"She's just a friend!"
"Yes. I enjoy her company"
"No. I've never even met her. We had a strict agreement about NOT seeing each other in person"
"Yes. I do think about her sometimes. But it's different."
"Look, she's not any different from Rendy or Wahyudi. They are my friends. And so is she. We talk a lot. That's all"
"Well, of course she's female."
"Yes, i know things like that could happen. But it's not happening to me. That's what matters, am i right?"
"Look, you're making me feel like a monster here. She is a mature woman. She knows i have you, from the very beginning. She knows what she is doing. Whatever she feels for me is her department. Not mine."
"Yes, I could have prevented that. But how should i know that was THAT?"
"How do you define 'cheating' anyway?"
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
You'll Never Walk Alone
My love affair with Liverpool FC began on a fateful night sometime in 1985. My father woke me up in the middle of the night to watch the Champions Cup Final in Heysel Stadium, Belgium. A bit of information for all of you non-football fans, Champions Cup is the holy grail of European Football. It is pursued by the elite clubs of every nation in Europe. Anyway, that night Liverpool was up against the Italian giant, Juventus. I don't remember much about the match, but i remember a Juventus player executed a perfect penalty kick that turned to be the only goal of the match. Liverpool lost, but somehow my fascination for the club grew.
In the following years i tried to gather every scrap of information, mainly from second-hand newspapers as my family never subscribed any and back then TV live matches were somewhat of a rarity, i could get about the Merseyside Club. I learnt that that night 38 Italian fans and one Belgian died in a post match clash and Liverpool was banned from entering continental competition for several years.
I missed the days of Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes and the glory days when they won the English Premiere League. However, i was with them when Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Redknapp, Patrick Berger and the industrious Gary McAllister brought the club to near-glories. The days when SCTV and TV7 provides live matches on weekly basis and www.soccernet.com bring the latest news.
What i like about Liverpool is that they are more 'human' than any other clubs I know. Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Muenchen, Ac Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid are superclubs in that they can afford to have the most talented players in the world and they rarely lost. I mean if you watch them play, you know that they will eventually win the game so it's just a question of how the goals happen. But with a club as inconsistent as Liverpool, you never know. They lost 0-1 to Division II Burnley, yet they won againts the undefeatable champion Arsenal 2-1 at Anfield. For me, every Liverpool match is a potential thriller. I would stay awake reviewing the should haves, the would haves and the if onlys long after they lost a match, or reminsicing every glorious moments when they won.
I'll never forget the classic 2001 UEFA Cup Final match between Liverpool and Deportivo Alaves, deemed by most people as they greatest final match ever. Liverpool was the favorite to win the cup compared to the Spanish minnow and it seemed that the judgement was justified when they took a 2 goal lead with only 20 minute on the clock. The Spaniards however reminded them that the match was not yet over when they scored a goal just before half-time. Yet, the odd was back in Liverpool's favor when they widened the gap by scoring another goal. 3-1 to Liverpool. Alaves grabbed a lifeline 30 minutes from time following a mistake in Liverpool defence. Liverpool yet again extend their lead 15 minutes from the end of normal time. 4-2. However, the minnows turned mighty as they clawed back into match and scored two goals in 5 minutes to deny a normal time finish. The drama continued to extra time. The two finalists attacked each other with gusto, then 3 minutes from the end of extra time it happened. Following Gary McAllister's freekick an Alaves defender deflected the ball into his own net. Liverpool won under the golden goal rule. I can still remember the commentator on TV said "Not like this!" It is indeed a great pity that a valiant club such as Alaves lost because of an own goal.
The year of 2001 is a the closest Liverpool get to glory for 90s Liverpool fans such as myself. That year in addition to the UEFA Cup, they won the FA Cup, and finished 2nd in the premier league that enabled the to qualify for Champions' League. However, everything seemed to be going downhill from there. I watched their lacklustre performance as they were clobbered by Arsenal, MU, Southampton, Middlesborough. I watched them thrown out of competitions in early stages having beaten by lesser clubs like Watford or Swiss' FC Basel. One of my darkest day is when i found out that Michael Owen was tranferred to Real Madrid.
Liverpool today is a struggling club even to finish in the top 4. And this months they just suffered 3 losses in a row for the first time in 6 years. However my heart is with them. To me Liverpool is more than a football club. It reminds me how life actually works. That no matter you get trundled, trampled upon and clobbered, life goes on and eventually you will realize that glory is just around the corner.
