The Popcorn Story - Ivan the Freelancer

FARMERS, WE NEED YOU ALL!

2011-09-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Some people find the law of economy a bit confusing, but it actually pretty logic. You will experience that law over and over again, whether you live in big cities or even in a remote island.

As in my previous holiday trip, I visited one small island in Thousand Islands, along with my wife and friends. If you haven’t heard of it before, Thousand Islands is an area that consists of a string of around 105 islands. This string of islands stretched along 45 kilometers north to the Java Sea, with the closest island lays only a few kilometers off mainland of Jakarta city. Many of the islands are still uninhabited, while some others have become recreational areas and privately owned by very wealthy people.

Anyway, enough of the pretty stories about beautiful beaches and white sands. What I want to say here is, my stomach growled of starvation when I arrived at the island, because of long way sailing and snorkeling activities. So as my friends decided to try on banana boat activity, I preferred to hunt for some food.

As I explored the island, I found very few places to eat. It was going to get dark very soon as the sun began to hide at the other end of the sky. But even so, there were still many people enjoying their time on the island. In fact, the island was nearly crowded and full of people. Later on, I finally found one place to eat that sold roasted corn, noodles and branded-bottled-drinks.

Guess what, the corn and drinks are sold more expensive than the corns and the same drinks sold throughout the malls in the city where I live. Yes, the drinks in a remote island are far more expensive than the drinks sold at malls in big cities. Why? The law of economy is the answer.

In big cities you will find so many stores that sell drinks so the price cannot go that high. On the contrary, there are so many people in the island and only one or two spots that sell drinks, so the price can go as high as possible.

In case you haven’t noticed, the food price around the world is rocketing pretty fast. Why? So many people, so little food… That’s why…

We have too many bankers and accountants, but we don’t have enough farmers. We will also be doomed if too many people play Farmville without applying it in the real life. We need real farmers who create real food for us, our elders, and our children.

The world will be in lots of troubles and catastrophe if the number of people exceeds the number of food supplies. When the food price skyrockets and people can no longer afford to buy them, then that will be the true end of this world.

Let’s support our farmers and fishermen for that are probably the most potential and crucial job in the near future. Unless we create more farmers and fishermen, we will face an era where we all have to swim to catch fishes to feed ourselves.

Ivan the Freelancer

MISGUIDED MARKETER

2011-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched Godfather movie, the scene where a severed horse head purposely slipped under the blanket of a sleeping old man? The old man woke up, found it and the rest you already knew.

One day my boss received an unusual package delivered in the morning. It was a children’s sized coffin filled with real flowers, clearly addressed to my boss with my boss’ name on it. One of the flowers was a white rose that attached to a piece of paper that said Rest In Peace Soon.com.

Well, my boss’ face turned pale, so I was told. He wondered who hate him so much and did this. But being an expert and experienced as a marketer, something crossed his mind moments later, that this could be a marketing gimmick, or new kinds of promotion.

It turned out right as I spent about an hour monitoring news throughout Internet. It was a promotion from a person who was about to launch a book about the death of advertising because of the power of word-of-mouth campaign. The sender sent 100 coffins throughout the city to selected media figures, public speakers, and professionals in marketing industry.

The senders did not say anything about the promotion. The story would have been different if he did. We realized that it’s actually a promotion from the public news, that is, after the police had taken the senders into custody. The thing that arrived were the coffin, real flowers for the dead, my boss’ name and a note “Rest in Peace Soon.com”. What would you expect? It sounds more like a terror than a promotion.

I wonder how much is the difference between the Godfather’s scene and the act of sending a children-sized coffin directly to an individual? The sender’s act caused massive anxiousness throughout the people who received the package.

Has it ever occurred to the sender’s mind that there might be people who are pregnant, shocked mothers and children (It’s a children sized coffin), or maybe even still grieving from loosing a child?

There is a thin line between stupid and creative. Creativity is definitely not stupidity. The act of unpleasant behaviors can never be categorized as creativity.

Education, as well of anything, is like a two-sided coin. If it is not digested and delivered in a right way, it can only create madness.

It was a misguided marketing. That’s all I can say.

Ivan the Freelancer

WILL SAKURA BLOSSOM IN MAY ?

2011-03-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

My neighbor said that the disaster in Japan is a message from God. The only message actually is my neighbor is an idiot.

What’s wrong with you? Is your mind so shallow that you think God have a heart to wipe out His own creation?

Each time Sakura blossom so gracefully, have you ever thought “that” is actually a message from God? Does it ever occur to you that God maybe busy trying His best to save as many lives in Japan recently?

I wonder how many times in one day do you send messages, via your BlackBerry, your Twitter, your Facebook, your iPad and your other gadgets, and yet how many times in one day do you send messages to God Himself? It is free and you certainly do not need your gadget to do that.

So I quoted and borrowed my wife’s posting from her Facebook, which I think is really enlightening and comforting, “Will Sakura Blossom in May?”

With the earth shaking so badly and sea water poured and wiped out the land of Japan, we should all send a message to God so Sakura will certainly blossom in May. God help us all.

My prayer for Japan.

Ivan the Freelancer
Photo taken from www.wallcoo.net

THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

2011-03-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long time since the last time I poured my thoughts into this juicy Popcorn blog of mine. Four months?? That long?? Well, I’ve been busy lately enjoying the new chapter of life. Yes, I have married the girl I love and moved to a new place so-high-in-the-sky called apartment.

Being a husband is exciting indeed, plus hoping to become a father next year. Well, a man gotta do what he gotta do.

