That Heartless Dude With A Lot Of Heart

Please allow me to gloat. I've been going to concerts since i was 12 and many of the times, i always look enviously at the reporters and photographers who get to attend press conferences, parade around town with their media tag and watch the concert upclose in a section closed off to the public. So imagine the happiness when i got a call from my editor telling me to not only attend the concert and press conference, but also to interview Kris Allen. I finally get my own media tag!

If you go hunting for Kris Allen press conference details on the Internet, i'm pretty sure you'll notice many of those who attended the conference will write about Kris and the Malaysian souvenir that he received: a keris. Kris' keris, get it?



Then came my time to interview the Idol himself. Ohmigosh. This is the friggin man i was watching on TV last year. The man i thought, like all other Idol winners, i would never get to see live. What you see on air is really what you get. While he's not the best celeb in terms of giving interesting interviews, he is funny and i think he doesn't even realise this. He's insanely humble and really lives up to his boy-next-door image.



Okay, this has got to be the most drama-free concert i've been to. Having a media tag does make a lot of difference! At first, we were ushered into a room with two televisions. My first thought: "Oh shit. Are they going to make us watch the concert from here?" Thank God, it was just a waiting area. And this waiting area is nothing like the long queues i am so used to waiting in. We were served food, champagne and wine. And when the time came, another door opened and we simply sashayed into the ballroom while the public is still kept waiting outside.

We had a section to ourselves at the front of the stage. A few selected lucky winners got to join us there too. Though i was so thankful for the front view, i know how it feels like to be a fan and forced to stand behind a bunch of media people who probably don't even care. But boy, was i happy that night. This is what i've been dreaming of on many occassions! Being in front also mean awesome-r pictures and video...









And Kris Allen has a cute band! This guitarist/keyboardist of his (the name's Cale - i did my research) is super hot. Kinda reminds me of Sylar from Heroes. And this time, even Ee Laine has to admit that my taste is good! See? I can spot a good thing when i see one!



Please let more opportunities like this come! STAR World, organise more concerts and invite me! Sigh, let's hope that my office comes up with an entertainment magazine soon so i can start writing about things that i really give a hoot about.

They Asked For It

"Orang asli fights off tiger with rock" - The Star, 7 Feb '10

Every time i read the papers and come across such headline, the first thought that comes to mind is, "Why did the animal attack the person in the first place?". I am one who always believe that animals, unlike humans, do not cause harm without a reason. Nine out of 10 times, they are probably threatened into doing so. It annoys me too that most media often report such stories by either playing up the injuries or taking a victim's-courageous-fight-for-life angle. What about the cause?

So this recent incident talks about a man who went into the forest to collect petai, got attacked by a lurking tiger and escaped by fighting off the mammal. He even played the pity card: "Asked whether the attack would deter him from going back into the forest, Yok Meneh said he had no choice but to continue as his family’s survival depended on the produce he collected."

Then, yesterday, i came upon this headline which made me happy:

"Orang asli was trying to kill tiger, not collect petai" - The Star, 9 Feb '10

Finally! After so many reports that paint a horrible and false image of animals, the truth is highlighted. The idiot caught the tiger in a snare and when he returned to kill it a few days later, he was attacked. Unfortunately, the tiger did not survive. They found his body few meters away and his detached limb still in the snare. And, authorities reveal that there are no petai in that forest so his whole collect-petai-need-money shebang is bullshit. He's lucky he walked away with just a 15.2cm deep wound on his back for all the torture that he has done on the poor mammal who is merely trying to survive in a world of selfish humans.

I remember Steve Irwin once said something along these lines:

"We teach you how to watch out for crocodiles because we want to keep you safe. By keeping you safe, we keep the animals safe because more often than not, every time after an attack (regardless if it's the human's fault), the animal ends up being killed."

So fucking true. We are the beasts. Not them.

For When You Don't Have Fingernails

This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most ridiculous but useful tool ever created by man.

Is it...
a) A pen with a funky top?
b) An egg whisk?
c) A pen that also doubles as a whisk?

It's none of the above. It's actually a nifty gadget you use to scratch your head. The 'pen' side of it is actually the handle, while the 'whisk' is used to scratch your scalp.



It's so comfortable. Almost as good as going to the salon (for goodness sake, it's a hair salon, NOT a hair saloon!) to get your hair washed and scalp scratched. Awesomeness!