Awesome comment is awesome

"'Harry Potter' is not 'Twilight', you know; we're not selling sex."

- Emma Watson commenting on Twilight

Ms. Watson, you just got yourself a new fan.

The Tattoo

Watched the movie last night. Unexpectedly long and unexpectedly plenty of adult scene. But it was unexpectedly good as well. It's entertaining :)

Rendang

Last week I got too lazy to work and stayed home with Irving the whole week. Well, mostly. Thing is, I don't have any spirit to play games or read as well somehow. So I got this crazy idea of cooking rendang after I saw the rendang that Irving's gf brought from Jakarta the day before. It was surprisingly easy to make -- albeit a little slow. I used the recipe from this particular site.

It was quite good IMHO :). Should have put more chilli though. Haha. And since I didn't want to deviate from the original recipe, i used 1 kg of beef. It took me around 3 days to finish this dish for 2-3 meals a day. Haha. Total cost: ~30 SGD (for 3 days? okay lah hor..)

Now, enough blogging. Back to confirmation report writing!

God give me strength to finish this one in time... Pretty please?

The long promised post

Yea, yea, I have slacked too long to write this post. Anyway, last month my father went to visit me here for 3 days 2 nights. Not much reason actually, he just came to visit, alone. So we had a nice father-and-son time along those times.

And yes, in my family, it means food. =D

I asked him to accompany me viewing for new flats. There were one at Clementi and another at Tiong Bahru. Both failed, miserably. Anyways, we were actually planning to eat at the market there anyways to look for suckling pig. So in the end both of us, joined by our agent and Irving ate suckling and ducks there. Haha. So-so, actually. Don't have the photo to share on this one.

We spend the rest of the day at the hotel, resting and talking. Later that night we went to Balestier Road in search for Bak Kut Teh. And oh my God. Those were heavenly! We went there to see a long queue, but seeing that it was not that long, we decided to queue for around 15 minutes. We ordered 2 Bak Kut Teh, 1 Pig Trotter, and some sides.

The ribs was so thick, the bowl almost filled with the meat. The soup was tasty and nice. It was wonderful. The only complain my father had is that the soup was too little (since the meat was very thick). And he likes his soup. However, just right after we discuss that, an uncle came with his metal glass of soup and we got refill, free-of-charge! We smiled, knowing that the seller really knows his customers. HAHA!

The next day we came to Chenli for sunday service, skipped the bible study (lol!) and went straight to Orchard. My father need to go to Tang's too look for something his wife ask him to bring, then we went straight to Centrepoint, since he wanted to see AFC store. Sadly, it was closed when we got there. Closed on Sundays, apparently.

We decided that we'll look for Peking Duck at Lido. Went there. The entire floor is closed for renovation -___-'. Choose Crystal Jade Home*something-i-forgot*. Some is nice, others are not. But we ate on anyways.

We close our Orchard adventure in cineleisure, watching "Source Code". Decent one I say. That's not bad at all. I felt bad though, because the whole time we were waiting for the movie, I was occupied with housing matters. Things went a bit complicated, and I panicked. But I think God is really great, because He gave me the time to spend with my father along with this kind of incident. I feel VERY reassured with his presence, and his words of comfort do calm me down. :')

Yea, I think I miss that a lot. I wanted to be independent, strong and capable of taking care of myself ever since I went to university. I became a very hard-headed guy, who want everything to be finished as soon as possible, as best as I can, but also as comfortable as possible. But whenever I am with him, I can feel at ease. I really do miss that times when I can be vulnerable and trust everything in my life to my father. Not that I became carefree, but it was a great break.

On the way back, we passed by Brotzeit at 313. My father saw the pork knuckle, and we got so excited. Haha. So we went back to our hotel in Ibis, rested until 7 pm, then ate our dinner at their branch on Raffles City! Yum yum yum.. =D

He went back the next morning. (Yes... I went to school around 1 pm that day), but we still had our chance to get breakfast together, and talk about things for a couple of hours until his flight. I really want to go back to Jogja now. Hahaha. But I think the soonest will be on July.. I have to rush for my project now. >.<

Anyways, today is NTU-ISCF AGM. Congratz to Nesha and Vincent =). I'll write something later on when I have more time. I need to get some rest today. ^^

No. I'm not forgetting.