Anyway, the most important purpose in writing this post is to thank all the people who are involved in uniting us into the happiest couple on December 4th 2010, for without them, we could never make it happen.

As no words could ever describe our gratitude and joy, so I think it is better to present these photos as our way of expressing gratitude to all of the people in it.

“Many thanks for all of your supports and encouragement. We owe you all a debt we can never repay.”

This is only the beginning…

“Many thanks for all of your supports and encouragement. We owe you all a debt we can never repay.”

This is only the beginning…

Ivan the Freelancer

HE IS BACK

2011-03-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Continued from:

http://thepopcornstory.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-fathers-car-ivans-journal.html

It’s been a year since the last time I’ve lost him. The dark green metallic Vitara. I’ve been walking on foot ever since. I had a replacement car, but it never felt the same. Not long after that, I decided to return the replacement car back to my father. Feeling unnecessary to ride a car, I’ve decided to become a walker.

Until that time came. The time I was going to step into the next stage of life. It’s really expensive to rent a car, especially for such a short period and short distance. In the middle of desperation and confusion, he came back. Not only that, he came back with far better condition than the day his engine got broken.

So dressed with wedding flowers from our friends, he took us to a location where we held our wedding ceremony and places that we needed to go. It’s really an honor to have a chance to ride you again. I’m really not worthy to keep you. So back you are to my father once more.

Thanks again for everything...

Ivan the Freelancer

TIME IS “NOT” MONEY

2010-10-22T02:51:00.000-07:00

What’s the matter with people who keep on saying, “Time is Money”, throughout their lives? Unexpectedly, I received enlightenment about this at a marketing seminar. An old man who is an expert of Guerrilla Marketing named Jay Conrad Levinson finally told something that caught my attention.

He said one of the biggest mistakes that we have learned from our parents is, “Time is Money”. If we keep on saying this, we will never be happy for the rest of our lives. Make sense though.

Time is Life, “not” Money. When we run out of money, doesn’t mean that we run out of time. But if we run out of time, our life will surely end, no matter how much money you have. That’s why doctors only tell how much time that dying people have before death.

Be happy if you still have time, because you can still live.

So the future lesson for your kids is, “Time is Life”.

(Picture is taken from Omega Watch).

Ivan the Freelancer

THE HERO INSIDE

2010-09-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

When we are weak, someone has to carry us around.
When we fall, someone has to pick us up.
That “someone” is our hero.

But

When a hero is weak, he will try to carry himself around.
When a hero falls, he will learn to pick himself up again.
Heroes also need help, but a hero will always try to help himself first.

There is a hero inside of everyone, for a hero comes from the inside.

A hero doesn’t have to possess super strength.

For we become a hero not because of what we are, but because of what we do.

Ivan the Freelancer

MAKE IT SIMPLE

2010-09-01T02:38:00.000-07:00

Lately my butterfly and I have been enthusiastic in making preparations for our wedding. Though sadly we have very limited budget, so we have to be very creative and persistent in hunting and preparing. One day I called two of my friends through Yahoo Messenger to ask for a reference about restaurants, make up and hand bouquet. I know they might know something because one of them likes to hunt for food, and the other one runs a flower business.

Both of them congratulate and wish me good luck for the wedding preparations, but when I ask them about their relationships, they replied with the same answer, “It’s complicated.” One of them doesn’t want to talk about it, while the other one told a complete story about the never-ending long distance relationship. Guess what, I didn’t get anything about the restaurant, make up and hand bouquet because our conversations got too “complicated”.

Next week, I searched, collected, and called only friends who are happily married. Guess what, I got all the information and references that I need only in one day. They are not complicated and the conversation went smooth and simple. Because we have the same objectives and purposes, the conversation went to the same direction.

Too often shit happens, and we let them piled up for too long until it explodes. Sometimes things can get complicated because we assume so, and let it become complicated. Sometimes we focused too much on the problems, but not on the solutions. Sometimes we got stuck in hot debate, instead of having warm discussion. Sometimes we don’t even know where we are going.

I hope we can simplify all things. I wish we all can have healthy fights and arguments because good relationships come from healthy fights and meaningful arguments. Fights and arguments are necessary to form an even stronger relationship. I also hope we all can always have warm conversations and discussions – conversations where two people can freely express their hearts until they can understand each other.

Easier said than done, but we all have to try our best.

Ivan the Freelancer

THE BEST SERVICE IS SELF-SERVICE

2010-09-01T02:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to a place like stores, restaurants or hotels, where the waitresses and attendants frequently follow you around anywhere you go? Not only that, they also constantly ask whether they can help you with anything. One of my friends said, they even follow him to the toilet, like they thought he didn’t know how to use “it”. I have “tasted” many restaurants where the waitresses always ask whether they can pick up your “unfinished” meals and drinks, over and over again.
The outcome of those kinds of “hospitality” is really annoying. Plus what’s more annoying is that when you “do” need the waitresses and attendants, they are nowhere to be found. Too often, they ask whether they can help you, but the truth is they cannot help you with anything. I find many employees at supermarkets who cannot locate even the most general or simple products at their own workplace.

Hospitality or service doesn’t always have to be shown. Sometimes the best service is something that is “not shown but can be found or experienced” by the customers. Self-service is one of the best methods for service excellence. Not only this service can give freedom and make the customer feels like home, it also educates the customers to become independent and knowledgeable.

I will ask you a simple question, “If you are dining, would you prefer to pick the sugar and pour it into your drinks yourself as you desire, or have the waitress do it for you? Some restaurants or café even let the customers make their own drinks or meals. It is about time we learn to provide a “Self-Service Friendly Environment” to create service excellence.

