The Fewer Choices, The Better

I once saw on TV a thing about how businesses which offer too many choices of product actually do themselves a dis-service. Those that offer fewer choices actually sell more products. As evidence they set up a test stall selling jam products. When potential customers were presented with only 6 to 7 choices of jam, fewer sales were made compared to when they were offered only 3 choices.

We went to McDonald's today because my 4-year-old has been pointing it out every time we go past (thank you TV child-targeted marketing). So as a reward for not even letting out the slightest whimper when she had two booster shots at the doctor, we took her to get a Happy Meal.

What we were confronted with was a confusing array of choices. Waaaaay too many choices. Long story short, we aren't going back there again. Not only that, but their orange juice was more like water with a hint of orange cordial flavour. Even my daughter rejected it after one sip.

The Time I Snubbed a World-Famous Musician

Well, I didn't really snub him; I just didn't realise who it was and thus didn't muster up the energy to carry on the conversation.

The year was 19, no, 2000 and about, no it must have been last century...anyway, I was once in a band called Jack the Lad. Not 'THE' Jack the Lad, but a small Brisbane-based band that played what I guess could be called contemporary Irish traditional music. We looked up to bands such as Planxty and Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span and Altan and well, that'll do, for our inspiration.

I as an Uilleann Piper took my inspiration from Liam O'Flynn who had learned the art of piping from such greats as Willie Clancy and Seamus Ennis.

So, around 1999/2000 we played, once again, at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland. I can't remember the year exactly because we played there a number of years in a row, but this was a particularly big event.

At this particular Woodford event we happened to be listed for gigs alongside such numbers as -

Battlefield Band
Lunasa whose autographs I collected on a CD which was then later stolen from my apartment in a day-light burglary
Andy Irvine who I sat with and chatted for a long time over a Guinness (Andy drank VB which I cannot fathom how he or anyone could possibly like) and whose autographed CD was also among those stolen in above-mentioned burglary
and
Fairport Convention whose bassist was none other than Dave Pegg who also played for Jethro Tull.

Anyway, one of our performances was on the main stage under the big tent. We were listed between Andy Irvine and Lunasa followed by Fairport or something.

A gig can be stressful at the best of times, especially when you are the piper and are the one that carries the tunes, and provides that something special that other piper-less bands cannot hope to ever provide. And so, even the most miserable low-key events such as playing at crowded 'Irish' pubs where the patrons keep asking if you can play 'Dirty Old Town' or 'U2' can be quite draining on the psyche and physique.

So this gig was one of those very rare occasions where you actually played for a crowd that was there because you were (oh and because Fairport etc were there too), and where you were in the line-up with people you considered too worthy (or considered yourself not worthy - you know what I mean)...

We played...I played....I concentrated...I got through the gig...the crowed roared...well, clapped... and we stepped of the stage.

As usual, I headed straight for my pipes case. The guys from Lunasa complemented me on my piping...COOL!!! thanks guys!...They were on next so it was in passing...no worries. Throwing my pipes into my case I was pondering all the mistakes I made (as you do) as well as taking pride in being complemented by Lunasa.

It was then than a guy in a cap came up to me and told me how great I played...he smiled, I said 'thanks....yeah....' and that was it...I was out of breath and flustered because that's the effect gigs like that had on me.

His smile kind of faded and then he left and went to talk to some of the other members of the band.

Fast-forward to our next rehearsal back in Brisbane. We were talking about the Woodford gig and I mentioned the guy in the cap to our fiddle player, Fred Graham. He then said to me -

"You know who that was, don't you?"
"No." I answered.
"That was Dave Pegg," Fred said
"D'OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So, Dave Pegg, if you happen to read this....I'M SOOORRRYYYYY!!!!!!... It was nothing personal...

Perpustakaan - Kamus Unggah-Ungguh Basa Jawa

This is an incredibly valuable resource for students of Javanese. Published in 2001 by Kanisius Publishers, The Javanese Speech Styles Dictionary (a rough translation of the title) provides the student with a fairly good illustration of how speech styles are structured. Individual lexical items are followed by examples of how the word is used in a particular speech style ( or level of speech) such as ngoko, ngoko alus, kromo, kromo alus etc.

