So, Madonna said "Time goes by so slowly", eh?

Depok, Feb 9th 2013

Cilandak, Feb 27th 2013

Maybe yes, but not for me.

Enough said.

Vertical headline

I got stranded up between the clouds

Amazing view no one can describe with words
Mesmerizing, shining like some barricade of swords

Some people stay for way too long
Can't go on, can't see that it's wrong
And I surely don't wanna be one
Reach higher to the sun, that's what to be done
Eventually I see my loves holding me down
Do they also have to mourn?

(January 5th 2012, 3.14 AM
One of those insomniac nights when I overthought everything)

shameless publication due to excessive excitement

Well, if you paid bit attention to my twitter TL or FB page (or maybe, a small round black image on the right tab of this blog), you might see lots of posts about this one event I'm currently working on. Yupness, I started this with 6 other friends in October (can't recall the exact date) and right now there are more than 80 people plus many volunteers standing beside us, taking care together of our precious baby girl namely UI Fashion Week.

Under the tagline "United Integrated : Nation of Creation", we're aiming to unite all fashion interests in UI, arrange an event to gather up UI studentpreneurs, young newbie creativepreneurs all over this country, and also major well-known names in local fashion zone. Not only to give you nonstop shows that gonna make you ga-ga-gasp, our main goal is to endorse everyone who has passion for fashion but doesn't have the guts to take it more seriously as money-making machine. Fashion is a creative industry that never runs out of idea, and we would like to show you that with passion and strong vision, anyone can be a fashion sensation (it rhymes, yaayyy #flatface).

Until now I still can believe we've made it THIS far. Soooo excited slash proud slash happy I can't help not to share it out loud. Lots of big names have agreed to join our main event. Let me make it bold, it's A LOT, and BIG. So far we've got deals with several rookie designers and labels, and also Nikicio, Barli Asmara, Ichwan Thoha, Batik 118 by Dee Ong, Danjyo Hiyoji, Klé, Monday To Sunday, Dian Pelangi, Zevin Shoes, École (you might've seen them on SOGO counters all over the city), Trax FM, Hard Rock FM, Cita Cinta, Grazia, Looks Magazine, Geeks Bible, Kaskus.us, MyTipsCantik.com, Mustika Ratu, Mesty Ariotedjo, Dian Sastro, Maudy Koesnaedi, Timnas U-23, Lookbooker Jakarta, and you know what sounds better than all those? We're still counting for more names! Gigantic yay to the ness!

'Course I can't make it without this amazing team. Without any intention of being solemnly humble or what, I'm nothing without their hard works. My contribution doesn't equal theirs, in any ways. Seriously, I won't be typing this post if I hadn't met them at the first place.

First of all, thanks to 6 other founders of this baby girl : Raldiano Fawzi, Argi Wibawa, Annisa Sylvia, Kya Fiddinie, Kartika Febrianty, Mustika Utami. I'm so thankful that fate has brought us together and made us come up with this brilliant radiant idea.
To my Creative Directors, Nindia Satiman and Raldiano Fawzi, for working so hard, going here and there, arranging dozens of meetings and dealings, keeping in touch with other crews, and other good deeds I can't mention them all. Feel so much like hugging you both right now.
Show Director Argi Wibawa & Gilang Ageng Sulistyo, Annisa Sylvia as Pre Event Coordinator, Zoraya Meizita, De Yogi Kosalania, Aquitanya Irfiandra, Putri Rezkita, Alexander Christyo Wibowo, Dandy Prakoso, and every single head and folk who've prepared the Pre Event very precisely. I'm feeling 100% optimistic about your work, let's rock in together in February.
Also to Ni Nyoman Nyla, Akbar Hardisurya, Kartika Febrianty, Tasya Kuswardani, Meutia Athaya, and all Sponsorship, Tenant, & Talent Folks. Thanks for the hard work from the very beginning. I owe you lads a lot.
To the folks that I haven't mentioned, it's not that I didn't acknowledge your work, I swear for God's sake. Each one of you is precious. I just can't manage to remember all full names of around 80 people, honestly dude.

It's not me showing off or bluffing up. It's simply me being too excited and too happy working with you guys, achieving this much. Let's grab MORE, we still have like 3 months to make it be-be-bigger.

