one of the ironies of a chaotic developing country is that it cannot retain its best people to help end the chaos. may it be the lack of insentive, the limitation to self actualization, and sometime, some mindless officers or regulations just simply drive them away. these best people, educated well beyond the other half of the nation, know their rights and have the ability to just pack up, leave and find a better world which will be more than happy to accept them. some who do stay, stays for their own reasons, that is trying to make the nation a better world for themselves only while that other half of the nation cannot even dream of a better world.

a better world, a phrase often said without reference as to whom it may concern. for one person, one country, one union, for a super power? as unfair as reality goes, a better world for whole humanity is a complete utter BS. conflicts of interest between one group and the world always end in simple notion of "putting our people first", whether the world like it or not. peace, prosperity  and happiness are apparently not designed as building blocks.

of course, having the ability to change the world does not directly mean that the obligation to do so comes along with it. men are not Superman. after all, the freedom to make decisions is what set humans apart from other creatures. i do not know whether that makes us evil, but it certainly makes us human. when bringing desruction is easy, just going along with the current, setting things right may be a long swim up stream.

my long weekend of Nyepi and Harpitnas was fairly enjoyable with most of it spent helping Mom cleaning up around the house after she kinda freaked watching the Compulsive Cluterer edition of Oprah Winfrey's Show. She managed to lose some 2kg over the activities. Me.. none

Jazz reigns, but Sergio Mendes RULEZ

The past few years, the once taken as complicated and sophisticated genre is now filling up the learger display portion in most record store. It has become a new style where high schoolers ecstatically line up for the happening yearly event, Java Jazz Festival. Do they really appreciate the music? Who cares? Records are being sold, end of story.

On the light of Mendes, you might be wondering who the fellow is. Well, I'm not very familiar with him or his music, but just for the sake of description, he is an ordinary looking man with no ordinary producer, Will.I.Am who happens to have extraordinary connections with many of the today's most popular musicians. Thus the long list of featured artists, such as India Arie, Erykah Badu, Justing Timberlake, BEP and many more. No wonder the album was sold out in 3 record stores at PIM, save for 1 pathetic casette without no sort of extraordinary promotion. Fortunately the last store has a faster distribution channel to replenish the stock.

I would describe the music freely as loungy samba with a bit of hip hop influence. A tad too "loungy" to my taste, but an excellent companion to working on TA (some 70 days to deadline... life is beautiful... life is beautiful.. ohhmmmm.....)

V for Vendetta

Watching a mad man wearing an oddly smiling face is not really a perfect description of cinematic pleasure for me.

Watching The Constant Gardener with its rural African background made me incredibly sad. This is not the first movie I had seen portraying the lives of people in poor miserable tormented countries, but this flick managed to capture the black mood and atmosphere for the cruel facts on how the superpower acts towards such country. It struck me that my beloved great nation is not that different from the bleeding Africa.

How can that be?
We have one of the biggest, buziest (and also polluted) cities in the world. We somehow managed to build Monas and hundreds of shopping centers. But still, the slums are gettieng dirtier, the poor and sick are not getting better, and corruption has become a big fat joke.

This may be coming from the adult realization on the true face of the so-called world we live in. However, the term "developing country" now sounds more pathetic than ever before, since not one with that title ever raised to being developed in my life time. Instead, each of them is getting worse and worse, used up by those developed nations with their own agenda.

Indonesia's human development and education are both ranked 110th in 177 countries (source)

the latest film from lady director Nia Dinata, Berbagi Suami tells 3 compelling stories on poligamy in the society and culture in Indonesia. Each of the main characters came from different educational and social background while sharing the similar agony and denial. Each has different reason to choose the live they live in, which may be irrational and even funny or shallow to people not familiar with the concept.

the reality reflected in the plots and the strong characters are the main strength of this movie. there is no judging, regardless most of the actresses involved are strongly refusing poligamy. the moral values underlying the problem are told with humor and honesty, keeping the yawn away for the 2 hours of screening.

too bad it is sponsored by one of the biggest cigarette companies. can't help to think that the foggy smoking scenes which getting more and more intense as the movie rolls were shot for the sake of pleasing the money source... those scenes can very well do without that many fogs, I'll say.

my favorite character: Nadim (Winky), snappy and cute. Dominique did well for a debutant, although I think there's someone out there that can play Siti much better than Shanty. anyhow, it's a good movie.

Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.

--John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy, 1981-1987

it's cold, it's yummy, it makes you fly...

• New Zealand Natural

for those of you wondering, yes... it's not just an unknown export like Braun Buffel, the Kiwis (people, not birds) love it too. Especially the sweet honey Hokey Pokey (according to someone who's been living there for 2 years). The compact but smooth texture with rich flavor is guaranteed to water your mouths with pleasure. Besides the Pokey, I would recommend Chocolate Ecstasy.

• Gelare
  

This cafe serves Italian Gelato, the kind of yumm that melts slowly, leaving a lingering sumptuous aftertaste. My personal favorite is Affogato: a scoop of Vanilla put into a cup of hot espresso. The waffles are not bad either..

• Pisa
  

Another Gelato delight (this one's hand-made) with pasta and pizza side menu. The soft texture really sooth the aching soul and mind... (a bit hyperbolic, but one of my making-up occasion occured here so spare me ). The clam pizza is quite unique and one excellent companion to my personal favorite of Azzuro Blue (or something like that). For those not expense-sensitive, the elaborate dressing of crackers, cookies, fruits and a little umbrella stuck to the gelato would be nice add-on.

• Baskin

This one is for those of you with the children spirits who are attracted to sweet and colorful things, rotated regularly to introduce new flavors. Their brownie sundae is fun to munch, especially with melted chocolate topping. Nyummm...

• Anderson 

Care for european rummy delight? A bit pricey and not that oh-so-tasty, tho'

• Wall's Conello

For those desperate sizzling hot days with no malls in sight, save for some Indomaret and Alfamart, Wall's is by far the best one in its class. I particularly love the Connelo series, specifically Mint to Be.