Berkunjung Kembali

Tak terasa sudah 13 tahun blog ini ditinggalkan. Ketika hari ini mengunjungi kembali dan membaca cerita-cerita lamanya, saya mulai merasa tidak mengenal penulis blog ini. Ingin rasanya berkenalan lagi dengan dirinya.

Photographer

A photographer should show pictures of his work, not pictures of himself.

The Crowd Behavior

No one denies that human being, personally, is a unique entity, unexpected, unpredictable, and sometimes irrational. And women are the most complicated part of this entity. :)

But once these entities group together in a mass, their behavior becomes readable, predictable, and can even be arranged. They move in a pattern that sometimes is repetitive, and they're highly sensitive to stimuli. It's very easy to manage and direct their inclinations to the direction we want.

That's at least what I've experienced in the years of my work. I studied the crowd. The crowd is very sensitive to promotion and marketing programs. This crowd tends to be noisy in the weekend. This crowd moves geographically with the same pattern every year. We can record how they spread when disaster struck. We can make them grow in one place, and die elsewhere.

In this case, sociology becomes easier and more enjoyable than the psychology. In a group or society, freedom and the uniqueness of each individual is reduced because of the interests of others around him. All have an interest, and all will be hit when trying to achieve. Humans tend to be wild when out of the group.

And the more pathetic, sometimes this group behavior is just like how low-level beings do. Leave a corner of the city uncontrolled, and a few weeks later it grew the fungi, mosses, insects, slums, street vendors, markets overflow. The longer this garbage is allowed, the harder to clean.

Beyond that, be careful with kids. They may be small, but very dangerous when in groups. :)

Pianist

If I become a pianist, then who will explore those darkest inter-galactic routes?

Too Much Time

Hah it's been a long long time. Even this is not the first time. And who may know that it will be repeated again and again..:)

So long delay, as if there were no progress in my life (hmm, it doesn't sound wrong actually).
I'm now in a big hurry. Something is never tired to chase me, and my neck is so stiff with unseen burden. Wow... seems so serious. But that's true, it's the fork in my street right now. Somebody lurks in the dark, watching my steps, and will give me some stabs when it's found that I have spare time long enough to write blog.

So sad and painful. But not that bad..:)

Ayat-Ayat Cinta (Verses of Love)

I think it has been already more than one month since the premiere of "Ayat-Ayat Cinta (Verses of Love)". But even until yesterday night, the mass enthusiasm only allowed us to get the first row --the most unwanted row on the theater--, unavoidably. Watching that two hours movie at such position could mean severe neck stiffness.

As I remember, the first Indonesian movie that was able to attract such great attention is "Ada Apa dengan Cinta (What's Up with Love)". This movie has become a milestone which opened a new potential genre in Indonesian movie, that is, romantic teen movie. It can be seen that a bunch of similar movies have been produced after that.

So, what kind of genre has the "Ayat-Ayat Cinta" offered? Religious-romantic movie? I'm not sure, but this kind of movie has very distinctive kind compared to another recent Indonesian movies (teen scary, teen romantic, or American Pie-like movies). I am personally appreciating the presence of "Ayat-Ayat Cinta" together with the messages it has brought.

Not to forget, converting a thick novel into a two hours movie still seems to be a hard homework for Indonesian movie writer and director. Even without reading the novel, I know that there were lot of leaps has occured on the movie.

Rasa Sayange

Whose song is "Rasa Sayange"? I don't think so that we have legal proof of ownership. Neither we nor Malaysian do. Since we were originated from the same cluster, same family language, that song may be found in each old literatures.

But I'm still not sure which part of Indonesian archipelago this song came from. If it was from western side, then it could be possible to be shared. But if it came from eastern side, then Malaysian cannot easily claim that since there was geographical distance.

Anyway, it is naive to recommend that such folksongs or any folk customs should be legally registered or patented. This is not a material stuff, and even more subtle than, let's say, contemporary song with obvious author.

The Earth's Biggest Secret is Now on Our Hand

I've never been a Harry Potter fanatic fan. Reading one of those 500 paged books hasn't been my wish so far. For me, it has been enough to just watch the movie if the reason is only to follow the story. My situation was not so tragic as the girl next to my wife while we were watching the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last week. She asked what Hogwarts is. Well, it has been already the fifth movie!

Finding that the curiosity seemed to be increased after watching that movie (especially for those millions people that had finished the sixth book), my wife was so sure that J.K. Rowling held the current world's biggest secret. At least for this century. And I couldn't find any reason to deny it.

Rowling's last Harry Potter book would be published at July 21th, 2007. I didn't know what time it would be in relation with the global world clock calculation, but I have already found the plot in Wikipedia. And when I told it to my wife, she was screaming and begging so much that I didn't say a word about the story. Actually, I haven't yet read anything except the first line of the summary.

So, here we are. Wanting to be one of the earlier people in the world that knowing more than others. We bought the book at its first published day here. I promised my wife that I will never read the Wikipedia's summary unless she has closed the last page of the book.

