[REVIEW] BOOK: EMPRESS ORCHID (2004) *ENGLISH EDITION*

SynopsisEmpress Orchid tells a real story about a mere concubine called Orchid, who was not afraid to break a harsh stereotype about women leaders. Even when the whole nation went against her and her own son despised her, Orchid’s dream never died. Written by a true Chinese woman, who learned about all vicious things Orchid done, grew like fellow Chinese who believe that Orchid was a villain behind the downfall of Ch’ing Dynasty, didn’t narrowed her perspective, but instead she portrayed another side of this great woman, who even until her last breath, ruled China, as its wall tumble around her.

Orchid was a daughter of a poor, but noble family. Her father was a mayor of the poorest district in China, until he was fired because he couldn’t handle the Taiping rebellion. After her father died, Orchid and her family moved to Peking, the cold and cruel capital city of China. She was treated like a slave by her uncle and threatened to marry her idiotic cousin – until she saw an announcement to search for the king’s wives. It was a long and hard journey, but Orchid, despite her poor background made it as the king’s fourth wife because of her splendor beauty.

But, it was not a good time to enter the palace. In 1852, Ch’ing Dynasty has lost its vitality, and the court became an insular, xenophobic place. Within the walls of the Forbidden City, hundreds of women tried to take the Emperor’s attention. Orchid soon discovered that she must play dirty, so she trained herself in the art of pleasing a man and bribed a eunuch to her way into the royal bedchamber and seduced the Emperor. It was not love for eternity, but their love was passionate and genuine. Orchid has a great good fortune to bear him a son. Elevated to the rank of Empress, she must struggle to maintain her position and the right to raise her own child and turned him into a great king, later known as Puyi, the last Emperor of China.




Moral values

Women canIt is generally acknowledged that even in this modern time, women are still underestimated. It was told in this story, a poor girl who just lost her father was forced to live in her uncle’s house and marry her idiot cousin. This girl had nothing but her outstanding beauty and ambition. Tried to escape from her unfortunate life, she dared to attend the Emperor’s wives audition, even though she knew it was almost possible for a girl without any proper background like her. But as the proverb says, sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had, the girl made it. She, who was just a pitiful girl, blossomed to an Empress of China, surpassing her boundaries, turning the impossible into possible. This girl was called Orchid, like her name, she was really an admirable and respectable woman to look up to.

A throne is only a bench covered with velvetIt was a traditional custom in China that the emperor had absolute control of the country. He must be treated as the most precious and sacred being, because he was believed to be the incarnation of God. But what they left was the true job of the emperor itself. An Emperor is a leader, one who guided the way, and one who found the remedy, not the fault. In the story, a mother (Orchid) who was a mere concubine dared to change the palace’s custom. She tried to make her son (Tung Chih), who was a crown prince to put himself into people’s shoes, so he would understand what his people needed and not the other way around. It was a tough path for a mere concubine, she was criticized by her mother in law, her own husband, the queen, and even her own son who insisted that he was in a higher position than his own mother. But the mother believed her son could handle the chaos that was happening in the country, with the requisite that he must have the skill and his people’s trust. So, what made she tried so hard to change her son? It was because she saw her husband’s misery. While others saw their Great Emperor as the Son of Heaven, Orchid only saw a man fighting a battle where he couldn’t win. Watching him on his last days, she believed that his ego was the cause of his own agony.

Loyalty takes no prisonersOne of new knowledge I found in this story was about a eunuch. Eunuch is a man who have been castrated and served as the palace’s servants. It was common to found eunuchs in the Forbidden City. From the belief that the only man that can have children in the palace was the Emperor, appeared the customs for eunuch. In the story, there was a eunuch I truly admired. His name was An-te-hai. An-te-hai was the one who guided Orchid from her first day in the Forbidden City, till she rose to the Empress seat. The eunuch was truly loyal to Orchid. He believed that loyalty was all that he could offer. A young man who truly knew his duty, even when he was prisoned a few times for the sake of his mistress, he hanged on, and what did he get? A trust from Orchid. All that he needed to achieve his dream to take what he lost.

