Oh Mister Andrae, Sign This Please!

funny that last week at Phie's house I watched Moonwalker for the first time! i remember friends and i were admiring MJ's poster at the movie theater when we were small. "how could he lean 45 degrees?"

it opens with Man in the Mirror. l'homme dans le mirroir! the song reminds me of This Is It and of course Andrae Crouch whose choir appears in the song. I still envy kak Es. When she went to Sydney in mid 2009, she went to Hillsong to join people singing the song for MJ's memory.


It takes me back to 2001 when i loved mall hopping to find rare albums. there was i at Plasa Senayan with this album Tribute: Songs of Andrae Crouch. i thought, who's he? but i did recognised the lineup: Take 6, MWS, The Winans. so i bought it for Rp 15.000 or about USD1.5.


when i played it, i was like, "i knew these songs! wow, all my life i been singing and listening to these songs!" of course the indonesian version.


years later in late 2008, i read that JakJazz invited Grammy winning soul/jazz musician Andrae Crouch. i was more than happy to get a free ticket to JakJazz. it was so good of Hera to agree to switch her ticket so i could attend the festival not on Friday but instead, on Sunday. 


i was mighty happy to watch the show. the stadium was filled with people, singing and dancing to his music. even my friends who never knew his music found his music interesting to dance to. "he's cool. who's he, Sem?"


"You may never heard of me...Indonesia was the first country i visited as a musician. i went here in 1971!" said Andrae .


it certainly wowed everyone so did he and his whole band (including the famous bassist Abraham Laboriel)


after the show, the LO said, there are Q & A session after this. 


i thought, my, i must go there! so i called Evi to lend me her ID. she said, OK. 


Inside, i was more than happy to meet him. he made everybody smile. he showed big enthusiasm in everybody. he reduced the LO to laughter and tears when he said, "hey, how could you speak that fast! please do it once more. i'd like to hear that again!"


he entertained everyone with fascinating stories. "When I came here in 1971 i did shows in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Denpasar. I traveled with train. I sat with mothers and children...with chickens and vegetables....


"Our opening act was a girl named Henny hmmm... (someone shouted, "Purwonegoro?") ...yes, that's her. is she around?" 


it was an honor to meet him in person. 


"Oh my, i look so skinny there!" he said when I handed him my old cassette. 

(it reads: "To Sem, God Bless you, love, Andrae Crouch")

Lately i been listening to his songs. timeless pieces. songs that bless my whole being. how happy he must be, being a person who blesses many people though his arts!
and i just found out that even Elvis Presley recorded his song!

So now, I'd like to say, God bless you, Mister Andrae. Love, Sem

So This Is Christmas. What Have I Done?

Tonight, am having a moment like what Ebenezer Scrooge had experienced. am visited by Christmas thoughts. of course i consciously recall the memories--scenes i can remember. All beautiful. For me, Christmas is a special moment indeed.

I remember singing from church to church with Moses, Delsy, Andre, Johan, Angel, Diana, Kak ?, etc in Bali. That was 1997! Then with PS POSA UI at Balairung or some churches. I dont remember any Christmases at school or at church during childhood. but i can recall one day i realized it wouldn't snow in Indonesia that i ran to fridge to create snow!

Last year, i had a good one. I was traveling with Enti, Ocha, Fit, Siti Hajar, Yudi, and Cupay, en tour to Kudus, Ambarawa, and Semarang. It was Christmas Eve. Cupay and I went to the nearest church (forget the name). It was so nice of Enti, Ocha, Hajar, and Yudi (all of them are of Islamic faith) to accompany us to the churchgate! "We want to make sure you guys don't go elsewhere!" joked Enti. It was very nice of them.

When we returned to the lodgement, they were waiting in front, surprised us with gifts and Christmas log and "We wish you a merry Christmas"! these wowed me. i got a tee and cupay a bolero. oh the log! it was amazing! even at home, we never had any Christmas log! It was one of the best Christmas experience.
i was so happy. Being in the city of Kudus, it was a real Malam Kudus!

