huntersandkings

You are free to express your opinion on whatever post I made here (well, as long as the comments are enabled, but I seldom disable comments).

Don't worry if your opinion is different from me - I'd love to hear from you! I'll not go ballistic just because you dislike what I like or vice versa, for instance.

Just keep it all civil and appreciate other people's thoughts. Remember, there's always "I beg to differ"!

And if you have any bone to pick with me, just bring it on. I'd rather you blurt out at me than talking behind my back - or in front of me, but pretending that your words are not directed at me.

Thank you!

PS Personal entries will be locked.
If you're not my friend, you can still read my reviews, essays and similar non-personal posts that won't be locked.

So, after the 7.5 Richter Tasikmalaya earthquake, I decided that my 11th graders and I could talk a little about our dynamic Earth. It was a coincident that they had just spent a trip in Peucang Island, not far from Anak Krakatau - 'The Child of Krakatoa', the volcanic island (yes, complete with a volcano) that started to emerge after Krakatoa exploded in a very, VERY loud bang in the 19th century.

I began by explaining how Anak Krakatau came into being.
Me: "And so, if Anak Krakatau is to explode violently like Krakatau did..."
Students (in unison): "There will be Cucu Krakatau (The Grandchild of Krakatoa)..."
Me: "...no, I was going to say, a tsunami can happen that washes away all the rhinos in Ujung Kulon..."

So hi guys, happy holidays, but I still have work to finish. Nice to see you again.

Sooooo.
I read classic (Marvel) GI Joe and watched the animation when I was a kid, and I've been completely hooked. And although I think the latest film is OK, nothing could compare with the classic comic, with Larry Hama's superb storytelling and entertaining characters. And yes, call me a freak, but I want to visit North Carolina just because it's the state where Cross-Country was born (according to his filecard that is).

I've been trying to collect the old comics again, and thanks to a friend, now I'm only about 17 editions short, out of 155. I've re-read some of them, and these are some of the moral lessons repeatedly appearing in the series:

Smoking kills
OK, Rip-cord said Blowtorch was angry to people who smoke in a mall more because he was worried about the fire exits. But when Dusty went out in a desert night and finished some adversaries, noticing the faint glow of their cigarettes? "Nasty habit, smoking. Can kill fast."
And as far as I remember, none of the Joes was ever seen puffing cloudy rings through their mouths.

The hands that build are better than the hands that destroy.
Yeah, before Obama, Duke said this to Grunt, who left the team for Georgia Tech: "It's better to build things than tear them down."
And although the comic is full with fightings, shootings, punches, kicks, destruction, and all, Storm Shadow underlined it several times to William 'Billy' Kessler that,

The best swords are kept in their sheaths.

And yeah, we know this already from our daily experience, but--

Never underestimate a nerd.
Because they grow to be cool people - probably half of the G.I. Joe members had been known as freaks, nerds, geeks, involuntarily functioning as punching bag for their friends when they were children or teens, but they ended up in an elite team, donning impressive uniform, kicking up the bad guys. Although, well, being classified doesn't really help with their social lives. Ask Rip-cord. He knows.

Iron Man anime trailer by MAD House. Well, G.I. Joe anime-styled Sigma 6 wasn't exactly a success, although Resolute was a blast... so now it's Marvel's time to try their luck?

That, after this. Do I hear fanboys screaming in agony?

And because this is EPIC.

Since the near-death experience of Indonesian films in the 1990s, now people began to sigh a great relief, seeing more and more quality national films breathing in cinemas again (despite still alongside ridiculous horror flicks which bring more horror to us to see how badly they were made than the ghosts in them). Last week, I watched two Indonesian films, both featuring Donny Alamsyah who curiously played characters of very different ethnic backgrounds. One is a nationalist drama called Merah Putih (‘Red and White’, the colours of the Indonesian flag) and Merantau.

Merah Putih was set in 1947, the producer’s homage to especially his relatives, a 21-year old lieutenant and a 16-year old cadet, who died defending the republic during the time. This film boasts of a crew that also comprises of experts who have been involved in blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Blackhawk Down.

Amir (played by perhaps the greatest Indonesian actor of the new generation, Lukman Sardi) was a teacher who at first refused to join the battles. But after one of his student died in the hands of the Japanese, now he decided to be up in arms against the returning Dutch forces. He joined Sekolah Perwira – a school for officers – and met an array of characters there.

