Colours of Life: Music

Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

be human

As I stated in previous post, I love Kanno Yoko music very much. Well in this post I want to share the lyric from "be human" song, which is so good and inspiring for me. Take a note that this song is about Tachikoma, and sung also by a Tachikoma (hmm.. I tell you that tachikoma is robot with splendid AI). Read.. and tell me what do you think about the lyric. For me, as I have said above, this is really inspiring.

Title: be human
Vocal: Scott Matthew
Music: Yoko Kanno

I analyze and I verify and I quantify enough
100 percentile no errors no miss
I synchronize and I specialize and I classify so much
Don't worry 'bout dreaming because I don't sleep --

I wish I could at least 30 percent
Maybe 50 for pleasure then skip all the rest

If I only was more human
I would count every single second the rest of my life
If I just could be more human
I'd have so many little babies and maybe a wife

I'd roll around in mud and have lots of fun then when I was done
Build bubblebath towers and swim in the tub
Sand Castles on the beach, frolick in the sea, get a broken knee
Be scared of the dark and I'd sing out of key

Curse when I lost a fight, kiss and reunite, scratch a spider's bite
Be happy with wrinkles I got when I smile
Pet kittens 'till they purred, maybe keep a bird, always keep my word
I'd cry at sad movies and laugh 'till it hurt

I'd buy a big bike, I'd ride by the lake
And I'd have lots of friends and I'd stay out too late

If I could just be more human
I would see every little thing with a gleam in my eye
If only I was more human
I'd embrace every single feeling that came in my life

Would I care and be forgiving?
Would I be sentimental and would I feel loneliness?

Would I doubt and have misgivings?
Would I cause someone sorrow too? Would I know what to do?

Will I cry when its all over?

When I die will I see Heaven?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fasten Your Seatbelts

Imagine you were in a car, then looked to your left or right. There you would see some kind of cloth material, with width around 7 cm, hanging limply. For your own safety, you should take that material, pull it from your left or right shoulder across to your hip and then fasten it. This material is known around the world with the term seatbelt. But rest easy, since I won't write anything about car or "100 things you should know for safe driving", but something entirely different, which is music.

You have seen where the red thread would end, or have you not?? If you still haven't grasped what is I want to write about, you should know about 3 things first. The thing that I want write is a band that play really diverse music styles from jazz, blues, rock, country, electronic, and hip hop. The second one is the mastermind behind this great band is Kanno Yoko, a very accomplished composer, arranger, and musician. I love Kanno-san music very much, and I think she is one of the best composers in the world. The music genre she has composed ranging from jazz, rock, orchestra, electronic, to pop. The great thing of Kanno-san is whatever genre she composed or arranged turn out to be good or even great. Her music is usually used for many anime soundtracks. The last is the band performed whole soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop anime series. The story of this anime revolved around bounty hunters in the near future when interplanetary travel could be done very easy and fast.

The band name is The Seatbelts. So why is the band have that

particular name?? See in your mind's eye that we lived in the era that humans already made many colonies in outer space, that in some place had lower gravity than earth. So if a band would perform a jam session, they should wear seatbelts for their own safety. Anyway.. The Seatbelts have no lead singer, because they are mainly focused on instrumental work.

A jazz, blues, rock, or country music seems a perfect companion for a cowboy or bounty hunter film, doesn't it?? Well, I can't tell exactly because I haven't watch all the episodes, but very few of those. But I really enjoy all of their works, because I am a jazz lover and love to listen to many music styles such as blues, rock, classic country, pop, and many others (don't give me dangdut please.. :D). All their albums definitely could be enjoyed without watching the film, moreover in my opinion The Seatbelts is the best work of Kanno-san (the second best is Ghost in The Shell - Stand Alone Complex soundtrack). Unfortunately I couldn't find any of their albums of any music store that I have visited. Well of course those can be found at Amazon, but it still too expensive for me to buy online.

Well, enough talking and let me recommends you some great tracks from The Seatbelts. My personal favorite track is "What Planet is This?!", a groovy, up beat, jazz tune with a great solo sax. "Tank!", an instrumental, up beat, big band style jazz, also with a great solo sax, is the opening theme for Cowboy Bebop. Two tracks with a magnificent vocalist, Mai Yamane, are "The Real Folk Blues" (ending theme for Cowboy Bebop with blues tune) and "Gotta knock a little harder" (another track with blues tune and splendid lyric). "Adieu", a rather sad and soft jazz track, is another vocal track with Emily Bindiger as vocalist. You can expect Indonesia in "Mushroom Hunting", a song with simple lyric and catchy beat. Kanno-san wouldn't complete without cat as you could find in a mild blues tune "Cat Blues" or funny tune "Cats on Mars".

With loads of great tracks, I still could write some more, but let me finish it, before go too long. So where could we find these songs from The Seatbelts?? Well, I should say, we should buy it (yes.. I will buy all of their albums). But if you want to try the samples, those could be easily found with a little googling on the Internet. Last advice before you listening The Seatbelts: "Fasten Your Seatbets!!"

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Image courtesy:

First image from: en.wikipedia.org
Second image from: www.last.fm

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Nine - And so The End Came..

Monday Michiru show, that ended at November 25, Sunday, around 1.00, marked the end of my rush journey to Jak Jazz Festival 2007. It was an exhausting trip, but very pleasant. The dream to watch a Jazz concert had come true. But this won't be the last one.

Anyway, at least there were two drawbacks from Jak Jazz 2007. The first one was some of the Jak Jazz on-field comittee members didn't have a lot of information, such as schedule, stage location, etc. And when I asked one of them, he didn't give any info, didn't have motivation to seek the info, and didn't point to whom I should ask the question. The other drawback was there were two versions of the show schedule distributed among the audience.

