3 June 2007 Ochre as the Earth Make it a point this coming Sunday to check our Sharanya Manivannan's first solo performance titled Ochre as the Earth -- http://ochreastheearth.blogspot .com . More on the writer: http://sharanyamanivannan .blogspot.com 6 June 2007 Doppelganger @ NBT Doppelganger Open Mic . Open Stage presents a midweek acoustic affair featuring eight talented Malaysian singer songwriters on Wednesday, 6 June 2007 at one of the more acoustically sound venues - No Black Tie in Kuala Lumpur . Come meet their Doppelgangers. By day, he is the sound engineer, production assistant, the lecturer, the graphic designer while she is the magazine editor, the event organiser, the marketing consultant. By night, they are all united in sound. Since 2003, Doppelganger Open Mic.Open Stage events have showcased an eclectic range of performers from poets, dancers, stand-up comedians, singer songwriters to musicians. It’s an avenue for everyday people to perform, to lead a life dif...

Zalila Lee & Jerral Khor Han Rahmat Haron & Melissa with Abroko in the background Piko & the Arowanas I'm such a non-blogger. Perhaps one day that will change. Haha! Anyway, here are some pictures from the No Black Tie evening which turned out a little long - guess there's not enough open mics around lah. My apologies to Nazri and to Yuri for not being able to have your slot to perform. Until next time. Btw, Fete de la Musique is ON again - mid June. Thanks to all those who performed! Piko & the Arowanas (didgeridoo & guitarist), Wei Yin who improves each time she reads - i just want to hear more!, Saradha who's penning a novel as we speak, Rahmat Haron, Melisa and Abroko for sharing thoughts from a journalist on tattoos and underground artistes, Han for reading a piece of Sharanya's - 'Even NBT Could Have Made Love to Han that night', Zalila Lee & Jerral Khor, Roy with his amazingly cool tuhantuhan twists, Khailee and in my opinion a poi...

Poets and Musicians come together on this day - themed RED:UNITY. Open mic throughout the night. RM15 per entry. Further info: Jasmine Low, 017 623 0288 or email openmickl@gmail.com Book Your Table @ NBT: Call (603) 2142 3737 The organisers regret that Sharanya Manivannan, Jac and Mekarnya Satu Kematian won't be able to attend as advertised due to personal commitments.

How bizarre right? From open mics to space races. The Malaysian International Aerospace Adventure 2007 Tourist Attraction Preview Date: 21 & 22 April, 2007 (Sat & Sun) Venue: Boulevard Driveway, Berjaya Times Square Time: 10am-8pm Cost: FOC! Saturday, 21 April 10.30am: Flag Off - The Space Race 11.30pm & 2.00pm: Meet the semi-finalists of the Final 8 Ambassadors! 5.00pm: Official Opening Sunday, 22 April 2.00pm : The Space Race - Aptitude Challenge 4.45pm: Sharanya Manivannan and Fahmi Fadzil will be conducting a children's story telling workshop. Bring your kids! See you all there!

Heya peeps! It's a week away. Do help us blog this if you can. Be sure to come by the THE ENCOUNTER. The first encounter with the public where you can purchase Malaysia International Aerospace Adventure 2007 tickets to the main show which begins on 5 June 2007. What's the deal? It's an absolutely real shuttle that's comin over! So at our first Encounter , Doppelganger has invited 12 singer songwriters; Frequency Cannon, Shanon Shah, Azmyl Yunor, Soft Touch, Yuri & The Bodhi Tree, Ariff Akhir, Estrella, Ida Liza, PLUSH, Izzy & The Rojaks, GREENPAVER and Austin on the drums, flanking performances by Anuar Zain, Ching (one in a million), Ame & Gerard Singh. Open mic on Sunday evening. COSPLAY. Meet Darth Vader, Darth Maul and many more in a light-sabre twist. Lots more happening! Buy your early bird MIA2007 tickets (RM40 adults / RM25 children & students). With your ticket, you can enter the SMS Bidding Contest & play Wheel of Fortune! Meet the GEMP...

