exception

i do not normally like australians or australia. but, i can always make room for something i grew up with. phil collins' songs are among them.

gleetney

the whitney houston episode on glee is definitely my favorite gleepisode. i can even love the gayest gay it's not right but it's okay by blaine. and kurt response of i have nothing is just awwww. especially to see the green blaine all teary eyed. it is cheesy yes. but cheese is afterall my most favorite thing in this world. and of course, although i was kind of disappointed that they did not do my most favorite whitney song, where do broken hearts go, how will i know is like a wake up call for me. i absolutely love glee's version of it.

 

live to rise

an epic comeback after 15 years. pleased to see you again, soundgarden!

mr. fahrenheit

i got slightly cheerful everytime i hear freddie mercury chants don't stop me now.

happy xmas. war is over(?).

this song was originally sung by john lennon. a single he released with yoko ono in 1971. the same year the hit single ‘imagine’ was released. it was of course related to the vietnam war. many singers have done cover version of this song. u2, the fray, the used, robbie williams and a whole lot more. but as the years passed and the world changed. this song has become more relevant than ever.

 

since the original clip is not available everywhere online in indonesia, i decided to post this one. my most favorite cover version. the clip was from 2004. when adam has not practiced yoga or decided to tattoo his whole body. but maybe his acquaintance with lennon's music was the start of his whole new age crap. who am i to judge. but maroon5 released a christmas album with this song in 2007.

so. this is christmas. what have you done?

margaux lange: re-membering barbie fondly

maybe people would think me as morbidly weird (if not creepy) for liking these kind of art. at first i think it is weird either. creepy weird because the artist, margaux lange, uses body parts from mattel's overrated doll: BARBIE. but when i got to her page, i was really impressed. especially after reading her bio. now i think she is talented.

 

although, it is not wrong to somehow remember dexter's ice truck killer season. as a devoted fan of dexter the series, i think art could be weird, morbid, creepy and everything else in between.

 

again, if any of you are watching dexter, there is this episode (living the dream) in season four where he killed and cut the wrong person. that person was a photographer (benny gomez) who photographed his models with 'disturbing' poses. you know, blood, scar and such. and for me, lange's art portrays an even creepier sense. what could be more disturbing than mutilated dolls as an imagery of child innocence combined with violence.

 

well, for me it was disturbing at first. but then i think posting the pictures of the corpse your loved ones on facebook or twitter is far more upsetting. and yes, real people do that. tmi, people.

 

anyways. i only posted 8 pictures here. go on her site or etsy page for more. you can purchase these accessories too.

 

 

onrop! musikal

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Other

ceritanya:
tentang sepasang kekasih, bram dan sari. bram adalah penulis novel religi (spesifik sekali pekerjaannya, menurut sahabat saya). sedangkan sari adalah pacar si bram yang menolak norma yang berlaku pada masa itu. konon, di masa itu (tahun 2020, ya, hanya 10 tahun dari sekarang), indonesia sudah menjadi negara yang terlalu mengedepankan moral yang baik. sehingga kegiatan, kata-kata dan apapun yang bisa dihubungkan atau dikonotasikan dengan pornografi dan pornoaksi akan bisa dijerat dengan ketentuan hukum. bahkan, kata porno pun dibalik jadi onrop (malangan sekali, mungkin jokan adalah orang malang, entahlah).

lalu setiap pelanggar moral itu akan dibuang ke pulau onrop. dikisahkan bahwa pulau onrop ini adalah tempat yang menyeramkan di mana kesusilaan tak berbatas dan kejahatan merajalela.

nah, sayangnya, bram secara tidak sengaja menggunakan kata 'menelanjangi' ketika mendeskripsikan novel religi terbarunya. terpaksalah ia dijerat dengan pasal-pasal hukum dan singkat cerita dibuang di pulau onrop. dan tentunya, harus berpisah dengan sari, yang kemudian disadarinya adalah sebagai konsekuensi terberat meninggalkan indonesia.

ternyata, pulau onrop tidak sekeji dan seberingas yang dibayangkan dan digambarkan orang-orang. di sana orang hidup damai dan lebih bebas. bram pun memutuskan untuk membawa sari untuk tinggal di pulau onrop.