Last but not least, here comes a small effort to sundul gan this event.
Kindly click the link to reach our website, Facebook, Twitter, and our online ticketing site (coming soon). Spread the hysteria bacteria dear #UIFASHIONFOLKS.



An out-of-topic intermezzo. I'm currently listening to Amsterdots by Afrojack feat The Partysquad, over and over. And also the whole tracks from Friendly Fires' albums, Friendly Fires (self titled) and Pala. Give em a shot people, these dudes really deserve a place on your iPod playlist.

The Timeline - when it all started...

FASHION SHOW - THE FASHION TIMELINE
part of Kulturfest 2011 : Junge Generation für unsere Zukunft
celebrating 50th Anniversary of German Studies UI
Wednesday, October 12th 2011

wardrobes by Forever 21, Legal&Crime, Esmod Jakarta
make up by Etude

photos by Dana Pranesthi Wening
I've edited some tints here and there

Sorry for the über belated post, but still, I'd like to thank everyone in this photo above (and also some people being out of frame). Crews, models, fitters, mannequins, and bien sûr all ye spectators! That might not be the best show ever, yet it surely was the best team I've ever involved in.

Good news is, this is just the starting point of our timeline. The show carries on, now in a way bigger scale! Another event with the word "fashion show" entitled in it. I guarantee you, it's not the corny prestige we run after. It's the pleasure.

Wait up in April 2012. We're about to stun this posh industry. Find out more here

UI FASHION WEEK 2012, proudly recruiting!

New footprints in the history is on the making!

Proudly introduce...

We need like zillions of heads and hands to make this work. If you're a fashion junkie, big huge money spender, or you simply want to meet new folks from UI and try a new experience in holding YOUR OWN show, then do join the troops!

Recruitment is opened for these divisions : 

1. Sound and Ambience Folks

2. Choreographer

3. Floor Folks

4. Talent Folks

5. Gourmet Folks

6. Staging & Lighting Folks

7. Decor Folks

8. Sponsorship Folks

9. Legalization Folks

10. Tenant Folks

11. Finance Folks

12. Public Relations Folks

13. Photography and Documentation Folks

14. Editing Folks (for Banner, Flyer, Lookbook, etc)

Swiftly send your CV to uifashionweek@yahoo.com with subject CV -Name-

and tell us which division(s) you'd like to join.

Still confused? We're holding a private interview with each applicants after mid-test (around end of November), we can help you to decide there.

For further infos kindly mention us on Twitter @UIFASHIONWEEK (another followers would be awesome, do promote us!)

Visit our website http://uifashionweek.blogspot.com

We've received dozens of CVs by now, and the amount is still increasing by each day. So grab your chance to work together with other #UIFASHIONFOLKS, together we'll show the nation that UI students is not all about bookworms or whatever. We got lots of talents and competitive entrepreneurs who can make the industry stunned.

See you like real soon #UIFASHIONFOLKS!

Fierce regards,

UI Fashion Week Team

Road to Backstage RTC 2011

PRE EVENT 1

Saturday, September 24th 2011 @ Old House Margo City

featuring :

Karolina

(@MUSIKAROLINA)

HocuspocuZ

(@hocuspocuz)

Dekuliner

(@dekuliner)

and 7 other bands chosen by our Music Directors to continue to Top 10 Audition. these 10 bands were chosen out of 55 applying bands with wide range of genres. 5 of them will perform on our 2nd Pre Event, and of course, on the Main Event. 

special performance from The Shapers, french punk-rock indie band

(@theshapers)

p.s. : they also sang an Indonesian song, namely Netral - Cahaya Bulan, very fluently!

PRE EVENT 2

Wednesday, Sept 28th 2011 @ Kantin Sastra FIB UI

mini teaser for the Main Event. featuring some guest bands from FIB UI and 5 chosen bands from the 1st Pre Event.

