Fasting Comes (Too) Fast (Enough)?

It's that time of the year again, the fasting month of Ramadan. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "Lebaran was just over, wasn't it?...What, it's been a year already?!" I don't know why, but Ramadan has successfully caught me by surprise each year. I guess I was deceived by the false sense of security after Idul Fitri. (Wait, for the sake of being not-so-formal, I'll use Lebaran to refer to Idul Fitri hereafter)

It is totally normal, if not enjoyable, to experience some kind of "Lebaran hangover" after each occasion: you say sorry to anyone you meet during the hangover, including your best frenemies; you happily struggle to chat with your "Lebaran relatives" (the err-what's-his-name extended family you only see once a year during Lebaran feast); and you eat like there's no tomorrow -I can smell the Ketupat & Opor Ayam already. After you recover from the hangover, all you think is "I'm done, no more fasting. Viva la kaki lima! Let's live to eat." The world becomes one ginormous foodcourt. Then, as you gorge yourself on anything for almost a year, ads for Ramadan programs -including Ramadan editions of gossip shows- start to invade the television, again.

As the next Ramadan approaches, you begin to feel left behind, while everybody else is so gung-ho welcoming the blessed month. The one thing that assures you that Ramadan is coming is the media's covering skyrocketing food prices. In my case, I would only realize that the holy month's coming when people start apologizing to each other to "cleanse" themselves before entering Ramadan. My cellphone would start to ring continuously as my contacts begin to spread the love, and mobile operators can start amassing the "grace" early: for those who are still skeptical about Ramadan's being a bountiful month, just ask Telkomsel. Yet, I wouldn't really grasp the urgency until my mom wakes me so freakin' early in the morning for the sahur meal. Blurgh. No, not blurgh for Ramadan; but blurgh for my being so oblivious.

At this point, I question myself for using the pronoun you to describe my personal experiences related to Ramadan since my Ramadan and Lebaran traditions are somewhat off-the-beaten-track. I was writing as if all of you were so un-gung-ho about the fasting month, or as if all of you have got "Lebaran relatives" (oh God, just admit it already that you have such relative). Anyway, let's welcome Ramadan the Blessed Month with embracing arms and get the most out of it.

A Historical Time for Bloggers

...and it's not about my coming back here. First things first, hiya everyone! Totally sorry for my first long absence: 3 weeks. I really miss ranting wildly about whatever stuffs writing about everything going on in my life, which may also concern you -or it may not, I don't care anyway. During that period, a lot of things transpired, like Paris Hilton's joining the US presidential race, Indonesia's cointinuing badminton legacy, Phelps' breaking records, Indonesia's 63rd Independence Day celebration, and whatever you can find in Yahoo! News.

Anyhoo, let's move on to the main topic. Bloggers - their (or perhaps our) voice counts. The Democratic National Committee realizes that it can reach a broader audience by recruiting bloggers into their publicity legion since blogs cater to a more specific group of people. Each state is represented by a blogger, and so are other demographic, if not made-up, groups. (An Argentinian cattle rancher, for example, serves the US expat community in Buenos Aires). There are 120 blogs with credentials from the Democratic Party; their bloggers have access to the convention floor in Pepsi Center, Denver, and they have the chance to follow the state delegations. Another 500 set up a huge tent outside as their own media center. Let's see the GOP use the "series of tubes" for their advantage.

Coming home to Indonesia, I think it is imperative that bloggers are empowered to stimulate Indonesian politics, develop thoughts, and give a boost to the coming elections. Of course, we can't really expect blogs flaunting their political stances outright like right- or left-leaning; liberal, conservative, or even centrist. Our political constellation doesn't really set those lines, which should make any person in his/her right mind to question the necessity of thirty-four parties. Oh wait, thirty-eight parties; forty four if you're in Aceh. Then again, we'll just have to make do with this outrageous situation. Blogs can participate in educating the public and in advancing political ideas because they are gaining more and more popularity among Indonesian net-goers. Furthermore, it will also promote tolerance between different views and political camps. No longer will there be useless uneducated debates with sentences more offensive than Habib Rizieq.