1. As the title said, I didn't forget posting in this blog. I just got overwhelmed by things these two weeks and I haven't been able to post anything. I have quite a lot of things to write, but apparently, I forgot more than half of it. Great.
2. Congratulations to Ko Ari, hope you have an everlasting wedding =). I had a great time in Surabaya.
3. American series kicked back into my life. House, Glee, Lie to Me, Gossip Girl (yea, i watched it, thanks to my ex-roommate), CSIs... All those when I don't actually have the luxury of time. Gosh. The download just got stockpiled in my hard drive.
4. FF XIV just came out, PES 2011 will be coming out as well. I'm not planning to but FF XIV for now, unless there's friends who are interested in playing it together. PES 2011 is out of question, it's mandatory. I'm finding my Starcraft 2 playing time cut short by series and new games even more -- when I actually have little time due to my PhD course and my ministries. Gosh.
5. No. I'm not considering quitting games. Haha. It's a hobby. I know some people find it counter-productive and anti-social and stuff, but hey, I grew up with that and it has played some part in shaping my decision making skills. It's not all bad actually. It's whether you get addicted of it or not.
6. Watched Glee season 2 episode 3. The theme is about religious and spiritual stuff. As you expect of American context, Christianity is the one that got into spotlight, and in the bad way. Although I didn't really like the episode, I have to say that it really reflects current generation's worldview. And it is saddening. The episode itself is intriguing. I will just let you see for yourself.
7. Day[9] daily rocks. Haha. I'm proud to be a nerd. =p
8. I'll post some writing by Spurgeon later on. I had this evening devotional two-three nights ago that punch me in its own sweet spot.
9. My projects has been progressing smoothly. Well, i did face some problems, but I think I'll manage. The main concern is about Dirichlet Process. Can anyone teach me about it? =(
10. My course have been less than easy. Actually that is an understatement. It is HARD. I'm struggling to understand the topic each week. Please pray for me. =/

Random Post #1

1. I thank God for letting me wake up at 11 am today. LOL
2. Thank God for canteen filled with people that forced me to eat my lunch at 1.30 pm, which brings something that made my day =D
3. Cramer-Rue Lower Bound reminds me of my IMO days. Mathematical proof full of cheats.
4. I'm more and more lost in papers. Can someone show me what project to do?
5. I kept delaying my sharing on EAGC+HK/Macau trip. I'm still waiting for Jo to release the photos haha... so please hang on. OK?
6. The curse of Padmanaba is real.

I'm a bit rusty

So I will be taking 3 subjects this semester: Linear System, Neural Network and Statistical Signal Processing. I wanted to take one technical subject actually, but my supervisor strongly suggest against it and told me to take more theoretical subject, since it will be more useful to me taking phd. So there you are, 3 theoretical subjects.

One thing that I realized after I came to those 6.30-9.30 pm (yeah, i am having three 3-hours-class-after-6-pm in a week) is this:

My head can't really connect to what the prof is teaching.

Oh Noooooo!!! I guess that's what happens when you did not study for more than one year. Haha...

*Back to reading paper*

You are invited

"You are invited to attend ... held on 25th August 2010, 15.00 at ... "
- mail received on 25th August 2010, 13.00

"The venue has been changed to ... "
- mail received at 14.10

It's good to be back in NTU...
...for whatever reason it is.. LOL.

Shine Like Stars - Accoustic

Just knew there's this version of the song =D

Greetings Weaklings

Happy 4th of July!

No, i'm not talking about US Independence day.

Happy B'day Pah =)

Pring reketeg gunung gamping ambrol...

