backtrack: annie-chewing gum (2004)

Annie-Chewing Gum

hazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. I posted something about Mirah yesterday. Well. her voice sort of kinda reminds me of Annie. I really really dug her album Anniemal and the following album Dj Kicks. It was a bevy of electronica smash and Euro trance bits that kind of takes over like a maelstrom of blended genres in your eardrums, banging the tunes into your head 'til you can't even sleep without the song reverberating in your head. Yep, that was Anniemal, her debut album made after her hubby sadly passed away. Annie, the pop sprite from Norway, took over the dance charts and even got this song-the crowning glory of her debut- to appear on an episode of Grey's Anatomy. It's "Chewing Gum", and in it, she tells off herself, chewing and spitting out boys like bubblegum. The song, itself, is bubblegum pop so pure and obvious, a blind person could identify what genre it was. Too bad the Grammys always ignore artists like her. Who trusts them anymore? Especially after rewarding U2 with their undeserved Grammys for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. And their repulsive love of all things John Mayer.

Anyways, and how. The video is simple, but sexy. Her dancing is HOT! You'd definitely be watching her in a club (besides the fact that she's already an acoomplished DJ). She's got a new album called Don't Stop due out later this year. Supposedly, Girls Aloud was supposed to help her out on a track called My Love Is Better, but that track will be appearing without their vocals on it. Wait...wait...wait..the next post will give more details about her upcoming album, yeah? Hazim. Out.

my connection is crawling like Star Jones on a treadmill

mhazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. I'm not going to be posting much today on account my connection speed today is extremely truly madly deeply slow. Like turtles swimming through spilled molasses. Like Air Asia flights. Like Star Jones on a treadmill! Hazim. Out.

there's this song i like: mirah-dreamboat

Mirah Needs A Bath Now!

hazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. I was bored. Like, really unbelievably bored. I was making baked beans for my roommate. I NEVER cook for people. So that's how bored and unoccupied I was when I happened to come across this artist while surfing (being unbelievably bored). This artist...is not new. indie undergournd lovers probably know her already. But I didn't. And what's the harm in discovering her now, right?
Now, about this artist. Uh, she's Mirah. And uh, she's horny. Like, really extremely unusually horny. As in, her lyrics feature sex, sex , and sex. But that's just on the surface, but if you pay attention, there's bad love, love gone wrong, and a sad tinge. Anyways, she's got a new album, so Pitchfork Media was reviewing her so i decided to go and click on her because ya know I was bored and I needed something to do. The album's called The Old Days Feeling. And I've listened to a few songs. One, I particularly like. OK, so it's not 'particularly like'. More like it's because that's the only YouTube video with a song from the album that I could find. Haha. The song, however, is a nice appetizer for the real meat the album's got to offer. She's got her dirty lyrics down pat with sad laments trolling underneath the songs. Most of the time, it's in a cutesy voice though, kinda reminds me of Annie. The Chewing Gum Annie. But Mirah's definitely less electronic-y. And I'm going to find out more about her before posting anymore. For now, enjoy "Dreamboat". Because bored Hazim sure did...again and again. Plus, the song's really short anyways. Should take -4 seconds to load. How fantastic if you're busy. Junk food for bored people like me. I needs me some more music...NOW. Hazim. Out.

Mirah's Official Artist MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coldcoldwater

i'm hungry.

hazim and the new asymptotes
hey.hazim here...again. I'm hungry. i just am. So I'm going to eat. NOW. lol. Hazim. Out.

can't log in to myspace...aaaarrrgh!!!!

hazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. Today, something out of the ordinary happened. Something Mulder and Scully wouldn't be able to figure out. Something stranger than the Jonas Brothers' sexuality. I went to MySpace like I usually do and guess what? I couldn't log in. I have no idea why. I typed in my email and my password (which is...haha. Yeah, like I'm posting my password here) like I usually do and clicked the Log In button, and it led me back to the homepage as if I hadn't logged in yet, prompting me to type everything all over again. Thus, I, who was surprisingly patient at the tim,e typed my email and password an abysmal total of 10 times before blowing a raspberry to the computer monitor screen. I already emailed them about the problem so i hope they're fixing it soon. Cus if they don't, I'll be forced to while away my time on boring application filled filled Facebook. So 'aaaarrrgh!" I say. Fucking "Aaaarrrghh!". Hazim. Out.

b-b-b-b-back...i needs me some tea

Tea Is Sexy.
hazim and the new asymptotes

hey.hazim here...again. I just got back to college after an almost and almost illegal (haha...) two week hiatus. It was just me staying at home doing nothing for the whole time. It was quite fun actually. Just being lazy, not smelling good and not washing my hair which is something I get lazy to do sometimes. Anyways, since I've been away, I haven't been able to drink tea. yes, tea! A big LOL to that cus it's true! I miss drinking tea but I only drink it in college. I bought 2 big packets with teabags inside. It's my addiction.