And there are, of course, some lessons learned from this trip. So I will write some tips if you want to go to this kind of concert (a music festival):
1. Bring some snack and drink (of course I brought it).
2. Bring mat, paper, or anything that can be used to sit on.
3. If you want to get some autographs, bring some related merchandises and a waterproof marker.
4. Prepare yourself with rest, eat well, etc because it will be exhausting.
5. If you want to take some photos, bring a good camera (yeah, I will bring DSLR next time). Anyway, if you want to test your camera is good enough or not to be brought, try to test it in low light condition (maybe like the light condition in a cinema). If you satisfied with the result, you can bring it. If not, use a better one. Maybe I will write more tips and trics in using digicam in other occassion.

So this is the end. Whew.. these are the most related posts I've ever wrote anyway. Quite a accomplishment I guess.

Jazz is.. One of life's greatest gifts: fun found within surprise.

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Eight - Main-Course: Monday Michiru

After Parkdrive show was over, we headed to Big Stage 1 again where Monday Michiru would perform. I was exhausted at that time and a sleepy sensation struct me. We had to wait for another 15 minutes till the show started. Anyway there were many persons decided to sit on the ground, in front of the front seat to watch this show, so we decided to follow it too. And sitting there made my sleepiness became worse.

Monday Michiru from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Born August 19, 1963 in Tokyo, Japan, Monday Michiru was named but her parents, jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano, to reflect both her Japanese and American heritage. With music obviously in her blood, Monday showed interest in the arts from an early age, studying modern dance and ballet from the age of 8, and classical flute from 11 years of age.

After winning first place in several local flute competitions in Los Angeles, she attended the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan and was recognized for her talent and awarded a scholarship from both the Armstrong Flute Association and Interlochen Arts Academy.

After graduating IAA, Monday shifted her studies from the classical flute and began concentrating on the voice more seriously. It was in 1991 that she finally had the opportunity to reroute her endeavors back to her roots in music and released her debut solo album. By 1993, Monday steadily began recording and releasing albums in Japan and later in Europe, Australia, and South America.

First Experience with Monday Michiru

I knew Monday Michiru for the first time at the recorded Jak Jazz 2006 show and stunned by her voice. Since then I had became her fan.

More Experiences with Monday Michiru

I knew more of her music through Optimista album. She has been known as an artist that combine many genre to form her own music style. It is ranging from jazz, dance, pop, and soul. And from this album I learnt more in her style. She combine samba tune in some tracks of this album. Other than that, I'm really amazed by the depth and the meaning of her lyric. Her music is simply beautiful, and sometime energetic and groovy, and the lyric has a lot of messages. Such combination made me love her music more.

Monday Michiru's Jak Jazz Show

Monday Michiru walked to the stage with a red gown to the knee, she looked very beautiful and sexy also. Accompanied by Alexandre Sipiagin (trumpet), Seamus Blake (saxophone and guitar), Gene Jackson (drum), Henry Hey (keyboard), and Fima Ephron (bass), she was ready to begin her show. Some of her songs were romantic and some other more were groovy and energetic. But I guessed the audience was already tired, so they didn't want to get up from the seat. I wanted to stand up rather than sat down also, but I was also tired and feared to be shouted by other audience (in the previous shows, everyone that stood up in front of the stage, mainly because wanted to take some pictures, was always shouted by other audience to get down).

Anyway, I recognized at least two of her songs, those were "Oasis" and "Play It By Ear". And it was really an honour for Jak Jazz 2007, because she especially sang one song that she had never sung before live, unfortunately I forgot the title :( sigh.. Anyway, other than singing, in some of her song, she played flute too. At the end of the show after she got off the stage, the audience shout "we want more" over and over, and she appeared again. Anyway she stated that she prepared to come to the stage, and said it would be really silly if the audience didn't call her back. So I guess it didn't count as an encore anyway. One song more to go and the show was really over.

After the show was over, we left the stage, but to see she reappeared to give autograph and a little photo session to her fans. So we rushed back to the stage, but I didn't prepare anything to get her autograph. So I took a bag that was left behind on the ground by its owner, clean it up, and got her autograph. Wow.. she is a really kind person. Anyway.. what I really disappointed about is.. I should get her photo with me.. sigh.. I was too shy to ask that :P

Photos

All these photos taken at Jak Jazz 2007 festival, 24th November 2007

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Alexandre Sipiagin on trumpet and Seamus Blake on saxophone

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The beautiful Monday Michiru

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Alexandre Sipiagin on trumpet and Seamus Blake on guitar

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Fima Ephron on bass

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Gene Jackson on drum

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Monday Michiru

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Henry Hey on keyboard

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Seven - Side-Dish: Parkdrive

Really satisfied with Bill Sharpe & Geography show, we have one more "main-course" at 23.15, and it was around 30 minutes more to the designated hours. We went to stage immediately to get the best spot but only to find the front chair already full occupied. With nothing to lose spot, we decided to watch Parkdrive on Frestea Garden Stage.

Parkdrive from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Parkdrive launched their self-titled debut album on the 11th of August 2005, with their first hit-single Sekedar Cerita. They received an immediate warm welcome from Indonesian music lovers and the media alike, with their CD sales reaching up to 3,000 copies in just 3 months. Quite impressive noting that their release was under an indie-label.

Although the group has never performed live prior to their release, just five days after they finished producing their first clip, they were instantly made MTV Exclusive artist of August 2005. Their hit-single Sekedar Cinta soon became a popular request and climbed up the charts in several national radio stations.

Made up of two Berklee College of Music graduates, Rayendra Sunito and Juno Adhi, teamed with Mikuni's unique vocals, Parkdrive continued to make various appearances and interviews in press formats, radio, and television. Their fresh and new sound in the Indonesian music industry led them to collaborate with well known local musicians of the same genre. One of their works with Glen, Selalu Tersenyum, can be found in the movie Cinta Silver's OST.

First Experience with Parkdrive

The very first experience with Parkdrive was with their first album and Mikuni was still the vocalist.

More Experiences with Parkdrive

The most notable experience after the first one, maybe from watching they live at Paskal Hyper Square. When they performed at Paskal Hyper Square, the vocalist already changed to Olive. Personally I prefer Olive as the vocalist, because her voice can bring Parkdrive more energetic and groovy.

