"Blue Energy", Excuse Me?

Unless you are living under a rock, you must have heard all the news about the so-called "Blue Energy", an alternative source of energy invented by an Indonesian named Djoko Suprapto. This mumbo jumbo is shrouded by a thick mist of secrecy and unclarity. A few days ago, Djoko the inventor suddenly appeared in the media, apologizing to Pres SBY for "hiding" himself...which means that he was missing for some time. The Pres has been showing a somewhat strange attention to this project. In addition, he didn't involve the State Ministry for Research and Technology at all. Gadjah Mada University (UGM), whose name has been thrown around in this case, denied all connections to the project.

The turn of events led many institutions and parts of the society to accuse this plan as a hoax, a big fat unscientific hoax, which led people to question SBY's involvement and "affection" to the project. On the other hand, VP Jusuf Kalla said that no one should diss the invention, noting that all of the world's biggest invention was also met with this kind of rejection. I'd say, let both sides squabble, we need more comedian these days.

First of all, what in the world is this phenomenal "blue energy"? Some media said that it is a source of energy harnessing the power of water, others said that it is only a way of minimizing fuel usage but not as a substitute to fossil fuel (this kind of invention is already invented by another guy and applied), another said some technical thingamabobs which I don't understand, while if you search the great wikipedia, "blue energy" relates to harnessing osmotic power or salinity gradient in water.

Someone, preferably Mr. Djoko himself, should really clarify and explain this thing in a clear, scientific way on what the invention actually does and what principles are used; unless the "blue energy" involves some kind of supernatural process, in which case we'll need shamans, not scientists. We just want some clarification whether this is the "real" stuff or just another fame seeker who's too old for Indonesian Idol. Every research needs to be scientifically reviewed by scientists, that's all I'm saying.

Then, what is the benefit of this "blue energy"? How much energy can we obtain from this process, and is it economically feasible to develop the tech? If the "blue energy" really uses the water in your plain ol' bottle of Aqua, this can lead to another mess like biofuel. The price of water will reach an exorbitant level, and we'll all die of thirst. That's not what I call "benefit". Therefore, Djoko the inventor must also provide this kind of calculations or let someone do it. If "blue energy" is found to be unfeasible, we'll just have to say good bye to it, at least until the tech makes it feasible.

I'm no rocket scientist, and I have no plan to be one. Yet, I know that scientists still face obstacles in taking these beneficial processes into the lab, let alone make it into a commercially feasible source of energy. Besides, there are still thousands of things to be taken into consideration before we switch to a new energy source. Parts of the world was eaten by famine when food crops are turned into biofuel, which is used by cars, not human. We don't need another fuel fiasco like that. There are too many questions about this project, also tons of other questions on SBY's close and secretive involvement in it.

We just need some clarifications, that's all, because this is hardly the time to blindly ask stupid questions. What made people stop questioning inventions? Proof, in-your-face proof.

Done with Disconnected Demonstrators

Havoc might be a strong word, but it is suitable to describe the latest protests against the fuel price hike. In the name of the "poor people", protesters brought hell to earth: burning tires, blocking roads, vandalizing properties, and ganging up on police officers. The protest itself is started by students; therefore, they are blamed for the violence. Yet, authorities also suspected that there were intruders and provocateurs who incited the riots. In this case, no one can really be fully blamed and let's not randomly point our fingers.

What I'd like to point out is how many of those protesters are really in the game? They do look so numerous on the media, and from numbers comes strength. The government can't really ignore the thousands of people protesting them. On the other hand, I'm not so sure that 100% of those guys and girls are into the thing.

Exhibit A: the violence. If all of them do care about the people, why did they do those uneducated things? Burning tires and blocking roads are not going to help the poor, never ever. Instead, how much fuel was wasted in the action? Burning stuff requires fuel, if I'm not mistaken; and so does trapping those cars in the blockade. The people are already suffering from all these hardships, there is no reason to complicate things.

Exhibit B: an interview on TV. One of the TV station was interviewing a protester, who turned out to be kinda disconnected from the issue. Examine this loosely translated part of an interview:

Reporter: "Why did protesters go on such a rampage?"

Protester: "If only SBY didn't raise fuel price, we won't be demonstrating."

Reporter: similar question

Protester: "We are in contact with the poor everyday, and they're suffering. SBY shouldn't have raised fuel price."

What kind of protester is that!? Say hello to Mr. Non Sequitur. What he said was true, yet as an argument, it's completely irrelevant to issue discussed. He didn't really answer the question. Back to the demonstrators, everyone can have his/her own opinion about the hike, which is tolerable; but such violence will never be tolerated.

We are done with disconnected demonstrators. We need the right people with the right attitudes who have what it takes to fight for their cause. Methods of brute force should be left in the past because it's time to get smart now. Taking it to the street is not the only option. This is the age of communication, remember? Online campaigning is a new channel to be discovered and this is a good time to start. Newspapers are still one of the best way to reach lots of people. There are other stuffs too like petition and protests through arts. And if in the end it really comes down to street demonstrations, they must take care not to fall into such disgusting violence.

Students have been one of the key players in this nation's history, even before its independence. Violence will not only cause physical damages, but also tarnish the noble image of students in the eye of the people. They must take great caution to prevent this from happening.

Report on My Sleep

Basically, I'm just going to share about my first night after my "resolution" on this post. I vowed to get more sleep, because that's what I originally intended to do on my holiday, or at least on a part of it to get my body back on track again. It was serious and it still is. I fully realize that every human body needs an adequate break, and I'll give mine the break it deserves -due to the fact that I am still on holiday. Yay me!

And last night, I did it. I hit the bed at 11.30 PM, which is a quite significant compared to 2 or 1 AM (yes, I've slept that late). This morning, I woke up at 7 AM but I didn't really leave the bed until 7.30. Anyway, that's a progress as it means that I managed to get some extra to sleep. I fulfilled my other promises too.

For one, this post is made at 10 PM(ish), which is so not late in my book . Besides, this is just a short post that I don't really have to think about. Next, I also thought twice about playing DVDs. I moved my DVD-time earlier, so it will have finished by 9 PM. Today, I virtually didn't go to Wikipedia. I just saw the Main Page since its my homepage, but no pointless wikiwandering. My inner-geek just has to wait.

This post isn't long enough, so I won't end it here. I'll just write some random things. OK, I watched What Happens in Vegas and gosh it was sooo empty at the movies. I love it! The movie's kinda typical but I think it's fine, by the way; full of good, clean fun -well, not so clean actually, but you get the point. In addition, I was continuing Grey's Anatomy season 2. I watched the bomb scare episodes, where there's a man who has a freakin' unexploded ammo in his chest and Meredith got her hand inside that chest. A recipe for "boom!". I also watched the next episode, the one with a girl suffering from spontaneous orgasm. Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm not being sarcastic when I say "suffering from spontaneous orgasm"; and don't even imagine about it.

