RYN01

Munden's First Piece!

2009-12-23T01:31:00.003+08:00

Had a quick paint session at Jelatek today, helping out Munden with his first ever piece. So so proud! Cyde02 killed it as usual. Not so proud of my own piece but I guess it was a good session overall. Get up, stay up Munden! :)

Cyde02

Munden

Yours Truly

40k Graffzine Black & White League #1

2009-11-17T16:50:00.002+08:00

My most challenging paint session so far. The analogy with only working with black and white is like stripping completely naked; style is the only thing that matters - no crazy colours, no fancy fill-ins - you either have it or you don’t.

Despite a few screw-ups during the session, I think I did alright. It was a great production overall. Learned a lot, got to spend time with the boys after so long, and there’s nothing more refreshing than a paint session after days of superstress. :)

My favourite part of the production: (L-R) Akes, Askoe, Cyde02. Das hat. Lol.

Mine. Lol.

Fastreet Fest

2009-09-13T17:23:00.007+08:00

Fastreet Fest, organized by the Universal Zulu Nation Malaysia, was an open Hip-Hop event-slash-BBQ. Basically, it was a chance to bring together MCs, breakers, DJs, writers, skaters, and BMXers. The event was supossed to start in the afternoon but because of the fasting and/or Friday night mayhem, things only started running around 9pm. We were all tired as eff by that time but all in all, it was a great event. Good food, good people, all love.

Picture of the full wall will be up as soon as I get a hold of them, but for now here's KWS' contribution:

The 'Before' Wall

In Progress

Cyde02

(Ma, if you ever find this...this one's for you.)

Ironlak PWNS

2009-09-10T01:51:00.004+08:00

w00t!

Since we're on the subject, follow me on twitter. A little self-promotion. ;)

1Malaysia

2009-08-31T21:42:00.010+08:00

Yesterday was the most amazing paint session I've had so far. Imagine this: Almost EVERYONE in the Malaysian scene painting in one of the most iconic spots in KL for independence day. It was such a massive event that I didn't even get to take pictures of everyone's pieces, so I apologize for that, but damn. It was a-fucking-mazing. Major props to PHBKLK and PW!

There are way too much photos so to make things more convienient, check them out here, here and here. Special thanks to Edmund and Raja for comin' down and showing love. :P

KWS, this one's for you guys. :)

Klik Klak.

2009-06-13T02:35:00.006+08:00

So I'm back in Brunei catching up on the last few weeks of sleep deprivation and movies/TV series I haven't seen because of the separation from my trusty pirate, Chong Hock. :P

Will be flying off to UK next week for good ol' quality family time so til then and in between I guess it'll be a while 'til I can paint again.

I miss it. Badly.

Graffiti-inspired Jewelry by DMDMetal

For now HERE's some local goodness to chill to, groove to, and vote for at KL's first Beat Meet: Battle of the Beats. The top 8 voted for online will be judged live on the 9th of July at Cloth & Clef, Changkat Bukit Bintang. The beta code for the site is 'jamo'.

Happy listening! :D

An Ode to Kermit the Frog.

2009-05-08T21:06:00.009+08:00

After a month of non-stop LUCT slaving, it's nice to finally take a breather and go paint. Headed down to Jelatek with Cyde02 and Bonks but unfortunately for me, the one month hiatus from all this really took its toll. Not happy with this one - crappy linework and unplanned. Ran out of cans halfway through as well. But here it is anyway along with the better pieces from Cyde02 and Bonks. :)

Cyde02

Bonks

Also, out of randomosity: Lime green is officially the colour of the week. I started making a plushie for an assignment early this week and it was actually a lot of fun that I might start making 'em for the fun of it. :D

In the making; excuse the bad quality, it was taken with a camera phone.

Bum.

2009-04-14T00:27:00.005+08:00

Excuse the lack of updates people, been quite busy with college for the past weeks. I'm on mid-term break though, so I've been catching up on sleep, quality time with the guys and a bit of letter studies here and there.

