>> MESSAGE WITH SYMBOLS

this is my first movie from iran. i've seen the title and the dvd for quite some time but wasn't really interested although the synopsis was quite appealing. so finally one sunday afternoon i got to watch it, all by myself in my apartment. and guess what.. it's suprisingly touching. the movie sets in a construction site in a present day. it's about an iranian boy who works in the site named lateef. he works in the kitchen, doing the cleaning, shopping and servicing tea and food to the construction workers. there are many afghani workers work there, who supposed to be illegal. but the supervisor let them work cuz even though he yells a lot, he has a soft heart. one day, one of the afghani worker failed from the second floor and hurt his leg badly. most of these afghani workers live poorly on the outskirt of the town near the border. the one who got hurt has to make a living to take care his 5 children. so he sent his "son" to work at the construction site. but after a day, the "son" made so many mistakes and obviously wasn't cut out to work in a construction site. so the supervisor put him to take care of lateef's responsibilities and ordered lateef to be a construction worker. surprisingly, the "son" did a very good job in the kitchen.. better than lateef ever did. lateef hate "the son" for taking his job.. so everyday he always try to make "the son's" life miserable. until one day.. he saw that under the winter hat, "the son" has a pretty long hair. that's when lateef realizes that "the son" is actually a girl. in the world where women aren't allowed to work, baran ("the son's" real name) had to disguise herself as a boy so she can take care of the family. after that moment, lateef was very nice to her without telling everyone that he knows about her secret. he made sure that she's ok and taken care of.. even after she had to leave from her job because the inspector found out about those afghanis illegal workers.

the movie is full with symbols. majid majidi is the director & producer. the movie is probably one of the most touching movie i've seen, ironically, there aren't that many dialogues, but you don't feel it as a slow movie. the cinematography was really nice.. in fact, this movie won the best picture at the montreal film festival. the actress who plays baran didn't open her mouth even for one peep. but all the symbolism that comes out from the movie was very very deep. it's amazing how symbols and static scenes can deliver such strong messages.

now.. on to the tv shows. i'm sure most of you have seen smallville on tv, right? well.. i never want to discuss tv shows here before, because i don't want to ruin it to those who are outside of the US who can't catch the latest episode as we are here. but the last episode of smallville on tuesday night.. can't help that i just have to mention it. it's probably the best episode i've ever seen!! it's the time when clark finds out the message from his biological parents and find out that his name is kal-el from krypton. he found out about it from all the symbols and scripts that were found on the cave. he finally understands what those symbols mean because that was the language that his people use. and one surprise.. there will be two supermen in one screen.. cuz christopher reeves is in it. gosh,.. i'm such a geek!! can't help it if i'm a big fan of movies and shows.

anyways.. it's one of the best episodes ever.. so don't miss it! oh.. for those who live in the US and missed the show on tuesday, you can always watch it again on sundays (but i don't quite sure what time though.. ).

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/28/2003 01:32:00 AM | [ ]

>> SO, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

whoa.. that was a quick build-up of comments on my last posting. aren't you guys curious what it means? well, me too!! please don't get mad, but i don't really know exactly why you would choose A over B or vice versa. but i did get an interesting discussion with david about it. he said that over a period of time he had asked this same questions to many girls.. and interestingly, most girls would prefer to see the female-male-female action. when asked why? their answer is just as similar as most of the participants on my comment box... none of us wants to see the guys getting at it, it's just not damn sexy.

so we went on to interpreting what it means. it is obvious that guys would wanna see 2 girls and a guy action, instead of the other.. unless if the guy is gay!! so then we went on discussing the phenomenon. homosexuality has happened way back during moses time. and it was condemned then. but it's never gone, it's still there. as the world advances and the freedom and human rights are more declared, people want to express their feelings and who they are without any fears. it took them a while and even now it's still hard for the homosexuals to declare themselves in public. but the world has changed, people are more respective to what their choice is and let them be. their options, their choice, their responsibilities to the consequences. all we can do is to respect them for what they have chosen on how to live their lives.

ok that's my point of view. many of you might not agree but similarly, it's your choice, your opinion, and i respect them as you should be with mine. i live in a country where freedom of speech is taken highly. in this country i first saw and understand how homosexuals live their lives. meeting them on the street is something common and once in a while i would see them holding hands, even kissing on the street. it was shocking at first, but i adopted myself to accept it as they are also a human being like us, who needs love, caring and tenderness. over the years, i open my eyes to create the opinions and my stand within homosexuals. i have friends who are gay, some are openly and many who are still in the 'closet' although people have guessed that they are. i just can't imagine how reserved and repressed they are all those time trying to hide their identity *maybe they don't feel that way.. i honestly don't know!*.

