Culturally Preconditioned

Amazing Race : Family Edition - Episode 1

That was probably one of the best Amazing Race premier ever. The thought of having 40 .. that’s FORTY people on the show is just too much for me. And to add to all the confusion and chaos, what better way than to start the race in the busiest city on the planet. That is just sheer brilliance.

I was and still am very iffy about having kids on the show. It disgusts me to the very core. And I’m not even sure if I’m more disgusted at the kids themselves (what the hell are they trying to prove? They’re not even of legal age) or at the parents for subjecting their children to national public ridicule. Whatever. Kids suck. If you think for a split second I’m going to spare these kids from my Harshness with a capital ‘H’ and go ‘awww they are so cute’ - you’re dead fucking wrong. People who whore themselves out in reality shows are fair game to being ridiculed. Let’s just be thankful I’m not doing any commentaries on Mencari C*p*t, shall we?

The challenges were interesting (except for the Hot Dog bits - $10 says that the two vendors are CBS staff) and I am psyched that their final destination for this leg of the race was Lancaster. Yeah, I know.. the Lancaster in Amishland, not in England, but still. And from next week’s preview, why do I get the feeling that this whole season will center around America’s ‘historical and geographical’ sites and events because it’s a family edition? Give me a fucking break.

Since there’s still too many people on this show, I’m going to break them down into smaller segments to make things easier, in order of favourability (These teams might be rearranged accordingly as the show progresses).

The HIT list

1. The Linz family - They had me during the first 5 minutes of their introduction where the big brother preaches about being independent bla bla, and the younger brother quipped “Shut up Alex. You still live at home”. Haha.. that had me laughing. I was psyched to see them lead the race and am so so glad to see them still in the race. I guess I like them cause they’re the only all-siblings team. Had me thinking what it would be like if my brother and twin sisters and me would join the race. We would totally kill each other. I love their banters and they certainly look like they’ll offer us viewers a lot of DUH moments. That should be fun.

2. The Aiello family - I like em. I’m not sure what it was but they certainly left a good impression on me. It sucks that they dropped down from 1st place to 8th place though. They all seemed good natured and very down to earth. Plus their surname makes me hungry.

3. The Godlewski family - I didn’t really like them earlier in the game.. especially with them sporting those annoyingly bright pink shirts! I didn’t realise they were all sisters until after the show (the gap between the youngest and eldest sister is 16 years) so.. yay for another all-siblings team. And they ended up getting first place which meant they gotta be doing something right. But I really could do without hearing the four desperate housewives multi orgasmic screeching when they arrived at the pitstop.

4. The Bransen family - They didn’t register much on my radar last night, but it’s always fun to see a daughters and father team.

5. The Rogers family - Ditto with the Bransens. But I always have a soft spot for folks from Louisiana,

The SHIT list

6. The Schroeder family - They fall on the shit list just because of the comment super dad made about having ‘crippled kids just so that they can use them to stop traffic’. What a magnificent asshole. I like the mom and the kids though.

7. The Weaver family - The boy with the platinum blonde hair is totally freaking me out. He seriously looks like one of the extras from the Village of the Damned movies. I do not like this family. Something about them just creeps me the fuck out. The multiple shots of the girl driving the van with one leg up on the seat were seriously disturbing. And with the mom preaching every 2 seconds.. *shudder* I think I’m gonna move on to the next shit list team.

8. The Gaghan family - Ohmagahd I HATE THIS TEAM. I HATE THEM SO MUCH. They are so the All-American Family team. Strong husband, motherly wife, perfect son, cute daughter. Oh get the fuck away from me already. Oh you know, this kind of family. Think Bree Van Der Kemp from Desperate Housewives, but this time, the father, daughter and son are like her too. Fake and annoying. Oh look at us, so perfect. Model family of the century. I was just about ready to throw my remote to the tv screen when the son ‘neener’ed the Aiello family.

The totally SHIT list

9. The Paolo family - How can you not totally hate this family? The sons are beyond fucking rude. I’m no angel myself, but to be that rude to your own mother on national tv? God, what a bunch of motherfuckers. Assholes. And the father just sits there in fucking silence? And the mother is partly to blame too. You know your sons are two A-class bastards, and yet you still want to be shown on tv with them? Urghh.. fucking twats all of them.

