youtube. You can go and check them out. But for starters, you can check them out in mytube :p This is a video of them performing the song 'Africa'. The song is originally by band 'Toto'. You can check out Toto's Africa video on youtube as well.

If you want to sing along, you can find the lyrics below the video... you're welcome :P

********************

Africa

I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She's coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, hurry boy, its waiting there for you

Chorus:
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
Sure as kilimanjaro rises like olympus above the serengeti
I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

Chorus

(instrumental break)

Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you

Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

********************

Speechless on Dress Code

Last month, I read in a newspaper that a Muslim French woman was banned from using a swimming pool in France because she was wearing a 'burqini', an 'aurat' compliant swimming suit.

They said, it was unhygienic and will endanger other swimmers, which I don't understand. If I wore a clean swimming attire into a swimming pool, how can that be unhygienic? It'll be unhygienic if I wore a dirty swimming attire into a swimming pool, be it a burqini or a bikini. Isn't it?

If you asked me, a bikini can be more dangerous to the other swimmers, don't you think?

Those people are confused or maybe afraid to open up their minds or just afraid to the idea of Islam.

I wonder why...

Today, I read again in newspaper that a women in Sudan is being imprisoned because she's wearing trousers which according to the law was 'improper'. From the picture, I can see there's nothing improper about what she wore. Loose long trousers, loose blouse... but the half-covered hair was off... amazing how they don't mind the half-covered hair. Sometimes, people just missed the obvious.

With regards to the trousers affair, from my opinion, nowadays, it's safer to wear trousers and it's more convenient too. We can walk faster, we can run faster (just in case). We can do activities like go into a crowded train without getting worried that our cloth is going to be stuck in between the train doors (happened to me once... I can't move until the door opens at the next station, 6 stations to be exact. Luckily I was cool :P) Personally, I prefer to wear trousers and jeans because I feel more safe.

If they said that wearing trousers is 'improper', I bet they'll faint or go into a coma if they came to Malaysia.

Over here, we have muslim ladies covered from head to ankles with a proper headscarves, tight long sleeves t-shirts which length is somehow below the waist and tight slim-cut jeans. Which means, not really covering... *sigh* Things get worse when they sit or bent down, if you know what I mean...

Who am I to talk? Even though I don't do what I wrote above, I'm not 100% obedient either... but still, I think I have the right to remind my fellow muslimah.

What is it that I really want to say here?

I guess what I want to say is that there is nothing wrong with Islamic dress codes. The rules are there to keep us safe, inside out... not to make our life difficult. We (and I mean EVERYONE) especially muslims are not suppose to make simple things complex. Islam can tolerate changes, as long as the changes are not against shariah. However, as muslims, we must not abuse the tolerance. When muslims fashion evolves positively, then I don't think that muslims cannot evolve with it.

Again, I'm writing with my own mind and my Islamic knowledge is shallow. Please, correct me when I'm wrong.


References: (if you're interested to know more)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090812/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_burquini_banned
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/australian-swimsuit-banned-in-french-pools-20090813-eijt.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6017524/French-ban-Muslim-woman-from-pool-for-wearing-burkini-swimsuit.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/sudans-lubna-hussein-convicted-wearing-trousers/story?id=8508383
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8173714.stm


Wishing for senses for some people.

The Big Picture by David Suzuki

I saw this book on one of the front shelves in Kinokuniya bookstore. It caught my attention only after I read the review on the back of the book. I didn't know who David Suzuki was, that's why the book title didn't attract me... but the old man picture did. He looks so deep in thought.

That's David Suzuki... a Canadian environmental activist.

In a National Geographic (or was it Discovery Channel?) documentary, two brothers went to visit the 'Three Gorges Dam' in China. They went for a river cruise along the Yangtze River (Yellow River). It was heartbreaking to see how nature's wonderful and breathtaking beauty been sacrificed just to make way for modernization and in the name of economic and social development. The dam is huge, but not as huge as compared to the lost of our natural world.