to cut three hours short, bram menyusun strategi supaya ia dan sari bisa sama-sama dibuang ke pulau onrop. lucunya, atau ironisnya, atau bingungnya (saya tidak bisa menemukan kata yang tepat), karena semua orang berbondong-bondong ingin tinggal di pulau onrop, dan orang-orang pulau onrop konon menyerbu indonesia, para penegak hukum yang sedang mengadili sari, bram dan asistennya malah memilih untuk pergi mencari tempat di mana mereka bisa menerapkan norma-norma yang mereka inginkan.

akhirnya, semua hidup bahagia. amin.

komentar saya, not really a critic and definitely not in order:
1. bintang pertunjukan jelas sekali adalah ario bayu yang memerankan asisten bram (saya lupa namanya) yang merupakan closeted gay man karena keadaan. bisa jadi karena beliau sangat menghayati perannya, atau banyak sekali penonton yang bisa relate to their own condition. poor repressed audience (oops! saya mulai menghakimi. maaf).
2. koreografi eko supriyanto memang keren. tidak heran madonna memilihnya untuk jadi salah satu penarinya. artistik teatrikal tetapi masih sangat bisa dinikmati penonton awam seperti saya.
3. dekor panggung juga bagus. tidak setengah-setengah. dekorasi favorit saya adalah pantai di pulau onrop yang gradasi warnanya bisa berubah-ubah sesuai dengan suasana. benar-benar seperti di pantai.
4. sayangnya, ceritanya kurang kuat. dialog-dialognya masih kurang cerdas dan cenderung lebih memilih untuk membuat penonton tertawa daripada berpikir. hal yang sebenarnya wajar saja, jika mengingat para penontonnya yang cukup segmented, yaitu anak muda gaul jakarta yang harus hip dan happening. (oh, no, saya mulai sinis. maaf).
5. saya tidak tahu mengapa jika sang sutradara bisa bersusah payah untuk muncul dengan istilah 'onrop' dan 'pulau onrop' yang obviously adalah simbol, but does not bother to come up with some fictionized word for 'indonesia'. but then again, mungkin ada alasan yang saya tidak tahu or failed to grasp.
6. ade fitria sechan yang berperan menjadi something vixen (saya lupa nama karakternya) penjiwaan perannya sangat mirip dengan bellatrix lestrange (karakter di harry potter) yang diperankan oleh istri tim burton, helena bonham carter. but, she is very pretty, prettier than hbc, malah.
7. overall, sebagai permulaan teater musikal, onrop! cukup bagus. saya cukup suka. mudah-mudahan bisa menjadi pemicu bermunculannya bentuk-bentuk teater yang lain. walaupun sebetulnya sanggar sanggrila dan majalah bobo juga cukup sering menggelar teater musikal. namun, teater musikal yang menyasar penonton lebih dewasa mungkin memang baru ini. jadi, two thumbs up. or better yet, two pinkies, up chicas!

darling i do

isn't this lovely? though landon pigg looks too gay.

 

all alice: wrong alice, almost alice and the alice

not really like what i have expected, but at least the most entertainment i got from watching alice was to see colleen atwood's designs for alice's dresses. she did so many costumes for tim burton, from edward scissorhand to sweeney todd. but this was by far her best designs. these designs even out beat the ones she made for sweeney todd. brava, colleen! and i have to admit that i think it's very precise to choose avril lavigne to sing the soundtrack, almost alice, as she is exactly who i had in mind seeing all those girlie gothic dresses.

 

as i love stripes, my most favourite dress was the one mad hatter made when he shrunk alice and put her inside his teapot (then took her on his hat). it was a slightly different version, much neater version of the one alice was using when entering underland. unfortunately i couldn’t find the picture of that dress anywhere on the net. it's the one with the flower on the right chest.

 

 

 

i think the alice a.k.a um from umbridge dress is also gorgeous. and the black-red laced fabrics used as bandage on her right arm to cover the wound she got from the bandersnatch made the dress even more perfect. i think it is also everybody's favourite.

 

yet, i do think that the dress she wore when she was in the white queen castle looked too eastern-ish if not misplaced. of all the gothic designs along the movie, i think this dress should be taken out. not saying that it is not lovely, it's just it is rather slumdog millionaire-ish instead of burton-ish. too bad i couldn’t find the clear picture of this dress too.

 

anyway, it is a good exercise for your brain, to see all those art details in the movie. unfortunately, failed to be dug deeper to be matched with the plot and the original through the looking glass' book. but i'll do a review on the movie later than sooner. *kalo nggak males, ya*.

