boulevard-ijab (IJA & ME) - one half completing the other half....

Trekking The Star (spoilers ahead!)

Last year, when I learned that a new Star Trek movie was due to be released in 2009, my heart was compounded with both eagerness...and doubt. Eager, because upon seeing the name J.J. Abrams at the helm, I knew he was going to make it great. But at the same time, I had doubt if I ever going to like the movie at all. I mean, look at Star Wars! Although I did watch the three Star Wars movies when I was a kid, I never did become an avid fan. Thanx to George Lucas for coming up with those crappy prequels (ok, so Sith was slightly better than the first two), now I kinda' hate Star Wars.

Likewise, I was never a Trekkie. Well, I may recognise some of the characters from the TV show and know what the story revolved around, but only vaguely. If The Simpsons hadn't used Leonard Nimoy as a guest voice in some of its episodes, I might not even know there was a character named Spock Prime. True, the Star Trek movies starring Patrick Stewart (who also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise) as Captain Jean-Luc Picard were quite recent, but they failed to attract me to become a fan.

But when I saw Trailer 2 of the new Star Trek movie some months back, I knew that Abrams will be taking us for a thrill ride. My doubt was immediately replaced with uncontrollable anticipation. (You can view the trailers here. I think trailers 2 and 3 were made brilliantly, without giving too much away, with nice music scores. I especially love Trailer 3 more - more touching).

Gladly, my anticipation was met with satisfaction. Heck, I dragged my wife along just to watch it again, and she too, had enjoyed it and both of us are non-Trek followers.

For most movies, they usually left me awed only when the end credits started rolling in or after I left the cinema. But for Star Trek, it made my jaw dropped even at the beginning of the movie, and my jaw continued to drop (literally) at most times throughout the movie. Yes, it is THAT good!!!

What made Star Trek such an unforgettable movie? Well, for a start - it is a fun movie and full of action right from the start - from the attack on USS Kelvin, to when younger Kirk destroys the classic car (for no apparent reason), and the fight scene between Kirk and Sulu with some bad Romulans on the drill machine, right up to the climax battle sequences. With the characters running (usually to save themselves or others) for most of the time, indicates that the pacing is not going to slow down and moviegoers should stay glued to the screen and in their seats - like when the 800 souls are 'flying away' for their lives, or when Kirk rushes (with McCoy and Uhura entails behind him) to prevent the USS Entreprise from falling into the trap, or when Spock and the Vulcan elders are running out of the cave, or when Kirk is trying to save himself from being eaten by the (cool) space monsters on Delta Vega, or how about when Earth's core is being drilled from space and the Earthlings are running towards it, wondering what it is (the drill machine is a reminiscence of the Alien space craft from the Independence Day movie - with hot, fiery beam fired from the centre of the craft and the beam is protected by circular side walls. In Star Trek, it is the side wall that Sulu uses to bounce himself back up to safety).

Despite its fast pace, all the main characters (the good guys and the 'bad' ones) are properly introduced and developed - we either love them or hate them. The movie also invokes our tear 'glands'. Both Kirk and Spock lose a parent in tragic turn of events! Our hero James T. Kirk is both beaten (his dad dies, and so, he settles for a less-than-ordinary life) and got beaten up rather badly, I mean...literally. First, the bar fight, then by Spock and towards the end of the movie, by some Romulans thugs. The Romulans are headed by Nero, played by Eric Bana (Bana is clean shaven and tattoed - making him almost unrecognisable). We also feel for Spock, with personality crisis (half human/half Vulcan) and trying hard not to be emotionally compromised after witnessing the tragedy that befalls his mother (an older and taller Winona Ryder) and home planet.

In one memorable scene, Abrams brilliantly puts all the (good) characters on the bridge. Totally priceless, especially for the fans!

The movie provides good comic relief when Kirk is trying hard to get Uhura's first name, or seeing Kirk's reaction to those numerous vaccine shots, or Chekov's first scene with his accent, or Scotty and his false calculation when transporting Kirk and Spock right in the middle of the enemies.