Perhaps, there are no other options?

I remember the commentator mentioned something about how human is the only species that can alter Earth. At that time, I thought 'how true...'. But, while reading this book, I realized that is so, so true.

In his book, David Suzuki laid out all the evidences of how our actions have been altering Earth. If we don't act soon, this 'home' will be no more. I'm sure I don't need to mention everything... There's one effect that we can already feel. Global warming... us that live in the tropics can already feel the heat. It gets really hot when it's hot and too heavy when the rain comes... But global warming does more that just releasing more heat and rain. It impacts everything in our chain of life. Our weather, our air, our food, our health, our future... our life.

You might think that ants are just a tiny species that can be ignored and we can live without. You can read this book and find out how wrong you are. Just like I did... If ants are at the bottom of the food chain and we are at the top, it's not so hard to imagine what will go wrong if the chain is disturbed isn't it?

If you watched the movie, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', you'll probably remember what Klatu said...

If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives.

One day, we will all go together with our Earth and the universe. But while we are still here let's work together to make this Earth healthy again... and make right what we have made wrong.

As for myself... I'm taking tiny steps in my struggle to become a true environmentalist.
Wish me luck!

~I DO LOVE THE WHOLE WORLD! BOOM DE YADA!~

p/s: Check out David Suzuki Foundation... the link is under my 'Friends and Favourites' section.

Next, I plan to read 'Ecological Intelligence' by Daniel Goleman. I need to know more about what I can do to help my beloved Earth.

Impian Kemerdekaan

* In Malay

Hari ini, 31 Ogos 2009... hari ulangtahun kemerdekaan Malaysia yang ke- 52. Hari ini, laungan 'Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka' bergema lagi. Mengulang kembali detik- detik sewaktu Tunku Abdul Rahman melaungkannya. Tapi penghayatannya, samakah dengan penghayatan sepenuh jiwa Tunku waktu itu?

Saya merupakan antara generasi bertuah yang dilahirkan dalam keadaan di mana Malaysia sudah sedia aman dan bergerak menuju kemajuan. Harapan saya semoga keadaan ini kekal begini... dan bertambah baik lagi.

Hari ini, ada antara mesej- mesej di status kawan- kawan di Facebook yang menarik perhatian saya.
- On this sacred day, I swore to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic...
- Kita sering melaungkan Merdeka!! Adakah kita benar2 merdeka?? renung-renungkan lah.. perbaikilah diri kita untuk merdeka di kemudian hari.. Semoga Allah merahmati kita semua.. Amin.

Saya bersetuju dengan kedua- duanya...

Diulangtahun yang ke-52 ini, saya mengharapkan semoga seluruh pemimpin, parti- parti politik dan rakyat Malaysia bersatu padu demi memelihara keamanan dan kemakmuran Malaysia. Walaupun kita berbilang bangsa dan agama, kesejahteraan boleh dikekalkan dengan sikap saling hormat menghormati antara satu sama lain.

Saya juga berharap semoga semua pihak berhenti mem'politik'kan agama... sebaliknya meng'agama'kan politik. Ingatlah, dalam menikmati kemerdekaan, kita semua masih merupakan Hamba Allah, yang pada suatu masa nanti akan dipertanggungjawabkan atas semua tindakan kita di dunia ini.

Semoga negara Malaysia berkekalan...

Sesuatu yang harusnya kita hayati diulangtahun kemerdekaan ini...

~RUKUNEGARA~

KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN
KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA
KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN
KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG
KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN

Salam Kemerdekaan yang ke-52 buat kita semua, rakyat Malaysia.

Salam Ramadhan 1430H *

* In Malay

Ramadhan datang lagi...