a while ago, someone asked me.. "do you think homosexuality happens from the genes or from the environment?" i answered, "it could be both". i know i may be wrong cuz i don't know shit and haven't done research about it. all i know some people feel that they are belong to a different gender since they were young.. since they haven't even known what sex is, etc. but on the other hand, i also know some people who has gone to the other 'side' because of the environment he/she grew up with. so i don't know what the answer is.

all i know, as society, we're still a homophobic one. we're so afraid to see people do something not 'normal', not the 'regular' way that we oppose to them. and the answers to my question on the last posting might reflect it a little bit. it may not necessarily true, but many of us just couldn't stand watching a guy-guy action but ok with a girl-girl action. why is that? is that mean that it's ok for girls to be lesbians but guys can't be gays? is it because it's every man's fantasies to see girl-girl action and even when girls do that, it doesn't necessarily mean they're lesbians.. but when guys do.. they're definitely gay?

i don't know the answer to all those questions.. i'm just observing. another while ago, i had this conversation with my gay buddy.. i asked him when he found out that he's gay. he said that he knew it all along, but he had never been able to proudly say that he's gay or announce it to everyone that he is. he tried to look like a regular guy as much as he can.. but he can't deny his desires.. for men. does that make him a bad person? of course not!! he's one of my good friends here.. and i love him for who he is.. not his choice of sexual practice.

that's why i admire those who can say it out loud to the world that he or she is a homosexual. cuz not everyone can do that.. able to know what he/she wants and know what his/her options are. it's hard. do you know who you are? hehhehe...

ps: sorry if my answer is not as you expected.. but i just need to confirm david's theory that most girls couldn't see the guy-guy action even though girls should desire for men. what do you think?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/26/2003 05:45:00 AM | [ ]

WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

a while ago i hung out with a bunch of friends somewhere in the greenwich village to watch some live jazz. it was a fun night with friends. a friend of a friend dragged one of his buddy to join us. his name is david and he was weird-looking, looks jewish.. but when i got to talk to him, we engaged in a pretty interesting conversation. one of the results of our conversation that really stuck on my head was this question that he claimed he had asked to a whole bunch of girls.. out of curiosity and maybe a bit of psychology reason. the question is mostly for girls.. but if u guys out there want to answer.. just go right ahead...

if you were in the room with two TVs on. both of the TVs are placed side by side in one wall. one TV on the left is playing adult movies *bokep* of two girls and a guy and the one on the right is playing the same movie of two guys and a girl. which one would you prefer to watch?

we had a pretty discussion of what it meant when someone answer this question and choose A or B. it was wild. so, girls.. please just answer it on my comment box and i'll discussed it thoroughly on my next post. have a good weekend!!

*tootles*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/23/2003 02:15:00 AM | [ ]

> THE SNOW BLIZZARD OF 2003

as you may have seen from my pic-of-da-week i have posted since yesterday, you may get the idea that new york city (northeast states, particularly) is experiencing the snow blizzard. new york city residents are digging themselves out and trudging through drifts and slush after sunday night through monday's 24-hour blizzard dumped nearly 20 inches of snow. the snow accumulation is the fourth-largest accumulation in city history.

 

the official measuring station in central park recorded 19.8 inches of accumulation, less than half an inch shy of the blizzard of 1996. queens borough *where i live* was socked the hardest of the five boroughs, buried under 28" of snow. a snow emergecy is still in effect in all five boroughs, permitting only vehicle with snow tires or chains to drive on roads marked as snow emergency routes and prohibiting parking as well. new york city has not seen this much snow for the past 7 years... and for some reason it feels like the snow storm we're having this year kinda make up for all those 7 years of lacking the snow.

as i walked out of my apartment this morning, snow was piled up to my waist, burying the fire hydrants, cars and sidewalks. it's actually fun watching so much snow, but it was found deadly. at least 9 people died due to the storm. it's a sad sad story. one person in the bronx died from carbon monoxide poisoning this morning. apparently, he woke up to clean all the snow that buried his car. after he thought he had cleared all the snow, he went inside the car and started warming up the car. little did he know that he did not clear the exhaust pipe that was blocked with the packed snow. so before he realized it, the car was filled with carbon monoxide and he sadly died inside the car. another incident also happen to a lady in queens who died after the canopy in front of her house collapsed due to the heavy snow that was piling up on top of it. damn.. sad.. sad story.

and as i walked back to my apartment this evening, i reminded my brother to make sure to make a clear path for my car. it has been buried since sunday night. as i got out of the subway station, i saw him shoveling all the snow. he's been there for an hour and he didn't even finish half way. so i helped him out for another hour.. and MAAANNN that was a tough job!! just imagine that snow is made out of ice, which means out of water.. and can you imagine how heavy it is to shovel them out and throw them to the side of the road?? my back hurts just trying to pick it up.