Parkdrive's Jak Jazz Show

I didn't know why that I felt this show not too good. I felt it had not much difference when I saw them live the last time. But I guess it was still a good performance, judging from the audience response.

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Six - Main-Course: Bill Sharpe & Geography

Nine was approaching, and we had arrived at Dji Sam Soe Super Premium Stage around 10 minutes to nine. Well, this show enlisted in my "main-course" list because I wanted to see Tetsuo Sakurai. I amazed with Tetsuo style in playing bass guitar. He shows that a bass guitar is not only played as the rhythm section, but also can be played as a melodic bass and becoming like a lead guitar. Other than Tetsuo, I also had known Shakatak, Bill Sharpe's old band, but just learnt that Bills Sharpe was one of Shakatak personnel.

In the Jak Jazz 2007 schedule, it was just stated that there would be Bill Sharpe (keybard and piano) & Geography, band from Japan, consist of Tetsuo Sakurai (bass), Masato Honda (saxophone and flute), and Hiroyuki Noritake (drum). But there were still two more musicians, they are Don Grusin (keyboard and piano) and Carlos Rios (guitar)

Bill Sharpe from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Bill Sharpe is widely known as one of the Shakatak personnel. He formed Shakatak in 1980, along with Keith and Roger and Producer Nigel Wright. They toured the UK extensively during the early eighties. In 1982 they had their first top 20 hit with Easier Said Than Done. Others include Night Birds, Invitations, Dark in the Night, Down on the Street, and Sister Cool. In 1983, international success began for the band where Night Birds became one of the biggest selling international albums of all time.

As the band's success continued through the 80's, Sharpe released his first solo album Famous People in 1985. One song in the album featured Gary Numan called Change your Mind, became a top 20 hit and also heralded the start of a successful collaboration with Gary under the name of Sharpe and Numan.

In 1997, he had the time and opportunity to record his second solo album. This enabled him to work with some of his favourite American musicians including Alex Acuna, Paulinho da Costa, as well the great soul singer Jeffrey Osborne.

Don Grusin from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Don Grusin (born April 22, 1941, in Denver, Colorado), is an American songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. He holds a Master Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado and for a period of his life taught at the National Autonomous University of Mexico as well as at Foothill College, California before deciding to enter the music business full-time.

The younger brother of producer/composer Dave Grusin, Don Grusin is an excellent keyboardist who has had his own solo career. He originally avoided music (not wanting to be in his brother's shadow), becoming an economics professor and not becoming full-time musician untui 1975. At that time, he put together a band to tour Japan with Quincy Jones, freelanced in Los Angeles, and headed the group Friendship which recorded for Elektra 1978.

Grusin recorded a few albums for JVC in the early '80s; and in 1988, with Sticks and Stones (a collaboration with brother Dave), Don Grusin began recording regularly for GRP, playing music that (although influenced by pop) is also somewhat adventurous within the crossover genre.

Tetsuo Sakurai from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Tetsuo Sakurai (born November 13, 1957 in Tokyo) is a Japanese bassist. He started playing bass when he was 13 years old.

He was a member of the jazz fusion band Casiopea in 1976-1989 and Jimsaku with Akira Jimbo in 1990-1998. He has released a total 37 albums as members of Casiopea and Jimsaku as well as solo. He also made 3 instructional videos. Now, he is composing and playing his own music as solo artist with domestic and foreign musicians. The 3rd solo album TLM20, released in 2000, was recorded live concert with Casiopea members, Issei Noro and Minoru Mukaiya. Akira Jimbo also performed on drums. Kazuki Katsuta of Dimension was the lead on sax. The 4th solo album Gentle Hearts released in 2001, was recorded with Greg Howe & Dennis Chambers. The 5th solo albums Cartas do Brasil, released in 2003, as the self cover vocal ballad album recorded in Rio de Janeiro with Djavan, Ivan Lins, Rosa Passos, and so on. In 2004, Tetsuo toured with Greg & Dennis. The following year, the tour live performances was released on DVD titled Gentle Hearts Tour 2004.

First Experience with Bill Sharpe & Geography

As I stated above I had known Bill Sharpe music through Shakatak before Jak Jazz 2007. As for Tetsuo Sakurai, I know him at the Java Jazz 2006 warm-up event, and since then I love his bass playing. After Java Jazz 2006, I browse YouTube to find some of Tetsuo's video clip, and then I saw Masato Honda performance in collaboration with Tetsuo. For the rest three musicians, I've only known them in Jak Jazz 2007

More Experiences with Bill Sharpe & Geography

More experiences with Bill Sharpe were done through Shakatak, but only a few songs. And for Tetsuo Sakurai and Masato Honda, I've heard and watched some more of their performances in YouTube. Anyway, I had heard some of Casiopea tracks, but before Jak Jazz 2007, I hadn't known that Tetsuo was the former bassist.

Bill Sharpe & Geography's Jak Jazz Show

It was a really awesome performance. During the show, Don Grusin and Bill Sharpe, that sometime changed their position on piano or keyboard, the lefty guitarist Carlos Rios, Hiroyuki Noritake, the virtuoso Masato Honda, and the most popular in the stage Tetsuo Sakurai brought song one by one magnificently and then lead to big applause from the audience. Along the show, they perform improvisation one by one very smoothly, and it was done very well and not too much (sometime in a jazz show, the musicians perform improvisations too much, in my opinion resulting in too long and boring show). I really like how they communicated with the audience. And for Tetsuo Sakurai as the most popular musician on the stage, he sure really know how to satisfy the audience with his skill and improvisation on the 6-strings bass.

The first song I knew in this show was "My Funny Valentine". They invited vocalist from Indonesia, Anna Andrea, to sing this song. The next one was "Fire Water", a piece for bass and drum. Tetsuo and Hiroyuki play this piece amazingly. Tetsuo showed various skills with the bass, and Hiroyuki also play the solo drum energetically. And then the most familiar song and maybe most awaited by the audience, "Night Bird" from Shakatak played. Near the end of the show, one string of Carlos' guitar was snapped, I guessed it was the 6th string. But it didn't matter anymore, because the show was going to end soon. And when the show ended, the applause echoed really hard and long.