The MISS list

The Black family. When Phil announced them as ‘the Black family’, I was like “Nu-uh.. brutha didn’t just call them that did he?”. Silly me. Black, as it truned out, was their actual surname. I liked this family. Their kids didn’t seem as obnoxious or know-it-all, and the parents were kinda laid back. However, I’m kinda glad they’re gone now since I don’t have to ridicule the two kids (one of which reminds me a lot of Walt from Lost). For what it’s worth, the Black family was originally number 3 on my list.

And with the elimination of the Black family, the Amazing Race, just like Survivor Guatemala, is now dubbed the Whites Edition.

I cried. I cried while watching the results show on Saturday. Okay, I’m exagerrating, but my eyes did moisten a little. But not when I least expected. I felt really sad when I watched the contestants from last year’s batch come on stage and gave their performance. It was only then did I realise how good they were as compared to the contestants from this second season. Yep.. that made me sad.

In all seriousness, I don’t think anyone would miss anything from this season if they only managed to watch the result show on Saturday. The MI2 contestants gave pretty good performances (ie. Adam, Azam, Atilia and Faizul).. and the rest.. well.. they were fathomable.

In any case, I guess my suggestion for “Vote For The Worst” suggestion really did come into fruition. I was kinda surprised that I didn’t react as strongly as I thought I would when they crowned Daniel as the next Malaysian Idol. Fact of the matter was.. I didn’t really care who won. I guess I wanted Nita to win (yes, I did send in one measly vote), cause let’s face it.. her performance was much better than Daniel’s, but I had resigned to the fact that if she didn’t win, who cares? Not me, anyway. This whole season has been a major fluke.

I have no doubt Daniel will have success with a Chinese album. Not because he’s Chinese but his English diction is a major major problem. His Bahasa sounds less like gibberish but in all honesty, do you think his rendition of ‘Mimpi’ (the song who deserves to be trashed on its own, by the way) will be in regular rotations on our local radio stations? I seriously doubt it.

But I’m not all that in favour of Nita winning either. She is just a slightly average club singer - which became very evident when the two of them sang alongside Jac on stage. And of course, there’s the rabid Nita fans.. who keeps sending me SMSes saying
(1) “WTF? I bet Daniel’s rich family voted hundreds of times” and
(2) “Mark my words.. Nita will be a much bigger star after this” .
Did you send in YOUR vote? (I’m absolute certain, more often than not, these same people will lie through their teeth and say that they have voted, when in actual fact they’ve already been forced to declare bankruptcy after excessive Mawi voting in AF3). And excuse me? A much bigger star? Than who? Than Daniel.. maybe.. but still.. I wouldn’t go as far as calling her a star. Even a singer as great as Jac is nowhere near as big or popular a real star as Siti Nurhaliza (I don’t even like her). So, stop being so melodramatic. This whole thing has been nothing but a hige pile of cow dung and it has ended. Let. It. Go.

So, in conclusion, I’m glad this total suckfest has finally met it’s end. For now. The only shitty show that may actually top this could be the Angkasawan Malaysia. It’ll be like watching a train-, plane- ans shipwreck all rolled into one. Yay! A fresh new reality show to bash. I love being a Malaysian.

Aside from reality show topics, it certainly has been a while since I made an entry on random issues. So this may be a brief entry till I get my random-issue groove back.

Proxies - You know your day is going to be shit when your office proxy has gone haywire. The fucking network people in the office are fooling around with the port number like nobody’s business. I’m just amazed nobody’s making official complaints about them yet. I said ‘official’ cause there have been loads of unofficial ones (especially from yours truly). But those were shrugged off with their bullshit excuses. Please. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter so I’m not buying their excuses. I’m seriously considering subscribing a personal leased line here in the office.

Processors - You know your day is going to suck even more when your home computer processor just died on you while you were downloading a fresh tv episode from torrent. No, torrent wasn’t the culprit. My processor fan have been exhausted which ultimately caused the meltdown. Fucker. Looks like I’m gonna have to shell out some of my salary at Low Yatt again this month. And I better do it soon since the first episode of Lost (season 2) and second episode of Survivor Guatemala (Die Stephanie, Die!!!) has just been released.

