On Music

The world without music is simply unimaginable. We can always imagine living without the internet, without electricity and without books. It would be a suck-y life I don't want to live in but it is imaginable. But without music, there is always an empty space. Even the deaf appreciates and gains benefits from the rhythmic taps or vibrations they feel.

That is why I listen to all music genres. I always believe that music has nothing to do with identity. A good music is a good music for everyone. And those who are able to create good music, oh man, they are the blessed ones indeed. They can be ugly, badly-behaving in the society (most of the good ones do), and evil as hell but as musicians, they deserve our respect and gratitude.

I'd like to share 10 musics (not necessarily songs with lyric) that I consider good music. To prove my point, why don't you take time to listen to these and let me know if there's any of the ten that you don't think is good? Liking is a different thing, though. Taste does play a part in determining music you prefer to listen to, but again, good music is a good music regardless of anything.

(not in a particular order)

1. Played a Live, composed by Morten Friis, Uffe Savery & Michaerl Parsberg. Performed by Safri Duo
2. Fragile, composed by Sting
3. Moon River, composed by Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini
4. Blis, performed by Yogini
5. En Douce, performed by Baguette Quartette
6. La Vie En Rose, composed by Louis Guglielmi & Edith Piaf
7. Butterflies and Hurricane, performed by Muse
8. Canon in D, composed by Johann Palchelbel
9. Jigsaw Falling into Place, performed by Radiohead
10. Nature Boy, composed by Eden Ahbez, performed by Nat King Cole

Thank Mother Nature for Music!

Why do you want to have kids?

• Some people pushing you?
• Your friends are having one?
• You need someone to take care of you when you're old?
• Getting sick of people being nosy minding your life telling you to have kids?
• Parents longing for grandchildren?
• Kids seem cuter these days?
• Maternity clothes seem cooler these days?
• Being pregnant is sexy?
• You're afraid your womb is drying sooner than you thought?
• You get lonely in that big house alone with your spouse?

Seriously, WHY?

Midnight in Paris

psst.. warning: if the name Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel and Gertrude Stein don't ring any bell to you, you may not going to enjoy this movie as much as I did. Jumping around on my couch with big sparkling eyes full of excitement..

-------------------------

Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen's latest work, that as you can tell from the title, took place in Paris. As usual Allen has this thing about big cities in which his stories take place in. He pays homage to those cities. New York, Paris.. and that's why Vicki Christina Barcelona lacks the same oomph his other works posses. He's simply a big city boy who knows how to capture the beauty of big cities and got lost in interpreting small towns.

In this movie, Allen paid his homage to the beautiful city of Paris in a very special way. Through his midnight stroll (ok, it's the Owen Wilson's character here who strolls around Paris in midnight, but those who know Allen's movies will have to agree with me that Wilson was playing Woody Allen here. Just like other male protagonists that are not Woody Allen in Woody Allen's movies) in the city and the persons he stumbled upon throughout the night. Not necessarily Parisians themselves, but the very special persons who embodied the very spirit of Paris. Writers, painters, Hemingway, Picasso.. Not single dimension-ly, but the depth of Paris in midnight that was so deep it brought us time traveling. Not so much about lovey-dovey scenes (just so you know that this is not the likes of Paris, Je T'Aime) as the city in this movie is illustrated to be more than just the city of love. It was the city they all loved. Picasso, Gert Stein, Salvador Dali, Hemingway.. and Woody Allen himself.

Whimsical as he usually is, imaginative and daring as his other movies were, my only dissatisfaction was Owen Wilson. I truly hope he is not who Allen has in mind to replace him in his upcoming movies. He simply doesn't have what Allen usually portrayed as Woody Allen characters in his past works. Wilson tried to be as confuse and mopey a loser living in his own world, fighting other people living in it as Woody Allen characters would love to do. But his too modern comical features simply failed the effort. He was not mopey enough, not loser enough and not confuse enough to make us believe that he was a laid-back who loves to walk in a rainy Paris with an uncertainty about his writing career and his engagement to a "180 degrees different" kind of woman. Someone who is living comfortably with his own mind in his own world whose ears don't get red easily by his fiance's old fling's pedantic bullshits simply because he knew he didn't have anything to lose.

