Musical Taste: The History (Part 1)

Hiya!

Finally I'm back. I'm back after a month and a half. Not bad, eh?

Was doing university entrance exams.. And so, wish me luck! Really hope that my fellow classmates can also get into where they want to be.

Anyway... As far as I'm concerned... It's holiday season here. Yep. And it's also Ramadhan! Oh, the Holy Month of Ramadhan... Welcome back.

Fasting season.

The cool thing is, from what I've heard... This year is quite special because, I believe, the next school year will begin after Ramadhan, after the Eid. So... I think.. No fasting while studying at school for this year..

But I'm way past that. :p

Anyway... I just wanna write about the history of my musical taste... Sort of.. Thing.

Have been thinking of writing this for quite some time... So.. Let's begin.

Introduction

Listening to songs have been a big, big part of my life... 

Okay. I gotta tell you. For those of you who have seen two of my last three posts... You probably realised that I have this weird taste for music... Yep.

Somehow.. I just can't really click with today's mainstream music.. Which is sort of a bummer, especially if you wanna try to connect with most people these days.

The only sort of recent mainstream artist whom I listen to is probably Ed Sheeran. Yeah. Even for Ed, I don't really listen to him all the time. It's just that, I believe, he's the only recent mainstream artist whose album I bought.

Besides Ed.. I do listen to new stuffs.. I bought several songs that have been played over and over again on the radio or at shopping malls... Catchy songs... Or I guess.. The fact that they are being played over and over again made them catchy? Dunno.

But mostly... In terms of "new stuffs"... I listen to not-really-mainstream-in-Indonesia songs.. Like.. Blur's new album "The Magic Whip" (2015). When Paul McCartney's "Kisses on The Bottom" (2012) and "New" (2013)  albums came out, I also listened to those.. Technically, those are new materials.. Right? I'm currently listening to Carl Barât and the Jackals' new album "Let It Reign" (2015), because I've been listening to The Libertines, again.. They are making a new album!! So that's quite cool. More on The Libertines later.

A few months ago, I was trying to explore more mainstream bands, and so I decided to start listening to the Arctic Monkeys. Bought their first (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)) and latest (AM (2013)) albums... And in the end.. I quite like them. Though I very much prefer their first album than their latest. :p

Now... So.. What the hell do I listen to, then? And how come I listen to these stuffs instead of more-recent more-mainstream music?

Well, as I've told you before.. Today's mainstream music simply doesn't click. Dunno why. Probably since I was a little boy, I've been, sort of, accidentally "exposed" by "old mainstream music"... And then, a few years later, I developed this unconscious interest towards old mainstream music.. Dunno. Just a theory :p

Or actually... Is it because of genetics? Heard that musical taste is an inherited trait? Nah, dunno.

Okay, enough rambling. I just wanna share the evolution of my musical taste.. Sort of, what I hear, bands that I sort of follow. Yeah.

1. Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, and Queen

The earliest memories that I have of really listening to a band or an artist... I forgot which one I listened to first.. Probably the Bee Gees.

I had this VCD of one of their live appearances and I remember watching it. I also remember listening to their "Love Songs" compilation album... In form of a cassette. Yep. Old school, according to today's standard.

At the same time, I was also listening to Rod Stewart. I remember listening to "The Very Best of Rod Stewart" album. Forgot whether it was a cassette or a CD.

This was back in primary school, I guess.. I used to play them music in my (parents') car.

However, besides those two.. I remember Queen being the one which I really listened to and really follow. I had their three "Greatest Hits" cassettes, and I listened to them over and over again. I also remember that the first ever music CD that I really picked to buy.. was.. the "Queen Rock Montreal" album. I just checked wikipedia and apparently it was released in October 2007... I was in 6th grade..? whoa.

I liked to watch videos of their live concerts. I remember watching the Montreal one, and the Queen + Paul Rodgers one. 

And umm... Fun fact. One of the earliest memories of me using the Internet was actually watching this video of Freddie Mercury doing his thing before singing Under Pressure in Wembley '86. Just, wow. I mean, that was back when I had this dial-up connection thingy.

I mean, you gotta love Freddie Mercury, and Queen as a whole. Freddie was this, charismatic and funny figure on stage. And Queen's music. John Deacon's bass line, especially from "Under Pressure", Brian May's guitar play, Roger Taylor's drumming. Oh man. I just love their music and how they act on stage. The bass-lines, the guitar solos, the fast and hard drumming... The soul of it all.

This is how I fell in love with rock music.

Queen is really the first band that I ever got into. The first band where I learned to memorise the names of its members.

When I moved to France, I started collecting their studio albums... Though right now, I still haven't finished collecting them.. So.. We'll see

I remember still listening to Queen back in 7th grade... 

But actually, in 2008, I was introduced to this band...

Probably the band that influenced me the most.

And that is.....

2. The Beatles

Back in 2008, my father bought two Beatles cover album. One was this choral cover of The Beatles' songs, the other one was Jazz cover.

I actually forgot what made me decide to buy the "1" album. A compilation album of their 27 number one singles. I listened to it over, and over, and over again. In my car, on my CD player.

The Beatles.

I remember before I got that close with The Beatles... I remember thinking, "The Beatles. Yeah, have heard that this is the greatest band ever. But, naah, probably never gonna listen to it."

Well kid. You were totally wrong. You became this Beatlemania, Beatle-geek, Beatle-walking-encyclopedia back in junior high school.

I mean, wow. This post isn't gonna be enough to describe my "relationship" with The Beatles.

The first ever band-related T-Shirt that I ever bought, it was The Beatles. The first ever band-related book, The Beatles.

Back in junior high school, I started collecting all the original UK LPs or studio albums. Coincidentally, they were just releasing the remastered version of those LPs.. Wow. Just. Wow.

The first one that I bought was "Sgt. Pepper's". And from then on, during my jhs years... I tried to save up some money in order to buy new albums. And in the end, I finished collecting the 12 albums, plus the "Past Masters" album. Just. Wow. Good times.

My father went to the U.S. once, and he bought me The Beatles' "Anthology" book. Yep. That giant book. I was so. so. so. just. wow. Thank you, thank you dad.