Bumi dan Langit Sahabat Kami

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Biographies & Memoirs
Author:	NH Dini

saya memang tidak hendak mereview buku ini. karena sebagai buku yang sudah tercetak dari tahun 80an tentu sudah banyak sekali review dan sinopsis buku ini. bahkan mungkin banyak sekali orang yang sudah pernah membacanya. sekilas saja, buku ini menceritakan bagaimana ibu dan bapak NH Dini mengajarkan sikap dermawan melalui kegiatan sehari-hari. bahwa manusia harus dengan bijak berbagi dengan sesamanya.

dari situ, saya juga jadi ingin berbagi karena saya suka sekali dengan cerita-cerita NH Dini. dari banyak buku-bukunya, seri tentang kehidupan masa kecilnya adalah yang menurut saya paling menarik. dan di antara ketiga buku di seri itu, inilah buku favorit saya. kenapa? karena banyak sekali deskripsi makanan. oh, how i worship food. memang hanya NH Dini yang bisa mengembalikan kesenangan saya terhadap membaca karena caranya bertutur mengingatkan saya kepada buku-buku yang saya baca ketika kecil. buku-buku cerita sederhana berlatar kehidupan susah tapi senang masyarakat jawa. buku-buku yang banyak tersusun rapi tak tersentuh di perpustakaan SD saya yang sekarang sudah tergusur.

apalagi jika anda seperti saya yang rindu setengah hidup untuk mengenang pengalaman membaca yang menyenangkan, atau kecewa dengan cerpen fiksi sang master kuliner, maka buku ini mungkin tepat untuk sedikit mengobati kerinduan dan melipur kekecewaan itu.

oia, untuk cetakan yang terbaru sampul buku didesain oleh dia.

vox angelica

true. i hate to see people with hairstyle like rian d'masiv. or giring nidji.  and the skinny pants too. or the hair of viera. maybe until the end of time. but i enjoy their songs. because the street artists (as how i like to call the buskers of metromini and kopaja) helped me to digest their music. so, i'll share you some of my favourites.

 

as for st12, i love them with all my heart. and the looking like abang-abang penjual dvd bajakans charly st12 with his overacting it a lot singing live on stage. but the way he did isabella, even with my continuous verbal-vomit, i still think st12 rules!

 

-      mau dibawa ke mana – armada band

        first heard it on metromini 610 sang by the duo buskers with punk style. the one singing is rather cute, and i just couldn't help not to sing along as he take the song to the next level with his cengkok melayu. he sounded better than the original version.

-          rindu setengah mati – d'masiv (feat. kevin aprilio of vierra)

        almost all buskers (and me) know this one (or every d'masiv new released). but i grew to like this one after a ride of metromini 72. two buskers, a teenage boy (i guess he was about 17 or 18 rather cute) with a deep voice and a kid, probably 9 or 12 with an even immature voice. the kid played the guitar, quite impressive, better than most adult buskers, i must say. i liked the way they sing the song. and they are quite polite and dressed nicely. with shoes even! still, i wait for that d'masiv expert in pondok labu who always sings d'masiv songs better than the original performer. if only he would perform earlier, since now i almost never go to work around 6:30.

-          buka hatimu – armada band

        i knew this song quite a while. i guess it was one of the sinetrons soundtrack. but starting to like it when in one of my 610 ride, hopped a girl collaborated with a busker to sing the song in metrominis and kopajas. her story was she sings to collect money to pay for his father's debt who left her and her mother to live with his new wife. she had to pay for the debts because she was the eldest and her mum was sick. she studied in bsi mampang, so she said. she always mentioned her name at the end of her 'show', which i keep forgetting every time. and i don't really care with the story even when it sounded so everybody's excuse, i don't even give her anything most times. but i sort of like the way she interacted with the passengers, she even remembered some of the regulars (like myself). and most of all i think they successfully nailed the last 'betapa sakitnya betapa perihnya..' part.

-          rasa ini – vierra

        i have to heard this song quite often before i could really enjoy it. i thought because i like viera's perih, then i could try to enjoy this one. and i did.

-      aw aw aw – the potters

        the duo buskers with simple drums and guitar who look and sounded like kangen band (the potters is kangen band's apprentice, so both bands do sound like each other; hence the cover version should somewhat alike) in metromini 72 from lebak bulus performed it better than the potters. it's true. i downloaded the the potters' version and was disappointed that the song did not sound the same (so i deleted from my computer). i even think that the buskers rearranged the melody.