Obviously it cannot provide the student with a comprehensive illustration as Javanese speech styles are very much influenced by regional and local speech habits, but it certainly provides a good basis upon which to develop one's understanding of how the various speech styles within Javanese are structured.

Joke

An Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a priest, a rabbi and a pastor walk into a bar and and bar tender says, "Is this some sort of joke?"

Perpustakaan - Max Havelaar (Multatuli)

Max Havelaar was written by Edward Douwes Dekker who went under the pseudonym Multatuli. Published in 1860, it brought strong criticism upon the Dutch East Indies and in particular the 'Cultivation System' or 'Culture System' which was in place between 1830 and 1870. The story of Max Havelaar helped sway public opinon in the Netherlands against the policies of the Colonial administration in Java and thus helped to bring an end to the Cultivation System.

This story was made into a film in 1976 as a Dutch-Indonesian collaboration. It's very difficult to get a hold of but I was fortunate to obtain it from a Dutch friend who bought the DVD in the Netherlands.

Perpustakaan - Radikus Makankakus: Bukan Binatang Biasa (Raditya Dika)

This one's quite funny. Books by Raditya Dika are quite popular at the moment and stem from the popularity of his web blog.

I especially like his opening because it reminds me of the time I had to search for a dissertation topic and the title ended up being very long. His opening goes like this (edited for brevity)...

"Gue sirik sama temen-temen gue.
Alesannya sih simple aja; saat ini mereka udah kuliah tingkat akhir dan mereka lagi dalam tahap pembuatan skripsi.

I'm envious of my friends. The reason is quite simple. At the moment they're in the final stages of their university studies and in the process of producing dissertations.

Gue pengen aja kayak temen-temen gue itu, yang bolak-balik bikin daftar pertanyaan kepada ibu-ibu rumah tangga, atau pergi ke Bogor dalam rangka penelitian lapangan. Hmmm, penelitian. Kayaknya seru banget tuh.

I'd like to be like my friends, who are going about making surveys of housewives or going to Bogor for field work. It seems to be pretty exciting.

Daripada ketinggalan zaman, gue lalu berencana bikin penelitian sendiri. Gue nyari-nyari ide, kira-kira penelitian macam apa yang cocok buat gue...

Instead of being behind the times, I decided to search for my own research topic. I searched here and there, wondering what would be a suitable topic for me...

(chop)

...Setelah melalui process meditasi yang lumayan menyedot seluruh jiwa-raga, akhirnya gue nemu tema penelitian gue. Ya, sebuah karya ilmiah superkeren: meneliti kehidupan badut dengan menjadi badut.

After a process of meditation which really zapped my body and soul, I finally settled on a research topic. Yup, a really super-cool topic: investigating the life of a clown by becoming a clown.

Tema ini gue pilih karena hampir seluruh keluarga gue takut sama badut. Dari gue sampai adek bungsu gue, pas kecil sama-sama takut sama badut.

I chose this topic because almost all my family are scared of clowns. From me to my youngest brother, when we were young we were all scared of clowns.

Nah, berhubung kata temen gue, bikin karya ilmiah itu judulnya harus panjang, ribet, dan kalau bisa pake Bahasa Inggris, jadilah karya ilmiah pertama gue berjudul: Monitoring Altruism Banality On Clowns Doing Unprecedented Responsive Environment Nuisance (atau disingkat: MABOC DUREN).

Now, according to my friend, a thesis topic's title must be long, complicated and if possible, use English. So my first dissertation would be titled: Monitoring Altruism Banality On Clowns Doing Unprecedented Responsive Environment Nuisance (or in short, MABOC DUREN [DRUNK ON DURIAN])

Of course, as usual, the humour gets kind of lost in translation...

