Jimmy Eat World Review

Let’s freeze the time to the end of 2001, where Jimmy Eat World (JEW)’s Bleed American is one of the cures for my disappointment from weezer’s green album. It has it rawness of a geek-rock-esque music that I missed from the green album, which is a sappy album for me. It was even before I found what emo is, where some critics have placed them to fit into that category.

Long story short, here I am fast forwarding the time where I didn’t realized that Jimmy Eat World have produced three albums after Bleed American. Some of the songs I have listened somewhere before, but didn’t realize it was theirs.

It was the third of November where I finally got the chance to see them perform live. Minus the Bear was the opening act for that night’s show and the rest of JEW’s European Invented Tour. The Seattle based band played perfectly for the opener. They played slightly different from their album in terms of the sound quality. Probably it was because they don’t want to steal JEW’s spotlight as the main act that night. But I’m pretty sure that they will have a much better output if they were provided with the same sound quality with JEW that night.

Minus the Bear played for almost an hour before the band and their stage crew cleaned up the stage to make way for JEW. The stage was clear in no time, and the stage was not much decorated. Only a few light stands and a black backdrop with a few diamond shaped patch like the so-called-geek’s-sweater-patch.

JEW opened the show with the song Bleed American, which was taken from the album with the same title, than was changed to a self titled due to the 9/11 attack. The audience, which was not really impressed when Minus the Bear played, jumped off and sang along with the music. I don’t know whether they’re not familiar with Minus the Bear’s song or they’re just a bunch of typical Dutch kids who just stood there during the concert. These kids most likely to dance only if they’re drunk, or it was a techno-rave music played on stage.

“Your New Aesthetic” from the album “Clarity” played as the second song. The band still wants to pump up the tempo by playing “A Praise Chorus”, and then played their first single from their new album, “My Best Theory”. Besides the four main member of JEW, there was also a girl who stands calmly behind the keyboard. It was Courtney Marie Andrews who filled the roles as backup vocal in the new album “Invented”. In the album, she sang 5 songs. That night, she’s in charge to replace her voice for Liz Phair’s, Rachel Haden’s and Amy Ross’, who contributed as backing vocals in some of JEW’s album.

The tempo slowed down on the 6^th song, “For Me This is Heaven”, which was one of the emotional songs from “Clarity”. “Futures” then broke up the mellowing with the lyric “say hello to good times, trade up for the fast ride...” Other new songs from “Invented”, such as “Action Needs an Audience”, “Coffee and Cigarettes”, “Movielike” and “Evidence” were played in-between the 18 songs before the encore. “Goodbye Sky Harbour” was chosen before the encore, where Jim Adkins plays freely with the microphone and synthesizer, without his guitar for the last five minutes of the song (on the album it was 16 minutes long!) and disappear behind the stage.

It doesn’t take more than 10 minutes before the band showed up for the encore. They played “23”, “Get it Faster”, “The Middle”, and finally “Sweetness” to close the show. Automatically the crowd went crazy. One guy got pushed off the stage by one of the crew for trying to crowd surf. One girl got injured for the incident.

Overall, the show is placed in one of my best concert experience. Jim Adkins’ vocal is truly amazing. He was able to keep his voice stable for pitching the high notes, with such an up-tempo music. The band connected to the audience by communicating between songs sometimes, and made a good music setlist for us to singalong. Although, there was no different if you see the band perform live and hear them on their records: not much improvisation. But the only difference is that you get the experience to sing their songs aloud with hundreds of JEW fans!

Links to the videos of the show: http://www.youtube.com/user/injektilo47?feature=mhum

Jimmy Eat World Setlist (Melkweg, Amsterdam 3 November 2011)

1. Bleed American

2. Your New Aesthetic

3. A Praise Chorus

4. My Best Theory

5. Let it Happen

6. For Me This is Heaven

7. Futures

8. Big Casino

9. Action Needs an Audience

10. Pain

11. Dizzy

12. Coffee and Cigarettes

13. Movielike

14. Hear You Me

15. Evidence

16. Work

17. Blister

18. Goodbye Sky Harbor

--encore--

19. 23

20. Get it Faster

21. The Middle

22. Sweetness

Tori Amos and The Metropole Orchestra

8 Oktober adalah hari yang cukup bersejarah buat saya, Tori Amos, dan Metropoloe Orchestra.

Bagi saya, hari itu adalah hari dimana saya dinobatkan untuk mendapatkan gelar sebagai Master of Communication. Gelar yang saya perjuangkan selama satu tahun dengan segala "ups and downs" dalam prosesnya. Sedangkan untuk Tori Amos, hari itu adalah hari dimana dalam kurun kurang lebih 20 tahun karirnya sebagai musisi, bermain bersama orkestra besar untuk pertama kalinya di depan para penggemarnya. Bagi Metropole Orchestra, hari itu bersejarah sekaligus emosional karena mereka menjadi bagian dari hari bersejarah Tori Amos tersebut. Emosional karena adanya rencana pembubaran orkestra yang berdiri sejak tahun 1945. Mereka adalah salah satu 'korban' dari rencana pemotongan anggaran pemerintahan Belanda untuk dana kesenian di tahun 2011.