Photos

All these photos taken at Jak Jazz 2007 festival, 24th November 2007

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Masato Honda on saxophone and Tetsuo Sakurai on bass

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Don Grusin on piano

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The featured Indonesian vocalist, Anna Andrea was singing "My Funny Valentine"

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Hiroyuki Noritake on drum, together with Tetsuo Sakurai were playing "Fire Water" piece

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Bill Sharpe on piano

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Bill Sharpe & Geography on stage

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Tetsuo Sakurai did some improvisations

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Tetsuo-san, the most popular musician on stage

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The lefty guitarist, Carlos Rios

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Hiroyuki Noritake the energetic drummer

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Five - Side-Dish: Lou G and The Galaxy Big Band

It was still an hour to go to nine, the next "main-course" performance, so we decided to take a walk around the venue and look at some merchandise stores. Then music from a stage attracted us, there was Lou G (from Netherlands) performed on the stage.

First Experience with Lou G

Their performance at Jak Jazz 2007 was my very first time knowing the band.

Lou G's Jak Jazz Show

There was another great performance, but then again I rarely knew their song, but one was recognized as "Roots". I'm really familiar with Incognito's version of this song. Anyway I was really enchanted by the beautiful voice of their gorgeous vocalist, Marlayne.

After Lou G performance ended, there was still some time till nine, so we got to the nearest stage. And there was Galaxy Big Band performed on the Frestea Garden Stage.

The Galaxy Big Band from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

It would appear that jazz tradition has advanced quite a lot in Japanese society. Such that expatriates from Japan living in Jakarta has the mens to form their own jazz band. This group called The Galaxy Big Band often plays swing jazz. They have also performed in numerous national events.

Even though they are not professional musicians, their performances cannot be underestimated. They play with such coordination and control that each elements of the band acts as one and never get in each other's way.

This band was formed in 1992 and is also supported by musicians from Indonesia and non Japanese expatriates. During that time, some of their members came and went because of various reasons, such as having to return to their own countries. Last year, they made an appearance at the ITB Big Band Concert in Bandung, West Java, and received a very enthusiastic welcome.

First Experience with The Galaxy Big Band

Well this time too was my first experience with The Galaxy Big Band.

The Galaxy Big Band's Jak Jazz Show

Wow, I was amazed by their performances, noting that they are not professional musicians. And.. actually I'm ashamed writing this again and again.. sigh.. yes I didn't know the songs they were performed, but the swing tune somewhat familiar.

Photos

All these photos taken at Jak Jazz 2007 festival, 24th November 2007

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Lou G performance at Jak Jazz 2007

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The gorgeous Lou G vocalist, Marlayne
I couldn't get nearer to the stage, so I took her photo at the big screen just behind me

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The Galaxy Big Band performance at Jak Jazz 2007

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Four - Main-Course: PIG

Around 19.00, the Super Premium Stage had filled with people that was waiting for PIG performance. And we arrived just in time. About 10 minutes after we arrived, the PIG show began. Well, to my surprise, everyone seemed to like sitting on floor to watch the live music show, on the other hand, in my opinion, it is normal to stand for watching this kind live show.

PIG from Jak Jazz 2007 Official Program Book

Pra Budidarma, Indra Lesmana, and Gilang Ramadhan were once part of a music group called Krakatau along with Trie Utami and Dewa Budjana. But these three also developed an experimental form of music far different from Krakatau's style.

According to Pra, PIG's style is free jazz. A style that focuses on the exploration of each of the individual's performance. In 1996, PIG released an album, though not many knew about it because of lack of promotion and their somewhat complicated music style.

They were also considered successful in combining Indonesian ethnic music and be-bop Jazz. They were able to integrate both style in such a way that neither one overpowered the other.

An example would be the composition named "Little Jakarta". Characteristic sounds from the musical style Gambang Kromong were presented within an envelope of Jazz nuances without seeming overly-forced. Both sound merged beautifully as if they were born from a single cultural community.

First Experience with PIG

As a group, it was my first time heard their music at Jak Jazz 2007 but for Indra and Gilang.

More Experiences with PIG

There is only one album from Indra that I like so much, which is "Rumah ke-7" soundtrack. The album is filled with swing-jazz track, a brand new sensation for me the first time I heard it. But I couldn't appreciate it well, provided I became intimate with Jazz genre in 2004. As for Gilang, I have heard him before and also have heard his music, but I can't recall what and when.

PIG's Jak Jazz Show

Great, really great, their performance was. None of the song they performed was known by me, but somewhat really familiar. I really like their style that combining jazz with Indonesian ethnic music. Just with Indra's pianika and piano, Pra's bass, and Gilang's drum, they could bring a beautiful performance. Every aspect of the performance was great, however they didn't communicate often with the audience and the performance was really short, about 40 minutes. When I felt they had done warmed up the audience, just a little after that the show ended. Well, I guess I will buy PIG next album. I already fall in love with their music style.

Photos

All these photos taken at Jak Jazz 2007 festival, 24th November 2007

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Indra Lesmana on pianika

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Gilang Ramadhan on drum

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Pra Budidarma at bass

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Indra Lesmana on piano

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Three - Side-Dish: The Doctor, Dinner, and Some Other Dishes

First thing first.. that was buying the official program book. And then straight to the nearest stage, that was Garden Stage with The Doctor performance.

First Experience with The Doctor

Well, that was my first time to know about The Doctor band and their performance as well and nothing too special about the very first experience.

The Doctor's Jak Jazz Show

Good, but not impressive, that was my first impression about The Doctor. In the show it seemed they brought other jazz artist song. I couldn't remember every song, but still could enjoy their show. The biggest drawback was their vocalist didn't remember the song lyric very well. So all the three vocalist always read their note when they were singing. Personally, I don't like this kind of performance, because the vocalists seemed ignoring the audience when they were singing.