 
 

on a lighter note, this week should be warmer than the past few weeks. it's expected to be in the high 40s so hopefully the snow will melt by then. and it means.. it's time for SNOWBOARDING, babyyy..!!!

the other day i was chatting away with ollie who asked if i ever remember new york city being flooded. i answered, i couldn't remember if there was a time. well.. here's the answer.. with all the amount of snow we're getting, we're practically having a flood right now!!!

btw, i took several pictures of the snow pile around the city. i haven't loaded it up yet as i'm writing this, but check often to my pix gallery, i should have it up soon.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/19/2003 09:04:00 AM | [ ]

>> .... AND ALL THAT JAZZ

so i finally got a chance to watch the most-talked about movie for the upcoming academy award.. CHICAGO. i didn't make any special plan for valentine's day except to go watch a movie. and chicago was my choice of movie for the so-called LOVE day. and it was a damn good choice. it was a very very good musical movie.. and i can't quite put it in the same line with moulin rouge though. it's a different type of musical. it's more of like one of those classic musicals they used to make. the music is obviously original. based on the broadway show with the same title, it was a hella good way in telling stories. and i can't help but just falling in love with all the music. it's soo damn good. cabaret music with a touch of jazzy tones in it.... just the type of music i listen to.. especially on valentine's day.

now... the actors. it has renee zellweger who won the golden globe award for the best actress, catherine zeta-jones and richard gere. at first, i was a little skeptical about watching them in a musical, which usually means they have to sing, dance, and do it all on their own. but after watching the movie, i developed a totally new respect for three of them... especially richard gere. when he came up to the screen, dancing and singing.. i thought it was just plain funny. then as the movie continues, and the plot grows.. he is more and more amazing to my eyes. the climax was on the last scene when he was doing a "tap dance" on the story.. and a real tap dance on the stage. and what can i tell you.. he's GOOD!! damn good!! renee and catherine give a wonderful performance.. with all the singing and dancing..

the story is about roxie hart (renee) who are hunger for stardom. after finding out a betrayal from her affair with a guy named fred, she ended up killing him. she lied to her husband that fred was a burglar but then caught in her own words and thrown to jail. at the same time velma kelly (catherine) was also thrown to jail for murdering her husband and her sister who's her partner in her famous duel-act in the jazzy chicago scenes. in jail, they met and looking for attention from billy flynn (richard) who is the best lawyer in town, who never lost a case. the way he's doing his job is to create a sympathy scenarios for the defendant so that the jury failed sorry for the girl and commited her as not guilty. although velma was famous.. roxie stole the heart of the jury and the people who feel sympathetic for her.

the way the story was told is very wonderful. rob marshall did a good job although this was his directorial debut on scene (he's famous for directing broadway shows). i think it deserved a "gotta-have-the-dvd" rate.

on dvd, i saw several movies but nothing really stands out. i saw boondock saints last week and i gotta mention it here. twin irish brothers conner (sean patrick flanery *from the movie powder) and murphy (norman reedus), feeling that their god-given mission is to cleanse the earth of all human evil, set out to rid boston of crime. but instead of joining the police force, these irish americans decide to kick criminal butt their own way. willem dafoe is the openly gay FBI special agent assigned to investigate, who plays really well especially with such different character from what he usually does. it's an independent movie by troy duffy and many of the scenes are original and different than the regular hollywood movie. it kinda felt a little like pulp fiction type of movie. although the twins did many killings, they killed only criminals, never innocent people. so when the fbi agent (dafoe) found out who did all these crimes in boston, he ended up taking their sides. there are many funny scenes and irregular jokes in entire movie, the deleted scenes on the dvd was even funnier. smart and funny, it's really worth to watch.

so that's it for the movie review. this weekend has been a busy one for me. four birthdays and a farewell party. one of my friends, ibonk, is leaving new york for good, back to the old jakarta monday night. give all the luck to you, bongky!! hope to see you soon...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/17/2003 09:54:00 AM | [ ]

>> WHERE IS THE LOVE?

so, it's valentine's day. it's the day of love. the day when you suppose to express your love to your loved ones. i'm not a big believer in it cuz i believe we should express our love every single day to our loved ones. so no, i won't talk about valentine's day. i wanna talk about love in general.. the kind of love that's so pure, the kind of love that makes your heart melts and turns to hate.

why do people hate each other? wise man says it comes from love. for someone to hate someone so much, it must start with loving that person too much. our life should start with love. so where is the love now? i don't see any love around as much anymore. people should love each other, spend each day with love... not war!!

