WHITNEY HOUSTON'S I LOOK TO YOU - THE ALBUM

I know I'm bad and I deserve a spanking on the butt but I couldn't help myself. So please spare my tender behind. I confess that I downloaded the whole Whitney Houston's I Look To You album before it even hits the American music stores next week. I really, really couldn't help myself and I couldn't wait that long since I don't know how long before it will officially be available here. I did download five songs and snippets of her songs a week earlier but that was just not enough. I wanted the whole thing and I wanted to be one of the first people to be able to listen to the whole album. My conscience did pay me a visit but I turned him away saying that his visit was untimely. Finally, I did the unspeakable deed. So what is the verdict? Well, the album is worth the long wait. I love all the songs. I love her new voice and I love how she uses it in many different ways. In fact, her voice is on fire and the album will be burning the sales and airplay charts. I have been playing the songs non-stop since last night. That's how crazy I am. I know I should be ashamed of myself but I do not regret my action at all. After all, 'there are worse things I can do' (borrowing the lyrics from 'Grease') and I know I will buy the cd later on. I hope the Malaysian special edition will have extra remixes and videos. That will really make my day. My favourites are I Got You, A Song For You, Salute, the new version of Like I Never Left, For The Lovers and Call You Tonight but I'm sure the others will grow on me too in time. 6 out of 11 is not really that bad. Actually, it is very, very good.

RAMADHAN COMES AGAIN

The public schools will close tomorrow and InsyaAllah, Ramadhan will also start on the same day. I have always treasured the first day of Ramadhan since to me, it is an indication of how the whole month is going to be like. I hope this Ramadhan will be as wonderful as the previous ones. In fact, I think it is going to be more meaningful this year. I will be able to spend at least a week with my family and how I wish that the schools would close for a month. School-going children will be able to spend more time at home and families will be able to break their fast and perform their prayers together. As for me, I will have the chance to do early preparations for Syawal although last minute preparations and shopping (chaos is more like it) are much more fun and exciting. The house needs to be cleaned a little bit and I guess I will have ample time to bake a few types of cookies. I know my nephews and nieces (including their parents aka my siblings) will be asking whether I have baked enough of their favourite cookies for them to take home. So it is important that this task is completed early before I run out of steam! I would like to wish everyone a happy Ramadhan and I hope this Ramadhan will bring peace to all. Have a wonderful Ramadhan!

I WON'T FORGET ABOUT YOU, JOHN HUGHES

John Hughes, the director of teen flicks like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, passed on a couple of days ago. In his movies, he depicted the coming-of-age period exactly like it was in the 80s. Unlike other directors of teenage movies, he poked fun at the the characters' irrationality, insensibility, insecurity and circumstances in a very funny yet touching way. Teenagers from all sorts of backgrounds flocked to the cinemas to watch his movies and it was good to know that there was someone who knew how to portray your life without being too judgmental or condescending. You can always see various characters and personalities in his movies and you can almost identify with at least one of them. There would be geeks, dorks and nerds, bitches, sluts and jocks, rebels, misfits and outcasts, and not forgetting overbearing parents and patronising teachers all thrown in in a less than two-hour movie. And I have always loved the songs he picked for his movies. True (Spandau Ballet) from Sixteen Candles and Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds) from The Breakfast Club are still some of my favourite songs until now. His movies have made life much more bearable for those who think that they are alone and different than the rest of the crowd. He showed that despite our differences, there can also be a common ground which we can share : love, compassion and understanding. And that is something that we should not forget.

AM I REALLY OUTDATED?

Am I really outdated? Do I need to upgrade myself? I ask myself these questions all the time. Every time I surf the Internet, I will find something new and totally alien to me. I wonder if my life will be better if I keep myself up-to-date with whatever that is new and recent. Is it necessary for me to buy the latest cell phone with the latest applications and features so as not to be left behind? Do I need to learn a new IT programme just to make sure I am indeed in the know? Do I have to listen to new songs so I can have something in common with my hip friends? Do I? Or don't I? I ask myself these questions simply because I don't want to be a blind follower of a trend or a fad. Many of us fall into traps set by others who have been trapped by others (who have been trapped by others too). We buy something not because we we need to but because we feel we need to. We do something because we see others are doing it. Is it necessary to do all that? Well, it is definitely important to keep abreast with development but to become its victims is something all of us can do without. I believe we have more choices now compared to the past and because of that, we don't necessarily have to follow all trends and fads which are shoved down our throats. We can choose whatever that suits our current needs. At the same time, it is also important to embrace what's 'current' in order to survive. A lot of companies have gone under due to their inability to move on and there are countless institutions which have become static due to lack of progress and development. At the same time, certain things are better the way they are intended to be in the first place. So back to my question. Do I need to upgrade myself? To answer that, I think I'd better stick with fadzali XP instead of ugrading myself to fadzali 7. I'm quite happy with fadzali XP's operating system at the moment and I guess I can still survive without crashing...

TIE-DYE (A SUMMER'S TALE)

I was watching e-news last night and it seems that tie-dye is making a comeback. Well, it's been a while since I last saw anyone wearing tie-dye t-shirts or skirts on the street. With the weather getting really warm and hazy, it's about time something cool and vibrant made its appearance again. Welcome back, tie-dye. I've missed you so much. I remember wearing my tie-dye t-shirts (till the colours faded) almost everywhere I went to when I was still a student. With my unruly long black hair, torn jeans, beads and sandals, people thought I was a flower child or at least, someone trapped in the 60s and just couldn't get over the era. I was definitely a sight to behold so I can understand now why people always gave me the weird look every time I passed them (the same way I look at the present youngsters with their pierced body parts). I also remember going to a free open-air reggae concert on my campus field and the organiser provided buckets and buckets of dyes for concert-goers to dye their white t-shirts in. There were lots of tie-dyed t-shirts (including a few underpants and bras!) left to be dried on the grass while the concert-goers moved and grooved to reggae music. That was also the summer when I had to repeat a class I had to drop earlier. Once I went shopping at The Mall (it was still the 'it' place back then) with a few friends (Aznan, Zainor, Ali and Mudasir) and we spotted a shop (I think it belonged to the former actor, Azmil Mustapha) selling tie-dye shirts. We were like hippies on pots when we saw the clothes! Oh! It was patchouli and sandalwood-scented psychedelic heaven for us and we got ourselves a tie-dye shirt each. Now that I'm older, I wonder if tie-dye t-shirts can still look good on me. Maybe yes but I'll get a second opinion before I dare wear them in public again since I definitely do not want to look like a member of the Grateful Dead.

On second thought, maybe I should start with these tie-dye boxers.