Terlepas dari situasi yang cukup emosional, saya sangat beruntung bisa menikmati semua hal tersebut di hari yang bersamaan, di Heinneken Music Hall, Amsterdam. Hampir setengah dari kapasitas venue adalah non-Belanda. Mereka datang dari segala penjuru Eropa, bahkan dunia. Seperti yang ditulis dalam sebuah fan-site Tori Amos, undented, konser ini sudah ditunggu tunggu oleh para penggemarnya selama bertahun tahun. Tidak heran, tiket konser ini langsung habis dalam kurun waktu beberapa jam setelah diumumkan.

Sebagian lagu lagu yang dimainkan malam itu adalah lagu lagu yang ia tulis dengan membayangkan apabila lagu itu dimainkan dengan orkesrta besar yang hanya ada di dalam pikirannya saja. Lagu seperti "Yes, Anastacia" "Flying Dutchman" "Our New Year" serta "Precious Thing" dimainkan secara apik diantara konser yang berdurasi hampir 2 jam tersebut. Semua kekuatan lirik dan emosi yang terbangun dari musik Tori Amos menjadi semakin megah dan kaya akan dimensi oleh iringan orkestra yang dipimpin oleh Jules Buckley. -O-

Link foto klik di sini

Link video klik di sini

Beberapa video yang saya rekam malam itu:

Lagu Holy, Ivy, and Rose pun ia ubah sedikit liriknya untuk mengkritik pemerintah Belanda.

Ada juga link mp3 dari konser malam itu: Tori Amos - With Love (At Amsterdam)

Let's Paint Our New Life

This is a drawing made as a wedding present for my newly wed friends: Chika and Jaing. My good and creative friends. It was supposed to be finished before their D-day, to be displayed in the wedding party on October the 3rd. But due to my thesis and final defense presentation, I couldn't make it on time to hand it in.

It's a bit scruffy on the guy's hand and the girl's face.. as I always find trouble for making a girl's face.. I'm sorry Chika :)

FYI, they both met at the dancing animal's exhibition, Love Artually, and got together until they shouted their vow recently. So happy for them both, and may they have a good creative life together and forever.

Check out the couple's artwork at http://chesterdexterdancing.blogspot.com/

"Let's Paint Our New Life". Pencil on paper. Photoshop.

Notes from Todays Art 2010

Last weekend on 24-25 of September, the 6th edition of TodaysArt is held in The Hague. It is a festival that is focused on amplifying the forms and relationship between art, music, and technology.

This year's theme for the festival is 'Love the Real City', which implies that there is a city that is not real, which could be the abstract, administrative view of the city or The Hague's bid to become Cultural Capital 2018.

According to TodaysArt director/founder, Olof van Winden, The Real City is experiences, participation, engagement, daily routines, and a festival like TodaysArt.

This a series of notes based on what I saw during the two days festival in the heart of the city. Meanwhile, enjoy the teaser video of the festival.

Blonde Redhead gig at Melkweg, Amsterdam

After been listening to Blond Redhead for almost a decade now, finally I had the chance to see them live last Sunday (19 September 2010). It was one of the great live music experience that I had since a few times while living here in the Netherlands. Totally they played 13 songs for more than one and a half hour. Too bad that they didn't interact or even communicate with the audience throughout the entire show.

However, the sound and the music they played was superb. The stage design was amazing: they have many of this funny light bulbs that looks like a dancing fire; a few golden umbrella as part of the background, that also acts as a reflector for the light; amazing lighting visualization that can transform the dark soothing sound of their music to become something that can makes you dance to the moves that the singer, Kazu Makino, is making on stage; a big picture of unicorn, which part of Kazu's obsession with horses; also, a weird looking helmet that looked like a horse's ass with double tail.

Here's some of the picture and a video taken from the concert. Enjoy!

For more pictures, go to my facebook album page and youtube page for more videos.

Blonde Redhead's Not Getting There Video

The new album, Penny Sparkle, was just released three days ago. The sound are very promising. Some videos from the new album was just released by their label, 4AD. Kazu has never been so sexy in this video. Can't wait to see them live at Amsterdam this Sunday!

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Just watched the documentary movie of the American journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) called "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson". This movie was directed by Academy Award winner, Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side).

