.

dead flowers

2009-11-24T02:30:00.003+08:00

Despite the fact that the flowers you gave me died the moment the gardener cut their stems, I love them still. And now since I love you so much, I will have them mummified. Don't you love me more for that?

tin bucket

2009-11-09T14:03:00.002+08:00

Darling, this love is like a tin bucket of water with pin-sized holes punched at the bottom. We can stand and watch its content slowly drains out to make a puddle or we could keep on filling it up to feed our little garden.

As long as you help me carry this load, happy is carrying us down this road.

Someone

2009-11-05T12:30:00.003+08:00

Once, in a relationship that I thought was going to last, I thought wrong.

Again, in this relationship that I think and I hope will stand the test of time, I wonder if I'm mistaking you for someone else.

Someone that understood and accepted me as all that I am, all this while. Someone who's willing to fight for me and by my side. Someone who's not afraid to lose me for his conviction tells him it will never happen. Someone I could love without hurting so much from every single frown of impatience and brush of rejection, for the remedy is in the quick act of saying sorry.

I'm sorry I thought that someone was you. And I'll repeat this mistake over and over again if I have to.

Because

2009-10-27T16:31:00.002+08:00

And because the world is round, we run in circles.
And because the sun is bright, we cover our eyes.
And because there's truth in everything, we will find out the lies.

i imagine

2009-10-25T13:17:00.000+08:00

I imagine a shadow following my every step, slowly sucking and feeding upon my flesh, wishing to become whole. One day she'll wear my face, sing my songs, pretending to be me. But she will never be me. Even when there's not enough of me to sustain her existence, and she will find some other victim to leech on, she will always be a shadow without a shadow of her own. She will always be a shadow, wishing to become whole.

My best friend made this. ;)

2009-10-02T03:02:00.001+08:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

if you think

2009-04-21T22:09:00.002+08:00

Secret Gig

2009-04-10T04:04:00.002+08:00

I'm planning a small gig to celebrate my completing my degree in UiTM. Drop your email address if you're interested to join this graduation party gig. ;p

Location and date of event shall be discussed when we have 50 lucky participants. Like I said, it's a small gig. Thanks guys!

pain

2009-04-09T00:07:00.003+08:00

WARNING: contains mature/violent content that may be offensive to some

it's like out of the blue
somebody knocks you down
and you tumble headfirst onto the ground.
you grovel on the gravel,
searching for the card
that says get out of jail free
but it's gone

and blood drips from the crowning wound,
covers your eyes,
you cry to wash it away,
the bloody tears would not stop.

then he rips your chest open,
with one swift sharp motion,
claws your heart out,
tears it to small unrecognizable shreds
and throws it behind and above his head
like a confetti
welcomes the dead

he leaves you to die in the cold.
your blood making a shallow pool
for a watery grave
here lies a fool
for love lost its cool
and no one was saved

by Ana Raffali

040409 Borders Bookstore Berjaya Times Square

2009-03-28T14:14:00.004+08:00

Ahh.. A fantasy really.

Anyway, I'd like to dedicate this song to my best friend, A. He went balik kampung. This is such a pretty sad / sad pretty song.

Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O'Connor

It's been seven hours and fifteen days
Since you took your love away
I go out every night and sleep all day
Since you took your love away
Since you been gone I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant
But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues
`Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

It's been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me baby where did I go wrong
I could put my arms around every boy I see
But they'd only remind me of you
I went to the doctor n'guess what he told me
Guess what he told me
He said girl u better try to have fun
No matter what you'll do
But he's a fool
`Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

all the flowers that you planted, mama
In the back yard
All died when you went away
I know that living with you baby was sometimes hard
But I'm willing to give it another try
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

My Evo

2009-02-21T08:30:00.001+08:00

Will update the blog later about this electric experience. ;)

alter ego and RANtAi

2008-12-14T01:50:00.003+08:00

I'm starting a side-blog in malay. Just another way of expressing myself. I think it's not fair to write songs in malay and english but not a blog in malay and english. I know I'd save more time by being bilingual in here but, I don't wanna mix things up.

I'll try to divide equal attention and love between my bloglings. ;p

***

Dark clouds were hovering before we, (Ana Raffali and the Marhaens) walked out of our HQ for a short drive to the Red Bungalow. It rained like a showerhead, opened and stucked in full-blast. One can only be grateful that one is not atop tall buildings handling electrical appliances while lightning was celebrating its existence.

The public's reception of us was pretty sweet. It felt so good to be able to play alongside the Marhaens again, although the line-up this time was different with the addition of Abg Mie (Flop Poppy's drummer) and Abg GG (guitarist and guitar luthier), to the original cast and crew Abg Aidit, Abg Andy FP and Adik Iqbal. ;p

It was the first time we played My Darling to its fullest rock potential. Ahh.. I so wanna play it again and again.