Watching Midnight in Paris I bet Woody Allen must wished he was 30 years younger when he wrote this script. This Gil Pender character must be in his wildest dream to play, and to live in..

[pic source: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2452601600/tt1605783]

A Letter to PC Guys, a Love Letter to My Husband ("Touching", he said)

Dear PC Guys.

(geez, this letter could have been more personal if only I knew whom to address this letter to in PC Company)

Do you guys use iPhone? Because if you don't, this letter might not be as touching as it should be. Oops, sorry, I should not have asked you that question in public! What was I thinking?! Ok, ok.. I cancelled my question and no one, including your CEO, would know your answer to that. It is only you and your spouse that have the right to know. Wink wink!

To be in a safer ground, I'll just ask you to *imagine* you own an iPhone.

Let's imagine you have an iPhone. A single gadget that I always love to refer to as a technology that works. Compared to my current handheld (the brand with the three little rotten letters operating system), my husband's iPhone works like a charm every time I.. err.. borrow. And it's a lot.of.time. A more-than-just-a-cellphone thingy that its zillions of fanboys and fangirls out there claimed as the gadget that has changed their lives. And it is not every day there is a gadget people think has changed their lives.

So are we now on the same ground, understanding and agreeing that iPhone is a one-in-a-million kind of gadget? Then let's move on.

Last night before we went to bed, my husband seemed busy preparing the installation of the latest software update on his iPhone through iTunes installed on his PC notebook. It was estimated by the system that the whole process would be done in 6 hours. It was 10 pm so he asked me to set the alarm for 4 am. You see, Apple has just launched the iOS 5 and as a true believer and as someone who tweeted "RIP Steve Jobs, thank you for everything" as his first tweet after a 15 months of hiatus, it only makes sense that he was willing to give up some sleep only to treasure the newly updated software on that very gadget that he believes has changed his life. So he woke up like 30 minutes before the alarm went off and went to the desk checking for the installation progress. What he then saw was almost as shocking as realizing that your kid was playing with matches near the leaking gas stove. The installation was 90%-ish completed BUT the notebook was about to restarting the whole system due to a PC update! And we all know that a restarted system means an interrupted installation means a restarted installation means another 6 hours of not-so-sweet of a waiting to experience the iMessage, an enhanced camera, reminders and whatnot! So with his trembling fingers (PS: dramatization may occur) he directed the mouse into postponing the system restart for 4 hours. "PHEW!", you think, right? The installation was saved! Well, not so fast, cowboy.

After all those hassles, my husband went back to sleep. An hour later he was awakened by the alarm went off. Couldn't believe what he saw from afar, he approached the desk where his notebook and iPhone seemed so cozily lied, and it was truly a nightmare came true, the notebook has got restarted by itself regardless of the thing he did an hour later to rescue the software installation.

What-to-the-FART, PC?! Was it a sabotage act? Did you happen to know what we were doing, updating an Apple software, welcoming an even easier and more spoiled life with the newly updated software, so you just felt the need to.. happen??

You see, I love my beauty sleep more than anything. Or so I thought. I apparently couldn't stand seeing my husband so devastated realizing he couldn't bring his newly-updated iPhone to accompany him waiting for his car to be fixed in a workshop the next morning. So I stayed up with him, cursing. Oh come on, PC guys. You gotta admit that you, too, would be devastated if you were in his position?

(in the meantime, for those of you who don't own an iPhone and just couldn't imagine of owning one, it is suggested to imagine about other thing you really love to be able to completely treasure this story. What about that time when you were told by the shopkeeper that the shoes you've been eyeing on for months and been madly saving up for, have already been snitched away five minutes before you arrived to the store? Now you must understand what I've been talking about..)

It's just so sad seeing someone who are so dear to you being in that situation. Luckily he pulled himself together fast and decided to try 'googling' to see if there was something, anything favorable to fix the problem. Thank gadget-god there were tips on Google on how to fix such a mess so we did not have to redo the installation all over again. Thank gadget-god again, my husband looked all happy this morning, able to enjoying his weekend in such a merriment.

But still, we have postponed the system restart to another four hours!!!! What happened??

Still-confused-not-so-much-angry-anymore-seeing-my-husband-all-happy,
Manique.