Service is not to offer, but to deliver. Hospitality has to be real and not fake. Service excellence is an unforgettable experience.

Ivan the Freelancer

(Images are taken from Canadore College, Comtecusa, and Insidesocal).

VALUE OF A MAN

2010-06-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

There is really a thin line between pride and arrogance. If someone has a strong value or principle in life, there can only be one outcome of it – pride or arrogance. We all must be proud of ourselves and what we stand for. But that pride must not turn into arrogance. This principle is true in all aspects of life, whether in religions, cultures, values, careers, titles, you name it.

Ip Man speaks in the name of Wing Chun. He respects Wing Chun and proud to apply it as his value in his life. But whenever his opponents were defeated and admitted, “Your Kung Fu is better than mine”, Ip Man replied, “It is not about whose Kung Fu is better. The real problem is you”.

Proud men are those who hold their values, but always remain open and respect toward others. Proud man is always willing to learn from others.

On the other hand, arrogant men are those who always think that their values are better than others. Arrogance always speak that they and their values are the best and everybody should become like them.

No matter what we stand for, arrogance is not an option.

Pride is not arrogance.

Be proud of yourself, but don’t let that pride turn into arrogance.

It is not about which kung fu, religions, cultures, values are the best. The real problem is you… and your ego…

Ivan the Freelancer

PATHS TO REDEMPTION

2010-05-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

They said, “There are many paths to redemption. Not all of them peaceful”. I certainly agree. But that is not a reason to banish someone from a church. That is definitely not an excuse to banish people from their church. As redemption is the right for every man, and so every church should serve as place to help those in need.

Solomon Kane who did terrible things in the past was banished from a church. When he wanted to redeem himself and tried his best to become “A man of peace”, the church sent him away. The church may have left him, but God never leave His people, no matter how bad they are.

God led Solomon to another church – a true church in a form of families who helped him with sincerity. That family helped him even after they knew how “evil” Solomon was in the past. The family treated Solomon like one of their own and he finally became a much better man than before. A true church is not inside a building. A true church resides in your heart and in the hearts of people around you.
But the world didn’t always responds like the way we wanted. Solomon tried his best not to get in the fight and avoid violence at all cost, even if he was hit, beaten up, and robbed by others. But by the time the evil took the lives of people who had helped him, he was forced to once again unleash what he always did best in the past, fighting and killing.

Solomon once again became a killing machine, but this time he was fighting for a noble cause. When no one dared to stand against evil, he was forced to once again swing his sword and guns in order to banish the evils that claimed his land. God never leave Solomon as He never leaves us if we are fighting for a noble cause.

A true church does not always reside inside the buildings. A true church is inside your heart and in the hearts of other people. God is always with us.

Prayers are not always in the form of words as faith itself is not words. Faith is fulfilled with sincere actions and deeds.

Many people hide their true faces behind religions. Few people dare to stand against evil, inside or outside them.

Ivan the Freelancer

LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

2010-04-29T21:13:00.001-07:00

It was between reality and dream, as I walked under the heat of the sun. “Funny, I used to remember there are supposed to be buildings and people around here. Where is everybody?”

Then a man came and walked beside me. He asked me where I was going.

“To work”. I replied.

“Work for what?” He asked again.

“For tomorrow”. I said.

“But what if there is no tomorrow?” He insisted.

“Then I will live like there is no tomorrow”. I replied.

The man shook my hand, “My name is “Laziness”, but you can call me “Surrender”. Sorry to bother you”. Soon after saying that, he vanished.

Maybe this world will change. Maybe it won’t. But surrender is not an option. There is no fate but what we make. We can never see tomorrow, but we can thank God by giving our best today.

Walk like there is no tomorrow.

Fight like there is no tomorrow.

Pray like there is no tomorrow.

Live like there is no tomorrow.

Ivan the Freelancer

EVEN AFTER DEATH

2010-03-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

For most people, waiting is the most annoying and tiring job in the world. Maybe that’s why they often say, “I’m tired of waiting”. How long are you willing to wait for someone you love? 5 minutes, 1 day, 1 month, or 1 year? How about 10 years? Most people couldn’t stand to wait even for an hour or two.

I was wondering what’s dwelling inside Hachi’s head that gave him the patience and dedication of 10 years waiting for his master’s return, everyday, always in the same place and at the same time.

Maybe he didn’t realize that his master had passed away and hoped that one day he will see his master again, walking towards him from the door in Shibuya Train Station.

Maybe he knew that his master had passed away, but continued to wait anyway, just to respect his deceased master.

Maybe he just wants to show the people around him, how much he loves his master.

Maybe his master’s soul came by to Hachi and whispered, “Wait for me there, and when the time comes, I will take you with me”.

Maybe God told Hachi to wait there, so that we humans can learn the true meaning of “loyalty”.

Only God knows…

We humans only knew the oath or vow of “Until Death Do Us Part”. Apparently for Hachi, he took the oath to a greater limit, “Even after Death Do Us Part”.

Don’t let the meaning of loyalty died with Hachi.

Ivan the Freelancer

FEELS LIKE YESTERDAY

2010-03-29T00:53:00.000-07:00

Feels like it’s only yesterday, I remember meeting you at the airport.

“Someone once told me an important formula to create a nice weekend. Do you know what that is?” I sipped the cool-creamy-green tea drink with my butterfly dressed in black sitting next to me.

“No, what is it?” She looked curious.

“A pretty girl, lot’s of money, and a nice drink”.

“Oh.” She smiled with mocha around her lips.

“I’m glad that I have them all.” I said. “Especially you.”