-      di bawah langitmu – opick

        this is ramadhan song. but in metrominis opick specialist performer are easily found. my favourite was the d'masiv expert in pondok labu. i guess i like his type of voice. and this song is not as overrated as maha melihat who is sang by literally most opick specialists.

-      telepon aku – shandy canester

        when i heard and saw the video clip, i wasn't too fond of it. i thought he sounded like ello and john mayer. i hate ello's songs and I thought 'your body is a wonderland' is rather overrated. but, when i heard it in either kopaja 63 or metromini 640, his song became more acceptable to my hearing senses.

 

* i like alexa too, but couldn't find the title of the song i like. i like that one particular song because the intro reminded me of the smashing pumpkins.

ryan and sharpay.flv

are the reason i watched hsm. i LOVE their version. and absolutely HATE the one of troy and gabriella.

life as we like it

cerita bude mono. biyen masiyo turu mesti gentenan karo papamu, aku tangi, papamu turu. saya kok yo seneng terus. endik sik cilik, mas mon gawene mung ngudang-ngudang endik wira-wiri nganggo kreto bayi. pram yo sik cilik. gawene ngalor-ngidul nggawani sarung bodhole papamu. yen mamamu teko sarunge diduduhke karo ngomong, 'mbak cicik, iki sarunge pak ipit. ini lho, baunya pak ipit,' karo diambungi kae. urip ra kroso susah. padahal mas mon yo ra kerjo. proyek mung siji loro. papamu, pak mamiek karo jenthit gawene klothek'an. thuthuk-thuthuk nggawe maket nganti didhodok tonggo teparo. tapi aku yo ra tau ngersulo, ra tau pengen mulih neng tegal opo piye ngono. mergo wong ra nduwe duwit kae umum. tapi ati rasane kok yo seneng terus.

 

setuju. tapi, ternyata masa indah memang harus dibayar suatu saat. walaupun seumpama memang bisa dibeli, saya akan pasti akan membeli lagi masa-masa serumah dengan semuanya. pak uk. om pa. pak hari. pak mantok. pak agus. om rudi. mas didik. pak ek. mas donny. hiburan-hiburan rakyat. scrabble. bridge. kadang-kadang tombok'an. porkas.

today's menu: feel like having some 80's and 90's

1.       brad kane and lea salonga – a whole new world

2.       george michael and whitney houston – if i told you that

3.       george michael and mary j. blige – as

4.       george michael – faith

5.       richard marx – hazards

6.       richard marx – endless summer nights

7.       white lion – you're all i need

8.       color me badd – close to heaven

9.       color me badd – choose

10.    toto – i'll be over you

11.    toto – i will remember

12.    chicago – you're the inspiration

13.    peter cetera – glory of love

14.    peter cetera and crystal bernard – forever tonight

 

somehow these songs remind me of french twist, indiana jones and the fate of atlantis, pc games called prehistoric, mtv during the good old days, and living.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

When we were little, my brother wanted to be Gambit or Cyclops. Meanwhile, when other girls would have wanted to be Jean Grey or Rogue or Storm (not many girls wanted to be Mystique), I wanted to be Wolverine. I don't even know why I'm very much drawn to this character. Maybe because of his dark blue-yellow costume (I used to like yellow). Maybe it was the claws (I'm a paws and claws person). Maybe it was his solitariness (I don't like people). Or his suppressed feelings morphed into rage (no comment). Probably it was altogether. I don't know exactly. I have almost forgotten about this. Then the movie came, I don't know why I was so determined to watch it. Every time I went pass the theatre, I was intrigued to see it. So, I did. I watched it.

During the movie, I felt like I wanted to know things about him. Like Harry Potter fascinated to search for his ancestor. I was fascinated to find out about how he ended up being the dark blue-yellow costumed superhero with adamantium claws. Although I had known the story (my brother being a Marvel-freak), still, it was captivating to find out own my own.

The movie itself was not that good in a way that pieces of the story where X-Men characters were introduced were a bit in a rush, such as when he met Gambit (which also not like what I was expected as a jaw-dropping-French-descent-ladies-man superhero). Although, I can understand because this was seen from Wolvie's point of view (he would probably be more appealing when it were told from Rogue's point of view). Scenes such as how they met Cyclops was also sort of forced to be included in the movie. This resulted in the relationship between Victor Creed (later became Sabretooth), which was Wolvie's half brother and Kayla (which on later Marvel comics became Silver Fox) to be less explored, in which I think should have been worked on more intensely rather than focusing on how Wolverine randomly met all of the other Professor X's future students.