Been sort of working on a little something, but I'll only post that up once I've actually finished. Hehe. For now, here's something (the video above) you all should check out - the trailer for SK8FACE, an upcoming documentary on the evolution of skateboard graphics. Considering the culture behind the art, this is guaranteed to be worth your every minute. :)

Good night, world!

Gold.

2009-03-30T10:16:00.004+08:00

I've been quite out of touch with fashion these days, not that I was ever a hardcore follower but the fact that I've stopped dressing up, buying fashion magazines or even checking out fashion sites says a lot.

But a few days ago, when I was looking through Retna's site and came across the photoshoot he did for C.R.A.N.K MOB and that familiar feeling I get whenever I see an amazing collection or even just the perfect use of material, pattern or cut on a single item of clothing came over me. I was literally out of breath for a few seconds...

RETNA IS GOD AND I NEED THOSE CUSTOMISED GOLD TIGHTS BAD.

Under the Bridge.

2009-03-29T21:18:00.005+08:00

Painted near the KTM station at Shah Alam with the PW guys. Two straight days of painting is not good for your wallet but still pretty worth it. :)

Shout outs to Akes, Kola and Nenok who didn't paint, but was there/drove past shouting obscenities. :P

Here are the close-ups (L-R):

All characters done by NBA

Cyde02
Me. Lol. :P

Keas

Wazer

Cash by Nuke

Rash-Elev

Twentythree.

2009-03-29T00:47:00.008+08:00

Lazy rainy saturday with lazy sleepy people. Hehe. Painted at PHBKLK's training ground with Cyde02, Datom and Dwane. They were working on their ZNC Dog Pound Project which is still unfinished so no pictures of that yet, sorry!

The spot was an awesome place to paint but I'm quite disappointed with my piece colour-wise. Ah well, all part of the learning process I guess. Will redeem myself very soon. Lol.

Asian Invasion.

2009-03-09T09:58:00.004+08:00

The series of international graffiti sessions, Just Writing My Name is coming to Southeast Asia for the first time ever! Thailand, to be exact.

It'll be held in conjuction with the X-Treme Thailand Open at the end of this month so be prepared for 4 days of graff, extreme sports, lowrider shows, KSR stunts, bboy activities, live concerts and more.

The event is open to anyone who'd want to join as long as you register in advance to guarantee you a spot to paint and since the event is sponsored by Montana, they will be providing cans to all registered writers.

So if ever you're in Thailand around the 26-29th of March it's an event NOT to be missed whether you're participating or just chilling around. :)

...and y'know, if you can spare a lil bit of cash for lil ol' me to head there too then that would be MUCH appreciated. XP

Click here for more info.

Popped Cherry!

2009-02-27T22:00:00.009+08:00

(click to enlarge)

Dave07's going back to Czech Republic soon so the PHBKLK guys decided to do a production and invited Cyde02 and myself along. My back's badly sunburnt and I'm tired as hell but it was all SO worth it! Feeling very privileged to have painted my first EVER piece with them AND in Melawati. :D

My first ever. Big thanks to Cyde02 and Carpet for the tips on techniques. My first piece would probably look a lot worse without it. Hehe. Oh and serious apologies for forgetting to tag KWS, shoutouts, dedications and all that. I know being super tired isn't much of an excuse but I'll make up for it, I promise! :)

BUT just so you know: shout outs to Tag01, Nyce, Zyla, Tycal, Eazy, Fenza, Temoe, Tefa, Yewz and mad love to Maja, kG, Puss and Jos.♥

Here are close-ups of rest of the line-up (L-R):

Dave07

Siek

Carpet

Cyde02

Datom

Katun

So yeah. That's all for now. :) I'll upload a pic of the full production once it's finished since Datom has a little more to go and Bee couldn't make it.

New Beginnings.

2009-01-27T09:53:00.010+08:00

Note: I think it’s about time I properly introduce myself.

My name is Reyna and I write. Or should I say I’m a writer-in-the-making since I’ve only dropped tags every now and then, here and there. I’m still in the process of studying letterforms and style development.

In other words, yes. I’m still a straight up toy.