Dinner and Some Other Dishes

After The Doctor show, there was still more or less 1 hour till one of the main target shows. After, took a look around all of the stages, we decided to have dinner early. Other than dinner, we just took a glimpse at other shows that had begun on other stages.

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Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Two - Departure and Arrival

I was 15 minutes late, but there was still enough time. So I'm rushed to my Angkot (Angkutan Kota, the English translation, literally is City Transportation; it is one kind of public transportation; the vehicle is minivan) and there was a story happened back there. My Angkot's driver caught on a dispute with another Angkot driver. A silly dispute and I guessed the other driver was drunk, even he drew a middle size single-edged sword. And I sat behind the driver, and the sword pointed to the driver, and the sword was only approximately 30 cm away from my face. Gosh.. at that single moment, I just feel fear and did not know how to react. Fortunately, a police pass by and the driver with sword ran away. Feels like my hometown become more and more dangerous.

Anyway, a little bit information, a Japanese style single-edged sword is called katana. I have heard a usual mistake to call this kind of sword samurai. Well, for more information about katana follow this link and concerning samurai can be viewed at this link.

And then, I arrived around 13.40 at the shuttle departure point. Wasted some time and 14.00 came, and so my shuttle was ready to go to Jakarta. Well, I rarely can sleep to spend time on road trip like this. So I played with my new phone a little bit, and then tried to take a nap. I did have a little nap around 15.20, just for 15 minutes, then woke up for realized that the shuttle had been caught on traffic jam on the freeway. It should be a freeway, but all the vehicles moved very slowly. The shuttle trapped in the jam for about 30 minutes. After that, the shuttle rode smoothly till arrived at the arrival point, at Blora, Jakarta.

After asking the people around, I took a bus-way (a weird term.. because it is a public transportation but doesn't signify that), arrived at Gelora Bung Karno, headed to Istora Senayan, and the music already echoed on the air. Then I met Unggul at Istora's gate.

"Jak Jazz here I come.."

The White Bed - At Cipularang Freeway (maybe around KM 25)

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Taken at 24th November 2007
I just want to jump to that "white bed".. hm.. take a nap there seems tempting.

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Friday, November 30, 2007

Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter One - The Plan

Well, going to a jazz festival is my dream since the first one Java Jazz Festival. Around that first Java Jazz Festival (2004) too that I became like to Jazz genre. And the Jak Jazz Festival 2007 is my very first experience.

The first plan was started about 1 month ago. One of my friends, Ridwan, raised the plan about going to this festival. I accepted quickly because there was student ticket which is very cheap. The time went by and we know too late about the term and condition to buy this kind of tickets. About three weeks ago (one week before the last day to buy student ticket), I just knew that to buy these tickets, we have to go to Jakarta. And everyone already had a plan for the week. A week passed and I burrowed the plan. I apologize to everyone that I asked to join the trip that I didn't tell about the failed plan. That time I was too disappointed.

The time paced up again to Thursday, November 22nd. As usual I went to campus with a plan googling cell-phone. Then I saw Unggul's status at Yahoo Messenger that he asked whether anyone would go to Jak Jazz. And it turn out that he had one spare student ticket. The story behind this one spare ticket is another story and I won't write it to protect some parties *grin* (You go Unggul!!). Anyway, I asked this ticket without any real intention to go, because I didn't like this kind of rush plan. Suddenly an offer to watch Beowulf surfaced from Tania and I took it. Well Thursday ended after watched Beowulf and I arrived home. My status was I still had not a good plan about the trip.

The next day came; it was Friday, the first day of Jak Jazz Festival 2007. Woke up with a stomach-ache because the day before dinner (the food was hot, or in Indonesian "pedas"); I cancelled again to go to the festival. Well, I cancelled it because I would be homeless at Jakarta after the festival. Everyday the festival ended around two o'clock in the morning. About two hours after I cancelled it, Unggul called me and provide me with some good ideas. And after asking my parents permission, I made my mind, "I'm going to Jak Jazz tomorrow". The next hours of the day was spent by booking a seat on shuttle going to Jakarta, going to campus to get the ticket, and buying my new cell phone. Buying new cell phone was necessary because my old one didn't reliable anymore (read this post). After exploring a little my new phone, Saturday came.

The Ticket - At my House

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Taken at 24th November 2007
Well.. I succeeded in applying the shallow DOF in this picture with my digicam. I thought it impossible to do this with a pocket digicam, but not anymore.

Saturday morning, at eight, I woke up with empty stomach. After filled with instant noodles and bread, I'm going to sleep again, because my mom promised me to help me preparing all my belongings. At twelve I woke up again, took a shower, packed all my belongings, had my lunch, and I'm ready to go at 1.15. I was late 15 minutes from my plan.

Fast link:

Jak Jazz Festival 2007 Saga: Chapter Zero - The Beginning

This is the starting point of all posts related to my experience in Jak Jazz Festival 2007. I'll try to write all my experience, maybe in 7-8 posts.

I have said in the previous post that this festival was my worst nightmare in my photography experience. Well, I used my pocket digicam and I can't expect a really good picture in low light condition. So I must reduce the quality greatly to get a somewhat sharp photo. It was quite a torture for me to capture the picture and knowing that it would turn out bad. And I was so stupid that I forget borrow my brother's digicam, though it is a pocket digicam but a better one than mine. Yes, regret always comes late.

The title of all the posts will have a common pattern as this post title. If there is a "Side-Dish" phrase in the title, it means the story occurred in-between the main target shows of the festival. And if there is a "Main-Course" phrase, it means the post told about the main target shows I watched.

The curtain rolls up and the show begins..

