If you are an insomniac, do not listen to The Knife’s “Heartbeats” right before bed. This goes double if you happen to be sleeping alone.

I first heard this guy on an Anoraak EP where he remixed “Nightdrive with You” and he just blew me away. I haven’t been able to track down any of his stuff  until now. Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait. Get all 3 singles after the jump. Enjoy.

Rating: 5/5 – Club Anthems.

ym.

• Download
• http://www.myspace.com/grummmusic

GOTTA NEED GET IT! it’s hawt!

MONSTER BEATS PRESS CONFERENCE WITH DR. DRE IN BERLIN!

more pictures of the earphones after the jump!

& also in black

- designed by Lady Gaga
- made for no tangles (which is awesome because i always have to deal with apple’s soft wires that gets knotted every single time i pull out my earphones.)
- 3 year warranty
- perfect fit
- plush travel kit

& they retail for $119.95 on Beats by Dr. Dre Official website

but ——-

you can purchase them $20 cheaper on Lady Gaga’s official website and ONLY THE BLACK MONOCHROME EARPHONES

i personally like the red and silver ones rather than the black. which earphones do you like?

PHOTOCOURTESY 2

Heartbeat

Nneka (Chase & Status)

You said you’d be there for me
In times of trouble when I need you and I’m down
And likewise you need friendship
It’s from my side pure love but I see lately things have been changing
You have goals to achieve
But the roads you take abroad are heartless
That wants you make another way
You throw stones
Can you see that I am human I am breathing
But you don’t give a damn

Chorus:
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you’re causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you’re causing

Blood blood blood…. blood is rushing

And now the world is asleep
How will you ever wake her up when she is deep in her dreams, wishing
And yet so many die
And still we think that it is all about us
It’s all about you
You sold your soul to the evil and the lust
and the passion and the money and you
See innocent ones die, people hunger for decades
suffer under civilized armedrobbers, modern slaveholders

Chorus
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you’re causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you see the pain you’re causing

Blood blood blood…. keeps rushing

Evaded, eliminated, erased, interrogated
Our tradition, our love for our fellow countrymen,
our property, our resources – our pride

Can you feel my heart beating
no no no….you don’t

Chorus:
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you feel the pain you’re causing
Can you feel my heart is beating
Can you feel the pain you’re causing

At 00:36am this morning, I received a phone call. I looked at my phone screen and the word Dedek was displayed across it. Hmmph. It was from my annoying sister.

I picked up the phone

Me: Yes? Why are you calling in the middle of the night? And why did you get up so early?

My Sister: Can you call me back? Please!!

Me: Why? Can’t you tell me now? Or send me a message or something? I want to sleep.

My Sister: No2! Call me back please! It’s urgent!

And then she hung up. Oh my. Only God knows how high my temperature had gone up. But then, I still called back since I was afraid that her so-called urgency was regarding my family.

Nauzubillah!

So, I dialled her number.

Me: Hello?

She cut me off as soon as I said Hello.

My Sister: Kakak! You know, I got that job at Kumon! I’m soooooooo happy! Miss Yip sent me a message and she asked me to be there this morning. I got that job kakak~ WEEE~

Ok. The “WEE” part did not happen.

Me: What?? Is that all?

Instead of congratulate her; I started to give my sister an early morning “motivational talk“. And since I was just got up from my sleep, I was so damn grumpy.

Me: Can’t you tell this later? Pot Pet…Pot Pet…Do you know that I have class at 8am this morning? Pot Pet…Pot Pet… And you said it was urgent! Pot Pet…Pot Pet…

My Sister: Hehe I’m sorry kakak. But I’m so happy. Hehe. Ok Kak. You can go to sleep now. Bye! Love you!

And she hung up. Again. When I was still pot pet pot pet.

Geez. My annoying sister. Never cease to annoy me even when I am thousand miles AWAY from her.

But then I called her this afternoon as I felt guilty about the early morning “motivational talk” that i gave her.