I’ve been into art since I was little. I grew up around it, studied it and it’s been the only thing consistent in my life so far. I’ve been painting long before I was first exposed to graffiti, which was only two years ago when I first moved to Malaysia.

My impression of graffiti was pretty typical of an outsider. I appreciated the art but I didn’t think much of it until I met Cyde02, who opened up my eyes to the culture – telling stories of the scene, his personal experiences in it and life in general. Meeting him was the tipping point of all this and he’s been a ubiquitous influence in my growth artistically and as a person up 'til now.

I’ve met quite a number of other writers since and the more I knew about graffiti, the more drawn I became to it. I fell in love with how raw it is and how passionate these people were against all odds. That fearlessness became something I wanted so badly to emulate and because I already had a somewhat similar background, their means of communicating it was something I could already relate to.

Around the same time there have been drastic changes in my life mainly because I’ve finally gained the freedom to really explore myself, living on my own and all. Graffiti became more than just an art form, but a mirror image of what I was going through. Tagging my name became a public declaration of my rebirth and I can honestly say that I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin, who I am, and the direction I’m going.

It’s been a thrilling and humbling experience so far, which is pretty wild since I’ve only just begun to take the plunge.

Hello, world. I’m finally here. :)

Oh, and how did Reyna come about? I wanted a tag name in my mother tongue. Reyna means ‘queen’ in Tagalog. Coincidentally, it also means ‘to have experienced/to feel’ in Icelandic. Fitting, no?

Big ups to KWS. ♥

Gerek.

2008-11-30T00:41:00.013+08:00

Busy, busy day today. The turn-out at the South City Plaza Graffiti Competition was pretty awesome. There were a lot of new kids, as well as the more well-known guys such as Katun, Budean, Sopey, Keas, Wazer, Mile09, Medea, Anokayer, A80S, Critic06 and a whole lot more. Slac, AIZ and Shak from Singapore came down to participate too so it was great seeing all these writers under one roof. :)

I also got to meet Dave07 from Czech Republic, who used to write "back in his day" but is now more focused on doing research on graffiti scenes all over the world. He is currently working on a research paper on the Malaysian scene but he's also thinking of expanding his research to the Bruneian scene 'cause he says he's a fan of Cyde02's work.

*ahem* Dangar tu, Cyde? :P

This research paper might be published in the near future and he said he might use the graff-related pictures I've been taking all this while. With credits, ofcourse! :D

Anyway, the theme of the competition was 'Shopping LIfestyle' and these are the winners:

1st place: Slac

2nd place: Katun

3rd place: Budean

More pictures HERE.

Later that night was the Levi's 501 Big Bash Party - big thanks to Carpet for hooking me up with tickets! I missed Estranged and Deja Voodoospells but the rest of the acts - such as Singapore's Zul Mystroe, Richard J & Sleeq, Indonesia's DJ Cream and Malaysia's own DJ T-Bone, MC Syze & Joe Flizzow. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures 'cause I pretty much just dropped my bag with the PHBKLIK boys and ran towards the front row. :P

So, that's all from me for now. Wishing everyone a chill Sunday!

//Happy birthday, Keas!

Clyde on Heels?!

2008-11-29T01:43:00.013+08:00

I'm not really sure what to think of this Puma collab with Sergio Rossi. It's not like this is the first time a classic shoe has been translated into something apparently more women-friendly. Remember the stiletto Timberlands and Chuck Taylors from a few years back? Or if you're really old school, the trademark Baby Spice trainers?

Confession: I had the Chuck Taylor stilettos. :P

I think what went wrong here was that they tried to make it so feminine that you can't even tell it's a Clyde. The reason why the previous stiletto transformations were successful was because they kept the main elements of the original shoe. For me, what tells the Clyde apart from any other shoe (aside from the curved line going across the side which is pretty standard for most Puma shoes) is the textured sole, and the stripped part near the toe. None of which are barely present in the stilleto version. And OMFG, that disco Barbie satin against the chunky harsh white heel....