Excerpt from British Council Malaysia website: This March we’re welcoming not one but two (!) poets to KL. First up, we have Jacob Sam-La Rose - poet, writer, playwright, performer and educator. Described as “the backbone of the London poetry scene", Jacob worked alongside Roger Robinson (here just last month and read at Night of the Living Text ) and Malika Booker (who was in Malaysia last November and performed at Wayang Kata II ), to help establish Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, an adult writing workshop and community. To find out more about Jacob, click here or visit www.jsamlarose.com . Don’t miss this opportunity to see Jacob while he’s in town from 7 to 11 March! WAYANG KATA III: AN EVENING OF SPOKEN WORD Wayang Kata returns with a fresh line up to include Jacob Sam-La Rose alongside several Malaysian writers and poets. Jointly presented with the Troubagangers (the joint collaboration of Tan Sei Hon, Azmyl Yunor and Jerome Kugan's Troubadours and Jasmine Low's Doppe...

Heya! Yes it's been a little quiet lately. Well, the great news is, the next gig is a super duper one at Midvalley Hall 1, MVEC. The Buran Space Odyssey Road Show is made possible by the organisers of Malaysia International Aerospace Exhibition ( www.MIA2007.com ) - one of the top 5 events slated for Visit Malaysia Year. And guess what?! Since Go International Group is putting the show together, we've requested for an 'indie' stage. Here are the list of performers confirmed for the two day space-adventure-packed weekend! BURAN SPACE ODYSSEY THE ENCOUNTER 24 & 25 March 2007 Midvalley Hall 1, MVEC Free entry From 10am-9pm From 3-6pm Celebrity Guest Stars: Anuar Zain Ching (One-in-a-Million) , Ame (Bonfire) & Gerard Singh Exact time to be confirmed Indie Stars: *Azmyl Yunor & Shanon Shah *Frequency Cannon *Plush *Yuri & the Bodhi Tree *Soft Touch *Greenpaver *Izzy & the Rojaks *Estrella *Liza Zahran *Liza Zahran and more!

If thought is not linked to purpose, there is no accomplishment. Indie Scene Cafe is now CLOSED. Thank you for supporting the cafe. We'll miss you all! The camaderie from Security Guards to Jewellery Shop Attendants, Singing Waiters to the L'Opera Restaurant Maitre 'D called COWBOY, the singer songwriter who stumbled upon us on our first nite (Welcome to KL, Richie!). It was purely the vibe of the Indie Scene Cafe which we'll all miss most. Joe Kidd, can't wait to check out your store! ;) So that's how I'll start my new year. In fact, a couple of hundred of us started off our new year on the second floor of Piccolo Galleria, pearched above the sea of revellers - most of whom were hanging around bukit bintang to 'lepak' and 'feel' the vibrations. The indieGO gig started off later than expected - after most of us got fed by the lovely people at L'Opera with some yummo pasta. The bands then trudged upstairs and got ready to gig. Wow! Thanks ...

TWO EVENTS IN A DAY! COCO LOCO! Location: Level 2, Piccolo Galleria (the old Hair Connections, just above BE elementz & the Indie Scene Cafe) indieGO gig (5pm-9am) Meet our intern, Amanda Cheong who's been given the task to organise a gig featuring over 10 acts (bands, soloists, comedians, dancers). What a task and boy has she been busy! Ok, Amanda, over to you! Giggers and bandies, come show your round of support! It's also the end of this first installation of our impromptu Indie Scene Cafe - it's been nice knowing you all! Send us your email and keep in touch. We'll let you know where we'll be next! mondo carnaval countdown party (10pm-3am) come countdown with us at the MONDO CARNAVAL NYE COUNTDOWN PARTY! Chill and bring in 2007 with Jaz and her friends - ex-Boom Boom Room Penang's stunning diva - Freda, Syarmila and the Sexy Divas with latin house and some spunk by DJ Fresh & B'side. That's what you can expect from our NYE party! Right in th...