Experimental Club, guest band from FIB

Mind Deer

 (@minddeer) 

Honeybeat

(@honeyBeatband)

... and they finally bring us forth to the MAIN EVENT

Friday, October 14th 2011 @ Parkiran Psikologi UI. free entry!

presenting :
- Top 5 bands from Backstage audition
Dekuliner
Hocuspocuz
Honeybeat
Karolina
Minddeer

- guest stars
Borock n Roll
Delay Monday
Final Attack
Hamba Allah
Raksasa Project
The Psycho
Speedkill
GOODNIGHT ELECTRIC
FLOAT

all of those for free! make sure you join the cheerios, see you there!

Last last last last Monday Night

punchline #1

Rissa : (looking at the menu) "Hmm... Mbak? .... Lagi apa?"

punchline #2

Fira : "Mas mau pesen ORANGE NIPIS." (instead of jeruk nipis, or lime, or something)

punchline #3

Fira : (to the waiter, dengan nada super unyu 2011, bibir manyun remaja masa kini) "Maasss, punya aku manaaaa?"

punchline #4

(looking together at this cheese sausage)

"KOK KAYAK PALA K***** YA???"

(hint : that sensitive, private part dangling between guy's legs)

punchline #5

(on the way back to kost, inside the taxi, stuck on a minor traffic jam. saw a giant tractor crossing the street)

Caca : "Itu apaan dah ijo-ijo gede, kayak Godjali."

Me : "Hah? Godjali?"

Caca : "Eh maksud gw GODZILLA!"

Taxi Driver : (langsung ngumpetin muka, keliatan banget pengen ngakak tapi diempet)

well, those were my "unique" kost mates. ehm, not really sure if the word "unique" suits them right, actually.

quoting Catatan Harian Si Boy (not exactly the same, I typed as precise as I could remember) :

"Keluarga kita semua itu disfungsional. Karena itulah ada temen, mereka itu keluarga yang lo pilih sendiri."

(sumpah ini asal, pokoknya kira2 intinya begitu lah)

so, I don't really care about the fact that all of them are totally dysfunctional. I chose them, and I'm quite pleased to have all of them, those dysfunctional-in-a-good-way mates.

oh man sometimes I just don't understand, how could these moronic clowns be gathered, and why? man oh man

I call this, kebetulan yang salah

on the way to kost, then realized that my keys were left home. thank God I had my duplicates. I found them inside my bag, but there was only one key, when that was supposed to be two (from now on I'll call the first key, the one that I had as "kunci kamar" and the second one, which was gone, as "kunci gembok").

so I whatsapped my kost mates, in case one of them had my kunci gembok.

Me : "Ris kunci kamar gw di lo gak?"

Rissa : "Hah enggak, di Dea kayaknya. Atogak di Fira. Yang jelas gak di gw."

I called Fira, no answer. Dea, again. no answer. this is the point where I started to turn panic. then :

Rissa : "Fira gw BBM katanya dia gak megang yuk."

Me : "Mm. Yaudah gw nebeng kamar lo dulu deh ya."

Rissa saved my ass. there was nobody else in kost, so I'd be sleeping in front of my door right now if she were not around.

hours later, Dea texted me. turned out that her whatsapp was not in online mode.

Dea : "Yuk, di kosan gak?"

Me : "Iya. Eh de kunci gembok gw di kamar lo gak? Kunci gw ketinggalan, serep gw cuma ada yang kunci kamar."

Dea : "Iya ada di kamar gw kok. Bentar lagi gw pulang kos tungguin ya. Gapapa kan maleman?"

Me : "HALLELUYA! Gapapa banget de, yang penting ada."

but minutes later.....

Dea : "Yuk, KUNCI GW JUGA KETINGGALAN!"

let's just hashtag this one, #eaaa

Cuaca Cihuy! (heavy image post)

I took a class named Pengantar Sastra Jerman (Introduction to German Literature) in the last 4th semester. and our final test was... making our own theater performance. we were given a 12-scened script (about 1hr 15 mins) titled "Prima Klima" by Fabian Scheidler. it was a role play about environmental issue, which was actually performed for children. the script was in German, then the students had to translate and adapt it by adding Indonesian culture and customs to our own-made script.

we worked with the whole production process for about 1-2 months and here's the result :

(Poster design by Lydia Putriyana)

the hectic atmosphere, several hours before the show :

and look, they turned me into...

THIS.