[REVIEW] MOVIE: THREE IDIOTS (2009) *ENGLISH EDITION*

Three idiots is a 2009 Indian comedy film. This film is adapted from the book Five Point Someone. After the realese in India, Three Idiots has become the highest-grossing film of all time in India.

Summary:

This is a story of two friends called Farhan and Raju searching for their long lost buddy, Rancho. The three of them used to study engineering in the best university in India name ICE (Imperial Colleague of Engineering). Almost the whole story is the flashback of their life in ICE. The main character is Rancho. Rancho is an extraordinary student who loves to study, but his father doesn’t have enough money, so when he was young a rich man asked Rancho to use his son’s name to get degree. Rancho has inspired many people. Rancho taught them to be what they want, to have fun in their live, and to respect their creation. In the end of story, Rancho owned a school and he met the woman he loves, Pia.

Reason why I like this film:

*      I like this film because it has a lot lessons that we can learn.

*      The story is really touching and inspiring. Especially Rancho's genuine character.

Favorite character:

Rancho.

*      He really inspired me with the way he think and his point of view.

*      He is a really positive person. Whatever his problems are, he always touches his chest and says ‘ALL IS WELL’.

*      His heart is really sincere. He really cares to people.

*      He taught us so many things beyond our imagination.

*      My favorite lesson that he taught is that we should enjoy our live and be what we want.

Favorite scene:

When Rancho helped his headmaster’s daughter gave birth. It’s really tensing because Rancho used a vacuum cleaner to pull the baby’s out. After the baby was born, he died, but because Rancho’s sincere, he shouted ‘ALL IS WELL’ then the baby’s alive again. His headmaster was really touched gave Rancho his historical pen.

Lesson learned:

*      For parents, pushing their child to become something that they doesn’t want is a murder. We learned it from Mr. Viru, the headmaster of the university. His son commited suicide cause Mr. Viru pushed him to be an engineer while he wanted to be a writer.

*     We shouldn’t only come to school to get degree, but to learn. We learned it from Rancho who only came to study.

*   Not wearing school uniform doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a chance to study. We learned it from ‘the millimeter’ who work as the office boy in ICE, but because Rancho convince him to study, he becomes the assistant in Rancho’s school.

*      The key of studying is not to memorize it, but to understand it.

*     

Love your parents. There’s a part when Raju’s dad is sick at the night before the three idiots’ exam, but Farhan and Rancho insisted to bring Raju’s dad to hospital. Here, Rancho taught us that we have many exams, but we only have one father.

[SETETES EMBUN] Sebuah Puisi: Pergi

Kuterpapah menuju jalan panjang

Jauh meninggalkan pasir malam

Berguratkan cinta kita

Kau, terlalu dingin untuk kusimpan dalam hangatnya darahku

Aku, terlalu kaku untuk kau petik di senar gitar cintamu

Tanganku melantun sepi

Meninggalkan jejak-jejak keheningan

Di atas sepotong kesenduan

Mencoba kalahkan kerinduan ini

Hilang sudah sendu ini

Berganti dengan hampa yang membelenggu

Mengisi ruang waktu

Tanpa dirimu

Cukup sudah pedih ini

Jangan berikan cinta berduri

Aku ingin merintih tanpa nyeri

Tetapi karena berarti dan menjadi

Haruskah hati yang memilih

Masa kini atau masa nanti

Tak bisakah waktu berhenti

Agar cinta tak pernah pergi

Datanglah kasih,

Dengan seikat mawar di tanganmu

Sejumput mimpi di matamu

Dan hati yang berukirkan namaku

Jemputlah aku dari kegundahan

Bawalah aku dari kekelaman

Raihlah aku dari kesenduan

Bebaskanlah aku dari kesepian

Ah,

Namun apalah daya kata-kata indah ini?

Bila engkau telah

Pergi

[REVIEW] ALBUM: ARCTIC MONKEYS – AM (2013)

Album kelima dari band asal Inggris, Arctic Monkeys yang resmi keluar pada September 2013 lalu berhasil meraih kesuksesan yang luar biasa. Dalam 1 minggu dari masa debut album tersebut, AM telah terjual sebanyak 157,000 kopi dan menduduki posisi pertama dari UK album  charts. Tidak hanya sampai di situ, AM juga meraih Brit award pada Best British album.

