Julius Caesar

(Photo of Patrick Teoh as Cassius - the bad guy. Courtesy of Living Arts Malaysia

"Hail Caesar!"....."Beware the Ides of March"...."Friends, Romans, countrymen; lend me your ears..."......"Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great?"....."Et Tu Brute?"...........

That's some of the stuff that's been keeping me busy the past few weeks without time to blog. Trying to remember lines from Shakespeare at my age is getting increasingly difficult:-)

Yes, it has been a long time since this blog has been updated. But I trust that some of us have been having some fun reminiscing of the good old days. And from the number of comments received it is obvious there were quite a few of those good old days to remember. Thank you for the memories.

The reason for my forced blog silence is "Julius Caesar", the play. I have been busy rehearsing for the play which opens December 2 at the KLPAC (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre for you flers less informed).

This production of one of William Shakespeare most well known tragedies is being staged as the KLPAC end of year production and promises to be a jolly good show. Damn good and enjoyable la in other words.

I am playing my dream role of Cassius, one of the conspirators....."...yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look..." Okay, okay, I can hear some of you laughing already. "Patrick Teoh lean and hungry look ah? Where got?". But this is theatre ma. So sometimes you have to suspend your disbelief a bit la:-) Since my secondary school days I have dreamed of playing the role of Cassius which I think is the most interesting character in the play. Okay lah so most people remember Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen....lend me your ears" speech most of all. But it is Cassius who has the most juicy lines in the play. And it is always more interesting to play the 'bad guy' than the hero.

Okay, okay, the plain truth is that I am using this blog to do some unashamed promoting of the play la.


Please help to spread the word to all your friends.

Come and watch a damn good show.

I know it is Shakespeare. And some of you baargers will be scared. Aiyoh! Cannot understand la. The Engrand very deep la. I got tickets for Harry Potter la. Thousand and one excuses la. But it is only going to be 90 minutes long and I promise that you won't have a dull moment.

Then ah....also can see the beautiful Samantha Schubert as Portia.

The recurring wet dream of Malaysian teenaged girls, Gavin Yap.

The ever delightful Ari Ratos.

And other new faces never before seen on the Malaysian stage. Some of you have been complaining about seeing the same old baargers on stage, right? So this time you can see some new ones. So no excuses ya? Come lah. Dates and ticket information can be found below.



(Poster courtesy of Living Arts Malaysia)

Starring.....

Ari Ratos as Brutus
Patrick Teoh as Cassius
Gavin Yap as Marc Antony
Kennie Dowle as Caesar
Clare Dedic as Calphurnia
Samantha Schubert as Portia
Kurt Crocker as Casca

With......

Colin Kirton, Pavanjeet Singh, Roshan Narayan, Calvyn Wong, Michael Chen and Amsalan Doraisingam.


William Shakespeare's 'JULIUS CAESAR' has intrigued audiences for centuries. It is a no-holds-barred scathing commentary on the ruthlessness, deceit and hypocrisy surrounding the eternal struggles of politics and power. Caesar is the quintessential play pitting perceived good against perceived evil. Its main characters can be likened to any leaders of the modern world and their desire to rule. Autocracy or democracy?

Julius Caesar is a tale of conspiracy, power, death and destruction.

When Caesar returns victorious to Rome, he is offered the crown by the populace and unwillingly he rejects it, three times. Cassius, wary of Caesar's foibles and ambitions conspires to have Caesar assassinated; but for his conspiracy to be accepted by the populace he must, and does, win the noble Brutus over to his side.

The pre-determined day for the assassination, the Ides of March (15th March), is prophesised by a soothsayer. On that day, Caesar is mercilessly stabbed to death on his way to the Senate House. One by one the conspirators, in the form of a ritualistic sacrifice, thrust their daggers into Caesar's body. The final thrust is delivered by Caesar's beloved Brutus... 'Et tu Brute'.

