Flashback To A Week Of Live Music Performance

Yupes. Last week I saw a lot of live performance from various artists, bands, etc., that you might see regularly on TV or hear on the radio (but some are not -- more on that later).

So right now no wonder I felt kind of tired and actually the weekend didn't really mean time to rest like the rest of you folks might usually do.

On Wednesday, a friend of mine gave me the opportunity to shot some photos on MTV Indonesia Awards 2009 (a music award program for local artists) and boy! did I have fun there. Actually I'm kind of embarassed to admit this but this one actress is what drove me to the scene.



Arumi looks gorgeous in her gown -- in the red carpet which I didn't provide here -- and in this girly softball outfit she looked really cute. Omigosh now I sound like a pervert.

The other artists I want to see is the famed (now non-exist) peterpan. This was the first time I see them live on stage. Right now I'm eagerly waiting for their first album in their new formation and using their new name. 2010 that is.

And of course, one did not forget to mention Superman Is Dead. They rule the stage!



Well, on Saturday, I went to JCC Senayan to the Final Round of Djarum Black Autoblackthrough 2009, again to take pictures of some female artist that was scheduled to perform there. To my surprise, they listed Bunga Citra Lestari and Agnes Monica for that day and kept Aura Kasih for Sunday. Hell yeah! That'd be the second time in a week that I watch Agnes Monica perform live. And the second time to see her perform live too.

But there's some problem with the lighting setup on the stage so I only post here a picture of BCL.



Thus, seeing BCL and Agnes Monica on Saturday, my mind is set to CHARITINDIE on Score! Citos on Sunday. Of course there are two reasons I went there and forgetting Aura Kasih on Autoblackthrough: Superglad and Seringai!

I had fun -- real fun -- on this one week. Watched Superglad, S.I.D., and Seringai. Not to mention Bunga Citra Lestari and Agnes Monica.

Now, if only there was KOIL too...

Overheard: "Nging Nging Nging"

Di suatu tempat penjualan dvd dan mp3 (bajakan) di Tangerang, ada dua orang pemuda seumuran SMU, sedang sibuk memilah-milah CD di bagian mp3 artis dalam negeri.

Mungkin karena tak menemukan yang mereka cari, seorang dari mereka menanyakan ke penjaga stand, "Mbak, yang Pee Wee Gaskins ada gak?"

"Ada kok," kata si Mbak sigap.

"Mbak tahu kan Pee Wee Gaskins?" desak si pemuda, seakan tak percaya pada pengetahuan si Mbak Penjaga atas barang dagangannya.



"Tahu dong, yang musiknya nging nging nging itu kan?" kata si Mbak sambil tersenyum.

Aku menoleh dan melihat ekspresi muka kedua ABG itu lalu tertawa terbahak-bahak.

Headache And Heartache

Here's what bother me.

My own future.

I have this deep-rooting FUD that later in my life I'd regret the choices I made. Sometimes I asked myself that is this is all that's into it? Is this is what I can get from life. The most of my life?

I don't know and I -- like a lot of other people -- fear whatever thing that was -- or is -- beyond my grasp of understanding.

Day 315+1: Some Notes About The Lost Symbol

Let me quote a part first:

Only through the death experience could man fully understand his life experience. Only through the realization that his days on earth were finite could he grasp the importance of living those days with honor, integrity, and service to his fellow man.

Now wouldn't that be a surprise? I always have this thought that by depriving or losing or taken away from you, you'd value what you got and already have and probably will still be having.

And by the last part (honor, integrity, and service), that'd be what I really want to see from a lot of people. Man, wouldn't that'd be nice?

Crush Love

Call this a delightful coincidence. Sebenarnya tadi malam aku menuju sebuah mall dengan satu tujuan di dalam pikiranku, mencari album Gondrong Kribo Bersaudara yang pada wiken kemaren aku lihat dipajang di rak sebuah toko buku terkenal di daerah Kemang. Sebenarnya, cover albumnyalah yang menarik perhatianku dan seperti biasanya, pada saat itu aku memutuskan menunda dulu pembelian sebelum sedikit googling untuk mencari sekedar gambaran latar belakang band ini.



Band baru, tentu saja, seperti hal baru lainnya, tidak dengan gampang kubeli karyanya. Aku harus merasakan dulu, mencicipi, seperti apa sebenarnya "isi" mereka.

Lalu pada malam itu aku mendengar sebuah cuplikan lagu rock berbahasa Indonesia yang catchy diiklankan di sebuah stasiun radio khas Betawi. Sepertinya band ini menyenangkan, pikirku. Lalu pada saat aku mendengar nama band itu disebutkan, aku merasa seperti ini pertanda untuk membeli album mereka.

Di tokok CD di mall tersebut, aku mencari dan mencari lalu menemukan album mereka terselip di rak CD artis Indonesia, satu-satunya copy di tempat itu. Hooray! Aku ambil dan langsung menuju kasir.

Tapi dalam perjalanan, saat mataku menyapukan pandangan ke rak CD artis rock/metal luar negeri, ada sebuah cover album yang (lagi-lagi) menarik perhatianku. Bayangkan terkejutnya aku, ketika mengambil album tersebut dari rak dan melihat nama artisnya. Album studio terbaru dari afi! Cihuy dobel!

Buat kalian yang tak tahu, afi (afireinside) adalah band punk rock luar idolaku sejak pertama kali aku dengar hampir sepuluh tahun yang lalu.

