The B is Back

Let me just say it's positively SHOCKING, and yes downright disgusting that I've not blogged for almost two years.... "sorry?"  does not cut it. So lets set the apollo gies aside and start to make it better.

Firstly belated happy "all the celebrations" from August 2011 (ok ok so I can generalise like the best of em)  and lets get into what's been going on for those lost months.  Ready?  go get a chair and a cuppa, always works best.

Lets just fast forward to today, I'm in the middle of sending out a complete break down of our budget for all our shows, docos and programs to certain agencies who want to become involved, the accountant hired to do the job is having nightmares, and is doing his best to keep me at bay whilst I bombard him with questions, the predominant one being "WHEN IS IT READY???!!".  Poor guy, I have to check what his medical coverage is!

Much is afoot, we're putting together a marketing/advertising video for the Art of Living Show Season 2.  I sat down with the team and gave them my quirky ideas, (the feedback was.. "you watch waaayyy to many shows!")  I'm trying to redefine the look and feel of our opening and closing montage, and working on ways to make the show slicker and more with what's currently important when choosing a home to buy, or invest in  or renovate.  The impending elections give us more time to tweak what we'd like to do, as no one is making a move until after May 5th.

We are also looking at changing the way viewers see our web page so stay tuned for that, I can only BLURT it out once we've made the change!  We've also been to FINAS where we were received really well and had a lot of

a homestay we viewed in Pahang

positive feedback on the show.  We're still big on digital media and IPTV and hope that all this will take off as we launch our second season.

So with that, I'm going to head out and meet up with more folk in the biz to stir up the dust that has settled on this shelf and hopefully create a small, wee stir in you too regarding our show.

Cheers!
Dx

Hello me Lovelies!!! A whole year of NOT blogging! Happy Belated New Year!  I've missed being able to pour out all my mental diarrhea online!! Hah, not quite what was expected in terms of adjectives but it works for me!  Well it takes very little to make me happy!

Something my close friends tend to do,  the phone was ringing incessantly off the mobile network system (can one say hook if it's a mobile?..) I finally pick up after the third call as NO ONE leaves messages anymore, by the way I do like voice messages, it's more comforting to hear a voice than to have to read *where are YOU?* or *CALL ME*.
 "Oi, how come you're not picking up our other calls " purrs Gina down the phone "I am a very busy and important person and have other things to do like go to the loo" I said. "well anyway, get over here now, no need to gear up, you look beautiful anyway and we're only going for drinks at the usual place" Gina says trying to charm her way around my surprise at having to up sticks and go meet them at such short notice.  "you have half an hour, see you in a bit" and she rings off.  I stare at my mobile for a sec.  Right.. war paint on, battle gear on and arghhh where are those ear rings that go with the blasted dress!

Another call comes in 15 minutes later, "I AM on my way out!" I say to Kina on the phone as I know they are tag teaming me on the calls.  "Well hurry up, we're here!" says Kina. "Ok Ok, COMMINGGGG!"

I walk in to our usual hang out and unplug my headphones as I see the two most beautiful women I know perched at the bar.  Smiling at them I, lean over to greet Kina first, then Gina.  They are both giving me appraising looks .. "yesss??? " I say to them, raising my eyebrows.  They both smile and Gina gets the waiter to pour me some wine.  "So what's up girls?" I ask them, "It feels like the end of school and we're all about to leave for different colleges!" I say.  "It's the new year" says Kina, "makes you feel like that".  "Damn, it's already Feb, can you imagine it?  2012 has started fast!' I exclaim.  We catch up with each other, Gina's just come back from a month in the States and Mexico and Kina from Cambodia.

Needless to say, the conversation turns to me and my singleness... it's begins with "the problem with you D is..."  I'm inwardly groaning, here we go... .  I remind myself, you love them, you love them, they're only saying this for your own good, grin and bear it.

I finally manage to get them off the topic and we talk about work, their boutique and my show.  Gina says "we're just wondering why you're still pushing ahead with season 2 of your show?"
"Why not?" I say.  "well we think you should do something more fun, more you!"  says Kina.  "Well real estate is a good subject, and I enjoy it" I retort.

My show finally went to air in Jan 2011, after two years of lobbying to get it up and going.  It took every ounce of determination and push from me and my team to get it on air.  I was very proud of it and also of the fact that I'd done what I had set out to do.  Now it was about figuring out if I wanted to keep at it or switch subjects.  I had come up with two more concepts for shows and was waiting for some legal paperwork before submitting it.

