PRESS CLUB- Dinner with Rocky, Nuraina Samad and Dave Avran, Tuesday 6th May 2008

...last night, Tuesday 6th May 2008, 8 pm, i finally took up Dave Avran's almost 2 years of cajoling me to "just to visit the Press Club, for a drink", a members only club for journalists and reporters, and i decided to go, and that too, only after Rocky's & Nuraina's invite to "drop by" the Press Club"for dinner some time, which was extended to me earlier in the day at RPK's "sedition" charges at the PJ sessions courts,
so really to tell you the truth, despite trying to act nonchalant and cool, "who would in their right frame of mind turn down an invite by Rocky for a casual meet, chit chat and dinner" and with nuraina as well,... i had to take that as a sign from above and called Dave the Spanker fellow entertainment blogger and literally forced him to join us at the Press Club, did not give dave an inch of the chance to say no...poor dave he was actually a little under the weather....confirmed the 'dinner" at 8 pm with Rocky via sms and left the courts to do other things..

6.00 pm - went to selayang to pick dave up....and no jam, just moving heavy traffic, and we headed straight to the Press Club, next to bank rakyat and opposite bank negara...

Dave and I, were there, early, about 7pm, ( to tell you the truth, this is how i really felt, i was quite intimidated and humbled really, the collective reasons as you will see....

Dave is an old friend, and a very well respected music industry journalist, who blogs by the name "spanking the monkey", we share, agree and disagree on various topics, especially the one thing that we really do have a passion about, the Entertainment Industry, locally and globally.

Rocky, whose Rocky's Bru, with nothing less than 4 million ( phew, what a number) hits or views, since he started in May 21st, 2006, and ex editor of The Malay Mail, and pro tem president of National Alliance of Bloggers ( All Blogs)...actually has achieved cult status in blogosphere.... Well Rocky's 1st impression, intimidates, period, in a good way, and you know why, he's well built, and rarely smiles, almost always on his Blackberry, either on the phone mode, speaking to the many people who freely call him for "his reporting of current issues" as honestly and unbiased as possible, staying true to the end caption of his blog which please allow me to repeat here

"The freedom of expression is essential for any society to evolve. Comments are welcomed but will be moderated. Views expressed are not those of ahirudin attan."

i relate to that " freedom of expression" as we, who are involved with Music Industry and all in the entire Entertainment Industry, will strongly attest to the fact that

"music and performance is just another form of expression by the people who express it...and please allow me quote what the First Amendment is about and how it affects all who claim to be part of democracy and the democratic process...

"at the Heart of the 1st Amendment is the recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas. Freedom to speak one's mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty...but essential for the quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole. In the world of debate about public affairs...many things done with motives that are less than admirable are nontheless protected by the First Amendment"

Judge Rehnquist, people vs Larry flynt, 1996 Columbia Pictures

( used without permission )

so that was Rocky, burly but a gentle giant and a most astute "listener"/ "observer" someone who clearly defines the adage that " almighty GOD gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth, so we should talk less and listen more".....something i am far removed from......as those of you who know me will attest to...

Rocky observes, listens and when Rocky starts to speak, that's when everyone in his presence will do best to keep quiet and listen, cause as i found out last night at dinner, he imparted so much valuable advice that i was just so humbled by it, and he freely gave it, no strings attached, did not ask for anything in return, allowed me and dave to "quote" him...

and as if that was not enough, i was so personally moved at what Rocky did next,... He brought out his lap top, when to his blog Rocky's Bru, and very very graciously added Mr.Manager, a blog by Vernon Kedit, Ning's manager, Dave Avran's Spanking the Monkey and

...yours truly's Covenant Artists Management, right up there under the heading Entertainment Blogs in his Rocky's Bru....now, we, both dave and i, were quite overwhelmed but tried to appear cool and collected, and were left speechless and were just silent, knowing fully well how precious that little action by Rocky, doing what he did, adding our links to his Rocky's Bru ( i'm still so overwhelmed... that i'm repeating it over and over)
and when i wished Rocky "thanks" and good night,
Rocky just replied, "hey no problem bro.....(4 million + hits and views and what a lesson in humility, especially for me....)

when we left the Press Club, dave and i were truly humbled by Rocky's unhesitating and unflinching support in giving our blogs "links' ( as you will see when you visit Rocky's bru next )
we knew what we were going to be in for....

and then you have nuraina samad- "3540 jalan sudin" comes from a fabulous and well respected "tree" - pak samad ismail, very, very and really veteran journalist,
and at present Nuraina is editor in chief of a new publishing group, she showed me and dave a copy of "Tell"
a magazine, with Nurul Izzah and Mukhriz Mahathir standing back to back in Blue but with not much of a "white Background", with a caption, " it' s our turn"...

Nuraina suggested that the mee hailam was good and it was good,... i finished all of it and wanted to have another but remembered that " gluttony was a sin and stopped at that" one good mee hailam was enough... we chatted and at around 10+ pm, nuraina "
with the "my bed is calling me look" politely said good nite and left, leaving just Rocky, dave and me at the table...

and so, there it was, i had the chance to meet some other journalists / bloggers, some new , some old friends, like TV smith , daniel Tang, a fellow sound engineer, with Patrick Teoh's Add Audio, stephen francis"shanghai fish"and Nst's Tony Gayandato...they were all there...

"like i told dave....nice place, not too noisy and good place to network, chat, have dinner and drinks, honest and sincere company and good atmosphere...a place that leaves you feeling good, when you leave....

and it was all good....i left feeling really good i thank almighty GOD for allowing me to experience this good feeling....