i hate this war shit thing. just this morning, i'm already experiencing the stage on the high alert of national security. the subway station was closed in my area, leaving groups of people stranded without knowing how to get to work. nobody knows if the subway service is working or just in my area. determined as i am *yeah right!* i hitched a ride with ac who fortunately has not yet went over the bridge. and on the way to manhattan, the traffic was so fuckin' horrible. NYPD closed the HOV lane and tons of cop cars on every block.

as i was walking out of my building, the traffic in the city is still getting worse. cops in front of empire state building, letting no people in. on the news, cops are watching over the new york landmarks all over the city.

i hate talking about politics. i hate bush. it's his personal vendetta to get to iraq cuz daddy didn't finish the job. damn you, bush!! it's valentine's day, can i just go to work safely, without no fear.. and full of love?

well, i guess this is not exactly a valentine-type of posting.. but what the heck!! love and hate go along together. there's a thin line between love and hate.

perdamaian itu tumbuh dari cinta. yang paling sulit dalam hidup ini adalah mencintai seteru kita. siapa yang sanggup mencintai seterunya, dialah yang bakal jadi waris kerajaan baka.

"peace comes from love. the hardest thing in life is to love our enemies. those who can love their enemies will rule the eternal kingdom."

[quoted then translated from ca-bau-kan]

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/14/2003 12:19:00 PM | [ ]

>> AN INDONESIAN PRODIGY

since i was young, i always love to read. i love it so much that i'd spent my entire vacation just locking myself inside my room with tons of books when i was still in my elementary school. as i grew older, i found other interests. and for some reason, i abandoned this hobby of mine when i got to high school. i was so active back then that i didn't find time to read any books anymore. maybe here and there.. i read a little bit.. but i don't recall any interesting books during my junior high to a high school period time.

when i first came to the united states, i found myself noticing that people here are sooo into books. everywhere i go, there'd be people reading. in the coffee shops, in the subway, in the bus, on the plane, and so on and so forth. but still after the first 2 years i'm here, i never picked up that old habit of mine. until... several summers ago. a good friend of mine *haaiii... adis!* had pramudya ananta toer's buru quartet series in her book collection. knowing that this book was banned and always wondering why, i picked up the first book. i read it and fell in love with it. so i finished the whole series within a month. i was so into it that i ended up reading about 10 books that summer, within a period of 3 months. since then ... i just can't spend anyday without reading a book.

within those 3 months, one book in particular that really got me interested to reading more and more of memoirs and historical fiction types of books. memoirs of a geisha. written by arthur golden, it was his debut novel. a 40-year old american male, clearly he would never placed himself in a life of a geisha. yet it is precisely this vanished world that he re-creates with subtlety, sensuality, and supreme authority, bringing to life characters so complete and idiosyncratic — so fully sprung from the eras he has evoked — that his novel ultimately overwhelms us, as seductive and beguiling as the geisha of its title. i remember placing myself in each every detail scene he wrote on that book and keep imagining how it should look. as a movie freak as i am, i can just tell that sooner or later, someone will turn this book into a movie.

and... i'm right *pffiiuuhh*. spielberg is in the making of the movie with the same title of the book. so i did my research.. and to my surprise, i found a familiar name.. julyana soelistyo. it sounds very indonesian to me. so i did some more research.. and guess what? she is indonesian. i never heard of her before, but apparently she's been in one of martin scorsese's movies -- bringing out the dead -- with nick cage and she was also nominated for tony award for her role in david henry hwang's "golden child", her debut broadway this year. (hmm.. and you thought tracy trinita was so cool being in hollywood movie with ben stiller *zoolander* eventhough it was cut.) julyana was casted by spielberg himself for this upcoming movie to play a role of pumpkin, an apprentice geisha who is also a best friend to the lead role. hmm.. one more reason to excitedly wait for this movie to come out.

i guess indonesian film industry may be proud of iself. with the booming in the indonesian movies, along with many young generation try to put their creativities in making movies... we can also be proud of julyana's success to break the thick wall of the hollywood movie industries. i tried to find out more about her, but can't find anything on the net yet. maybe anyone can help?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/12/2003 10:13:00 AM | [ ]

>> TRUST & BETRAYAL

first of all, i'd like to say thanks to those who cheered me up and pointed me out that i should think positively on my previous posting. i will. as of now i haven't heard anything from my parents, but i really do hope they can make it. i'm sure they'd probably feel as bad as i am and i know they'd do anything in their power to make it.

anyways.. i know i just posted a movie review two postings ago.. but can't help it. i've been surrounded with so many movies these days, and i just watched a really good one.. i can't help it not to share it. as a movie freak as i am, i usually watch new movie(s) every weekend, especially if i don't have any previous engagements. i hardly watch movies on weekdays *unles if i'm really bored* cuz i usually watch tv shows during the weekdays.. must i say that the tv shows are usually better during the week?? yep.. they are indeed.