I bought The Beatles' Anthology documentary, and have watched it for several times. I have also watched all of their movies + The Yellow Submarine. I even went on Tumblr, simply because it was full of Beatles-stuffs.

I don't know why, but back in jhs and even back in 10th grade, when I was already living abroad, I simply wanted to show my friends on how awesome The Beatles are. Frankly, looking back, I was a bit too much on being a Beatlemania.

But hey... You gotta love John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They are brilliant, funny, witty. 

From their Quarrymen-Rock and Roll years, to Hamburg, to their early U.K. success, Europe, the World. When they stopped touring and went on being this band with psychedelic and Indian influences, and then went on producing more music and more everlasting masterpieces. Their breakup, their solo careers, John's death, the Anthology session, George's death, more solo careers...

They are simply. Wow. Looking at how they have evolved and matured throughout those years. Even in the 60s, within a space of ten year, their music went through this drastic evolution. And they frickin' made masterpieces. Different genres throughout the 60s, but their music lives on. They pioneered lots of things, and really made a big influence on the music industry.

I simply can't rank which Beatle is my favourite. They are all unique in their own ways. Same thing goes with ranking their albums or their songs. When an album or a song matches your mood, you can simply enjoy it, even consider it as the best.

I thank God that I was given the privilege to watch Paul McCartney live, back in 2011. It was simply, amazing. I was also given the privilege to visit London and Liverpool, and most of the Beatles' sites. The 3 Savile Row, Abbey Road, the Cavern club replica..

The Beatles is still very important to me. And of course, I also listen to John, George, Paul, and Ringo's solo materials.

Right now, I'm listening to most of Paul's solo music, including Wings' music.

And by the way, June 18th, Happy Birthday Paul!

So yeah, The Beatles. Even the way I speak in English... I think it's sort of influenced by them. :p

3. ABBA, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and U2

Back in jhs, besides The Beatles, I also listened to John Lennon, U2, Michael Jackson, and ABBA. Yeah. Weird combo.

And btw, these are just the ones that I can remember.. sort of. The ones that I remember I really listened to, like, I have the CDs and I remember playing them CDs in my car.

I mean, not that I stopped listening to The Beatles or Queen or Rod Stewart or Bee Gees..

So, back in 2008, after watching "Mamma Mia!", I began listening to ABBA... Limited only to their greatest hits tho.

In 2009, after Michael Jackson's death, my parents bought "The Essential Michael Jackson" CD, and so I started listening to Michael Jackson.

And as for U2.. I can't really remember what made me buy that CD.. The "U218 Singles" CD thingy.

Those three are quite alright, I listened to them quite a lot back in jhs, besides The Beatles, of course.

And for John Lennon, obviously it was because I was listening to The Beatles. I bought the "Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon" album. It was good.

4. Paul McCartney and to be continued

Anyway... Summer 2011, I moved to Paris. And um... Before I moved to Paris, I remember that I started buying Paul McCartney's solo era albums.

Just before I moved, I bought "McCartney" and "McCartney II", newly remastered back then. And, like, whenever I listen to songs from those two albums... They remind me of my early days in Paris.

For example, whenever I listen to "Every Night", or "Coming Up", or "That Would Be Something".. They simply remind me of those early days.

I have mentioned about how I was collecting Queen's studio albums back in Paris. Well, I was also collecting Paul McCartney's solo era/Wings' albums, such as "RAM", "Band on the Run", "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard"... many more.

Moving back to Jakarta, it's getting hard for me to collect hard copies of those albums... I'm still looking for the newly-remastered version of "Venus and Mars" and "Wings at the Speed of Sound". :/ 

Back in 2012, I began to explore more bands, trying to look for new materials... 

And so, I started listening to lots of more bands/artists. A wider variety of genres. Decades of music. Etc2.

Just you wait for Part 2. Just you wait. 

And sorry for the bad English, like, oh no, my writing skill has deteriorated quite a lot. :o

See ya next time. Cheers.

Playlists

Hello, hello.

Finally I'm in the mood again to write. Well, not really. Just wanna share two playlists which I've made and an update on things that I'm doing right now and gonna do in the next few months. Hopefully. Bismillah.

So I made two playlists recently. One is the fourth disc of Ethan Hawke's The Beatles Black Album playlist, which was included in the movie "Boyhood". The other one is... Sort of a... Compilation of soothing music.. tracks.. thing..

So, the first playlist is called "Black Album IV"... I made the first three Ethan Hawke's playlists on my iPod too and I simply call them "Black Album" followed by Roman numerals I or II or III. 

Btw, here's the first three discs: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ethanhawke/boyhood-the-black-album#.nc3bxZyNz

The songs are taken from John, Paul, George, and Ringo's solo careers. Basically he reunited The Beatles... :'

Btw... Happy Birthday George Harrison! :D

Welp, anyway, I realised that some of my favourites, solo-era Beatles songs were not included in his three-discs playlist... So... I made the fourth disc, which includes some of my fav. songs that were not included in the Black Album, plus some songs that sort of match the playlist..(?)

So, without further ado, here is Black Album IV:

1. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five - (Paul McCartney & Wings)

2. Give Peace A Chance - (John Lennon)

3. All Those Years Ago - (George Harrison)

4. Peggy Sue - (John Lennon)

5. Oo You - (Paul McCartney)

6. Ding Dong, Ding Dong - (George Harrison)

7. Coming Up - (Paul McCartney)

8. Got My Mind Set On You - (George Harrison)

9. No More Lonely Nights - (Paul McCartney)

10. Nobody Told Me - (John Lennon)

11. When We Was Fab - (George Harrison)

12. How Do You Sleep? - (John Lennon)

13. Somebody Who Cares - (Paul McCartney)

14. Rising Sun - (George Harrison)

15. Never Without You - (Ringo Starr)

16. Working Class Hero - (John Lennon)

17. Let It Be Me (Demo) - (George Harrison)

18. Here Today - (Good Evening NYC, Paul McCartney)

19. Walk With You - (Ringo Starr ft. Paul McCartney)

20. Free as A Bird - (The Beatles)

Black Album I starts with "Band On The Run", so I think finishing what we have started, we have to begin/end(?) with "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five", the last track on the album "Band On The Run".