The name "Gonzo" is a style in journalism that Thompson created during his political news coverage. The movie was released in 2008 with lots of interviews with many politicians, musicians, and also artists such as Ralph Steadman who collaborated with Thompson. One of Steadman's work is Gonzo Artworks and one of them is used as a poster for the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" starring Johnny Depp.

In the documentary, Johnny Depp narrated almost throughout the entire movie, taken from Thompson's last memoir.

After watching the movie, I had never realised that there could have so many rock and roll life in journalism. Thompson's obsession with drugs, guns, and woman is adequately portrayed in the movie side by side with his other side of a human being which is a loving husband, father, who wants to make a better place in this world.

This movie is good documentary to see, especially when you think of the political situation that Indonesia is facing with a lack of trust in the leaders (and it has always been). Maybe we can also can have our own Indonesian Gonzo Journalism that will make an honest man out of our leaders, by following the path that Thompson had created. Maybe.

Happy Eid Mubarak

Happy Eid Mubarak. May there be peace amongst all of us.

Octa Ramayana

Genap Satu Tahun di Negeri Orang

Hari ini , 3 September 2010. Genap sudah setahun saya menjadi alien di Netherlands. Saat pertama datang, saya punya banyak sekali ambisi dan harapan untuk bisa bertahan dan menjalani hari hari saya selama di sini. Tapi tidak lupa tujuan utama dari eksistensi saya di negara ini: Belajar. Tapi pada kenyataannya, tidak semua ambisi bisa saya penuhi karena ada banyak sekali tantangan dan perubahan yang harus saya hadapi di dalam perjalanannya.

Menghadapi perubahan memang bukan sesuatu yang mudah. Jauh dari teman teman dekat, jauh dari orang yang dicintai, jauh dari lingkup comfort zone, merupakan kenyataan yang harus dihadapi. Beruntung saya di sini bersama keluarga, karena masih ada tempat untuk menuangkan keluh kesah dan merengguk kasih sayang. Tetapi perubahan memang adalah suatu proses yang pasti semua orang akan lewati. Entah berbagai macam perubahan orang menamakannya: quarter life crisis, honeymoon phase, home sick phase, atau apalah. Semua itu merupakan proses adaptasi.

Saya tidak menyesali atas apapun yang sudah saya lewati, kehilangan, atau tidak dapat memenuhi keinginan yang sudah saya targetkan. Karena semua itu adalah proses belajar. Sama dengan tujuan saya berada di sini: Belajar untuk mendapatkan seonggok kertas ijazah. Padahal belum tentu kertas itu menjadi kunci untuk bisa mendapatkan pekerjaan dan kehidupan yang lebih baik pada saat kembali ke Indonesia nanti. Tapi selain itu, saya banyak belajar bagaimana cara mencintai bangsa sendiri. Itu saya dapatkan dengan melihat orang orang di sekitar saya yang mencintai bangsanya. Kami semua yang belajar dan kerja di sini, otomatis menjadi individu yang merepresentasikan bangsa kita. Saya juga belajar untuk mensyukuri apa yang sudah saya dapatkan selama ini adalah anugrah yang tidak terhingga. Walaupun memang saya sering lupa. Namanya juga manusia, banyak lupanya.

Once I said it on twitter, "memories are not to erase, but to embrace".

So live your life to the fullest, and always be thankful for what you have around you, and spread the feeling (of love).

Catatan pinggir:

Setahun yang lalu saya datang di bulan Ramdhan, dan hari ini juga Ramadhan 1431 H. Hari ini setahun yang lalu saya tidak puasa karena menjadi musafir, dan hari ini pun saya tidak puasa karena setelah shalat Subuh tadi pagi maag kambuh, dan (maaf) muntah. Kalah deh satu hari.

Oh well, mudah mudahan kedepannya nggak ada bolong lagi puasanya.

The Attempt to Draw

Since my last two blog-post is about drawing, I managed to at least to put the theories into test.

After the whole bunch of theories, video and picture tutorials I've seen, I find it very hard to draw with pencil. I realized that it's because for the past two months my hand has been idle for drawing or even writing. It was actively dancing above the computer keyboards and mouse. After a few attempt trying to make a sketch with pencil, I finally gave up. Go back to the good 'ol marker. Maybe if I get used to sketch in a piece of paper, I will manage to look at the video and picture instruction on how to make a portrait...

Here's some work that I've done using a marker, and a post it note.

Drawing Tutorials are Everywhere

Having the freedom not to write thesis makes me want to improve some of my interests. One of them is drawing sketches.

It all started when I went to American Book Corner in the center of The Hague in a middle of a break of writing my thesis few days ago. In the discounted books section, I found a book on how to draw portraits. It is one of "Artist's Work Book" series called: "The Practical Guide to Drawing Portraits". I got it for 3.99 euros with a 10% student discount (one of the privileges of being a poor student).