I am no evil sister!Tee-hee

So, we talked about her first day as a Kumon teacher. (Is that it Dzim? Are we considered as teachers? LOL)

I congratulated her, of course.

And she told me how her back was so painful because she sat all day and she felt like she wanted to puke when she marked the kid’s home works and their handwritings; some were big, some were small and she had headache at the end of the day because she had been doing and saw the same thing all day. Hah. Speaking of déjà vu.

I told her that is the price to pay if you want an easy job. (And boring too, as “quoted” by Dzim which I profoundly agree). Besides, the amount that she got paid is okay for an easy job. WAY too easy.

And I told her too that Beggars can’t be choosers.

Anyhow. Dear Sister. Since you are so perked up of becoming one of Kumon staffs, this entry is dedicated to you.

Congratulations.

You are continuing our family’s legacy at Kumon, which the founder of the legacy was, non-other than our beloved cousin Dzim

I know! Two entries in a day. That’s so not me kan? Hmmph. Maybe tensi study Thermo kot

and ohh! I worked at Kumon too last semester break.

First of all, I know you are thinking “FINALLY” if you haven’t already given up on this ever being written.  I am really sorry for the delay…I think this might be the last one I write for a while-I want to pass the torch around-let everyone try to read, research, and write their own heartbeats. (I will help you of course with helping you decide how many ayahs to do at a time, help you out with tafseer, editing, etc. and post it up for you here)  So you can volunteer to do one of the heartbeats if you’d like…if nobody replies…bintAbi get ready to do ALOT inshAllah although I highly recommend everyone tries to do at least one-wallah you will benefit greatly….

If you need to get a Quran, open a translation, read some of the previous Heartbeats, go ahead and do that first…..check out previous Hearbeats Posts for online Qurans/Translations…

So.. we left off in Heartbeats(3) if you remember with Our Volunteer giving these people logical and reasonable reasons to believe in Allah and follow the messengers….We were only left wondering what his conclusion to them will be….

Ayah 25…

Verily! I have believed in your Lord……

His conclusion: I have believed in your Lord.  He declares his own Iman, and says ‘your’ Lord reminding them that he is theirs as well, even if they decide not to believe.

Daw’ah Tip: Don’t be afraid to say “Your Lord” or “Your Creator” and so on… We tend to say ‘in OUR religion’ or ‘OUR belief’ and subhanAllah almost “OUR Allah’.. Not only is that not true, he is everyones’ Lord, but it also doesn’t make people feel like they are responsible or part of the picture.  SubhanAllah, maybe the word ‘YOUR’ alone is considered Daw’ah because you remind them that it is Allah.

so listen to me!”

He just gave his last reason to the people on why they should listen to him: because he believed in THEIR Lord.  It’s like: Hey, I’m not sitting here telling you theoretically what to do, I have believed myself!!!

So listen to me=fasmaa’oon in Arabic (one word)… in the context of Tafsir it is actually really, really sad…Imagine…

The people of this town threatening (seriously) to torture and kill him, this Volunteer still trying his absolute best for them to believe, finally telling them that he believes in their Lord, and his last word “Fasmaa’oon” (So listen)…Don’t read it monotone.. Imagine him in the midst of torture, his last cry: ’so listen!!’ Kind of like a movie (but real) when the hero comes to warn the people and they all think he’s crazy and the evil guards drag him away but the whole time he is screaming something like “Listen to me!’ or “Be careful!’ or “You have to believe me!!”…

Imagine it like that.

Not just as an excercise for your imagination, but because that is truly how it was, wallahu aalam. What’s the next thing we hear from (or about) him???

Ayah 26…

It was said to him enter Jannah…

Jannah?? What????? One second we are in Dunya, him still alive and warning, and all of a sudden in the next ayah, we are fast-forwarded to way after death, life in the grave, the day of judgement, everything is fast-forwarded to Our Volunteer standing before the huge, magnificent gates of Jannah, being told “Enter Jannah…”

Allahu Akbar!! There is not even a link between the two Ayahs of a time span…No ‘faa’, No ‘thumma’ , No then, No after that… Immediately we are told about this honorable moment.  This volunteer was truly honored, if the people tried to humiliate him during torture, we know nothing about it.  If they argued, we hear nothing of it.  We are just swirled around in the Quran like a time-machine and brought to the moment of his entrance to Jannah.