If this post gets any longer, I'll be sleeping so late tonight. Therefore, good bye and good night.

Support Indonesia's Natural Wonders

Last year, the media was reporting about the New 7 Wonders of the World, a private-initiative to revive the concept of Seven Wonders of the World. The new wonders were chosen by global voting through the internet and the results were announced on July 7, 2007. Those new wonders are Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Petra, Colosseum, Macchu Picchu, and Colosseum. The Great Pyramid of Giza was also given an honor as the last remaining ancient wonders.

Allow me to be bluntly Indonesian. Where the heck is Borobudur? Where are Indonesia's other wonderful cultural heritages? Oh puh-leeze, Borobudur should have taken the place of one of those new wonders.

OK, probably the campaign didn't get enough exposure in Indonesia and not so many people are connected to the internet, let alone go to the website and vote. Shame on me, I knew about the campaign but, in the end, I was too lazy to follow up.

Now we can redeem ourselves. The New 7 Wonders foundation is launching another poll to get the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Indonesia has three listed: Lake Toba, Krakatau (or Krakatoa), and Komodo Island; and none is in the top half of the list. So, you know the drill right? Go to the New 7 Wonders website and click the New 7 Wonders of Nature part (or just click here) You can browse for the nominees first and then vote. You only get one chance but you get to choose seven things. Remember, vote for Lake Toba, Krakatau, and Komodo Island; the rest is up to you.

This is not a UNESCO project whatsoever and probably it's not "fair" in representing the whole world. There has been criticisms too from here and there concerning the poll because it doesn't prevent voters from voting multiple times. Nevertheless, this is a chance to give a few of Indonesia's jewels the exposure it deserves. When you help expose our heritage sites, you are helping fellow Indonesians whose lives are depending on these sites. We may never know if this campaign really brings more attention and tourists or not, but that's not a reason to let the chance go by.

In the last poll, Jordan with a population of only 7 million managed to put Petra -some kinda city cut out from rock- into the list. Even Queen Rania joined the campaign to promote it. It's our turn now. No help is too small, no effort is too little. Support Indonesia's Natural Wonders.

Sleep? What Sleep?

Few weeks ago, I was at the beginning of a long holiday and currently I am still in that holiday. My first thought was this would be the perfect opportunity to compensate the loss of my precious sleeping hours during the exhausting exams. There should be no sleep deprivation anymore. I could go to sleep early and wake up as late as I want to. Me and my big mouth...no, that's not right. "Me and my typing fingers" is more suitable.

In a rare moment of introspection, I just realized that I am nowhere near reaching my beauty sleep goals. The increase of my wonderful zzz time, if any, is very minimal. Instead of hitting the bed earlier, let's say at 10 o'clock I stayed up really really late past midnight. Consequently, I haven't got that "I've got enough sleep" feeling. I always woke up at some minutes past 6 AM, if "some" means "in the neighborhood of 90 minutes". According to a standard Indonesian schedule, that time (as in 7:40ish) is unforgivably late. Apparently, this guy's not in the standard schedule.

Blame technology for that. There are so many things I can do, and a reason to do it always magically pops out to me. "Maybe I need to check my facebook", "Gotta check those e-mails", "Let's see what happened", and the ever-geeky "Let's check Wikipedia for no real purpose" are frequent reasons to why I eventually miss the "sleeping target"...and this blog is one reason too. On many occasions, I've written for this blog when the day almost ends in an hour or two. And have I mentioned instant messaging? That stuff is like a blackhole, sucking me into hours of often pointless talks which I do enjoy very much. I even dubbed it "midnight messaging club" -which sounds cool, actually. OK then, it's my fault. And I just bought season 2 of Grey's Anatomy. Just perfect! Now I can stay up much later, I have to thank myself.

Nevertheless, I do regret not reclaiming my beauty sleep. I don't really feel any effect when I'm occupied by things like watching tv, reading, etc; but if those activities stop, such as the time when nothing on tv is good, I feel drowsy like "boring-class" drowsy. It doesn't make me want to sleep straight away, it just messes my brain until I have something interesting to do. Sometimes I feel bad about it too. I believe that my body deserves a break after all these exam panics and here I am, denying it of its hard-earned rest.

I made myself a resolution as I'm writing this blog. No more midnight postings. Maybe I can do some writing, but then I'll leave the tweaking and publishing for the next day because getting the posts to look right takes a surprisingly long time. No more starting a DVD after 10PM. Those stuffs lasts for hours and I wouldn't know it. I could watch extreme operations on Grey's and suddenly a couple hours have passed. No more Wikiwandering unless the stuff is of great importance or if I couldn't sleep from extreme curiosity (Now you can call me a nerd). The main thing is to not procrastinate things and finish up as early as I can.

Maybe the guy who said "carpe diem" was right. In my newly discovered view of the phrase, we need to seize the day -that's what carpe diem means, if you're wondering- to get a good night's sleep. Get the most of the day and relax through the night, as simple as that. Doing some exciting stuffs during the day will send anyone to a nice slumber with good thoughts at night. Anyway, I'm so done with carpe diem and now I really need to carpe "lots-of-sleep".

I Really Want to Visit These Mosques

I always enjoy seeing new places, especially those off the beaten track and if you know me, you'll be so surprised when you read the title of this post. You might think that sleep deprivation finally takes its toll on me, making me talk irrelevant nonsenses. Hello, what's going on here? I want to visit some unknown mosques?

Honestly, what I said is very very true. If I have to be brag about my religious education, it would be the fact that I have never associated Islam exclusively to neither the sandy deserts of Arabian Peninsula nor the creepy bearded guys calling themselves "purists". Instead, I have a strong interest in the multiculturalism of Islam. With more than a billion muslims, spread over this crowded planet like butter over bread, there's bound to be differences: positive enriching differences.

In Indonesia, we know that Islam has adapted into local cultures; hence the rapid increase of muslims back in the ancient times. Islam came and hugged native Indonesian cultures like what the Wali Songo had done. Apparently, the real Islam does promote multiculturalism everywhere it goes without any of those Arabic "fetishes".

One country I'd like to highlight now is not located anywhere near the cradle of Islam, and some would think that it's not even remotely close to Islam. It's the People's Republic of China. Here's some fast facts you might want to know: Islam has contacts with China since the times of Prophet Muhammad, now there are more than 20 million muslims there, and some researches claim that it was the Chinese muslims who spreaded Islam in Indonesia. The claim makes sense since we know that China had many great explorers, one of them is a muslim of Hui ethnicity named Zheng He or Cheng Ho.

Here's the main topic that I want to share. I love Chinese-style mosques. I've never been there, but I really like the pictures I've seen on the internet. You know, "like" like "I-like-Hawaii-like": not everybody in the world has gone there yet if you ask any random human, he/she would agree that Hawaii is beautiful. Anyway, I really admire how our muslim brothers in China manage to embrace Islam and not abandon their own rich culture.