Gina and Kina both start pitching some ideas to me, I should have gotten someone to take a picture of my face, hah, the ideas were quite out there bless them!  However there is one that might work..  As I watch them get into a debate on which idea would work better, I think to myself, yes we've really come a long way in the one year, but our friendship still remains the same. . Dx

Second to last France Post!

Sigh... My last bottle of red from the Luberon valley, my last dinner in France, .. everytime I think of having to get on those planes to go back I start to feel nervous.. but Malaysia is calling.. I have to go back, have to face my life there. I've had a tremendous time, more than I had expected..

the Provence  interior gardens are very similar to balinese and thai houses, all you see are cement facades and big wooden carved doors, but once the doors are open it's like eden inside.. they really know how to landscape their bit of earth. give me a beautiful house of wood and glass by the beach, with drift wood pieces and I'll be happy or a ranch style house nestled in a lush valley with aztec carpets and throws on big overstuffed couches with terracotta floors on the verandah and varnished wood flooring inside...
Downloading all my songs that Ana likes on to her pen drive (once a DJ.. etc)

It's 11.42 pm. and I'm sort of waltzing in and out of Ana's house looking up at the stars and quaffing more wine and piddling arund on the puter.. a bundle of nerves, whilst she looks on at me and laughs but at the same time is saying what on earth is she gong to do as I will not be on line for a couple of days!!
I don't think 'll be sleeping on the plane like I did coming in from KL as I was really exhausted when I boarded and slept most of the way, so now WHAT bleedin book or movie to watch????

I am listening to latin tunes and both of us are looking at the full moon on her patio.. luckily the dogs haven't started howling yet!
I love cooking, but I haven't done much lately, but I did quite bit here, as I have people who appreciate the effort, so will take that back to Ka Ka Town and see if the sprogs like the new found cooking energy!
Dx

Onwards and upwards!

The Team and various consultants roped in!

Well... how long has it been?? Time does fly when you're sitting in a creative think tank!
Ok so we finished Season 1 of the Art of Living Show.  Everyone including yours truly dispersed right quick for a very well deserved break. We were all exhausted at the end of the last day of shoot , so much so that I broke down in tears after we did the farewell shot.  The relief of finally finishing the show and the fact that we did it!

After lolling around and slapping each others backs for a couple of months, I decided to get the team together to start on Season 2,  We've also incorporated a few new media platforms as well to give us more push and we've started negotiating with a cable network to air our show.

However after a few months of talking to clients and sponsors alike we realised not everyone was ready to hop on to Season two this year, so with heart in hand we decided to push back production till 2012, much to everyone's relief.  It's also taking a bit longer as I'm incorporating other regions.


It took a couple of days of me being in the dumps and moping around to get out of the funk (yes yes it really is my baby!)  The team asked me to move ahead with my second concept for a show, which I have!  Ah HAH!   I spent most of the day articulating what had been in my mind for the last few months on paper , well on word for mac that is, we don't do hard copy anymore as we're all tree huggers at heart.   I was also given a time frame, to roll the idea out and make it presentable to potential sponsors.    So if you ask me, we are moving at warp speed, but I've got to make sure the concept is cohesive and that it comes across.  So far I've managed to bring across to the team ,what I have envisioned for our second show.


I've just about put it all together and will be doing the rounds soon to bring this to life.  I am very excited, and it should be fairly entertaining.  No I will not be hosting this show thankfully, I've got one of the co hosts fairly locked down, now to find the other talent.. where is she .. where is she..


Here's to creativity!
Dx

Half way there

Penang is always a pleasure to work in, we had a great time filming there for ep 5, apart from the wonderful developments they have, the food is always something to look forward to! As for entertainment, there is plenty, we went to both Bagan Restaurant and GSpot to see our fav artists perform, bumped into a few KL friends (can't get away from em!) and managed to find ourselves an excellent make up artist to take over the make up duties in Penang that our very talented one in KL couldn't be present for. Penang's got talent!

There has been a bit of a reshuffle in the company. We have a new marketing director on board, who is sprinkling magic dust on all our developers, I am sure their heads must be spinning ! It has done miracles though with our production schedule. So used to working furiously for short bursts of time, we can now pace ourselves.. not quite what we are used to!

Episode 5 went to air last night after we were bumped off last week for the CNY specials on the FTA station that we purchased air time from, but that is fine as we believe this week's episode captured a load more of viewers, well I say so as I'm getting more tweets, sms's and fb alerts! Oh yeah every Wednesday night my phone is lava hot!