It could be that he was a martyr and  his soul was immediately raised to Jannah, or that this is what will be told to him when that time comes. Allahu Aalam…

Ok, so he is told to enter Jannah…What is his wish??

He said: “I wish that my people knew!..

Allahu Akbar once again!

It is said in a Tafsirs that THIS PARTICULAR STORY of the Volunteer is what makes this Surah the heart of the Quran, because the Volunteer was the heart of this town: he was the heartbeat of truth and sincerity.  He kept reminding, like a beating heart, his reminder the vitality of the town…

This is the Mark of Devotion.

He’s in Jannah, eternal bliss, and yet he remembers his people (who murdered him) and fondly wishes, “if only my people knew…”.. It’s always the people remember AFTERWARDS that are the loyal and sincere.

I have a personal example to share..When I finished 12th grade a couple years ago I decided to skip High School Graduation (ya, I’m that sentimental).  It just didn’t seem worth going or whatever and I actually was on another continent the day of the ceremony.  A couple days later, I got an email from my English teacher, congratulating me on graduating, wishing me luck for the future in college, and congratulating me for a couple of awards I had actually received from him.  I remember thinking “wow, school is over yet here he is remembering one of his students.”  He’s not my teacher in the summer-nor will he ever be my teacher again-so you really feel it’s just for the sake of caring.  That is a tiny scale example of how it shows that you are devoted-when you are but don’t have to be.

The other thing to notice is that it is immediate.  ”He was told to enter Jannah.  He said if only my people knew.”  I would imagine that he would have at least enjoyed Jannah for a couple years THEN remembered his people, but that is not the case.

I wish they knew.  Knew what?  Well, if we stop at this Ayah, the general meaning evokes a specific, familiar feeling- I wish the people around me just KNEW.  Just knew about how short life is, how serious, the consequences, the reality of it.  I wish they KNEW the magnificence of the Lord they neglect and disobey.  I wish they KNEW that un-sacrificable feeling of the noor of Islam, the noor of KNOWING.

He has so much hope in them, that he still believes that if people KNEW, despite him being the one who warned them repeatedly, things would have been different.

But what does he say he wishes they knew?

Ayah 27…  

“That my Lord (Allah) has forgiven me, and made me of the honored ones!”

So if only the knew that Allah has forgiven me- if only they knew of his mercy..

and made me of the honored ones- if only they knew of his reward…

Daw’ah Tip: Never hide details about the punishment that follows not following the straight path.  But subhanAllah, reminding people of Allah’s mercy and reward tends to win and capture the hearts of many.  And remember, Daw’ah can be to Muslims as well.

Notice another thing here.  He says that Allah has forgiven him, THEN that he has made him of the honored ones.

CHALLENGE: One of the posts (on this blog) about Ramadan held a concept similar to this… Which one?

hint: something happened then something happens after…

Alhamduillah.  Our volunteer endured a lot of hardship.  His end was harsh-his own people whom he was so devoted to killed him.  But Allah shows us that no work goes to waste.  We see his wonderful ending in Jannah.  We see that Allah has forgiven him and honored him.  You may be doing Daw’ah all day-with no response and no change.  You may be doing Daw’ah all day and receive nothing in return but harshness.  But don’t forget the reward of Jannah.  Do your best, but at the end of the day, the hearts of people are in the hands of the Creator of their Hearts…

Let’s-Apply-Together:

• Remind people, even if it is a brief conversation, of Allah’s mercy and reward.  Remind them to hope for it dearly!
• Remember Jannah.  Imagine it.  Imagine your castles, your scenery, your bliss.  Make Du’aa to enter Jannat-Al-Firdous, with your loved ones.  We would all love to go home….
• Don’t give up on Daw’ah-even when results seem intangible…

And Allah Knows Best