the theme of both of movies this weeks happen to be the same. it's both about trust and betrayal. so here goes

THE RECRUIT
starred by one and only al pacino and my sweetie *hihihi* colin farrel, i just can't resist not to watch this movie. a recent addition to the movie premiere in theatres all over USA, i give two thumbs up to this one. the story is about james clayton (colin farrel), a smart guy who graduated at the top of his class in MIT, who was recruited by william burke (al pacino) to be a CIA agent. although he resisted at first, he thinks that by joining CIA, he might have had more knowledge who his dad was. his dad was missing in peru and he has a big hunch that he was also a CIA agent. so, he went to the training session, went through many tests and trainings. in the farm *that's what the CIA called the training place*, he met a layla moore *played by the beautiful bridget moynahan and gained her trust as a friend.

i would've told you more about the movie, but i would ruin it for you. all i can say is that you would never suspect how it ends. it's about trust and betrayal. the script plays you in fixing who'd be the bad guy or the good guy is. a well done movie!! and of course the fact that colin farrel is in it (oh and al pacino too) just makes it a good plus in my eyes. addduuhh cakep banget sih tu orang..??? hahaha... anyways.. definitely a must-see and definitely one of those you-have-to-own-the-dvd movie.

ORIGINAL SIN
ok ok.. this is an old one. and i saw it from one of the selections that's available on my movies on demand channel. i never wanted to watch this movie before, but i kinda curious. plus it's free.. so what the heck. it surprised me that the story line was actually good. i can't say the same with the actors though. cuz it's pretty weird watching antonio banderas and angelina jolie in old setups. well, yeah.. the love scene was hot!!.. it shows both of them buck naked.. *and no censor, of course.. *. as it was voiced over from the beginning of the movie this is not a love story. no, it's not. it's a story about love..... i'd say if the producers found a much better actors with better chemistry, it'd be one of those good movies. i just can't stand watching ms. jolie acting like a noble lady in that dress.. although she is a very good seductress.

the story is about this guy luis vargas (antonio banderas) who owned a coffee field in cuba. he's very successfull but he doesn't believe in love. being a successful but single.. he wants to settle and has a wife. corresponding through letters, he found a girl in wilmington, delaware named julia russel who'd be willing to come to cuba and be his wife. this is the time when cuba was not yet embargoed by the US, when tourism and americans are welcome by the cuban governement. during their correspondence, vargas had an idea of how julia is. he got a picture of her, and she looks like an ordinary young girl. so it surprised him when he found that a beatiful and sexy young lady approached her after the boat has arrived. she announced that she is julia russel (angelina jolie) and the picture was a fake. to make the story short, they got married, and live happily.

until one day, julia's sister came to see vargas and said that she was worried about her sister. vargas had asked julia to send a letter to her sister to tell her that she's okay. but her sister was very upset because it was not julia's handwriting she received. by the time vargas went home, julia had left with all his money and left her wedding ring behind. it crushed him cuz because of her he starts to believe that love exists. so he went looking for her and found her in havana. julia finally confessed that she is not the real julia.. and she is actually bonny castle. so who is bonny castle? and why she did what she did? you have to watch the movie.. cuz if you haven't watched it.. i don't wanna ruin it from you. but the story behind it is very good teaching about love. cuz julia had made vargas truly understand what love is.. love is when you want to give everything to the one you love and you want to give more... and lust is when you take everything you can and more.. i'd give a B for this movie, although the story learned is a better grade one. oh and another thing that's good.. the music. since it's played in cuba.. it always has that cuban music playing in the background.. love 'em.

before i end the review.. i'd wanna give a heads up to a new upcoming movie. one of the good thing about watching a new movie in theatre.. you get to see first hand the new trailer for the upcoming movie. and one thing that i think i'd definitely wanna watch.. is pirates of the caribbean. if you really like orlando bloom *legolas from LOTR* then you'd probably wanna watch this, considering this would be his second movie after LOTR. johnny depp and geoffrey rush are also in it. there are a couple of more of new ones, but i'd mention it again later.

tootles. have a good weekend, peeps!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/09/2003 05:42:00 AM | [ ]

>> IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

gue lagi stress beraaatt!! kenapa? ada deehh.. yang pasti restless banget akhir² ini sampe gue males banget mau ngapa²in. minggu ini dengan suksesnya gue bolos sekolah.. cabuuut terruuss!! gak papa lah, baru minggu kedua. hehehe..