We also got John Lennon's song, widely believed aimed at Paul, "How Do You Sleep?"... Followed by Paul's song... "Somebody Who Cares"... Which I found quite beautiful.. And somehow I sort of relate Paul's song with John, knowing that John is no longer around.

I mean, essentially, despite the fallout, they are still the best songwriter partnership that has ever existed.

From 14 to 19... It's sort of the reality, really. John and George are no longer around with us. But their music and spirit live on. The Good Evening NYC version of "Here Today" is really what makes the reality hits us. Paul is still doing live concerts, with his voice becoming more and more scratchy or strained or hoarse..(?) Dunno the correct way to describe it.The way I see it in this playlist, "Here Today" is aimed at both John and George from track 16 and 17... 

"And if I say,

I really loved you and was glad you came along.

If you were here today.

Oo-oo-oo, for you were in my song.

Here today."

And then... "Walk With You". Again, reality hits.. Two of the remaining Beatles, singing together. 

"When I walk with you.

When I talk with you.

Everything will be fine."

And finally, the playlist ends with "Free as A Bird". The first track of Anthology becomes the last track here. :p I mean, you gotta end this playlist with all four Beatles together. :)

So yeah. That's that.

On to the second playlist...

This playlist. I was sort of in the mood of making a soothing compilation of songs, all taken from my iPod. 

I was listening to "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton when this idea struck me. I mean, I put the song on repeat, played it over and over again, realised that this is a frickin beautiful piece of music/ballad/song right here.

Before we begin the second playlist... Here is Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight":

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton

"It's late in the evening, she's wondering what clothes to wear.

She puts on her make-up, and brushes her long blonde hair.

And then she asks me, 'Do I look all right?'

And I say, 'Yes, you look wonderful tonight.'

We go to a party, and everyone turns to see.

This beautiful lady, that's walking around with me.

And then she asks me, 'Do you feel all right?'

And I say, 'Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.'

I feel wonderful, because I see, the love light in your eyes.

And the wonder, of it all, is that you just don't re-alize how much I love you.

It's time to go home now, and I've got an aching head,

So I give her the car keys, and she helps me to bed.

And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,

I say, 'My darling, you were wonderful tonight.

Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight.'"

Aw man. Just. So simple and beautiful at the same time. It Hits it perfectly, right in there.

So yeah, listening to this song, how beautiful and soothing it is... I thought, "Hey, let's make a playlist."

I mean, it's not a proper playlist with ups and downs... Sort of in an alphabetical order, this.. If this is a proper playlist, I'd probably put ABBA's "I Have A Dream" last. Gonna arrange it soon, when I have time.

ABBA - I Have A Dream

Air Supply - All Out of Love

Athlete - Chances (Vincent and The Doctor!!)

Barry Manilow - Mandy

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows

The Beatles - Mother Nature's Son

The Beatles - Here, There And Everywhere

Bee Gees - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love

Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You

Cat Stevens - The Wind

The Corrs - Runaway

The Cranberries - Linger

Ed Sheeran - Photograph

Elvis Costello - She (Notting Hill!)

Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight

The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream

Frankie Valli - My Eyes Adored You

George Benson - Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You

George Harrison - Let It Be Me

Johan Johannsson - Epilogue (The Theory of Everything)

John Lennon - Love

Julie Delpy - A Waltz for a Night (from Before Sunrise)

Kath Bloom - Come Here (again, from Before Sunrise.. That scene.)

Lionel Richie - Stuck On You

Oasis - Songbird

Paul McCartney - Jenny Wren

Paul McCartney - My Valentine

Paul McCartney - Somebody Who Cares (Three Maccas!)

Queen - Love Of My Life

Rod Stewart - You're In My Heart

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence

Sting - Fields of Gold

Wings - Mull of Kintyre (Actually, another Macca...)

So there we are. 34 tracks.

I mean... for a late-1996 born.. This is weird. Too many oldie hits, pops, and movie soundtracks... Plus. Out of nowhere... ED SHEERAN :p He's good tho.

I really need to listen to today's music. Ah well.

All those songs are from my iPod so.. I have like, over 2200 tracks on my iPod... But I believe, most probably, some of the most beautiful pieces of music are still out there somewhere... Outside my iPod I mean.

Moving on. Updates.

I'm in the process of applying to Univs. again. Studying for exams (though still lacking, really) and preparing all those documents, including a Motivation Letter.

Feels good to write again. Especially after a long hiatus, writing something similar to all those IB essays just feels good. 

Feels sad though, because most of my classmates are still struggling on their Try Outs. :( Really would like to help them. Just don't know how.

Anyway, I just hope for the best. And I hope that I have each and every requirements ready. I hope that the Indonesian system of application is... lenient..(?) I'm just afraid that I don't have all the requirements ready... being someone who graduated outside, in a private international school.

Sometimes, the information here is just not enough/lacking... I've been to the Ministry of Education several times, and it seems that they're also confused. 

Really hope that I won't have to wait for another year, simply because of a stupid mistake like.. Not being in the national database or something. 

I mean... That would suck. A lot. Like. Really. I've been preparing for the entrance exam for months and suddenly... Oh God, please no.

Bismillah. Wish me luck.

Cheers.

Je suis Ahmed

Hai2,

I'm in the mood to write a post so... Let's start.

We're already in the second half of January. Time flies. Wow.

I have no internet connection here... A bummer. Big, big, bummer. Probably just gonna terminate the current one and gonna go look for other brand which can hopefully work nicely, at least better than the current one.

I just found out (well.. Not really "I just found out", more like "I have heard of it for several times but never really tried it until very recently.") that I can use my iPhone as an internet connection source, thing.. Don't really know what the technical term is.. Is is tethering? Who knows.