Celebrating one year journey towards happiness with you, Butterfly”.

Ivan the Freelancer

YEAR OF TIGER, HIDDEN VALENTINE

2010-03-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

What would happen if Chinese New Year was combined with Valentine and weekend? The answer was a flight on a jet plane to a place where families gathered with lots of red and pink ornaments. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

The Batavia’s bird of steel took me and my butterfly to a city called Batam. The trip through the clouds brought us to a city where my butterfly’s family resides. Batam welcomed us with sunny but windy weather and quiet roadways. I was wondering if Jakarta can be this quiet and peaceful.

I always dream of having my own house that I can call home, but this trip reminds me of the old saying, “Home is where the heart is”. Realize that no matter where we are, the place will always be homey if we share and bring our hearts along – because hearts don’t always have to reside only in your own house.

Many places to go, but only one heart to share. So make yourself at home, anywhere, as long as you bring your heart with you. And when two hearts become one, it is even better. Happy Valentine My Butterfly.

Ivan the Freelancer

LET IT RAIN

2010-03-29T00:32:00.001-07:00

I can barely remember when was the last time I can enjoy the rain without asking it to stop. Since the flood often washed away the happiness in our house, I often wished I would never had to hear the rain again.

I almost forgot how it feels to be able to enjoy every drops of water when it rains, until the time I walked away from my house and took myself higher from the ground. I’m now homeless, but I’m happy.

Now whenever the sky gets cloudy, I can smile again. Whenever it drizzles, I can let it drop on my skin. And whenever it rains heavily, I just need to open an umbrella. It is good to be free. But I realize, there are so many other people who still suffer when it rains.

Wish the rain will never cause anymore flood. But then again, the rain is not the one to blame. We are the victim of our own act. Nature is fair because it will always return what we have given them. Like I said, if we destroy it, it will destroy us. Don’t say I never warn you.

Ivan the Freelancer

TINY SPARKLING GREEN TREE

2010-03-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

“Do you know what is the best thing about this Christmas tree?” I asked my butterfly while standing near a small fan. “It wiggles when hit by the wind.”

The sparkling green and golden colored leaves are so “compatible”… a perfect match. She laughed while watching the tiny tree wiggled on my hand.

“But something is missing about this tree.” She said. “We should find a beautiful star to be put on top of it.”

“Right, that would be perfect.” I replied.

Mal to mal, places by places, we traveled. Through many trees we looked.

But pity… Up until New Year we still have not found the right star for our Christmas tree.

But one day…

I just realized that a star may appeared on a place we had never expected. There is our shining star, between our new-green-Polo-couple-shirt.

Anyway, we may not always find or get what we are looking for. But if you try hard enough with faith and good intention, God will always give you something in return – and a lot better too.

Ivan the Freelancer

A CHAT WITH SANTA

2010-01-25T22:52:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas, it was snowing in Taman Anggrek. There were bears dancing with Merry Christmas music on a small cottage surrounded by ponds, lakes and fountains. There was a big poster saying “Please adopt us. We need new home. You can adopt us in Santa’s house.” So those cute dancing bears were looking for someone to adopt them.

“It would be nice if we can adopt one or two bears and bring them home, wouldn’t it? I said to my butterfly.

“It must be very expensive.” She smiled. A few snowflakes dropped on our head.

“You maybe right. But let’s look for Santa’s house anyway.” I held her hand and walked passing crowds of people.

Walking around, we stumbled on Santa’s house. Santa’s house was in a form of a big dark brown boots. I looked around for its doors and finally found it. There was a note attached to the door, “Adopt the bears for only 275.000 rupiahs each.”

“You are right. It’s too expensive.” I said with a sad look.

“Let’s take a picture near the Christmas trees instead.” She pulled my hand towards the trees.

A few days later…

I was about to wash my hands in my butterfly’s place, when I spotted a short red robed figure leaning on the stairway.

“Santa, is that you?” I asked.

“Well hello, yes, I am Santa.” He answered with a very tired voice.

“What in the world are you doing here?” I asked again.

“Oh, I’m very tired after delivering those heavy Christmas presents for kids all over the world. You don’t mind if I take a rest here for a while do you?” Santa replied while showing his eyes and big round nose.

“Oh, not at all. Take your time Santa. Would you like something to drink?” I offered him a glass of hot tea that my butterfly had made for me. “My girlfriend made this. Very warm and sweet. Here, drink some.”

“Thanks a lot.” Santa took a few sip of my butterfly’s warm tea.

Suddenly, I remembered Santa’s house and those dancing bears that we wanted to adopt at Taman Anggrek. So, I told Santa everything about how expensive it was to adopt them.

“Oh no, that was not my house. You must’ve had the wrong address.” Santa replied.

“So, that was not your house, and those were not your bears?” I asked.

“No, it was not my house, but those bears are my true friends.” Santa looked deeply into my eyes. “My friend, you will never have to pay in order to receive a gift from Santa. A gift from Santa is always FREE.”

“I see… But those poor bears had danced all day and they had no home.” I said.

“Don’t worry, they were there, because they were meant to be there. They are waiting for you and your butterfly so the two of you can have a great and Merry Christmas.” Santa explained. “I thank you for taking your butterfly to see my bear friends dancing. They really appreciate it.”

“Well, thank you Santa. I really enjoy being with my butterfly accompanied by your bear friends.” I shook Santa’s hand. “Please send them my regards.”

“No problem.” Santa walked out of the house with a wide smile.

It’s funny… I was wondering how did Santa get in to the house? We had no chimneys… Hahahaaa… Merry Christmas everyone… Ho Ho Ho…!!!