I got this cool Javanese Rap Song from my flatmates =P it's cool and have a quite some Javanese philosphy in it. Scroll down for the translation =D (I put the youtube video featuring Jogja's pride: PSS sleman.. haha... other videos are a bit.. disturbing ;).. LOL)

Ngelmu Pring
Rotra

pring reketeg gunung gamping ambrol, ati kudu teteg ja nganti urip ketakol 
pring reketeg gunung gamping ambrol, uripa sing jejeg nek ra eling jebol 

pring deling, tegese kendel lan eling, kendel marga eling, timbang nggrundel nganti suwing 
pring kuwi suket, dhuwur tur jejeg, rejeki seret, rasah dha buneg 
pring ori, urip iku mati, kabeh sing urip mesti bakale mati 
pring apus, urip iku lampus, dadi wong urip aja seneng apus-apus 
pring petung, urip iku suwung, sanajan suwung nanging aja padha bingung 
pring wuluh, urip iku tuwuh, aja mung embuh, ethok-ethok ora weruh 
pring cendani, urip iku wani, wani ngadepi, aja mlayu marga wedi 
pring kuning, urip iku eling, wajib padha eling, eling marang Sing Peparing 

pring iku mung suket, ning omah asale seka pring, 
usuk seka pring, cagak seka pring, gedhek iku pring, 
lincak uga pring, kepang cetha pring, tampare ya mung pring 
kalo, tampah, serok, asale seka pring, pikulan, tepas, tenggok, digawe nganggo pring 
mangan enak, mancing iwak, walesane ya pring,
jangan bung, aku gandrung, jebule bakal pring 

nek ngono pancen penting, kabeh sing nang nggon wit pring
pancen penting tumraping manungsa sing dha eling
eling awake, eling pepadhane, eling patine, lan eling Gustine
wong urip kudu eling, iso urip seka pring, tekan titi wancine ya digotong nganggo pring 
bali nang ngisor lemah, padha ngisor oyot pring, mulane padha eling, elinga Sing Peparing 

ora bakal bubrah marga iso melur, kena dinggo mikul, ning aja ketungkul 
urip kuwi abot, ja digawe abot, akeh repot, sak trek ora amot 
mulane uripmu aja dha kaku, melura, pasraha, ra sah dha nesu 
aja mangu-mangu ning terus mlaku, sanajan ro ngguyu aja lali wektu 
kowe bakal bisa urip rekasa, ning kudu percaya uga sregep ndonga 
Gusti paringana, luwih pangapura, marang kawula ingkang kathah lepat lan dosa 
aja nggresula, aja wedi, dudu kowe, ning Gusti sing mesti luwih ngerti 
ngatur urip lan mati, nyukupi rejeki, paring tentreming ati, 
cukup sandang pangan papan, bakal mukti pakarti

-------

Well, roughly it meant (In Indonesian):

*Pring = Bambu

Pring reketeg, gunung gamping (kapur) runtuh, hati harus tegar jangan sampai hidup (tertatih?)
Pring reketeg, gunung gamping runtuh, hiduplah yang lurus kalau lupa jebol

Pring deling, artinya berani dan ingat, berani karena ingat, daripada menggerutu membuat bibir sumbing
Pring itu rumput(?), tinggi tapi lurus, rejeki pelan jangan pada sedih
Pring ori, hidup itu ujungnya mati, semua yang hidup pasti mati
Pring apus, hidup itu ujungnya mati, jadi orang hidup jangan suka berbohong
Pring petung, hidup itu gila, tapi meskipun gila, jangan pada bingung
Pring wuluh, hidup itu bertumbuh, jangan cuma ngga peduli, pura-pura tidak tahu
Pring cendani, hidup itu harus berani, berani menghadapi, jangan cuma lari ketakutan
Pring kuning, hidup itu harus ingat, wajib untuk ingat, ingat kepada Yang Memberi