8.30pm Friday 29 Dec 07 Filmmakers Anonymous (FA) Step. 1 / 12 FA is an array of new and emerging films, compiled, not curated, from among like-minded people who are just addicted to making films - for whatever noble or twisted reasons. All films have English subtitles. The screening is free. Indiescene Cafe is located at Piccolo Galeria, beside Starhill, KL. for more info please contact Effa Desa 016-6531167. ps. if you are an addict yourself, please feel free to bring dvd copy of your film to the screening and pass to Effa. FEATURED FILMS: (total running time: 86 mins followed by discussions with filmmakers.) 1. Fairuz Sulaiman: WHERE IS MY INDIE ROCK DARLING (3mins/color/music/2006) A film about the ever continuing search for reason and purpose in life. Fairuz Sulaiman is a videographer involved in experimental video performances, theatre productions, video installations and productions. He lectures part time in video making in a local art college. Director's statement T...

Blog it. Don't miss it! Countdown begins to the closing of Indie Scene Cafe.... tick tock. Come by if you haven't yet. Come lar... POETRY WORKSHOP for 7 to 12 year olds conducted by Sharanya Manivannan APPRECIATION WRITING PERFORMANCE When? DECEMBER 27th-28th 2006 (Wednesday, Thursday) 2.00 pm - 6.00 pm with a small presentation on DECEMBER 28th 2006 at 7.00 pm Where? Indie Scene Café,Piccolo Galleria, Bukit Bintang(between Lot 10 and KL Plaza) Deadline for application: December 25th 2006. Places are limited so don’t disappoint your child, apply early! SLOTS ARE FULLY BOOKED. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

7pm 23 Dec, 2006 Clayexpression 's Cindy Koh and two students dragged their potting wheel and high spirits over to Indie Scene Cafe tonight to demo to a small group of people the intricate art of potting. Most would blatantly murmur 'Ghost' and hum the song from that hit movie. I did. Then there was Frank the t-shirt designer who so kindly offered to come demo to us how silk screen is done. We'll post the pictures soon. Meanwhile, thanks to all who attended! With the carollers singing outside, it was quite surreal watching Cindy carve out large bosomed ladies in yoga positions while Frank stamped butterflies on his tees.

Launch of IYARI 7.30pm Friday, 22 December Sharanya Manivannan's Launch of IYARI. Followed by open mic for singer songwriters & poets. Free entrance. Purchase of drink appreciated. View reviews on the launch: A room full of poets, parents and pumpkins who quickly scurried away soon after the evening ended. It was lovely. Pizzas from Piccolo's L'Opera were lovely. The salmon on a bed of crusty flour. Some readings were 'soft' some were 'loud'. But I'd bet most of us returned home that night with Sharanya's 'You bring out the Sri Lankan in me...' reverberating at the bottom of our guts. How amazing this world is when a group of people simply get together to talk. Tonight, give thanks to the efforts of one lady of 21 years, in her black sari with gold trimmings (quite like her chapbook design). Thanks to all who attended. We must meet more! Regards, Jaz Bibliobibuli , Faridah Manaf

7pm, Friday 15 December Doppelganger Open Mic Friday Just the nite before Rock the World 7.... come jam right here! we've only a basic setup dudes... but the space is nice and friendly. Free entry. 4pm, It's on Sunday! 17 December SHARON BAKAR presents MONG LAN Vietnamese poet and visual artist, also winner of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Grand Poetry Slam, Bali, Indonesia, 2006 at the Indie Scene Cafe! You'll be sure to catch a few local poets who'll be joining Mong Lan in the readings. Join us for tea and an afternoon of SLAM! (RM10 includes coffee/tea and snacks)

4pm, 10 December 2006 Yeah... today's the Hitzfm MET 10 awards*. Come by and just chill with Pete Teo at the Indie Scene Cafe. Grab a CD if you haven't yet. I'll even wrap it for you. Have it signed. We'll be there today til 4pm. * Clinchin' the Best Pop/Dance award was penangite, hannah t !