Ivan the Freelancer

VOICE OF NATURE

2010-01-12T00:55:00.000-08:00

It is said that God created the world before He created the humans. Humans were created from this world itself. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. So we live and die along with this world. It is also said the energy that we absorb from nature are borrowed and never given. Unfortunately, we always have to return all the things we borrow.

Can you imagine the air that we breathe is actually borrowed? The air is free of charge, but the trees that release it are not. We are borrowing the energy of air from those trees. Not to mention all the “natural” food from the nature. We owe so much to the nature, yet we are destroying it slowly.

This is our land… But it is not given… It is only borrowed. Don’t just take whatever you want, because you will have to return it later on.

Nature does not take sides, but it can “hear” our deeds. Nature nurtures us but can also punish – Nature can give and take lives as well.

Ivan the Freelancer

NOT-SO-NEW CLASS OF CRIMINALS - Ivan’s Journal

2009-11-18T23:03:00.000-08:00

There are people, who believe that one cannot be a good cop, if he does not know how it feels to be a criminal. It is obvious that in order to understand how other people think, we have to put ourselves in their shoes.

I used to think that criminals are simple. We just have to figure out what they are after. If they are too hungry, they will kill for foods. If they are obsessed about something, they will kill for money. Unfortunately, Batman had the same opinion. But Alfred the butler had different things in mind, “Perhaps he is a man you don’t fully understand either”. Alfred’s wise words make me realize that I do not understand what’s dwelling inside other people’s heads.

What I mean by “Criminals” includes also people who do bad things to others and also their surroundings (not just people in prisons that do serious crimes). Believe it or not, some people are proud to be criminals. Some people even try to set new records in committing crimes. They did things not based on any judgment. Like a dog chasing cars, they do not know what to do with it if they caught one. They just “do” things.

So you don’t need to be a Batman just to understand, that some people are just proud to be criminals – They cannot be bullied… They cannot be reasoned with… Some people just love to watch the world burned.

It is a pity. The fact is – it is not only “the Joker”. But we have LOTS of Jokers running around in this world.

Usually, it does not matter how people think. The real matter is, “What are the impacts caused by their thoughts ?”

Ivan the Freelancer

HE IS HERE... I SMELL HIM - Ivan’s Journal

2009-10-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Many women said that they can tolerate men who are broke, short, fat and even ugly. But there is one thing that women cannot stand about their men – which is, if they smell like dead fishes in the market. Believe it or not, women value aroma higher than they value money. But if you say that “materialistic” women do not care about “the smell” of their lovers, than you probably right. That’s simply because materialistic women never kiss their men – but only their money.

Recently I found an interesting fact about perfumes in a marketing seminar held in Ritz Carlton Hotel. The fact said that women like to try different perfumes far more often than men. Women like to try or experiment different perfume’s brand or aroma, while men usually stick and loyal to one perfume brand they like. The fact also said that men do not need to change their perfume (or their body aroma), as long as their women love it.

I’m not saying that every man should groom themselves to become like women. But one conclusion about this fact is that you should be happy if a woman compliments or even complains about how you smell. It means she has an interest on you – or at least, pays attention to you. If she never compliments or complains about how you look and smell, than maybe she only concerns about your money.

Ivan the Freelancer

BEING DIFFERENT

2009-10-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

If only we can choose our own identity, or where and when we are born, than maybe we can be whoever we want to be. People cannot choose their skin and blood color. Whether you are born in the west or the east does not make you any more superior than others.

Is being different really necessary? Why people tend to consider anything different as a threat? The reason we are constantly at war, is maybe because we cannot accept the fact that we are all different.

Like John Lennon said in his “Imagine” song, “You may say I’m a dreamer… But I’m not the only one…”

Ivan the Freelancer

YOU AND YOURSELF

2009-10-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

What is real and what is not? It is hard to tell, especially in this cyber era. Life is dangerous… That is true and that is why surrogates are invented. We can be anyone we want to be – men/women, tall/short, long/short hairs, white/black skin – anything you can think of… We can run our daily life “risk-free”, physically and virtually… Perfect… Human perfection – What could go wrong?

The problem occurs when it becomes a lifestyle… and lifestyle causes addiction – anything that you cannot live without. You cannot resist yourself from hiding behind your so-called-perfect surrogates. It is the “you” that is not actually you. So the people will wonder, is that really you? The most important thing in this life is getting trust from other people – which is not gonna happen if you are covering yourself with surrogates.

Lying to other people is one thing, but lying to yourself is another. By hiding your true self, you are denying yourself and living in a lie. Nevertheless, people will find out about your true identity and who you really are anyway. A happy man is the one who truly satisfied with himself or herself.

Come to think of it, we are already living our life as “half-surrogates” by now – by hiding behind our BlackBerry, the Internet, chat rooms and other cyber stuffs. But who gives a shit? It is fun… isn’t it?

As long as we are still remain as humans who depend only on ourselves.

Ivan the Freelancer

REVENGE IS “NOT” SWEET

2009-09-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

People do nice things to others…Yes, that is natural. People also do bad things to others… Yes, that is “also” natural. There are people in this world who feel that certain people need to be taught a lesson. They think that certain people need to be taught some manners. Yes, they have their own agenda and some of them even live with hatred and urges for revenge for whole their life.

Blood for blood – soul for soul… Maybe that was “the thoughts” Benjamin Barker had in mind when he returned to London. Clouded by rage and vengeance, he was determined to seek revenge upon Judge Turpin – the evil man who was responsible for Barker’s miserable lives. He became another person – He became Sweeney Todd with totally new character and attitudes. But the question was… was it worth it?