( Frictions and battles )

The second film I watched was Merantau, a long-waited fighting film, featuring Indonesian traditional martial art, silat. We haven’t had any film of this genre since… since years ago, and our fighting hero Barry Prima has abandoned the ship and taken a magnificent role as a transgender father in a family drama. So when British director and writer Gary Evans said he has found a potential young hero in a true silat ‘fighter’, Iko Uwais, we were all excited.

Now a word or so about ‘merantau’. The Minangkabau people, famous for their silat and their business instinct, are matrilineal, unlike the strictly patrilineal Bataks, the loosely patrilineal the Manadonese, or the Javanese that don’t give a shit about any of that. This means money and properties are inherited by the girls, and men won’t get any; they must first show their worth by ‘merantau’ – leaving their family behind, finding their fortune and building themselves a name in other lands. Before returning and marrying an heiress, of course.

And so the main character, Yuda, decided to leave his family’s peaceful tomato farm and try his luck in Jakarta as a silat teacher – and ended up proving to us once again that ‘rural is good, urban is bad, but evil is foreign’. In short, Yuda got himself involved with two Caucasian human traffickers, when he tried to help a badmouthed erotic dancer from a pimp wanting to sell her to the foreigners. (Why, exactly, Yuda wanted to help her when she’s so fucking vile towards him for interfering with her life?) Ha.

( Is that homoeroticism part of the plot?? )

PS: In Merantau, Donny Alamsyah played Yayan, Yuda’s older brother, who’s done his own merantau and for reasons unclear were scolded by his parents – perhaps because he failed? A small role, but still a nicely done.

To write about a past event requires more concious effort to recall things from the shelves of your mind where you have put them to keep for years to come, when a slight breeze or a particular smell can wake the memories up again from their slumber.

But the distance that stands between now and then enables us to recognize which details are the most memorable, most important to us.

And I remember the sands that shifted with my weight and slipped through my fingers when I tried to claw in on them. I remember the afternoon winds that blew my hair into a wonderful mess. I remember the awe I felt when I saw Tyson Ritter climb up scaffoldings about 5 metres high.

But let’s get back to the beginning, and let’s make it clear that the memories came from two different events: Java Rockin’ Land and All American Rejects gig in Jakarta.

( The festival by the sea )

The next weekend – it was a long weekend for us because August 17th is our Independence Day – I found myself lining up for the All American Rejects gig in Senayan. My sister and I bought tickets for Tribune class (that means sitting, because my sister oftentimes cannot stand physical strain too much), and we saw how the boys and girls queueing for Festival class (i.e. watching standing) shouting ‘Open, open!’ when the doors were still closed when it’s already 7pm.

( Independence Day with AAR )

When the show’s over, my sister and I walked to nearby fX, bought a cup of hot chocolate before getting into a taxi that would bring us home, cruising through Jakarta at night, a city peaceful and beautiful. This city, hundreds years old now, has survived the revolution, the rebellion, the reform – terrorists wouldn’t be able to bring her down. This city is tougher than them all. And we, as we try to live resolutely, won’t just give this nation up. Not when the blood and bones of our ancestors have unified her, have regained her independence, have guarded her.

Here’s for centuries of independence ahead!

Soon after the bomb blasts, Indonesian gig-goers were left hanging in uncertainty. If Manchester United cancelled their match, would foreign bands pull off? We sighed in relief when Frenchmen Phoenix confirmed that they would still come.

And so I found myself lining up with my brother, my friend Gembi and his girlfriend Rani, in front of the legendary Bengkel near Pacific Place, which was not really that far from the bombed hotels, to think of that. But we were not afraid. So many people were coming, jampacking the venue. The first band to come onstage was good ol’ Naif with their top-notch performance. Then came The S.I.G.I.T., which was awesome although I’d really like to send Rekti to a barber, and then Rock ‘n Roll Mafia.

( Here come Phoenix! )

Thank you, Phoenix, for not being afraid, and for giving us the experience of a lifetime.

And, having been a G.I. Joe fan for teens of years, of course I have to write something about the movie (Rise of Cobra), don’t I? And you know what? G.I. Joe opens here a full twelve hours before the U.S. *grins widely* I considered it an honour for an old fan in a country so far away from the States.

