Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Holiday Makes Me Stupid
Although my university is well-known as the full-of-sluts university, but it gives the opportunity for its students to fix their broken grades by attending a short semester.
Short semester lasts for 2 weeks during the final semester break. Yeah, it does ruin your holiday but it heals your academic wounds as well. I wanna resurrect my fallen grade, so i gotta sacrifice my holiday.
After 2 months of holiday and haven't written conventionally, i attended the first day of the short semester. And guess what? I barely couldn't write. I wrote like a toddler. And when my lecturer explained the subject, it's hard as hell to get what she was explaining.
I wondered what the fuck was wrong with me and suddenly i remembered that 2 goddamn months of getting wasted. And yes, holiday does make me stupid.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Little Pieces of History
"Mens sana in corpore sano." Juvenal said, which means 'a healthy mind in a healthy body.' I guess we all know that phrase. The poet views that if you're mentally healthy, then you're physically healthy.
I got too tired to think, so i crashed myself onto the bed. It's so hard to sleep, i wanted to, but i couldn't. People around suggested me to forget coffee for a while, although they know i wouldn't give a fuck. I was feeling like drowning between the pillows, like getting mud sucked in a comfort way.
As i closed my eyes, i was starting to feel the presence of the sparkling shits that i've been through. They're warm and surrounding me, flying in and out of my body holes. They're so welcome.
Those certain times, those particular moments, those little pieces of history. My eyes were closed, but the vision was very unblurred and bright. The feel, sound, smell, and taste were clear as well. I asked myself, "Did i took too many antidepressants?" Cause that experience was psychedelically trippy for sure.
Those old days when my eyes were still sunny as sunday sunshine, everything seemed so colorful. The weather was warmly great, every single second felt so blissful, it's like eternal summer. Every breath i took smelled like violet, and everytime i breathed out, it's like breezing rainbow. Every single food i ate tasted like lollipop. It's like i was high all the time without doing any drugs.
And then she came to me, breathing so close to my neck, introducing herself as the true love. She upgraded those old wonderful days of mine to the highest level. From 'excitingly wonderful' to 'opiately wonderful'. She's like a hypodermic needle, flying in high speed from an unpredictable direction, pierced me right in the major vein, injecting a huge amount of addictive artificial devotion.
All of that cheerful happiness has guided me to lunacy, forced me to completely lose my sanity. My friends noticed something very wrong with me and started judging me. They saw me as a hysterically falling-in-love idiot who was standing right behind the borderline of 'sane' and 'insane'. They might tried to help me out of that maze of affection, but i saw them as a bunch of jealous-ass douchebags who wanted to pull me down into the valley of loneliness.
She brought me the thrilling destructive sweetness, led me to the critical addiction. Her sweetness really made my days, cheered me up, hurted my teeth, got me diabetes, and finally broke my heart. She gently showed me the hurtful reality, revealed the painful truth, and left me agonizing scars all over my heart and soul as her farewell gift, without saying goodbye. The way she arrived and the way she left were contradictory. She built me up when she arrived in my heart, and tragically broke me down when she left my heart rotten. And i was totally lost, eversince.
Those sparkling shits instantly transformed into gloomy shits and suddenly woke me up. I was sweating so bad, breathing heavily, and my broken heart was beating hard and pounding fast. I looked out the window, watched the dark skies, and hope to see UFO, then get abducted by aliens and never coming back. It might be a silly idea, so i wanted to make it simple. I just wanted to sleep forever.
I really didn't know what to do, i felt totally lost. I barely couldn't concentrate on anything. I always lost my focus when reading or watching. So, i turned on my iPod, chose 'Dude Ranch' album by blink-182, and played 'Dammit'. I turned up the volume and a minute later, Hoppus sang the line "Well, i guess this is growing up."
Well.. I guess this is growing up.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
What's My (Mental) Age Again?
