Beating the Evening Jam

Back in early 2002, when the rain poured down heavily for two days non-stop, I spent four hours waiting for the evening bus home. I waited standing in the rain, under my umbrella, in the long line of people queuing. I couldn't leave my spot, not even to go to toilet. Nobody moved too. Then the bus came, I managed to get a seat. Many others couldn't. The driver encouraged all of us to just go in and stand in the aisle. It was a wet, cold and dark night. Electricity was down due to heavy flood. Traffic was horrible beyond measure. The trip home took another good four hours. We arrived at destination at midnight. And apparently, that bus was the last bus that could reach final station that night. Other buses couldn't make it, they had to spend overnight on the road .. together with the unlucky passengers.

Last Friday, it almost happened again. Only this time, it was a 15-minute rain and thunderstorm instead of 2-day rain. I was this close from running out of my office building to catch my bus home, but the storm was faster. Nothing would survive that thing. So I ended up going back to the office and waited there cautiously, I had planned to run as soon as the rain a bit lightened. When I finally could arrive at the bus stop, through showers, I realized that this was not eight years ago. A short pouring could cause traffic as heavy as it was in 2002. But I didn't want to wait in the rain. I went straight to the building lobby entrance, found an empty spot at the corner and sat on the floor. I waited, wearing my waterproof hooded-jacket, listening to my iPod and playing with my Blackberry. The bus was 2 hours late, I got a seat and it took 1 hour trip to home.

Never would I think I'd be in this situation again two days after. This Monday evening, the next working day from the above mentioned, it was the worst jam of the year. The rainstorm started at 4 pm and lasted for about 3 hours afterwards. I got out of the building early to anticipate the rain, didn't do any good. Still lucky I could get this motorbike-cab rider who was patient enough riding through the rain and leg-deep flood. Though I was wearing my waterproof jacket, it was so cold I couldn't stop shivering. Again, after reaching the bus stop, I went straight to the building lobby entrance and looked for an empty spot to sit. I took my shoes off because it got water in it, and started waiting. Listening to my iPod, playing with my Blackberry, and I got a really good book to read. I also bought my dinner in a box, ate it right there while sitting on the floor. (One lady complimented me on my successful dinner hunting in that difficult situation). When the waiting reached its 3rd hour, I was not the only one sitting at the lobby entrance floor. The bus finally came at the 4th hour. And the trip home took another 2 hours. I reached my home nearly midnight.

So. Looked like I did learn some things to a better comfort from one situation to another. Made the unbearable waiting time bearable to some extend.

(The bus driver suffered worse. I couldn't complain).

Here were the things I did on the 2nd and 3rd waiting:

• Staying warm inside my jacket with hood on.
• Sitting on the floor. I had no shame.
• Listening to Wang Leehom's songs: "Fallen Leaves Return to Roots", "Everything", "Another Heaven", "I Can't Stop Loving You", "The First Morning" and "Forever Love" on repeats.
• Listening to Vic Zhou's songs: "Love is Loving You", "Shattered Tears", "Your Familiar Gentleness", "Suddenly", "A Gentle Goodnight" and "Just for You" on repeats.
• Singing along all songs. Nobody cared. Or if anyone cared, I wouldn't care.
• Reading I'm Stalking Jake! by Becky Heineke for the second time.
• Catching up with all posts from I'm Stalking Jake!, Jake Watch and The Forum.
• Reading tweets on Twitter.
• Re-reading all posts from this blog. Just for killing time.
• Having fried rice I bought from a hawker stall for dinner.
• Drinking lots and lots of water.
• Going for some restroom breaks, of course!
• Googling some unimportant things.
• Enjoying the view of cars parking bumper to bumper on the road, with beautiful red and golden lights around.
• Snapping a self-pics, captioned it and posted it online for the first time on Facebook.

.. and ..

• Spamming Facebook:

I hereby thank:

Waterproof jacket, iPod, Blackberry, ISJ book, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wang Leehom, Vic Zhou, Becky Heineke, Gyllenhaalics, the motorbike-cab rider, the food seller, the restroom, the lobby entrance, my friends who commented and liked my Facebook status, my family who kept monitoring my whereabout, the bus driver and Litterzone.

Add:
My iPod is designed to accompany me during traffic jam. This playlist is the most effective evening jam beater.