Viva Bloggers!

Go Team Indonesia!

The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was one heluva party with tons of fireworks and thousands of contemporary performers who left me clueless. I was in total awe...due to the fact that I couldn't watch it. I had hundreds of channels on my TV, yet none of them aired the glorious ceremony. Well, TVRI aired the whole thing -minus a lot for suckish ads. It is the sole local broadcaster of the Games in Indonesia because no other channel wanted to spend so much money on something that virtually no Indonesian care to watch. The state channel chose to air the Games due to its role in "serving the nation", and sources say that they get the airing rights for free. So surprising, not!

However, the lovely FirstMedia, my cable provider, swapped TVRI for some random European sport programs since it doesn't have the broadcasting rights; therefore, no Olympics whatsoever in my idiot box. Blurgh. Maybe some foreign sports channels are airing it, I should check them out. Right?

Oh wait, not necessarily. Or to quote Friends' Phoebe: "I wish I could, but I really don't want to".

Anyway, I am blindly proudly rooting for Team Indonesia, despite not knowing who's in it. Taufik Hidayat should be there, shouldn't he? I mean, he's like the only one we can really hope to grab a medal. According to a paper, lifter Lisa Rumbewas is there, although she failed to get a medal. Let's see, who's there too...No idea. But it doesn't mean that I'm apathetic. I always wish the whole team good luck. Heck, they're in the land of feng shui, auspicious days, and undying superstitions; they'd better be lucky.

Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia, Oi Oi Oi! Errr....that's not right. Which could only mean that I have a question to ask to my compatriots: how does the crowd cheer for Team Indonesia? Honestly, I'm not the sporting-crowd type of guy, so I don't have the slightest clue about this stuff. And please, none of those lame chants with changeable lyrics for whatever the crowd's supporting. Otherwise, the "tacky patrol" will arrest you.

Enjoy Jakarta (?)

As a Jakartan, I've been "enjoying Jakarta" because this is where I live, and I've learnt to deal with most of its problems. I believe I'm speaking for most Jakartans when I say that the chaotic traffic, obnoxious people, questionable roadside food, and ginormous malls have become an inseparable part of every citizen of this bustling capital. Obviously, the city council needn't attract us with fancy billboards or cheesy TV ad; we're stuck here whether we like it or not and ultimately, we've come to loving our own messy city.

Now, the govt is trying to lure more people into the city, and of course, extort as much money as possible from gullible tourists. The central govt came up with "Visit Indonesia Year 2008", which features an interesting TV ad that will surely leave any potential tourist -with his/her money- clueless. The ad is beautiful, but I'm not sure if some weird chants is going to attract any tourist. Next, the city council popped out the "Enjoy Jakarta" slogan, which can be found in any kind of events.

Quite frankly, we are not so ready to be a real tourist destination like the "Malaysia Truly Indonesia" or Singapore. We do have many wonderful tourist spots, but the city has not yet transformed them into tourist traps. I hate to say this, but it is a way to know if the govt really supports tourism. Just see Europe, the continent of rip-off tourist traps; millions and millions of people visit its countries every year. We are more suited for the adventurous and surely not for the faint-hearted. Jakarta is a place for tourists who want to seek the thrill of travelling and who is ready to toughen up. That's why I came up with slogans that are more apt for our condition. If I see any of these in a billboard, I'd better receive some money soon.

"Survive Jakarta"

"Don't Be A Wuss, Go to Jakarta"

"Jakarta is Gonna Kick Your A** "

"Why the Bloody Hell Are You in Oz? Come to Jakarta!"