Foke Vs. People -a 'short' note

Mau mengomentari aksi unjuk rasa perempuan di Bunderan HIdengan mengenakan rok mini, tapi tentu tidak lepas dari masalah People Vs. Foke yang sedang hangat-hangatnya dibicarakan. Atau lebih tepatnya, dijadikan bahan bercandaan.

Sekedar sharing apa yang pertama kali terlintas di kepala saya saat membaca timeline di Twitter “Foke sentil perempuan pakai rok mini di angkot”. Membaca bahwa yang mengeluarkan tweet tersebut adalah media yang keintelekan headlines-nya sering dipertanyakan (tapi lucu-lucu kok :-) serta-merta saya tahu bahwa maksud tweet tersebut jelaaas bukan Foke literally menyentil perempuan dengan rok mini di angkot melainkan “menyentil” dalam artian menyinggung. Tapi tidak ada kata lain yang lebih tepat dibandingkan “menyentil”, memang. Sentilan umumnya tidak se-signifikan singgungan. Sentilan seringkali tidak perlu dilakukan. Cuman iseng. Dan memang begitulah adanya. Seharusnya Foke tidak perlu menyentil karena hal tersebut tidak signifikan. Dan kali ini, sentilan Foke malah menjerumuskan dirinya sendiri. Iseng sih..

Tapi apakah isi dari kalimat tersebut salah? Saya sangat menyayangkan aksi unjuk rasa yang dilakukan kawan-kawan perempuan dengan mengenakan rok mini hari ini. Sebetulnya secara sederhana saja, apa sih yang kira-kira hendak diunjukrasakan? Memprotes 1) Kenapa Foke harus menyampaikan sentilan tak berguna dan sangat tidak wisely thought sangatlah berbeda dengan memprotes 2) Bukan rok mini yang memicu kasus-kasus pemerkosaan.

Ladies and gentlemen, sebelumnya saya rasanya perlu memperkenalkan diri dulu. Ya, supaya kenal, tentunya :-) 

Saya seorang wanita yang (kata orang-orang nih) berpikiran modern. Saya menolak untuk dijadikan masyarakat kelas dua di manapun. Di rumah sendiri, dalam perkawinan saya, di tempat kerja, di keluarga besar, di negara maupun di dunia. Saya menolak untuk didahulukan saat masuk atau keluar ruangan dimana rekan kerja pria menawarkan “Ladies first..” simply dengan alasan “No, you can go first, gentleman, if you are in hurry or if you would like to”. Saya menolak saat para senior di tempat kerja menghimbau untuk mengenakan makeup saat di kantor atau saat bertemu klien, alasannya supaya tidak pucat dan terlihat profesional. Alasan saya menolak? Well, kalau memang para petinggi perusahaan berpendapat bahwa makeup membuat sesorang tidak pucat dan terlihat profesional, aturan tersebut juga harus diterapkan pada para pekerja pria. That simple. Saya lebih memilih untuk tidak terlihat mengantuk, berpakaian rapi dan bersih, tersenyum setulus mungkin dan menunaikan tanggung jawab saya terhadap atasan dan klien untuk bisa terlihat tidak pucat dan profesional. Saya juga punya perjanjian dengan suami bahwa peran pria dan wanita di keluarga baru kami adalah sama, selain peran wanita sebagai ibu tentunya. Siapa yang merasa ingin memasak untuk berdua, silahkan saja, tidak ada aturan siapa yang harus melakukannya. Kata melayani sangat dihindari kecuali memang didorong dari rasa kasih sayang (ehm..) dan bukan kewajiban. Selain itu, saya juga ingin menanamkan pengertian sedikit demi sedikit melalui blog-blog saya, melalui respon yang saya sampaikan saat ada teman-teman wanita atau keluarga yang curhat, bahwa sudah saatnya semakin banyak wanita mengerti peran mereka di dunia modern ini. Dan itu jelaaas bukanlah sebagai masyarakat kelas dua, masyarakat yang tidak punya pilihan lain dalam hidup mereka selain menjalankan kewajiban yang tidak jelas juntrungannya, entah titah dari pria jaman apa.