Pring itu cuma rumput, tapi rumah itu dari bambu
rusuk rumah dari bambu, tiang juga dari bambu, gedheg itu bambu
lincak (bench bambu) juga bambu, kepang jelas bambu, tampare juga cuma dari bambu
kalo, tampah, serok asalnya bambu. pikulan, kipas, tempat nasi, dibuat dari bambu
makan enak atau mancing ikan, alas duduknya juga pakai bambu
jangan bung (sayur rebung), aku suka, ternyata juga bambu!

kalau begitu memang penting, semua bagian tanaman bambu
memang penting buat manusia yang mengingat 
ingat diri sendiri, ingat sesamanya, ingat kehidupannya dan ingat Tuhannya 
orang hidup harus ingat, bisa hidup dari bambu, sampai akhir hayat ya akhirnya diangkat pakai bambu (peti mati biasa diangkat pakai bambu kan..) 
kembali ke dalam tanah, dibawah akar bambu, makanya ingatlah, ingat pada Yang Memberi

ngga bakal rusak karena bisa melar, bisa dipakai mikul, tapi jangan ketungkul
hidup itu udah berat, jangan dibikin tambah berat, kalo terlalu repot nanti satu truk ngga cukup
makanya hidupmu jangan kaku, melebarlah, berserahlah, jangan marah-marah
jangan termangu-mangu tapi terus berjalan, sambil tertawa, tapi jangan lupa waktu
kamu bakal hidup menderita, tapi tetap harus percaya dan rajin berdoa
Tuhan anugerahilah: lebih banyak maaf, kepada hamba yang banyak salah dan dosa
Janganlah menggerutu, jangan takut, bukan kamu tapi Tuhan yang pasti lebih tahu
Dia mengatur hidup dan mati, mencukupkan rejeki, memberikan ketentraman hati
cukup sandang pangan papan, bakal memberi pengertian

Notes:
Pring reketeg itu frase bahasa jawa yang artinya bambu yang mengeluarkan bunyi mengerenyit, suaranya kedengaran seperti reketeg
Pring deling, pring ori, pring apus, pring wuluh, pring petung, pring cendani, pring kuning adalah tipe-tipe bambu dalam bahasa jawa

Obfuscated

A small taste of what I've been doing on my office for over a week

01001ADECAFFED010205000210ABCDABCDABCDABCDABCDABCDABCDABCD0200
1F001A001F00140031009A001C09ED000A008B000001910000000000000301
0004003103020107A0000000620101000110A0000000090005FFFFFFFF8912
000000000110A0000000090005FFFFFFFF89110000000300140110ABCDABCD
ABCDABCDABCDABCDABCDABCDABCD06001C43800314000D050400000112FFFF
0146011F80020081080108810700...

And what the hell is that? Friends, that's an Applet that is going to be installed on a SIM Card. Well, part of it.

My PL gave me an objective to study the structure of an applet bytecode. It was not a pretty sight haha. Anyway, I'm supposed to do a knowledge sharing this year on this topic as well, and the more I try to learn, the more I'm convinced that my audience will go to sleep instantly.

Hope it's not as bad as I think... Or maybe I should study more to find what we can do with these hexes..

Let there be bytecodes!

P.S. This is not a proprietary data, it's only a crappy applet that I used to develop on my training. I'm not stupid enough to post a product hex inside here. Anyway, I'm putting only the common and not-so-important part here >:)

Will be watching

Will be watching this show with my father. Excited. =D

Fantasies on iPhone

I checked iTunes store today and I found a surprising thing:

SquareEnix is porting the remake of Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy 2 to iPhone.

And it is already available! =D

It's a good prelude before the real deal on 9th of March 2010. ;)

Dasar Iblis kalian!

Charlo is distracted by something (read: someone) in canteen A in the middle of KTB.

Charlo: "Udah2.. kembali2... Saat-saat seperti ini nih Iblis tertawa terbahak-bahak"

*Kristo, Daniel, Kentank, Rendi serentak tertawa terbahak-bahak*

American Idol Season 9 Round-Up

So, this is the context of the story: I follow American Idol, but I totally forgot that it starts on January and when I realized around end of last month I had a lot to catch up. So I waited until the top 24 is announced (which is last week) and do quick catch up. And...