So if I need to access the Internet from me lappy or me iPod, I can use this thing. Just gotta make sure that I have enough Internet quota... :/

Other news, Paris Terror Attacks January 2015. (Jan 7th - Jan 9th)

The three-day terror was quite an important event in our recent history. It actually touched many, many issues. Islamophobia, immigration, terrorism, extremism, freedom of expression, counter-terror laws, more control over citizens... For conspiracy theorists, "False Flag"?

These issues are some of the many issues which define our generation. Other issues, like climate change, are important to us all, and they define our generation. They show our main concerns and how people live during the early decades of the 21st century. The way we deal with these issues today, will define ourselves in the future. The way we treat these issues will affect our future, this planet's future.

Anyway, I made several tweets on the 7th of January, in response to the attack... And in response to how the world responded. Just gonna quote it here:

"We should condemn the act of killing.. But then again, how far should we defend "freedom of expression"..? If someone expresses his/her opinion and it hurts the feelings of billions of people from around the globe... Should those billions of people stay idle? They too have their own opinions. But then again, murder is simply bad. It is certainly not the right way for those people to "express" their opinion in this modern society. 

Why can't people from different backgrounds, from across the globe, engage in fair discussions, in which we'd all respect each other.. The key is to respect and understand one another... But the thing is, we all have different interests and concerns. Different ideas on how this world should work, how it should look like. Anyway, we are not living in cloud cuckoo land. So yeah. Condolences to families and friends of the victims."

It is simply bad that this kind of thing still happens in today's society. Personally, I was a bit sad, because it happened in a city which has a special place within me. I've experienced living amongst dem French people, amongst its Muslim community. And to see Paris in that kind of state, with maximum security level, is heart-wrenching.

I don't know whether it was a false flag or not. And I don't know whether those extremist groups, who act bearing the name of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), are "puppets" of another higher authority or not... But these acts are just wrong and bad.

Using the name of Islam, or Allah (SAW), or the Prophet (pbuh), or using passages from the Qur'an in order to justify such acts. It's just heart-wrenching. Islam is a religion of peace, with billions of followers. It has lasted for over 1400 years, and so there's got to be a reason behind why 'Islam is truly a religion, a guide, instead of a mad man from the Arabian desert babbling nonsense, taken from Judaism, Christianity, and Greek philosophy, in order to corrupt and control other people'.

If people spread terror using the name of Islam, or if anyone, who consider themselves as a Muslim, behave or act badly, mistreating other people, hurting other people... We have to bear in mind that it is not the religion that is bad, it is people who are corrupt, who are bad. 

People are not perfect. Humans are not perfect.

We have needs, we have desires, earthly desires... Probably heavenly desire for some of those who've had enough of living...? But these kind of people, they need to know that we exist here for a reason/ some reasons...

Human beings have this tendency to commit bad things. To disobey, to insult others, to harm others in order to achieve what we crave. Some people are greedy, some are lustful, some are just too lazy... All those sins including the so called seven deadly sins. :p

But human beings, according to what I believe anyway, also have the capacity to love. To love one another, the environment, animals, plants. We have the capacity to respect one another, to help each other out. We have the capacity to do great things, to achieve great things which can benefit us all, the human race...

Lol wtf was that, sounds like a utopian thingy. :p

Where was I... Ah.

Yeah, human beings have tendencies to commit harmful things, but we also have the capacity to do great things. It's just that the way we are raised, the way our society works, these kind of things really affect ourselves... Sometimes, people think that there's no other way, that the only way is that we have to do something bad in order to achieve our goal. In cloud cuckoo land, everyone wouldn't even dare to think of bad thoughts... Sadly, the Earth is not cloud cuckoo land.

The thing is, as I said in my tweet, we have different concerns and interests. Some of us are desperate to have food and shelter. Some of us crave luxury. Some of us crave power. Some of us do bad things in order to ensure themselves to be adored, to be liked by others. Some of us do unacceptable things in order to protect their loved ones, securing a brighter future for their family without considering the effect of their doings.

We can't enforce our own ideals into everyone, that's why we have to accept the fact that people are different. We have different ideas on how this world should work. Some ideas may clash, but that does not mean that we have the right to force other people into submission, into agreeing. 

Instead of the use of force, as I said, why can't we have discussions...? Human beings have the intellectual capacity... Well, some of us do anyway. Some people are just too thick or too hot-headed to have a proper discussion with...

But I believe, for many of us, if the right reasons have been presented, then they can think for themselves which would be better, which are the right things to do, which are the things that should be, how things should work out in our society, ideally.

Well, I doubt this can work though... Dialogues and discussions... :/ Similar to "Ibadat Khana", in which people had interfaith dialogues. There need to be transparency, good regulation, respect between participants, understanding, and willingness to respect, understand, and willingness to improve humanity.

Wow I clearly went way way way off tangent there...

Back to the Paris terror.

I was a bit disgusted by how the media and the social media responded to this event.

Don't get me wrong, as I said, I condemn the act of killing such as what happened.

But the way people brought up the phrase "Freedom of Expression"... Is just. I don't know.

Here, take a look at this:

The way how people want to protect "Freedom of Speech" or "Freedom of Expression". Those people just don't think, don't they?

I support freedom of expression, because without it, we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be writing this. But I believe there should, obviously, be limits.

One of the things that I really love about Indonesia, is that many of us are aware that there should be respect and tolerance towards each other, especially in terms of dealing with various religious faiths and beliefs.

Charlie Hebdo makes satirical cartoons. They probably just want to "entertain" other people, or give critics on current affairs. They were attacked previously on several occasions, I believe... Molotov or something. Anyway, they make cartoons not just about Islam or the Prophet (pbuh). They also "attacked" the Vatican, other religious figures, and various political figures.

But the thing is, when you've insulted someone, whom billions of people adore very much. Whom billions of people respect and love... Shouldn't there be limits? Just take a look at the picture that I've posted up there...

And here is a video:

I mean come on, look at the recent conflict between Palestine and Israel. Yes, quite a lot of support for Palestine... But then, take a look at how many people shouting at other people being "anti-Semitic", just because they expressed their pro-peace, anti-Israel views... For example when someone posted a photo saying "Nazi Germany = Israel", just take a look at the comment section and you'd see people labelling others as being "anti-Semitic".