And yet dengan segudang embel-embel saya di atas, saya merasa dalam hal People Vs Foke ini, Foke tidak 100% salah dan justru ‘People’ yang rasanya terlalu lebay.

Kita semua pasti sependapat, bahwa bukan berarti kalau semua perempuan mengenakan pakaian yang menutup betis dan paha, lengan dan pundak, pusar dan perut, belahan payudara dan leher, kasus pemerkosaan bisa dihentikan 100%. Tapi coba paparkan hasil penelitian, kalau ada, yang menunjukkan bahwa mengenakan pakaian yang terbuka (di bagian-bagian yang matters tentunya) di tempat umum, DI NEGARA INI, DI KOTA INI (kota yang sekarang dikelola Pak Foke), tidak memicu terjadinya lebih banyak kasus pemerkosaan. Yaa, tidak perlu pakai hasil penelitian-lah, cukup dengan mengacungkan jari kalau setuju dengan kalimat ini: "Mengenakan pakaian terbuka di tempat umum di Jakarta, dapat memicu terjadinya lebih banyak lagi kasus pelecehan seksual dan atau pemerkosaan."

Sulit untuk dibantah.

Sebagai wanita modern dan berpandangan terbuka serta cinta tanktop dan micro-shorts, saya pribadi tidak akan mencari masalah dengan berjalan-jalan ke daerah-daerah yang membuat saya tidak nyaman mengenakan tanktop dan micro-shorts. Saya sih, sebagai seorang wanita, juga tidak mau mengenakan pakaian terbuka di angkot. Jangan naif-lah, teman-teman, ini Jakarta. Sebagian besar dari kita yang pernah ke Singapura, negara tetangga yang hanya 1,5 jam penerbangan jaraknya dari Jakarta, pasti pernah iri dengan warga Singapura, khususnya wanita, yang tetap merasa aman dan nyaman berjalan-jalan di malam hari, seorang diri, mengenakan celana pendek di dalam MRT.

Kembali ke Jakarta. Dari apa yang saya baca, Foke menggunakan kata-kata “memancing”. Tanpa kail sekalipun, memang ikan akan tetap makan. Tapi jelas makanan yang disangkutkan di kail menarik perhatian ikan lebih dibandingkan yang hanyut bebas di air. Tidak ada yang salah rasanya dengan pilihan kata tersebut.

Namun sayangnya, walaupun secara konten apa yang disampaikan Foke tidaklah salah, apakah tetap perlu hal tersebut di-‘sentil’? Coba kita lihat di kasus ini. Meskipun rekan-rekan pers sudah secara obyektif menyampaikan di dalam berita-berita mereka bahwa Foke mengakui masih adanya kelemahan dalam sistem sekuriti terutama terhadap wanita di Jakarta; dan juga berjanji untuk meningkatkan kinerja para aparat kota, toh tetap yang menjadi sorotan publik dan memancing amarah banyak organisasi pembela suara wanita adalah kalimat yang mengikuti janjinya tersebut. Yaitu sentilan yang tidak perlu itu.

Nasihat atau anjuran yang biasa (atau malahan wajib) untuk disampaikan seorang ibu terhadap anak gadisnya akan sangat jauh berbeda penafsirannya jika dilontarkan oleh seorang tokoh masyarakat, seorang pria, dan seorang pemimpin.

Sekarang pertanyaan yang tersisa adalah, kalau begitu, untuk apa teman-teman perempuan unjuk rasa di Bunderan HI pakai rok mini?? Yang diprotes itu fakta bahwa Foke iseng sekali menyentil atau isi dari sentilannya? Kalau dari yang saya baca, tampaknya yang kedua ya. Lantas, apa kiranya relevansi antara "Jangan atur cara kami berpakaian, basmi pelakunya" dan unjuk rasa memakai rok mini? Tepat guna kah pendekatan ini? Sementara kalau yang diprotes itu adalah fakta bahwa Foke iseng sekali menyentil hal-hal yang tak perlu disentil, wah, langsung ke kantor beliau saja, man-teman. Hadapi langsung, ajak bicara, beri pengertian. Proteslah dengan cara yang tepat sasaran. Aduh.. Kepala saya sampai sakit dari tadi digaruk-garuk terus memikirkan ini..