I'm not impressed =.='

True, the level of the people are quite good and around the same, but there are no real stand-outs among them, unlike last season's Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey

Oh well, that should do for now. Anyway, I am hoping to see some exciting competition this year at least... Don't make it a repeat of season 6 pleaaassseeee.... That was so b.o.r.i.n.g (well, actually that season had one bright side: Melinda Doolittle)

Anyway, I was listening to last year finals' song "No Boundaries", one by Kris Allen, one by Adam Lambert, then I just realized that DioGuardi is the writer of the song when I saw her version in youtube. The originals was better IMHO. See it yourself.

Kara DioGuardi's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDng1zxoLd4

Kris Allen's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au78ra4HsUo

Adam Lambert's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvCwvX57a8

Yeah. This post is so American Idol. At least that's my favorite show other than House M.D. ;)

Gus Dur

Just to give a tribute to our late ex-president. it's funny to read (albeit long) XD

Like the kiai part. =P

Di dunia ini ternyata ada empat hal yang tidak bisa diduga: lahir, kawin, meninggal, dan ... Gus Dur!

Oleh: Dahlan Iskan

Guyonan itu, rupanya, tidak berlebihan. Meski sudah banyak yang meramalkan bahwa penampilan Gus Dur di depan DPR Kamis lalu bakal ramai, toh tidak ada yang menyangka bahwa sampai seramai itu. Kalau bukan kiai, mana berani menjadikan pidato Ketua DPR Akbar Tandjung sebagai sasaran humor? Akbar sejak dulu memang selalu memulai pidato dengan memanjatkan syukur. Maka, Gus Dur pun melucu, yang membuat semua anggota DPR tertawa: syukur memang perlu dipanjatkan karena Syukur tidak bisa memanjat

Begitu menariknya, karuan saja pidato presiden kini banyak ditunggu penonton televisi. Padahal, dulu-dulu kalau presiden pidato di TV banyak yang mematikan TV-nya. Begitu tidak menariknya pidato presiden di masa Orde Baru sampai-sampai pernah para anggota DPRD diwajibkan mendengarkannya. Itu pun harus diawasi agar mereka sungguh-sungguh seperti mendengarkan. Untuk itu, perlu diadakan sidang pleno DPRD dengan acara khusus nonton televisi.***

Mungkin Gus Dur tidak menyangka bahwa suatu saat dirinya jadi presiden. Maka, di masa lalu banyak sekali presiden di dunia ini yang jadi sasaran humornya. Misalnya saat tampil bersama humorolog Jaya Suprana di TPI tahun lalu. Gus Dur menceritakan, Hosni Mubarak, presiden Mesir, sangat marah karena seorang rakyatnya membuat 39 humor yang menyakitkan hati Mubarak. "Saya ini presiden, saya bisa hukum kamu, apakah kamu tidak takut?" bentak Mubarak. pa jawab si pembuat humor? "Mohon ampun paduka. Humor ke-40 itu bukan kami yang membuat!"

Saat itu Gus Dur juga menghumorkan Pak Harto yang sangat ditakuti, tapi sebenarnya juga dibenci rakyat banyak. Suatu kali Pak Harto terhanyut di sungai dan hampir meninggal. Seorang petani menolongnya dengan ikhlas. Si petani tidak tahu siapa sebenarnya yang dia tolong itu. "Saya ini presiden. Presiden Soeharto. Kamu telah menyelamatkan saya. Imbalan apa yang kamu minta?" kata Soeharto. "Pak, saya hanya minta satu," jawab si petani. "Jangan beri tahu siapa pun bahwa saya yang menolong Bapak." Presiden Habibie yang doyan bicara itu juga dijadikan sasaran humor Gus Dur. Suatu saat Gus Dur yang terkenal gampang tertidur (tapi selalu bisa mengikuti apa yang dibicarakan orang selama dia tidur) menghadap Habibie. Sang presiden bicara ke sana kemari tidak henti-hentinya. Apa komentar Gus Dur? "Saya sih cuek saja. Biar dia bicara terus. Toh saya tidur," katanya.