There are only two kinds of people in this world – People with the ability to love and people with the ability to hate. Love and hate can emerge at the same time. They can also be mixed up. Bearing a grudge is painful, although most people have no choice. Bearing a grudge makes us become like the living dead. We cannot think clearly, we loose our feelings – and above all, we loose our conscience.

People are doomed since they loose the ability to love. So if you can never forget and can never forgive – just make sure you still have “love” – or the ability to love.

Ivan the Freelancer

RESPECTED OR FEARED

2009-09-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

There is one quality that is desired by all men in this world – Power. Among those powerful men in the world, there are those who are respected or those who are feared. The Untouchables showed clear examples of both. Eliot Ness from the police force was assigned to bring down one of the most powerful man to justice, Al Capone.

With all previous attempts failed to take Capone down, Ness realized that he was cornered because almost all parts of the city were bribed and controlled by Capone. Ness found he could not trust anyone, until he met Jim Malone, an incorruptible police, who was driven away from the corps.

Malone taught Ness a very important lesson. “If you do not want to get rotten apples, don’t get them from the barrels. Get them straight from the trees.” With half of the city police corrupted, Ness and Malone had to recruit their team from the new candidates who are still trained. They are rookies, but still fresh and clean. Since then, Ness had the right people on board to bring down Capone.

Be thankful if you are still fresh and clean, because you still have a chance to be respected. Be careful not to choose apples from the barrels, but choose them straight from the trees. Evil triumphs only because they are feared – for they can never be respected.

Whether being respected or feared, it all depends on what you do and how you do things to others. Ness and Capone built their power and reputation through different paths. A man cannot be respected and feared at the same time.

So, what kind of a man are you? Respected or feared?

Ivan the Freelancer

HUMANITY AND ALIENITY

2009-08-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

Whether you are welcomed or not in this world, are not yours to decide. Like I said, this world is not fair – and it will never be. There are many facts proved that we are not alone in this universe. One huge alien ship was stranded and hovering aimlessly above the city of Johannesburg. They did not do anything and we came prepared and bashed our way into their doors.

Then we found groups of Aliens. They don’t look too good. They look unhealthy, confused, scared and disoriented. Well, what would you expect? They are stranded in our “strange” place – far away from home. Unable to go home, they are forced to take refuge in slums area below their ship.

But what do we do to them? We overrun them with terrors. We make them target practices. Even worse, we make experiments out of them. We are curious about their organs, weapons and technologies. Instead of communicating with them in civilized manners, we took them by force. We humans tend to look at something different as threats. We are even terrorizing and exploiting our own kind too.

What have we humans become? We are losing our humanity. Some people said that this is a social issue. But I said simply because we have lost the ability to accept and understand – that we are all different and not perfect. Differences are supposed to be respected and united. Differences are supposed to bring people together to live in harmony. But then again, maybe because we are not perfect, so this world will never be either.

Wikus Van De Merwe is the man who truly understands about being deserted and not welcomed. Being infected by the alien’s DNA, he became the most wanted man on Earth. Everybody wants a piece of him – simply because he is different. No place for him, but in District 9.

Sometimes we will never know… What it feels like… How it feels like… Until we become one of them…

Ivan the Freelancer

MADE NOT BORN

2009-08-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Whether you like it or not, people’s characteristics and personalities are influenced from their surroundings, environment and their past. You cannot blame them for that. However, you always have a chance to become – what you want to become in the future – by doing something or making something in your present.

G.I. Joe is a group of soldiers that come from different backgrounds. They build their army based on training and personality development – while the Cobras build their army based on manipulations. Cobra armies do not recognize fear – as they say. But Storm Shadow said that fear is the best motivator – quite contrary don’t you think?

Whether good or evil, whichever sides you choose, perfect soldiers are made – not born. We surely cannot blame our backgrounds and past times for what we are now. But we are always responsible for our own future. We always have to make our own future.

G.I. Joe and Cobra are not born – they are made. You can make yourself become G.I. Joe or Cobra. The choices are yours.

The past cannot be undone – that is why we have the present. The present is the most important moment in your life, because it is the present that makes your future. The future is not ours to see… But we can always make our own…

Get Up Soldiers!!

Ivan the Freelancer

LOST IN DREAMWORLD - Ivan’s Journal

2009-08-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

“Hello, anybody here?” I looked around everywhere and could not find anyone in this dark, cloudy and cold place. Remembered it was like Vienna in Europe, but never imagined it would be this quiet – few lights yet many dark alleys. Looks like the city had been abandoned. Knew I was lost and kept wandering pointlessly, hoping to find someone to guide me.

My instinct whispered – should find something or someone, but did not know what or who. Just keep on walking and running – bumping through walls and darkness – getting tired and disoriented. Never been here… How could I be here… Why? I did not know.

So I decided to find my own way… A map… I needed a map – began to search for signs or leads. Suddenly, I encountered a huge building with the lights on. The doors were locked tight, but wait… The lights were pointing out to something…

There was something near the doors – a silver bullet and a gun. Why were they lying here? I picked them up – knowing this place could be unfriendly. Remembered there was only one silver bullet but there were seven (or was it six?) chambers in the revolver. Quickly I reloaded the revolver with that silver bullet.

I looked around to find a way into the building. Probably there was someone living in it, considering the lights were on. Just about I was trying to knock the doors; I sensed someone was walking nearby… It was a man…

Our distance was quite far. First, I dared not call him, knowing it could be dangerous. So I stalked him from behind to see where he was going… Through the dark alleys we went.