I also find it hard to picture that Zero was actually an Asian descent, because if I'm not mistaken Zero, which will be Maverick eventually, was born sometime before the Cold War, lived in Germany, and had blonde hair. So, I assumed he would be Caucasian, instead of Korean. However, as Hollywood movie are putting in some Asian flavour (especially Korean, for instance in movies like Yes Man or He's Just Not Into You or Nick and Norah Infinite Playlist), I was not really that surprised. It may well be a subtle political act of America for countering the paranoia of the made in Korea rockets (the ship, not the arugula).

I don't think I need to explain further for the special effect. It is not like what I have expected. The make up was okay in some part, but bad in some others. I think the make-up artist concentrated more on Logan and Victor's make up that they forgot to pimp the other characters, most prominent poor make-up was Blob (I didn't know that the name Blob was initiated by Blob himself, out of his inner insecurity). I mean if Hollywood can do Mrs. Doubtfire, what's the harm in prepping a fictional comic book character? However, I had to admit that Victor was giving me all the goosebumps. Schreiber out beat Jackman. How he crawled like a big wild cat. Or caressing through cold metal with his claws. Then smiling, showing his fangs. Goosebumps!

I also think that the plot is jolting every now and again. With the opening scene of Logan (or still James, Jimmy for Victor) in his childhood then killed his biological father to the scene where they took part in almost every war there were in America, I thought that the movie would be exploring more about Logan's character, how he reached that Wolverine phase. Instead, the movie was about the major stages in his life, since the beginning until he became Wolverine. It would be more interesting to explore on his relationship with Victor, from brothers to buddies to arch nemesis, from Victor calling him Jimmy then changed to Logan, then Jimmy again.

Still, I like this movie very much, because I like Wolverine so much. I was a bit disappointed to see there are too much action and not so much plot and drama. Well, it's kind of hard to adjust when my standard prequel movie would be Batman Begins to the least. I mean, it's not rocket science to build a good story and a thrilling action, if The Dark Night and StarWars can do it, why not do it to one of the most celebrated comics? It's Marvel we're talking about here!

But, Kltpzyxm, anyway. I would zap myself to watching this movie over and over again. This movie gives me the warmth (and the creep) like when I watched Prince Caspian. So, my rate for this movie is four stars, all for personal reasons.

Changeling

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Just like what I said to a friend via mobile text, 'Clint Eastwood is a smart man, but even the smartest man made mistakes.' And by all means I merely referred to his decision to cast Angelina Jolie for this movie. Which also made me think why in the world did she even think of getting an Oscar, didn't she even watch this?

Disagree all you want, but the story is actually very interesting, though I also think that the plot could have been more evoking. The story tells not only about a mother in search of his missing son, but also about a corrupt police corps (LAPD) back in 1920's. The title itself 'Changeling' (if I'm not mistaken) referred to a mythical creature offspring who is left in exchange for a human child, quite depicting a part of the movie.

I personally think it is hard to make a movie weighing upon two equally important problems. Viewers are likely to be distracted and later on become confused of (if it is not bored with) which exactly is the prominent problem. For this movie, Eastwood should have been more consistent in maintaining the primary problem (a mother's effort in finding her missing son), but it seems that Eastwood too wanted to put a high(er)light on the corrupt LAPD. Although if he meant to do so, he should have put more emphasis on how corrupt it was, instead of just placing John Malkovich who played as Reverend Briegleb who pointed out hotchpotch of LAPD's records of misconducts (such as the infamous Gun-Squad). In which it then drifted the Christine Collins story away (which then revived at most of the end part). Having said that, it is possible to have two prominent problems in a movie, but somehow, with the poor consistency of the plot added up with Jolie acting as Christine Collins, it did not yield the expected effect. Most probably because she was too busy being sexy, as you would see Jolie protruding her futon lips of hers just a bit too much during the whole movie. The syphilis examination at the asylum part is not making her acting any better (I just never get it why directors always used the formula of exposing naked bodies in gloomy movies then hoping for an award). On the other hand, I sincerely think that Jeffrey Donovan played Captain J.J. Jones well. He was very convincing playing as a police officer whose pride is bigger than his head. At least i felt like throwing a shoe at his prick face. Gordon Northcott the sociopath serial killer was also quite well played by Jason Butler Harner.