***
Sikap cuek memang ciri khas Gus Dur. Namun bukan berarti mengabaikan. Dia memang ngotot tetap keliling negara-negara ASEAN meski banyak tokoh memintanya pulang (karena Aceh gawat). Bahkan, dia juga tetap ke AS dan Jepang. Dan, sebentar lagi ke negara-negara Timur Tengah.

Apakah Gus Dur cuek sungguhan? Saya kira tidak. Gus Dur tentu tahu bahwa salah satu syarat berdirinya sebuah negara adalah adanya pengakuan negara lain. Sepanjang tidak ada negara lain yang mengakui, maka berdirinya sebuah negara dianggap tidak sah. Nah, Gus Dur bisa sekalian keliling ke negara-negara itu untuk merayu mereka agar jangan memberikan pengakuan dulu
kepada Aceh atau bagian mana pun dari Indonesia. Kalau seluruh negara ASEAN tidak memberikan pengakuan, kalau AS dan Jepang tidak memberikan pengakuan, kalau negara-negara Timteng bersikap sama dan demikian juga negara-negara lain, maka kemerdekaan Aceh belum akan terjadi. Ini berarti Gus Dur masih punya waktu untuk negosiasi dengan Aceh. Selama kurun waktu yang pendek itu, Gus Dur bisa menuntaskan seluruh persoalan yang selama ini menyebabkan rakyat Aceh marah. Ini berbeda dengan soal Timtim yang memang tidak diakui dunia internasional sebagai bagian Indonesia.

***
Gus Dur memang kelihatan cuek, namun sebenarnya serius. Gus Dur juga kelihatan sering mbanyol, namun juga serius. Sikap cuek itu bukan saja tertuju kepada orang lain, tetapi juga kepada dirinya sendiri.

Suatu saat saya menjenguk Gus Dur yang diopname karena stroke di RSCM Jakarta. Saat itu saya memang presiden direktur PT Nusumma dan Gus Dur presiden komisarisnya. Saya lihat Gus Dur berbaring miring karena memang belum boleh duduk. Setelah menyalaminya, saya mengucapkan permintaan maaf karena baru hari itu bisa menjenguk. "Saya sakit gigi berat, Gus," ujar saya.

Tanpa saya duga, Gus Dur ternyata men-cuekin keadaan kesehatannya. Dia langsung memberi saya teka-teki yang ternyata humor segar. "Sampeyan tahu nggak, apa yang menyebabkan sakit gigi?" tanyanya. "Tidak, Gus," jawab saya.

"Penyebab sakit gigi itu sama dengan penyebab orang hamil dan sama juga dengan penyebab mengapa rumput sempat tumbuh tinggi," katanya. Saya masih melongo. Gus Dur menjawab sendiri teka-tekinya. "Yaitu sama-sama terlambat dicabut," ujarnya. Saya langsung tertawa.

Di saat yang lain pesawat yang akan ditumpangi Gus Dur ke Semarang batal berangkat. Padahal, dia sudah lama menunggu. Gus Dur biasa sekali antre tiket sendiri. Meski ada hambatan pada penglihatan, Gus Dur sudah sangat hafal liku-liku bandara. Saking seringnya bepergian. Saat itu di Jateng lagi getol-getolnya kuningisasi. Apa saja, mulai bangunan sampai pohon-pohon, dicat kuning atas instruksi Gubernur Jateng Suwardi. Maksudnya agar rakyat semakin mencintai Golkar. Maka, ketika para penumpang lain marah-marah, Gus Dur cuek saja. "Sampeyan tahu nggak mengapa pesawat ini batal berangkat ke Semarang?" tanyanya. Lalu, dia menjawab sendiri pertanyaannya: "Pilotnya takut, kalau-kalau begitu pesawatnya mendarat langsung dicat kuning," katanya. Humor ini kemudian menjadi sangat populer.