13 Dec

2008-12-04T15:47:00.002+08:00

I'll be performing for a RANtAi event.It's been a while since I blogged extensively. For a change I'll try to document the preparation for the gig. ;)

Link to the event

A little confusion

2008-12-03T23:31:00.002+08:00

Here's something to ponder.

I received a call from the bearer-of-good-news-thus-far with a bad news saying that the organizer decided not to pick us (Ana Raffali and the Marhaens) for the upcoming celcom UOX gig.

Not a big deal, really. (I've secured another special gig on the very same day.)

However, imagine my surprise when I visited this page to find that the voting is still going on. Now, if one has decided not to feature someone then it would only be right and civil to be more transparent about it. I. e. there shouldn't be any voting since the acts have been decided earlier on (reportedly). My sincerest apologies go to all of those who have voted before and recently. I appreciate your time, effort and phone credits.

In short, Ana Raffali and the Marhaens are not going to play for the UOX thingy.

Dear friends and family

2008-11-30T19:50:00.000+08:00

Guess what! I've been chosen as one of the possible performers for UOX Play this 13 Dec on the Sungei Wang Rooftop. It's soooo cool, of course it'll be cooler if we do actually get to perform there. So, I need your help to land me the gig.

Please follow the following steps;

1) Sign up here to entitle yourself to vote.
2) Go here to vote for me. ;)
3) Receive my deepest and warmest gratitude.
4) Wait and pray for the best.

Wish me luck!

DISCLAIMER:

You can stop voting now. There has been one big misunderstanding. Apparently, I was a little behind with the whole voting thingy. You have voted at the wrong page, the real voting page has yet to be announced. Thank you for your votes thus far. I would appreciate it if you could vote again when the actual voting page is put up by the organizer.

More information regarding the event can be found here.

If I get the votes, then I'll be sharing the stage with indie bands; Butterfingers, Hujan, One Buck Short, Tempered Mental, Laila's Lounge, They Will Kill Us All and Bittersweet. That's just amazing... :o amamamamazzzzing...

I'll post the actual links when I can, so hang tied. ;p

Hujan Bunga di Bandar Kuching

2008-11-29T02:39:00.005+08:00

Right after my french exam, I took a plane to Kuching for my first ever visit to Borneo. I was invited to perform for a kindergarten graduation ceremony as well as emceeing the event. In case you haven't figured out, I adore kids. They are such a joy to be with and having them singing "kalau rasa gembira" (if you're happy and you know it) complete with all the motions was simply amazing.

Of course it was absolutely spontaneous. The gleam in their eyes when I took Woodie out was unforgettable. They were crowding around me as if I was holding a golden monkey or something extraordinarily wonderful. And when they recognize the tune I was playing of course they just had to dance and sing along. It was magical. We repeated our act onstage afterwards and it was equally as memorable.

I sang HBKL(Kuching version) and Sepasang Sudu, a song that I only played once in a gig. Woodie did not disappoint. Although I forgot to change the strings and it was buzzing a little, the music was sweet enough to carry my voice, which happened to be recovering from a bad cold.

I don't really know what's wrong, but I seem to be prone to catching colds. Well.. maybe I do have a tiny suspicion of what might be causing the frequent sniffles, but it's not like I can change my bad habits as easily as saying "I will change my bad habits".

I am having a bad cold right now, bad as in the asthmatic kind. Kak Zaza had to give me a jab a little north from my seat of wisdom. They say that it hurts more if you're really sick and lemme tell you, I am probably sick as heck cause it felt as painful as heck. The temptation to cancel my appearance in ARTrage could not equal to this one single thought: the show better be worth the pain in the ^$$.

Well, considering the fact that I'll be playing with Iqbal (si pemain cello), and him alone, it should be mighty interesting and gutwrenching. I suppose the worst thing that could happen was if I were to forget the lyrics to my own song. Not that I have so many songs that would render me incapable of recalling them under gutwrenching circumstances anyway. At least not yet. ;)

ARTrage Lab

2008-11-25T13:08:00.002+08:00

Please bring your RM8 along. ;p

l.i.v.e.01

2008-10-31T16:02:00.002+08:00

We're recording the first single. In the meantime, here's a bootleg dvd selling for RM8. Of course you can only get it from me in my shows, so see you then! ;p

1, 2.. JUS

2008-10-31T03:21:00.002+08:00

Tonight's the night.

8.30 pm NTV7.

I Like To Move It, Move It with Madagascar 2!

2008-10-21T20:00:00.003+08:00

Move

It,

Move

with

Madagascar 2!