the other night my dad called. he asked specifically when will our *me & my bro* graduation commencement will be. i know my bro will have the walk on may 9th, but i don't know when my school's commencement is. but i know it usually sometimes at the last week of may. and my dad said that there is a possibility that he couldn't come to my commencement *which means my mom couldn't come either.. she's afraid of flying!* soalnya at the same time, he has to attend RUPS *rapat umum pemegang saham*. ah, menyebalkan!! gue langsung down. call me selfish.. but i really really want my parents to come, no matter what. this might be the last time i'm graduating out of anything. when i graduated for my bachelor's degree 4 years ago, none of my family came. just my friends. sedih juga sih.. but i understand their position. cuz at the same time my brother was graduating from high school and he was in the middle of ebtanas or final exam or whatever at the same time of my graduation commencement. although i was sad, i didn't really mind it. gak tau kenapa, gue pikir yaa.. gak papa lah.

but now.. for the second time i'm graduating in my entire life.. gak bisa dateng lagi?? wah keterlaluan dong!! gue langsung bener² down. i feel like it's no use that i'm going to school. graduating from a college supposed to be a big thing. apalagi graduating with MBA degree. at least once, i want my family to come and support me during my walk wearing the tassle and the robe. it's one of those kodak moment and i want my family to be there.. for once. i want them to share my hardwork to get that freakin' certificate that would have my name with three letters at the end. is that too much to ask?

anyways.. after the phone call, i found out from my school that the commencement would be on may 22, the last week of may, just as i thought it would be. i called my mom and told her about the exact dates for both me and my brother's commencement. so will they be able to make it? God knows.. i really do hope so.

on a lighter note, i've updated my new pictures on my pix gallery. i've changed the address, so now it doesn't have underscore in it. those who can't access it before, now you can.. at least i hope you can.

ok.. i'm still in a bad mood. i thought by writing them down, it'd make me feel a bit better.. i guess not!! hopefully the next time i talk to my parents, they would give me a better news.... and they can actually make it.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/06/2003 05:19:00 AM | [ ]

>> MOVIES ON DEMAND

so, review buku udah. sekarang gue mau review movies deh yaa.. sebenernya gue belom nonton pelem² baru akhir² ini soalnya tiap weekend pasti ada acara. kayak weekend kemaren yang musti ngebantuin mar masak² buat acara imlek nya dia di apartment nya. mayan lah.. hasilnya sukses.. bikin mi goreng tek-tek *adek gue yang bikin*, rendang, siomay, batagor, bola² udang *mar yang bikin*, ama soto ayam *mr. az*. yang dateng juga rame. seneng deh.. udah lama soalnya gak nongkrong ama temen² *eh, bukannya minggu lalu juga ngumpul² yak?*. malemnya juga sempet nge-lounge rame². seru deh pokoknya. btw, niel, mane lu? dicariin ama orang² sekampung *hiperbol banget gak sih?* gak ada yang tau elo ada dimana...

anyways.. back to movies. sebelom gue review movies di postingan kali ini .. yang for some reason lagi males gue tulis pake bahasa inggris..*sorry if ur not indonesian and can't understand this...* gue mau mention dikit dengan service baru buat nonton pelem di tipi yang menurut gue bener² worth my money. yang pertama, service nyewa dvd dari netflix. buat yang tinggal di amerika mungkin udah pada familiar ya dengan service ini. walopun gue udah denger ttg netflix dari kapan² tau, gue akhirnya decide untuk join baru beberapa minggu yang lalu. buat yang gak tau netflix itu apaan... ini tuh semacam service buat nyewa dvd lewat internet. kita tinggal milih mau minjem apa aja dan bakal ditaro di rental queue account kita. trus tergantung dengan membership elo, entar elo bakalan dikirim dvd nya lewat pos. elo boleh keep itu dvd selama mungkin, no late fee, no other charges, cuman bayar monthly membership fee doang pake credit card *info nya ditaro pas buka account*. pas dikirim, dvd nya ditaro di amplop lapis dua yang setelah elo selse nonton amplopnya bisa dipake buat ngebalikin dvd nya. it's already pre-stamped, jadi gak repot² lagi buat nyari² perangko. tinggal masukin aja tuh dvd nya dan di drop di mailbox deket rumah. simple dan praktis banget. membership nya itu macem², ada yang cuman $13.95 per bulan, $19.95, and so on and so forth. and of course semuanya beda² access nya. gue make yang $19.95/bulan, jadi gue bisa dapet dvd di kirim ke gue up to 3 dvds, dan dalam sebulannya gue bisa minjem sebanyak mungkin.. tapi cuman 3 dvd yang boleh keluar at a time. kalo satu gue balikin, the next movie on my list would be sent out again to my address.. gitu seterusnya sampe list gue abis *which of course i continually add almost every week*.