Well, overall, this is a good movie, despite the Angelina Jolie thing, I liked it. For the Christine Collins' story good plot, poor actor. Whilst for the LAPD's story good actors, poor plot. So, it's a balance.

It also serves as a nice research object for sophomore college students of literary studies. You would find women struggle from disempowerment (if such word exists). Compared it to the Mystic River (also Eastwood's), voila! You got yourself an essay of child abuse (no pun intended, I'm not being sarcastic).

Overall verdict: three stars!

Nguping Jakarta

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

dari obrolan semalam dengan karib-karib tercinta, karib L memperkenalkan blog ini http://ngupingjakarta.blogspot.com, ternyata karib I sudah berkali-kali disarankan untuk mengecek blog ini. saya, yang memang baru kemarin mendengar tentang blog ini, akhirnya memutuskan untuk 'see what people has been fussing about'.

ternyata memang ini adalah blog yang sangat menarik. terinspirasi dari 'overheard in new york', untuk mereka yang sangat suka tertawa, blog ini membantu sekali. jadi, blog ini berisi -dan saya mengutip deskripsi yang ada di blog ini- 'Dialog absurd di tengah kota Jakarta.' walaupun mungkin ada beberapa dialog yang memerlukan extra effort untuk memahaminya, secara keseluruhan blog ini sangat menghibur.

berikut beberapa postings favorit saya:
'yang salah pengertian.. atau mungkin latah'
Gede gak?
Cewek #1: (nunjuk jalan di depan) "AWAS TOKET!!"
Cewek #2: "Tokai kali..."
Didengar sekumpulan cowok yang mencari hubungan dua benda itu.
Posted by Nguping Jakarta at 9:26 PM 2 comments

'yang lucu-lucu lemot polos yang nggak nyangka terjadi di dunia nyata'
Baunya sih mirip...
Mas-mas: (nyolek kenek) "Bang, bagi apinya dong..."
Kenek: "Emangnya gue naga..."
Metromini 640, didengar oleh penumpang yang ingin loncat turun.
Posted by Nguping Jakarta at 9:10 PM 5 comments

Mase Mase Basi...
Pelayan Cewe: "Arigato go zai mas..."
Pemuda Playboy sok tahu: "Arigato go zai mbak..."
Sushi Tei, didengar oleh teman yang ingin menjadi orang-orangan sawah.
Posted by Nguping Jakarta at 6:53 PM 5 comments

'yang curtal.. curcol total'
But it didn't work... *snif*
Dosen Bahasa Inggris: "Now, can you see the difference of phrase and sentence? I Love You, that is a sentence, right?"
Mahasiswa Jomblo: (Spontan dan sepenuh hati) "No, ma'am, that's a confession."
Didengar oleh satu kelas yang ingin menepuk-nepuk pundak mahasiswa itu.
Posted by Nguping Jakarta at 9:43 PM 1 comments

'yang memang terjadi dan literally pernah saya lakukan'
Gak perlu liat menu!
Pelayan: "Siang dek, mau pesen apa?"
Teman: "Yang nggak ada apa mbak ?"
Restoran di Pangkalan Jati, didengar oleh seseorang yang membatalkan niat batal puasa.
Posted by Nguping Jakarta at 9:32 PM 3 comments

aaah, banyak lah yang lucu. coba klik saja sendiri, dijamin pasti ada yang akan membuat tertawa.

baiklah, posting ini akan saya tutup dengan dialog absurd sahabat sepupu saya yang ketika banjir besar melanda jakarta beberapa tahun lalu 'menghancurkan' (ah!lebai, lo!) rumahnya yang kebetulan di daerah rawan banjir banget. it goes something like this: situasinya mereka lagi beberes setelah banjir,
sahabat sepupu saya: yang, kok di sini bau tokai, ya? (seraya mengendus-endus)
suami sahabat sepupu saya: (dengan cuek) di mana?
sahabat sepupu saya: (sudah beranjak ke lokasi lain sambil masih mengendus-endus) tuh, kan! di sini juga bau tokai.
suami sahabat sepupu saya: (masih cuek) di mana?
sahabat sepupu saya: (masih mengendus-endus dan sudah bergeser ke lokasi lain) tuh, bener, di sini juga bau tokai.
suami sahabat sepupu saya: (tetap cuek) mulut kamu, kali.
sahabat sepupu saya: sialan! (berhenti mengendus-endus dan mungkin langsung gosok gigi sesudahnya).