Plus 4th November is my birthday!! Hint hint. Can la? XOXO.

Hari Bintang Jatuh

2008-10-17T00:15:00.003+08:00

Wow.. it seems like forever since I last sang in public. I hope I can make up for the lost time. Oh, I'll also be standing by Jane's Fotobooth, do come and visit.

*This is Jane menyibuk; the booth is all about you. Yes, you. You guys perasan tak semua gambar2 Ana Raffali yang sangat hot and happening tu (cis ayat poyo nak mampos)? Those pictures were taken by none other than the elusive Aboutthelettera guy. Mamat ni shy gila, tapi jangan la segan dan malu nak bagitau dia (he's the photographer, I'm just the pimp mama) what you want in the pictures during the fotosession.

Tapi kalau you sendiri segan or tak kesah tentang the outcome of the pictures, kami ada art director merangkap partner in crime misteri yang akan muncul tanpa diundang untuk membantu you decide what's the best pose would make you all drop dead handsome/gorgeous dan sebagainya.

Details lebih lanjut kena datang sendiri that day okay?

Pembaca blog saya sila tegur Jannah tau? Kita buat camwhore session kejap tepi booth nanti.

New Nokia Fund

2008-10-07T15:24:00.002+08:00

Now as I watch you from afar...

I lost my Nokia N95 while watching a Nokia sponsored movie. Talk about irony.

You can still call me on my number but please introduce yourself.

And don't forget to click on the adverts shown courtesy of Nuffnang.com

It's part of my New Nokia Fund.

That is all.

Comments on 90:10

2008-09-29T00:26:00.003+08:00

I think the comments left on my last post deserves more discussion. Allow me to devote an entire entry on my feedback.

acat said;
houston we have a problem. 90:10 is about creating opportunities. opportunities for the local talents to show what they got. that our music is at par or even better than our aural neighbours. u do have to wonder how they do it. i mean u have to admit that their songs are good. so how? even if u have 90% local content, the 10% still have a big influence on how people buy music. well those that buy anyways.

rather than limit the influx of foreign music to 10%, why don't we just play the 10% that just sucks. expose people to the uglier side of their music. i'm sure not all coming over here are that good anyways.

but then we come across the dilemma of who decides who sucks? coz clearly music is very subjective and one person's shrieking banshee cries might be an angelic serenade to the other.

for me i feel that good music is good music is good music. u listen to the music that makes u feel good. be it local or foreign. i for one do not want to be told that hey i can't listen to this band or that band just because they're not local.

but i guess it boils down to opportunities. maybe by having this 90:10 rule we would have more opportunities to uncover the hidden gems in our local music industry.

whether or not that's enough to make you go out and buy their cd's is another thing all together la kan.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 5:57:00 AM

Acat,
I agree that good music is good music. The reason why we get more good Indonesian songs over here is simple mathematics. Said country is huuuuge, the more people they have, the bigger the ratio for songs to be written. Let say that only 1 out of 10 songs that are played on the radio will be a hit. The more songs you have, the more hit songs you gonna get as well. Do the math.

Most of the foreign musicians that perform here are already "kaya raya" back at home. They have managed to tough out the competition there, of course we only get to taste the cream of the crop. But what about finding our own cream of the crop? That's why we need more opportunities i.e. slots for our musicians to tough it out, I believe, instead of unnecessarily promote music that has already made it (popularized).

The idea is that the more you play local songs, the bigger the chance that more good songs will be discovered by their target listeners.

When you have the same old song played over again and again, you're not changing anything.

effi said;

I wrote a mini blog in here just now. I think it was in access of 800 words. But somehow it was deleted by blogger due to some internet shit

But I will soldier on and try to rewrite it again. GOD I HATE BLOGGER sometimes

Here is a cliff note on what I wrote earlier. Penat!

1. 90:10 will be NEP kind of directive.

It is then open to abuse with people just trying to make the numbers with disregard to quality. We are in a modern world with an open market. This is not the 80's anymore. People will still listen to music asing even with 90:10 in place. As a result 90:10 will be a failure anyway resulting in radios having to close shop. Worse case scenario, not many radio to play songs and we are back to square one.