What follows is a disastrous series of events, culminating in the double suicides of Cassius and Brutus.

Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC)
Date: 2-11 December 2005
All days @ 8.30 PM except Sundays @ 3 PM
Monday no show
Price: RM60 & RM40, 50% off for students below 18

Those Were The Days, my friends. We thought they'd never end...

Photo of Mary Hopkin who sang the hit Those Were The Days.....source


What started as my grumble about not being able to buy a simple bar of SOAP became a torrent of memories. So many recollections of those 'good old days' were triggered that I decided that some of those tales should become a blog on their own. Ya, I know that most of you who come visit regularly would have read them. But for future visitors who might otherwise not go into the comments section they would miss all your sharing of days gone by. Good memories should be shared and marked in books (blogs) so that they are never lost.

So sing along to the tune of Those Were The Days as we share times that are forever part of our lives....

...................................Actually, these days you just can't buy JUST an egg anymore. They've got to be cholesterol free, antibiotic free etc. Same thing goes for stuff which you use everyday. Try looking for an ordinary bar of SOAP. You won't find any. There are lots of beauty treatments, facial washes, cleansers but no SOAP. Right?....Patrick Teoh


Talking about soap, I yearn for the Popinjoy (green colour with a parrot sign)that I can no longer find in my local kedai runcit....soowm


Was that Popinjay or Popinjoy? I remember that soap. Green packaging with the picture of a bright colored macaw.......................Patrick Teoh


Popinjay soap is still around. Getting nostalgic? I remembered

1. Fung Keong school shoes;
2. ice bola from canteen;
3. 3 ladies brand cologne;
4. kickapoo (I think still got)
5. Green Spot
6. 555 cigarettes;
7. Amami(talcum).............................Helen

.... does anyone remember Huntley & Palmers Gems and Marie biscuits when they were sold in those rectangular tins which came with a little metal cutter to open?

OR

Lucozade before it became a trendy soft drink?

OR

Woodward's Gripe Water before they discovered that it contained alcohol. GASP GASP GASP.....How could they do that? Fed to babies somemore....string them up. But then generations of us grew up having taken our regular tablespoons of Woodward's and we seem none the worse none the worse none the worse none the worse.

OR

Ovaltine

OR

Darkie Toothpaste before political correctness killed it

Bata Badminton Master shoes

4711 Eau De Cologne

555 notebook to record credit at sundry shops

Players Gold Leaf and Craven A cigarettes and Abdullah 37 cigarettes with that silly TV commercial and song...........Abdullah Sarm Sup Chut

Rock groups used to advertise petrol. Remember Caltex Boron?......................Patrick Teoh

My daddy used to tell me about about sinful BB Park, strip queen Rose Chan and screening of x-rated movies in public cinemas..........................................TV Smith


Those political rallies were great. Back then we didn't have Malays, Chinese or Indians here. Only Malayan/sians. So everybody got fucked. In the speeches I mean. When it was deserved and relevant lah. Ahhh...the good old days...................................Patrick Teoh


I've always thought I'd live and die in Malaysia. Now, I'm not so sure any more. I live in North America at the moment and while I don't think I'll give up Malaysian nationality, that isn't a decision carved in stone...................................Anonymous


I think u can still buy Popinjoy soap in TESCO. Anyway,I remember some of these old stuff:

the pre-printed song requests dedication cards that we sent to get our dedications and
messages on the radio and the times when it was cool to have weird names like James Collin Wong,Ronny Atkinson Khoo, Robert Vincent Lim, Sally Serina Tan etc. etc...

Rough Rider's cigarettes that my grandma used to smoke.

The Straits Echo newspapers

40 sen third class cinema tickets...............................................JasonL


(Oh yes, those names....William Elvis Honda Tan (anyone remember him? His other claim to fame apart from his name was that he got married on a Honda motorcycle. Made the pages of The Malay Mail.), Rocky Alison Teoh, Rickson Lim, Theresa Elvise Liew (who went on to become a psychologist). Anyone remember any more of those names from that period?