(credit to Rizky Meilisa [right] as my Make Up Artist)

yes, the "shemale" above is me. I played as 73 yr old man. more about my role and the whole story of our performance, please kindly scroll down...

M. Irfan Wahyudi (as Jaenal) and Fadhilah Farhan (as Pak Sapei)

left : Olivia Syafitri (as Juleha)

Rinka Rima Sy and Pinka Almira Kusuma (as Pohon 1 & 2)

(they're not siblings anyway, only destiny made them met each other)

left : Widia Arianti (as Pak Abidin)

right : Syifa Arifiana (as Bu Maemunah)

left : Sanny Patrecia Simamora (as Jaki)

see the cute shiny creature on the bottom right corner?

lemme proudly introduce...

Mexican Golden Frog, our class' icon. isn't it adorable?

(eyak salah ngambil foto, jadi ketauan kan bikinnya pake pylox -__-)

well I'm normally not fond of frogs, but this Kodem (abbreviated from Kodok Emas, iye emang gak kreatif namanya) is an exception.

special performance by Claudio Ananda Putra (as Ondel-ondel Betina)

and Fandy Hakim (as Ondel-ondel Jantan) LMAO

well overall I consider the show as quite a big shot, due to the fact that almost all audiences (included lecturers, friends, juniors/seniors, and some people who actually just passed by) laughed like crazy. there were still some aspects that still need improvements, and there were also several technical errors before, during, and after the performance. but overall, I enjoyed performing this theater piece and I love working with my team. great solid teamwork but still with countless laughters that banished all the tension.

so hereby in this post, I'd like to gladly thank everyone in PSJ class B :

the whole cast

(Farhan, Widia, Rinka, Pinka, Fandy, Irfan, Syifa, Oliv, me, Sanny, Lely, Gege, Claudio)

(almost complete) production team of Cuaca Cihuy!

also bunch of thanks to everyone who had come and watched us, and for those who couldn't come but had already given their good luck wishes to us. I sincerely thank you all.

If you just found out about this theater performance and thought like "damn I wish I'd watched that!", well we have a good news for you. the details are not fixed yet, so I can't publish it now. I can hardly wait to share you the good smashing news, but once again, just wait and see... *silly wide grin*

(Photo courtesy by Lydia Putriyana & BF and Triyanisya & BF)

so please, be thankful (one true story that perfectly resembles a melodrama)

it was a Tuesday afternoon when I had this light chit chat with some friends in campus.

then one friend opened up a new, shocking topic.

"Jadi gini loh, ada anak 2008 nunggak duit kuliah sampe 34 juta."

"Hah siapa?"

"Emm jangan sebut nama deh. Gak enak."

"Demi apa 34 juta? Kok bisa?"

"Iya kan denda 50% tiap kali telat bayar kan."

"Iya, jadi aslinya tuh 19 juta, kena denda 15 juta. Bahkan uang pangkal kuliah aja belom lunas itu sebenernya. Tapi sama rektorat dikasih dispensasi bayarnya gausah pake denda, tapi paling lambat besok Kamis. Gila aja."

"Buset ya susah sih kalo 19 juta cuma dalam 2 hari..."

"Eh tunggu deh. Kalo belom bayar uang kuliah kan gabisa ngisi IRS semester depan kan?"

"Katanya sih dia minta keringanan terus dan untungnya dikasih sama rektorat."

"Kenapa dia gak minta keringanan aja dari awal masuk? Bukannya bisa minta dikurangin sampe 2jutaan?"

"Gini loh, tadinya kakaknya nyanggupin biaya kuliah segitu. Cuma ternyata bapaknya sakit dan duit keluarga semuanya kepake buat bapaknya kan. Dan gaji kakaknya pun gak segitu banyak."

"Aduh..."

"Padahal anaknya pinter banget loh."

"Nah terus kenapa gak minta tolong kampus? Apa alumni gitu? Atogak minjem deh dari bank."

