The Umpteenth Journal Attempt

Another two failed lasagna attempts. Starting to think that all the lasagnas in the fridge are stale. There are three left, hopefully not all of them are bad, otherwise we'll have lost around Rp. 120.000. Ended up ordering pizza instead. Been ordering Chicken Favorite a lot recently, finally taking a break after a long run of Meatlovers. Once I had taken a few bites, the words "bird flu" suddenly came to mind. Ah well. Pizza tasted too good to throw away.

Spent the whole day at home. Boring? Well, there's an upside: called Hanief, asking if he were coming over tomorrow. He suddenly asked what time I came home. I told him I hadn't gone out, and asked why he asked that. He said traffic was bloody hell. Well, he would say that, considering he's been away for almost a year. But then I chatted with Ariend, she was also pissed at traffic, having been stuck for three hours on the road. I called Halief, and he said more or less the same, said something about falling trees. I was asleep this afternoon, and was unaware of weather conditions. Well it did seem about to rain heavily just before I went to bed, but didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. I did a little checking, and it was front page news on Kompas' website. Fallen trees, and apparently there had been heavy winds and hailstones. Bloody hell. And to think it was friggin' boiling during Friday prayers. Weather's about as predictable as Liverpool matches.

My latest attempt in preparing the perfect frozen lasagna backfired horribly. Well I don't know if it was my fault, since I couldn't find an expiry date on the packaging. Anyway, past attempts at preparing according to the directions on the box (with a little adjustment, as my microwave doesn't seem to get the right results if I follow them to the letter) have been flawed. It still feels frozen at the bottom. So I tried doubling the defrosting setting, but after defrosting was done, it emitted a weird stench. Again, I'm not sure if this was because it was past its expiry date. Anyway, I continued with the heating, figuring the heat would burn the smell away. But after having a taste...ewww. There went a (probably) formerly good frozen lasagna.

Later on went to the airport to pick up Hanief, Evit and Rizqi. First time I've seen my nephew. The lower part of his face looks like his mother, but the blank expression with the gaping mouth is 100% Hanief. Tried picking him up, which I think is the first time I've ever picked up a baby. I think I didn't do too bad. Plenty of time to practice: they'll be here three weeks, going to and from here and Bintaro, so hopefully it'll mean a limited amount of hassle. Even though it's a vacation, some people just can't seem to switch off the busybody inside...

Finally got the registration thing done yesterday. Apparently I'll be sharing a class with over 60 other students. Yikes. Ah well, more sleep for me, then...

Later on, went to this Beatles thing at The Beat, Kemang, with Jamal and Sayed. Fifty thousand rupiahs seemed a bit a steep, but it made more sense than shelling out the same amount to watch a Radiohead tribute. At least we'd be having fun, right? Well...

Lessons learnt:

1. Don't show up on time. After getting there roughly on time (around 7), it turns out it was still empty. After waiting a bit, had something to eat outside by the road, and almost got decapitated by flying glass after a Kijang parked on top of a bottle that was supposed to weigh down the canopy of where were sitting. Went back inside, and we had to endure the house band cranking out all the usual cafe standards for over an hour. Torture. The Beatles thing finally started just before 10...

2. Some people were already alive when The Beatles were still around. Based on Sunday's experience, I assumed it was going to be filled with people roughly my age, including the band. When they finally took to the stage, I was like, "God, who are these middle-aged men?" Though I guess the other audience members should've tipped us off. We were like the youngest people there, excluding the other people's kids and grandkids (who looked bored to be there anyway). Luckily one of the members from the band at Aksara was there, so it added a youthful element to proceedings.

3. Stay away from all Beatles-related events that have Agus Vega's name attached to it. It was written on the marquee: "Featuring Jakarta Beatles Club and Agus 'The Lennons' Vega". Naturally, what came to mind was, "Who the hell is Agus 'The Lennons' Vega?" In a nutshell: an all-around overbearing irritant with a hard-on for ol' John. To be fair, he had a good voice and was pretty nifty on the piano. But God, was he annoying. I don't know what he was supposed to be: the MC? The guy who ran the show? What's certain is that he was trying too bloody hard to be an entertainer, trying to get everyone to sing along. He hogged all the "big" songs, wrecking most of them with his "improvisations". He also insisted on doing Lennon songs. I paid 50 thousand for Beatles, not John Bloody Lennon. And who ends the show with 'Mother', anyway? And then there was his attempts at "educating" the crowd with Beatles trivia. Now who in their right mind would even been there if they didn't already know all that? To their credit, the middle-aged band were game in letting Mr. Vega indulge himself, but you could tell they would give anything to have him bugger off. There were occasions when they would just go straight into the next song (along with the guy I saw at Aksara, I think his band was called Beatmania), and the Lennon-wannabe would just sit there all pissed off like the kid everyone picked last for hide-and-seek.