Popular cigarettes during a time when smoking was the coolest thing...

Rothmans King Size; Benson & Hedges King Size; Player's Gold Leaf; Consulate Menthol (Cool as a mountain stream); Matterhorn Menthol...........................................................Patrick Teoh


my late grandma use to have a kind of soap what we called sabun cap kapak. u can purchase it at any kedai runcit and u can decide how much do u want to buy. 30 cent means slighly small, 60 cent a bit bigger. it has strong smell too.... some call it sabun potong............................Sherinna


Does anybody remember drinking NAAFI beer at 80 sen for a large bottle of Anchor?
When you could buy a brand new Mercedes Benz 190D for RM18,000?
When you could safely drink water from the tap?...........................................Patrick Teoh


What about the "pak yow" man who came to the house and my Mum would get me to go out with empty bottles to buy kicap which he pumped from this metal container................Anonymous



bringing eggs from home to the char loay teow man to fry with the koay teow. In my days, char koay teow with egg cost 50 sen but if your brought your own you pay only 30 sen......................Patrick Teoh


....the little girls and boys peeing in the cinema aisles - I've seen it many times, even my mum asked me to do it cos' she's doesn't want to miss any part of the movie by taking me to the restroom.........................................JasonL


.....does anyone remember Arthur's Cave in the Merlin Hotel? Jackie's Bowl which was the first ever disco in the country? Time Tunnel?....................................Patrick Teoh


.....Tikam-tikam; a game of chance where for 5 sen, you choose a piece of folded square stuck on a board. Prizes range from a stamp to RM10 cash.
Cut-off paper dolls which comes with two sets of clothes. For variety, we design our own cut-out clothes complete with hats, shoes and handbags. And house then between the pages of the school books............................................kathrina


My favourite childhood games were playing "bak gu li"(marbles), seven stones, "Pepsi-Cola one two three", Police & Thief, "Kali-toi", "One Leg", "high jump" over a long rope strung together with rubber bands........................................arkane


Those Were The Days was one of the most requested songs but at the top of the request list was Patches by Dickie Lee......................................Patrick Teoh


One was a man with his bike and cart who sold "tok tok mee". He hit two sticks to make the "tok tok tok tok" sound, to announce he was in the vicinity. An elderly lady used to carry two baskets on a yoke to sell a local kuih called "faan shue taan" made with sweet potato; .....and stood by the roadside to eat "lok lok". Fishball, seafood, quail eggs on skewers dipped into boiling soup to cook, then dipped into chili or sweet sauce.................................................Min


Grab a picture card each (usually Ultraman) and slam it against one another's palm. High Five style. Then the winner is decided the 'closed' or 'open' card on the floor...........The other craze was to stack up those cards and knock them down from a distance, bowling style. Using a Japanese slipper, of course. Each fella would hone his skill to perfection yet with his own terrror stance and special method of holding the slipper before it was thrown. Much like a Samurai........... Are those metal box Oxford Instrument set still being used in schools these days?...................Then there was also this bizarre 'watch fight' where we will lock the crown of our spring winding watches against one another, and see which one dies (stop ticking) first.................TV Smith


........yeah, i also remembered the kites flown on glass coated strings. Used to cook the glass shards in "kongkong" tins at the back lane......we used to play a game where we stab the thing (compasses) between our fingers (while the palm is flat on the table) at fast speeds to prove that you are not chicken....................................................Arkane


....reminds me of the Central Market where every stall owner knew what the man of the house would buy daily on his way back home and then on Sunday buy for the weekend lunch and dinner. Those guys, the stall owners knew each of us like we were all from the same kampung. They knew what each of us wanted in what combination from the type of fish to the spices which would be mixed for you on the spot.....AnakKL


These memory lane tidbits are priceless! Should be a blog by itself :) .............................TV Smith



So now they are. Thank you for visiting.