Podcasts - It’s been several months since I got my iPod and I have just only discovered the joy of listening to podcasts. Now, the trick is to find a podcasts that suits you. Good luck. I’ve found one that kept me highly entertained and had me laughing out loud (much to my own embarassment, mind you) like a raving lunatic during my daily commute to work. The podcast is called Fox And The City by Ragan Fox. If you love the humour from Queer Eye for The Straight Guy.. you will absolutely LOVE this. Everything is unfiltered and absolutely NO innuendos whatsoever. Just listen to the first five-ten minutes of his third podcast. It is just fucking hilarious. A word of caution though.. his podcasts are littered by a lot, and by ‘a lot’ I mean every 5 seconds, of expletives that will seriously have your mother cringe in a corner. OOoooh and they have just fixed the dented click-wheel on my iPod. Yay!!! Best news ever! (ps. the iPod nano is already in town. It looks really cool and slick but it’s just too small in my hands as opposed to my mini).

Policemen - What is up with the traffic summons carnival fest? It really says something when they start giving out ‘discounts’ on the traffic summonses, doesn’t it? What does it say? It says the public should always put off paying their traffic summonses UNTIL they hold this discount carnival again. Pffft. And I just saw a photo of Petaling Street in the papers today which got me thinking. They keep giving us news about the police having huge crackdowns on pirated VCDs all over Malaysia. But interestingly enough, these peddalling VCD sellers, who have become a permanent fixture in the heart of KL, still remain untouched - they have even become the main selling point of the tourist area. But who am I kidding? It’s not like I haven’t slipped a fifty to a policeman for talking on my speakerphone while driving. Bastard. Oh by the way, if you don’t want to spend countless of hours in the queue, you can always pay your summons (discounted price included. Wha-hey!) at www.eservices.com.my

Pfffft - And that, loyal reader, is my response to anyone who’s asking me about the Malaysian Idol 2 finale. The only thing I’m looking forward to is the appearance of the first Malaysian Idol contestants.

The following is a conversation between me and my good Survivor junkie friend in California.