One of the greatest bands ever, which is also one of my favorite bands; Blink-182, has portrayed that phenomenon in a cool way in "What's My Age Again?" from Enema of The State album. Mark Hoppus wrote the lyrics, describing how immature he was; doing such stupid things like watching tv while getting a blowjob, doing prank phone calls, etc.
So, we can say that the thing that really defines someone's is the mental age, not the physical age. There's some 50 year-old guy out who behaves like a teen and there's also a teenager who behaves like a 50 year-old.
Last year, some of my friends said to me "You're so lame." because they thought i talk overratedly wise and mature, and oftenly think about things that i don't supposed to think about yet. I was pretty pissed off with the idea and i tried an online mental age test. The result was quite shocking. My mental age is 30, and i was physically 17 year-old. The result has made me more pissed off, so i tried to don't give a fuck about it and started to rejuvenate the way i think and talk.
A few days ago, i met an old friend, we talked a lot and he said kiddingly that i don't change at all, still lame. I was quite shocked and it means that all the rejuvenate attempts i've been doing, was failed. Then once again, i did that online mental age test and the result was really mind-blowing. This year, when i'm physically 18 year-old, my mental age is 45. FORTY FUCKING FIVE. At this time, i really don't know how to deal with this mental oldness. Should i worry? Or should i just don't give a fuck? What if next year my mental age is 75 or even 90?
What the fuck is wrong with me? Am i an old man who is trapped in a young man's body? Whatever.. I'd better don't give a fuck, anyway.
Friday, July 24, 2015
I Wanna Be Ant-Man
How does it feel to have a suit that is able to resize your body instantly? I bet it would be totally great. You can do LOTS of fun things with that suit. I wonder what things i'm gonna do if i had that awesome suit.
The first thing i'm gonna do is eating a lot and when i'm getting fat, i'm just gonna shrink myself to get in shape. Pretty clever, isn't it? and when somebody pisses me off, i'll shrink myself into the size of bacteria, sneak into his/her urethra, and grow myself back to normal size and he/she will gonna be in a worst pain for sure. What a douche.
I'm gonna grow myself like a gigantic monster, start a business called 'Nuris Sungkar Instant-Transports', and make lots of money by lifting people's cars from traffic jam, then transport them instantly to their destinations. I want to grow myself into the highest level and start ruling the world as well.
And when i miss the girl that i secretly admire, i'll put on the suit, shrink myself into the size of an ant, then visit her house at night and watch her sleeping all night long. Shit, i don't even know her house.
Then, when i get bored and fed-up, i'll shrink myself between the molecules, enter the subatomic state, and start losing track of time and reality, just keep shrinking forever with no way to get out. Poof. And i'll be gone forever in the end.
Such a dramatic bullshit.
But seriously, someday when i become rich, i should reconsider my will to build a death star to live in and start paying some mad scientist to invent Ant-Man's suit. And when it comes true, i strongly recommend the people that might piss me off to embrace their urethras. It's gonna hurt. A lot.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Meredefinisi Makna "Smart"
Banyak fenomena-fenomena sosial di sekitar kita yang sebetulnya aneh, namun sering terjadi di lingkungan sosial kita, atau justru kita yang menjadi korban fenomena-fenomena tersebut.
Terkait dengan yang saya tulis di post sebelumnya mengenai brand image, muncul pertanyaan-pertanyaan;
Mengapa kebanyakan masyarakat lebih memilih untuk membeli produk-produk branded yang tentunya mahal, dengan kualitas yang belum tentu baik dibanding produk-produk lainnya yang tidak branded, tidak mahal, dan bisa saja berkualitas tinggi?
Mengapa kebanyakan masyarakat lebih memilih untuk membeli dan mengonsumsi makanan mahal dengan gizi rendah dan bahkan membahayakan kesehatan dibanding dengan makanan sehat yang murah?
Mari kita bandingkan. Lebih sehat dan bergizi yang mana : Big Mac seharga Rp. 30.000 atau Gado-Gado seharga Rp. 10.000? Namun mana yang lebih populer dan dapat meningkatkan status sosial?