another new feature that i find very practical is movies on demand from my cable service time warner cable. kemaren ini gue sempet mikir buat downgrade service cable gue. soalnya gue sekarang pake paket d-best yang isinya service buat cable modem, digital tv service yang channelnya lebih dari 400 *altho i only watched it up to 200, itu juga gak semua.. banyak beneeerr.. nek!* dan gue dapet 4 premium channel (hbo, cinemax, showtime & starz) berikut keluarganya kayak hbo-comedy, hbo-thriller, gitu² deh.. jadi bener² banyak banget dan gue bener² bisa akses ke berbagai macem film atau show. nah, tapi kan kalo weekdays gue selalu sibuk dan jarang di rumah. sekalipun gue pulang ke rumah, paling banyak nonton tv di channel² basic kayak nbc, abc, fox, wb, dll. makanya gue mikir gue mau downgrade aja, apalagi setelah gue tau kalo mereka mau naekin monthly service nya lagi starting in february *matre banget nih, tiap tahun dinaekin muluuu!*. tapi gue punya konflik soalnya kalo gue downgrade dan gak pake premium channel, gue gak mauu.. paling gak musti ada hbo. why? karena gue gak mau miss shows kayak sex & the city, the sopranos, six feet under, dll. akhirnya gue telpon deh perusahaan cable gue. gue tanya berapa yang bakal gue save kalo gue downgrade. ternyataaa... cuman beda 15 dollar, dan itu gue cuman punya basic tv *cuman 80 channel* dan satu premium channel *hbo* plus cable modem. yaaahhh.. bedanya kok kayaknya gak seimbang. akhirnya gue bilang kalo gue mau mikir² dulu. eeehh.. taunya along with the new monthly service fee, they also add a new feature called movies on demand. jadi tiap premium channel punya an on demand channel, kayak hbo-on-demand, cinemax-on-demand, and so on and so forth. what is movies on demand, you ask? well, kalo elo tau pay-per-view or in demand channels, basically it's the same idea. but this comes in my cable service package, so i don't have to pay extra and i can access it anytime i want. each on-demand channel has lists of tons of movies and shows, trus elo tinggal milih mau nonton yang mana. trus tinggal pencet 'play' dari remote cable nya, nyala deh tuh pelem. kalo elo mau 'pause' karena kebelet ke kamar mandi, atau mau di 'stop', atau mau di 'fast-forward' atau 'rewind' semuanya bisa. tinggal mencet aja di remote control nya. jadi udah kayak nonton video aja cuman dari cable. asik banget. so i'd never miss any movies i wanna watch on the premium channels. ya udah.. the new feature bought me to keep the current package. yang ada gue sekarang jadi di rumah mulu, nonton tivi muluuu... cuz i can watch whatever i want, whenever i want it.

asik ya? anyways.. here's the movie review. so this weekend gue sempet nonton 2 pelem di dvd. yang pertama the bourne identity. nice action movie. menurut gue sih film nya gak bagus² amat compare to the usual quality of matt damon's other movies. udah gitu akhirnya nanggung. story wise.. yaa.. standar lah. tapi seru juga ngeliat matt maen film action. gue juga suka ama franka potente waktu maen di run lola run. tapi di film ini dia maennya biasa aja. bener² standard action movie lah gue bilang, just with less actions and bullets dan lebih ribet story-wise dari the normal cheesy action movies. oh, also i love the car chase on the small streets in paris.. apalagi kejar²an nya pake mini cooper.... lucu banget.

the second movie was blue crush. hihi.. i know this is more like a chick flick movie, but i don't mind watching it on dvd. nonton di bioskop mahal jek! i know from the beginning it's not worth 10 bux. and of course, setelah gue tonton, ceritanya juga biasa banget. tapiiiii... gue jadi pengen belajar surfing abis itu. belom lagi ngeliat waves dan beaches di hawaii *pelemnya di hawaii, btw*. jadi pengeeenn kesanaa... *hiks.. kapan ya?*. jadi pengen liburan lagi deh. it's worth to watch kalo pengen belajar surfing dikit² lah. soalnya ada scene-nya yang ni cewek ngajarin cowok² pemaen football how to surf. it looks easy, tapi pastinya gak segampang itu.. but hey, i have enough confident i can do it.. i learned how to snowboard *yang basicnya sama aja kayak surfing spertinya*, it must be easy to pick up how to surf. definitely need to go to the beach this summer *can't wait*.

besides these two movies.. along with the package i received on friday *read previous posting*, selaen dapet buku, adek gue ternyata nitip dvd dari jakarta banyak banget. salah satunya lord of the rings: the two towers dan harry potter: the chambers of secret. i didn't really like the second harry potter, but i'm so happy to have LOTR's dvd. the quality is very good except that it has subtitle that really doesn't help *soalnya salah semua, nek!*. other than that.. i'm satisfied with the picture quality so i can watch aragorn & legolas anytime i want. za, now i can compete with you to watch it as many as i want.. heheh.. and i don't have to pay extra 10 bux to watch it.. woohooo!!