... then the story went on until our next class started. I kept on thinking about this anonymous person. I couldn't imagine how would it feel to be in his shoes. in my last post I blabbered out about how terrible I felt about my recent study. yet after I heard his story... damn. I was too fugin whiny.

then Wednesday night, I was studying for a test and going online when I saw a notes tagged to me. please read it here. you will get a very complete explanation about the whole case.

however I'll sum up some important points here. one friend from 2008 batch wrote this and asked all of us to spread it out. and I was like, totally speechless while reading the whole story about this person my friends and I had talked about.

his family lives in Manado. his mom passed away when he was in 2nd grade of high school. his dad is terribly sick. he has two older sibling. the oldest is already married with a child, and sadly, the child is also sick. the second one is only a mere employee somewhere.

I finally found out his name and felt like, OH, THAT BOY! I knew him! then I noticed that I barely saw him since the 2nd term. I remembered asking for his signature when I was a freshman (my freshman assignment included collecting 100 signatures of seniors from all batch). my first impression to him, he looked quiet, shy, decent, just a plain boy like others. I remembered that he always wore a grey hoodie, that was how I could recognize him easily. then I started to think, Iya juga sih emang bener ya. Di kantin pun udah bener2 gapernah keliatan. Kirain dia udah gak di UI lagi.

anyways, the notes told more about this person.

why he didn't show himself up in canteen? because he didn't have enough money for lunch.

why he rarely came to class at the first place? because he didn't even have money to pay for the transport.

why he always wore the same clothes? why he always looked messy? because he didn't have time to wash and iron his clothes, because he spent the whole day doing house chores for his family.

yet with all these burdens, he is still considered smart. geez. I don't understand. I don't understand, how could he be this tough?

fellow readers, I'm telling you this true story in order to help this charming-brained student getting back his seat in class, something that he really deserves. I would be very happy if you want to help him. any kind of help will be fullheartedly appreciated. you can send some help here :

Mandiri 165-00-000-40247 a. n. Sarah Hapsari

BCA 2671502240 a. n. Elisa Ermulina

BNI 0165577354 a. n. Titian Ratu

another way to give a hand : my seniors from 2008 batch are holding a garage sale this Sunday (April 3rd, 2011) at Gelora Bung Karno. feel free to pay a visit there, anything you buy might help this boy to get back his future :)

I sacrificed like zillions of things for this, but now?

most of my mates have dreamed about going to fine universities and getting the major they craved for since loonng ago. the planning, the struggling, and then wham! the result came straight forward : a "Congratulation!" or a "Sorry, please try again."

my story comes up like this. I dreamed about one specific job. a job that would let me travel around the world, meet and talk to people from everywhere. sounds like a job that people like me would kill for. that was why I chose to enroll at my high school, because the language class there is always the best in Jakarta (and even in Indonesia, if I got it right). then the whole plot flowed quite smoothly : I made it there. though later on it became more and more horrible each day. due to my dislikes to pure literature, and also dad's dislikes to my choice. at first I didn't listen to him at all. I thought : I know what I want. I have such a strong will on this and I'll show him I can make it. again, I had achieved more that I expected from myself. yet in my dad's eyes it was still not enough. until now I feel like I always fail to make him proud. until now.

well, however. at the near end of my 3rd high school year, I was still going for that one major I craved. dad was absolutely against it, because of some reasons that I can't elaborate here. too private. okay fine, I switched to plan B. I intended to take another major that is still closely related to my interest in fashion and also to my dad's wish that his children would carry on his business. so voilá, I thought this would please him. the fact? no, he detested my second choice worse that the previous one. then again, I swallowed all my disappointments and thought about another option.

third trial. I love foreign languages, so I decided to make them my future source of life. as I'd predicted before, dad still said no. but this time I'd already given in far too much. I wouldn't give up my passion anymore, so I carried on with my stubbornness and chose my third option, my current major now. so that was how I got here at the first place.

first year went veeerrryyy smoothly. no need further elaboration. then the second year...... BHAM! felt like, as if all the things I used to fight for were becoming nothing, useless. I used to love sitting in class, listening to any new subjects flowing into my ears and brain cells. well, though I spent some times sleeping on my seat. but lately my time table in class turns into this : 70% daydreaming, 20% sleeping, and 10% studying. seriously. no exaggeration. my GPA keeps on decreasing each term and I paid less and less attention on it. I found other interests that took my mind away from my main duty : concentrate on my major. now that I find these new interests more advantageous and interesting, I start to feel afraid. what I'm about to do with my whole life? what will I do for living in the future?

