The origin of species Shanon
I am so excited! Karaoke opens in less than a week! Chris and I will be attending opening night together, and my album producer and good buddy Ariff Akhir will be coming, too. The Karaoke promo blitz (well, for an indie film with zilch advertising budget, it is a blitz) is now out on YouTube! Check out the cuties Zahiril Adzim and Nadiyatul Nisaa talking about their first karaoke experiences. There will be more luminaries talking about their karaoke experiences in the days to come, kah kah kah.

Fact: I have not seen this movie yet. Yes, I co-wrote the screenplay, wrote the songs, and have even completed 99% of the recording for my upcoming album, but I have no clue what the movie is like. Chris has forbidden me to watch it anywhere except the big screen. I was supposed to accompany him to Toronto in September and see it there. Unfortunately I ended up being unable to go, and Chris was like, "Tough - the next time you get to see it will be in KL." Despite how that reads here, Chris is still BFF material to me, and vice versa I hope.

The album was supposed to be launched simultaneously with the film. Tapi biasalah - I am juggling journalism, music and theater, plus there are post-production issues now, so the album release will be slightly delayed. But the momentum is building steadily, so I am happy. Watch this space soon! I will be releasing online pre-listens :-)

I had such a wonderful time with my parents a couple of nights ago. Now I have finally found out the story behind my name, and the names of my siblings. I made the mistake before this of asking my mother this story. She is cute and intelligent, but sadly she is not one to recall stories and anecdotes on demand. (She can talk your ear off when the occasion does not call for it, though.) So, two nights ago, it was a good thing that my father was in the room, and could fill in some very crucial and gaping blanks for me. I don't know why I did not bother asking them both together earlier. I suppose now they are more relaxed and happy to chill out with their kids and their granddaughter.

The story is this: My name, Shanon Shah, is derived from two different sources. One, it is inspired by an initially dignified leader who later turned into a dictator of a Muslim country. There is no shortage of those in the world, I believe. But I am strangely not perturbed by this. In fact, it explains my subliminal attraction to the country in question ever since I was in primary school. I am just happy my parents did not name me Saddam Hussein or Muammar Ghadafi or worse, Idi Amin. (No offence to those who actually have these names - but I remain grateful I don't nonetheless.)

Two, my name is also derived from the Punjabi word meaning "light". This delights me in so many ways. Finally, I have a response to those friends of mine who wax lyrical about how their names are either derived from some Quranic verse talking about guidance in a dessert or from some legendary general / saint / mystic / scholar, etc.

Oops - do I sound too defensive? I suppose I am, a bit. The standard response I used to get when introducing myself when I was younger was, "Oh, isn't that a girl's name?" Not that I mind that. Lots of Sikh names are unisex, for example, and I think that is a great thing. But the response I used to get was usually meant in a not-so-flattering way. Well, now I have a reply: "Maybe in your limited worldview it is." Ha.

I am deliberately not mentioning the name of the leader / country in question, nor am I going to spell out the Punjabi word. It's not like they're impossible to guess. Some things are more beautiful unsaid, that's all, and left to the imagination.