In the following years i tried to gather every scrap of information, mainly from second-hand newspapers as my family never subscribed any and back then TV live matches were somewhat of a rarity, i could get about the Merseyside Club. I learnt that that night 38 Italian fans and one Belgian died in a post match clash and Liverpool was banned from entering continental competition for several years.
I missed the days of Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes and the glory days when they won the English Premiere League. However, i was with them when Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Redknapp, Patrick Berger and the industrious Gary McAllister brought the club to near-glories. The days when SCTV and TV7 provides live matches on weekly basis and www.soccernet.com bring the latest news.
What i like about Liverpool is that they are more 'human' than any other clubs I know. Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Muenchen, Ac Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid are superclubs in that they can afford to have the most talented players in the world and they rarely lost. I mean if you watch them play, you know that they will eventually win the game so it's just a question of how the goals happen. But with a club as inconsistent as Liverpool, you never know. They lost 0-1 to Division II Burnley, yet they won againts the undefeatable champion Arsenal 2-1 at Anfield. For me, every Liverpool match is a potential thriller. I would stay awake reviewing the should haves, the would haves and the if onlys long after they lost a match, or reminsicing every glorious moments when they won.
I'll never forget the classic 2001 UEFA Cup Final match between Liverpool and Deportivo Alaves, deemed by most people as they greatest final match ever. Liverpool was the favorite to win the cup compared to the Spanish minnow and it seemed that the judgement was justified when they took a 2 goal lead with only 20 minute on the clock. The Spaniards however reminded them that the match was not yet over when they scored a goal just before half-time. Yet, the odd was back in Liverpool's favor when they widened the gap by scoring another goal. 3-1 to Liverpool. Alaves grabbed a lifeline 30 minutes from time following a mistake in Liverpool defence. Liverpool yet again extend their lead 15 minutes from the end of normal time. 4-2. However, the minnows turned mighty as they clawed back into match and scored two goals in 5 minutes to deny a normal time finish. The drama continued to extra time. The two finalists attacked each other with gusto, then 3 minutes from the end of extra time it happened. Following Gary McAllister's freekick an Alaves defender deflected the ball into his own net. Liverpool won under the golden goal rule. I can still remember the commentator on TV said "Not like this!" It is indeed a great pity that a valiant club such as Alaves lost because of an own goal.
The year of 2001 is a the closest Liverpool get to glory for 90s Liverpool fans such as myself. That year in addition to the UEFA Cup, they won the FA Cup, and finished 2nd in the premier league that enabled the to qualify for Champions' League. However, everything seemed to be going downhill from there. I watched their lacklustre performance as they were clobbered by Arsenal, MU, Southampton, Middlesborough. I watched them thrown out of competitions in early stages having beaten by lesser clubs like Watford or Swiss' FC Basel. One of my darkest day is when i found out that Michael Owen was tranferred to Real Madrid.
Liverpool today is a struggling club even to finish in the top 4. And this months they just suffered 3 losses in a row for the first time in 6 years. However my heart is with them. To me Liverpool is more than a football club. It reminds me how life actually works. That no matter you get trundled, trampled upon and clobbered, life goes on and eventually you will realize that glory is just around the corner.
Monday, January 24, 2005
The Rain
During my chat with a certain female individual several days ago, she told me how she loves rain. Apparently it is her custom to take a stroll outside whenever it rains. She furthermore told me that she loved the way each drop of rain falls over her body. Then, she said that she felt liberated. Although i failed to recognise the corelation between being wet and liberated i kept my fingers tied. To each his own. However, if somehow that is the case then it would be much easier for Ceylon's Eelam Tamil, Philipines' MNLF and Palestinian PLO to quit making bombs, simply drop their weapons, soak themselves in the rain and have themselves liberated.
Call me dull and insensitive but to me rain is nothing more than heaven's way to remind us that they too can be annoying sometimes. You are on your way to a very important meeting, you have spent the entire morning preparing the papers and selecting what tie to wear. As you walk merrily under the dubious grey sky, little drops of heaven begin pouring in. An individual drop here and there at first. Seconds later it begins its full scale assault, leaving no dry spot unwetted. Now what are your options? Running and scrambling for shelter? Even if it so happen that you brought an umbrella with you, you cannot avoid not getting wet. Speaking of umbrellas, here's a good argument. If human being was destined to actually enjoy rain, they wouldn't have invented umbrellas and raincoats in the first place. Or roofs, for that matter.