sekian dan terima kasih.

my name is earl

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

satu lagi serial menarik yang diproduksi oleh FOX dan ditayangkan stasiun favorit saya, NBC. judulnya ‘my name is earl’, dibuat oleh greg garcia, dan saat ini sedang memasuki musim ke empat, yang sempat tertunda pembuatannya karena writers guild strike di dunia perfilman holywood beberapa waktu lalu.

ceritanya tentang earl hickey (jason lee) seorang penjahat kelas teri yang insyaf karena menemukan mukjizat ‘karma’ setelah menonton acara talk show last call with carson daly si vj mtv itu. ini bermula ketika earl memenangkan lotre senilai 100’000 us$ lalu tiba-tiba ditabrak mobil dan kehilangan kertas lotrenya. saat earl sedang terbaring di rumah sakit ia mendapat pencerahan tentang karma dari televisi. intinya, karma menyadarkannya bahwa what goes around comes around, bahwa semua keburukan yang dilakukannya semasa menjadi petty criminal lambat laun akan menuntut balas, meminta pertanggungjawabannya. to make up for those awful things, he make a list of all the bad things he had done and decided to make up for each and every single thing on the list.

from then on, accompanied by his brother randy hickey (ethan suplee), his ex-wife, joy turner (jamie pressly, yes the playboy centerfold bunny), his ex-wife’s husband, darnell crabman turner (eddy steeples) and his brother’s green card marriage wife’s catalina aruca (nadine velazquez) his journey of becoming a better person (or in earl’s words, crossing the items on the list) started. dalam perjalanannya, tentu saja dia pernah mengalami temporal breakdown, ya iyalah, namanya juga manusia, stress juga keseringan berusaha berbuat baik, sementara ternyata dunia tidak mendukung usahanya itu. tapi (thank god this is holywood) di setiap season’s finale, earl berhasil mengatasinya.

bagusnya, serial ini mengajari kita untuk selalu berbuat baik dengan cara sarkastis, tanpa menggurui seperti buku-buku self-help dan motivasi yang saya tidak percaya itu. serial ini juga mengajarkan untuk menerima perbedaan (but you have to go figure out them yourselves to find out, it’s on most of the episodes).

menariknya, entah benar atau tidak, konon NBC itu stasiun tv yang getol mempromote diversity in its most unique way, atau dalam bahasa jack mcfarland ‘this station’s logo is a peacock’ (peacock simbol gay), jadi, tidak mengherankan jika di serial ini akan banyak ditemui tentang ‘gayness’ juga berbagai tokoh dari bermacam etnis seperti nescobar aloplop si klepto dari afrika, atau orang cina yang tinggal di motel tempat catalina bekerja, dan lain-lain. selain itu, yang tak kalah menarik adalah detil-detil yang mewarnai serial ini, seperti kesukaan tokoh-tokoh serial ini pada def leppard, lynard skynard dan ac/dc. dan tentu saja taburan selebriti sebagai cameo seperti paris hilton, alyssa milano, christian slater (yang bercerita tentang global warming yang membukakan mata earl) and that perverted looking skinny guy from simple plan’s clip, i’m just a kid (if you can call him celebrity).

anyway, this is the next best thing after will and grace. very sarcastically profound. enough said, you have to watch it yourself to see what i’m talking about. all three seasons are available in bajakans, the fourth is on going. come, now, go enlighten yourself with some my name is earls.

like no other

things you can only find in papua.
taken in sentani airport. jayapura.
18 september 2008.
sometime around 7ish am eastern indonesian time.

WALL-E

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

kecuali segi americanism-nya yang sangat kuat, bagi saya, ini salah satu film yang cukup baik dan mendidik. indah. faktual. mengharukan. meski bukan seperti finding nemo.

bagi saya pesan moralnya seperti bait terakhir puisi milik eka budianta di bawah ini, yang berjudul 'tembang pertobatan' (2002):

pencipta langit dan laut yang ramah
pencipta gunung dan sungai-sungai
ajari kami tobat dan berterima kasih
seperti ulat yang sudah menyesal
seperti pohon jati besar yang bertobat
setelah melahap humus, melukai bumi
dan tak peduli pada lain-lain ciptaanMu

now, if you haven't, go educate yourself, watch wall-e