Apakah merupakan sesuatu yang aneh? Menurut kebanyakan orang hal tersebut normal-normal saja, namun menurut saya ini benar-benar aneh. Fenomena di atas seakan menggambarkan bahwa masyarakat kita ini sungguh naif. Seakan-akan kita ini dibutakan, dibodohkan dan disihir oleh mantera-mantera konsumerisme, hedonisme, dan materialisme yang datang dari barat sana. Ketika seseorang pelanggan McDonald's lokal ditanyakan soal Big Mac vs. Gado-Gado seperti di atas, kemungkinan besar mereka akan menjawab dengan alasan selera dan rasa. Tapi menurut saya itu bullshit.
Tak dapat dipungkiri lagi, kebanyakan masyarakat Indonesia sekarang ini berasumsi bahwa Big Mac itu lebih lezat daripada Gado-Gado. Bagaimana ini bisa terjadi? Siapa yang merubah dan membentuk selera masyarakat Indonesia?
Mao Zedong pernah mengatakan bahwa kekuasaan itu datang dari laras bedil. Menurutnya senjata dan pertumpahan darah merupakan syarat untuk memperoleh dan mempertahankan kekuasaan. Namun sepertinya gagasan semacam itu kini sudah usang. Di zaman serba modern ini, dengan pesatnya kemajuan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi, sepertinya kekuasaan sudah tidak datang dari laras bedil lagi, melainkan datang dari media.
Big Mac, jeans, kemeja flanel, dan produk-produk budaya Amerika lainnya seakan menjadi suatu 'paket' yang selalu dibawa oleh media-media raksasa yang mengglobal. Setiap harinya di seluruh dunia ditayangkan iklan-iklan persuasif yang mempromosikan produk-produk tersebut. Di adegan-adegan film hollywood yang kita kagumkan itu, selalu menampilkan produk-produk budaya barat dengan berbagai macam cara, dikemas dengan sedemikian rupa sehingga terkesan keren dan menarik.
Setiap harinya, masyarakat kita dibombardir secara terus-menerus oleh media yang selalu membawa 'paket' tersebut melalui beragam medium dari mulai iklan, film, literatur, musik, dsb. Dengan begitu, mereka berhasil merubah persepsi masyarakat Indonesia; dari yang tidak enak menjadi enak, tidak boleh menjadi boleh, tidak baik menjadi baik, dsb.
Melalui segala media dan teknologi canggih yang mereka kuasai, budaya barat berhasil menjadi semacam tolak ukur bagi masyarakat kita dalam menentukan segala hal. Cantik atau tidaknya seorang wanita ditentukan dengan menggunakan tolak ukur barat. Semakin terlihat bule, semakin dianggap cantik. Begitu pula dengan menentukan lezat atau tidaknya suatu makanan, tanpa sedikitpun memperhatikan kualitas gizi makan tersebut.
Big Mac masuk dalam kategori makanan sampah. Istilah ini bahkan datang dari mereka sendiri, junk food. Namun makanan sampah yang rendah gizi ini justru menjadi makanan mahal, bergengsi, dan berpotensi meningkatkan status sosial seseorang. Konsumen makanan sampah barat di Indonesia banyak berasal dari kalangan ekonomi menengah ke atas yang umumnya berpendidikan, intelektual, dan modern. Orang-orang itulah yang selalu berkata "be smart".
Namun ironisnya mereka adalah para konsumen setia makanan sampah. Memang sungguh menggelikan ketika kita melihat seorang pekerja kantoran dengan rambut klimis, pakaian classy kebarat-baratan, dan kacamatanya yang menggambarkan intelektualitas, sedang bercakap-cakap seputar bisnis dengan para kolega sambil menikmati segenggam Big Mac di McDonald's Kemang, lalu berkata "be smart".
Ya, sepertinya kita harus merubah persepsi kita dalam mendefinisikan "smart".