Mudah- mudahan, Ramadhan kali ini akan kita gunakan dengan sebaik- baiknya. Bulan yang penuh dengan keberkatan and kelebihan. Bulan yang begitu istimewa. Harusnya kita semua berusaha mengejar menambahkan amalan di bulan yang mulia ini.

Ramadhan sebenarnya satu bulan yang menyerlahkan siapa kita sebenarnya. Maka, ia bulan yang paling baik untuk menilai diri. Di bulan ini, apa- apa saja yang kita lakukan, apa- apa saja yang kita katakan, apa- apa saja yang kita fikirkan, datangnya daripada diri kita sendiri. Tidak ada 'pihak' lain yang menghembuskan hasutan.

Nukilan saya kali ini terutamanya adalah sebagai peringatan untuk diri saya sendiri. Tetapi, terasa tidak salah untuk dikongsi bersama-sama teman-teman yang datang menjenguk blog saya ini. Sebelum saya meneruskan kata- kata, terlebih dulu saya mohon kemaafan kiranya ada tersilap dalam tulisan saya. Sesungguhnya, yang baik itu datangnya daripada Allah, sebaliknya adalah daripada kekurangan diri saya sendiri.

Selalu kita dengar, 'andai ini Ramadhan terakhir'... apakah harapan kita?

Harapan saya semoga kita mengambil kesempatan di Ramadhan kali ini untuk memperbaiki diri. Mana ada manusia yang sempurna. Terutamanya saya...

Maka di keinsafan Ramadhan,
Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha memelihara yang fardhu...
Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha meningkatkan yang sunat...
Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha menambahkan yang harus...
Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha mengurangkan yang makruh...
Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha meninggalkan yang haram.

Semoga dicelah-celah kesibukan,
Semoga dicelah-celah kepenatan,
Semoga dicelah-celah mata yang layu,
Kita tetap punya kesempatan untuk memelihara dan menambah amalan.

Semoga kita mempunyai kekuatan dalam meneguhkan benteng iman...
Semoga keinsafan ini berkekalan...

Semoga kita sama-sama berusaha menjadi Hamba Allah yang dikasihi-Nya.

Sebulan Ramadhan pasti akan berlalu dengan begitu pantas sekali.
Semoga saya tidak mensia-siakannya...
Semoga kita semua tidak mensia-siakannnya...

Kepada semua muslimin muslimat, selamat menjalani ibadah puasa. Andai ini Ramadhan terakhir, moga Ramadhan kali ini menjadi yang terbaik dalam hayat kita...

Salam Ramadhan, 1430H.

Integrity in Journalism

To start... I admit I don't read much newspapers nowadays and I hardly watch the news on tv. The little update I get on what's going on around me is from the online news. I visit a few online newspaper websites, mostly local, sometimes I visited BBC. I don't know why... hmmm... to admit again, among these online newspaper websites, I'm most attracted to the 'tabloid' types. The stories are more interesting and generally have no direct impact to my life.

If you read a few newspapers, you'll start to realize that each newspaper has its own style, preferences and in the case of politics, it'll lean to a certain party. This will become more obvious when election time is around the corner. From the little observation that I had, one newspaper particularly leans towards the ruling party.

Yesterday, I read in Utusan Online a news where Tuan Guru Nik Aziz said 'Pergi Jahanamlah UMNO' after UMNO misinterpreted his message that his state will co-operate with government as co-operations between PAS & UMNO.

I thought that is very unbecoming of a 'Tuan Guru' to say such a thing. It was harsh. Then, I realized that I was reading Utusan Online, perhaps what they wrote was inaccurate since it was about the opposing party. It was easily hard to believe. So, I went to Harakah Daily to read whether Tuan Guru Nik Aziz really said that. But, no sort of thing were mentioned in Harakah Daily. However, it did mentioned the misinterpretation though. So I thought, hmmmm...

This little incident that happened yesterday made me wonder whether there is any integrity in journalism in Malaysia? Where can I find the truth when the people who are suppose to do it are not doing it? If this is the fact, if I cannot believe the news reported in the newspaper, why should I bother reading them? All the news I get will be misleading anyway.