Again, reading that 500 paged book is never intended to do eagerly:)

Unnecessary Accident

Accidents, tragedies, badlucks, all of them were never wanted by anyone. Unfortunately, we can not always avoid or prepare some evasion. Some of them were meant to be a lesson, not only for the victims, but also for the people surrounding. Sometimes, it was so clear that some disasters had been so massive, unavoidable, and there is no other better reaction than accept it patiently.

This morning I was reading one of Medan local newspaper in my room. Two teenagers lost their hands and legs while they had been sleeping near the railway. The train had crushed them. At the night before the incident, they had been staying up and talking all night with their friends there. And somehow they got tired and eventually fell asleep on that railway.

I really pity them deeply. I am so sorry and give them my sympathy. But something has really made me down, dissapointed, angry. The cause of this accident is so.. ridiculous, unreasonable, and completely silly. Why can't they think for a few seconds, that the railway is obviously not a safe place to lay their bodies down? Why can't they? Oh God, I can't understand the way You adjust human thought algorithm.

Please protect us from being careless and negligent..

The Capture of Dujana

Despite the unproven status of Abu Dujana, it seemed that questions about his improper arrest are excessive. Some parties objected the way police did to avoid Dujana's escape, that is by shooting his thigh in close gap. There were also opinions that it could cause trauma to the kids that saw the event in surrounding area. One of Dujana's lawyers even argued that Densus 88 should be able to seize the suspect without violence, as they were well-trained elite team.

But this is a big catch, and any risks must be taken to make the mission accomplished. Yes, we will ignore a child's broken heart and a wife's protest to save other thousands children and wives outside. Yes, we will shoot that thigh to avoid many other thighs -and other body parts- explosions. We will kill one life to protect the remains.

People may forget that Azhari was still able to escape even he was in head to head chase with police. Police didn't underestimate Dujana, and that's how it should be.

Tokyo, Sayonara

It was my last night in Tokyo. And I was sure that I would miss this city so much.

Order, colorfulness, punctuality, kindness, safety, well maintained infrastructures, politeness, creativity, honesty, dynamism, custom.

And not to forget, the miniskirts..:)

Mini Card

At the first time, I was disappointed with my Citibank card. It was not the kind that I had wanted. Moreover, the credit limit was so small.

The only different thing was the size of the card. It is a mini card. The size is around a quarter smaller than the usual card. And now, I wonder that so lot of people have no idea about this kind of card.

Front officer of Hotel Angkasa Medan said,
"How funny, it can be issued at this size."

Front officer of Hotel Grand Majesty Batam checked,
"This is not a debit card, right?"

Front officer of Hotel Bristol Gurgaon (near New Delhi) doubted,
"Is this real credit card?"

Front officer of Hotel Miyako Tokyo asked,
"How to use this?"

Some times, this card makes me proud..

Porong Strikes Back

I was so happy knowing that Lapindo issue has been just exposed again. It was still clear in my mind, how it became so boring being trapped in Porong traffic jam last year end. At that time, it was the part of my job to travel Surabaya-Malang several times. Our schedule then was sometimes failed due to this uncertain travel time.

Day by day, Surabaya's daily newspapers always put Lapindo on their headlines. Then I hated so much this company, hoping that their mistakes would be greater as the time goes, collecting all the people's anger and waiting them to take revenge against this company. What an excessive dislike, and what an excessive ruthlessness:)

The issue seemed to be faded after Adam Air crash, followed by some mass transport accidents. Last thing I heard is that Lapindo agreed to pay, but the villagers should have the certificate of their land ownership. Something that Lapindo didn't even care when buying the exploration land before. And the latest news, that may be already late, is that Lapindo will buy the sunk houses in several phases.

Thanks God that some people there still have consciousness about their forgotten rights, and keep fighting for it.

Well, keep your land. It's yours.

Where's my account?

I've been surprised when I was unable to give comments, even on my own blog. Well, after there were no activities for so long time, I've just realized that Blogger.com has had somekind of affiliation with Google. Because of such merger (I've just remembered that even my company has just done merger this early month) I think when it will be that Yahoo join Google. And then I know that there is a site called GahooYoogle.com.

It reminds me about Kusmadiman Kadiyanto..:)

Farewell

Easy come, easy go. That's how life should be. If you were ready with encounter, then be prepared also for farewell. I'm here right now, looking to the empty room in front of me. It was occupied last night, for the last four months. The occupant has left the room at this early morning, when everybody was sleeping. Well, bye dude. Have a better life outside..

Parpol Sampah

Sewaktu hendak membuang bungkus gudeg di kantor, saya jadi ingat ketika Bandung tengah dibanjiri sampah. Waktu itu, di ruas jalan lingkar selatan sempat terdapat onggokan sampah raksasa dengan bau menusuk. Kebetulan, hampir seluruh permukaan tumpukan sampah itu dibungkus kain terpal biru superlebar bertuliskan 'PAN peduli sampah'.

Saya lalu berpikir usil:
Dasar partai politik emang ga peka sama penderitaan rakyat. Udah tau sampah menggunung, masih saja buang terpal sembarangan.