During the trip, i stopped playing the new Christmas albums of Tori Amos and Sting in my MP3 player. theirs were melancholic tunes. they only induced gloomy mood.

vertical limit

certainly, you need to learn to swim

Mecta Moya

Zhelayu shto ya zhivu v svoei mectoy:
puteshestvovat' po miru
medlenno, Bozhe, medlenno
Molyush' shtoby vsegda delat' eto
v budushem vremeni
Xocu issledovat mir
etu planetu, Zemlya

S samoletami

S vertoletov

S Deva Ruci

S Spirit Madzapaxit

Molyush' shtoby vsegda delat' eto

Again, To Dive For

(photo by Adrian Nugraha, Ricka Ristianti)

Phie suggested newbies to refresh diving each 6 months. With the exception of Rian and Ocha, none of us had dived since last April. we could not wait to plung. So here we were again. Too bad, Anien, Cupliz, Chokin, and Maria couldn't join the wet fun. 

Island hopping: Belanda, Magaran, Harapan, Kaliage, Kotok.

after the last dip, i climbed to the boat and lied exhausted. thought, ii'm going to die. but when i gazed skyward, saw a sea hawk soaring gracefully above Kotok. beautiful. thought, yesterday when i woke up , in my head was playing that song "my soul soars like an eagle up in the sky"

O Sailor!

Oom Edwin Stube remains a mystery. Ever wonder what brought him here. don't recall much of him though, don't recall of meeting him. i only remembered several emails he sent me. he promised to send me some books. but the books never arrived because he passed away. our correspondence was a short one. and too bad usa.net closed its free service long long ago that all my correspondence got deleted.

now each time i opened that old old photo album, i'd ask mi, when was it? was he pleased with your cut? Mi would laugh, "Not sure, son. this photo embarrasses me. look at it!"

in the picture, Mi is cutting his graying hair with her right hand and her left palm rests on his head, preventing the hair on right side from being combed to the left direction. it looks as if Mi is anointing his head. That's impolite, Mi, i'd say. and we'd end up laughing. perhaps that was in 1991, his last visit to Indonesia (?).

many stories i heard of him are all "one day" stories. Pak Wilfried told this story: "One day, that yellow Kijang ran out of gas. He prayed and filled the tank with water. then he drove home." wow! Pak Darto said, "One day, sick and handicapped people flocked here and got healed miraculously after meeting him." wow!

and my late Oom Alex Tuarita said, "One day, Oom Stube said, Let's drink (beer) Alex! it's good for your health." Oom Alex told me, laughing, "Thee idea of drinking beer shocked me to death, thinking it was ungodly." wow and lol!

Who ever thinks he was also an accomplished musician. he left his accordion as the witness. remembering him now can rekindle this rusty restless soul. and my anger subsides. i learn to see things from a different point of view.

One song reminds me of him. i been listening to it recently. Sailor by Petula Clark. Good heavens, i know this tune well! since kindergarten i've knowned it! every time i play it, it takes me back to the big dining room where people hum the melody.  I think Oom Stube owes me an explanation. who else taught them the melody?

now i know the original lyric:

Sailor, stop your roaming
Sailor, leave the sea
Sailor, when the tide turns
Come home safe to me

As you sail across the sea
All my love is there beside you
In Capri or Amsterdam
Honolulu or Siam
To the harbour of my heart
I will send my love to guide you
As I call across the sea
Come home to me...


Ok let me play the song once more. And here's to your memory, Oom Stube!

No more instant noodle during dive trip

I've a hate and love relationship with instant noodle. It is one of tastiest foods. it takes less fuel to prepare it, compared to preparing rice. everybody knows hungry travelers love instant food. yet one day i realized how uncool it is.

The night before, Rian and I were in the state of can't-sleep-without-stuffing-stomach-first. Ocha, Ricka, and Sena had gone to sleep. so we decided to unpack Trangia and cook two pcs of instant noodles. we crushed some chillis to add sting to the boiling noodles. we ate and then had a good night sleep on the island."Heavenly!" I said. "Hellish!" said Rian. "Sem, it's really hellish!" added he. he was referring to the hot broth.

came morning and we rushed to pack everything. we won't be returning to this island, so better hiurry, said Ricka. again Rian and I prepared instant noodle.

in the first dive, i coughed and i could smell the instant seasoning-flavored oxygen. it was hellish. i surfaced, feeling weak. Rian did too. on the second dive, i was completely weak and all i breathed tasted like neoprene.

thus i learned: avoid it during dive trips.