I counted the days to the opening of the movie in anxiety. Trailers and shoots have shown something quite different from the classic G.I. Joe comics/cartoon which us fans love so much. It looked too… too modern, too sophisticated… and what, is that Destro? Is that Cobra Commander? What would we get?

Surprisingly, the movie was really fun. ( BEWARE FANGIRLING )

So what can we hope for the sequel? Tunnel Rat maybe? Cross-Country? Beach Head? Oh, BRING IT ON.

Hi, how are you friends? :)

Anything about you to update me?

Shoulda asked you earlier...

THIS DOES NOT DESERVE A CUT.

Yeah, so I guess I’ve gotta go to LJ and say hi to you all, to let you know I’m fine. I have been very busy these past few weeks that all I could manage was microblogging. LJ takes up time to read and write – but now I have the time to actually type longer things on my laptop.

Probably you’ve heard that a couple of weeks ago, two bomb blasts shattered the hotels J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton in Kuningan, Jakarta. Nine people were killed, including two suicide bombers. It was a Friday. I went into my classes and checked whether anyone’s parents worked in Kuningan. Fortunately, nobody was, although one of my students said that he actually had planned to go to Kuningan after school. We asked them to go home straight after the day’s lessons ended and be careful when going out in the weekend, because the situation at the time was still confusing. But I can tell you my students didn’t look afraid. Surprised, but afraid? No.

True, we were shocked. We were angry. But to the amazement of every one, that anger soon changed into a massive positive movement: Indonesia Unite, which crowned the top position of Twitter trending topics several times with the hashtag #indonesiaunite. What started as swearing and bitter remarks at the terrorists changed into a flood of tweets pronouncing that ‘Kami Tidak Takut’ (We Are Not Afraid), showing the world that despite the bombs, we continue to live on instead of cowering under fear. The terrorists were afraid of living, but we were not afraid of dying and we embraced life. We promoted Indonesia’s beauty in Twitter, and found rapper Pandji’s song, ‘Kami Tidak Takut’, a suitable theme for the movement.

Manchester United’s friendly watch with Indonesian all-stars was cancelled; it was very sad, but it didn’t dishearten us from standing up together, with people around the world who joined hands with us. Indonesia Unite Twibbon was adapted not only by Indonesians, but by people from other nations, including famous artists.

Probably that bravery of ours had helped convincing foreign artists who were planned to perform in Jakarta not to pull off. Phoenix still came not long after the bomb blasts and had a great night with us (see my next post), and Java Rockin’ Land still continued as planned. Last night was the first night of the rock festival, and Ricky Sans from Melee (who has been one of the first artists to confirm that his band would still come to Jakarta for JRL) wore a WE ARE NOT AFRAID shirt onstage.

And, yesterday and today, Detasemen Khusus Antiteror 88 – Special Antiterrorism Detachment 88 or Densus 88 for short – managed to give not one, but two, shocking blows to the terrorists. First, yesterday night, Densus 88 broke into a house in Bekasi, finding more than 100 kg of explosives in it. The terrorists would perhaps use the explosives to attack President SBY’s house, which was only 5 or 6 km away. Three terrorists were caught alive in Bekasi, two others were put to eternal sleep in front of the house, and another one – Malaysian Noordin M. Top who has been roaming Indonesian lands, spreading his sick dogma – was given the no-return ticket in a house in a small village in Kedu, Temanggung, Central Java, after 17 hours of siege. Bullets were exchanged, several explosions sent birds flying in surprise from the rice paddies around. We were glued to the live reports on TV.

Oh goodness, it was a great relief when finally the men in blacks cracked a smile, shook hands, and put down their guns. They won. We won.

I do hope it was the longest 17 hours of your life, Mr Terrorist, and that you suffer from the fear of death; did you think about your family as you lied there, with the police firing bullets at the house where you hid? Because the families of your victims could not forget their beloved ones who you and your friends had killed or maimed.

And you see? WE ARE NOT AFRAID.

And I’ll be going to the third night of JRL to watch Mew. YES!

And, oh: my student Annisa won a gold in the National Biology Olympiad. YEAAAYYY!

So I didn't know how this managed to fly under my radar, but I think it is not too late: G.I. JOE RESOLUTE. A brand-new animation series with short episodes meant more for adult than children (well, we who watched the original series as kids are now grown up!), written by that crazy Warren Ellis. The animation quality is so GOOD I thought it was an anime (no offense, makers of American animation...)