It is quite confusing and somehow frustrating. I try not to think too much about it.

Then, today when I visited Utusan Online (I'm not sure why I keep on reading Utusan Online. I guess it's because the layout is more user friendly), there is an apology column. They actually made a mistake in reporting about what Tuan Guru have said before and they made an open apology. Although the apology is for a different news, not the one that I mentioned above, but still, this is refreshing...

I quickly went to Harakah Daily to see whether they have comment about the apology. But, what I found made my eyes bigger.

Tuan Guru Nik Aziz said that what he said 'Pergi Jahanamlah UMNO' was necessary. Hmmmm... he has justification for saying what he said, but still... I don't get it. Not when we're suppose to be the one setting up good examples.

What I finally got was, some rays of light in the integrity of Malaysian journalism. Apparently, they do report the right news. Even though the apology was two weeks late. I also learned from my little experience that I can't rely on only one source to get my news right (this is true in everyday life as well right?). Looks like I need to read more than one newspapers just so I can verify the news I'm reading. This is going to take much of my time...

This is why I prefer to read tabloids.

Just so you won't think that I'm writing with no bases, these are some photos and links to back-up my post :)



http://www.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21918&Itemid=50

http://www.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21942&Itemid=50
So, let us bring out the 'Lois Lane' inside of us in the search for the truth. One day, we will meet our 'Superman'.
Same goes to all 'Fox Mulder'... the truth is out there. One day, you'll meet your 'Dana Scully'.

Nite nite everyone! Wishing you a great day tomorrow!

Bring back Paula Cassidy to NCIS!

In case you're wondering what brought this on...

Well, this came up from watching too much of Navy NCIS.

I love the show so much... it reminds me of the times of 'Macgyver' and 'The A Team'. You know... shows with smart, funny, cute & charming people (men...). They are always optimistic, willing to help and always figured out a way to overcome obstacles. There are no problem, just challenges...

Anyway, today's entry is nothing important really.
I just want to express my Navy NCIS related wish.

Bring back Special Agent Paula Cassidy to Navy NCIS!

They already killed Special Agent Caitlin Todd a.k.a Kate. Then, they killed Special Agent Paula Cassidy. I'm not happy! I miss those two! I can't hope that they bring back 'Kate'. They killed her by putting a bullet through her head... if they brought her back, it would be so ridiculous... not to forget scary... eeee...

But then, they haven't brought Paula Cassidy back to the show. I'm pretty sure her character is still alive somewhere in the script. We didn't get to see her dead body after the explosion behind a wall in season 4. I have yet to see the episode in season 6 where her picture is hung on wall of 'The Fallen'... we're still in season 5 here. Come on... the writers can be creative right? Hopefully they'll find a way to bring her back.

Paula Cassidy will make a very good addition to Gibbs's team and an excellent 'partner' for DiNozzo. She's the only one who can get to him and he cared so much for her... well, I think they cared so much for each other... *wink wink*

What am I babbling about?

Yo CBS! Bring back Paula Cassidy!!!

Ok, ok... enough of that. Time for photos. Not many, but... dig these chemistries...

Anthony DiNozzo & Paula Cassidy
I love these two...
"It's a cliche but it is true. Life's too short not to tell someone you love them when you do..."
Wise words Agent Cassidy.

 

Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Hollis Mann

Beautiful and strong veteran agents...

Anthony DiNozzo & Caitlin Todd
Perfect partner... perfect friends...
Outrageous... heheheee...
But, Kate is no more... *sigh*

As I lay me down to sleep, I wish CBS will bring back Paula Cassidy back into Navy NCIS.

and lose Ziva...

Isn't this a gorgoeus looking team? I likeeeee...

Special Agents (from left): Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Paula Cassidy & Timothy McGee.

wishful thinking signing out...