kimbob: how are you?
izad_syah: i’m alright.. nothing new really
kimbob: I’m on a business trip and bored in a hotel room, drinking beer, LOL
izad_syah: where?
kimbob: no place exciting
kimbob: washington state
kimbob: a bit north of seattle
izad_syah: oh i love rainy seattle
izad_syah: )
kimbob: still late summer, not rainy season yet
kimbob: but I’m not even in seattle
kimbob: I’m in an armpit of a town called Bothell
izad_syah: so.. what are you waiting for.. hook up the bellboy
kimbob: LOL
kimbob: I’m too monogamous
kimbob: and no bellboy, even
kimbob: I’m in a fucking holiday inn express (
kimbob: not even ROOM SERVICE
izad_syah: awww you poor thing
izad_syah:
kimbob: NOT EVEN A HOTEL BAR
kimbob: it sucks royally
izad_syah: at least you havethe internet
kimbob: yes, thank god
kimbob: and there was a minimart nearby where I got some beer, LOL
izad_syah: LOL
kimbob: so now I’m in jammies, watching tv, chainsmoking, and drinking beer
kimbob: wait
kimbob: that doesn’t sound so bad, really
izad_syah: LOL no it doesnt!
kimbob: no kids, no man
kimbob: sigh
izad_syah: i think i just broke my pod
kimbob: I’m sure it’s not broken
kimbob: it happens to all guys, rally
kimbob: really
kimbob: it’s normal
izad_syah: oh ha ha
izad_syah: anything good on tv?
kimbob: Prison Break is on right now
kimbob: oops it’s over
kimbob: now Medium is on
izad_syah: is Medium any good? i heard she won the emmy for that
izad_syah: yeah.. i can’t press two of the buttons on my click wheel ( FUCK
kimbob:
kimbob: Yeah, I like Medium
kimbob: it sounded dumb, but I’ve been enjoying it
kimbob: the season premier is on right now
kimbob: now there are a zillion rip off shows starting this year
kimbob: ghost talker, and something else
kimbob: ok, so that’s two
kimbob: not a zillion
kimbob: and I’m sorry about your pod
izad_syah: i heard Supernatural is one of the rip offs too
izad_syah: yeah.. damn pod.. i’ll bring it to the service center and see if they can fix it
izad_syah: i’m looking fwd to the Lost premier
kimbob: I missed season one
kimbob: I’m the only loser on the planet who didn’t see it
kimbob: I need to get the DVD
izad_syah: nah.. a lot of people didn’t see it
izad_syah: or are put off because they caught the show now and again
izad_syah: i think you can only appreciate the show if you didn’t miss a single episode
izad_syah: that’s the flaw for this show.
kimbob: yeah, that’s what I hear
izad_syah: but if you follow the show.. it’s the best show ever
izad_syah: it really is quite inteersting
kimbob: I made the mistake of starting and thinking it was kind of tedious
izad_syah: LOL
kimbob: the first few episodes weren’t very exciting
kimbob: at first it was just like seeing the same thing over and over, and then background of the various people
kimbob: I thought it was going to be a stupid drama
kimbob: I had NO clue
kimbob: so by the time everyone was raving about it, I tuned in but was already.. uh… well… lost
kimbob: LOL
izad_syah: LOL
izad_syah: anyway.. i like the show.. best scripted drama in a long while IMO
izad_syah: what do you think about the new survivor?
kimbob: interesting beginning
kimbob: looks to be harsh
kimbob: and bobbyjon is a wuss
izad_syah: LOL tell me about it
izad_syah: but it’s funny though
izad_syah: i liked steph in palau.. and now i just hate her
kimbob: I liked her, too
kimbob: I’m keeping an open mind
kimbob: I can’t tell if she’s being stuck up or if she’s being put in a role and we’re seeing careful editing
izad_syah: maybe because he called my boy, jamie, lazy )
kimbob: lol
kimbob: jeff probst was on the emmy’s last night
kimbob: he must have flown all the way to california for the event, and then flew back
kimbob: and he didn’t look good
izad_syah: oh and survivor lost (neener) and Amazing Race won
kimbob: lol
izad_syah: but I’m not sure if i’m looking fwd to the new Amazing Race though
kimbob: he really did look like crap, though
kimbob: it looks “meh” to me
kimbob: the whole family dynamic is not very nteresting
kimbob: and they’ll have to calm it down for kids
izad_syah: exactly
izad_syah: but I’m just glad more new shows are starting on tv again
izad_syah: Malaysian Idol 2 is a fucking disaster :-&
kimbob: after seeing rockstar INXS, all idol seems stupid
kimbob: rockstar has been so good
izad_syah: ooh i have my money on MiG
izad_syah: i would love to see marty winning it though
kimbob: I did
kimbob: I loved Mig through a lot of it
kimbob: he’s so yummy
kimbob: but I think I’m turning to Marty
izad_syah: but it’s just appropriate for an aussie to get the title
kimbob: I think he’s got the right stuff
kimbob: JD just needs to get laid
kimbob: SO, Malaysian idol
kimbob: do they sing malaysian songs or us/brit pop songs?
izad_syah: Malaysian Idol.. they alternate between Malay and English songs.. this season was beyond meh
izad_syah: LOL @ JD
izad_syah: oh if you wanna see this was our first Idol from last year http://www.izadsyah.com/tvs/sound/MI_Jac.wmv (about 4 Mb)
kimbob: I may have to save that until I get home
kimbob: my frickin work computer SUCKS at downloading shit
kimbob: OOH I GOT IT
kimbob: yay
kimbob: pretty
kimbob: she’s pretty
izad_syah: and i think she sings great
kimbob: WOW
kimbob: WOW
kimbob: what a voice
izad_syah: not bad, eh?
kimbob: shit
kimbob: what a great voice
kimbob: so they run it in english
izad_syah: yeah.. we have two hosts
izad_syah: one speaks in english and one speaks in malay
izad_syah: that was my favourite performance of hers
kimbob: oh, cool
kimbob: IT WAS PHENOMENAL
izad_syah: this year.. well.. everyone was shite
izad_syah: )
izad_syah: so when do you get home?
kimbob: thursday night
kimbob: it’s monday night right now
izad_syah: 3 more days
izad_syah: oh i hope you wont miss survivor!
kimbob : nope
kimbob : I get home 15 minutes before it starts, LOL
kimbob : as long as my plane is on timel I’ll make it

So I’m guessing this is how our next convo is gonna go :

izad_syah : Hey! Our second Malaysian Idol has just been announced
kimbob : oh that’s great! You got a clip ?
izad_syah : Sure.. have a listen http://www.izadsyah.com/spoofs/images/fuckyouprod.gif (link to Nita’s/Daniel’s performance)
kimbob : ohmagahd
izad_syah : what?
kimbob : I wasted my bandwidth to9 download that piece of crap. Welll SCREW YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!
kimbob has logged out
izad_syah : yeah.. fuck me indeed.