So much for being fair and just.

Well, yeah, those people on the Internet did not go out and kill those whom they considered as "anti-Semitic". Certainly a better way of "opposing" the so-called "Freedom of Speech" than killing.

Anyway, yeah. Limits. Just as the Prophet (pbuh) said, moderation in all things. You can't just promote hatred.

Speaking about promoting hatred... Three videos:

Russell Brand is amazing :p

Wtf Fox News :p :p :p Hilarious.


Anyway, back to the events at Paris...

Yeah. I would accept cartoons which criticises extremist groups or other acts of terrorism bearing the name of Islam, without trying to insult the Prophet (pbuh), Allah, or Islam itself.

And if their objective is to criticise and to entertain, instead of to attack other people, surely it'd be alright.

But as I said, they should not hurt billions of people by insulting a person whom they love so much.

I am sure the cartoonists are aware of what they're doing, aware of the consequences...

And so it happened.

After the 7th January attack, there were several hostage situations and more killings... Heart-wrenching.

It seems that the French government is trying to tell that the attacks that happened did not represent Islam. Hollande is also trying to reassure others that even Muslims feel unsafe after the attacks. Lots of Muslims in France, in Paris... Including Indonesian Muslims. Anyway, yeah, Hollande is trying to say that the enemy is not Islam itself, it is terrorism... Cool. Hopefully he is being sincere about it, and hopefully the French people are willing to agree to this view. I mean, Muslims have been part of France, of its community, for decades... They have lived alongside each other for so long, surely there's some sort of understanding going on between French Muslims and the French people in general.



Now, how should Muslims respond to such attacks or insults? What'd be the best way?

We have to make people understand that the Prophet is a highly-respected figure, whom billions of Muslims love very much. We have to make them understand that depicting the Prophet in such ways is not acceptable. 

If they say that we are ignorant, following some sort of teaching of an "imaginary desert fairy", then show them compassion.

There's no harm in believing in something, as long as you don't go out forcing your beliefs to others, in harmful or inappropriate ways.

The best way to promote Islam, is to show compassion. Show all the good things in Islam. Behave appropriately. The best way to defend the honour of the Prophet, is to act like him.

We have to think. What would the Prophet do in this situation? I mean, man, he was insulted and attacked in his time. People threw rocks at him, insulted him, attacked him... And he showed compassion in return. And that is the beauty of him. It is also the beauty of Islam.

Instead of insulting them back, or revenge, or attacking them... Show mercy and compassion. Promote love. God has given us the capacity to think and to love. So we have to use our intellect to do great things, to help others. We also have to show compassion and promote peace.

Instead of mocking back those who mocked our Prophet, show them how he is the best of mankind. How he was one of the best men who have walked this planet. How he is the best of role model. Use reasoning if they need it, because we are able to give them reasons on why Muhammad (pbuh) is the best example of human.



On Wednesday the 14th of January, I believe it was in response to the new issue of Charlie Hebdo, a hash-tag #WhoIsMuhammad was trending worldwide for some time on Twitter. Alongside the hash-tag, people celebrated the life of Prophet Muhammad by either quoting his sunnah, or by typing his advices and ideas, or simply by typing the ways he lived his life, how he had lived, the story of his life. Emotionally, I was touched. This is how it's supposed to be. By people promoting peaceful thoughts and ideas. 



Do not waste water.

So, so, so much more can be said around the topic of religion, and Islam itself. Save it for another time :)



Right after the attack, people use the phrase, "Je suis Charlie", or "I am Charlie", as an act of solidarity. I somehow feel that this phrase alienates some people... Muslims.. Well, those who love and respect the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) anyway... Because we can't "be Charlie". We can't identify ourselves as a group of people who insulted the Prophet.

Well, je ne suis pas Charlie. :/ Mais, je suis Ahmed. Ahmed, as in the name of one of the police officers who was killed during the attack. He was a French Muslim. Also, Ahmed, as in "Muhammad", the name of our beloved Prophet.

May there be peace.

Cheers.

Assalamu'alaikum. Peace be upon you. :)

Public Transport! (Mainly about Commuter Line)

Hai2,

(Yg gw tulis di bawah ini berdasarkan observasi personal + research dikit2 :p, so kalo ada yg ternyata salah, let me know.)

Hari kedua di bulan Januari, somehow, gw tiba2 pengen naik Commuter Line Jabodetabek...

Saking bosennya sampe kyk gini... :p Well, not exactly.

Emang lagi liburan gini sih, awalnya pengen nyoba naik dari Lenteng Agung (stasiun terdekat) ke Kota, trus strolling sekitar Museum Fatahillah/Museum Sejarah Jakarta, trus pulang naik TransJakarta, janjian di Senayan. Tapi, karena akhir2 ini lagi suka hujan deras, akhirnya ga jadi ke Kota.

Instead, gw mampir ke rumah temen deket Stasiun Tebet (thankfully lumayan deket, jalan 10 menitan gitu), trus lanjut dari Tebet ke Manggarai, ganti kereta ke Sudirman, TransJakarta/Busway dari Dukuh Atas ke Bundaran Senayan.

:/

Ini bukan pertama kali gw naik Commuter Jabodetabek... Biasanya naik Commuter dari Lenteng ke UI. Pernah juga dari Pasar Minggu ke UI. Dari yang orang2 bilang, Commuter Line sekarang udah jauh lebih baik. And yes, dari yg dulu gw inget2, walaupun ga pernah naik, kereta Jabodetabek emang beda bgt. Gw inget dulu banyak yg naik2 atap kereta gitu...

Sekarang, dibanding yg dulu, jauh lebih nyaman dan bersih, dan kyknya lebih aman juga deh... Jarang naik Commuter sih, ga pernah pas rush hour pas penuh bgt gitu..