This is the Great Mosque of Xi'an and you can see that it's built according to Chinese architecture. It was built in year 600-to-700ish and renovated in later periods. When you look at the picture, you might have the biggest doubt if it is really a mosque. Well, get over your Arabic mosque mindset and accept that our place of worship comes in different styles and colors.

This second picture is of the Niujie Mosque in Beijing, built in 996. Once more, note the unique Chinese characteristics in the mosque. It's been renovated a number of times, including some by the Municipality of Beijing.

See, these mosques are unique so I think they are worth a visit someday. It'd be fun to see a new colour of Islam in other countries. I'm not allergic to standard mosques, but these Chinese mosques are a pearl in the rich sea of Islam (why am I making this metaphor?) which deserves a lot more attention, especially if muslims are to change how the world think of us. Btw, these pics are taken from Wikipedia and I guess I'm allowed to use it in my blog since I don't really do anything to it. Thanks to anyone who contributed the picture.

Post-posting thoughts: with ridiculously huge number of mosque in the country, Indonesia ought to have lots of these cultural jewels too. One of them which stuck on my mind from history lessons is the Kudus Mosque, which has a local style minaret instead of the standard bland minarets you see everywhere. Let's see if Visit Indonesia Year 2008 got a hold of this opportunity to attract tourists.

I Love My Staycation

A few days ago, I found the word in My Yahoo! page and in an instant I connected with it: staycation. If you haven't realized, it's a combination of stay and vacation. Contrary to your wishful thinking, it doesn't mean staying in some fancy luxurious place during vacation. Instead, its meaning is "a vacation spent at, or anywhere near, home". Nothing can describe me and probably thousands of other twelfth-graders in a better way. So, what have I done and what am I planning to do?

Well, of course I'll always be infecting blogger.com with my wayward writings just like what I've done so far. You can bet your head on it. Just don't ask me what I'll be writing, I'm not the kind of guy who puts a lot thought into my blog. I'll just wait if something writeable (is that even a word?) pops out on my brain, log in to Blogger, and hope that it'll be a blogworthy post. It could be either a review, report, rant, or random ramblings; maybe I'll throw in some serious stuffs too, but never a poem or its inspiring colleagues. I'm not Oprah, for God's sake.

The nerdy part of my brain has also been urging me to "civilize" my book collections. They've been stacked here and there, not necessarily messy but not proper either. For a neat collection to happen, I'll need to clear some space in the shelves. During that process, I always manage to find something of particular interest to me hidden in the mess. This time it's my baby pictures...and let's not take any risk by describing them, let alone scan one and post it here. Back to the books, I've done only 50%ish of them, mostly novels. I would've tidied everything up including the comics if not for my brother. He's a total mess with comics, so I just picked the comics that I also read to be put on the bookshelf. Let him suffer on his own. I want to fulfill my game-geek needs too. I guess I'll look for interesting, light games to spend the plentiful time.

I also plan to splurge on books and DVDs. For starters, I already bought Grey's Anatomy season two. That's like hours of nonstop entertainment already. There are still many books to read too, not to mention if suddenly JK Rowling releases the eighth Potter book (now I'm being simply ridiculous). Been thinking about reading the oh-so-phenomenal Twilight series due to frequent urging from a friend, but I've considered against it. I don't think I'd enjoy those kind of stories.

I also hope that there'll be ample good movies during the holiday to save me from unpurposeful days. There were so many in the last few weeks, I hope it'll continue until the end of the holiday.

Glorious Movies Time!

Woohoo, I watched Speed Racer yesterday. The Wachowski brothers surely made the classic cartoon into an excellent work of art and colours. Despite critics who despised the movie for not having a strong story and being too flashy, I'll say that I loved it. Call me a child, but the striking colours really entertained me to a point where I think that the real world looks dull.

This latest incarnation of Speed Racer is a departure from its original anime to a good direction. When you watch the movie, you're transported into another world: futuristic and colourful. I just can't stress that word enough: colours everywhere! In the 2h15m movie, our aptly-named hero Speed Racer, with racing running in his veins, has to save the world by doing what he does best: racing (well, duh!). Race for this, race for that, and voila, you got yourself a happy ending. The movie could get really bizzarre with a capital "bizzarre" but it doesn't really hurt anyone. The action parts of it is nothing to be complained either. I was also in awe over the exotic race tracks featured in the movie. OK, the tracks are ridiculously exaggerated, but that's not a reason to let the beautiful computer-generated scenery pass unnoticed.

Overall, the movie is very enjoyable. The "Go Speed Racer Go" song (or whatever the title may be) is also revamped but still includes parts of the original song.

After that, I watched the latest Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Set in 1957, our beloved archeologist was pulled into an adventure in South America by a communist Soviet agent named Irina Spalko. Apparently, the adventure became a family affair as he is joined by a younger "comrade" and a "woman" -see, I don't wanna ruin your pleasure.

The movie is fun and exciting, taking us into the Joneses' (get the spoiler hint?) adventure in the jungles and pyramids. Rest assured that you'll see lots of action, and big ants. The movie also serves a healthy portion of humor, apart from the Soviets' funny accent. I've never watched the previous movies, so I can't compare it to its predecessors. What I'm sure is that the movie is an incredible way to spend your time.

Today, I also got my hands on The Kite Runner DVD. It is an adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's book of the same name, and a good one it is. The movie stayed true to the book, so it helped me visualize the images of the fantastic book, especially the kite fights in pre-Taliban Kabul. Another great movie.

My verdict: Yes and Yes, all thumbs up. All of them are excellent movies with their unique strengths, it's too bad if you miss them.

A Not-So-Fun Hike

There's been so much debate raging on about this topic, and usually I'm not so interested to get entangled in the messy web of economics. However, I'll do my best to write something about the recent fuel price hike...and not to make a complete fool of myself.

On one side of the debate, the govt wants to reduce the fuel subsidy, as it has become more of a burden to the state budget. They claim that the subsidy will be compensated by other means of helping the poor such as direct cash aid (BLT) and community empowerment. The reason behind this: skyrocketing fuel price in the world, hence the swelling subsidy, and apparently the subsidy doesn't really reach its target. The govt said that most of it is being enjoyed by the more affluent demographic.

On the other side, most politicians, activists, and random people reject the hike. I don't know if those politicians reject the plan for the poor or for the upcoming election, but most fractions in the DPR showed strong opposition. The hike will certainly hurt the poor because it will also raise the price of basic goods. Even the hike plan itself triggered price increases everywhere. Other parts of the opposition also criticized the BLT, warning that it doesn't really help. Instead, such aids will only breed beggar-like mentality. And who are we to forget that this is Indonesia: the BLT money will probably find its way into some big officials' pockets faster than you can say "archuleta".

Anyhow, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and VP/president-wannabe Jusuf Kalla decided to go ahead with the controversial plan, raising prices up to 28.7 percents yesterday.