I drink when I'm studying. I drink it watching the television. I drink it when I'm reading. It's like life support. So, then when I got back and looked into my stash of teabags I found out that it was empty. yeah....EMPTY! I couldn't believe it either when I reached my hands into the locker and found out there were no teabags left.



Asians are supposed to like drinking tea, right? It's the stereotype that fits me, while others (like Asians are smart or Asians play piano at 2 years old) are not.



I prefer the Boh tea from Cameron Highlands or the ones from Sri Lanka. Green tea sucks by the way. I heard it promotes cellulite. Yucks. This is becoming something like an unhealthy hobby for me right now. Haha.



So now I need me some tea. If I don't, I won't be sane. I'll blubber and walk like I've got a chainsaw stuck in my ass (not cool). Withdrawal sucks. Don't do drugs. I'm going to the store later. This is just a random thing my mind conjured up because being thirsty for tea is the only thing I'm thinking right now, really. Honestly. Hazim. Out.

eye for I (and other eye related puns to follow!). the story of my cornea transplant. pretend you care!

Eye and I.
hazim and the new asymptotes
hey. hazim here...again. It's been almost three months since I've had a new cornea grafted onto my eye. It's called keratoplasty or a keratograft or a cornea transplant. I call it a second chance. I get nervous everyday that my body will reject the foreign tissue and I'll be forced to learn the piano in hopes of becoming the next Stevie Wonder. But I don't even know where the C note would be, let alone the W note (I know there's no such thing, but I didn't know that before!). Anyways, in December, I discovered I had keratoconnus, a disease (what a horrible ugly word) that causes your cornea to elongate into abonormal shapes, and morph (what a cool word) into a mountain peak. So glasses wouldn't help. You wouldnt believe how many times people told me I needed glasses. I'm not sure why this wasn't detected earlier, but whatever. My friend, Sharon, has the same disease, but hers is not so bad. She can wear contact lens to fix it. Hers is a hill, and mine are mountains. And no, I'm not talking about breast size. I'm talking about the peak of the cornea.

So, this disease, right? I had trouble seeing things properly. I could see. But it was blurry and the lights. Well, the lights throbbed in time with my heartbeat (ooh look at that stationary lamp Mom! It's moving!) and instead of seeing one point where the light comes from, it ends up scattered. Sucks. Depth perception sucks. Failed my driver's ed three times because of it. Ran into a lamp post at 10 pm at night because of it.

Anyways, I didn't have to wait long on the waiting list for a new cornea to arrive from the US of A. It came and I went for the surgery. it was uncomfortable lying there practically naked, my poor bare ass on an extremely cold steel table (which the nurses who didn't seem to like me probably imported from Antarctica especially for me), and me shivering like I swallowed a vibrator. But the surgery took just an hour and I was allowed to go home after a night in their even colder room.

So now, I'm allowed to go jogging and cycling. Two things I love. But I still can't go swimming. It should take one year for the eye to fully recover. Meanwhile I usually keep my right (your left) eye closed. It itches a lot sometimes. gets painful. But I have my medicine for that. There are risks of rejection to the new tissue, but I'm crossing my fingers. I'm going for riboflavin cross-linking treatment for the other eye cus it's not as severe. I might sign up for the organ donor thing so when I pass away (like die, like really really friggin die!) someone else can have my organs. Nobody wants my penis though, right?

I'm thankful. Sometimes I get pissed off. Like, why can't I have vision like other people? Why can't I see and they can? But then I coold down and count my blessings. I'm not blind...yet. I've still got a chance for good vision while my eye is recovering and I'm waiting to go for treatment for the other eye. While the doctor (whom is an opthamologist and loves Ironman by the way) says I won't reach 20/20 version. I'll be really thankful when I can actually see 4 feet in front of me. And if it fails? I'll get another transplant (Don't you just looove insurance coverage?). Meanwhile, I might take up piano lessons...kidding. I'm gonna play the steel drum. Haha. Hazim. Out.