I Finally Met Jake through His Ultimate Watcher(s)

Very few people have noticed that the way I admire actors, or artists in general, is by following their works. Sure, once in a while I do collect pictures and read articles from the net, but that will stop at one point cause I'm a lazy surfer. I'm not really into chasing autographs or snapping pictures together with the actors (that is too difficult to get anyway, so why bother?). I don't give a damn about their personal lives as much as I don't like people nosing on mine (and bless some actors that made it to my list, they're men of privacy). I despise infotainment. I have a very strong ignorance on gossips. I'm the one who can meet celebrities eye to eye and pull an act like I'm not the one who should give any recognition. (Hey, you want to be recognized, please introduce yourself to me).

I value artists only by their works. I chase their movies as many as it's available, and watch them in repeat viewings. I go to their live performances, mostly it's free but I don't mind paying for reasonable admission fees. I do join some fan community, but my purpose is to get insight on the projects. I write reviews or coverage for the sake of my own memoirs, but I have no fear to share, including negative comments, right into the heart of the community (well, sometimes someone needs to bring some senses. I never care if they take those comments personally or not, they shouldn't. As if I care they ever read any of it). I praise easily too, I'm not all negatives.

I mostly am a silent observer. I rarely show my Fan-O-Meter. I love admiring people from a far and below the radar, it's the only way I think I can give them fair judgments and this can make me stay longer. I can be a fan, but all that takes me to be a huge fan is how good they represent their works to me. Constantly.

I'm also known for my unusual taste in terms of favorite actors, since I tend to choose obscurities. It doesn't surprise me anymore to hear people go "Huh?" or "Who?", or just rolling their eyes whenever I mention some actors' names. This apply to Jake Gyllenhaal among all.

And he's not helping either, he has a surname difficult to pronounce and to spell (click here for "tutorial"). So far I've heard only one of my family members who could say it correctly just by single look at Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time DVD cover. *sigh*. Life would be much simpler if the name's Brad Pitt.

Quoted from a Moonlight Mile review:

I find Jake Gyllenhaal to be about the most likable guy in the industry today. He plays all of the out-there, mixed up type characters; but somehow still seems to be one of the kindest of individuals. [.....] by his cover Jake looks like he would be one of the worst actors on the planet, he has messy hair, a rumpled face, and a lazy look to him; but he really is one of the best new-comers to the business.

That should be enough to validate his existence. What else in there to say? He can act, and despite of his rumpled face, he's absolutely adorable. He's a package of irresistible dark chocolates. So I did the routines since Bubble Boy, skipping here and there (man, his filmography is almost way outta my league), until I stopped at Rendition. It stopped merely because he stopped feeding me with his works. It was Prince of Persia that brought him back the second time, and I got carried away. I'd been digging deeper, the way I'd never done before, to catch up with what I've missed. It's obviously different this time.

Then .. I found myself opening a Pandora Box in the form of this book.

The book is a clarification of everything I've experienced as a blogger, a fan and a friend of some loyal community who worship celebrities like there are no others in this universe. It's amusing and frightening at the same time, how I see myself reflected in it. The way the author described the blogging process; when one blog was not enough and how creating/designing a blog seemed much more interesting than filling it in. The way it pointed out the difference between writing for self and writing for others, no matter how interesting or boring the material was. It was all so true. Been there, done that.

I have anticipated what's the book gonna say about the celebrity, the fans and everyone else included in the loop. I've seen people change once stardom strikes. I've witnessed the reality behind deceptive public appearances. I know some celebrities who are terrified (!), insecure and uncomfortable among their own fans. From time to time I hear how far fans (some I know personally) would go for their stars, with or without agenda. Sometimes I'm disgusted, yet amazed to see how PR or publicists work in creating such a persona and images that people - us, the fans - can accept. They manipulate us to see only from one side of the coin. And we gladly accept it, because it will be our fantasy. And for some of us, it's all we want to see.

I've known all these things. Nevertheless, I'm still taken aback by the honesty and hostility it's described in the book. It's a truth-telling about fantasy reveals its naked face, that nothing's always exactly what it seems. It showed the consequences of reaching out to the nearly impossible, which happened to be Jake Gyllenhaal. And his family. And his dogs. (God!)