Go watch this one! So what if you don't understand those sci-fi technical stuffs like 'external inertial damper' or you worry if you can't fully appreciate the characters. The movie calls for repeat viewing, for fans (of the Star Trek franchise) and non-fans alike. After all, the Rolling Stone calls it as a 'Pure Filmmaking Exhilaration' and 'An Irresistable Invitation For Fun', and Access Hollywood "The First 'Star Trek' For Everyone" (true indeed), and Newsweek with its simple yet accurate two-word review to sum it up - "Way Cool".

Labels: Life, Movie photos, Movie Reviews, Movies, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 4:08 am 0 people talked at The Boulevard

A tribute to big baby boys

They say, men are generally less mature or late to mature compared to women. Put a man and a woman of the same age in the same room, chances are the woman is much more mature in her thinking and behaviours than the man.

Why is this so? Is it because men are more vulnerable to mid-life crisis, or feeling insecure, or it's their issues with parents, or their constant need for attention and affection (which can be from their parents or their wives), or men have issues of letting go (of their comics, toys, etc, hehehee)?

Perhaps female readers of this blog can give their insights. Have the men in your lives ever acted so immature before? If yes, why or what prompted them to act that way?

As for me, until today, I just love cartoons and toys, and act childish and cheeky (ok, the latter may only occur at certain times and towards certain people only). As George Costanza had said in an episode of Seinfeld, "I always see myself as a younger brother, eager to learn more".

Whenever I buy new toys or children books for Ikhwan, sometimes I wonder whether am I actually feeding my own excitement towards those things, although of course, those things would become Ikhwan's stuffs once I brought them home (but I can still play them with him what? hahahahahaha). Heck, I have two adult sized Spider-man T-shirts which I wear even when I go out with my family.

Now, back to our little Ikhwan. He is still immature of course - but what do you expect from a 2 year old? Haha... But lately, he sure is developing very fast. He's like a sponge - absorbing almost eveything that he sees/hears other people say and do.

He respects the elders when he shakes his hands with them, he waves goodbye like a grown up, he knows how to blow his kisses (sometimes using his both hands and says 'muaahhh'), helps his Ibu make the bed sometimes, pretends like he were sweeping the floor, cleans up his toys and puts them back into his toy chest (he now have two toy chests - each packed with different toys of different kinds, we basically let him play with different ones every few days), knows how to roll and kick a ball back and forth with me, performs 'wheely' while riding on his bikes (he has two bikes and one car - all are gifts from his grannies and tok's) and loves talking on the phone, whether really talking to someone or just imagining (his imaginary phone could be something as small as a piece of paper the size of his thumb - the smallest phone in the world indeed - he even passed it around for us talk to his 'phone').

Ikhwan loves the wirid and doa' aired over Astro Oasis. Almost everyday without fail, he is glued in front of the t.v. to watch (and at the same time listen) to that channel. He follows us when we perform our prayers and knows how to stand (with his arms placed on his tummy) and sujud in prayers. He also understands that everytime after adzan (the call for prayers for the Muslims) concludes (whether he heard it from t.v. or from the nearby mosque or when I was the one who adzan), there is a doa' after adzan. He would raise his two hands up, while listening to me/wife reciting the doa'.

That day, after I finished my adzan in the house, he immediately squatted with his arms raised. At first I was wondering why did he squat. Then I realised I too was squatting. All this while, I was squatting so that my eyes would be almost on the same level as his, so that he wouldn't have to look up while I was reciting the doa'. Little did I expect that he'd follow exactly what I did. So cute huh?

During dinner a couple of nights ago, while biting on a chicken bone, I twirled it at the same time. Immediately, he twirled the small piece of chicken meat that he had on his hand the same way.

Those are just some of the things he copied and did. Well, that's our boy! :-)) Meantime, here's a video of him, taken a few months ago...