Fast link:

The Journey of Four Days and The 100th Post

Well.. this is my 100th post in this blog. The 100th.. not too bad, I think. My plan for this post was to give some news about digicam or my experiments with photography. And it was just a plan or maybe will be.. Anyway for now just read my "Journey of Four Days"

Last week, from Thursday till Sunday, was quite a "journey" for me. Of course a "journey" has connection with money expense and some new photos. From watching Beowulf, buying new cell-phone, going to Jak Jazz Festival 2007, to attending Mukrab (Temu Keakraban) at my campus.

Beowulf is somewhat an okay movie. Not have a good story, but supported by good action and beautiful animation. This movie is that kind of movie. Hey, I'm not going to give a review to this movie anyway. But I suggest that if you seek a movie with a good storyline, you will be disappointed. But if you like an action movie, the medieval setting, good animation, or a "hardcore" fan of some artist (Angelina Jolie for example), maybe you will like Beowulf. Anyway Angelina Jolie looks so.. so.. so.. "sexy" in this movie *grin* but appear in just a little portion of this movie. I am going to seek the real manuscript of Beowulf right now.

Now let's move to the next topic, the most expensive "journey". Yes, I'm buying a brand new cell-phone, replacing my old Siemens C 35 to Sony Ericsson W950i, quite a leap, isn't it?? Well, I'm not the kind of guy who loves to change his cell-phone. My old Siemens C 35 has accompanied me since my first year at college, so it has been 4.5 years now. The battery usually drops, the number 4 keypad is missing, and the phone system is often not responding. So I decided to buy a brand new one. It's not that easy for me to pick the new one. It is easier for me to pick a digicam or computer or laptop that I want rather than a cell phone. After three weeks struggling, I chose W950 for various reasons. Now I have activated the GPRS and installed some applications. My next target is to activate 3G and to successfully sign in to Yahoo Messenger from my phone. Maybe I will review this phone if I like to in the future.

The Jak Jazz Festival 2007 story will be told in some others posts. I have planned to write all my experiences and attach some photos in some posts. This trip is my first trip with a rush plan. I accepted and planned the entire trip in less than 24 hours before the D day. But it was kind of exciting, and the festival was also really exciting. I still can feel the euphoria of the festival now. But it was really my very first and worst nightmare in my photography experience. Anyway this trip is the second most expensive "journey".

Mukrab is somewhat like a "meet and greet" event with no celebrity of course, but with all of the students in my study program. The day after I watched Jak Jazz, I went back to Bandung (with Unggul), arrived at 5 in Bandung and went straight to my campus. I won't tell much about this, but it is a good event and a rare occasion for us to gather around. Moreover I still tired from the trip, but it was fun.

Well it's a wrap now. Wait to more Jak Jazz stories to be told..

Wrote at November, 25th 2007

Friday, March 09, 2007

A Lot of Musics

Yay.. I got a lot of mp3s recently. Yeah I know that this is a piracy thing, but I won't discuss it here. I concern about the piracy problem, but again I do not want to discuss it here, right now. Okay... first I got Tompi newest album with title Playful. Tompi is Indonesian vocalist with a very unique voice.. hmm.. I don't know how to describe it in English, can anyone help me?? I haven't heard all of the songs in this album, but generally, I think it's not quite as good as his previous album. The first song in this album is a jazz version of "Balonku" which is a children song in Indonesia. This song circulate in the Indonesian people with a fatal mistake in the lyric and so in the song sang by Tompi in Playful album. Can anyone post the right lyric for "Balonku"??

The second one is a band from my hometown Bandung called D'Cinnamons. This band just have released the debut album with title "Good Morning". D'Cinnamons' vocalist sounds very similar to The Cranberries vocalist, Dolores O'Riordan. This band brings an accoustic music and easy listening pop genre and I love it really much. Though the music and the lyric throughout the album are very simple, but they can deliver the mood and feel well. I think they still have a lot of rooms to grow and mature in their music style. I can't wait for their next album. Hopes that this band will grow and last for a long time. Anyway I really like three songs from this album, there are "Ku Yakin Cinta", "Loving You", and "So Would You Let Me Be...".

The third is YUI, a female singer from Japan. She still young (19 years old) and has a good music talent. I really like when she is sing just with her accoustic guitar. But her music style is too plain, there's not a unique sense in her style. But, I believe she is still has a big chance and time to grow her music skill and talent. Anyway I download the CHE.R.RY single from her. Well, it's still bring the Japanese Pop style, but let's see a couple years from now when she has matured her music skill and style.

The fourth is Chris Daughtry from American Idol season 5. This rock singer is really stick with his rock style. I like his vocal since watch him in American Idol. I got the Daughtry album from Aldo. Hmmm.... I like rock, but I think this album doesn't offer something unique. You will listen the same rock style throughout the album, it's quite boring for me. I just expect more from him because his vocal is really good.

The fifth and the last one is Incognito, my favourite band. Remember my post about Incognito newest album?? I have waited for the "Bees + Things + Flowers" album to be released in Indonesia, but it haven't released yet till now. This album features new arrangements from Incognito and Earth Wind & Fire classics. Read the article about this album at this link. Love it but I really miss the Incognito's upbeat style that I can't listen in this album. Anyway I really really love the "That's the Way of The World" song. The lyric is so good and have a really deep meaning. Here is the lyric from that song.

Hearts of fire creates love desire
Take you high and higher to the world you belong
Hearts of fire creates love desire
High and higher to your place on the throne

We’ve come together on this special day
To sing our message loud and clear
Looking back we’ve touched on sorrowful days
Future pass, they disappear

You will find peace of mind
If you look way down in your heart and soul
Don’t hesitate ‘cause the world seems cold
Stay young at heart ‘cause you’re never (never, never, ..) old at heart

That’s the way of the world
Plant your flower and you grow a pearl
A child is born with a heart of gold
The way of the world makes his heart so cold

It's a really good music week for me I think. And a very special thing happens today, but I'll post it next time (and the photos too). Just wait for them.

