A Rather Tantalizing Act

I usually spend the better part of my weekend late-mornings still asleep, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of those industrious people who wake up at 8 am for a run at the park, a hearty weekend breakfast with friends or grocery shopping at the market. If I feel productive I might while away the day reading newspapers over a plate of solitary lunch. I spend most of the week engaged with society-at-large, so weekends are the time to switch off and spend quality time with myself.

However, about a fortnight ago my local street put on its annual Sydney Road Street Festival and for some reason, buoyed by a strong sense of community, I decided to go down for a stroll among the throngs of locals and inter-suburb visitors alike. Sydney Road, Brunswick has a special place in my heart for being the unpolished multicultural gem of Melbourne without being self-consciously so. Halal butcheries dot the strip, baklava bakeries are aplenty and Melbourne’s most prominent Italian supermarket is merely a few steps from my place. Having said that, the street festival is like any other flea market, really. You will find, as you would at the Southgate, St Kilda and Camberwell markets, sellers of scarves and shawls, postcards, fridge magnets, artisanal soaps (Melburnians love their soaps!), and up-and-coming buskers looking for their big break.

The highlight of the festival would have to be the acrobatic and low-level BDSM act from a ragtag bunch of street performers who call themselves the Caravan of Dooom. Capitalizing on the edgy, decidedly non-mainstream vibe of Sydney Road, they wear their “anti-circus, anachro-punk” label with pride, and entertain the crowds with sexual innuendos and politically incorrect –but absolutely brilliant- punchlines.

One of their acts involved slicing a cigarette – surely public enemy number one these days – with a thunder cracking whip – definitely the most sexed up instrument of corporal punishment. With judicious references to alcoholism and bondage amidst acrobatic performances with weapons-grade appliances –think kitchen knives, the aforementioned whip, metal chains – these dirty pretty things make sin and public misdemeanour so, so tantalizing.

To view videos of their acts, go here

Of Facebook and shoe shots

I admit that my life too revolves around Facebook. I spend hours each day thinking of what to do so that I could update my status accordingly. I take photos when I go out and I can’t wait to upload them onto my Photo Album. The first thing I do upon waking up and the last thing I do before going to bed is to check up the photos and profiles of friends I barely speak to and read up gossip on friends of friends I’ve never met.

There are certain things I don’t do. I don’t (or at least haven’t) taken up on the trend of writing “25 Things About Me” and tagging my friends onto it, not because I’m not full of myself, but because I can’t think of that many things about me that’s interesting enough to attract readership, even among my closest buddies. Another trend is of friends taking photos of themselves jumping, especially in tourist areas. I admit the impression of being levitated may at first appear fascinating, but the novelty soon wears off after the other 275 friends also pose the same way.

And yet another is of girls taking photos of their shoes, usually rounded up in a circle after a big night out or a shopping spree. I don’t really get why shoes are of particular interest, but I thought I’d try it anyhow, and so I took the picture above, during a recent brunch with some close friends at a nearby café. Needless to say this too, ended up on Facebook.

Orang Malaysia Anti-Muzium

Tahun ini telah dipilih sebagai Tahun Melawat Malaysia. Memanglah negara kita terkenal dengan pantai, hutan simpanan dan pulau-pulau yang indah, tetapi bagi mereka yang inginkan aktiviti dalaman, apakah yang dapat mereka lakukan selain membeli belah? Di negara-negara maju seperti United Kingdom, Peranchis dan Australia, muzium dan galeri merupakan tarikan pelancong yang amat popular. Di Malaysia, walaupun kita mempunyai beberapa muzium yang terkenal seperti Muzium Terengganu dan Kuching, secara umumnya pameran muzium di Malaysia berkualiti rendah dan tidak begitu menarik. Persoalannya, adakah pameran itu tidak menarik kerana kurangnya minat dari rakyat Malaysia, ataupun rakyat Malaysia kurang minat kerana pameran itu tidak menarik. Bak kata orang putih, yang mana datang dulu, ayam ke telur?

Pada bulan Julai lepas, heboh di surat khabar mengenai pameran alam ghaib di Muzium Shah Alam. Pameran ini diadakan berikutan sambutan hangat yang diterima pameran hantu di Muzium Negara, di mana beribu-ribu pengunjung berpusu-pusu untuk melihat hantu kesukaan mereka. Pada mulanya, kami agak anti dengan pameran hantu ini, kerana ia menunjukkan orang Malaysia, terutamanya orang Melayu, hanya minat pada perkara-perkara ghaib dan tahyul. Pameran-pameran yang lebih berfaedah tidak pula dikunjungi. Apalah orang Malaysia ni. Pameran tahyul Shah Alam ini, seperti yang kami jangka, menarik banyak pengunjung, rata-ratanya orang Melayu. Ini mungkin disebabkan kebanyakan makhluk alam ghaib yang dipamerkan berasal dari dunia tahyul Melayu, seperti ikan duyung, toyol, langsuir dan berbagai-bagai lagi. Adakah orang India, Cina dan lain lain tidak mempunyai hantu sendiri?

Setelah berkunjung ke muzium Shah Alam, kami berasa terkilan kerana pameran itu tidak memberangsangkan langsung. Ia lebih mirip kepada ‘rumah hantu’ yang popular di funfair bergerak. Alangkah baiknya sekiranya diadakan pameran zaman purba Mesir, songket, warisan Baba-Nyonya (ini pernah dipamerkan di Muzium Negara tetapi ia tidak menarik) dan senibina moden dan lama. Aih, banyaknya peluang terlepas.