***
Begitulah. Hampir tidak pernah pertemuan saya dengan Gus Dur tanpa diselipi humor. Sasaran humornya bisa dirinya sendiri, bisa NU yang dia pimpin, bisa juga para kiai sendiri.

Pernah Gus Dur punya humor begini: seorang kiai datang mengeluh kepadanya karena satu di antara empat anaknya masuk Kristen. Sang kiai mengeluh, kurang berbuat apa sampai terjadi demikian. Padahal, dia tidak kurang-kurangnya berdoa kepada Tuhan agar tidak ada anaknya yang masuk Kristen. "Sampeyan jangan mengeluh kepada Tuhan. Nanti Tuhan akan bilang, saya saja punya anak satu-satunya masuk Kristen!"

***

Kita memang sedang melihat sosok presiden yang amat berbeda. Ketika dia salah ucap di depan DPR dengan mengatakan "tentang pembubaran DPR ... eh, Deppen dan Depsos..." dengan entengnya Gus Dur menertawakan dirinya sendiri sebagai penutup kesalahan ucap itu. "Yah, beginilah kalau presidennya batuk dan Wapresnya flu!"

Sama juga ketika dia tampil di forum internasional di Bali. Dengan entengnya, Gus Dur mengejek dirinya sendiri dengan bahasa Inggris yang sangat baik bagaimana sebuah negara yang presidennya buta dan Wapresnya bisu.

***
Dari semua tokoh yang berkomentar terhadap laku Gus Dur seperti itu, adik kandungnyalah yang bisa memberikan gambaran tepat. "Gus Dur itu seperti sopir yang kalau belok tidak memberi richting dan kalau ngerem selalu mendadak," ujar Salahuddin Wahid, sang adik.

Tapi, bisakah Gus Dur mengerem Aceh? Gus Dur tentu sudah mendengar Aceh itu ibarat kelapa. Seperti yang disampaikan seorang tokoh Aceh di TV. Rakyat adalah airnya, ulama adalah dagingnya, mahasiswa adalah batoknya, dan GAM adalah sabutnya.

Tokoh tersebut berpendapat ulamalah yang harus dijaga. Sebagai ulama, tentu Gus Dur lebih tahu bagaimana caranya. Gus Dur punya humor bagaimana harus merangkul ulama. Suatu saat rombongan ulama naik bus. Ada seorang ulama yang membuka jendela sehingga tangan si ulama keluar dari bus. Ini tentu bahaya dan melanggar peraturan "dilarang mengeluarkan anggota badan". "Jangan sekali-kali menegurnya dengan alasan membahayakan tangan si ulama," ujar Gus Dur. Lalu bagaimana? "Bilang saja begini: Mohon tangan Bapak jangan keluar dari jendela karena tiang-tiang listriknya nanti bisa bengkok!".

***

Lalu, bagaimana sebaiknya sikap DPR setelah dijadikan sasaran humor Gus Dur sebagai taman kanak-kanak itu? Sebaiknya dicuekin saja. Kalau DPR ribut terus bisa-bisa Gus Dur malah dapat bahan humor baru. Misalnya dengan mengatakan bahwa DPR ternyata malah seperti play group! Bahkan, tidak mustahil kalau Gus Dur justru berkata begini: Kok sampeyan yang tersinggung. Mestinya kan taman kanak-kanaknya!

For every little thing

I got this youtube video from my colleague. It was hilarious, while my brother and some of my friend call them 'lebay' ;)

The thing that come into my mind is that there are some things that we take for granted. We experienced miracles every day to the point of being ignorant about it. The air we breathe, the food that we eat, the body that we have, the workings of the earth, the movement of the solar system, the kindness of God's providence. It is all miracles that we overlooked and said that it was ordinary, simply because we always have them. But we forget that without God's providence, we will never be able to have them.

Let us not forget these 'little' miracle we have in our life, and thank the Lord, our God, for every little thing we have in our life.

Let there be light!

I really love this comic strip XD

http://www.phdcomics.com/