As far as I'm concerned, the fuel price hike is sadly inevitable. The state cannot keep its citizens in a delusional low-fuel-price world using subsidy forever. The world is facing an energy crisis, live with it. Fuel in other countries is already reaching record prices; if the govt insists on keeping prices low, the state budget will get a serious beating from subsidizing fuel price. And then what? Sacrifice other budgets for the sake of living in delusion? No. So far, I agree with the govt.

Nevertheless, the cash aid should be reviewed too. This program is rushed, suspectedly by the pres-wannabe just like every other "brilliant" plans he hatched. After ranting around for the ridiculous national exam and kerosene-to-gas migration, now he wants to be Santa Claus by spreading the love (read: money). How on earth can the govt make sure that BLT-receivers use the 300.000 to survive and not burn it on cigarette?

Learning from past experience, it's certain that the BLT distribution will resemble chaos, due to unique Indonesian efficiency. The govt expects poor grannies to queue under sweltering heat, crunched in a unruly crowd to make ends meet. The aid is also bound to be a conflict source because what we see as "poor" is not the same as the govt's "poor". One desperate family may get the money while another similarly-desperate family can only hope in jealousy.

At this point, maybe the BLT is justified, but not in the long term. No one expects that 300.000 rupiahs can magically save a family from poverty. The govt should instead channel the money to community empowerment so as to make the poor, as poor as they are, independent. The adage "Give a man a fish and yada yada yada" is clichéd like hell, but it still holds true. Ask Grameen Bank's Nobel-laureate Muhammad Yunus if you don't believe me. The govt should also use the money to improve education and health services, along with making sure that it is accessible to the poor. Quality education is one way to free the people from poverty, while good health service will mean that people can get out of poverty as a living being, not as a suicidal corpse.

OK, it's just my perspective, and I've never been too fond of economics anyway. But the last time I checked, I have the right to write about anything I want. Oh yeah, I just watched Speed Racer yesterday, expect a review soon.

And The Crowd Goes "Aaaww!"

I checked my blog just now and I got a comment on my latest post on American Idol, in which I announced the winner. (Oh yeah, Cook rocks!) She asked me whether I'm happy with the results. I'll gladly answer: yup, yup, and yup, the spectacular result made my otherwise dull day wonderful. I've been a Cook fan although I predicted that Archuleta (*gasp* also known as Gaspy *gasp*) will win. Apparently, Americans chose to do the right thing, against Vote for the Worst's wish. The result also earned me the right to tease zealous Archangels/Gasperites. Once more, yay for Cook!

The comment also reminded me of checking VFTW's website. They sarcastically apologized for giving Archuleta the kiss of death curse, I can't stop reading it. I scrolled down some more and I found myself a splendid YouTube video. Gotta watch it!

Ain't that sad? I can't help but LOL and LOL. I'm not a bad guy or whatever, but those faces are priceless. Just as Ryan Seacrest started with "David...", they all looked as if Archuleta has won already; when Ryan continued to "...Cook!", no one tried to hide his, or mostly her, disappointment. The crowd went "aaaww" in unison.

By the way, I gathered some facts regarding the American Idol final. It was reported that the final garnered record-breaking 97.5 million votes, and the margin between those two is roughly 12 million votes. Turns out that the result is not so close after all.

Let the Good Times Roll, Literally

Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but this obscenely long holiday obviously has its downside too. I was direly in need of something to kill time, lots of it. I'm tired of watching the same episode of American Idol again and again, tired of channel-flipping only to settle on the same thing day after day. I also don't feel like playing the Wii, don't know why. You might thing that with so many things available, boredom is so passé. Apparently not. I had to resort to multitasking: channel-and-website flipping.

Then come my savior in the form of a PSP game. I'm saved by a tiny alien prince, the son of King of All Cosmos who rolls around with an all-sticking ball. Yup, Me & My Katamari is an excellent sequel game to its PS2 predecessors, Kamary Damacy and We Love Katamari.

This time, our funky Royal Family decided to go on a tropical vacation on "Earth". It was all fun and games until the giant King sweeps islands off with a tsunami. To redeem his mistake, he promised to rebuild all of the islands so the animals can live happily again. As in previous games, the task was delegated to none other than our lovable diminutive green prince. Talk about a responsible king...

The gameplay still follows the same formula. That's why it's called Katamari, duh. Roll around, grow, roll around some more, grow even bigger, so on and so forth until you reach the target size. Start off from thumbtacks and dices, later you get to roll people, buildings, and finally islands and rainbows. These lumps will then be transformed by the King into showy islands. The whole thing seems repetitive, but wackiness is never boring, trust me: rolling a group of innocent children feels really great. The game also created variety by changing seasons and times of the day.

Until now, I'm still amazed by how the creator got the idea of this Katamari. Let's imagine if sometime in the future, we can build such a ball. It'd be great for cleaning purposes. No one'll buy vacuum cleaner anymore, they just roll their Katamari Cleaner. On the other hand, it'll also be one annoying weapon. Turn off those nuclear bombs, we'll roll those terrorists off with a giant Katamari. Now that's what you call a weapon of mass destruction.

And the Winner is...

I overslept; but fear not, for it has it's own blessing in disguise. I woke up at 8 AM today, and being the lazy guy I am, I just turned on the TV before I did anything else. After the usual morning "riot", I flicked the channel to Star World only to surprisingly find...the American Idol Grand Final Result Show. Apparently, Star decided to air it live, hence the freaky schedule. Consequently, I know the winner at the very same time Americans know it.

As usual, the grand final is well, grand. Actually, I missed the first hour or so of the two-hour program but I'll catch it later this evening. Jonas Brothers performed in an emergency, so they sang "SOS" (so cheesy, I know). Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr were on a parody video with Gladys Knight. "Brother"man Renaldo Lapuz made a comeback for his beloved Simon Cowell; everybody sing...I am your brother, your best friend forever...Who else? Let's see, there're Jordin Sparks, George Michael, and one girl in white I didn't really recognize. Carrie Underwood?

OK, let's get to the point. If this post gets any longer or suspenseful, it'll be as clichéd as the result show. Anyone who only wants to know the result should learn from every previous season: tune in just ten minute before it airs.

And the winner is...everybody say it with me, DAVID COOK!

Another Awakened Post

The 100th anniversary of National Awakening parade last night was an awakening indeed. The colossal event, which took place in Gelora Bung Karno, showcased the rich cultural diversity of Indonesia: its people, songs, clothes, dances, and what have you. There was a medley of traditional songs and dances, along with other spectacular attractions. It showed that we are united as one nation, Indonesia, regardless of race, ethnicities, and religion. The event also marks that we do have what it takes to improve our wonderful, beloved country.

Simply put, Indonesia is a colorful mosaic of all colors imaginable; thus, the independence movement generation must be one hell of a mosaicmaker. They glued together the people of this ginormous country under the noble dream of nationalism and under our common values in Pancasila. Without them or the national awakening, the idea of Indonesia is obviously impossible. Instead, Indonesia as we know it now might have been divided into hundreds of small pitiable countries. You might have been born in the Republic of Java, while your friend in the Aceh Sultanate; your dad might have hailed from Kingdom of Bali, your mom Pasundan Republic.