WHY?! :(

In other news, PW is hosting a graffiti competition tomorrow at South City Plaza, Seri Kembangan. Starts at 10am and ends at 3pm. Check it out if you can, you wouldn't wanna miss it. But if you can't, I'll be posting up pictures from the event as usual so stay tuned. :)

Swipswap.

2008-11-27T06:35:00.006+08:00

Keas and I were bored and decided to do a sketch exchange. Unfortunately for him, I am a complete and utter n00b who hasn't sketched anything in months.

Keas' Reyna

Reyna's Keas

It far from decent but feels kinda nice to start sketching again.

I forgot how calming it is.

You Don't Stop.

2008-11-16T00:39:00.017+08:00

I just got back from the KL Hip Hop festival and I am DEAD TIRED. The event was OK, I guess. To be honest, I only came for the graff jam which was hosted by PHBKLK. Like I said in my earlier post, Cyde02 was invited to paint with them along with Kurn, Nenok, NBA and Keas.

The music acts were pretty sweet though. The Diplomats' performance with Ras Muhammad was my favourite act and I'm definitely gonna be keeping a lookout on X'Statix from Singapore. I didn't stay for Akil's performance 'cause it was already half past 11-ish when I left and cabs cost a fortune after midnight.

It was disappointing that the event wasn't organized very well 'cause the concept was genius - bringing together Asia's take on the hip hop culture's four elements (graffiti, breakdancing, MC-ing and turntablism); but they didn't really advertise the event much so ticket sales were pretty sparse. Which apparently is why the rumoured 'A-List' international acts pulled out.

I had fun though, so it's all love. Click HERE for pictures from the event.

Vlog #3

2008-11-15T00:09:00.004+08:00

KL Hip Hop festival is today, 12PM onwards at Modesto's Hartamas. :)

Look out for this one!

2008-11-14T16:40:00.017+08:00

In this digital age, I always find it so refreshing to see designers who still produce hand-drawn works. That's how I felt when I stumbled upon Nikki Farquharson's mixed media fashion illustrations. They remind me of a more pop-artsy version of Charles Anastase's illustrations.

What really caught my attention about this recent Graphic Design graduate though, was the range of her typography work. Her digital works have a more futuristic code-like look, while her hand-drawn stuff are more towards traditional type infused with trippy organic shapes.

This is a part of her Rebuilding Expressions A-Z project and next to it is a comissioned response for Nike's the Art of Football brief.

I don't care much about football either but her typography brings a flutter to MY heart. God, I hope she doesn't mind this post. :P

Check out her other works here. Also if you study in LUCT, do check out the GD seniors' exhibition going on at the 2nd floor of the design building. It opened today and will be up 'til the 18th. :)

[EDIT]

Nikki sent a thank you email! I es a happy fangirl. XP

[/EDIT]

927497.

2008-11-10T18:36:00.013+08:00

My final photography assignment, as requested by my oh-so-versatile model Kinna. I just realised that I've used her for almost all my assignments this semester. Kudos, babe. ♥

Note: The crackly texture on the hands are intentional. It's supossed to provide contrast against the smoothness of the metals. This series was somewhat inspired by David Lynch's Gucci by Gucci ad.

I should really recieve an award for procrastinator of the year. Today is the last day my lecturer will be accepting work in for printing and I did the shoot only this morning. Prepping, shooting, getting the shots approved and editing took about three hours. Lol. It's nothing too spectacular but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. :)

PS: If you can figure out what the post title means, I owe you a caramel macchiato. ;)

Girly Whirly.

2008-11-08T20:03:00.021+08:00

I can't stress enough on how much Married to the Mob annoys the living daylights out of me but I'm not going to deny the fact that they do a great job at marketing themselves. For most people, the first female street brand that comes to mind is Married to the Mob but aside from their marketing skills, there really isn't anything else to them. There is no real sense of design, unless cramping the item of clothing with nothing but the brand name and cheesy pussy power slogans are your kind of thing. Also for the record, this is NOT street couture. There is absolutely NOTHING couture about t-shirts and other items of clothing that have simply been screen-printed on.