BGM: "Bees + Things + Flowers" album by Incognito

Updated - 12th March 2007:
Correcting some mistakes in this post and a big sorry to Ujay because I forgot to write about Lisa Ono in this post. Okay.... I have heard about Lisa Ono name before but I haven't listened to her music. And Ujay recommended me about her because she (refer to Ujay :D) watch Lisa Ono live in Java Jazz Festival 2007 (2nd - 4th March 2007). She (this refers to Ujay too..) said that she was amazed with Lisa Ono performance. And I searched and got the "Dans Mon Ile", a bossanova album in French. In English the album title means "In My Island" (thanks to Google Translate). I think Lisa Ono is a great and very talented musician. She has created albums at least with 3 languages (French, Italian, and Portugese) and I think that's really great because it's not easy to pronounce words correctly in foreign languages, and it's really hard to speak French isn't it?? But after listened to this album, she (again this refers to Ujay..) said that the live performance was a lot better than the album... yah... that sometime happens.

Okay.... that's a wrap for a music review from me right now. And... Jay... you really disappoint me for not telling me that you were going to Java Jazz Festival 2007 kekekeke..... *devilish grin*

Updated 15th March 2007:
Andri reviewed D'Cinnamons too at this link, so please read it and you can find "Loving You" lyric at that post. After update on 12th March, there is still one album left to be reviewed. It is Free Your Mind album from Maliq & D'Essentials. I will review in the future post, otherwise there'll be a lot of update in this post :P

Monday, January 08, 2007

Terang by Glenn Fredly

Glenn Fredly is one of the most talented musician from Indonesia, and he is one of my favorite artist. I really like his voice as a vocalist, his performance as an entertainer, and all his songs and lyrics. "Terang" (Light in English) is the first song from his Christmas album. This song's lyric is very inspiring... and really great. This is the lyric in Indonesian (taken from Anggri's blog):

Jadilah terang, jangan di tempat yang terang
Jadilah terang, di tempat yang gelap

Jadilah jawaban, jangan hanya kau diam
Jadilah jawaban, di luar rumahmu

Hooooo.... Jadilah jawaban
Hooooo.... Jadilah terang

Jadilah garam, jangan di tengah lautan
Jadilah harapan, jangan hanya berharap

Jadilah jawaban, jangan hanya ucapan
Jadilah jawaban, jangan tambahkan beban

Hooooo.... Jadilah jawaban
Hooooo.... Jadilah terang

Kedamaian yang kita inginkan
Hanya ada bila hati kita bersama

Hooooo.... Jadilah jawaban
Hooooo.... Jadilah terang

Hooooo.... Jadilah jawaban
Hooooo.... Jadilah terang

Hooooo.... Jadilah jawaban
Hooooo.... Jadilah terang

Jadilah terang

And here my English translation from the lyric (post a comment if you find any mistakes :D hehe.. sorry for my inadequate English):

Be the light, not at the bright place
Be the light, at the dark place

Be the answer, don’t you keep silent
Be the answer, outside your home

Hooooo.... be the answer
Hooooo.... be the light

Be the salt, not in the midst of the sea
Be the hope, don’t just hoping

Be the answer, not just word
Be the answer, don’t be a burden

Hooooo.... be the answer
Hooooo.... be the light

There will be the peace we all want
If our heart go together

Hooooo.... be the answer
Hooooo.... be the light

Hooooo.... be the answer
Hooooo.... be the light

Hooooo.... be the answer
Hooooo.... be the light

Be the light

What do you think about this lyric?? It's really peaceful I think.

Speaking about music, I bought "Spiral" album on Christmas holiday last year (last year doesn't mean one year ago :P) which I really want. Fortunately, the CD reappeared in the store and I immediately bought it (read my post about it). I really love Hiromi's music too. All of the songs in this "Spiral" album are full of feel, love, and energy. And speaking about music again, Incognito released a new album on August 2006. I can't wait the album to be released in Indonesia. It's the time to check the music store...

My first post this year...
My plan for the second post is some of my resolution this year...

Sunday, December 10, 2006

YES, I'm Tempted

Two days ago, when I had my hair cut, I went to music store, to browse new CDs and cassettes. My plan was to buy a CD, titled Spiral, by Hiromi Uehara. I'm really curious with her music. So, after postpone about three months, two days ago I decided to listen to her music first, and if her music suit my taste I would buy the CD. Anyway, this CD is imported one and the only one in the store. I gambled with my luck to postpone buying this CD. And my luck ran out for the CD had been sold two days ago.

But instead of Hiromi's CD, I found The Soul Sessions cd by Joss Stone. I really love her voice and music, so I switched my plan to buy The Soul Sessions. After browsing a while, I found another interesting CD, a Christmas album by Ella Fitzgerald. She is one of the legend jazz vocalist, though I rarely hear her song. Right now, I'm really tempted to buy this two CDs, but it will be over budget for me. And after watching "Mass in C Minor" concert yesterday, I have to think carefully if I want to buy these CDs. It seems that I have to meditate for a while.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The Flowers Blooming

It seems all flowers in my campus blooming right now. Can you see the pink and orange colour at the far right side of these photos?? Beautiful isn't it?? These two photos taken with different orientation, portrait and landscape. I can't decide which one is I like the best, so I post all the photos.

I will try to capture another views (of course with a lot of flowers) in my campus tomorrow. I hopes that the weather will be nice tomorrow.

Side News:

Steve Irwin died after being struck in the chest by the stingray's barb. I like his show (The Crocodile Hunter) very much though I rarely watch the show now. May you rest in peace in heaven and God bless your family always.
I get Aston Villa's mp3s today. This is not an English football club. I saw Aston Villa's performance at Journee Francaise event at ITB and it was stunning. Unfortunately I don't understand the French language they used. Their rock style isn't unique but I like their music and I think they a lot better when they perform on a stage. It's expanding my mind about European musisc.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Streetcorner Symphony

Come on over
Down to the corner
My sisters and my brothers of every different color
Don't you feel that sunshine telling you to hold tight
Things will be alright
Try to find a better life
Come on over
Down to the corner
My sisters and my brothers there for one another
Come on over
Man I know you wanna let yourself go

That is the chorus in Streetcorner Symphony which is one of my favourite songs. I just love the lyric, simple but have a deep meaning within it. The thing I really likes about this song is story about the beauty within diverse community. This song which is sung by Rob Thomas is really reflecting the real life around us. It is a problem when we do not accept our sister and brother just because insignificant matters, like races, skin colours, nationality, and many more. And it is a problem we are facing everyday in life. People seems forget that God create us as a unique being, that makes differences arise.