Unfortunately, that "super glue" of Pancasila and nationalism is sometimes taken for granted by the next generation, including me. Rather than maintaining and strengthening the bonds that tied our islands together, we have let it erode away time after time. Even worse, some of us have also put our Pancasila nationalism aside in favor of religious "dictatorship" and race dominance. How many times have we looked down on someone just because he/she adheres to a different religion? How many times have we disrespected someone because he/she looks different?

Well, we need another awakening, another revival of our nationalism as Indonesians. One country undivided and prosperous under Pancasila. Our diversity is not a pain in the ass, instead, it's a valuable asset. (Get the lame pun?)

Rise and Shine, Indonesia

Today May 20, 2008, is the centennial anniversary of Indonesia's National Awakening. Exactly one century ago, a group of students was united by a common goal, furthering the education for native citizens. They believed that quality education is a must in the struggle for independence, and a must in the nation's development after independence. The movement expanded and it also inspired other groups that wanted to achieve the same noble goal. The period, later dubbed as "National Awakening", saw the development of our national identity as "Indonesians", which was later affirmed in the Youth Oath of 1928. Those dreams and motivations were carried on through the Indonesian Independence in 1945 and beyond.

As time progresses, it seems that we are living in a hard time, maybe even harder than what our founding fathers experienced. Our economy is faltering; education lagging; politics raging; development suffering; and worst of all, our nationalism is eroding in a critical rate. The very nationalism that brought together the whole nation in the past is struggling to find its place in the ever-changing time. The once-big nation is falling apart right in front of our eyes.

However, it is not the End yet. We can still rise up to the challenges facing us and shine the brightest among other nations.
Yes, we will rise up today, tomorrow, and forever
Rise up for a better Indonesia
Rise up for a clean, responsible government
Rise up for the fulfillment of every human rights
Rise up for a better education
Rise up for a healthy nation
Rise up for a strong economy that puts Indonesians in its core
Rise up for a sustainable development
Rise up to environmental issues, especially climate change
Rise up for religious freedom, tolerance, and harmony
Rise up for Pancasila and 1945 Constitution
Yes, we will rise up so that other nations will look up to this proud nation of Indonesia; envy its rich islands, towering mountains, mighty seas, and most of all, its united people.

The dreams will never die as long as every Indonesian has faith in his/her own nation's abilities and strive to make the noble dream come true. Yes, we can.

When the World Unites for Human Rights

On May 15, the blogosphere (or at least a big part of it) united its voice for one ginormous issue, Human Rights. Bloggers from every part of the world wrote about human rights and posted it on the same day, which certainly increased the buzz. We need to take our hats off for them because as easy as it sounds, they had to really put their heads and hearts into it. Thousands probably had to overcome blogger's block to write a good article. And also thanks to Amnesty International for its support.

We bloggers did a fine job, I'd say. Each post is a step toward more exposure, thus more awareness. We must be proud for not just sitting around, dreaming for a better world without any real action. Well, a blog post is just a string of words but no one can say that words aren't important. How many times have the world changed after being shaken up by speeches; how many wars, tears, smiles, joys, and laughter? Were they not words with which nations set themselves free, with which mankind wrote itself a commitment for its own rights?

Click here for a still-incomplete list of the posts; you can find mine on the religion section. CNN also covered the event.

There's Always Next Time, Indonesia

After posting about Indonesia's "delayed success" in 2008 Thomas Cup, I planned to post about the other half of the tournament, Uber Cup; but I was so overwhelmed by Narnia that I decided to share that magical experience first. That way, I can write about Uber after I've watched the final Uber round between Indonesia and China...in which we lost, again. Can we blame it on SBY who decided to come and watch the match, giving a presidential "kiss of death"? Once again, I don't want to pretend to be an expert in the matter so no comment on the badminton team's performance. Let's talk about something else.

I want this post to be more sympathetic. Therefore, instead of saying "good bye to Thomas-Uber dreams", I'll say "there's always next time, Indonesia". OK, I know that winning the event would be a wonderful gift to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Indonesia's National Awakening. Imagine a huge wave of elation sweeping through the nation from end to end, that would've been nice.

However, don't let the losses dampen our spirit even just one bit. Indonesia was a formidable badminton powerhouse in the past, and there's a huge chance that we can bring that title back anytime soon. The loss is huge, but Indonesia's spirit has to be even more majestic. The teams could reach the semifinal and final (guys and girls' teams respectively), and no one can stop them the next time they're around. That is, if they can move on and reach for their dreams again.

I Was in Narnia This Afternoon

C.S. Lewis's classic masterpiece, The Chronicles of Narnia, never ceases to amaze its reader young and old alike. In December 2005, we were invited to the wonderful land of Narnia with the Pevensie siblings through the first movie, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. In May 2008, the Pevensie siblings are back in the splendid adaptation of the second book, Prince Caspian.

The movie was simply magical; it treats your imagination to an exciting adventure in the land of Aslan. It was so charming, I might as well say that I was in Narnia this afternoon. To begin with, the book itself was praised, and now this movie deserves those praises too. The movie really brought us to experience the magic of Narnia and the struggle of its characters. Well done indeed!

I'd like to praise the writers who took the liberty to improvise. In effect, there are several differences in the movie compared to the book but that didn't hurt either one of them. Instead, it strengthened the story in the movie. We get to see more emotions in Peter and Caspian, including a slight rivalry between them. There are also more action to enjoy. In addition, I also like the idea of "liberating" Susan. In the book, she was kinda passive, which sometimes make people think of Lewis as a sexist. After much consideration, the writers gave Susan a more exciting role in the movie, she even got sent into the battlefield with her brothers. She was one heluva fighter.

The scenes are beautiful and strong at the same time. The Cair Paravel ruin, shot in New Zealand, is majestically gorgeous. I'd like to go south there some day. Miraz's stone castle, shot in Prague, was very suitable for the throne usurper. Aslan's How, also in Prague, was set in a prairie in the middle of the woods. It serves as a backdrop to the final battle scenes, which is totally awesomerrific.

My verdict: a MUST WATCH for everyone. You don't have to be a Narnia fan to appreciate the movie. Some may take pleasure from the story, some the scenery, some the action, but most will certainly enjoy all parts of their adventures in Narnia. The movie is a magical adaptation of a powerful masterpiece.

Thomas Cup Dreams Abruptly Stopped

Don't say that I am unpatriotic, but I didn't really get the Thomas-Uber Cups fever that seemed to have infected the whole city in recent days. Nevertheless, I still followed the results and still felt proud that the Indonesian team is going strong. The target to couple Thomas & Uber Cups in Indonesia's hands was so realistic and so close. For one part, the Uber team got its spot in the finals after beating Germany 3-1. Consequently, hopes were high that the Thomas team will get its place in the finals too.