sheesh. I don't even know how to face tomorrow's mid test. then why bother to think about final tests, future job, my real passion, etc etc? or if I have to rephrase : lo belajar buat UTS aja enggak niat yuk gimana mau mikirin kerja deh? bisa lulus ini matkul aja udah syukur banget woy.

sorry for randomly rambling anyway.

walau badai menghadang

so many obstacles in front of us on the way to Feb 22nd

last minute practice

lack of topic sources

more than 1,5 hr from here to there

ended up extremely exhausted after the trip

bunch of talented competitors out there

wrong ID call in the beginning

lost my voice due to too much laughing

late for the announcement day

got our wheels deflated, obviously NOT accidentally

that super heartless satpam

reached the venue RIGHT after the winner announcement was done.

but anyways, those all worth the surprise we got :

to whom I'm giving all my ♥ for now

Gegen die Wand

Gegen die Wand (Germany, March 2004)

literally translated : "against the wall". English title : Head - On

Director : Fatih Akin (based on a book written by himself)

Cast : Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck

this movie was actually intended to be an assignment for Contemporary German Culture (Budaya Jerman Kontemporer) subject.

some asked, why analyzing a movie? why about Turks in Germany?

well I can't provide you a perfect answer since I skipped the first class meeting and I didn't get any introduction to this thingy. so I'll just sum it up like this (if you allow me to explain my presumed baseless theory) :

Turks in have been considered as "second-class" people since quite a long time, especially on times after World War II. Germany was extremely doomed and they needed to rebuild their country asap. that was why they called the Turks and invited them to the country, to fulfill the country's desperate need of workers. that was the origin of the term Gastarbeiter ("guest worker"), another name Germans called the Turks with. until now on, there's still an obvious gap between them two. how to describe the gap, I don't know, I'm not a German anyway #alibi

well then, about the whole movie, I found this worth to watch. you'll got not only brief picture of turkish culture and philosophy, but also a story about life, how people ruin they life and find back its meaning after long hard fight, how people might throw away their origin because of bitter past, how things (even the best well-planned ones) are so uncertain they could be exactly the opposite of your primary expectation.

simpler described : you'll learn how wild is the world out there.

and fyi, one more reason why I recommended this movie : you won't find a cliché Hollywood ending here. you'll see.

Sibel Güner

around 20 yr old. young free-spirited lady raised in a strict family with strong turkish influence. she can't stand staying in her house anymore, and she only finds one way to fetch her freedom : marriage. she plans to marry any turkish man, get out of the house, and live la vida loca. love isn't involved, that should be some kind like mutual symbioses. but as always, time changes everything.

Cahit Tomruk

around 40. lives such a messed up life after her wife's death. earns money by collecting empty beer bottles at a club. he refuses any kind of turkish culture and tries to be denial of his real identity. his daily activity only revolves around cigarettes, cocaine, and beers.

both meet in a hospital. Cahit drove under alcohol influence and accidentally crashed a wall. Sibel tried to commit suicide by cutting her veins. Sibel begs him to marry her. she doesn't care if he's a stranger, as long as she could be totally free. she promised that they'll live justlike roommates. for some reasons Cahit agrees. but as I've said far above, things doesn't go as well as they've planned. heart takes over their logic and nothing else matters to them.

the rest of the story, you'd better watch it yourself. I avoid to be a spoiler here.

one other thing that should be remarked : the movie contains explicit sex scenes. very explicit that I prefer to skip some of them. so make sure you watch it with "the right people", if you got what I mean.

there's only one thing that bothers me. between every scenes, in each transitions, you'll see a group of turkish musicians singing turkish songs in front of a river (or lake? not really sure).

1) okay I understand that they just wanted to emphasize the turkish atmosphere, but everytime this group appeared I instantly thought : can you please just carry on to the next scene? zzzzz. booooring.

2) it sounds sooo much like dangdut in some ways. I don't know why, try listen to it yourself.

anyways, I'm done with my thought about the movie. hope you get a clear bright depiction. if you want to watch it and can't find the file on internet, you can ask me for the .avi version, completed with English subtitles :)