LOL.. how pathetic is Malaysian Idol? They have shamelessly jumped the Akademi Fantasia shark by revealing the bottom two contestants on the results show before the actual results were announced. Pathetic and shameless. I have no other words about this show.. just fucking end it already. And whoever wins the title.. well.. who cares, really.

And on other pathetic news.. they have just announced in The Star newspaper today that there’s going to be yet another ‘reality’ program for the Angkasawan Malaysia/Malaysian Astronaut, whereby viewers get the chance to VOTE for who they think should be our first astronaut. OHMAGAHD ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I am still unhappy with their decision to send an astronaut into space just to prove that Malaysia Boleh (it’s actually more like.. Malaysia - Asal Boleh) when they could be spending the millions of ringgit to promote space and astronomical studies and programmes at our local universities. Why limit the experience to a single Malaysian astronaut when more people can benefit from a space education? This is a very very very selfish programme. Minister : “We have to take one small step to space first, and maybe to the moon by 2020″. Small steps? What about taking baby steps first? Doofus. And now, instead of having a panel of specialists on making the decision, they are gonna let the public send in their votes. Seriously, I shudder at the thought.

Anyway, enough with the nonsense. It’s time to get to something that’s actually more worthwhile than this whole bunch of crap our country is currently spewing. Survivor Guatemala, the 11th installment of the king of reality shows, will be airing this Thursday in the States. I guess I need to start warming up my mIRC and torrent programs.

Standing: Danni Boatwright, Rafe Judkins, Amy O’Hara, Gary Hogeboom, Lydia Morales, Brandon Bellinger, Brian Corridan, Brooke Struck, Blake Towsley, Morgan McDevitt.
Kneeling: Judd Sergeant, Jim Lynch, Margaret Bobonich, Jamie Newton, Cindy Hall, Brianna Varela.

And here are Jeff Probst’s comments and assessments on each of the contestants :

BRANDON BELLINGER: Has a smart mouth and pretended to be the dumb farmer. He is very likeable.

DANNI BOATWRIGHT: Is an athlete and comes from a family of strong competitors. Does not like to lose.

MARGARET BOBONICH: STAR of the first episode and was seriously concerned about ONE of the players during and after the hike.

BRIAN CORRIDAN: Thinks he is ‘Richard Hatch Lite’.

CINDY HALL: More comfortable around animals rather than people. As a zoo keeper, she knows a lot about the outdoors and the animals which populate Guatemala.

GARY HOGEBOOM: Used an alternate persona to hide the fact that he is a former NFL football player. Might not have GIVEN HIS ALL at the start to hide his athletic background.

RAFE JUDKINS: An understated personality who studied Mayan culture before he even knew he was selected to be on the series. Probst believes viewers will rally behind him.
JIM LYNCH: A know-it-all who likes things done his way.

MORGAN McDEVITT: Probst didn’t have faith in her at the start. She CHANGED HIS MIND and is seen as sort of an UNDERDOG.

LYDIA MORALES: Knowledge of fish won’t come into play as there is not much opportunity to fish where the camps are situated. The water there is muddy and dense. Very charming. A SURVIVOR in her own life.

JAMIE NEWTON: Has a chip on his shoulder. Always intends to do the right thing and has a good heart.

AMY O’HARA: Has a little bit of Twila in her. She has a big mouth but is very, very tough.
JUDD SERGEANT: A hot head but is a strong player because he has studied and understands the game. He knows what he has to do to endear himself to the other players.

BROOKE STRUCK: Sharp and calm. A leader.

BLAKE TOWSLEY: Most of the men involved in the casting liked him. The women didn’t.

BRIANNA VARELA: She had another reason for being on the series. Probst: Something else was going on. He is not sure what she was looking for from the experience.

And here’s an interesting pre-show article (with my comments in RED)

Two familiar faces are returning to ‘Survivor’ but host Jeff Probst isn’t saying who the former players might be.

“I supported the idea because I think socially it is a really great question. People see it very differently and I think people are going to react very differently. So people will say ‘No. No. No. You had your chance. Go away.’ In my thinking that is shortsightedness. That is putting some silly ego or pride ahead of the goal and the goal is : How do I get further in the game?,” Probst told Jam! Showbiz of the latest ‘Survivor’ twist.