Perpustakaan - R.A. Kosasih Comic Books

Seems there isn't much to write about at the moment so I thought I'd highlight a few books from my Indonesian collection. Today's feature is a series of comics by renowned author R.A. Kosasih whose comic-book versions of the Hindu epics are much sought after. I stumbled upon these during my inaugural trip to Plaza Semanggi one weekend at this little shop -

These comics, first published over 40 years ago according to the blurb on the back cover, have been compiled into 4 hardcover and one softcover editions. Each compilation contains between 300 and 640 pages. There are 5 compilations available -

Mahabharata A (640 pages)



Mahabharata B (608 pages)


Bharatayudha (672 pages)


Pandawa Seda (320 pages)


Parikesit (318 pages)


Prabu Udayana (I didn't manage to obtain this one; it'll have to wait till I get there again next time)

Two Interesting Videos About Australia Day

Here's a couple of videos from YouTube about the current trend in patriotic flag-waving yobbo culture -

"How Australian Is Australia Day?"

(I like the photo of a Face-lifted Bert Newton at 5:02)


"To The Australia Day Hypocrite"

So Sick of Passwords and Pass Codes

In our highly regulated and technologically advanced society, we can't function without access to online this and that, telephone banking, work-based computer networks and internet access, ATMs, Social Security and everything else. And with each of these we are required to think of 'a 6 to 8 digit security passcode consisting of both upper and lower case characters, one of which must be a numeral and !@#$%^&*()_+ symbols are not allowed'...

Easy...just have the same passcode for everything...Wrong!! Some services allow you to keep the same password indefinitely. Others require you to change the password every 10 weeks or so. The new password is often not allowed to be the same as any of you previous 5 passwords and so it goes...

I returned to my place of work after two and a half years leave. Before I left we could set our own passwords with the help of the school's network administrator. Now we have to do it through a centralised administrator via telephone - fortunately, not a call centre in Mumbay - and not only do we require a pass code to access the school network, we require a second completely different code to then access the internet from the school network. Needless to say, I've had my account disabled within a week owing to a lapse in memory.

Phoned my banking institute today to change the address on my account. The telephone robot, the one that asks you for answers and then apologises when it doesn't catch what you said because you started talking during a pause which you thought was your cue to speak but in fact was just the robot taking a breath before continuing to give further instructions about pressing hash, well, it asked me for my passcode. What pass code? The only option was to hold and I would be transfered to the next available customer service officer. Great! At least I can avoid the pass code problem and he (or she) can access my account for me if I simply give my full name, address and date of birth and ..."I also need your Telephone Banking Pass Code" !!!!

Long story short, customer sevice officer couldn't access my account - name, address and date of birth are no longer adequate security details - and advised me to go and visit my nearest branch.

Actually I did have a pass code set up for this particular institution when I first tried phoning them immediately after arriving home in Oz. Being security conscious, I didn't write it down. Well, I think I did but I put the paper I wrote it on somewhere no one would find it...and now I forget where it is.

So how do I get around this problem of endless pass codes? Simple...write them down with a clear indication of which institution they're for. Kind of defeats the purpose. I could try writing the pass codes in a different code...

Victorian Bush Fires

An amazing gallery of photos from the Victorian bush fires.

Coming Home

I'd only been away two and a half years but every day since I've been back something pops up that presents me with a touch of confusion or bewilderment. There were some fairly stand-out changes like a few added lanes on the highway to work which I had to quickly work out, and a helluva lot of new construction work all over the place and I wondered how a place could feel so foreign after only such a relatively short absence. I guess the fact that I never came back for a holiday during that time, nor really kept up with much of the news helped contribute.

The first day back in OZ was kind of strange. All the way down to my parents' home at Tweed Heads I just couldn't seem to come to terms with the fact that I was home for good more or less. I really wanted it to simply be a short holiday and then we'd be on our way back to Jakarta in a couple of weeks. What a downer when, every five minutes, I reminded myself that no, we were home for good. Still, it was good to see the family again, and eat yummy Estonian food (my sister's blog). Having no sleep on the flight also contributed to my bleary-eyed downer that day.