For more information on keratoconnus, click here:http://www.supervisioncenter.com/keratoconus.htm
For more information on how you can help the cause, click here: http://www.supervisioncenter.com/keratoconus.htm
For more information on organ and tissue donations, click here: http://www.restoresight.org/general/faqs.htm
For more information on Stevie Wonder, click above where it says Stevie Wonder! Sure, its just a Wikipedia article but there's a percentage of credibility in there somewhere, right?

there's this song i like: wiretree-big coat

Wiretree-Big Coat

hazim & the asymptotes
hey hazim here...again. I'm a big power pop lover. I like my songs adorned with a chorus catchier than Asian Bird Flu. But I also like and appreciate cleverly written lyrics. Now, this song by Wiretree is perfect for me! I love love love it! I love the chorus bit! I love the 'du-du-du-dups' at the end! I love the voice! I love the background music cus it's so lush and evocative! This is probably my favorite song right now and it's been for so many months now. They're like shoegazer pop with a Radiohead glaze. I'd definitely suggest (have done already actually) this to my pop-loving friends. The album is called Bouldin. And I'll post a review of it later. Kevin Peroni goes on like a chirpier Elliott Smith. Now, here's the catch...he's the only guy in the band! That's right! The sound is like a full orchestra but there's one man behind it. Anyways, here's a video with the song attached so you can listen to it. I heart this song and I really suggest you get the album. Another brilliant song is "Feel Me",but for now, here's "Big Coat". Enjoy. Hazim. Out.

the joker

hazim & the asymptotes
hey hazim here...again. I just came back from watching batman, err...I mean The Dark Knight for the THIRD time! It was still great and it still had me on the edge of my seat, mainly because the music accompanying it makes it so that you might know what's going to happen next, but not when, so when it does come, it's a big surprise like dum...dum....dum...BOOoOm!!!

Hahaha...anyways, I thought that Christian Bale was brilliantas moody, dark, and contemplative. This Batman trumps all the past Batmans, especially the one which had that really weird kinky suit with a special compartment for his nipples.

Harvey Dent was great. Surprised me that I liked the character so much. We need more of him. Morgan Freeman was good, the usual. So was the butler dude.

But...the REAL amazing performance that totally blew me away, leaving an imprint on me after I left the cinemas was...Heath Ledger's incredible Joker. The Joker's one of the most badass villains in the comic book world, even though for me, DC Comics are a bit...meh. I'll always be a Marvel Man. But as a direct opposite to Jack Nicholson's kooky version some years back, he brought out the dark sadistic, really really really really evil side of the Joker. And I really mean the sadistic part. Blowing up a hospital. Carving people's faces. Attempts to coax people to blow up each other on ferries. Like, wow.

This is all me talking about Heath's performance without being influenced by the fact that he's sadly passed away. Dead or not, this performance was king. I'd say it ranks in line with Hellboy 2 or this year's top movies so far. Both are comic book movies. One is funny, the other thought-provokingly dark.

If Heath was still alive, I'd petition they do a spin-off movie on the Joker. There aren't many movies on villains ya know...and no one wants to see a movie of Venom (supposedly coming out). If he does get an Oscar nomination,not because he's gone, but because he milked thehell out of acharacter and took it to another level. Hazim.Out.

american idol: top 6 perform (a carly comeback)

Hey. Hazim Here...again. I don't normally watch American Idol, but...I mean, I started to at first, but, this season is so boring. Most of the contestants in the top 12 have already had musical careers (albeit failed ones) prior to being on the show. And it kinda spoils the mood for me seeing them pretend to be unknowns. I still update myself every week, but less enthusiastically, like whenever Brooke White takes the stage, I go to the kitchen and whip up some instant noodles. Anyways...despite my apprehensiveness, I did watch it...on YouTube. As in, I watched the individual performances. The top six took on songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber, and so...here's my two cents on their performance.

SYESHA MARCADO: 7/10

Wow. She's bubbly, energetic, and spunky. Better than last week. She sang "One Rock And Roll Too Many". She's better this way. less diva. More dynamite.

JASON CASTRO:2/10

Yikes. Just...yikes. He sang "Memory" like he had needles in his ass. Uncomfortable.

BROOKE WHITE: 2/10

Yikes. part two. She hd to restart her song. She sounded nervous. I liked her in the beginning (her cover of "You're So vain" was awesomeness), but she's becoming paler than she already is. Fading. Fast.

DAVID ARCHULETA: 5/10

Good. Not great. It's weird. Adorable on the outside, but I kinda see an evil robot glint in his eyes (don't you?). His version of "Think of Me".was like what Simon said...pleasant but forgettable.