P/S: 29 January - our 3rd wedding anniversary. This year, we didn't take a day off to celebrate, because we kinda' already celebrated it in advanced last weekend, also in conjunction with wife's birthday.

Labels: Islam, Life, My Children, My Families, My Videos, Parental, Reading, Toys, TV shows, Video clip

posted by The Pisces Man @ 4:20 am 10 people talked at The Boulevard

The new year ...of time and how it passes us by...

Speaking of remembering the yesterdays and yesteryears, those whose puberty years were in the 70's, 80's and (early) 90's, would remember what I'm about to reminisce here (some of them may only be experienced by the Malaysians though):

Great outdoor activities would include playing pebbles or spinning tops, 'galah panjang' (a game where you stand in the middle of a court, preventing your friends from crossing over to the court section behind you and should you be able to touch a person in any way, you shout 'JADIK' meaning 'your turn to be in the middle'); 'main kejar-kejar' (need I explain more? - basically you just run and run and run and run...), 'tarik upih pinang' (one or two people pulling the coconut or palm leaf around the neighbourhood, with a person sitting on it), rounders, swimming in the rivers, 'nyorok-nyorok' (hide and seek), and many others.

Other than playing those indoor games, the cartoons on t.v. were cool too. Just to name a few - Doraemon, Thundercats, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, M.A.S.K (my favourite), Smurfs, Jem (yeah, I watched this too ;pp), Transformers, Woody Woodpecker Show and The Simpsons (another of my favourite which is still around till today... yeah!!).

Some hit t.v. series would be like Captain Power, Battlestar Galactica, 'V' (yes, the letter V), McGyver, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210 and Knight Rider.

Let's not forget those prime time soaps like Return to Eden (an Australian show - my whole family was a big fan), Dallas, Knotts Landing and Dynasty (remember Joan Collins anyone?).

The sitcoms were really funny and great back then and also ran on many seasons. For examples, Saved By The Bell, Full House, Family Ties, Growing Pains and of course the greatest sitcom ever... Friends.

We had some really cool movies back then, very creative and original in ideas, very entertaining and for some... very scary. I love horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, House, The Kindred, Candyman, The Shining (arguably one of the scariest - All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy....spooky), Halloween, Fright Night (also a favourite), Gremlins (ok, for some kids, this could be scary), Hellraiser (ugh! the brutalities...), Little Shop Of Horrors (funny and scary), Alien and Aliens (my favourites), The Thing (what a scary thing!) and Friday the 13th.

Other great movies are like Back To The Future series, Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, Gandhi, Airport 77, Jaws series, Labyrinth, Rambo series, Rainman (a great one) etc etc.

It was a pop era. For some singers, they really had the spotlights shine on them (although for some, they are no longer heard of anymore). Big names with big hits are like Madonna, Michael Jacson, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Belinda Carlisle, Def Leppard, Miami Sound Machine, Rick Ashley (and his goofy dance moves), Milli Vanilli (oh, the deception), Vanilla Ice (a white who didn't know how to be black and went bankrupt in a blink), Cindy Lauper, Martika, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton (remember the voice?), Bonnie Tyler, New Kids On The Block, The Bangles, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Extreme, Chicago, ... the list really goes on....

If school kids these days compare what handphone brands they use, back then we compared pencil boxes and cases. Some pencil boxes were like a James Bond gadget - press here, one compartment would pop up, press another, another compartment would pop up. We were very good in Geography too coz the erasers had flags of different countries imprinted on them :))How about indulge in the many junk foods available and for most of them, they came with free toys too. Remember Sumi jelly, Chickadees and Tora? These foods were usually advertised over the t.v. using Mat Sentul as the voiceover.

Aaaahhh... the tiny little biscuits with icing on top. Usually ate just the icing, without the crackers, heheheee...It feels like yesterday that I had one of these foods, heard one of those songs, watched one of those movies/tv series/cartoons, owned one of those pencil boxes and played one of those games. Since it feels like yesterday, guess I'm not really that old huh? Hahaha...