Although there are all sorts of techniques and methods on drawing portraits, what I found interesting in this book is how they explain the techniques like teaching to an idiot. Actually I've never read any books about the practical guide on drawing portrait, but I found this book is quite helpful to me. Because I never actually applied help grid properly to make a sketch.

The other I find interesting in this book is in one of the tips section. It says:

Always try to produce exactly what you see in front of you, and not what you don't see. Trust your eyes. They are very accurate.

when drawing, I Sometimes wildly use my imagination, since I am much exposed to fictional comic strips. But I do like and would love to make a proper portrait.

Youtube also have lots of How To's for drawing. One of the video I like is the one that uses the Andrew Loomis approach.

There are many other techniques that you can find on youtube. Now, with a tutorial book and Serge's sketch book in my hand, we'll see if I can actually produce a skecth, or just end up finding my head stuck in the internet looking at the work and techniques, drawn with amusement.

Artist Feature: Serge Baeken

Belgians comic artists never stopped to impress me. As a child I am much exploited to comics such as Tintin, The Smurfs, Spirou, Lucky Luke, and Steven Sterk. It also affected my style for making a sketch of a character which is more comical.

A few hours after I hand in my final report, I went back to the library to look up something interesting. Being a library bug for the past few weeks makes me see things that I find interesting to read. Since I am such a poor reader, usually I will always go to the music and kunst (art) section in the library. In the art section today, I found a small fat book with lots of sketches in it. I was stunned, because it is what I was looking for. Not specifically the title of the book, but the contents in it. The book was sketches from Belgian artist named Serge Baeken. Inside the book is all of his selected sketches that was made from 2007-2008. The were no captions, all sketch!

Shortly, I loaned the book, and find myself fascinated by the sketches that Serge made. The book has 412 pages of Serge's sketches. Funny that when I tried to find the book in amazon, they don't have it. Because I absolutely would like to have a copy of the book.

To see more of Serge Baeken's artwork, visit http://www.bloggen.be/sergebaekenblog or his website http://www.sergeontherocks.com/

In my opinion, I find that the first link is more convenient.

Pre-Freedom!

Just submitted my communication advice's final report a.k.a thesis today! Darth Maul is down, the big lord Vader to go!

Swimming in the Spring

It was supposed to be spring time, because my little sister Alya got her school spring break. It was in the middle of March, and temperature is not still below 7 degrees at maximum. Alya couldn't wait any longer to swim, so we went to a zwembad (swimming pool) near where we live, which is at Blinkerd. It's an indoor swimming pool, and it has been a while since the last time I swam. We had a great time, and made me want to draw something about swimming.

Swimming Boy

Pen on Paper

I bought a pack of roller pen with no label at blokker in centrum, and it was a quite nice pen. Took the green one and made this picture of a boy swimming with his goggle.

Alya Swimming

Pen on Paper + Photoshop colouring

Alya loves the Swimming Boy picture and asked for the girl swimming. So I drew a picture of her swimming instead.

Doodle Around My Study

Made a few doodle throughout the days of my study here. Some of them were made in the library, and some of them are made in distress caused by the damn tight schedule study!

Finding Ways to Study

Pen on Paper (nuffic neso notebook) circa November 2009

This was made at Stamkartplein no 364, the place where Aris and Filmon lives. I think I made it in the middle of making the Corporate Communications assignment

My Ideal Way of Library-ing

Pencil on Paper

January 2010

This was made at Spui Bibliotheek, at the center of the city. In the 5th floor they have a quiet room for people to study. It was damn quiet alright, and put me into sleep!

Life as Written

Many things have happened in my life for the past few months. Things that I see as an eye opener to my life. Some people say it is meant to be as it is written by God Himself. Some part of me want to believe it, some part told me not to. But for whatever it is, I believe everything has a reason.

I'm always impressed by the people who can write about their life. People who can write their life and make it as an inspiration to other people is the gold of life. It is not how the title such as PhD, or Doctor, or professor that makes them smart, but it is how that knowledge that person have can be sent out to other people as an inspiration. Inspiration on how to see the world positively, how to get out of the sorrow that strangles them, and many other positive things.

Sometimes I feel ashamed that I have all the luck to get a higher education, but I can't use it for greater good to other people. What have I learned? What have I make out of this education? What is the impact to the people that I know?

I do strongly believe now that knowledge is like a prayer. What's the use of it if it isn't used for greater good? I can't use it for myself. It's not something that I can self consume. The teacher have told us many things not just for one person only. They told many kids with different ways of perceiving it. That knowledge then implemented with experience. And the word experience is the best teacher in the world, is also something that I do believe in.

I know I kinda suck at at teaching stuff or maybe writing down things that I know to other people. How much do I know? At least I can start the knowledge transfer to my sisters I guess.