They even leech of other brand's trademark successes. Supreme much?
(Off the record though, I don't think much of Supreme either. Substance over hype, man.)

There are a ton of female street brands out there that do a way better job, and I think it's about time they gain more recognition. So to start off, here are my top 5 in no particular order:

1. Not Bad for a Girl

I've been following this British brand since they first started out in 2006 and I've grown quite a soft spot for their typography-based designs and tributes to women in hip-hop history. :)

2. HellzBellz

Now THIS is street couture. Instead of just promoting female empowerment in the street culture through slogan tees and pretty graphics, they actually incorporate high fashion into their collections.

3. Mama Clothing

Their shirt designs are pretty hot but I didn't think much of this brand until I saw their collaboration with Adidas early this year. Finally! Sneakers made for women that AREN'T in a girly colourway nor in model that has already been customised over and over. Mama Clothing's originality has got me on their side. :P

Oh and going back to what I said earlier about M.O.B. biting, don't you think the concept of this shoe was used on their recent collabo with Nike?

4. Claw Money

Just a little background history: Claw is not only one of the big names in the female Graff scene (though she is no longer active) but also the fashion editor of Swindle mag. So what do you get when you put her knowledge of fashion, all that 90's influence and that infamous throw-up together? I call it some kind of wonderful. ;)

PS: Her jewelry line is divine but be sure to check out Cubannie and Hayley Mei's for equally good stuff.

5. Princess of the Posse
Being the most recently established makes this the baby of the list. They seem to be going the direction HellzBellz is so I forsee a lot of good stuff from them in the future. :)

And that's all for today, children. Play safe. :)

Good News/Bad News.

2008-11-05T01:36:00.022+08:00

Good news: Finally finished my final assignment for design studies and one of my ~~overdue~~ illustrations. I'm not gonna post the magazine up yet but here's a little in-the-making preview of the illustration:

Yeah, marker rendering is really not my thing but I try. :P

Bad News: This semester ends in about 3 or so weeks but I won't be coming back home 'til January. This absolutely sucks balls because (1) there'll be less time spent with the loved ones, (2) I'll be missing a certain someone's birthday AGAIN and (3) I probably won't have enough time to get my driver's license and it's extremely sad that I'm 20 and I still can't drive.

Good News: I'm not a big fan of Married to the Mob (All hype, no substance.) but their Nike collabo is pretty hot. FINALLY they understand the concept of a good shoe design.

MOB x Nike Dunk High

Bad News: They're scheduled to release in 4 days and even if I wait a bit longer, I highly doubt I'll be able to get my hands on 'em.

Good News: The first ever KL Hip Hop Festival is in 10 days!

Bad News: There is none!

Haigh Faive!

Don't Vote.

2008-10-31T02:09:00.013+08:00

I've always had a thing for propaganda posters but Borders Perrin Norrander's Don't Vote awareness campaign is pure genius. Minimalistic layout, bold type, and powerful visuals that portray current global issues.

These two (plus the animation above) are ones that really caught my attention:

This one's obviously targeted for the slightly younger, environmentally conscious bunch. Awesome image/word association. First you have the melting ice caps, the use of the Metallica logo for the word Antartica, then you play around with it to make it look like a music poster. Ah, wonderful. The design, not global warming.

I didn't get what this one was about straight away, but I think it touches on how Corporate America's cheap labour interests are affecting the increasing unemployment rates in the US. I like this one 'cause of it's simplicity and how it encourages the viewer to really think.

You can check out the rest here.

Demi-pointe.

2008-10-20T22:11:00.011+08:00

Something other than sneakers for a change.

I've always had a soft spot for ballet since I briefly studied it when I was younger before switching to figure skating. I didn't get far enough to wear pointe shoes so when I saw these from Junko Shimada's SS09 collection, delighted doesn't even begin to describe how I felt! Pointe shoes sans the pain! :D

I'm not as flexible as a used to be BUT still pretty flexible! and I most likely wouldn't be able to pull off looking cute in a tutu anymore but these are something I could still most definitely pull off.