CARLY SMITHSON: 8/10

Sang "Jesus Christ Superstar". And she SANG it! Kinda shouted it, but I loved it. hated her in the beginning because of the bad publicity and her desperation. But she's an underdog now. And I like underdogs.

P.S Her outfit was cool.

DAVID COOK: 7/10

Pretty good. Not as Daughtry-ish this time around. And thank god. He doesn't look as ego-tistic as usual. "the Music Of The Night" was, in my opinion, a good song choice for him. He coulda done "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". How awesome could that have been?!?

So, uh, props to Carly and David (Daughtry David, not Astro Boy David). I think Brooke will be out. That's all. Hazim. Out.

junk food: i keep playing x men legends 2

Hey. Hazim Here...again.

ONE: I'm crossing my fingers for X Men Legends 3 to come out, because I keep playing X men Legends 2 again and again and again. It's addictive. It's like "OMG. I get to control the Juggernaut!" click here

TWO: i'm still waiting for my cornea transplant for my keratoconus click here

THREE: this is stupid, but it's cute. a singing hamster? come on! who doesn't love that? click here

FOUR: i loved the movie Crash, but Sandra Bullock didn't have to take it literally. click here

album reviewed: ashlee simpson//bittersweet world

GRADE:OOOO
Hey. Hazim Here...again. Her last two albums sucked...hard. I was never a fan of her nasally vocal delivery or her 'woe-is-moi' attitude. Here, the emo-ness is stillpresent, but very much downplayed, making Bittersweet World her best and only good album to date.
WHAT'S GOOD: You can slap all kinds of labels on Jessica's younger sister. Trashy pop tart. Nose job junkie. Whiny ungrateful millionaire. All these would be spot on. It's the shameless negative attributes that draws people to reading about her latest exploits in the tabloids. Here, instead of trying to pretend she's normal 'just-like-us', she cranks up the trashiness we all know she exudes. And by doing that, this album excels. Timbalnd and Pharell do great work on her. Like plastic surgeons, they alter the outside, but the inside's still the same. The new wavey first single "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" sees her crank and snap at haters with a pouty lip. It's annoying, but it's catchy. Like the rest of the album, you can hate her but you can't get her out of your head, especially when she cops Gwen so evenly on the reggae-infected "Ragdoll" or the shallow nonsensical "Murder" in which she demands that you get a monkey off her back (?).
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD: Ashlee never had a voice for proper singing, so when she tries too hard on ballads, you sorta cringe listening to her struggle even through synthesizers and Pro-Tools. Maybe her Gwen-copping addiction led her to try and reinvent Gwen Stefani's sweeping masterpiece of a ballad "Early Winter", through her own "Never Dream Alone", but unsurprisingly, she falters.
GRADE:A-. True, she has an identity crisis, trying to mask the emptyness with different personas. But when that emptyness gets the spotlight (the loping sytnh-embedded "Boys"), her superstar only-money-can-buy producers make sure they fill it with 80s pop vibe goodness. Bittersweet World is really just junk food, but at its best, it's actually really good junk food.
SONG YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO: "Boys", "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)"
ARTIST WEBSITE:http://www.ashleesimpsonmusic.com

claymation of the day: obama vs. hilary

hazim & the asymptotes
Hey. Hazim Here...again. I've got this addiction to clay animations, or claymations, or whatever...they're fun! They're cute. I love quirky animation styles. I keep watching Nightmare Before Christmas and James And The Giant Peach over and over again. Corpse Bride was good too. I heart Wallace And Gromit. Anyways, searching and browsing through Youtube, i got this to show. It's a claymation of Hilary and Obama, Debate '08. It's not extremely hilarious or anything, but I kept replaying and replaying the video just to see the part when the Hilary Clay-ton juggles her...ermm, assets. There are two seperate vids, one of Obama. And one of Clinton. Enjoy. I sure did. Hazim. Out.
Barack Obama on why people should vote for her


