Gerakan Bawah Tanah - Mr. GBT

It has been a while since I updated this page, eh. The thing is I have too many blogs to update :-) Oh well. This morning I thought it is going to rain. A few raindrops have fallen. I went outside to pick up newspaper before it is wet. But then, it's sunny. Whoa. I hope it is sunny the whole day, cause I don't like rainy days (and some people, ... Monday). Wet Monday? It can bring our mood down. Good morning (sunshine)...

I have just got back from a futsal match. It was a good game, but now I've got a pounding headache. In another point in time, I was injured after the game. Now, it got me thinking. The reason I want to do sports is to make me healthy and fit. I am not looking for a headache, or God forbid, injury. But ... What do you think?

A question just popped in my head; "why do I need new songs?" Why do I buy CDs, download songs, and so on? I've got too many songs already in my computers, in my CD and cassette collections. I don't think I will ever finish listening to all of them.

I love taking a long hot shower. When I was living in Canada, I could stand in the shower for long minutes (I was going to write hours, but I don't think I would spend hours taking shower :)). It felt so good. Now, I cannot do it. In developing countries, although water is perhaps abundance, clean water is expensive (and rare in some places). You just can't spend long minutes taking a shower. You have to budget your water usage. In this sense, we are taking good care of the earth. Not because we want to, but mostly because we have to. Think differently. It is unfair that people in developed countries use resources more than underdeveloped or developing countries. Not just use more, but use it ineffieciently. The richer gets things easier ... That's life?

I am sorry that this blog has been sidetracked. It's not my intention. It's just my time management has gone awry. Too many things to do, too little time. Oh well. I hope I can write more here. This is just to say that this blog is still alive :) or at least, I want it to be alive ...

I am in the process of cleaning my harddisk. It is getting full. One thing I notice is that my music (mp3) collection is not well organized. Well, it is sort of organized but not efficient. Here's a case. I organize song according to the artis' album. What do you do with songs that are the same but distributed in different albums? For example, the song is in the original album and also in several compilations (the best of, collection of this and that, and so on). Do you keep multiple copies? Or do you just keep one? If you keep only one, in which album do you organize the song in? Right now, I keep multiple copies so that when I transfer an album (or compilation), I just copy one directory. This takes too much disk space.

We were just finished joining earth hour event. We turned off all electricity stuff in our house for 1 hour. Computers off. Unplugged UPS. Even, we unplugger refrigerator. The only source of light was three candles. Vote earth!

Yaaayyy. My other blog ( rahard.wordpress.com ) is nominated for some kind of blog awards. It's kind of deja vu. This blog was nominated as one of the best blog in Indonesia light years ago :) I know you don't believe it, but it's true. I have a scan version of the news (in the media).

You know, it is tough to have a bilingual blog. You have different crowds to satisfy. This blog is originally in Bahasa Indonesia, then in English, then Indonesia, then ... well, you know. I kinda indecisive about the choice of language. I know that the choice of language depends on the people reading the blog. But, when you have people with different languages, what do you do?

I hate facebook uploading photo "feature". First of all, if I want to update a phone in a certain folder, I have to open that folder first. The thing is, to open the folder means images of the folder must be shown. Granted, the images are smaller versions but they still take time to view. I cannot select the folder without having to go through this process. After uploadin the photo, before it is being published, the list of photos is again displayed. Again, I have to wait until all the photos are shown. This is a pain if I have a folder with lots of pictures and I am uploading the photo one by one. I guess this is my problem because I have a slow internet connection. This wouldn't be a problem if you have a fast internet connection. Oh well ...

I was interviewed recently. One of the question was, what was the latest book that you have (finished?) reading. I startled. I just could not answer that question. Oh my God. I have not finished reading any book in quite a while. In this current time frame, I just have too many things to do (mostly reading and writing) that I don't have time to read books. I love reading books. I really do, but what can I do? I am not trying to find lame excuses. It's just ... aaarrrggghhh ...

Our band, BandIT, is active again. Gigs are in waiting in line. It's time for us to practice again. Lots of hard work, but we enjoy doing it. We play cover songs. What we want to play is classic and progressive rock, but sometimes we play pop songs as well. Just to make sure that the audience stay put :) [taken from February 2010 practice - Garin is missing in the picture]

I guess I shouldn't complain that we've got rains every day. Usually, rain starts in this afternoon and it ends in the evening. Sometimes it goes until morning. Sometimes it feels too much. What can I do? This is rainy season in Bandung, Indonesia. Embrace it ... Enjoy it ...

One of my students asked me, why I still teach on time even though I have a hectic schedule. The answer is ... when you love what you're doing, you'll make up time to do it. I love teaching. That's it. It's very simple. At one point in my life, I even taught classes without getting paid. Just because I love doing it. So, there ...

For some reasons, I am not too excited with the development of ipad. Yeah, it must be a great product, but ... don't know. One of my main concerns is battery lifetime. How long it would last for my regular usage? For example, I am already in the 2nd cycle charging my MacBook today. The same thing with my (old, first generation?) ipod. Its battery already died! oh well ...

I just thought that I should add books that I have recently read to shelfari.com . I have an account there but have not logged in for quite a while. Now, I am stuck and don't know what to do. It seems that I cannot add a book directly by typing the author and the title of the book. I can do a search, but the book that I was trying to add (Perahu Kertas by Dewi Lestari) was not found. So there's no way to add the book to my virtual bookshelf. Oh well. Let me try another virtual bookshelf like goodreads.com.

Just what do you think our world would become? Here's a picture taken from a trash bin near my office (on campus). Oh... all those plastic. :((

Last night was my first gig this year. It was tiring … We had to play for more than a dozen songs. My shoulder is still in pain this morning. But, it was fun. Let’s see how many gigs will I have this year … Hopefully a lot ...

Greetings from Bandung, from ITB to be exact. This week is the first week of school. This term I am teaching two classes. Originally, I was listed in two other classes. I asked other lecturers to take over those classes. Now, I have two classes only. Well, I was surprised to see the number of students taking my class; 83 (and perhaps more). Oh boy... The class was design to accomodate 40-ish students. I have to find an assistant to help me marking students' assignments. My other class, which is a grad level, is smaller. I think there are 40-ish students. I can handle that. Unfortunately, I have to change the schedule for this class because it was exactly the same time slot as my other class. So wish me luck this semester ...

School year has started yesterday. Everybody is on campus. Information (importan and not-so-important) is starting to flow. The gate has been opened. It's time to catch up with this and that. I have to delete lots of stuff (emails) these days. Oh well ...