I am in love. ♥

Magma.

2008-10-09T15:01:00.007+08:00

I was supossed to shoot Kimmie today, but since the birthday girl partied too hard last night I just got my snap-happy on while Cyde02 painted the abandoned house where the shoot was supossed to be at.

Slip-Ons. Hehe.

Jagshemesh.

2008-10-08T14:59:00.008+08:00

Had a shoot (my first real attempt at one!) this afternoon with ladyesah for my photography assignment. It was super last minute but I'm quite happy with how the pictures turned out so I'm posting two of my favourite ones up.

I hope you like. I like. :P

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Slurpee Mystery Flavour No. 2

2008-09-22T22:34:00.014+08:00

After a pretty hectic day at college running around everywhere, I spent the afternoon chillin' with Elle, Faiz and a few of the locals at Puchong while Cyde02 and Bonks were painting at some ditch. A monkey (no, seriously) ate my kokka beads and refused to return one of Bonks' cans but it was all good fun, especially talking to the kids trying to read what the hell the guys were painting. Too cute.

My malay doesn't suck that much after all. :P

That evil monkey.

More of their pieces here.

Sketchbook Stories pt. 1

2008-09-18T00:51:00.002+08:00

'Do you have a cigarette?' my friend asked me. I tossed a sweaty pack of Hopes and some matches across the table.

'A blind willow looks small on the outside, but it's got incredibly deep roots,' she explained. 'Actually, after a certain point it stops growing up and pushes further and further down into the ground. As if the darkness nourishes it.'

'And the flies carry the pollen to her ear, burrow inside, and put her to sleep,' my friend added, struggling to light his cigarette with the damp matches. 'But what happens to the flies?'

'They stay inside the woman and eat her flesh - naturally,' his girlfriend said.

'Gobble it up,' my friend said.

- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Haruki Murakami)

//Happy Birthday, Al! :D

Let's go to sleep in Paris, wake up in...

2008-09-14T21:35:00.007+08:00

Nike Dunk SB Mid Pro: Tokyo

A birthday present from Naz. I have an almost deathly obsession with anything monochromatic so you can imagine how silly-smiley I am right now. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! ♥

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

2008-09-13T14:51:00.008+08:00

10% 10% 20% 10% 30% 20% 50% 30% 70% 50% 90% 70% 90%

Marker rendering is not fun.

And this is exactly why I'm not taking fashion design:

Design Studies Project 1: Batik Products. I can't sew for shit so everything was glued on using extra-strength spray mount. :P

Tatool.

2008-09-07T15:41:00.003+08:00

Cyde02 painted my room again.

Si Mary Flanders.

2008-07-21T00:20:00.009+08:00

Because Far's mom forgot my name and Rafie is a skankbitcho.

Si Mary suka painting with rollers. LOL.
I wish I could've stayed longer. I didn't even get to watch 'em actually paint. :(
Plus, maybe I could've done more ~~damage~~ help than just a tiny bit of the background? :P

Peripherals.

2008-06-29T04:32:00.013+08:00

Checked out Micbandits and the Groove Architects' performance at Sugar & Spice last night. It was alright, I guess. Micbandits performed 3 songs from Rhythm & Poetry and 2 from their upcoming third album. I loved them. Lemon 3, especially. :) It was too bad the sound system was a little screwed.

The Groove Architects on the other hand were...a little less commanding. I don't know, maybe it was the environment. A cafe isn't exactly the best place to be spinning electro and progressive house but I only stayed 'til the back to back session so I'll never know if there was more to the night than just noise and people sitting around chatting.

*shrugs*

I just have to point one last thing: The Groove Architects?! Couldn't they come up with a more original name or did their decks just happen to crash on their heads? Irregardless, who can forget about The Guerrilla Architects?

(Taken from Tycal's myspace. Click on picture to enlarge.)

Tsktsk.

Clairvoyance.

2008-06-28T03:25:00.008+08:00

I am convinced I have the gift of premonition.

Of shoe releases, that is.