Ah well, it wasn't a total disappointment. At least I got to shout several requests to the band, and practically every song was a sing-along moment. Except for the bit where they decided to get smarmy and play "unreleased" songs. Even 'Revolution 9' would've got a warmer reception than those. Anyway, I haven't gone off the concept of Beatles events. I just have to be more selective, that's all.

Looks like I'm getting behind on my blog posts. Probably a culmination of lack of sleep, engrossing TV viewing (well, maybe not that engrossing; just the Golden Globes) and just a plain lack of anything interesting to write about.

- Monday: I think I got a minimal amount of sleep on Sunday. Actually, make that no sleep. Damn internet. Got offline at around 7, but I had to go to campus for registration, so I found myself drifting in and out of sleep. Finally got to campus just before 12, thought I missed the deadline...and then found out it had been moved to Wednesday. Gah. They'd better not move it again, or I'll...take it like the pussy that I am. Again. Well, there's not much I can do, is there?

Went to Aquarius Pondok Indah, bought Pearl Jam's Lost Dogs and Pet Shop Boys' PopArt on tape. I used to be a big Pearl Jam fan, but I've bought the last two studio albums mostly out of habit. Haven't really made repeat listens to anything of theirs since Yield and Live On Two Legs. Lost Dogs, a double album of b-sides and rarities, was another completist purchase, but from what I've heard so far, it's a pretty enjoyable listen. Very tuneful. Plus there are several songs that I'm already familiar with, so that eases the experience.

On the other hand, I haven't bought anything Pet Shop Boys-related in a long while. I recall being burned by their Disco 2 mix album, and I think I still haven't listened to all of Alternative, their b-sides collection. I haven't bought any of their albums since then, so when I saw this was out, I decided to pick it up. Plus my copy of Discography, their previous Best Of, still hasn't been returned, though it's probably been worn out by now. Definitely worth the money, as it contains all the stuff where I left off, plus their singles from albums I didn't pick up.

- Tuesday: It seems today was one of catching up on lost sleep. I didn't intend to sleep for practically the entire day, but...well, sleeping is something I enjoy, so why not?

What a day. If you've been reading this from way back, you'll know that my life isn't exactly full of engagements. Suddenly I got three in one day, and had to figure out the timing so as to make it to each occasion.

1. Beatles In The Bookstore!, Aksara Kemang: This was a late addition to the schedule, having just been informed about it the day before. Since it didn't clash with the other engagements, I figured I could squeeze it in. Going in, I didn't know what the hell it was about. Turns out it was just a Beatles cover band, playing for a small audience in the cafe at the rear of the bookstore. They cranked out a boatload of Beatles tunes, taking requests and occasionally having an audience member come up and contribute badly off-key vocals. Lots of fun. There's gonna be a Beatles Night at the aptly-named The Beat cafe on Wednesday, so I'm probably going to check that out if there's nothing else to do that day.

2. Niken's Wedding: As usual, I always make it a point to attend old friends' weddings, and this was another one of those. Not much to report here, except there was this one guy who freaked me out. He had these earrings that stretched the piercings, making it look like there were big holes in his earlobes. I think I could've stuck my thumb through those gaps. Ewww.

3. Adrie and Chrisye Subono's Birthday: Adrie Subono is the boss of Java Musikindo, a gig promotor. Naturally, I've covered several of their gigs, and I've come to know that he's a great guy, really down-to-earth. I don't know if meeting Ash is one of the highlights of Yoga's life, but if it is, then he's got Adrie to thank. Anyway, when I went to the office last week, it turns out I got an invitation to he and his wife's 50th birthday party, and it would be stupid to not go. Why it would be stupid, I'm not really sure. Maybe I wanted to see what his house looked like.