Lalu yang aku lakukan sekarang adalah menikmati album afi terbaru sambil menikmati sebuah minuman kocok di salah satu coffee shop favoritku.

Jadinya aku dapat yang aku cari (album GRIBS) dan album terbaru afi....

Heaven Sent, That's What I Call Ya!

Some folks that know me personally would probably could acknowledge that I like a lot of music. Pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz, blues, metal, electronic (not much), and even local music such as dangdut. Yes, maybe sang some dangdut for a change probably have good effect. Or not.

But there is this one band that I like ever since I was a small kid in a small town surrounded by the jungle of Sumatra. I don't know and don't remember when was the first time I heard their music but even years afterwards I can still enjoy their music. This one (rock?) band from down under I'd like to prefer as legendary but some might argue about this title.

No, it's not Bee Gees although a few of their singles do catch on on me. I'm talking about INXS here. Yes, I guess you'd probably never heard of them or can't even remember their reality show a couple of years back when the remaining member of the band held an audition for a new lead vocalist -- because the last one commit a suicide. Rest In Peace, MH.

No, this post not have any point at all other than that I'm feeling nostalgic today as I played their greatest hits album on my disc player, enjoying the vocal, the sound, and eagerly await for the last song in the list, the once-hot-hit-single, Beautiful Girl.

Some Notes About The Lost Symbol, Part 1

WARNING, SPOILER ALERT!

Now let me put some quotes first (I read the Doubleday's hardcover edition):

Chapter 1 page 7
"    The fifty-eight-year-old philantropist, historian, and scientist had taken Langdon under his wing nearly thirty years ago, in many ways filling the void left by Langdon's father's death."

Chapter 3 page 13
"His physique was not quite what it had been in his college days as a water-polo all-American, but he was still lean and toned, respectable for a man in his forties."

Chapter 3 page 14
"    Peter Solomon had been a friend, mentor, and, although only twelve years Langdon's senior, a father figure to him ever since their firts meeting at Princeton University. As a sophomore, Langdon had been required to attend an evening guest lecture by the well-known young historian and philantropist."

= = = = = = = = =

Now you see, if Peter Solomon was twelve years older than Robert Langdon, that made Langdon forty-six-years-old.

They first met around thirty years ago, let's say for the sake of making it simpler, it was twenty-eight-years ago. That means that Solomon was thirty-years-old and Langdon a mere sixteen -- and Langdon was already in sophomore years!

Well, does Mr. Brown tried to make a point that Langdon is a genius (or at the very least, advanced academically?)

How Cool Is Your Siblings

Actually, NOT cool. I have had bad times and worse. My brother can even make a happy morning turned sour or gloom. Such power, wielded in a man's hand.

To think that that guy can ask and make you feel that you have to obey, when actually you're the one who's doing him a favor, now that's a really special power. I just wish that that dude wouldn't abuse it too often.

Oh by the way, big city like Jakarta surely have a lot of people living there, people that maybe at sometimes are so self-centered but not realizing it, that made you felt suffocated. You know you are angry or upset with how some of them treat you but you know that actually they didn't really mean that. It's just that they do what a lot of people did: being unsensitive but mindless about it.

You see, when you have to travel across state border to meet some people, you'd expect the person you're going to meet appreciate your effort, time, and energy you spent to get there. At least to some level. But when you're being told to just wait or being said words like you're disturbing their oh-so-busy-life-and-important-STUFFS-to-do, like you're interrupting some serious business, wouldn't you be questioning what the hell are you even doing there?

Oh I forgot. I just making some unimportant queries that not even need some considerations. Maybe because that I am just a nobody.

Maybe if I am someone, like SOMEONE IMPORTANT, a hot-shot in Jakarta, then -- and ONLY then -- I will get the proper attention (like, minimal?) that (maybe un-) deserved by a man at my state.

That is, the state of nothing?

Stand By Me

"Stand By Me, Nobody Knows The Way It's Gonna Be..."

Is that an adequate thing to say to the one you wish would be there for you when you need that person the most?

How much trust can you give to a person to be there for you, support you, a safe harbour when you are trying to escape a storm?

Can I depend on the person the way that person depend on me?

Day 305+1: The Price of Freedom and Independence

Have you ever give yourself time to think about the price for getting your freedom? The cost to be independent and maintain it?

Being born to a free country, I have always been taking those two for granted. Never give a lot of thought about them. Not until these last decade and even that only a few moments each year as our independence day nearing. Not really much until I got wind up in a strategy game that people played anonymously in the internet.

Yes it is just a game but that game made me realize that in order to thrive, one can not just simply played by oneself and pretend that other players' existence is not really matter. By that game, I was reminded that in order to strengthen one's alliance one must find players with like-minded, same purpose, and share the same goal.

And in hard times one must make decisions that may or may not affect other alliance members well-being but surely could cost one's freedom and independence. Thus was the condition that I must endure to remind me that how high the price of freedom could be. How steep the cost to keep being independent. And how hard is it to represent the greater good if decisions have to be made democratically.

Hah, the burden of being democratic.

But without having a democratic alliance, what good that it'd be? How could I can claim to be the champion of freedom and independent if I was being a dictator? But then again, how can I be even claiming to have forge my alliance to be stronger if I was and still am being farmed by other mightier player with stronger alliance?

Ah, the musing of a man with a lot of spare time to waste.