Haha.. that’s what I thought about Jenna Fucking Lewis during her stint in Survivor All Stars when she was adamant about voting out previous winners first (I still stand by my decision that she’s the most UNdeserving contestant on All Stars. What did she do to get it? Cry a few tears in Borneo for not getting the videotape from her daughters? Yeah after the sex tape that she made and released during All Stars, I’m sure she’ll win the Mother of The Year award. Fucking whore).

Probst revealed that the producers did mull the twist over and created a list of potential candidates before they decided who would get a second chance to play the game. Probst nixed the idea of allowing America to pick the returning Survivors.

“My feeling was you cannot trust America to vote in two people that have the qualities we need. People can get on the Internet and people can have their friends call in and suddenly we are left someone who was voted out first from four seasons ago who nobody remembers. You can’t do that,” said Probst stating that the two most important criteria to the producers were who the audience would like to see again and that there must be clear justification for bringing those people back.

The gossip mill claims Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie Lagrossa from the doomed Ulong Tribe from ‘Survivor Palau’ will be coming back to captain the two rival tribes on ‘Guatemala’ and possibly redeem themselves.

In the back of his mind, Probst realized that the twist could fail miserably if both returning players were targeted immediately and voted off but producer and series creator Mark Burnett supported the decision.

I am probably in the minority in welcoming outcasts (or returning players) back into the game. If I was a player, I would probably more inclined to use them to get my way further into the game. And if I’m lucky, they can always be my Final Two scapegoat.. which was exactly was Sandra did in Pearl Islands. So returning players are cool in my books. As to who’s coming back this season, a sure bet is Stephanie from Palau. And the male contestants is probably Bobby Jon from Palau or Mike Skupin from the Outback. If it’s fucking Pity Party Poopert, I’m gonna quit watching the show. (Mmmm… Yeah, right)

“(Mark) Burnett allows us to take risks, knowing we might fail but believing even if we did people would come back and give us another chance,” said Probst, who is still very much in love with ‘Survivor Vanuatu’ contestant Julie Berry. In fact, Berry LIVED on the set of ‘Guatemala’ while Probst worked on the series.

‘Survivor Guatemala’ will also feature another familiar face: former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom. During his career, Hogeboom played for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals.

According to Probst, Hogeboom persistently lied about his football background so he would not be targeted by the other players. During the series, Hogeboom claimed to be Gary Hawkins, a lowly real estate developer, which is Hogeboom’s current vocation.

During one of the first challenges, Danny Boatwright, a sports radio talk show host, recognized Hogeboom but he refused to acknowledge his true identity.

“He didn’t hesitate to lie,” Probst said of Hogeboom. “He’s got to run this little game of�I’m good enough to keep around. I am not so good that I can beat you and no, my name is not Hogeboom. It is Hawkins.”

Set in the Mayan ruins of northern Guatemala, the series begins with a punishing eleven mile overnight hike through the jungle as the tribes race against each other to win fire and their choice of a camp site. The trek was designed by planners from Mark Burnett’s ‘Eco-Challenge’ series.

“It is the toughest beginning ever,” said Probst revealing that many of the players passed out or became sick from the ordeal. Probst termed contestant Margaret Bobonich, the family nurse practitioner, as the star of the first episode since she looked after many of the ill players.

As the series rolls into its eleventh season and running out of islands to visit, Probst claims that ‘Survivor’ is still above other reality shows because it has more soul and integrity.

“There is so much reality on television but ‘Survivor’ is in a category of its own now,” he said.

‘Survivor Guatemala’ debuts this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

Since it’s unlikely I’ll be making a post about Malaysian Idol tonight, I thought I’d post a link to a very interesting article that I found on the ABC News website. I can’t reproduce the article here.. so here’s a link to it

Reality TV in Malaysia Stirs Controversy
Rise of Reality TV in Malaysia Sets Stage for Cultural, Religious Flap
By SEAN YOONG Associated Press Writer

The writer did a good job on article, and I tend to agree with most of the things that he said.

Some of my comments :

Of course, that come out several weeks ago, noticably after a Malaysian Idol episode where some of the contestants were seen hugging each other. Interestingly enough, Najib also, within the same article, had nothing but praises for Mawi from Akademi Fantasia 3, citing that Mawi was the perfect model contestant yada yada yada.

I mean, I’m neither a Mawi fan or a non-fan. Fact is, I could care less about him even though we originally come from the same State. But it’s interesting that Najib had nothing but praises for an ex-Quran recital champion who unashamedly and freely dances together on stage with members of the opposite sex. I suppose Najib’s television screen has a super power technology that filters out all the body contacts during those performances. Please. Funnily enough, even the imam at the KLCC mosque noticed this as he noted during one of the Friday sermons.

