Every year, I look forward to the month of Ramadhan. During this time, Muslims practice fasting (known as Puasa in Malay) from dawn to dusk, which is supposed to teach them patience, humility and spirituality.
What I like about the Puasa month is the crazy amount of food available starting from about 5pm onwards everyday at almost every corner of the street in Penang. I kinda like Malay food so that’s good for me but bad for my health because I think sometimes Malay food a little too oily for my liking.
What I like more about Puasa month is the almost unbelievable smooth traffic conditions on Penang roads, more so during rush hours. I think what most probably explains this is that traffic is dispersed twice.
According to the papers, fasting office workers start to clock out from 4.30pm, but I guess those who are not fasting leave their offices at normal times starting from 5 or 6pm. Thanks to this, the volume of vehicles is more spread out over a longer time = less congestion on the roads.
I think this is a win – win situation for everyone. Those who fast learn to be more patient, humble and spiritual by abstaining from food and water while those are struggling to learn patience, humility and spirituality from being stuck in traffic throughout the year get a month off.
If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be cool if 11 months of the year were Puasa months? 
hehe 
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 by Jon
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The man you are seeing in the photo is none other than Mr Ray Rozells and he is the most super crazy hyper energetic frontman of a band that I know personally.
I seriously doubt there many others who can rock the house the way Uncle Ray can. The way he jumps and runs and does all the crazy stuff on stage will make a 16-year old kid look old.
The only reason I don’t have a photo of him doing acrobatics on stage is because the man moves just too damn fast
If you are in Penang, it’s highly recommended that you catch the man in action performing with the JAZZHATS either at G-Spot, G Hotel on Monday and Tuesday nights or at the lounge in the Hard Rock Hotel on the weekends.
Your world will be rocked
Posted on July 26th, 2010 by Jon
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Was browsing in one of Warwick’s website when I found out about this:
When I saw this, i thought my eyes were kidding me.
Yes, it’s virtual university initiated by the legendary Bootsy Collins who says you gotta “bring some funk…to get some funk“. Well, this is way cool cos I’m a strong believer that funk also makes the world go round.
According to his website:
I always wanted to get some real education and I figure this is one of the ways go get it
Way to go Professor Bootsy!
Posted on July 20th, 2010 by Jon
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The Jarasum International Jazz Festival is returning this October and guess what? Ocean of Fire + Dasha Logan has been invited to perform at the 7th edition of the event!
According to news reports on the net, the festival draws about 100,000 people each year to the area of Jaraseom, which translates to “Turtle Island”, but I don’t think it’s really an island, it’s just somewhat similar to Penang’s version of Pulau Tikus or “Rat Island”
This year’s festival will feature some of the grooviest and hippest jazz cats on the planet. On the main stage we have:
And on the other stages:
Speaking on behalf of the band and Dasha, we are truly honoured to be part of the line up of this year’s festival.
However, I heard that the organisers have scaled down the event somewhat due to the current dismal economic circumstances, but are fighting hard to keep the event afloat this year. Let’s hope nothing bad happens that causes the festival to be scrapped entirely this year.
For further info, just log on to www.jarasumjazz.com. I’ll be posting more updates as the event draws closer. This has definately got to be my musical highlight of 2010!!!
Posted on July 13th, 2010 by Jon
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I remember when I just started playing bass maybe about 5 years ago this was one of the bass amps that caught my attention: the Fender Rumble 100.
I think I first saw this amp in Art Tune along Kajang Road and I thought this was the best amp in the world cos it had little red lights at the bottom of the cabinet which flashed on and off in sync with what the bass player was playing on the instrument.
It had ok features – a four way EQ settings, mid scoop switch for slapping and popping, CD input, send-return effects loop, headphones out and a direct out socket with level control and ground lift. Sound wise- well it was ok-lah. What more could a beginner want?
Maybe something a little less heavy. The model I used to play was the 1×15 combo which left me knackered after lugging it around for gigs. I recall getting it from the music school, transporting it to Spice and Rice (which sadly is no more) and hauling the little monster back to the music school all in one night.
Then there was the time where I was bass player for the Sunny Side Up Jazz Trio (hmmm… wonder where they are now) and used to do gigs at Audees (which is also no more). Our gig took place in the upstairs lounge on the weekends. No lift – had to walk up 2 flights of stairs with a 40 kg bundle just to get there. Best part was most of the time we played for empty sofas and chairs, hahaha…
Bottom line, it’s an ok beginners amp – I kinda “grew up” with this but I won’t recommend this to a friend-lah.
Posted on July 12th, 2010 by Jon
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Just got back from a quick vacation which was just what I needed and am so so refreshed now.
Posted on July 7th, 2010 by Jon
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Honestly the first time I saw this bass, I didn’t give it a second look. I was too busy checking out Warwicks. The second time I saw it, I thought, why not give it a try so I took it off the rack and played it unplugged.
It felt good.
That’s the beauty about the Ibanez SR range of basses. They’re designed with playing comfort and ergonomics in mind. Even with this particular 6-string bass, it didn’t feel too heavy although there was a bit of neck dive. But that’s kinda understandable since the neck’s supporting six strings. Even so, this is one of the most comfortable basses I’ve played.
On my third visit, my itchy hands decided to take it off the rack and plug it in.
Wow.
I just sat there stunned for awhile.
Basically, I could churn out whatever tones I envisioned in my mind, thanks to the bass’ ultra flexible three-band EQ. And I was just playing on a crappy bass amp. Included in the tone controls is the Mid-sweepable EQ, which means you have options to explore which particular mid-frequency you can boost or cut.
Plays as smooth as butter, feels good and sounds good. What more can a bass player want from a bass?
I definately WANT this bass.
Posted on April 7th, 2010 by Jon
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I love Warwick basses. I remember the first time I saw and heard one being played, I knew that it was the bass I had to have. Personally, I really love the Streamer model line produced by Warwick, but the latest Corvette they released for 2010 is a sight to behold indeed.
Here’s the Warwick Corvette NT Ltd 2010:
This baby features a lightweight swamp ash body with a neck-thru maple neck + fingerboard. The top layer of the body and headstock is Ziricote, an alternative to rosewood, which I hear is getting extinct from planet earth due to overharvesting. The four single-coil J-style active pickups are said to give a bass player any kinds of tone imaginable, of course based on the foundations of Warwick’s signature growl. Under the hood lies the usual active MEC three-band electronics. On top of the hood are the typical volume – pickup blend – bass, mid treble tone controls. However, there are also switches which can select each pickup individually or as pairs or all four of them together to deliver a huge spectrum of low end goodness 
Each unit is also signed by Warwick Founder and CEO Hans-Peter Wilfer but there’ll only 300 of these that will be manufactured.
Man, I wish I could give this bass a try to find out how it really sounds like…
Posted on March 24th, 2010 by Jon
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We only got together for one show and that was it!
Thanks to High Society for lending us Chris to join us on the keys for our show!
If anyone wants a killer keyboard player who has a killer voice, they can count on Chris to rock their show.
Posted on February 16th, 2010 by Jon
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I mean seriously, it’s just sitting there day and night. It probably gets turned on once a month… Sigh…
Posted on January 20th, 2010 by Jon
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