Went for a stroll around Tweed Heads shopping mall on the second day. Had the strangest feeling. The sea air was very clean and fresh, much more so than the Jakarta sea air and I think it was causing me to have a touch of happy-gas-type experience. For some reason I found it hard to walk in a straight line and when I went to the bank to exchange some US$ and Rupiah I found myself talking with a big grin on my face. I realised I'd been walking around with a smile I couldn't stop. Nothing to complain about, but strange nonetheless - a downer with a grin.

Which brought me to my first reintroduction to the "Indonesia - Australia Tensions" or whatever it is I was hoping would have abated in the time I was away. For some reason, the bank was unable to exchange my Rupiah money. The teller couldn't bring the exchange rate up on the computer. She went to ask her supervisor and came back to inform me that they could exchange my US dollars, but they aren't able to exchange Rupiah "because of the current political situation"!!?? Huh?? What political situation? Had I missed something?

"Really?" I asked, with the happy gas grin. "Thank you". I walked away a little richer having changed my US money which looks really boring compared to the super-dooper way out colours of Australian money...well it looked really colourful, but it could have been the happy gas effect again, or just the fact that I hadn't seen such colourful money for a long time.

Took our three and half year old daughter to the beach. She had been to the beach on one occasion immediately prior to leaving for Jakarta, but she was only one and a bit then so had no recollection of what a beach is. Tentatively she inched her way over the sand, not really knowing what to make of it, in the same manner that she didn't know what to make of the thick, soft green lawn at my parents' house, and eventually we made it down to the water. Long story short, she loved it and didn't want to go home.

On that note, just the other day, she came across dandelion in the grass and let out a shriek of excitement, the likes of which I'd never heard her give, when she discovered the the little fluffy bits fly away at the slightest touch. She was happy in Jakarta, but she's been so much happier here.

...to be continued...

Civilisation At Last

It's been just over a month since we touched down on home soil and it has taken this long to get reconnected to the internet. Ironic, but now I finally feel reconnected to civilisation. Even trying to keep connected via iPhone just doesn't seem to cut the mustard.

So, more posts coming.

.

Toothpaste For Burnt Fingers; Boiling Water For a Hot Tongue

aTwo of the most useful tips I've learnt from my time in Indonesia -

1) Don't go for the cold water only when you burn your fingers; go for the toothpaste too

2) Don't go for the banana/milk/cold water/yoghurt when you eat too much chili; go for freshly boiled water

Warning - The following advice applies strictly to MINOR household burns only - the type caused by accidentally touching a hot iron or fry pan. More serious burns should be treated in the appropriate manner including cold water and the seeking of swift medical attention.

1) Today I was baking potatoes in the oven. I thought it would be a good idea to move the tray. I grabbed it with the tips of three fingers and one thumb. I heard a sizzling sound - clearly audible - and then the pain sensors in my brain equated the sizzling with not the potatoes, but my fingers.

I ran to the bathroom, already in much pain. This is going to blister I thought, based on previous experience. I took the tube of toothpaste and applied a very generous dose to all fingers.

Long story short; 20 minutes later, pain vanished, a calming cool sensation replaces the sting of the heat. No blisters.

This isn't the first time. I've known this trick for about a decade. I first heard about it here in Indonesia, but teaching ESL in Australia brought confirmation of its effectiveness from Korean and Japanese students. A quick run under cold water initially prior to applying toothpaste also helps, but the main thing is to get the paste on ASAP.

It has to be the white paste as well, not the blue gel stuff.

There has to be a research idea in there somewhere.

2) Another trick I learnt in Indonesia when I accidentally chewed on a whole birds-eye chili (cabe rawit) while eating curry in a dark kitchen, thinking it was a piece of carrot. With tears of pain running down my face and everyone else in tears of laughter, I was immediately handed a glass of freshly boiled water. I took about 4 sips and instantly the pain was gone.

Since then, whenever I get an unbearably hot tongue, I immediately sip some hot water. The theory is, if after about 4 sips the pain isn't gone, then the water isn't hot enough.