Thus, what i have come to realize is that what mankind actually enjoy is being OUT of rain's way. Rain is simply a breathtaking spectacle when you watch it from the warmth and comfort for your room with a mug of hot cappucino in hand. Rains makes heavenly music on your roof as you snuggle under your blanket.
However, if you'd rather be out there feeling heaven's poor sense of humor firsthand, be my guess. Soak thyself and be liberated!
Call me dull and insensitive but to me rain is nothing more than heaven's way to remind us that they too can be annoying sometimes. You are on your way to a very important meeting, you have spent the entire morning preparing the papers and selecting what tie to wear. As you walk merrily under the dubious grey sky, little drops of heaven begin pouring in. An individual drop here and there at first. Seconds later it begins its full scale assault, leaving no dry spot unwetted. Now what are your options? Running and scrambling for shelter? Even if it so happen that you brought an umbrella with you, you cannot avoid not getting wet. Speaking of umbrellas, here's a good argument. If human being was destined to actually enjoy rain, they wouldn't have invented umbrellas and raincoats in the first place. Or roofs, for that matter.
Thus, what i have come to realize is that what mankind actually enjoy is being OUT of rain's way. Rain is simply a breathtaking spectacle when you watch it from the warmth and comfort for your room with a mug of hot cappucino in hand. Rains makes heavenly music on your roof as you snuggle under your blanket.
However, if you'd rather be out there feeling heaven's poor sense of humor firsthand, be my guess. Soak thyself and be liberated!
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Riding in Car With Boys
I was anticipating a quiet and comfy ride as I boarded the executive class train-car of Purwojaya, leaving from Gambir for Cilacap. However, a quick assesment of other passengers told me that apparently there were at least three kids sharing the same car. Immediately I realize that ‘quiet and comfy’ had just gone out the window.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like children. I enjoy the way they stare at you like you are a Martian. I love the cooing and the wobbly walk. I’m just not very fond of their banshee-like shrieking.
It’s not their fault, really. They are just much too young and inexperienced to grasp the concept of ‘public nuisance’ and they still have limited vocabulary range and grammatical understanding so whenever they cannot convey something in proper diction or grammar, they howl. Their parents, on the other hand, are very much aware of those concepts and quite capable of using proper rules of linguistics so they always try to put an end to the shriekings by hook and sometimes crook. I have seen this done so many times that I manage to categorize the approaches used by those poor parents to silence their children.
First, and the most widely used, is the authority approach. “We’re the parents and you will shut up when we tell you to shut up”. This and a fair amounts of buttock pinching usually do the trick. Too much pinching, however will result in the increase of noise-level. Verbal threats like “Wait till we get home!” or “No more cookies for you!” rarely work. The second approach is the diversion. Parents try to divert the crying children’s attention by pointing to another direction and said “Look! A cow!” It is safer, however, to point OUTSIDE. Pointing somewhere inside the car and saying the aforementioned phrase is not advised. If this doesn’t work however, they usually use the same technique but with a more fascinating animal. Their last resort of parents in favor of this approach will be to make funny face and voices. Other than ridiculous, it is also useless. The third and final approach is to succumb to the crying children’s demand. Give them what they want. Milk, candy, sweets, cookies, everything. This the most effective but ego bruising at the same times.
My observation also tells me that parents make all that efforts for a single motive. They are not disturbed by the noise because after several years of parenthood they became immune to it. They are more concerned by the thought that other people will consider them as a ‘bad’ parents as to not to be able to control their own offsprings. Hmm..maybe I was wrong with my earlier assumption. Maybe those ungrateful brats DO understand the conceptions of public nuisances and furthermore use that angle to force their parents to do their biddings. The controllers become the controllees. These evil geniuses come up with this barbaric extortion scheme with their ability to produce high-pitched wailings to demand stuffs from their forsaken parents who in order to avoid being branded as ‘bad’ parents will have no other choice but to comply. Brilliant.