Tapi masih ada beberapa hal yg bisa ditingkatkan... Tapi sebelum gw kasih tau beberapa hal yg bisa ditingkatkan itu, ini alasan2 kenapa tadi gw tiba2 pengen naik commuter:

- Di rumah ga ngapa2in, itung2 olahraga jalan kaki :p

- Pengen nyobain aktivasi kartu eMoney: Temen gw pas itu bilang aktivasi cuma bisa di stasiun besar, makanya gw plan ke Manggarai. Tapi ternyata (I think) di tiap stasiun ada... Cari deket loket ato lorong yg dilewatin orang2 sekitar loket, ada tempat ngetap kartu gitu bentuknya kotak, ukuran kecil/sedeng, warna merah, nempel di dinding. Ini kartu yg gw pake gw dapetin untuk TransJakarta Koridor 1, yg full e-ticketing, dan kartunya bisa dipake juga untuk Commuter Line. Lumayan ga harus ngantri2 beli tiket dan nuker tiket :)

- Pengen ngecek seberapa jauh rumah temen gw dari stasiun Tebet kalo jalan kaki :p

- Pengen "survey" stasiun titik potong/persimpangan/intersection/transit: Gw selama naik Commuter sebelum hari ini, ga pernah lewatin stasiun besar yg dilewatin bbrp jalur yg bercabang, kyk Manggarai. Curious aja stasiun besar untuk kereta di sini itu bakal kyk gimana... Itung2 research kalo jadi bikin post ttg public transport di sini :p

- Pengen liat stasiun Sudirman: Ini stasiun gw cuma pernah liat dari luar. Stasiun yg criss-cross sama Koridor 1 TransJakarta, yg terletak di jalan utama di Jakarta.. It'd be interesting.

Yep. Itu beberapa alasan kenapa gw tiba2 pengen jalan nyobain Commuter... Tryin'a fix public transport around here. Potensinya besar banget. Warga Jabodetabek butuh, butuh banget transportasi umum yang baik. Yakin akan banyak yg pake. Sekarang aja banyak keluarga yg pake. 

Commuter Line sama Transjakarta itu ga begitu pricey kok... Reasonable harganya. Commuter Line kalo gasalah Rp2000,00 kalo turun di 5 stasiun pertama dari stasiun departure, ekstra Rp500,00 untuk tiap 3 stasiun setelahnya. Sampai tadi, gw pake tiket single-trip yg kalo udah ditap keluar, kartunya bisa dikembaliin ke loket. Tiket kyk gini bayar ekstra Rp5000,00, tapi kalo udah sampe tujuan, ditukerin ke loket, bisa dapet Rp5000,00 nya balik. Namanya "THB" (Tiket Harian Berjamin). Rp5000,00-nya itu sebagai jaminan, I think.

Untuk TransJakarta, Rp3500,00 most of the time... Kalo gasalah lebih murah di rush hour pagi.

For comparison (post-BBM naik, yang late-2014): 
- Metro Mini: Rp4000,00 jauh-dekat.
- Angkot: Kalo Angkot tergantung jarak sih, cuma dari yg gw sering naikin, say... Pondok Labu ke Lenteng Agung (S02), ujung ke ujungnya kalo gasalah Rp6000,00 , probably more.

Iya, MetroMini sama Angkot bisa berhenti almost anywhere yg dilewatin jalurnya, sementara Commuter sama TransJakarta harus turun di stasiun2/halte2 yg udah ditentukan, yg emang tempat turun.

Tapi ngeliat transportasi umum di Jakarta yg udah ada... Lumayan sih. It works, somehow. But we really need an underground network. Soalnya overground, kalo pake angkot, metromini, kopaja, TransJakarta, bisa ttp kena macet. Kalo underground, insyaAllah bebas macet... Who knows. :p

Makanya gw lumayan suka sama Commuter, so far. Lebih bebas macet. Itu alesannya. Dan kalo pergi jarak jauh nyaman2 aja. Dan cukup murah.

Nah, tapi seperti yg gw bilang di awal, ada beberapa hal yg perlu diperbaikin/ditingkatkan... Ada juga hal2 yg gw sayangin yg mungkin udah gabisa diganti. 


Ini beberapa hal yg bisa gw inget/omongin:


1. Informasi/Penanda kereta mana di peron/platform yg mana

Kalo orang yg udah sering naik sih kayaknya ga masalah. Gw gatau ini aturan umumnya ato engga, tapi lajur kereta itu kebalikannya lajur mobil/jalan raya. Di jalanan di Indonesia kita nyetir di lajur kiri, sementara kereta di sini itu di lajur kanan. Jadi kalo jalur Bogor-Kota, yg run South-North, kereta ke arah Kota (utara) itu di lajur sebelah timur, sementara kereta  ke arah Bogor (selatan) itu di lajur sebelah barat.

Nah, tapi bagi yg gatau ttg aturan ini, lokasi kereta mana di peron mana, bisa rada awkward. Good thing, sering/selalu ada yg jaga di stasiun, jadi bisa nanya mereka. Atau bisa juga nanya2 orang sih.

Oke, tadi di stasiun Manggarai, yg merupakan stasiun intersection/transit/persimpangan, gw agak bingung. Gw mau lanjut ke Sudirman, yg arahnya itu ke Tanah Abang... Kereta yg gw naikin itu ke arah lain, yaitu Kota. Nah, berarti gw harus ganti kereta kan... Pfft, obviously.

Masalahnya, gw gatau kereta mana yg ke arah Tanah Abang... Iya, ada mas2/mbak2 yg ngasih pengumuman lewat speaker. Tapi masa kita harus nunggu pengumuman lewat gitu?

Iya, bisa nanya orang, bisa nanya petugas2 yg jaga.

Well... Mungkin ga pasang info kereta yg mana ada di peron yg mana itu ada baiknya juga... At least kita, manusia kota, jadi "diwajibkan" untuk berinteraksi dengan orang lain :p No problemo, just ask the guard..

Well... Dari yg gw liat, ada orang2 nanya gitu entah ke orang lain entah ke petugas. Pas nanya ke orang lain ada aja yg ga jawab, ato gatau, karena arahnya beda. Nanya ke petugas sih bisa dijawab, cuma beberapa ada yg agak dingin gitu. 