But my feelings became very uneasy. I needed a guide – So finally decided to call him, “Excuse me. I am lost. Can you help me?”

The man stopped and turned. The mist surrounded him in the gloomy night. He did not answer. He just stood there, staring at me.

“Excuse me, I am lost. I need your help.” I repeated.

Suddenly he walked towards me… My eyes could not see very clearly through the mist. But as we got closer and closer, I realized that… It was NOT a man… It was something like this picture…

I was never been so scared in my life. The stares seemed to paralyze my senses.

As it just was about to jump me, my reflexes finally kicked in. I drew the gun and shot the silver bullet directly to it.

There was a sound of growling and wailing as its body rammed into me… We both fell down… My body felt numb… All I saw were puddles of water on the dark streets… Suddenly…

Suddenly I woke up…

My God, it was just a bad dream… I was sweating and shivering all over… A big – nasty werewolf.

Did I get him? Did I kill him?

What is the meaning of this dream? Too much movies?

I guess I will never know…

Ivan the Freelancer
(The pictures are for illustrations taken from Internet).

SOMETHING MEANINGFUL

2009-08-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

What? You wanna hear stories about my adventures? Oh, okay – But not before you cross your heart.

For some people, adventures had to be something great and epic. But for some people, adventures are just plain simple. Some people prefer to embark on adventures alone, but some like to share it with other people. Some people do mountain climbing, but some people just like to have dinner with their love ones.

Life itself is an adventure. Whatever adventures you had, will have, or are having, the real excitement is in the process – not the end results. The process “is” the one that makes your adventures meaningful. Adventures are about tears and laughter – gain and loss.

Although adventures often linger just in dreams – but some dreams do come true – if you believe in it. It is never too late to start your adventures – so cross your heart and go UP!

Ivan the Freelancer

BANK JOB

2009-07-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

There was once a man, who loved his job so much, always took good care of his friends, good with women, courageous and had great self confidence. Unfortunately, he was arrested many times and finally got killed. Why? Because he became one of the most successful bank robbers in America and number one wanted most dangerous fugitive.

John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) took a highly risky and dangerous line of work – specializing as a bank robber in Midwestern United States. Being able to hit dozens of banks, police stations and escaped from prisons made him famous.

His career drew too much attention from the police – and so he became wanted – Dead or Dead. He was ambushed by the police outside a theater after watching a movie. One bullet that drove through his face instantly killed him. He died at a relatively young age.

Don’t know whether the job picked the man – or the man picked the job. But loving the wrong jobs could be dangerous. Success and fame do not always bring happiness indeed.

Are you happy with your job? Are you sure you have picked the right job? Because it affects not only you, but also the people you love…

Ivan the Freelancer

LITTLE CHINA TOWN - Ivan’s Journal

2009-07-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

It was a quiet stroll at noon, enjoying cool breezes in the mal.

My butterfly saw a place she likes. A place to eat filled with Chinese ornaments.

“This must be your first time.” I said.

Red Chinese lanterns wiggling, following her hand held on to me.

She smiled and nodded.

I returned the smile… “Me too.”

I sat down as I took off my glasses and slipped a lemon-mint candy into my mouth, “Hey, let’s try that yummy roasted chicken over there.”

Her sparkling eyes gazed into me, “Oh, I like this place… Let’s walk some more.”

Places make memories – and like Optimus Prime said, “By those memories, we live on.”

Ivan the Freelancer

OUR WAR THEIR WORLD - Ivan’s Journal

2009-07-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

The Autobots and the Decepticons are at war in our world if you have watched the Transformers. The same thing happens in our own planet. There is a world so white, so cold and filled with magical creatures. We may never touch that world, but somehow we are closely connected.

Our war rages on even until now. The war without guns, bullets or swords, but it still can destroy forests, jungles, even nature itself. Our weapons include pollutions, toxic waste, dangerous chemicals and the most dangerous of all – Greed.

So the earth is dying. It is heating up. Our war affects another world that we may never have seen. The bears, penguins and wolves are crying. They never know what had happened. They never know what had hit them. All they know, that they are dying.

No one can predict the end of the world – and none of us should. But sadly, we are heading that way. The North Pole is melting because of our war – and the water is heading our way.

If we destroy them, they will destroy us. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Ivan the Freelancer

NEEDED BUT NOT WANTED

2009-07-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a hero is needed but not wanted. It takes more than ordinaries to be a hero. Like they said, “A hero is an ordinary man who does extraordinary things”. Batman once again had to cross a very thin line between the force of law and the vigilante to save Gotham city and the people he loves. A triangle force between Batman, Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon had to face a psychopathic Joker.

Are you a freak? You should be thankful if you are… because you’re different… and you are doing something different. Only different things have capabilities to make change. Batman and Joker had something in common – They are both freaks. But they do things differently and see things in different point of view.

It is not easy to do good things. In fact you often get punished for doing something good. Why? Because the world is never fair – and don’t expect it will be. Furthermore, we do good things because it is the right thing to do – and not to get other people’s approvals or compliments.

What Batman can do? He can take lots of punishments to do good things – Punishments to live as the dark knight. What Batman cannot do? He cannot take off his mask to let other people see his good deeds and live as a white knight.

If you do good things, keep them for yourself.

If you do bad things, tell them to the world.

Batman is the hero who is needed, but not wanted… The Dark Knight.

Ivan the Freelancer

MY FATHER’S CAR - Ivan’s Journal

2009-07-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

It is my father’s legacy from the year of 1993. The dark metallic green Vitara. Discontinued from a long time ago but the next generations kept on rolling – the Escudo, Sidekick and Grand Vitara. A mixture between a sedan and a jeep, my father’s Vitara was bought from brand new and well maintained.