Remember the super duper popartshit bubblegum blue Vans half-cabs that I dreamt of? The entry was dated June 11.

The second part of the Vans Fall 2008 preview appeared on kicksonfire and highsnobiety on June 16.

This is one of the models that will be released in fall.

Familiar, anyone? XP

Hooked.

2008-06-16T13:36:00.013+08:00

Taken from a thesis on tagging:

"I remember that I am invisible and walk softly so as not to awaken the sleeping one's. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers."

Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man

It is specifically the visibility of tagging, serving no other end than itself, being where it should not be, that render it unseeable in any aesthetic particularity. Tagging does possess a language of form, a history of style. But in every sense of both its form, its content and its history, tagging is criminal, it is obscene. It is primarily the heterogeneity of tagging that cloaks it, and secondly its inexplicable sovereignty.

Like Ellison's invisible man, the tag, as the heterogeneous, the excluded, becomes a site where others see not what is there but rather project their own fears and desires. Thus the tag is a sign of juvenile delinquency, a sign of crime and fear, a sign of decline; or else it is a Utopian desire for collective property, or an expression of class interest. The tag is what returns, the nub of the repressed that, like exposed genitals, both obscene and desirable, pokes into the public gaze. In its polysemy, the tag, as writing, is a Pharmakon. Pharmakon can mean all of the following -- remedy, poison (either the cure or the illness or its cause), philter, drug, recipe, charm, medicine, substance, spell, artificial color, and paint. Seeing is always an act of interpretation, and the tag is interpreted mostly as a poison, sometimes as a remedy or medicine, and, for the writer, often as a spell of immanence, an incantation of risk that must be written and re-written.

"In this undecidability, in this non-substance and non-locality, the pharmakon places itself outside the dialectical system and opens a labyrinth or an abyss. This does not turn pharmakon into a transcendental. It is not above the play of delay and difference, rather it is permeated by these. Pharmakon is not the name for the other, but the place where the other is evoked"

Jaques Derrida

Oh no, he didn't!

2008-05-30T02:05:00.002+08:00

I was browsing through Phobia's myspace and came across this picture...

(click on the picture to enlarge)

...now look at this picture of Kioue from the Super Sunday.

Dayum.

Desa Ink.

2008-05-06T20:55:00.001+08:00

I have my very own Hami Jems*. LOL.

[EDIT]

Hami Jems paints walls too. This is MY room. XD

[/EDIT]

* Hami Jems - Ami James

Sole What?

2007-09-30T15:06:00.001+08:00

So last night was the launch of Sole What?, my first ever sneaker event and all I can say is, I want MORE. It was so overwhelming to see pretty much everyone who's anyone in the scene and of course, the schmexy shoes - specifically sneak peeks of the 2008 releases of all the brands featured in the flier above. As for the people, you've got reps from streeThing, art directors, shoe customisers/designers, avid (and when I say avid, I mean AVID) sneaker collectors...basically, if you show up in your typical general release kicks you'll pretty much be treated as a joke.

My jaw was pretty much dropped the whole night, my eyes were fixated on everyone's feet, my ears were listening intently to every single word Joe and Naz were telling me about the scene people and their shoes, and in my mind I was going through a state of paranoia and slight insecurity 'cause of everyone style-checking each other. I've only just started to really delve deep into this culture so It's ok that I don't really have much to show off. I've only been here for two semesters so it's been a slow but steady start to a very unhealthy obsession. Haha. Naz, Fafa and I decided to come to some kind of agreement to make sure things don't get out of hand. Per semester, we're only allowed to buy one pair of shoes, a maximum of 3 shirts and 1 pair of jeans/trousers: quality over quantity.

Speaking of goodies, I got myself the Sole What? X Sole Obsession launch tee and the 10th issue of Sneaker Freaker. XD

[Note: the agreement doesn't apply 'til next semester. Hehe.]