Conspiracy Theory

Bagi yang terbiasa dengan database dan MS Excel, mungkin Anda tahu bahwa terdapat jenis file 'TAB delimited'. Karena merupakan file .txt biasa, maka file ini bisa dibuka oleh berbagai aplikasi. Isi file ini tadinya berupa tabel dengan baris dan kolom. Karakter TAB dipakai untuk memisahkan kolom satu dengan yang lainnya. Ketika dibuka di Excel, otomatis karakter TAB tadi akan berubah menjadi batas pemisah antarkolom.

Ternyata, ada pula jenis file 'comma separated'. Sama dengan kasus di atas, namun pemisah kolomnya adalah koma.

Siang itu, seorang teman bertanya,
"Kenapa ya pemisahnya koma? Bukan plus, titik, atau tanda pentung..?"

Saya yang saat itu sedang mengetik, spontan menjawab,
"Kali ada agenda Zionis di dalamnya."

The Lake House: How do you hold on to someone you've never met?

Agaknya, bukan cuma saya yang setuju sekali kalau ending kiss dalam film ini memang harus full passionate.

Sepasang kekasih itu telah terlalu lama dilanda frustasi penantian, dalam alur yang lambat dan halus. Saya memahami kerinduan. Dan saya memahami kerinduan yang tersimpan selama 4 tahun. Dan sang aktor mengerti bagaimana mengekspresikan kerinduan itu tanpa kata-kata. Dalam hidup ini, ada sesuatu yang tak tertahankan.

Saya bukan kritikus film Hollywood. Saya adalah penikmat drama romantisnya. Dan film ini adalah satu dari beberapa drama yang saya sebut indah. Untuk beberapa genre film Hollywood, saya kadang bisa -dan sengaja- mencari kelemahannya. Namun untuk film-film romantisnya, terus terang, mereka dengan mudah membawa saya terharu dan terbawa dalam fantasi.

The Lake House berkisah tentang sepasang kekasih yang berkenalan dan menjalin hubungan dalam dimensi waktu yang berbeda, dengan penghubung sebuah kotak pos. Film ini konon merupakan remake dari film Korea 'Siworae'. Karena adanya unsur dimensi waktu, film ini menjadi agak-agak sci-fi, dan karenanya sangat membantu dalam membangun suspense.

Mungkin film ini akan mengingatkan Anda pada film thriller Frequency yang dibintangi oleh Dennis Quaid. Terdapat sebuah 'Revision Theory', di mana informasi dari masa depan yang bocor ke masa lalu akan mengubah kejadian di masa lalu dan masa depan itu sendiri. Perubahan itu bisa linier, namun bisa pula teramplifikasi dan tak terkendali.

Untuk sebuah kisah cinta, kombinasi semacam ini tentulah menggugah. Bagaimana Alex (Keanu Reeves) berjuang untuk bisa bertemu Kate (Sandra Bullock) sedang Alex hidup di tahun 2004 dan Kate di tahun 2006. Hal ini tak ubahnya semacam distant relationship. Kisah ini mengajarkan betapa pedih dan mulianya menunggu.

Nampaknya, pemeran drama romantis memang harus good-looking. Dengan demikian, emosi penonton akan terbangun untuk berusaha mempersatukan mereka. Ikut dalam harap-harap cemas. Saya sendiri males nonton film cinta kalu pemerannya jelek dan tua.

Is there such thing called Planning?

Bahkan uang yang sudah ditabung 15 tahun bisa hilang dalam 3 hari untuk berobat...

Buang Hajat

Malam itu saya agak kecewa. Hotel Ciputra yang saya pilih ternyata tidak menyediakan secuil pun free internet di kamar. Padahal hotel tetangganya, yang relatif lebih murah, memberikan paket gratis internet 24 jam. Namun yang lebih mengecewakan lagi, WC di kamar ternyata juga tidak dilengkapi pembilas air (baik shower maupun jet-washer).

Masalah buang hajat seharusnya tidak dianggap remeh oleh para pengelola fasilitas umum. Dari pemahaman saya sendiri, bangsa kita sudah terbiasa untuk menggunakan air sebagai pembilas setelah buang hajat (cebok). Bahkan, saya rasa ini memang kebiasaan bangsa Timur. Di bandara Changi Singapura pun, kebiasaan orang Melayu masih diakomodir dengan menyediakan squat WC (WC jongkok) berpembilas air, di samping WC kering. Bahkan saya pun heran ketika sedang berada di toilet di area Taj Mahal, Agra. Terdapat dua jenis toilet, Indian toilet dan non-Indian toilet. Ternyata Indian toilet itu sama seperti WC jongkok di Indonesia. Dengan pembilas air, tanpa tissue.

Nilai-nilai yang sudah hidup lama ini seharusnya dihargai. Bukan cuma karena mengikuti bangsa Barat saja (yang menurut saya jorok luar biasa), sehingga semua toilet diganti menjadi toilet duduk tanpa air. Walau mungkin kurang praktis, menurut saya berbilas dengan air jauh lebih bersih dan aman daripada hanya menggunakan tissue. Apalagi tissue kering.

Kalo cuma pake tissue kok kayaknya masih ada yang nempel ya…:p