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bricolage \bree-koh-LAHZH; brih-\, noun: -a dump site for anything at hand, in mind-

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

everybody needs a hero

daniel craigMari E. Pangestu, the Minister of Trade of Indonesia, waved good byes to a very bery important guest in Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport that evening. At the same time, around 150 people starred at the dazzling face of a sun-tanned man in black tuxedo.

As the three-decked 747 Boeing-made airplane gigantic jet engines was whirring and lazily cruising the runway for airborn procedure, the credit title rolled in and those hundred of people stood up from their seats and found their way out.

Both events, I'd say are quite a controversy. Days before the Air Force One landed in Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, thousands of people rallied despite the prolonged-drought heat of Jakarta's street. Thousands of movie enthusiasts didn't really like what the movie industry has chosen for 2006 release of this "double oh movie".

But life goes on.

Daniel Craig, despite his not-so-significant past roles (check IMDB for more info), I'd like to comment that he did try hard.

george bush jr.George W. Bush, despite his unexpected remarks in places that he visited, I'd like to comment that he did try hard to remember the name of Pakistan's president.

The blonde Bond went deranged and revealed quite some surprises. Stronger script than usual. Close ups at Bond's expression. More emotional frames. A marketing strategy to boost Craig's performance despite public's hesitancy over the choice? Well, he started off as theatre performer. I guess the poker scenes gave the soul to the Casino Royale. No matter what.

Perhaps that's the same thing with the Iraq War to Bush administration. Something that humanity and civilization will remember as a failure.

Despite all that, MGM did make lots of cash from "Casino Royale", Craig's popularity improves and increases (I think so) and Bush' attempt to strengthen his Asian's allies should turn out as something positive. Most Indonesia's media, from print to broadcast did earn cash from news bites, live reports, features, etc. Rookie reporters and journalists had to bear with strict security measures during Bush' visit, and movie goers feasted Craig's six pack and icy cold eyes.

Well, we all like to look up to someone whom we consider as having better skills or someone that we thought as important. Are we longing for a hero?

Got anybody that you look up to?


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Daniel Craig's photo is a courtesy of:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/

George W. Bush photo is a courtesy of
http://www.facade.com/celebrity/photo/George_W_Bush.jpg

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Monday, November 13, 2006

novemburr!

mumblesAs I heard the sound of feet tapping the ground, I though it was "THX" cinema effect checking cinema sound system. Not! A bunch of grey furballs on some giant chunk of ice. They tap dance, sing, swim and they rock!

Meet Robin Williams wears moustache on his cheek and Hugh Jackman without "Wolverine" costume. Don't mistake Elijah Wood for Josh Groban here.

"Happy Feet"'s presence on the Internet is far more interesting compared to standard movie-length cartoon and animation (which usually only contains wallpaper and trailers). Its "download" area has anything from "growth chart" to "stickers", even a dedicated page for web masters! A nouvel way to advertise a movie and trigger creativity for young web fanatics (as young as 8 years old!)

I wonder what kind of moral is this animation movie going to promote. I like "Over the Hedge" quite a lot because I believe it has honest portrayal of today's human life style. Which is destructive.

bondThe Commander is back! Need not to say more *winks*
For those who do not wish to go through all Fleming's novel series to know more about "the guy who drinks, but not to excess", drop by at the movie's official site. It looks dark and has standard features (wallpapers and trailers), but I like the Aston Martin wallpaper and their "Dossier" page. For preview lovers, try to walk through the "Yarborough" blog feature, although it's not interactive, you can track the blog back to May 2006, when movie filming process took place.

A PSP game ala "cloak and dagger" will drive the interest of gamers (perhaps).

I wonder whether it was Daniel Craig himself who wrote the blog. BTW, who's "Yarborough"? BTW, who was Craig in "Munich"? the Hitler?

For those who reside in Indonesia, start bonding with Bond on November 15 (which is tomorrow?)

Au contraire to the "burr", it's melting hot here on the equator..

=========================
"Happy Feet" and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and copyrights of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. 2006"
http://www2.warnerbros.com/happyfeet/

"Casino Royale" belongs to © 2006 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All Rights Reserved
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/

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Sunday, November 12, 2006

closest, cleanest, cheaper

inside For you who knows "Kemang" and been there for quite some times, you might have heard of "Dixie", this easy dining place. A friend of mine label it as "edible", I label it as "closest, cleanest, cheapest place to eat" (can't stand fast food all the time).

They're changing their concept into a pasta place. What you have to do is choose the type of pasta that you like. You may take the curly ones, the long and thin ones, the hollow ones or the classic "spaghetti" type. Then, choose the size. Yeah, not only Kemang numerous vintage boutiques make you choose your size, even "Warung Pasta" (pasta bistro) let you do that. They have S, M and L size, and each size goes by weight (in metric size).

Choose standard stir fry, appetizers or baked ones. The baked ones is quite unique. I thought they pre-cooked everything and only reheat stuffs. Wrong! I gotta wait for a few minutes before my order arrived. They do cook everything from zero!

baked pastaMy "Mushroom Chunks Baked Pasta" comes in a clay pot, but the mozarella and grated cheddar were browned. So, I guess they baked the pot without cover and present it with cover. Pretty neat. The clay pot keeps the pasta warm to the last scoop.