What would I hope for 2009 and years to come? Very noticeable changes of course - in many, if not all, aspects of life - changes that come from within me... spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

Hopefully, the environment is treating me right too, and by environment, I don't mean just the world climate but also the economy, the political arena and most importantly, the environment within my family, our house and our neighbourhood.

I think I'd like to become a little bit of selfish too from now on, by always asking myself questions like 'oh yeah? so?', 'what's in it for me?', 'what do I care?', 'so what's it going to be?' and 'why the heck would I care/help/bother?'

Anyway, last 29 December 2008 (a national holiday here) also marked the new year (1430 Hijrah) for us Muslims. So, to my non-Muslim friends who always wish me Happy New Year during the Eidul Fitri, Eid is not really the new year for us Muslims, Awal Muharam is (Muharam is the first month in the Islamic calendar)..... ok? :))

HAPPY NEW YEAR 1430H AND 2009 TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE!!!!!! MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE (THE GOOD ONES AND MAYBE SOME BAD ONES TOO?, HAHAHHAA).....

P/S: Speaking of being selfish just now, lately, I see myself transformed into some stubborn and hard-headed person (as in 'keras hati'). I don't know whether being the man in the family had played any part in that, or it's the life experiences that taught me to become one. My wife sees that change in me, others too and once, my 'keras hati'ness had shocked a friend. Is that a good thing? (being hard-headed and not easily swayed). Guess from now on, no more Mr Nice Guy huh!

Labels: Awareness, Cartoons, Foods, Islam, Life, Movie photos, Movies, My Families, Of....and...., Parental, Road Safety, Safety issues, Singing, Toys, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 4:22 am 12 people talked at The Boulevard

From books to movies...of words and adaptations...

Take Stephen King's books for example. With the exception of Christine and The Mist which received rave reviews and were quite well-accepted by moviegoers, other movies adapted from his books tanked!

I remember reading Phantoms by Dean Koontz many years ago. It was one of the scariest books I've ever read. Every page of the book was so vividly horrifying. Unfortunately, the movie, despite having big actors in it, failed to attract people to flock the cinemas.

I once had a dream to write a book. A book that I hoped, could open doors to other possibilities, and one of them was which to have it adapted into a movie (or a series of movies). The book already had a title; each characters named and their characteristics visualised; the draft was ready up to Chapter 7 (if not mistaken).... in fact for some chapters, they were almost complete.

Three friends read the draft. A couple of them had even showed their willingness to be a part of it. One was willing to be my editor, while another, a talented artist, drew some sketches so that we could later pick one to be the book cover. He also drew some of the monsters (see below) to be inserted into the pages of the book - plus he also loves to draw, so pretty much, he just wanted to (draw them).

Then reality hit me. I am not that great (in writing). I may have received comments before about how my simple style of English writing can still somehow grasp their attention. But, is it enough that based on these comments alone made by only a few people, I can expect (other) readers to be hooked by maintaining the same style throughout the book? Surely readers would want something out of the ordinary and simplicities, and expect me to get out of my comfort zone of writing.

The book project got postponed indefinitely, for so many years now. It never left my mind completely though, at least not yet. Hmm... maybe I should write it in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) first, although again, I'm not an excellent BM writer either. Or perhaps I should find myself a ghost writer or a co-writer. Or perhaps publish a graphic novel instead, a collaboration with my artistic friend there. Hmm... I don't really know.

This whole thing about getting my book out came back to my mind after reading an article, about how easy it is for a 9-year-old boy, Alex Greven, who initially wrote his book and self-published it at a school book fair, became almost instantly famous. Not only his 48-page advice book, "How to Talk to Girls" became a best-seller, it has also been optioned by Fox for a possible theatrical release. The film rights to him were sold for low-to-mid six figures. How lucky of him huh?

Reading the article made me think about the path I have threaded my way through all this while, and the future paths that I should take (and plan to take). We Muslims are always encouraged to appreciate the 5 things before the 5 things arrive. One of them was 'while we are still free before we are busy' and another one, 'while we are still alive before we are dead'.