So let’s get back to my would-be-unpleasant situation. The first child sat right in front of my and was busy staring at the moving landscape. Must have been a pretty fascinating sight for one so young. Somebody should tell him that it was the train that moved. Not the landscape. The second child was across the aisle and was asleep. I couldn’t see what the third was doing because she was seated a few rows back. All is quiet in the western front. But not for long.
The train barely passed Bekasi when the child across the aisle decided that it was time to wake up. Upon finding himself in a strange environment which was nothing like, I imagine, his colorful room with cut-out cartoon characters hanging above his bed, he started to howl his head off. His parents frantically tried to calm him down with the diversion tactique, pointing to every possible directions and saying many irrelevant words, from ‘a tree’ to ‘a whale’. Cookies and chocolate offers ensued but the wailing kid just wouldn’t budge. I can’t help but wonder whether there was a telephatic relationship among children because the first kid’s screaming immediately triggered the child sitting right in front of me. He stopped watching the running trees and began to cry in earnest. Louder too. In matter of minutes the third child happily joined the chorus and was accompanied by another one further back, I must have missed him during the headcount. All hell broke loose is much too mild to describe this erratic scene. Four high spirited children in a united effort to break the world record for noise level and four set of busy parents trying various tricks to prevent them. It was like being at Limp Bizkit concert, only less entertaining.
Two years later, their soul-numbing wailings still had not subdued and people were getting restless. I had to hand it to the kids for their stamina and tenacity. A young woman made some suggestions to the second child’s parents but his mother was quick to point out that the matter was being handled. Finally the defeated father took his screaming spawn out of the comparment. I never know what he did but a few moments later the kid returned and was very quiet. This method was followed by three other fathers and soon we had our much needed silence. However, I know for a fact that these kids were merely recharging their battery for another, more brutal, assault. And as always, I was right.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like children. I enjoy the way they stare at you like you are a Martian. I love the cooing and the wobbly walk. I’m just not very fond of their banshee-like shrieking.
It’s not their fault, really. They are just much too young and inexperienced to grasp the concept of ‘public nuisance’ and they still have limited vocabulary range and grammatical understanding so whenever they cannot convey something in proper diction or grammar, they howl. Their parents, on the other hand, are very much aware of those concepts and quite capable of using proper rules of linguistics so they always try to put an end to the shriekings by hook and sometimes crook. I have seen this done so many times that I manage to categorize the approaches used by those poor parents to silence their children.
First, and the most widely used, is the authority approach. “We’re the parents and you will shut up when we tell you to shut up”. This and a fair amounts of buttock pinching usually do the trick. Too much pinching, however will result in the increase of noise-level. Verbal threats like “Wait till we get home!” or “No more cookies for you!” rarely work. The second approach is the diversion. Parents try to divert the crying children’s attention by pointing to another direction and said “Look! A cow!” It is safer, however, to point OUTSIDE. Pointing somewhere inside the car and saying the aforementioned phrase is not advised. If this doesn’t work however, they usually use the same technique but with a more fascinating animal. Their last resort of parents in favor of this approach will be to make funny face and voices. Other than ridiculous, it is also useless. The third and final approach is to succumb to the crying children’s demand. Give them what they want. Milk, candy, sweets, cookies, everything. This the most effective but ego bruising at the same times.
My observation also tells me that parents make all that efforts for a single motive. They are not disturbed by the noise because after several years of parenthood they became immune to it. They are more concerned by the thought that other people will consider them as a ‘bad’ parents as to not to be able to control their own offsprings. Hmm..maybe I was wrong with my earlier assumption. Maybe those ungrateful brats DO understand the conceptions of public nuisances and furthermore use that angle to force their parents to do their biddings. The controllers become the controllees. These evil geniuses come up with this barbaric extortion scheme with their ability to produce high-pitched wailings to demand stuffs from their forsaken parents who in order to avoid being branded as ‘bad’ parents will have no other choice but to comply. Brilliant.
So let’s get back to my would-be-unpleasant situation. The first child sat right in front of my and was busy staring at the moving landscape. Must have been a pretty fascinating sight for one so young. Somebody should tell him that it was the train that moved. Not the landscape. The second child was across the aisle and was asleep. I couldn’t see what the third was doing because she was seated a few rows back. All is quiet in the western front. But not for long.