Hello there! It's nearing the end of the year and it's time to look into that little book of 'to-dos' and do some spring cleaning! Well, in case you haven't heard, we've opened up an 'impromtu' cafe at Piccolo Galleria in Bukit Bintang just behind L'Opera restaurant and beside Planet Hollywood. As this cafe will only have a very short shelf life, there will be a flurry of events from now until the end of the year. We only have the space courtesy of Piccolo Galleria Sdn Bhd until 2 Jan 07. Afterwhich the entire block will be re-gutted and converted into The Piccolo Hotel. 7pm, Friday 8 December Open Mic with Ariff Akhir and The SOFA SESSIONS. We've had our air-con technician pop by to play a coupla songs, Fikri the famed Bodega singing waiter, a boy named Ninja who plays the harmonica and even Ritchie Castro - a very talented performer who basically 'stumbled' upon the cafe upon his arrival. Since then, Ritchie has been busy on the circui...

Indies rockin' bukit bintang 7pm onwards, every single Friday in December 2006. Come on by to our humble abode in the not so humble hustle of town. We're located in Picolo Galleria, that building beside Planet Hollywood where L'Opera is. A simple setup for acoustic gigs, come join us for an evening of readings, music and coffee or beer. Get your X'MAS presents now at the Indie Scene Cafe! CDS: Pete Teo, Voices from Next Door, Broken Scar, Soft Touch, The Sofa Sessions, Chris Mooney-Singh Documentaries: Komas variety, Alice lives here. ChapBooks etc: Iyari - Sharanya Manivannan's Chapbook, Jerome Kugan's 'The Wickedness I'm capable of' and Jac sm kee's 'Collection of Poems'. Others: Karnal Leather Bonds Tees from Oztralia, X'mas cards by Julya's sister, pewter pendants, bling-bling party cuffs, paintings by Zulkefli Talha, travel postcards by EZ.

Malika Booker in action Photo courtesy kakiseni.com Review Wayang Kata II Wed 22, Nov 2006 “While performing her duties as queen,” Jerome Kugan read with a grin, “Cleopatra sometimes wore a fake beard.” This was Odd Spot #155, printed on a strip of waxed paper stuck to a Libra brand pantyliner, which Jasmine Low -- one half of Troubagangers; Jerome’s the other -- had acquired in Sydney. Jasmine suggested the moral of the story: “If you’re working for Kotex, or a similar company -- maybe this is where local poets could start to get published!” Why not? As I learned from the night’s performers, poetry is about exploring different ways of using words to get very, very personal. This round of Wayang Kata featured poet and playwright Malika Booker, down under the auspices of the British Council -- she stepped onstage and invited us in as guests: “So to be frank in this living room of mine, I have to go into my love life - It's pathetic. If my mom prays hard for my career choice, oh my g...

All welcome to our opening bash this Friday, 17 November 2006 from 7pm. Performances start at 8pm by Reza Salleh, Jasemaine Gan, Azmyl Yunor with readings by Sharanya, Jac Kee and many more. Items on sale include ** The Troubadours' 'Voices from Next Door' CD compilation ** Pete Teo's 'Television' album which includes the track 'Who for you' - the Gubra soundtrack. ** Jac sm Kee's newly published collection of Poetry ** Reel Power production's award-winning 'Alice lives here' VCD ** Bonds from Oz underwear & tees ** Paintings by local artists ** And other paraphernalia from Jaz's wardrobe See ya there!

Hi everyone, It's almost Christmas 2007 would u believe? I'd like to invite u and your buds over to our INDIE SCENE Cafe/Store at Picolo Galleria (sandwiched between KL Plaza and Lot 10) this Saturday. It's not yet our opening. It's a call for 'barang'. Pls bring anything home made which you'd like to flog. We've only got the shop until 31 December so it's a good op for peeps who make their own stuff and want to try find a market without paying for rent. You'll just need to let us know wat your nett price is and we'll markup from there. So pls help us pass de word around to anyone who has t-shirts, home-made music albums, paintings, drawings, CDs, books, photocopied zines, films, anything local artistes would like to showcase. All they'll have to do is to present themselves and the stuff to the store from Saturday onwards. Flyers of upcoming gigs/showings etc welcome too! NGOs also welcome to come display flyers etc. We'll als...