We are now in the midst of completing ep 6 & 7 which brings us to the half way mark of the show's season. I can see we have evolved somewhat from the first episode, (well I don't look like a wooden doll anymore!!!) the format has become more defined and now to ensure updates on next weeks show, kind of hard as we work on a current development basis, but we will try.

We will be incorporating a competition into the show as well, it all very exciting and I am sure with iproperty creating their own video page, using our videos which are linked, we expect more traffic to our website! Ep 6 we will be mentioning the competition.

Keep following us on our quest for the perfect lifestyle!
Dx

Christmas and New Year

It was a completely and utterly mad week prior to Christmas, we were shooting episode 2 and some other episodes as well, I was falling asleep half way through the printing of our storyboards in the middle of the night as we had such early starts.

I am absolutely amazed I managed my lines! But we did it! Oh yes we did it.

Then we had the preview party, which Kym kindly help organise with Jo Jo at his Wine Shop, HM Wines, in Bangsar for the first Episode.

I was so nervous, I was prowling around like a cat on a hot tin roof! I even bugged my brother to come and give me support! His version of support was "ok"

Me - So what do you think of the show?

Bro - "Ok"

Me - Would you watch this show?

Bro - "O..K."

Me - Do you think we look stylish and professional?

Bro - " Ok...hmm"

Me - Do you want a drink?

Bro - Ok

That folks is my brother giving his stamp of approval...

The Night went well, we had mostly very positive comments, and a few that were "hmmnn???", but overall the main sponsor loved it and so did the developers so that was that!

Then it was back to finishing off the final bits of editing for Episode 2, and as usual, me being me, I was not that psyched with the sound (my former music background..eh) so I was irritating my editor about the music beds and the overall sound of the show.. (he will most probably be nodding through gritted teeth here) and of course, I still can't get used to seeing myself on screen, it feels weird, and I am my own biggest critic.. I think he is so fed up of hearing "I LOOK SO FAT!", even my Film Director was looking at me quizzically..

We finally got everything transferred and sent out to the Broadcaster and in my deluded mind I thought I could concentrate on the holidays... but no, there were more interviews and meetings, so I cancelled our holiday to OZ. However , and there is always a however I managed to surprise my family with a trip to Phuket on Christmas day, so off we flew to have some fun in the sun.

It was wonderful to be away, but I just had a look at my phone bill, between my producer in Oz, Kl and my Film Director, Celcom must be raking it in!

Upon returning to KL, we were inundated with all sorts of last minute details, and finally on the 5th, my gal pals organised a night in to watch the show on one of their big screen TVs. It was a noisy, uproariously funny night, with much ribbing and shoulder bumping. When the show finally came on, they were all making their comments and finally one them yelled "SHUT UP I AM TRYING TO WATCH THE BLINKING SHOW !!!" Did they ? Nooo... ( I am still nursing a sore arm from all the smacking I got.. you know how girls are!)

So now we are nose to the grindstone again, I have to finish scripting the up coming shows and make sure I've storyboarded them properly, deal with my producers and finalise the shooting schedules...

Stay tuned for more, and don't forget to watch the show every wed at 8.30 on ntv7 or on our website www.artoflivingshow.com

Saluti!

Dx

First Episode of T.A.O.L.S

*Hey Daph, can you come over to my shop now ?*, says my best friend Sakinah.
*I will be there in an hour or so, just waiting on some docs here, whats up? *I say
*I am trying to figure out the best colour for your dress for the opening title* , She says
*Oh my god, girlfriend!*, *I said I would just come over and have a look at what you already have! You don't have to make a dress especially for me!* I exclaim.
This is so very typical of Sakinah, who owns Intent in Bangsar. She is a perfectionist when it comes to clothes and fashion, so rather than have me choose something that fits, she will make something that is perfect, and when I went there a couple of hours later, the dress was already sewn up and ready for a final fitting. She had chosen a royal purple colour. I looked at her quizzically, I don't usually wear purple.
She said * Just you wait and see, the colour will really pop out on the screen* and guess what , she was absolutely right!

The next day we started our shoot for episode 1,we took off to Ipoh for the day, to shoot a couple of developments there, and the day after two beautiful luxury resort condos in KL. I have waited so long to bring this whole production together, I had waited for my Film Director to be available and for my make up artist Lyana Dee, who know just how to make my skin look flawless!

Exhausted? yes. Stressed? yes. Loving it? absolutely!

Yesterday I spent three hours in the recording studio doing all my voice over pieces. My throat was so sore by the end, but it was a very productive recording, albeit the phone calls and e mails swamping my blackberry every second!
This week we have more shoots to do, and will be looking at the final edit of episode one, I am so excited!
Dx