I won't say the book has crashed or changed all my fantasies of Jake. It gives impacts, yes, it's what good books do. There's no denial. It forces me to look back to where I stood before. To the place of me being a huge fan without even bothering all those craps. The author reminds me of myself sending out those negative comments, bringing me into my senses. And to suggest my reason to write should be for no one else but me. It's a wise book to read and to learn from. It doesn't preach. I love it.

But deep inside I still wish I'd never gone this far. Jake, I'm not gonna change my mind thinking you're brilliant, but you got a LOT to make up. Let's start over with the upcoming Love & Other Drugs. It has better be good, Jake. I mean it!



"This character is stupid, who can we cast? Well. Jake Gyllenhaal."
(Jake Gyllenhaal on playing mostly flawed characters, quoted from The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos).


*Note: This is a personal interpretation on I'm Stalking Jake!. Others' may vary.

Anti-Blackberry in Poetry

Received this poetry in my email recently.

Aku dan Adik Sayang Papa-Mama, Tapi....

Dr Widodo Judarwanto SpA

Aku dan adik sayang Mama; tapi maaf, Ma….

Mengapa saat adik menangis kehausan, Mama masih asyik ber-BBM?
Mengapa saat aku tidak bisa mengerjakan PR, Mama selalu bilang coba dulu pikir sendiri – sambil mata melotot ke BB?
Mengapa saat aku tidak bisa memasang tali sepatu, Mama selalu menyuruh Mbak untuk membantuku – sambil tangan mama lincah menyentuh BB?

Aku dan adik sayang Papa; tapi maaf, Pa….

Mengapa saat Mama minta tolong ambilkan diapers untuk adik, Papa selalu bilang ambil sendiri – sambil tertawa di depan layar BB?
Mengapa saat aku mengajak main bola, Papa selalu bilang, Papa lagi capek – tapi tanpa lelah balas BBM?
Mengapa Papa sekarang jarang sekali menyanyikan lagu saat membobokan adik – tapi Papa asyik terus pegang BB?
Mengapa Papa sekarang jarang sekali baca cerita saat sebelum tidur, tapi Papa selalu pegang BB saat membobokan aku?

Aku dan adik sayang Papa-Mama; tapi maaf, Pa, Ma....

Aku dan adik jadi benci BB, padahal PapaMama menyayanginya
Karena sejak ada BB, Papa jarang cium aku
Karena kalau pegang BB, Mama kalau ditanya PR selalu marah-marah
Karena kalau ada bunyi BB, Papa selalu melepaskan gendongan adik
Karena sejak ada BB, Mama hanya bisa tertawa dengan BB
Karena sejak kerajingan BB, Papa jarang main perang-perangan lagi denganku

Aku dan adik sayang Papa Mama; tapi maaf, Pa-Ma....

Aku pernah ajak adik berdoa, semoga BB Papa-Mama selalu low bat
Aku pernah ajak adik berdoa, mudah-mudah wajahku berubah jadi BB, biar Papa-Mama selalu pandangi aku terus
Aku pernah ajak adik berdoa, supaya BB Papa-Mama ketinggalan di kantor, biar aku dan adik bisa bersenang-senang seperti dulu lagi
Aku pernah ajak adik berdoa, supaya semua orang di rumah ini tidak beli BB kayak Papa-Mama, agar kalau Papa-Mama tak mengacuhkan aku, aku bisa main dengan mereka

Papa dan Mama, maafin aku dan adik....

Save Our Children
http://saveourchildren.wordpress.com/
(Gerakan Matikan BB di Depan Anak)

Positively, all things written in this poetry might be true. We can see by now how the addiction has interfered into our lives. Negatively I would say the author is so very threatened by Blackberry existence.

It's not only Blackberry. If he'd like to raise a cause of "Save Our Children" by "Stop Blackberry Addiction", sadly he only touched the creme. He should have blamed it all on technology. He should have raised the cause by "Stop Blogging Addiction", "Stop Internet Surfing Addiction", "Stop Sony Playstation Addiction", "Stop Yahoo! Messenger Addiction", "Stop Wii Addiction" .. and the list keeps going on and on and on until it reaches the newest tech "Stop iPad Addiction". For now.

And learning from the trend, sooner or later there will be another poetry written to raise a cause of "Save Our Parents", cause the children too .. are now using Blackberry. Then we'll be happily ignoring each other and make connection to our gadgets instead.

I agree we should be wise in using Blackberry. But I do not agree treating Blackberry as a scapegoat for our inattentiveness.