Life is Like Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Last week it seemed like I was being pulled in 13 different directions when all I really wanted to do was go to the cake shop and buy myself a high-fat-high-carb chocolate cake, with thick cream on top (you should try this one called Chocolate Indulgence, a definite guilty pleasure).


It was Friday night and I was hanging out with some friends at our usual place, an ice cream parlour, and as the spoon touch my lips, I felt my mind racing and write a mental post-it notes: I have to go to the gym, my aunt's birthday, go to a tahlil at a relative's house, write a blog post (which I am doing right now), go out with friends, take my family for our usual lunch weekend, clean my bookshelves, bla-bla-bla.

Aren't you tired of planning everything ahead? I know I do.

Is not planning everything makes me a sloppy Jane? Does that make me less of a person?
Control is good, for certain things, like your work. But the rest of it... you just need to let it loose sometimes.

I know I need it.

It's like eating Bertie Botts every flavour beans, you'll never know what you might get (you Harry Potter fan should be familiar with this).



I like getting the good flavours like chocolate and toffee. But how am I gonna sort which ones are the good ones unless I've experienced the icky ones? Not trying to get all weird and geeky here, but life is like that. Sometimes you get to experienced the delicious ones, but you can't avoid the crappier side like incidentally getting the vomit or rotten egg flavor.



It is the wonderful world of not knowing. It sucks! I love it! Don't you?

Who's your Favorite TV Character?

It's been a while since I blog and now I feel like blogging. At first, I'm not really sure what to write.

I was gonna write about my fave music, but then I think..."naaahh... done that sometime ago, too close to write about it again".

Then.. there were some ideas: chocolate, love (yeah, you wish!), hate list (not really my favorite topic), environment (again...been there, done that!), religion (not an expert), money saving tips (again...not the best person to write about this), poetry (me? yeah, right!) and finally......

While listening to the complete discography of DMB (now reached "grace is gone" track - how love this song! I wish I could be someone's Grace....oops....almost!), I was thinking...why not write about TV series? I've always I prefer TV series over blockbuster movies anyway.

My favorite TV series:

1. Life
2. House
3. Lost
4. The Mentalist
5. True Blood
6. Friends
7. Damages
8. Heroes (actually this is no longer a favorite, but I still forced myself to watch, at least for now)

My Guilty Pleasures, which I finally have the guts to admit (^_^)

1. Desperate Housewives
2. Gossip Girl
3. Grey's Anatomy

Hmm..... I sure watched a lot of TVs -- but let's stay out of this topic for a while

My reason watching these series varies, from eye candy and superficial reason (Gossip Girl) to deeply observance after a longer period of time.

My main reason in following a certain TV show is the characters. Sure, I love fashion and good looking men (and women), but what good is a show without strong characters?

Here are my Top 5 and why I think they're so interesting.

1. Charlie Crews from "Life" (brilliantly played by the frighteningly talented British Actor Damian Lewis)

Ok, so Life is not exactly a highly popular show here - like Heroes, House or The Office. It's just another cop and crime show. But with a twist. Charlie Crews is a cop who spent 12 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Now exonerated, his lawyer broke a settlement by which Crews wins something like $50 million plus the opportunity to be a detective back in the LAPD.

You'd probably remember Damian Lewis, a tall redhead with a pointy face, as a leading role in Steven Spielberg's Band of Brothers (remember Major Winters?). In Charlie Crews, Lewis has crafted a dark character, rich with quirks and passion.

Prison turned Crews into a Zen-fully loopy philosopher, who regularly loses himself in simple musings on fruit and butterflies and the mysteries of life. Yet, as silly and lofty as his ethereal ramblings are, they amazingly don't seem to contradict his violent reflexes. And he does love his bullets-covered card and hookers.

2. Gregory House of House, MD (played by another talented British actor Hugh Laurie)


Dr. Gregory House heads the Department of Diagnostic Medicine with a keen understanding of medicine,and an innate ability to diagnose medical conditions with ease. He is often considered to be rude, with terrible bedside manner (when he does choose to meet his patients), and refuses to follow through with many ethical considerations of his profession.

Dr. House's philosophy is simply put in the following manner: "The truth of the human condition is that everyone lies. The only variable is about what."

He has been described as an egomaniac, condescending, and narcissistic. He has breached hospital protocol to save the life of a critically ill patient, and has often adopted criminal tactics of burglary (through his team) to investigate patients' homes.

He requires a cane for mobility in his right leg and a narcotic addict (a pain killer called Vicodin), which led to legal problems.


3. Chandler Bing of Friends (played by Matthew Perry)


Chandler Muriel Bing is a resident smart-ass on FRIENDS. With his wit, preppy looks and totally rad hair-cut, Chandler Bing is known for his sardonic attitude, which provides a defense mechanism. Chandler uses humor as a defense mechanism wafter his parents divorce.

Chandler often caught in situations or making statements that made him sound gay. His friends described him as having a certain "quality" that made people think he might be gay. I remember one moment where he entered a room full of the Friends and declared, "Well, don't we look nice all dressed up? ...It's stuff like that, isn't it?"

Also another moment when asked by the girls who would the boys rather be if they had to date each other. Joey and Ross refused to answer, while Chandler abruptly replied "Joey".


