Music & other stuff
So I'd almost completely forgotten about a little program which I installed on my laptop months and months ago which tracks songs I listens to and automatically uploads them to a web log (known as a "blog.") It's pretty cool -- you can see my page here. It also allows you to incorporate data on what you're listening to into your own page, but I probably won't get around to setting that up 'til I get home.
Anyway, for all these months, it's been tracking what I listen to. You might think from looking at it that I am the biggest Ivy and Luna fan in the world, and yes I do like them, but not to the exclusion of all else. The thing is, I often put them on at night when I go to bed, because the music is soothing and it's nice to have something to listen to.
Also on that list you'll find Indonesian indie rock bands SIGIT, whom I already mentioned -- a first-rate garage band -- and Tika, a moody female chanteuse.
And speaking of music, today I was at the mall, and I heard something like Radiohead coming over the mall's sound system, except it was in Bahasa Indonesia. I listened further and realized it was religious music, no doubt being played because we're in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is an interesting time here. During the day most restaurants including the usually lively street stalls are closed. Some of the chains are open, like Starbucks and Pizza Hut and McDonald's. All three of them have curtains over the windows, so people who are fasting (people fast from sunup to sundown for a month, and that means no water either) don't have to see other people pigging out. Some places in malls are open too, but with far fewer customers. In Aceh, they sound an air raid siren to announce the exact moment of sundown -- and everyone immediately pulls off the road to the nearest stand and starts eating. The first time I heard this siren, I thought there was another tsunami coming.
What else is new? I don't like to get into politics, but from afar, I am relishing the Bush Administration beginning to implode under the weight of its own arrogant incompetence. One of Fox News' loudmouths, looking more like a used car salesman than a journalist, was ranting about how much the investigation cost, and how long it took, and how Libby had been indicted on a "technicality." Need I mention Monica Lewinsky? And I am looking forward to coming home in a few weeks. Time has gone by faster than I could have ever imagined. I will be happy to be home, but I will also be very sad to leave.
Oh, one last thing. This new stereo component which plays MP3s is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
Anyway, for all these months, it's been tracking what I listen to. You might think from looking at it that I am the biggest Ivy and Luna fan in the world, and yes I do like them, but not to the exclusion of all else. The thing is, I often put them on at night when I go to bed, because the music is soothing and it's nice to have something to listen to.
Also on that list you'll find Indonesian indie rock bands SIGIT, whom I already mentioned -- a first-rate garage band -- and Tika, a moody female chanteuse.
And speaking of music, today I was at the mall, and I heard something like Radiohead coming over the mall's sound system, except it was in Bahasa Indonesia. I listened further and realized it was religious music, no doubt being played because we're in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is an interesting time here. During the day most restaurants including the usually lively street stalls are closed. Some of the chains are open, like Starbucks and Pizza Hut and McDonald's. All three of them have curtains over the windows, so people who are fasting (people fast from sunup to sundown for a month, and that means no water either) don't have to see other people pigging out. Some places in malls are open too, but with far fewer customers. In Aceh, they sound an air raid siren to announce the exact moment of sundown -- and everyone immediately pulls off the road to the nearest stand and starts eating. The first time I heard this siren, I thought there was another tsunami coming.
What else is new? I don't like to get into politics, but from afar, I am relishing the Bush Administration beginning to implode under the weight of its own arrogant incompetence. One of Fox News' loudmouths, looking more like a used car salesman than a journalist, was ranting about how much the investigation cost, and how long it took, and how Libby had been indicted on a "technicality." Need I mention Monica Lewinsky? And I am looking forward to coming home in a few weeks. Time has gone by faster than I could have ever imagined. I will be happy to be home, but I will also be very sad to leave.
Oh, one last thing. This new stereo component which plays MP3s is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