More often than not, we are so busy with worldly matters, we forget about the world that follows. Then, we may say we are very busy, but usually busy for other people. In a recent Oprah Winfrey show, she said 84% of people hate their jobs. So, if we are too busy with jobs that we hate (or maybe not particularly fond of), isn't it time, we make it count? Isn't it time we become busy FOR ourselves for a change? ...sigh...

Meantime, talk about adaptation from comics, you can view the trailer of the coming Wolverine movie here.

Labels: Cartoons, Creativity, Islam, Life, Movies, Of....and...., Reading, TV shows, Video clip

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:28 pm 7 people talked at The Boulevard

The 'little' things about me...

My name

Full name is Abdun Nizar Ahmad. With the exception of few relatives, everybody else in the family and at schools (primary and secondary) called me Nizar. A couple of relatives call me Abun, while all three cousins from my mother side call me.... guess what - John McKeterk, or in short, John. Since it's a made up name, I don't really know the spelling to the second name, but judging from sound, that should be it. To this day, they still call me John, their spouses also call the same, and their children - Cik John (Cik is the short for Pakcik, which is Uncle). As for my uncle and auntie (my cousins' parents), they sometims call me Nizar, and sometimes John.

Ever since I began my college/university years, everyone there called me Abdun with very few who prefer Abun. I remember a joke made by a housemate back in the UK - he said Abun Sabun (sabun is soap). Issshhh.. of all the names, but I didn't take it seriously :)

Now, if I meet someone new, if they are relatives (like in the case of my wife's side whom I never met before OR from my side, who may not remember my name), I'd introduce myself as Nizar. But, if they are not (going to be my) relatives, then it's gonna be Abdun. Don't ask me why. I'm comfortable of introducing myself that way.

The address book in my phone

Due to most people calling me Abdun, although I may not be the most important person in their lives, my name usually happens to be the first one in their phone's address book. This has a disadvantage. People had been accidentally calling me/sending me empty messages. What really annoying is that sometimes, the calls/smses caught me at the wrong times like in the wee hours of morning (if they are going to sleep with the phones by their sides, why can't they lock the phones, dang it!) or after rushing to get to the phone, only to hear people's conversations (the case of phones in their pants' pockets or handbags and the calls accidentally made) or kids' voices (obviously their kids are playing with the phones).

There was one time, my phone kept beeping due to receiving almost a dozen of empty messages, one after another, to the extent that it started to attract the unnecessary attention from people at the office. The smses were all coming from a person I met at a seminar.

Guess, I was in the wrong mood to be disturbed like that. You know what I did? I texted her, "since you hardly know me, you might as well remove my name from your phone book." Pretty nasty huh?

There was another incident where after picking up the phone, I heard a friend's conversation with another....and they were talking about me. Luckily, all I heard were compliments about me. I was smiling ear to ear....it took me a while before I hung up the phone :))

All these incidents had taught me something. In my phone book, I put 'abdun' and 'zzzdun' as the first and last names. The numbers behind those names are invalid of course, so those in the 2nd and 2nd last list are spared from any accidental pressing on their numbers.

My nature

I have stint eyes, but without my glasses, people perceive my eyes as rather big (especially if I roll my eyes). Well, so many people had said so, guess that is true. Wife said, my bulging eyes must be the reason why Ikhwan gets so excited whenever I do some acts in front of him.

I am a quiet person and shy by nature, ahaks.... I mean, seriously.. throw me into a social gathering packed with 'strangers', I'd definitely feel very uncomfortable. I think because I hate the fact that I have to put on a (fake) smiling face, and having to think what to say most of the time.

But once well acquainted, you will probably see my bubbling nature. Heck, some even said I was naughty.