The train barely passed Bekasi when the child across the aisle decided that it was time to wake up. Upon finding himself in a strange environment which was nothing like, I imagine, his colorful room with cut-out cartoon characters hanging above his bed, he started to howl his head off. His parents frantically tried to calm him down with the diversion tactique, pointing to every possible directions and saying many irrelevant words, from ‘a tree’ to ‘a whale’. Cookies and chocolate offers ensued but the wailing kid just wouldn’t budge. I can’t help but wonder whether there was a telephatic relationship among children because the first kid’s screaming immediately triggered the child sitting right in front of me. He stopped watching the running trees and began to cry in earnest. Louder too. In matter of minutes the third child happily joined the chorus and was accompanied by another one further back, I must have missed him during the headcount. All hell broke loose is much too mild to describe this erratic scene. Four high spirited children in a united effort to break the world record for noise level and four set of busy parents trying various tricks to prevent them. It was like being at Limp Bizkit concert, only less entertaining.
Two years later, their soul-numbing wailings still had not subdued and people were getting restless. I had to hand it to the kids for their stamina and tenacity. A young woman made some suggestions to the second child’s parents but his mother was quick to point out that the matter was being handled. Finally the defeated father took his screaming spawn out of the comparment. I never know what he did but a few moments later the kid returned and was very quiet. This method was followed by three other fathers and soon we had our much needed silence. However, I know for a fact that these kids were merely recharging their battery for another, more brutal, assault. And as always, I was right.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Morning Thoughts
Uh, okay. It's 7.30. Where am i? Oh, the Kill Bill movie poster. I'm in my own room. Is it weekend? No, i don't think so. What day is it? Monday? Tuesday? Nevermind. Gotta get up. Gotta get up.
Clock icon on the LCD of my cellphone. Must have missed both daily alarms. The 5.15 'subuhan dulu tuyul!' and 5.30 'tangi, su!'. This is totally absurd. With the office only 20 minutes away on foot who needs to get up at 5.15?
Scattered DVDs on the floor. Oh yeah, i watched the Fight Club for the umpteenth times last night. Tyler Durden. Self improvement is masturbation. Wow. What kind of person would come up with a line like that? A deep-seated philosopher? A deranged psycho?
Peanuts packages and beer cans. My housemates must have been here last night. The thoughtless slobs. I should come over and wreck their rooms for a change. See how they like it.
An empty bottle of rum. Cheap 250 ml Mansion House Tangerang-made rum. A far cry from those drunk by the wooden-legged hook-armed sailors of Treasure Islands. I don't remember getting drunk.
This pillow feels sooo good! Is it raining outside? They should cancel work when it rains. Darn! Somebody 'borrowed' my umbrella. How can i get it back? How can i get to work?
Ratih's picture smiling at me from the night table. Night table? What night table? It's the cardboard box that came with the DVD. Put a table cloth on it. Voila. Night table. Oh dear love, i can still smell the scent of your skin.
Shit! It's 7.45. Did it take THAT long to think all these thoughts? Gotta get up. Gotta get up.
Gotta get a life.
Clock icon on the LCD of my cellphone. Must have missed both daily alarms. The 5.15 'subuhan dulu tuyul!' and 5.30 'tangi, su!'. This is totally absurd. With the office only 20 minutes away on foot who needs to get up at 5.15?
Scattered DVDs on the floor. Oh yeah, i watched the Fight Club for the umpteenth times last night. Tyler Durden. Self improvement is masturbation. Wow. What kind of person would come up with a line like that? A deep-seated philosopher? A deranged psycho?
Peanuts packages and beer cans. My housemates must have been here last night. The thoughtless slobs. I should come over and wreck their rooms for a change. See how they like it.
An empty bottle of rum. Cheap 250 ml Mansion House Tangerang-made rum. A far cry from those drunk by the wooden-legged hook-armed sailors of Treasure Islands. I don't remember getting drunk.
This pillow feels sooo good! Is it raining outside? They should cancel work when it rains. Darn! Somebody 'borrowed' my umbrella. How can i get it back? How can i get to work?
Ratih's picture smiling at me from the night table. Night table? What night table? It's the cardboard box that came with the DVD. Put a table cloth on it. Voila. Night table. Oh dear love, i can still smell the scent of your skin.
Shit! It's 7.45. Did it take THAT long to think all these thoughts? Gotta get up. Gotta get up.
Gotta get a life.
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