Monday, January 21, 2008

Good Musical

I have just watched a movie called "Once". And it was good.

Once is actually a musical and, as quoted from a website, is not your typical Hollywood musical where people burst into a sing and dance sequence, leaving anything they are in the middle of. And if you are lucky sometimes the frogs join in too.

Once tells the story of an Irish in err.. Ireland who got inspired by a Czech girl to get serious about the music he had been busking about every night on the streets of his hometown. The musical parts kick in appropriately, like when he is busking in streets, or when they are jamming together in a music store.
The film is honest in its storytelling and acting. I don't really know what I mean by honest but I do read it often in other movie reviews. So maybe that sounded just right. Come to think of it could it mean unpretentious? Because this movie is unpretentious. It is somehow a love story but not with a predictable outcome.

The stars of this are unknowns, at least to my familiarity. Only later did I find out that the lead actor is the frontman of an Irish band The Frames. First time I've ever heard of the band. All in all it's a very good movie with wonderful songtracks. I liked it after I saw it "once".

Here's a scene from the movie which I think is beautiful.




Talk about musicals, although i love music, I'm not a fan of musicals. There are a few exceptions though. The all time favourite Sound of Music is my all time favourite too. No one would have thought the World War to be melodic. Then there's the peculiar Dancer in the Dark starring Bjork. It's about a single mother going blind who entertains herself with her own music from the sounds of the environment. And who would've thought the factory is melodic.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Asal usul "mukui talipaun!"

Daripada kecik dulu aku sering mendengar Opah aku yang duduk di Bidor mengungkapkan kata "mukui talipaun". Mendengar frasa ini mebuatkan aku tertanya-tanya apakah itu? Satu adjektif ataupun sejenis jampi?

Apapun, setelah meningkat dewasa barulah aku mendapat tahu bahawa "mukui" itu berasal dari perkataan memukul dan "talipaun" adalah.. hmm telefon. Lalu membuatkan aku bertanya sebab untuk telefon itu dipukul. Rupa-rupanya telefon awam dulu-dulu adalah jenis dimana memerlukan satu pukulan pada sejenis tangkai pada telefon tadi. Hatta frasa "memukul telefon".


"untuk mengundi Amran, SMS Undi Amran ke 39999 ataupun pukul telefon anda terhadap talian tetap kami ....""