Monday, May 11, 2015
'A Youth Not Wasted' Is Coming! Another Interview with Dochi Sadega
Berikut wawancara saya seputar 'A Youth Not Wasted' dengan sang lokomotif band tersebut, Dochi Sadega.
1. Bagaimana progress 'A Youth Not Wasted' so far? Sudah siap rilis kah?
Tinggal 1 lagu yang belum selesai recording dan menunggu hasil mixing-mastering dari Scott Sellers
2. Tanggal rilis?
Dijadwalkan setelah lebaran, mungkin Agustus
3. Seberapa banyak dan dalam hal apa saja keterlibatan Scott Sellers dalam A Youth Not Wasted?
Pemaksimalan pilihan sound, grammar correction, mixing dan mastering
4. Bagaimana menurut dia tentang album itu?
Tidak ada lagu yang dia tidak suka, katanya semua lagu di dalamnya catchy dan well-written
5. Apakah tracklist dari A Youth Not Wasted sudah bisa saya ketahui? :D
Belum, masih rahasia hehe
6. Benarkah 'Just Friends' akan dimasukkan dalam A Youth Not Wasted?
Yup
7. Sejauh ini 'Just Friends' sudah dirilis dalam 3 versi berbeda yang terdapat di The Transit EP dan PWG EP. Tolong ceritakan latar belakang terciptanya lagu tersebut dan mengapa begitu "spesial" sehingga terus-menerus dirilis dalam berbagai macam versi?
Gak ada alasan khusus, suka aja sama lagunya dan gak ada alasan. Why not? Hehehe
8. Apa yg membedakan 'Just Friends' dalam A Youth Not Wasted dengan 3 versi sebelumnya?
Beda versi, tunggu aja. Ini termasuk lagu favorit Scott di album ini
9. Bagaimana cerita Gania Alianda dari Billfold bisa featuring dengan PWG dalam lagu 'Serotonin'?
Gak direncanakan sebenernya, spontan aja. Seru kan?
10. Seru! Boleh cerita makna lirikal dibalik lagu 'Serotonin'?
Tentang kebahagiaan, serotonin kan hormon yang diproduksi tubuh ketika sedang bahagia. Lagu ini menceritakan saat tubuh kekurangan serotonin.
11. Setelah mendengar 'Teriak Serentak' saya bisa simpulkan dalam A Youth Not Wasted, PWG lebih bereksplorasi ke arah hardcore-punk. Apa benar?
Setelah denger Serotonin gak seperti explore ke pop punk ala TSSF / Such Gold / Neck Deep? Intinya memang album ini explore ke semua varian pop punk yang memang sangat luas, dan pembuktian bahwa PWG gak stuck di 1 gaya aja. Kayak sex, kan enaknya ganti-ganti gaya biar puas.
12. Apa karena kali ini sudah lepas dari major label sehingga lebih bebas dalam bereksplorasi?
Gak kok, label gak pernah membatasi kreatifitas, karena peran label adalah untuk distribusi. Yup; distribusi. Dan supaya punya legal rights yang kuat, plus bantu urusan pajak dan paperworks untuk international release.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Band-band Ini Siap 'Membunuh' Anda di Hellshow 2014
Pada tahun ini, Hellshow menghadirkan beberapa band baru yang sepertinya akan mengguncang Cimahi. Nama-nama seperti Taring, Revenge The Fate, dan Nectura dipastikan akan ‘membakar’ Hellshow 2014 yang juga akan diramaikan oleh ‘dedengkot’ metal asal Ujungberung, Disinfected dan beberapa band-band memukau lainnya seperti Rosemary, Paper Gangster, Kaluman, dan Bersimbah Darah. Selain itu Burgerkill juga memberikan kesempatan kepada band-band yang ingin tampil di Hellshow 2014 dengan mengadakan semacam audisi dengan mengirimkan CD berisi karya-karya potensial yang menjadi pertimbangan. Dan yang terpilih adalah band metalcore asal Bandung yang bernama Inwise yang menjuluki dirinya sebagai breakdown metal.