4. Patrick Jane of The Mentalist (played by a charming Aussie Simon Baker)


Ok.....so he's adorable....but let's not be superficial and shallow in judging Patrick Jane.

Patrick Jane was previously making a living as a psychic who assisted the police on cases. His life was turned upside down when he lost the two most important people in his life to one of the serial killers he was tracking. He now uses his observation skills and genius to help the CBI hunt down criminals and solve crimes.

He's a humorous and not-so-serious person with a charming appearance, with a signature vest over a button-up shirt. He also has an uncanny mental abilities and extremely good at reading people (combined with amazing observation skill).

Patrick Jane is very kind. He tries to unite and heal people. He took an orphaned baby to her grandfather and his wife. He talks to children in a positive way to help them to heal and grow after a friend or family member is murdered.


5. Ben Linus of Lost (played by Emmy Winner Michael Emerson)


Doesn't he look creepy?

Lost is a good show, then enter Ben Linus.... suddenly it become one of my favorite TV show. Ben Linus is the strongest character in Lost, beside John Locke and Desmond Hume. He has a cold appearance, because other than that would make him vulnerable to his enemies. I think Ben has one theme to all of his actions. He's holds a master degree of PM (People Manipulator). He's an expert in manipulating people, especially desperate people.

During his actions, you'd be convinced that he's a good guy, only to be disappointed in the end. But then it happens again and you'd still buy whatever crap he promised. He never fails to convince you to trust him. If you actually believe that then you might very well think that Ben is a good guy.

In my opinion Ben is completely evil, he’s a great talker and at times he is useful, but in the end his evil is quite obvious. Ironically I really like the character. Without Ben the stories would be only to see who Kate is hooking up to next. So I don’t really want him to die. What do you think?


6. Lafayette Reynolds of True Blood (adorably played by Nelsan Ellis)


Not your typical short-order grill cook, Lafayette flips his burgers in clubbing clothes and eye makeup. But any good 'ol boy customers at Merlotte's who mistake his fashion sense as an invitation for harassment have got another thing coming - Lafayette isn't afraid to thrown down. With his many shady sideline businesses and personal connections, he is the kind of character you're waiting for to see each episodes.

Lafayette is a flamboyant character and "off the chain". I think he bring magic to the show and steals every scene he's in. He is very entertaining with his side businesses (selling vampire blood shots, online sex cam and a gigolo). Lafayette has better grip on reality than some of the other characters. I hope his character remains.

So...who's you favorite?

Cendol Like Audience @ Jason Mraz Show: Java Jazz 2009 Festival Success Indicator

We (me and my friend Ami) arrived at the crime scene at about 5.15, greeted by a long line of queu to enter the Festival. We religiously follow the line for about 5 mins and realize that there were 4 entrances and soon release ourselves from being an obedient liners. Our tickets were verified, bags were searched for food and beverages.

Thank God, my chocolates and bottled sugar free gum survived. I brought these just in case, learning from past concert experiences. I've watched people colapsed during concert from lack of sugar. Naaah....it's just my excuse to eat chocolate.



Mr. A-Z Stage

About a minute later we're busy searching for the Jason Mraz stage and manage to enter the stage in about 2 minutes after queing. The atmosphere wss there, allright. I mean, really, really, really.... crowded. We had to wait about 30 mins before the whole thing started.

Prior to that, Mike Idol appear on stage singing our national anthem Indonesia Raya (it's been a long time since I sang the sacred song). After that, Jason with his band appered.

On stage, Jason Mraz looked really comfy wearing an oversize gray t shirt and khaki cargo pants. Nevertheless, the guy did a good (if not great) job in entertaining the audience in Exhibition Hall B. His appearance immediately greeted by histerically screams from girls (and guys), including us. I mean, look at the guy, so simple and still captivating. Is that Zen or what?!

The first song, no doubt, gathered another histerical moment, "make it mine", followed with "the remedy". After that, "Lucky" and "I'm Yours" (this song was nominated song of the year @ the Grammy). The audience sang with his every song except for one or two numbers that were not as popular here, but still they were greatly performed by Mraz and the Band and followed religiously by the audience.

I was actually waiting for my favorite Mraz track: "Bella Luna", knowing that this is not a highly popular song here, but he played the song anyway and I thanked him for that.

Closer to the ending, Jason took the time in capturing his band members using a polaroid camera and throw it out to the audience. Too bad, we're not that close to the stage.

Mraz closed his performance with "Butterfly", the song that rocked the audience once again. Although we're not that close to the stage, we really enjoy his performance. The Grammy was not exaggerating by nominating "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things" in a best engineered album category. His previous albums also rocks!

My verdict to Jason Mraz act at the Java Jazz Festival (060609):

1. A highly engineered performance: great voice, great band, great show!
2. Better than the album.
3. Highly engineered crew.
4. Highly motivated audience.
5. Special note for the audience: too much people there. My friend Reza (who were also there with his wife), refer to as sardine. I'd prefer to call it "cendol-like audience". (cendol is a delicious traditional drink from Indonesia - not sure if it's West Java or Medan). Some people, too anxious to see Jason, they were willing to be scoffed at.