Unfortunately, Indonesia's hopes to hold the Thomas Cup once more is smashed away by Korea 3-0 just like that. In the first round, Sony Dwi Kuncoro fell. Later, pairs Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan followed. At that time, Indonesia could only rely on Taufik Hidayat to keep the chance of going to the final round. Call it bad luck, call it flawed, or whatever you like; we just have to accept that Indonesia has to say good bye to its Thomas Cup dreams, thus its Thomas-Uber dreams too. Even more unfortunately, that was the first time I watched the tournament on tv. Kiss of death?

Before I start, I'm not gonna pretend that I can play the game extraordinarily well, so I'm not gonna comment on how he played. Still, allow me to be frank: it sucks to be Taufik Hidayat in these coming days, seriously. When the whole nation (at least the ones watching) pinned its last hopes on him, he had to lose that badly. Oh sure, everyone will say that they're proud despite the outcome, they're satisfied with the results, there's still the next Thomas Cup, so on and so forth. On the contrary, seeing the audience after the match reveals much more. The tv screen was full of disappointed faces, and let's not forget the watery eyes. I could swear that Youth and Sports Minister Adhyaksa Dault looked so blurgh while watching the last match. Everybody, let's wear the smiley mask now.

Regardless of the results, let me share my thoughts about watching the match for the first time (on tv). The tv commentator should really shut up! He's wrecking the whole event with his incessant redundancies and fake expertise -well, forgive me if he was a real badminton player- but try not to speak too much. He should've made comments, not reports. He didn't need to tell everyone if Taufik just hit the shuttlecock, we can see that for ourselves. Again, don't call me unpatriotic, but the cheering got irrelevant at points. It was irritating to hear some overexcited fans' yells when everybody else was silent. Maybe the broadcaster could tune that noise down for the tv audience, that'd be nice. Anyway, that was one solid crowd.

Can't Wait to Post This

Now we can officially go crazy about the David vs David American Idol Season 7 finale. As predicted before, Syesha, the only female left in the race was voted off, giving way for a David Cook and David Archuleta showdown next week. It will be a hard competition, but unless you're in the US, you can only watch as the battle unfolds.

Apart from the judges' constant praises, David A is currently "endorsed" by Vote For The Worst. He also made the news with his "daddy drama", in which the show's producer was extremely unhappy with Jeff Archuleta's meddling in his son's performances. Thus, VFTW wants David A to win so that his dad can keep "partying" with American Idol and Idol-affiliated label. He doesn't really have to worry though, he got the power of the tween girls on his side.

On the other hand, my choice David Cook has been outstanding in recent weeks, including last night when Simon said that David C "won the night". He also got huge support from people unattracted, or maybe even deterred, by Archuleta's "unique qualities", i.e. nervous laugh, gasps, and annoying cuteness. In simple words: Archuleta's so cute, he'll make you sick.

Despite all the hype, there's only one thing we can do now until next Wednesday: we wait.

Freedom of Religion in Indonesia, Now!

Indonesia, under Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, fully acknowledges the rights every human is entitled to and is responsible to its fulfilment. Are we progressing toward this ideal, or have we been ignoring the issue? In this post, I'll try to control my incessant nonsenses and take a look at some of the important human rights issues in the country. If you wish to see the full text of the Constitution of Indonesia click here for the original version (pdf) or here for the certified translation to English.

As you might have known it from my posts or from the news, freedom of religion in Indonesia is under attack by narrow-minded stone-age so-called "religious" groups and even worse, Indonesian Council of Ulama. While recent religious resurgence has brought positive changes, it has also brought religious arrogance in such intolerant groups.

The government, who should be the one to prevent these, is sadly joining the act, breaching the Constitution on which it stands. Article 28E clearly states that "each person is free to worship and to practice the religion of his choice..."; Article 28I provides that "the rights to ... adhere to a religion ... are fundamental human rights that shall not be curtailed under any circumstance". According to Article 29, "the state guarantees each and every citizen the freedom of religion and of worship in accordance with his religion and belief".

To start with, Indonesia's system to officially recognize only six religion is a source of problem by itself. How about people who adheres to Judaism, Baha'i, Sikhism, animism, or the people who chose not to believe in a religion at all? They are humans too, which means that they do have the right to believe or not to believe in anything. It is a form of discrimination against religious minorities which shall be stopped as soon as possible. Each and every citizen of Indonesia shall have the right to freely state anything as his/her belief because in the end, the government will have to treat everyone equally regardless of what he/she adheres to.

The case of Ahmadiyyah should be the last case of the kind. Any government that claims to embrace freedom of religion should not ban a religion in favor of another. Pressures from religious groups and fatwa from the Council are not the justifications to breach the Constitution. It is not anyone's business if Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophet, if his books are holy books. It is not the government's business if MUI thinks that Ahmadiyyah is blasphemous. Instead, the government must ensure that the rights of Ahmadis to adhere to and to practice their religion are protected. The police force has to ensure the security of their lives and their properties.

In many areas, muslims are also being deprived of their freedom. Many regions have produced sharia-based laws that forces muslims to follow approved practices. The most striking example is the enactment of Sharia in Aceh, which is a traitorous act against the Constitution. Other areas followed suit under disguises such as "moral improvement". As an example, these traitors made it compulsory for muslim women to wear their headscarves or to somehow conform to ultraconservative "decency".

Indonesia is not based on any religion. It does recognize, respect, and support the development of religions, but it doesn't base its laws on any religious teaching. Muslim women are also citizens of Indonesia: the government must not produce any law that deprives any citizen of his/her religious freedoms. Whether they want to wear their veil or not is a strictly private matter; therefore, no one should force his/her practices to others.

As a guardian of the Constitution, the government must overrule every law that stands against the fulfillment of human rights as provided by the fundamental law of the state. This legal act will be the base of enforcing freedom of religion in the country. If SBY and JK as the current government seems reluctant to uphold its own Constitution, or maybe even breaches it, we must make sure that none of these guys are re-elected in 2009.

A Break and A Review

Finally, after stuffing up your screens with excessive ramblings about exams, tests, and whatsoever, I can finally say: "Oh Yeah, My Well-Deserved Break's Here!" Today is the last day of the school exams, closing off with Arabic and Qur'an studies. Kinda anticlimactic but who cares anyway? The main points are that the curtains have fallen and the students shall rejoice in not studying anything. I might as well say good bye to sleep deprivation, and welcome to lots of sleep I should make up after all these times. Nevertheless, let's not forget about June 14, the "Day" of our days.

Usually, I would only touch American Idol on Thursdays after the elimination; however, I can't wait to spill out what I thought of today's performance. Each of the contestants performed three songs chosen by the judges, producers, and the contestant him/herself. Overall, it was an excellent show and the judges are in a gracious praising mood. Our sole chanteuse Syesha sang "If I Ain't Got You", "Fever", and "Hit Me Up", all of which were not harshly criticized. David Cook sang a song with a long title which I never knew, "Dare You To Move", and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"; Archuleta "And So It Goes", "With You", and "Longer".