Gimana gw akhirnya bisa menemukan kereta yg bener? Tiba2 denger orang lain ada yg nanya ke Tanah Abang... Well, I got all the time in the world, dan gw awalnya rencana untuk duduk2 setengah jam, observasi, merhatiin how it all works around here, sekalian dengerin pengumuman. Tapi akhirnya kedengeran orang nanya, jadi tau juga lumayan cepet.

Nah, gw menuju kereta yg akan lewat Sudirman. Untuk konfirmasi, gw nanya ke petugas yg ada di keretanya. Itu btw yg dari tadi gw sebut 'petugas' itu more like penjaga keamanan yg pake helm putih itu. Gatau exact namenya apa... Anyway, petugas yg gw tanyain itu jawabnya rada dingin dan agak cepet, jadi ga jelas...

Gw sih personally ga masalah. Cuma gw mikirin, kalo Indonesia eventually didatengin banyak foreigners, entah workers ato tourists ato students, yaa susah juga kalo info ga jelas atau petugas gabisa jawab dgn... agak warmer.

Sebenernya masalah sama petugas itu ga akan jadi masalah besar kalo ada papan info atau TV gitu yg jelas ngasitauin kereta mana di peron mana, direction mana, jam berapa berangkatnya. Soalnya pengguna Commuter bisa langsung cari tau sendiri, dengan ngeliat papan info/TV.

Petugas2 kyk gitu kan fungi utamanya emang menjaga kemanan, yaa dikit2 bolehlah orang nanya2. Cuma kalo kebanyakan orang nanya ke petugas, maybe mereka bakal rada annoyed juga? Mungkin ga sih mereka jadi annoyed? :p

Gw sadar sih, petugas2 kyk gitu di luar juga ada. Tapi biasanya kalo lg ada acara besar, crowded, dan busy gitu. Dan mereka kalo ditanya2in gitu sama orang juga... Biasa aja sih.

Well, mungkin petugas di sini juga biasa2 aja kalo ditanya2in. Cuma ya balik ke yg tadi lagi. Kalo ada papan info/TV, tugas penjaga2 di stasiun bisa lebih ringan lah...

Another plus side, pergerakan orang2 bisa jadi lebih cepet kalo ga nanya2 ke petugas/orang lain. Kalo lg ada yg mau buru2 gitu misalnya...

Tadi di stasiun Manggarai, yg merupakan stasiun intersection, gw ga liat papan info yg jelas. Peron tempat gw turun itu nandain bahwa peron ini itu untuk kereta ke arah Tanah Abang juga... Tapi ternyata ada kereta di peron lain yg lagi nunggu berangkat, dan itu ke arah Tanah Abang... Kalo tadi ga denger orang/ga nanya... Yaa kemungkinan gatau ada kereta itu di peron lain.

Nah, di stasiun Sudirman... Gara2 lokasinya di daerah skyscrapers, pusat, "premium"... Maybe... Jadi ada TV gitu yg ngeliatin kereta ke arah mana dan jam berangkatnya... I think. Gw di situ buru2 jadi ga merhatiin bener. Tapi sekilas, yg gw liat itu ya kereta yg ke mana, sama ada jamnya. Which is... Cool.

Kalo di Sudirman bisa pasang ginian, kenapa di stasiun lain engga? Khususnya stasiun intersection gitu... Soalnya mengandalkan pengumuman lewat speaker, kadang suka ga kedengeran. Nanya orang bisa lama.

Conclusion: Pasang TV yg isinya info jam berapa sekarang, jam berapa keretanya akan datang/berangkat, tujuan kereta itu, dan di peron yg mana lokasi kereta itu. Insya Allah orang2 bisa lebih jelas dapetin info, jadi pergerakan orang bisa lebih cepet.

2. Rain

Hal kecil aja sih, kalo lagi musim hujan itu masih suka ada yg bocor... Which is alright kalo dikit2, soalnya di luar juga masih ada, so... Acceptable. Cuma yg perlu diperhatiin itu genangan air. Di luar juga masih ada sih... Cuma dari yg tadi gw perhatiin, genangan air di sini itu lumayan gede2.. Itu aja sih... Pastiin ga licin, dan nyaman untuk orang2 jalan. Jadi gaperlu loncatin (yg bisa bahaya), dan gaperlu menghindar (yg bisa bikin macet)... Genangan air kalo gede annoying juga soalnya... :p Wet socks and shoes.

3. Fasilitas pejalan kaki sekitar stasiun

Pastiin aja sih trotoarnya ada, aman, dan nyaman. Pastiin ada tempat untuk orang2 nyebrang. Sayang juga kalo ada yg rumahnya sebenernya deket, bisa jalan kaki ke stasiun, tapi tetep pake motor gitu ke situ.. Ini nyambung ke masalah trotoar di Jakarta in general sih. Kadang pejalan kaki harus turun ke jalanan karena gaada trotoar, jadi bisa bahaya. Apalagi kalo musim hujan ada genangan besar, di jalanan yg gaada trotoarnya. Cobain sendiri aja... Gaada trotoar tuh bahaya. Yg nyebelin kalo udah ada trotoar, tapi gabisa dipake karena kehalangan orang parkir/mangkal/jualan/ngapain... Kapan2 gw bahas ttg fasilitas pejalan kaki :p

4. Warning sama Pegangan

Sejauh ini, dari yg gw perhatiin, pintu kereta itu ditutup setelah petugas2 di ujung kereta kasih aba2. Bener ga sih? Soalnya durasi pintu kebuka itu ga tentu, kadang bisa cepet bgt kalo emang gaada yg naik/turun. Cuma masalahnya, kalo ada yg tiba2 mau turun, tiba2 kejepit? Kalo mau naik sih kyknya lebih aman, soalnya keliatan di luar... Cuma orang turun kan dari dalem kereta, yang ga keliatan sama petugas ujung2.

Kalo ada suara warning pintu mau ditutup gitu, itu udah enak bgt. Jadi orang yg tiba2 mau keluar bisa tau dan hati2. Gw pernah sekali, pas baru pertama naik Commuter, nongolin kepala :p dan karena biasanya dapet suara warning gitu kalo pintu mau ditutup, gw ga ngeh... Engga, kepala gw engga kejepit. Tapi gw lumayan kaget, kepala gw nongol gitu tiba2 pintu udah gerak nutup... Ishh.