ya udah deh.. sedemikan saja review movies gue kali ini. nantikan lagi akhir bulan yaa *cross my fingers*?? sekian & terima kasih!! hehehhe...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/04/2003 02:23:00 AM | [ ]

>> BOOKS REVIEW OF THE MONTH

udah lama juga gue gak nge review buku disini. i guess i'll do this every month.. *every end of the month, maybe?*. i didn't get to read that many books this month, just two. padahal gue kemaren ini sempet libur sekolah yang of course artinya gue punya banyak waktu untuk baca *selain baca textbooks*. tapi kok malah pas libur gue malah rada males baca.. alesannya? i'd rather hang out doing something fun outside... kenapa ya? i guess i'm trying to get away from books.. after had so much pressure on reading case studies, articles, texbooks full with terminalogies.. eh, pas sekolah udah mulai, gue malah yang jadi rajin baca² buku lagih.. anyways, the two books i read was stolen lives and lucky. both of them are based on true story, a memoir of the author's lives.

stolen lives by malika oufkir with michele fitoussi.

stolen lives is the story of the oufkir family about their resilience and their resolve to live in freedom. malika oufkir was born into extreme privilege as the daughter of the king of morocco's closest aide. but in 1972, her life of luxury came to a crashing halt. her biological father was executed for attempting to assassinate the king *the king who adopted her*. because of her father's action, she and her family *two brothers, the smallest at age of 4, three sisters and her mother* were improsoned for twenty years. malika told her story in horrifying details that you wouldn't imagine that it happened, let alone knowing that this happened recently *they finally got their political asylum from the french government in 1992*. ceritanya bener² sedih banget. dari nyeritain kehidupannya malika di istana kerajaan yang penuh dengan segala gemerlap dan luxury. she was adopted by the king to be a sister to the young princess. but during her 11 years in the palace she realized that it was as if to prepare her to face the horridness of living in the prison for 20 years. although she had a luxurious life, she was always surrounded with guard, never allowed to step outside of the palace due to security problems. ironically, when she was in prison, she was always also surrounded by guards, only to make sure that she doesn't escape and misbehave. the saddest of all is to even relate to their sufferings, especially her youngest brother who was 4 years old when the king threw them to prison. he never saw the world until he was 24 years. their youth and childhood was robbed from them to pay a crime that they did not commit. they were forgotten by the world. if only they don't have the courage and strong will to live, the world would never know that they exist. a true story of suvival, they dig a tunnel under their prison cell so they can escape to look for asylum. it's such a good book, i can't keep my hands off it. a truly heartrending tale of survival and courage, stolen lives is an unforgettable memoir by an extraordinary woman. here's a little excerpt from the book on their days in prison...

"the days dragged on interminably. our main enemy was time. we saw it, we felt it, it was tangible, monstrous, threatening. the hardest thing was to master it. during the day, all it took was a gentle breeze wafting through the window to remind us that we were prisoners.
in the summer, dusk brought back memories of the sweetness of the old days, the end of a day at the beach, time for an aperitif, the laughter of friends, the smell of the sea, the tang of salt on my bronzed skin. i relived the little i had experienced."

lucky: a memoir by alice sebold

another true story, a memoir. alice sebold was brutally raped at the end of her freshman year of college at syracuse university. after the incident happened police officers told her that she was lucky to be alive since someone had been raped and murdered in the same tunnel that her incident took place. this is where the title came from. in the book she shares her life through her remaining time in college and through her trial. many emotions take place during this book. i was really impressed with this book right from the beginning. she started the story out by diving right into her story. you will not want to put this book down. her choice of writing style makes you feel as if you are directly put into her shoes. i am amazed how well her book was wrote and how she has handled this devastating incident. she is definitely someone who by writing this book has helped many other women. just by writing this book she has made us all aware of things that could happen in a matter of seconds. it doesn't happen to any particular person, it could happen to anyone.

i've always liked reading memoirs. the good one always put you to a great detail to what they have been through. it allows you to feel on how it would be if you were in their shoes, if it was you.

on a lighter note, i got a package today. gue kirain dari siapa.. turned out it was 'titipan' from my friend.. and yess.. more books. finally i got a copy of ca-bau-kan, jendela jendela, and saman *i know it's late, but i never got a hold of them until now.. yaaayy.. i'm so happy*. what a perfect time, just as i finished reading stolen lives.

anyways.. have a good weekend, peeps!! and gong xi fa cai to those who's celebrating it.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 2/01/2003 04:47:00 AM | [ ]