Episode 01: You know what Ellis did first? Kill Bludd. Oh, yeah. Yeah Ellis. HELL YEAH COBRA COMMANDER. And see what Ellis did to the USS Flagg. To Moscow. But I forgive Duke because of this series. I was ready to hate him thanks to Max Alan Collins' portrayal of him.

Episode 02: Finally, we really get some ninja act in G.I. Joe. Snake Eyes slashing here and there and... woohoo, I like this 'adult-geared' G.I. Joe!

Episode 03: More JOEs appearing! From Wild Bill to Cover Girl (who's back to brunette, not Collins'/movie's blonde, yaaay!). Gung Ho! And whoa, is that Spirit? LOOK AT FLINT.

Episode 04: Cobra Commander. Why does he remind me of Michael Jackson... Sorry, Michael... DialTone is now a girl, but a cool one nevertheless. And LOOK, doesn't Tunnel Rat look like a certain Seigaku regular now? It's just that he doesn't hiss. Har har har. Oh he's Chinese, btw.

Episode 05: NINJA LOVE. ARASHIKAGE CLAN LOVE. Young Snake Eyes and a jealous Storm Shadow. There's also Hard Master. Funny accent there, Storm Shadow. And I wonder whether this episode contains this continuity's explanation of Snake Eyes' muteness?

Episode 06: Scarlett and Duke infiltrating Cobra and all that...

Episode 07: Look what Tunnel Rat can dooooo

Episode 08: MORE NINJA LOVE. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow finally come head to head. Although the fighting is brutal (I mean, now we really have some stabbing and slashing) the amount of blood splashing is reduced.

...WAIT, WHAT THE EFF. WARREN ELLIS WHAT DID YOU DO TO STORM SHADOW? I HATE YOU MAN EF EF EF. *rolls in pain*

All in all: AWESOME. I just wish for some more voice-actors/actresses. Will watch the rest of the episodes soon.

So it’s holiday and we all deserve a break from the virtually year-long of third-rate horror flicks and cheap romances of filthily rich kids usually involving scenes in a foreign country. Two sane films were released last June, and both have been successfully drawing people of all ages to 21s and Blitzes. Both portray a boy trying to obtain his dream of becoming a great athlete, a patriot, while resolving domestic problems. One is called ‘Garuda di Dadaku’, ‘Garuda on My Chest’, and from that title you can sense the seeping patriotism of the film. The other is called ‘King’, after Lim Swie King, one of Indonesia’s eternal giants of badminton, accidentally but appropriately named with a royal tinge.

( Garuda di Dadaku )

Leila S. Chudori in her review has pointed out the weak point of this film: the reason why granddad hated football so much. His views seemed to be too outdated and peculiar, she said. I cannot fully agree; anyway, granddad was ancient and I’ve met people who earnestly hated things for reasons simpler than granddad’s (and I won’t go into details here). As much as I respect Leila’s views (she’s one of my favourite reviewers of all time), in the case of this two films I beg to differ in some points.

( King )

But anyway, I feel so happy to have watched two very good Indonesian films this holiday. And to see the reactions of the audience—the laughter, the fully-packed studios, the young and the old—I realise that Indonesians actually do want and can appreciate quality films. It’s just that many producers think that we’re just dumb people who’ll be contented with some more ghosts (pocongs, kuntilanaks, and such) or ladies’ breasts and thighs. We’re not that stupid, dear producers, and we know a good thing when we’ve got one.

Yes. Let me just state this in as short a sentence as possible.

STAR TREK IS AWESOMENESS.

Longer entry later. I'm still very much awed by this film I'm in another galaxy.

So I decided to watch Evangelion 1.0 in Blitz with Dani and Nunu, although I had a fever - I was too tired after Nara's death and a JTUG Tweet Up. The boys bought me paracetamol and I felt alright throughout the film.

Now, about the film itself:
It was rather bland, a choked, riveted fragments from the series running in a rush. But the improved CGs and battle scenes (plus the surround sound) are something to pay the ticket for. I was stunned in my seat watching EVA 01 go berserk (translated into Indonesian as 'menggila' - although I think 'mengamuk' would do, no?), the positron cannon being charged and shot... oh hell, it was truly the dream of a fanboy. Er, fangirl. But if you haven't watched the series, chances are you'll jawdrop and say "Whaaaa...."