On precaution steps

I really feel like going....
to so many places in the world. One of them would be New York - probably influenced by how NY is portrayed in TV shows and movies, like in Heroes, Cloverfield, CSI:NY etc etc.

am mostly awed by...
God's given gift - the human intellect. How babies develop physically, mentally and spiritually, starting from not knowing anything; new inventions are discovered numbering thousands every year; new catchy songs keep coming out, each sounds usually different from the other, considering there are so many singers for so many years and each album has at least 10 songs; ideas may be repeated but brilliant writers always know how to make the stories fresh and interesting.

As much as I want to start a tag on this, I've learned my lesson that people are not going to do it. But you are welcome to share whatever little things about you that you don't mind other people knowing.

Labels: 'Little', Cartoons, Creativity, Hobbies, Life, Movie photos, Movies, Music, My car, My Families, Nature photos, Reading, Road Safety, Travel, TV shows, Video clip, Weirdness

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:15 am 7 people talked at The Boulevard

Solemn....

Labels: Life, Music, My Families, Sky, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 5:31 pm 0 people talked at The Boulevard

Fabulous 'cooks'... with mariah 'curry'

We were as one, babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine
Now you wanna be free...yeah
So I’m letting you fly
‘Cause I know in my heart, babe
Our love will never die...noooooo...

You’ll always be a part of me
I’m part of you indefinitely
Girl don’t you know you can’t escape me
Ooh darling ‘cause you’ll always be my baby
And we’ll linger on
Time can’t erase a feeling this strong
No way you’re ever gonna shake me
Ooooh darling, ‘cause you’ll always be my....my baby.....yeahhh.....

Labels: Favourite song, Life, Love, Lyrics, Music, TV shows, Video clip

posted by The Pisces Man @ 1:51 am 2 people talked at The Boulevard

Election... selection

If there is a single 'deja-vu' feeling that is felt by many other people at the same time, it'd be during election times. What with the poster wars, the political talks and (certain) politicians taking turns in throwing slanderuos remarks against their opponents (luckily in Malaysia, no killings is involved). It all looks and feels so familiar as the same 'road' is taken, over and over again, whenever election time is near.

As I make a left turn at a junction, I notice how the corner of the road has become the centre of expressing one's artistic skill. Artistic indeed for not a single inch of the two lamp posts at the corner, is not covered with posters of a political party. Luckily the lamps do not suffer the same fate. Another political party does not want to be left behind by having a huge banner tied between the two lamp posts and a flag perched on top of a tree.

The same scenario can be seen almost everywhere. Posters of political parties and election candidates are by every road sides throughout Malaysia. Not just lamp posts and trees, some walls of buildings and road signs are also pasted with the same and practically everything that stands on pillars have strings of banners tied to them.

Back in 2008, BN, the ruling party since Malaysia gained its independence, saw the worst defeat in history. 5 states were lost to the opposition parties (which consists of PAS, PKR and DAP), while for other states in the Peninsular, a significant number of the seats was lost. Although BN still ruled the country, in the Parliament, BN didn't actually win the 2/3 of the seats. What a shame...shame...shame...

When Pak Lah took the trone as the head of the country, many were dissatisfied and not enthusiastic with the idea for he lacked the leadership skills that someone in his position should have (that being one of the many reasons only).

One after another corruption cases and scandals involving some high-profile politicians were exposed, especially by the opposition parties. This inevitably resulted in the dis-unity among the component parties in the ruling government. The citizens were in a state of unrest for quite some time but managed to maintain peace.

The election this year marks a difference. While BN is about to crumble and probably turns to dust, the opposition parties are getting stronger. Those (the opposition candidates) who won have proved they are worthy of leaders and representatives of citizens' voices. PAS, PKR and DAP have also managed to put aside any differences and work together as one big strong team.

With PAS making sure that Islam is always put first before handling and carrying out other matters, it's apparent that their fight and efforts are solely for Allah and for the rakyat. PKR leads in the sense of strategic planning and execution, while DAP makes sure the interests and rights of the non-Bumiputeras are well-guarded and fought for, without having to eliminate the special privileges that the Bumiputeras have been enjoying all this while.