And God, was it something. I'm not really an authority on tasteful interior design, but I was like, "Ack." I needed to go to the bathroom. Usually when you're in a house you've never been before, you can usually tell which room is the bathroom without having to open any wrong doors. It's usually obvious from the outside. In this case, however, I had trouble finding it. When I asked, I was directed to these double doors. I thought it was an entry to a corridor, and the bathroom would be somewhere in a corner. As it turns out, that was the bathroom. I think it cost more than my house and car. To put things in pespective, I've been to the presidential palace and used the president's bathroom, and it's nowhere near as fancy as Adrie's. So that means you're better off being a gig promotor than president: you only piss off people who can't get into your gigs as opposed to an entire country, and you get a better bathroom.

Been getting behind on my blog entries, mainly because I've had barely any time to write. So here's a recap of the past two days:

- Friday: On the campus front, there's a course I want to take, but I heard that the registration was only on this morning. The thing is, can't register without my academic advisor's signature, no registration without a form, and can't have the form when I haven't paid. I had just got the money before leaving, so that meant I had a hectic morning. I'm definitely not a morning person, especially when I look outside the window and see an endless line of cars. That really puts a damper on wanting to go out, even if I had got a good night's sleep. And even that isn't a guarantee that I want to wake up. So basically, I'm about as cranky as you can get in the early hours of the day. Believe me, if I could've stayed in bed, I definitely would. But things had to be done, and so I speeded off to campus. After weaving my way through campus bureaucracy, I finally got everything done. And then I found out that registration is on Monday. Gah.

Later on, went karaokeing with my college friends. It's been a while since we went out. Heck, we almost never went out, and this occasion was an almost no-go despite being planned a week in advance. But fortunately all the agonising paid off, and a fun time was had by all.

- Saturday: Having had very little sleep from the previous night, I woke up early again to attend a high school friend's wedding. I left earlier, because like I said, traffic is murder. Well, it's not really murder. But logic dictates that if a means of avoiding stress is available, then said means should be taken. If I'd putt of leaving for another hour, I would've been really cranky.

The wedding was alright. If I hear about these things, I always make sure I can attend, because it's always good to see old friends. Anyway, this particular wedding was interesting, mainly because of the circumstances of the groom. I'm sure just about everyone who knew him from way back will be surprised to see he's sort of become a born-again Muslim (along with his family). By sort of, I mean under the thrall of one of those sects or whatever they're called, with pictures of their sheikh around the house. I consider myself quite religious, but even I don't subscribe to that sheikh stuff. Being respectful of religious leaders doesn't mean I have to lick the corns of their feet. Anyway, I hope this drastic change was purely voluntary and from the heart. If my friends feels that that is his life's calling, then more power to him.

Went straight home after that. Well not exactly: took the car to the garage near the house for a tune-up. It's been a long while since the last tune-up, and the main intention was just to stock up on coolant fluid. But I figured I might as well get a tune-up while I was there, and I was reminded why I don't do it that often: waiting is a long, boring process. I fell asleep several times in the waiting area. But the mechanics seemed to be good at their job, and so the drive home was pretty smooth compared to the last few months' worth of driving. Looks like I'll be taking the car down there more often, but I've really got to find something to do while waiting. So far, sleeping is all I can think of...

Speaking of sleeping, spent most of the day comatose. Sunday evening's full of engagements, so I might as well save energy. Watched World Idol on TV. I was originally planning to avoid it, but I guess perverse curiousity got the better of me. One thing I can say: failed audition participants from the non-U.S. countries are just as - if not exceedingly - hilarious.

The day was rounded off by the Liverpool-Newcastle FA Cup match, which ended 15 minutes ago. Liverpool won thanks to two goals by Bruno Cheyrou. That guy's definitely on a roll; he's scored four out of five of Liverpool's last goals. In the past, I've been known to get all apoplectic whenever he's on the subs bench, let alone on the field. I'm sure many fellow Liverpool fans have felt the same way. But it's good to see him finally getting his act together, and proving that he wasn't a total waste of money. It's probably unlikely that he'll turn out to be Gerard Houllier's purchasing masterstroke, but you never know. After all, it seemed unlikely that Cheyrou would prove to be anything but useless, but he seems to have proved otherwise. As long as his improvement helps the team get the points, then I don't see why anyone should keep bitching.