If you ask me, I'll agree with Simon: "David Cook won the night" outright, it's as simple as that. Even though he especially shone with his last song, as much as I don't want to admit it, the pièce de résistance of the show was David Archuleta's rendition of Chris Brown's "With You". He really got out of his usual comfort zone, and gotta praise him for that. My hope: a David Cook vs Syesha final for a better chance of Cook's winning; my prediction: Cook vs Archuleta. You might want to check out who Vote for the Worst is endorsing. Americans, your vote will send shockwaves around the world, so vote for David Cook. Please outvote the Archangels.

Not-So-Random Finds

As much as I want to study something, I couldn't bring myself to suffer through another long hours of real studying. I had only gathered all the papers and books (it's History tomorrow) and already felt mentally exhausted, which others call "laziness". The temptation of doing something else is so strong so I end up browsing the Internet and posting this, while I don't really have anything to write. I guess I'll just post what I found in the last few days. Note: be prepared for jumping topics.

Wiktionary & Wikisource (Click here & here for Bahasa Indonesia). Sometimes thought only as an extension to all-helpful Wikipedia, these guys do have serious stuffs. Wiktionary is a helpful dictionary and thesaurus; I used it quite frequently these days, to be sure that I'm not making a complete illiterate fool of myself while writing my blog. Wiktionary also includes colloquial meanings, so it doesn't end up being too rigid. The latter, Wikisource, is a relatively complete archive of texts from ancient times to the present. This is a library for published texts, speeches, constitutional texts, and so on. Not as fun as Wiktionary, but it can be very helpful at times.

After the ridiculous Roncar ad got uploaded to YouTube, I found the annoyingly interesting M-Susu ad there. For the sake of decency and sanity, I'm not posting the link. The manboobs are simply disgusting, and I haven't even mentioned the way it 'vibrates'. Have we really sunk to a deep new low?

Fortunately, I found something with more sensible on Media Indonesia newspaper...without any manboobs. The paper ran two articles, adding up to a full page, that blasted the stupidity of the last National Exam. In my perspective, the Exam is a crime against students and teachers as it put them in a difficult situations and also deprives them of their rights. Just hope that after the election we'll have an Education Minister with more common sense and better vision. Not that it'll matter to me anymore, but still, let's not get stuck with such pointless projects.

I also found out that the Indonesian team almost had to say goodbye Thomas Cup dreams. The team barely defeated Thailand 3-2, with Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Taufik Hidayat down. Fortunately, our hopes aren't defeated yet: the team scored perfect 5-0 against Germany. Despite not being so enthusiastic about the event, I do hope that Indonesia will be the proud winner of Thomas Cup again.

Right now, I'm reading a wonderful book by Khaled Hosseini (of The Kite Runner fame) titled A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's wonderful book with a touching, emotional story of two Afghan women who had to survive through so many hardships in their life. If it's not for the exams, I won't put this book down; looking forward to finish it soon. Expect a review in a few days, maybe after May 15's Bloggers Unite for Human Rights post.

I Thought It Was Over

Last week during the experiments, I got irritatingly lucky. I got the simplest experiments in each of the subjects. In chemistry, I only had to plunge a strip of magnesium into hydrogen chloride, and count the time it took the strip to dissolve. In physics, I got the refraction experiment to prove the refractive index of glass. In biology, I escaped the curse of respirometer and benedict. Instead, I did the enzyme test, basically mixing liver extract with hydrogen peroxide. No calculations whatsoever, except some "sin"s (nice pun) in physics.

Just now, I figured out that I rejoiced too early, too much. I had felt like wrapping everything up, no more studying, until I remembered that what I have said before actually holds true: There's test, not rest, for the weary. This time, it's the Ujian Akhir Sekolah with six subjects already lining up to torture me with serious studying. Blurgh. I thought it was over!

What on earth am I doing right now in my blog!? I should've been studying for the UAS. Curse you, blogger.com! Hahaha...

Lots of Luck with the Cock

Due to my ineptitude in sports, I've never been excited about supposedly "major" sporting events and probably still am not, save maybe the final rounds of FIFA World Cup and the Olympics -actually, I watch the Olympics only for the grand Opening Ceremonies. When AFC Asian Cup fever swept the whole Jakarta last year, it spared me from being infected too. Seeing overexcited fans in red all over, I couldn't help but smile half understandingly, half sarcastically. It's their choice after all if they wanted to go crazy, it's our own national soccer team playing in its home field in a big event that Indonesia may never host again in the foreseeable future. I hate to be so pessimistic, but it's annoyingly true, isn't it?

Anyway if I'm not mistaken, tomorrow is the first day of 2008 Thomas & Uber Cup. It is the umpteenth time Jakara hosts the event. In addition, the Indonesian team has won a record 13 Thomas Cups, many consecutively, and also 3 Ubers. The event will be an indicator for our nation's pride, the badminton team.

So, regardless of my apathy, I wish our national team lots of luck, which is an integral part of any game, along with skill, which the players already have more-than-adequately. Winning both cups is not impossible, although it can be freakingly difficult. Our previous teams had worked miracles, bringing pride and joy to the nation; there's no reason why the current team can't.

The win, especially a wondrous win, would certainly be a source of smiles for millions in this distressed nation. We have too much to worry about, a lucky break will be welcomed with open hands. In spite of rising gas price, impending food shortage, and skyrocketing expense, our team's victory will raise hopes that this strong nation can free itself out of disaster and stand tall among other nations.

I, along with millions of Indonesians, wish that our badminton team can reach our one and only goal in the competition: victory. Smash that cock! (Not that "cock". The shuttle cock, you pervs!...Just kidding)

TransJakarta Corridor VIII Revisited

Remember all the brouhaha when the city govt of Jakarta, under then-new "chief dictator" Fauzi Bowo, forced their ridiculous plan for the TransJakarta's VIII corridor in Metro Pondok Indah? Back then, virtually all residents of Pondok Indah, along with other Jakartans who had enough common sense, opposed the plan. They -or more appropriately, we- did so for we feared that the plan would only do more harm than good.

The govt's initial plan was to make an elevated concrete track that would eat a lane in each direction of Metro Pondok Indah, an already congested thoroughfare in Pondok Indah. Learning from what happened in other underdeveloped, unmaintained corridors -bar the first corridor- it could be concluded that the project would attract more traffic jams than passengers. To compensate the loss, the govt also planned to widen the road which requires cutting down hundreds of palm trees lining it.

Residents' opposition included a petition, a lawsuit against the govt, and a series of banners condemning the plan. For weeks, it seemed that the debate was in a stalemate until the govt stealthily started the destruction one night. The debate raged even more, especially after the works caused numerous traffic jams that also spreaded out to the smaller streets. Unthoughtful residents of other areas started putting up banners in support of the plan. A newspaper even wrote an article questioning residents' conscience. Regardless of those obstacles, the battle was fought bravely against the "dictatorship", against the concrete blocks that laid defiantly on taxpayers' road.