"Feel the Thrill...of Our Traffic -We Saved You A Seat"

"Freakin' Crazy Jakarta Welcomes You, Freakin' Crazy Tourists"

"You Ain't Tough Till You Do Jakarta"

"Screw KL, Escape Singapore, and Don't Even Ask About Brunei -Just Visit Jakarta"

I'm Sooo Happy

I am now officially so happy that I will make your stomach hurt. My English-course teacher loved my latest work, and she didn't hesitate, not even a bit, to say so. The work was to make a descriptive essay about an interesting place, and I chose the previously-mentioned Kawah Putih. You may ask: "Why Kawah Putih? I thought you said that it has been molested by obnoxious tourists?" Well, I am the writer, and it was completely up to me to choose which ones go into the writing and which ones are better forgotten. So, I took the liberty to omit the current ugliness and crowdedness of the crater from the masterpiece. I blindly described it according to my very first visit there a couple of years ago, before throngs of Jakartans swarm the place.

Because we were working on compositions, she told us to make a formal outline. The outline part is helpful, while the formal part is a major burden. We had to make the outline grammatically correct -parallel and everything- and painfully detailed that in the end, it took more effort to make the outline than to make the actual writing. But I have to admit that by doing much of the brainstorming in the beginning, I could put more effort into "beautifying" the whole half-truth writing.

Anyway, some of the credit should also go to all computer geeks that made typing on my laptop possible, and anyone who suggested putting thesaurus in Microsoft Office Word. I love writing on the computer, because after each work, I genuinely feel like editing. I always scroll up again and read everything to make sure the flow's good, the choice of words attractive, and the spelling correct -OK, it's the computer's job. If a word became too repetitious, I could always open up the thesaurus and change it. If that's not satisfying enough, there's always the internet. I love this "age of technology". If I had chosen to write naturally, i.e. by hand, I wouldn't have even dreamt of checking anything, because it would be a pain in the ass, and the wrist, obviously.

On my laptop, it doesn't matter if I mess up a whole paragraph. I could always write the replacement, and just delete the ugly paragraph into oblivion. Kinda like performing a surgery without any stitches, or torturing your frenemy without leaving any mark. By hand, don't even ask. First, I would have to erase all of it. If I succeeded in not tearing the paper apart, I'd have to squeeze the new paragraph into the former's space. Some words would be squished together, while some would have huge spaces like Bugs Bunny's teeth. Naah, it will never feel right.

Buh-bye, it's quite late already, and I don't want to offend any old lady who thinks that sending an SMS for holidays, instead of a greeting card, is a crime. Hey, I used to have one of the best penmanship in my elementary school class. Btw, I plan to blog the work I did.

Movie Chit-Chat: Smart People

Who knew that an unwanted pregnancy can cure all life's problems? Even the horrifyingly intelligent Prof. Lawrence Whetherhold didn't see that coming. The movie Smart People is a nice movie about a rather dysfunctional family, the Whetherholds, that consists of an arrogant depressed professor-slash-dad (Dennis Quaid), an overachieving no-fun daughter (Juno's Ellen Page), and a good-for-nothing uncle (Thomas Haden Church). Throughout the movie, these characters dealt with their complicated problems, strained their relationships, yet in the end, they all came together. To me, it was like watching Little Miss Sunshine: no fights, no explosions, no scantily-clad female villains; just pure tender story of a family trying to be, well, a family. It simply makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

However, I found that it's not so easy to praise. There's something missing that deprives this movie of being a great movie. I struggled to put together the story together in my head because it felt somewhat choppy. There wasn't enough room for really bringing out the character of these people, to really know their story. Suddenly Sarah Jessica Parker got knocked up, and they all unite for the baby.

As far as I'm concerned, it is an entertaining movie, although definitely not a "must see". Especially if you're in the mood for some serious action or you'd rather watch terracotta soldiers rise from the dead.