Hilary Clinton on why people should vote for her

there's this song i like:ashlee simpson-little miss obsessive

Hey. Hazim Here...again. Okay...this is most definitely going to put a smackdown on whatever bit of musical taste-related credibility I have left (after admitting I like Hilary Duff's Dignity album), but...well..ummm...see, there's this new song by pop tart Pinocchio that I actually like. Her name's Ashlee Simpson! Haha...yeah...surprise! This song's already been out for a while, but I just got around to listening to it. And I have to say, it's pretty solid catchy pop rock. The material from Ashlee Simpson's latest album sounds good so far. Too bad it's a commercial failure and all. Tom Higgenson is featured on this. His voice is good, but surprisingly Ashlee also sounds good here. ProTools, synthesizers, digital make-up...whatever. If it sounds good, then it's good. I get kinda disheartened whenever a mainstream artist takes a swipe at something more creative and out-of-the-box and it's a fail (cue Hilary Duff's Dignity or Pink's Try This), but when they just jump in the mainstream and ride the currents with connect-the-dot songs, it's a success (Pink's I'm Not Dead).
Anyways, this is good pop. Here's to me waiting for the video. Anything'll be better than the schizophrenic off the wall video for "Outta My Head". Come on guys...give this song some love! It's not so often Ashlee putts out a good song. Or if this is a good omen...a good album. Hey, who knew Mariah would come back or that Dolly Parton would make another album? Hazim. Out.

my take on the pregnant WHOA-man (story might be made into a movie...don't people remember Junior?

Who knew Wikipedia could have a picture as winning as this?

Hey. Hazim here...again. The pregnant man! Hahaha...I'm kinda obsessed with the story, more so than Oprah could ever hope to be. The guy's name, Thomas Beatie. Was born a female. Got a sex change. Kept the reproductive organs. Fertility. A woman named Nancy. Boom. A child. When I think back to that Arnold Schwartzenegger movie (the one where he gets pregnant) I kinda...squirm. And laugh. The movie was called Junior. it sucked. Bad. But it aged well. It gets a good laugh out of me actually when I watch it now, which was last week. But the idea of a man getting pregnant is sooo weird. Mainly because, to me, a male pregnancy would involve lots of high tech surgeries and advanced scientific procedures to allow for a man to host a baby inside his...womb? But the method this Thomas Beatie resorted to is so...simple.

Thomas Beatie's got nothing on Arnold,yeah?

Be a woman. get a sex change. But keep your eggs. But if you watch Junior, it's got a happy ending with the girl Arnold loves acknowledging that a mother is a mother and father is a father. So it's still gonna be impossible for an man with no female reproductive organs to get preggers. So that means nature is still in full effect. So that means religious nuts can just shut up. Which means I'm pro-pregnancy for this man. I see nothing wrong with it, even though it does make me squirm a bit (it's still bizarre to me, and once the kid is born and is growing up, it's gonna be difficult for her to come to terms with the fact that she was in her father's tummy). Hazim. Out.



PS. Side note though, this pregnant man is milking his pregnancy for all its worth. He's apparently everywhere in the media...clever man...clever man. Anyways, Thomas Beatie's pregancy might come to life on your TV screen, or worse...on the big screen! I don't know how I feel about that, but it makes me hug my Junior video tape even tighter.

Script to be made into a movie:CLICK HERE
Spoof story about a transgender train toy (kinda related):CLICK HERE
Pregnant Thomas Beatie on Oprah:CLICK HERE

This Blog O' Mine

Perez Hilton. Not Hazim.

hazim & the asymptotes
Hey. Hazim Here. Whoa. I have no idea how much time has passed between now (while I'm typing this) and the last time I logged in to my Blogger acount. But it's been a long while, and a lot has happened. I have no idea who's gonna end up reading this, but yeah, I've been busy.
Ack! I hate being busy. It took time away from going online. People actually used to read this blog...so I guess it's time for me start out slow again, and then build momentum. I used to write mostly about celebrities and music. Kinda had it in me that I wanted to be next Perez Hilton and for my blog to be the new Pink Is The New Blog. And then an apple fell down, hit me on the head, and I saw it. Perez is a pig and tabloids are trash...OK, maybe not all of it. For some reason, I still occasionally peep into US Weekly at the magazine store, but my addiciton and "wannabe-ness" isn't as horribly bloated as before. Withdrawal has been going perfectly.
I'm not going to write to impress anymore. I'll just write what I want.
Fashion. Music. Comics. Travel. And Famous Amos cookies.Yes, I'll be all clean now.
I won't bother with world news and politics. Every time I open the newspaper, it's either Bama leading or Britney falling apart.
Anyways, until the next post (which I do know when) this is it for now. I need to decorate my page a little bit more, me thinks. I don't get web codes at all. I'd have more luck getting pregnant than ever getting a hang of htmls and divs and all that. Hazim. Out.

PS. Did you hear the news about the pregnant whoa-man? Of course you have! Everyone has!