So yeah... Kita butuh suara warning pintu ditutup.

Sementara masalah pegangan... Ini applies ke TransJakarta juga sih, tapi bahas kapan2 yg spesifik TJ. Pegangan bagi orang yg berdiri itu sebenernya ada sih di kereta2... Mainly pegangan tangan yg dangling gitu dari atas. Masalahnya, ini terbatas. Ada juga sih pegangan besi gitu di atas ato di pinggir2 tempat duduk. Yaa, untuk yg berdiri di antara dua sisi tempat duduk sih gpp... Cuma bagi yg berdiri di tengah (depan pintu kereta), pegangannya minim.

Di luar lumayan enak, soalnya ada tiang di tengah2 space yg cukup gede itu, space depan pintu kereta. Tiangnya tengahnya bercabang tiga, jadi bisa banyak orang yg pegangan. Considering kereta2 Commuter Line itu lebih bumpy dari Métro/RER, gw rasa kita butuh pegangan di tengah2 itu... Kalo lagi banyak orang soalnya, itu useful bgt. Kalo banyak orang ga dapet pegangan, suka awkward gitu ada yg miring2 mau jatoh :p Yg masalah pegangan sih ga terlalu masalah, cuma bakal lebih nyaman aja gw rasa.... Gatau sih kalo kereta2 gini bisa dimodif custom ato harus terima dari desain awalnya..

5. Street Musicians

Nah, yg ini agak dodgy. Soalnya kalo mau nambah street artists, perlu ada regulasi, pengawasan yg ketat. Pastiin yg dateng itu entertaining, pastiin mereka ga ganggu, pastiin ga maksa2 masuk kalo lg penuh.

Gw rasa, kyk di Paris, gpp ada pemusik jalanan yg ngamen. Di sana sih masih ada aja tunawisma yg minta2 di dalem Métro... Which can be quite disturbing. Ga jarang ada orang minta2 yg mabok, ato yg bau bgt, gabisa mandi berbulan2... Ga bermaksud menjelek2an.. Gw prihatin sama kondisi mereka, kenapa masih ada orang2 yg hidup kyk gini... Apa mereka yg mau...? Di mana peran pemerintah....? Itu yg gw tanya2in pas masih di sana.

Anyway, yeah. Street Musicians... Why not? Mereka bisa entertaining kok. Tapi kalo mau yg bagus, yg bisa ga mengurangi kenyamanan pengguna kereta, perlu ada pengawasan. How..? Gw sempet denger pengamen di Métro sama kereta sekitar Paris itu "diaudisi" dulu... Gatau bener ato engga, tapi itu lumayan keren kalo bener.

Gatau deh di sini bisa diterapin ato engga. Selain mastiin mereka entertaining dan ga mengganggu kenyamanan, pastiin petugas2 yg ngawasin disiplin, ga ngebiarin sembarang orang ngamen... Misal ada A sama B. Si A boleh ngamen, sementara B punya tendency untuk mengurangi kenyamanan. Jangan sampe gara2 A temenan sama B, jadi B dibolehin masuk... Gitu.

Intinya untuk yg ini, selektif. Semoga aja kalo ada aturan ini, street musicians di Indonesia bisa lebih diapresiasi lagi, dan mereka sendiri bisa keliatan lebih baik, jadi pribadi yg lebih baik gara2 bisa ikut aturan. Dan semoga, makin banyak ide2 kreatif yg muncul dan ditampilkan oleh musisi2 jalanan :)

Gw ga bilang pengamen2 Jakarta itu ga baik. Gw bisa ngusulin poin ini karena sejauh ini, ga sedikit pengamen2 yg gw temuin di Metro Mini ato angkot yang bisa entertaining, yg suaranya bagus, yg mainnya bagus. Sayangnya masih ada yg kesannya malak, ato yg ngamennya males2an... :/

And yes, gw yakin kebanyakan dari musisi jalanan ga mau hidup terus2an kyk gitu... Cuma, at the very least, kalo para artis jalanan ini menjalankan tugasnya dengan baik, dengan cara menghibur, semoga bisa jadi berkah dan ibadah tersendiri. :)


6. Ini yg udah susah diganti, dan penutup

Commuter Line itu udah cukup nyaman untuk digunakan. Tergolong cukup murah juga. Selain beberapa masalah di atas, no big problem. Di dalemnya adem, sepoi2 pake kipas angin... Kursinya juga cukup nyaman, dan dalem keretanya bersih.

Kalo bisa gw bandingin Commuter Line Jabodetabek sama public transport yg di Paris, Commuter Line ini sebanding sama RER Île-de-France :)

Sama2 kereta yg ditujukan mainly untuk pekerja, commuters yang tinggal di suburbs dan perlu ke tengah kota. Jarak antar stasiun sama2 cukup jauh, dan jalur2nya itu keluar Jakarta ke daerah2 suburbsnya Jakarta, sama kyk RER yg dari Paris sampe ke ujung2 Île-de-France.

Nah, yg gw sayangkan... Misal orang mau dari Depok, or say Lenteng Agung, yg masih bagian dari Jakarta, mau ke stasiun Kebayoran... Kita harus ke utara dulu, ke Manggarai, trus ambil yang ke Tanah Abang, baru balik ke selatan, ke Kebayoran... Gaada jalur yg East-West di selatan... :(

Kalo ada, it'd save time. Masalahnya, udah kebanyakan perumahan penduduk. Gw blm tau sejarahnya kenapa jalur2 kereta di sini itu kyk gini... But yeah. Sayang bgt harus ke tengah dulu kyk gitu...

Semoga aja di kedepannya, MRT Jakarta bisa bikin sambungan2 East-West ato sambungan apapun yg kalo mau pindah/transit ga harus ke tengah2 dulu.



Makasih! Sori kalo rada blabbering... Kalo ada topik2 yg nyambung nanti coba gw bahas lain waktu ya.

Stay safe.