So...
Let's go dance under the street lights
All the people in this world
Let's come together
More than ever

....
And we'll paint the perfect picture
All the colors of this world will run together more than ever
....

Trying to write in English

Jazz, Hidup dan Mimpi

Sebelum acara Java Jazz Festival 2006 ada acara yang namanya Road to Java Jazz Festival 2006 yang ditayangkan di salah satu stasiun TV swasta di Indonesia... Udah kaya reporter aja deh ga mau nyebut nama stasiun TV-nya...

Acaranya nampilin rekaman Java Jazz Festival 2005.. Pokonya acara ini salah satu yang gue tunggu... gue ga mau ketinggalan nonton konsernya Incognito. Tapi semua yang tampil keren sih, jadi ga nyesel juga nontonnya tuh. Nah di setiap akhir acara, si pembawa acara selalu ngasih quote dari musisi Jazz yang ga satupun gue kenal. Maklum gue baru mulai ngikutin genre musik ini baru aja, tapi gue langsung jatuh cinta sama yang namanya Jazz.

Ada tiga quote yang masih gue inget. Dua quote itu kira-kira seperti ini:
1. Life is like Jazz. It is best when you improvise.
2. Don't play what is there, play what is not there.
3. If you want to understand what Jazz is, you will not understand it.

Dua quote ini gue rasa sangat menggambarkan apa itu Jazz. Gue pernah baca di satu buku petunjuk bermain musik Jazz, katanya musisi Jazz itu ga boleh terpaku sama nada-nada di partitur. Intinya sih, tangkep inti lagunya apa, trus maenin apa yang ada di benak kita berdasarkan inti lagu itu. Cocok sama quote kedua tuh. Trus nyambung ke quote ketiga, gue yang dari dulu selalu berusaha mengerti dan pengen tahu sebenernya Jazz itu apa malah kebingungan setelah liat acara itu. Jazz ngga bisa didefinisikan. Improvisasi yang menghidupkan dan berbicara jujur dalam Jazz bikin musik ini kaya. Hal-hal inilah yang semakin membuat Jazz susah didefinisikan. Tapi sekarang gue pikir: "Don't define it, but feel it."

Quote pertama, yang buat nyambungin semuanya dengan judul, kira-kira bisa gue interpretasikan improvisasi itu berarti berani menampilkan diri sendiri, bangga dengan diri sendiri, dan jujur terhadap dirinya sendiri. Tentu semua hal yang berlebihan akan membawa dampak buruk, sama juga halnya dengan "improvisasi" ini. Batasannya ada dalam hukum yang Tuhan berikan buat kita. Buat gue sendiri, gue selalu berdoa supaya Tuhan mengingatkan jika gue sudah menyimpang dari jalan-Nya. Karena manusia tidak dapat mengharapkan kesempurnaan datang dari dalam dirinya yang tidak sempurna. Kesempurnaan datang hanya dari Tuhan.

Banyak orang bilang susah mencerna musik Jazz, tapi di situlah justru keindahan Jazz terletak. Bahkan karena begitu susahnya, gue terkadang ga bisa dengerin musik Jazz kalo lagi kerja. Konsentrasi gue jadi pecah. Kalo mo kerja, musiknya ga bisa dinikmati. Kalo mo nikmatin musiknya, kerjaan jadi terbengkalai. Musik yang tidak umum ini sama halnya dengan setiap manusia. Bahkan manusia yang merupakan ciptaan-Nya jauh luar biasa, karena tidak ada satupun yang diciptakan sama oleh-Nya.

Tapi, semua manusia sepertinya selalu berpikir, dia harus hidup sesuai dengan apa yang dianggap baik oleh orang banyak. Kerja di luar negeri dan dapet uang banyak yang gampang adalah salah satu contohnya yang sering diobrolkan banyak orang. Terkadang gue muak denger semuanya itu karena gue yakin keberhasilan itu ga selalu dinilai dengan banyaknya materi (baca: uang) yang bisa kita dapatkan. Bahkan menurut gue semua hal yang umum ga bakal membawa perubahan yang signifikan. Tentunya perubahan yang diharapkan adalah perubahan yang positif. Mungkin karena benak gue terisi dengan doktrin-doktrin idealis, gue selalu heran dengan temen-temen gue yang pengennya kerja di luar negeri supaya dapet uang banyak. Dalam hati gue selalu bertanya: "Apa yang udah lo kasih buat Indonesia?? Lo kan udah hidup lama di negeri ini."

Kesal banget kalo hal ini terjadi. Gue kesal karena ketidakmampuan gue untuk memberikan cara berpikir baru kepada temen-temen gue. Tapi mereka memang bukan gue dan gue ga punya hak memaksakan ide gue terhadap mereka. Mungkin itu memang rencana Tuhan juga buat mereka dan gue selalu berharap serta berdoa buat yang terbaik untuk mereka semua. Setiap mendengar hal-hal seperti itu, gue selalu disadarkan untuk mengejar mimpi gue sendiri. Kenyataan bahwa setiap orang yang berhasil dan terkenal selalu dimulai dari langkah nol, membuat gue semakin yakin dengan mimpi gue. Dan yang bisa gue lakukan sekarang adalah terus berdoa kepada Tuhan, bertanya apakah ini memang jalan yang Tuhan pilihkan. Kemudian terus mengembangkan diri sendiri, mengembangkan setiap segi yang ada dalam diri gue.

Mimpi gue adalah menyentuh setiap manusia melalui pendidikan dan pelajaran... menjadi guru.

Post yang dibikin sejak Jumat, 7 Juli 2006