Don't Forget The "17an" Lyrics

Unless you're a freak who exclusively uses the lunar calendar, you should've realized that it's August already. Before you know it, we'll once again celebrate the independence of Indonesia on August 17 or tujuhbelasan, colloquially. Uh-huh, it's that time of the year when you can go nuts with red and white everywhere. Don't forget to throw in some "nationalism" and "patriotism", bring back memories of the good ol' days, and open the great tujuhbelasan songbook -OK, Cokelat's album is fine if you don't feel like being old and tacky. Well, this is the first tujuhbelasan in my blog, and it's a nice season to write anything about Indonesia.

This first 17an post is most probably more suitable for fellow Indonesians, who make up the majority of this blog's readership. I just watched a game show called Missing Lyrics in TransTV: Indonesian version of Don't Forget the Lyrics. It inspired me to write this post. I put down some lyrics with blanks and let's see if you can complete them. The twist is that I'm giving you both 17an songs and some recent hits. Which one is easier for you?

(all taken from the beginning except numbers 4, 6, and 9)
1. Indonesia tanah air beta, _____ ____ nan ______.
2. To the left, to the left. Everything you own in the _____ ___ ___ _____.
3. Dari Sabang sampai Merauke berjajar pulau-pulau. Sambung-menyambung ______ ______, itulah _______.
4. Now that it's raining more than ever, now that we'll still have each other. You can ____ _____ __ ______ (2x) (ella, ella, eh, eh, eh) This one's a total no brainer
5. Maju tak gentar, membela yang benar. Maju tak gentar, _____ _____ _______.
6. You tell me that you're sorry, didn't think I'd turn around and say, that it's too _____ to ______
7. Bangun pemudi pemuda Indonesia, _____ ______ _______ untuk negara.
8. Hey, hey! You, you! I don't like ____ _______. No way, no way. I think you need __ _____ _____.
9. Kita tetap ______, tetap ______, mempertahankan Indonesia.
10. I just want you close, where you can stay forever. You can be sure, that it will _____ ____ ______.

I'm Free! and Other Stuffs 010808

Finally! The matriculation program just ended today after a month of pointless learning and getting-out-of-the-class schemes. My performance report: I managed to stay awake during all of the English classes and most of the sciences, ditched only one session for each subject, and survived three "scientific" debates -one of which I have gloriously re-enacted here before.

Actually, the English program had already ended on a high note three days ago. During the whole month, we had been working on a final project that consisted of a magazine and a wall bulettin, both covering the need to save energy. Then, on the last day of the program, all the classes had an exhibition which turned out to be wilder than kindergarteners on caffeine. At the very end of the day, we were shown a touching picture slideshow of the exhibition. Aaaaw, that's nice! I am quite fond of my English matriculation class, actually.

On the other hand, the evil alliance of physics and math ended with our presentation on some stuffs about the physical and mathematical aspects of the body's circulation system. Thank me because I'm not going deeper on that, otherwise it'll give you nightmares -unless you're a French guy named Poiseuille. If you click that, you'll see an equation, which we had to derive from a completely different equation. Who knew that your veins and arteries can send integration and derivatives all over the place? Frankly, in this case, I am so glad that it's over.

Now, for the "other stuffs". This afternoon, a little bird lost its way into my house and crashed into its pitiful death. I didn't see anything, when suddenly the window "BANG!"ed and bird feathers were raining down inside. It then flew for another exit at the back of my house. I guess it was extremely disoriented, because it cluelessly slammed into the window once more and then spiraled down powerlessly. I had expected it to just scramble to the door, as it was so close; but no, it simply lay there as if nothing were happening. Apparently, it had already joined the line to the pearly gates. I knew, because I rolled it over on its stomach and nothing happened.

Second stuff, I am very eager to watch the whole "Last Lecture" by the late Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University. His popular speech has skyrocketed into fame, thanks to YouTube, and I had known about it for quite a while. Yet, I only thought about really watching it today. I had seen the first ten minutes: one of the most inspirational ten minutes of my life. Gotta see more.