I'll go watch 2.0 and 3.0, just for the battle scenes. Haha.

Added two colour pages to my Arthurian comic, Funeral Pyre.

On Saturday, I went to The Pilot with Miu-chan, Komeng, and Boop. We sang our hearts out for four hours. We got a 2-hour voucher. So on Monday, after a nice time hanging out in Bluemchen, I spent another 4-hour singing period with Elda and Vanessa. YAY :D

More of my comics now in Smack Jeeves. All of them are NOT BL.

Daimon Myth - the main body of stories that also involved Regus (my comic in Telkomsel etc.)

Funeral Pyre, a part of The Noble Book of Arthur. Only the cover and character design sheets are there right now, sorry. (The title's a bit difficult for my tongue, really... Pun... Puneral... Funeral Fire... errr!)

Uroki, a Klaxons-influenced comic. Skans! Cyclops! And so on.

Sorry I'm in a hurry. Must go to Hotel Mulia for lunch with the other teachers. Bye for now!

Nevermind my strange English please.

So ahem I decided to make a Smack Jeeves account. I think it's a good way to put my webcomics - conserving my own space in Mata Kelabu. By the way, Mata Kelabu (and the whole Coffee Cat site) is currently down, but jeffcobain is fixing it. For the time being, nothing to see there.

And this is my first comic for Smack Jeeves,
Breathing the Driven Snow. 12 pages so far, forgive my snail-like speed.

Friends and Darlings.

At first I wanted to draw them wearing the Baxingar costume, but I couldn't stop laughing. Those silly outfits would only fit Billy the Shot & co, so I discarded of the idea.

I still have two other ideas for Sasuraiger fanart. Yeah, I still miss this series, very much. So much that I'm thinking of saving 60,000 yen to buy the complete J9 DVD boxset. Auch.

YAY!

(I'm sorry this post is sooo unimportant; but I guess it lets you know how I love Phoenix Wright! LOL)

Association meme:
Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

1. Video games
Ahahaha... I'm not much of a gamer, really (my mother wouldn't agree). I have problems with committing too much time for finishing a game, so most of the games I play are left unfinished. And to me, the excitement always gets thin when it's nearing the end... or maybe it's just me getting tired.

2. Minekura Kazuya
I always attach the word 'effortlessly cool' to his... sorry... her works.

3. Ciputat
Hell on earth many days of the year, but a nice place to live anyway.

4. The Interpol
I first fell in love with Interpol not through their music, but through an interview with Daniel Kessler in an NME Christmas edition. I was astonished to see how humble he was, and that he didn't have tattooes nor piercings. And when he was asked, "Swallow or spit?" He said (blushing, in my imagination), "God, no, it's not my job!"

5. ak.sa.ra
BAH! A potentially good CD/book chain store if they try hard. They don't, really. I ordered a couple of times; none of the books arrived.
Advice: check the prices in Kino or, better still, Times or Periplus first, before buying anything in ak.'sa.ra.

Today in Indonesia is celebrated as Kartini’s Day – after a fighter for women’s rights, R.A. Kartini. I think I should write something as part of the commemoration – and my choice this year is about How Covering Yourself Is a Way to be Free for Some Indonesian Women.

Yes. It’s not an oxymoron. While in some (many?) other countries women became ‘liberated’ as they become more and more able to show more skin and sexually free, to some – I think I can say many – women in Indonesia, the opposite was true, at least concerning fashion.

( Continue reading... )

The one reason why I like Blitz Megaplex is that now we can watch more non-Hollywood, non-American films - 21 Cineplex was known for their partial leanings on Hollywood films (because they could score more money). Thanks to Blitz, I was able to watch Krabat.

I came across the film in quite an incidental way. I was reading Cornelia Funke Tintenherz which quoted other books, one of them Krabat by Otfried Preussler.* I've liked Preussler's works, Die Kleine Hexe and Das Kleine Gespenst, since I was still a child, so I remember this one particular bit in Tintenherz. The next day, I was browsing through Blitz schedule, and found the film Krabat listed! So I decided to go and watch it, although I didn't know, and didn't search, anything about the book.

( My impressions )

*It should have been a doppel s.