I’m not a pious guy (umm… major DUH!!) nor do I want to be a preacher.. but good God, after hearing Najib’s comment, I can help but utter “whatintheholyfuck is this bullshit” when I first read it. If you can’t do or say anything right, at least be consistent in your comments and criticisms.

How the hell did I not know this? Might as well. I guess not knowing back then, is better then knowing then and later finding out it wasn’t gonna happen. And might as well.. cause I don’t think it will work in any shape or form with a group of Malaysians together.

And ironically enough, in one episode (related to me by a friend - I wouldn’t be caught fucking DEAD watching this shithole of a show, after accidentally watching a short 10 minute segment several weeks ago) the guy that got ‘voted out’ of the show was the same guy.. the ONLY guy who woke up at dawn for his Subuh prayers. LOL.. that’s positive traiditional values, right there for you. I have to say, a lot of local reality programs are just total shit, but Mencari Cinta takes the fucking cake. Mencari Cinta? Mencari Cheyepete is more like it (you’re gonna have to transalate that into Jawi to decipher the ultra obscene secret word, sorry). Oh hey, that rhymes, by the way! This was a huge disappointment coming from TV3 after the enjoyable Explorace (which some may say is a rip off from the Amazing Race, but for a Malaysian show, I still think it’s not that bad).

So I guess now I should only wait for Fear Factor Malaysia to get on the air before I start to bitch about it, huh?

Is it just me or is Malaysian Idol getting really really mund-fucking-numbingly boring? So much so that I can’t even bring myself to writing a review for the past two weeks. If you may let me backtrack a little…

- Rock Week was utter shite. I stand by what I said last year, whoever introduced the idea of using the Rock genre should be shot multiple times.
- Despite having been my favourite for the past few weeks, I just couldn’t care less when Adam left the competition
- Classics week.. it was just meh. Even though I liked Nita’s performance, it was just a tad overrated. It was. It’s just a big musical number that even Aesar could pull off.
- I was really hoping Ash wouldn’t leave. Not because I liked him, but because I do not wish to sit through a second god awful rendition of Kissing A Fool. That just FUCKING SUCKS okay? He killed it. He killed the song. He fucking killed it. Both times.

And now, looking at the Final Four, I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s beyond sad and pathetic. Whoever wins the title this year, will just be a big big big disappointment.

Rock Star INXS has been losing steam. I’m glad over-the-top, macho-yet-sensitive, doing-it=for-the-bruthas TY is gone. I have no doubt MiG and Marty will be the last two standing and either one will be a good frontman for INXS. The question still remains if people actually want to listen to a bunch of 40 year olds do their shit on stage again. Come on, they are not U2.

Survivor : Guatemala will be airing soon. If I’m not that lazy, I’d probably do a short write-up before the first episode. It’s unlikely our local tv station will be carrying the show this season, so like I always say mIRC and bittorrent are your friends.

A few non-TV related items : I am a little shocked by the destruction of New Orleans by the Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was my number 1 on my list of US cities to visit. Now it’s gone. A lot of harsh criticism were drawn of it’s aftermath. But what surprised me the most was the reactions of the writer and readers of a certain VERY popular local blog.

There they are, happy in front of their keyboards lambasting our government of NOT offering any help to the victims. “All that they can offer are some condolences message”. Granted that I too make fun of our local politicians, but sometimes I feel that their views are more racial driven than anything else. Who cares if Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia provide the victims some forms of ‘relief’ and our government is “not giving them anything”. What have YOU fucking done for the victims? Please. Here’s something that you CAN do. Don’t use your so-called Humanitarian concerns as a cover up for all your political and racial tangent bullshit. I am just angry and disappointed at the fact that they are actually using the Katrina catastrophe as a reason to shoot down our government. It’s pathetic. Whatever happened to the saying “it’s the thoughts that count” ? But you know, whatever.

Shut the fuck up and stop trying to score political points by using other people’s misery!!

That said, I am of course, still very unhappy with the government for spending millions on the 1st Malaysian Astronaut programme, when they could spend the money on improving our local knowledge of space science instead. Memang dasar “asal boleh” je.

I will now end this entry with a recent picture of my babies to cool myself down.

edited to add picture taken yesterday - their first bonding session