Feat Blogger: Naz

Yeah check it, featured blogger here, Naz to drop a little knowledge on Mei's blog. So, Sole What? The grand opening of perhaps one of the biggest sneaker stores in Malaysia at The Gardens, Mid-Valley City. The owner, Edwin a.k.a Mini is also the manager (or something) of the Nike Culture stores in Malaysia according to Joe. He's a tall Chinese man that I mistook for Hiroshi Fujiwara. LOL. Seriously, I did. He was dressed sharply in a red Kangol hat, a white long sleeve shirt and Futura denims. Special invited guest, DJ Hans DC from Sneaker Freaker, The streeThing crew, Altimet and all the sneaker heads came to make the opening more grand than it probably should be. My eyes should've probably literally dropped and rolled all over the floor cause I was staring at everybody's shoes most of the time. A few of the sneaks that stood out to me were the Dunk SB Supremes, the Unkle Dunks, the SBTG Dunks and the Deftones Dunks. The grand opening was basically a sneak preview of the heat that's about to drop in 2008 from Nike, New Balance, Onisuka Tiger and Adidas. Weirdly enough they passed out condoms as 'freebies'. I don't think I got enough. LOL. Kidding. All in all it was amazing because it's my first time at a sneaker event and everybody was pretty cool. There are so many people that I'd just love to mention that was there but like I said, SO MANY so I doubt I could even express just how many people there were major players in the game so I'm just gonna leave it at that. Peace.

You know you think WAY TOO MUCH about shoes when...

2007-09-03T20:07:00.001+08:00

You start having super-vivid dreams of them.

New Balances, to be precise.

Mostly the 574s.

And I remember each and every shoe that was in the dream, from the ones I was wearing to the random passerbys.

It's either a sign that I should stop buying shoes (for a while) or that I should buy more New Balances.

Haha, what do you think?

Warisan Senikata Malaya.

2007-09-01T23:32:00.000+08:00

I'm not gonna pretend I know shit about Malaysian hip-hop.

'Til today I barely knew the who's who of the scene. Pretty embarassing since Kim invited me to go with her to the launch of Phlowtron's commemorative album for Malaysia's 50th independence. Before we went in Kim, Naz and Triff were mentioning all these people who were gonna be performing and I was sitting there all clueless as usual.

Who exactly DID perform? Well let's see...there was Emcee David, K-Town Klan, Reefa, Sasi the Don, Caprice, Stylustics, Dose 2, Sona One, KLG Squad, Altimet, The Fabulous Cats, Joe Flizzow, Hunny Madu & the Basics, and ofcourse, Phlowtron. Everyone was kickass but my favourites have gotta be KLG Squad and Phlowtron who had killer presence on stage - the crowd was just crazy for them; Hunny Madu & the Basics 'cause it was such an intense performance, and ofcourse Joe Flizzow who was just...wow. Haha.

Here's a couple of random pics from the launch. (Sorry if they're kinda blurry. I left my DSLR and all I had was my phone.)

Stylustics.

Check out Altimet's gold rope necklace. Hehe.

No introduction needed here.

Phlowtron.
Btw, I have the biggest crush on that kid. XD

Hunny Madu & the Basics.

Cheyeah. Sampat lagi camwhore.

In other news, I've FINALLY found myself nice fitting jeans that make it look like I have an ass.

Whoohoo~ LOL.

MINES Graffiti Competition '07.

2007-08-26T19:51:00.001+08:00

There was a Graffiti competition today at MINES so I went to go check that out. It was the first time I actually watched people paint so I thought it was pretty cool. Talked to a couple of the people who participated and took loads of pictures which will double as my photography assignment due tomorrow because I multitask like that. =P

Here are some of the pictures:

This won first prize. Ok, I know it's nice and all...but yeah like Naz said it's 'politically incorrect' that this won 'cause it's street art, NOT graffiti art. (No, they're not the same bah!)

The partner-in-crime. Haha.

I wanted these guys to win. :( Medea is the cutest thing EVER. Haha. Someone should make an action figure plushie thingie of him and give it to MEEE!

Now for a bunch of random shots...

You can find the rest of the pictures here . Now to get back to assignments, assignments and more ASSignments.