AM meliputi 12 lagu bergenre indie rock dan dapat disebut sebagai album paling original dari Arctic Monkeys dan berhasil menggabungkan hip-hop drum beats dengan 70’s heavy rock, yang menjadikan daya tarik album ini.

Track pertama, Do I Wanna Know? yang dijadikan lagu pembuka dari setiap AM Tour (2013-2014) dibuka dengan catchy beats yang dinamakan sebagai ‘zombie head-banging’ adalah lagu yang walaupun dapat saya dengarkan sejuta kali, namun masih memiliki daya tarik seperti ketika pertama kali saya mendengarkannya. If sexy has a jam, this must be it, adalah kalimat hal yang paling bisa mendeskripsikan lagu ini. Suara merdu Alex Turner, petikan gitar Jamie Cook, bass sempurnanya Nick O’Malley, dan perfect beats Matt Helders berpadu menjadikan “Do I Wanna Know?” simply one of the best song out there.

Track berikutnya, R U Mine? adalah lagu pertama yang diluncurkan Arctic Monkeys pada Februari 2013 dan menduduki posisi pertama di berbagai charts. R U Mine? didominasi electric guitar dan drum yang menawan dan memanjakan telinga kita sampai lagu ini berakhir.

One For the Road dan Arabella menawarkan beat yang lebih slow. Dan dua lagu ini definitely can pass for a drive! Lyrics genius Alex Turner kembali membuktikan bahwa kemampuannya memainkan kata dan menggunakan kalimat yang sangat metaforis merupakan salah satu yang terbaik di industri musik.

Arabella's got a 70's head 

But she's a modern lover 

It's an exploration, she's made of outer space 

And her lips are like the galaxy's edge 

And her kiss the colour of a constellation falling into place

It’s just too good 

Kemudian I Want It All menurut saya adalah selingan yang manis di lagu AM ini. Definitely bukan lagu yang akan saya rekomendasi bila orang ingin mengenal Arctic Monkeys, namun didengarkan bersama lagu AM lainnya, I Want It All adalah ekstra yang tidak pernah salah.

No 1. Party Anthem adalah mengingatkan saya kepada lagu “hyme”, namun dengan sentuhan ala Arctic Monkeys. Saya benar-benar menyukainya dan berpikir bahwa lagu ini salah satu hasil eksplorasi Arctic Monkeys yang terbaik.

Fireside, kembali lagi adalah lagu yang akan saya rekomendasikan di album ini. Seamless blend dari petikan gitar, drum, dan bass menjadikan Fireside lagu yang tidak boleh dilewatkan.

I'm not sure if I should show you what I've found

Has it gone for good? 

Or is it coming back around? 

Isn't it hard to make up your mind? 

When you're losing and your fuse is fireside

Snap Out of It adalah salah satu alasan saya menjadi fans berat Arctic Monkeys. Nuansa industrial rock yang menurut saya cukup easy listening bagi publik, bridges yang menambah indah lagu ini, serta suara Alex Turner yang memikat are just so irresistible.

Knee Socks is just gorgeous that I keep coming back and back to this song. Pertamanya, Knee Socks bukan merupakan lagu favorit saya, namun setelah mendengarnya beberapa kali, saya sungguh jatuh cinta dengan…semuanya.

Bagian favorit saya:

You and me could have been a team 

Each had a half of a king and queen seat 

Like the beginning of mean streets 

You could be my baby 

I Wanna Be Yours adalah untuk kesekian kalinya, sebuah permata di dunia musik yang mulai “out of control” ini. Lirik, bass, gitar, drum, vokal – semuanya saya beri nilai sempurna, hanya bila kalimat “I Wanna Be Yours” diutarakan oleh mereka ke saya ;)

Akhir kata, sangat sulit sekali untuk memilih lagu yang paling saya sukai di album ini karena semuanya memiliki warna mereka masing-masing, namun tetap harmonis menjadikan AM album terbaik Arctic Monkeys (sampai sekarang).