08 March 2008 (flashback)

We left our house to go back hometown about 8 in the morning. Coincidentally, my mother was in KL after helping out my wife taking care of our baby Ikhwan who was recuperating from chicken pox.

When we arrived in Muar, not wanting to waste any time, I decided to stop to cast my vote, since the voting centre was by the main road we took to go home.

My wife and mother fulfilled their responsibility after lunch. Wife voted at a different area, and both places saw the fight between BN and PAS candidates. Each of the PAS candidates was a doctor. The one at my area was our family doctor.

Night time - we eagerly awaited for the polling results. If we didn't watch the special TV programme that covered the election, we would constantly look at the results appearing at the bottom screen when a different programme was running.

Many anticipated the opposition would win big, although it was a tough call. As for me, I rooted for PAS and PKR. So, when the opposition won in 4 states and the Federal Territory (KL), with PAS managed to maintain their credibility by winning in Kelantan again, the news shocked the nation a little bit.

What's more? A few BN candidates who were known for their loud 'uninsured' mouths and arrogance (not to forget, stupidity?) were lost to the opposition candidates. Well, served them right, although in my opinion, more of them should have suffered the same public humiliation for their 'open secret' corruption cases and exploitation of people's money for their own good.

Johore (where Muar is part of it) has always been considered as BN's stronghold. But that year marked the beginning where the opposition landed their feet there. DAP won 4 seats, while the 2 seats where my wife and I cast our votes were won by PAS. I could say the trip back home was well paid off for I had helped PAS to break history!

Labels: Cartoons, Creativity, Life, My Families, Short Story, Socio-politics, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 8:23 am 2 people talked at The Boulevard

Happy Birthday Ikhwan - our most beloved son!

TUHANKU, sesungguhnya aku tidak layak untuk syurgaMU,
namun tak pula aku sanggup menghadapi api nerakaMU.
Dari itu ampunkanlah segalan dosa aku, dan maafkanlah aku.
Sesungguhnya ENGKAU maha pengampun segala dosa-dosa.

English translation:

YA ALLAH, I am not qualified to be in your Heaven,
but neither can i bear your Hell fire.
For that, please forgive me, for all I have sinned.
For Allah is Most Merciful, Oft-forgiving of all sins, regardless of how big they are (as long as we don't worship other than Allah of course).

For some of us, take these words to our hearts, we might not realise there'll be tears forming at the corner of our eyes.

Ikhwan, here's verse 286, taken from Surah AL-BAQARA:
On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."

Still reminiscing...... ever since only a few months old, Ikhwan always responds whenever his name is called, whether by turning his head around, or twitching his legs a bit, or slanting his head (I have finally recorded a video on this, which I shall put up soon), or uttering his baby words as a way to talk back to us or simply, by smiling/laughing. Nowadays, if he's busy playing or doing his exploring activites, he becomes so excited and sometimes he claps his hands or wriggles his body on the floor, especially when we continuously call his name in full, which is Ikhwan Rasydan. In this particular video, see how he reacted when I whispered his name...


Responsive - The best video clips are here

I shall soon recount the things that he's able to do now, still learning to do and some memorable moments my wife and I had shared with Ikhwan this past year, Insha' Allah...

P/S: Tazkirah for the day
Nowadays, it's common for parents (especially if both are working) to send their kids to be taken care of by baby sitters. Yes, kids these days spend most of their days of their weeks with people who are not their parents. But, despite of that, every single time, when the parents arrive at the sitter's place, the children would drop everything that they do and even 'toss' the sitters aside, to go home with their parents (provided that the parents are lovable to their kids laah!). So, it is in human nature for children to always feel the attachment with their parents and want to go back with them, regardless of what. Likewise, it is nature for all humans to return to the Creator whether or not they want it or they are ready. So, the question is, are we prepared to meet our Creator?

Labels: Al Qur'an, Anatomy, Birthdays, Doa', Family photos, Islam, My Children, My Families, My Videos, Parental, TV shows

posted by The Pisces Man @ 6:56 pm 3 people talked at The Boulevard