If you happen to be in Jakarta, bear with Kemang traffic. The worst in during weekend. "Warung Pasta" can be really full with hip and chic teens from 20:00 PM onwards.

reasonable!Pricewise, they are okay. My bill topped at around 38,000 IDR (around 4-5 USD) for free refill clear water, minestroni soup which was wayy too salty and an "M" size baked pasta.

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Saturday, November 11, 2006

"suluk banyu"

A colleague at work sent me an e-mail invitation of a puppet theatre event. It's somewhere on the other side of where I live in this Asian megacity. I was kinda reluctant, but the name "Slamet Gundono" stings like a Prada Sale.

audience of suluk banyuThe staircase entrance of Fatahillah Museum was full with choc full of people from all walks of life and class. A 5000 litre water truck that belongs to City Park Department actually parked beside a spot that is turned into a stage. A pipe was hanged at around 2 meters high and water pours down like rain. It actually looks like a water curtain.

I thought the puppeteer (dalang, Bahasa Indonesia)was going to use that water curtain as a screen. In Indonesia, puppet theatre is staged in front of a white cotton screen. Whether you stand at the same side as the puppet master or not, you can still follow the story and see the leather puppet.



Well, there is no character or puppets being staged by the puppeteer, Slamet Gundono. Instead, it was like a theatre. I mean, a performance. I don't know how to say it. My vocabularies for arts and performance is pretty limited.. d'oh!

performers in actionSo, I got to see several dancers who performed below the water curtain. Gundono and his "Wayang Suket Troupe" (wayang suket means grass puppets) actually perform "Water Puppet Theatre" like a performing arts troupe.

It was an interesting performance to see, although the stage committee (either forget or did it in purpose, no idea) didn't provide enough information regarding the show. I mean, as a non performer, I was kinda lost in the midst of the performance (my language confused you guys, isn't it? oh well.. don't complain, I'm not a native!)





Then, Gundono and his troupe mostly spoke in Javanese. I was with my boyfriend who is not a Javanese and can comprehend nothing but the performing, since he used to perform in a performing troupe as well. So, as a performer, his comments was it was interesting to see (I mean, you don't get to see "water puppet" everyday), but it was lacking of information. As a performer, he said that program publications would help the audience to understand what the whole thing was about and it would help fellow performers to further appreciate whether all the body movements do actually convey the message and moral of the story.



Anyways, if you happen to be in Jakarta and is interested with cultural performance, drop by at the web site of "Jakarta International Puppetry Festival 2006", which will take place until November 18.

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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

"show me the money"

Some says, you are what you think you are, or you are what you eat. But, do you have a price tag that defines you?

In my line of work, the professional capacity and capabilities of a person is measured by the nominal value of a project that s/he manages. Once you've handled a 10 billion Rupiah (around 1 mio USD), for sure you would like to experience the feeling of handling 20 billion Rupiah project. Then people will pay more respect.

If you went to an interview, people would ask you how much was your budget? Did you plan your own budget? How many team members do you have? How do you manage your funds? During a casual get-together dinner with friends, a leisure after-hour talk turned into "the-amount-of-project-proposal-that-I-am-working-on".

In a country with USD 3,700 GDP per capita (2005) and 27.1% of its population ive below the poverty line (1998), and had to spare at least 56.2 of its GDP to pay foreign debts, having the financial capacity to give away a 40" flat panel LCD HD TV (around USD 4,000) as a gift to a family member will surely put you on center stage.

Money. The amount that you manage at work. The fatness of your savings and salary. It seems to be a big deal. We are chewing that money. Our flesh and blood are made of it. At least that's how I reflect the recent Eid Holiday that gets very interesting.

A local newspaper noted that intercity bus illegally increase its ticket fee high above government-approved fee. The bus co-driver said, "You don't like it? You want to report it to the police? Go ahead!" And most of our holiday budget went to transportation cost.

Rice cake is a side dish made of rice cooked in coconut leaves. It's always available on Eid Holiday. A rice cake maker said that s/he no longer received any rice cake order 3 days before Eid Holiday because they are overwhelmed with the orders. The thing is, with current income rate (thanks to GDP growth?), you can find rice cake anytime of the year. Not to mention other side dishes that accompanying the rice cake.

I can hardly understood those who put all their efforts to order those rice cakes and manage to queue for hours to buy last minutes groceries to make additional dishes for the rice cake dish. Anything goes for Eid Holiday.

If the whole idea of Eid Holiday is about giving and purging sins, I'm a bit distracted by the increased sale of motorcycle near Eid Holiday. The augmented price of gasoline has caused a pretty steep increase in transportation costs. Ticket fees for land, air and sea transports increased more than 20% compared to last year's rate. That's a pretty significant increase if your air ticket cost 100 USD last year and it becomes 150 USD this year. Those who cannot afford mass transportation chose private transportation mode. The cheapest is motorcycle. Yeah, that 125cc motorbike with two wheels and nothing else to protect your body parts.

The sale of these motorbikes always increase near Eid Holiday, so does the rate of road accidents among motorbikes.

Is it for the sake of purging sins and being reborn again?
Is it to impress others?
Is it state failure to improve the wealth of its citizens?
Is it pure lust?

Anyways, show me the money, then let's forgive each other and wish happy Eid *wide evil grins*

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