Now, months after that, we can proudly say that it was a battle well-fought. The govt finally relented after heavy opposition. Cars will be allowed in the formerly-exclusive bus lanes. In effect, the whole track in Metro Pondok Indah was made level to the rest of the road. (Technically it was the other way around: the road was elevated to the height of the partially-made concrete tracks.) In addition, the street got an extra lane without sacrificing the palm trees. The few that did get cut off on the PIM1 side was instantly compensated for in the same site.

As we see the lane gets painted with a (hideous) red pattern and the "kerupuk box" bus stops being constructed, we learn an important lesson. It is an example of democracy, in which power lies in the hands of the people. It is essential that the people know their rights and be ready if the time comes to defend those rights. The whole thing serves as a model on how citizens can direct where their govt will go, so as to find the best direction for all.

Today's Double 'Whoa!'s

Like previous Thursdays, I'll be blabbering about American Idol. The theme was Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Btw, I'm rooting for David Cook now (and I just realized that I've said that before). The judges seemed to be in a good mood, graciously showering the Top 4 with praises. In that case, I agree with the judges, including the holy Simon Cowell who defended Syesha when Randy "didn't enjoy" her performance. Jason Castro "shot the sheriff" and got kicked out for that: another upset in the season after Michael Johns and Carly. I actually expected to bid Syesha farewell today. Guess we'll Syesha Mercado again next week, along with David Archuleta (Arch Angels say hooray!) and David Cook. That's the first whoa!

The second whoa! is regarding the physical education test. Thank God, I survived with no broken bones and no twisted limbs! To tell the truth, it wasn't that bad, but it was still blurgh. In floor exercises, I rolled forward but obviously not backward. Haven't figured out how to do that yet. Nevertheless, I managed to become a graceful, straight candlestick, and also to do the "kayang" (if I'm not mistaken, the term is "bridge" something) from an upright position. I thought it ended then. Apparently, the pain (fortunately not the rigor mortis) is setting in now!

Then, we had to run six torturous laps around the ginormous field, accompanied by an annoyingly scorching sun. I clocked 11m20s which I consider good enough because my legs are still in their right places. The other parts of the test are basketball and volleyball. I fared quite well -again- in my opinion. Still, I'm not sure if running the 6 laps will help me live longer; instead, I think I inhaled an above-average amount of pollution today.

A Sound Mind in a Contorted Body?

It's bound to be days like tomorrow, physical education final test. The idea of getting kids out of the classroom each and every week to exercise their bodies is a good, or even noble, idea; but in practice, it had become some kind of a nightmare for me. The reason: I suck at PE, badly. As much as I'm concerned, I could bear with team sports because the attention will be on someone else. In such circumstances, I don't mind being "ignored" at all. On the other hand, I'm totally pwnd in individual sports, especially in and almost specific to floor exercises. And it makes me question the saying that goes "mens sana in corpore sano".

As a background, I never had the interest in forward and backward rolls, handstand, headstand, and such. I really had a hard time doing these stuffs: I wasn't able to do a forward roll until I was like in 4th grade. Fortunately, the overall success rate of hand stand among students is low, so I didn't make a fool of myself in that area. But in the end, every floor exercise session, like many other sports, results in public humiliation on my expense. Nevertheless, I'd like to thank my PE coaches for all this time, from elementary school to high school, for their understanding and being extra patient with me. I just realized that they had to frustratingly endure my failings year after year with no improvement.

Back to the problem (but never "back to the laptop", Tukul is waaay overrated), I never grasp the idea of how doing rolls will lead to a healthy body and therefore to a sound mind. Does a sound mind dwell in a frequently twisted body? I've seen sick people with more sanity than our government. Don't even mention that "someday it'll be useful". Unless you're Jackie Chan, gymnastics is very rarely, if ever, used in real life. Get real, have you ever used any of those moves to get through an obstacle? Normal people find a way around obstacles, no need to get all stuntman-ish. Until this day, obviously I've never been in a situation that requires folding my body like a Chinese acrobat. To me, PE is basically a chance to escape the classroom and enjoy a friendly chat or two or many with others.

Please note that I'm not saying that PE is useless: the benefits of sports are proven, there's no denying that. I'm just making my point that in the current system, PE is not even close to reaching its ideal purpose of improving our health. PE will only do so if it is made as flexible as an elastic gymnast. To each his/her own, that should've been the principle. Let students pick what they want to do: football, basketball, softball, gymnastics, or anything under the sun. It'll make PE interesting and unnightmare-ish, which will then increase participation in PE. There's no real importance of taking scores in PE, lest it'll be a burden. I'm fed up with the comparisons with other students.

I'm all for physical and mental health, but not for the exhaustion -and humiliation- PE causes.

A "Memorable" Sunday

Blurgh. Tomorrow is the religious ed test, which means that I have to -finally- memorize those prayers and verses. Actually, at some point in the past I did know them by heart, but as I discovered a few days ago, I need a major review on things I don't frequently recite. Fortunately I still remember some of the sura verses, I just got the order messed up. The same thing happens to the after-salat prayers, and sometimes I confused "Allahumma" with "Rabbana", and vice versa, which basically mean the same thing "O (Our) God". Personally, I don't care about this kind of difference -I wouldn't know it if I did confuse one with the other. Nevertheless, being the good student that I am (really!) I'll try to somehow conform with the guidebook. What a "memorable" moment!

I made a "cheat" or mnemonic for the prayer. It's just some phrases that I associate with particular prayers. For example, the Rabbana zalamna... is the "sorry God, I messed up" prayer, Allahumma inna nas-aluka... is "the long one", and so on. Then, I make sentences according to the order in the guide. I hope it'll help me; to be more exact, I need it to help me.

In the morning, as usual I went to Taman Anggrek for skating. Last week was SkateJakarta 2008, so I didn't practice. I had to get in "the zone" with my salchow and toe walley jump again, but I did those quite well, in my opinion. I haven't really mastered the salchow, but I'm trying hard. I did get the "you've got it" feeling once or twice. For toe walley, the theory is grasped, the practice, not so well. I did land some though. The toe loop is far more satisfactory, and I really enjoy doing it. Don't get me started on spins. My one-foot is gaining balance, no wobbling this time -here comes the but- but the spin entrance is still quite messy. I'm very eager to master the spin, along with the other moves; I'm trying hard not to make things spin around so much, both figuratively and literally.

Anyway, I saw some PKS people on my way and I discovered that the nascent party is having a birthday bash -this time only figuratively, you don't expect them to "shake ya body". As much as I don't like them (hate is such a strong word), I think I may wish them happy birthday, or not. The party is undeniably a modern, organized party; it just doesn't stand on the best thing around. If a Pancasilaist-Indonesian party can evolve to this level of organization, or preferably higher, I will vote for it...in 2009!