2. Malaysian voted with their ears and wanted indo songs because of two reason.

a) Malaysian artistes are mostly prefab, fake, factory assemble , pretty face automatons forced to conform to what the record execs wanted to sell to the people. They have no say on their musical direction or what they think is good for them. All Malaysia artistes started this way. Only when they started to carved their own name they have a say on what they want. This is a very small percentage. It is not we don’t have talent but we have stunted talent no thanks to record execs. 90:10 will give the execs more reason to pigeonhole the talents into specific genres. We don’t need 90:10. We need a revamp on the way music is being managed here. Torn down the old regime and I say we will see marked difference sharpish!

b) Malaysian artistes mostly don't write their own song. As cool as Wings, Search and XPDC are they relied on LOLOQ, MNASIR and JS KEVIN to write their stuffs. It came as no surprise that XPDC died a horrible death as soon as JS KEVIN passed away 5 years ago. They just dunno how to write good shit. Butterfingers in the other hand write their won music. You can actually see the musical evolve over the past 15 years. Now that is one band that will always get my vote! Will the implementation of 90:10 guarantees better music quality or we are just giving "writers" silly excuse to dump mediocre composition on us?

I am sure you have heard this argument before right Anna? I see your points but 90:10 will be a failure. It won’t change a thing. They should have instead champion the right for musicians to have the freedom to choose what they want to be and play. That would be a worthy cause to fight

Good luck in your career Anna. I love your stuff thus far. I like your stuff because it's better than the crap I heard on the radio. Not because you are Khalid or Jannah's sister

When will the album be out? I want to plug your album on my blog nanti.

P/s: abaikan typo. I was pissed the last comment was lost in cyberspace!

Sunday, September 28, 2008 1:13:00 PM

effs,
I don't think the objective is to curb people to listen to what they like. So if you like Indonesian songs, go la buy the cd. Support the music that you love!

It's just that with the way things are going, it's just isn't helping our local music industry to grow. The reason why 90:10 could make a whole lot of difference is that it targets the origin of how a song gets to be popular, through the local radio which is accessible to almost everyone provided they have a mechanism that allows them to tap into the stations.

You never know whether a song is good or not unless you hear it out. Most good songs get buried in the pile of unknowns because radio stations would rather prefer to play sure-fire hits than experiment and take risks. Why not cut down on the old hit songs and give us potential new hit songs for a change.

I see your points as well, Effs, but I do believe that since 90:10 is the brainchild of composers and musicians within the local music industry, they have the full knowledge of what's really going on. It's not something that was thought out overnight or cooked up at parties or whatever. This is serious business, and who else should take the business seriously if not for the people behind the music business.

Changing ideologies and mentality is rather optimistic if not idealistic. You want people to start having the freedom to choose what they want to be or play. What makes you think that the freedom is not there? I just think it was never really exercised by some people. Maybe they honestly want to, but they can't because they don't really believe in themselves and their music to fight for it. Or their interest was in the money from the very beginning and not for the sake of the art. Doing nothing is as much of a choice as doing something. There's always an alternative.

On a personal level, I am grateful for the fact that I am able to write songs that are close to my heart, songs that are not based upon a formula that was dictated by the music industry since I have no idea what that formula is and even if I do, it would be to avoid it. I'm trying to make a small difference here, but I realized that my efforts would be in vain without being given the chance to be heard.

90:10

2008-09-24T01:35:00.000+08:00

I'm too lazy to write what 90:10 stands for but, if you could make a quick visit to read what a rather interesting and active blogger I met have written about it, you might be able to get the back story. (NOTE: Thanks for the support, Mr. Manager!)

...

Thank you for taking the time to read up on the issue.

As Mr. Manager have kindly mentioned that I "fearlessly spoke at the forum", let me share with you my opinion on the matter.

So we have this problem that foreign songs have been dominating the public airwaves. By dominating I mean, constantly being played by radio stations, sometimes even back to back. This is proven as potentially dangerous for our local music industry to be sustainably profitable since the promotion of new artists and new albums and songs is depended upon these radio stations.

It seems to me that a lot of people have been hankering on the point that there should not be any prejudice towards music. I agree. But the reality is that it happens.

My brother, Asyiq was driving me to practice one day. We were listening to a local pop radio station.

"Kenapa sekarang banyak betul lagu-lagu dari Indonesia?"

My brother has been away in Moscow for his studies.

"Entahlah.."

I guess people haven't been really noticing what they are being fed nowadays. The thing is, since we are being fed with it on a daily basis, the phenomena just crept up on us without us really realizing it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about good music speaking for themselves. But you have to give enough opportunities for good music to be heard. Instead of asking the question why 90:10, ask yourself, why not 90:10? We have to start caring about our music and how it affects our daily lives.

I'm rooting for the 90:10, not because my life is affected by it, it's because we are all in this together. Stop saying that our music industry is dead or we don't have many or enough good songwriters. We do have a lot and we have to start believing that they are enough to sustain our musical needs.

I think it's rather funny that the other party have been saying that it's unfair for us to put such demand, have you ever asked yourself why our musicians don't really get as much support from their side, though music as they say is universal?

2008-09-18T19:04:00.000+08:00

Sweet!