The Vitara was inherited to me since I was still in high school. The journey we had since high school to college and work – from alleys to highways – from beaches to mountains – from romantic to frantic. You took me to places. You make me see the world.

Lately since 2007, I knew that you tried to tell me something – something wrong with your engine. We visited the car mechanics so often. They performed so many engine “surgery” to you. It must be painful, I know. But you kept on rolling – Rolling although I “sense” that your performance was degenerating.

I had bad feelings about your health and I hate it when my bad feelings turned out to be true. Hurts me so bad when I hear they finally had to take down your engine. It took millions since 2007 to keep you rolling, but it is ok… You deserve it… But now (2009) it reached a point where I cannot afford to fix you anymore.

The cost hurt my pocket so bad that I had to release you – back to my father. I have failed to take care of you. I’m sorry… It may be our last time… Which I hope not… At least now you are in good hands…

Maybe we are not Sam Witwicky and Bumblebee – But from all the cars I love, you will always be my first car…

Thanks for everything…

Ivan the Freelancer

CLASH OF THE METALS

2009-06-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes our responsibilities go beyond ourselves. Sometimes we have to be responsible for other people’s problems. “Their War, Our World”. It is said that we are not alone in this universe. A long time ago, in the planet called Cybertron, there was a war so vicious between the protector Autobots against the destroyer Decepticons. They are living beings, pretty much the same like us, but more powerful and sophisticated.

The planet Cybertron finally destroyed and shattered but their war somehow continue in our planet. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime tries to protect our Earth from being consumed by the Decepticons, commanded by Megatron. It is said that they arrived and dwelled in our planet since the beginning of our civilization, seeking matters and power source to support their life.

Unfortunately, the Earth is dying and collapsing even without the existence of ferocious Megatron and his Decepticons army. We are destroying our own Earth as we eliminate the forest, disrupt the nature’s balance and pollute the air. We are the ones who are responsible for the destruction of Earth. There are too many “Decepticons” than “Autobots” in Earth – We, humans, are no exception – There are too many destroyers than protectors.

Optimus Prime and his friends feel responsible to protect our Earth because they cannot let the humans pay for their mistakes, but what about our own mistakes? Who is going to pay for it? We are also at war with our own kind to save our own world.

As Optimus Prime said, “Humans deserve to choose for themselves”.

Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing. Whoever we are, we decide and make our own fate.

Whether you’re a mighty Transformers or ordinary humans, you can still do something to save the day.

Ivan the Freelancer

NOT JUST PHYSICAL

2009-06-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Above the sky, there’s always another sky. As you already know, you can always learn things the hard way or the easy way. Some people learn martial arts not because they want to, but because they have to. Some people learn from masters in peaceful and quiet rooms, while others learn from real violence on the streets - the streets that teach us the most valuable lessons in life - that is... if you manage to survive.

It reminds me of my past where I used to watch people trained martial arts and finally join them. In peaceful times, it seemed useless to learn martial arts, as there is no need to practice them. But martial arts is about discipline whether in times of peace or chaos.

Experience taught me that whether you learn it through the hard way or the easy way, the results will always depend on yourself. To defend and protect are the main purpose of learning martial arts. If the purpose is simply to attack or destroy, there’re lots of other lethal instruments other than martial arts that you can use.

Kung fu can be hard but it can also be soft. It requires as few movements as possible to defeat the hardest attacks. But what can a man do – or cannot do with kung fu? In times of trouble or peace, from families to wars, this movie tells you all.

Ip Man – The celebrated kung fu master of Bruce Lee.

It’s not just physical. It is the combination between mind, body and soul.

Ivan the Freelancer

SECRET ADMIRER - Ivan’s Journal

2009-06-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

The moment you made these, we chatted.
Our voices met through oceans.
I used to say that you have beautiful hands…
It turns out to be true.
The hands that holds mine.

Cloths and fabrics, floss and threads, needles and pins.
Stitching and sewing, combined with fancyworks.
The little smiling fairies.

Now they’re smiling in my hands.
For I will keep them for safekeeping.
I treasure them, because they’re your handmade.

Your handmade… My admiration…

Your secret admirer

ENEMIES WITHIN

2009-06-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

A childhood tragedy drove Samir Horn into a dangerous quest which involved terrorism and bombings. With Roy Clayton and his partner as FBI agents close to his tail, Samir must complete his mission – A mission which you will keep guessing during the movie, whether his mission is justified or not.

From the life in the city, into a prison and terrorist’s network, this is a good movie that speaks about reality. The reality speaks that we’re at war – fighting between ourselves – useless wars. How can we kill each other while we don’t realize who’s the true enemy really is?

You can never sacrifice other people to defend your own faith. Samir is willing to get his hands dirty to uncover the truths behind these useless wars. But how far can he go?

You can do the wrong things in the right way, or do the right things in the wrong way – You are responsible for everything that you have done… and everything that you have “not” done.

In the end, we should all shake hands and realize that the true enemy lies within our own self and egos.

If there’s no forgiveness, at least we have to try to defeat our own egos.

Ivan the Freelancer

BONE TO METAL

2009-06-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Every one of us has an origin. Even this world somehow has its own origin. The story began when young Logan experienced a terrible tragedy in his family, where he was driven out from his house. Along with his cousin Victor, they ran away and swore to protect each other as brothers.

The war raged from world war one until Vietnam War, where they fought together and survive through all the wars… because of their regenerative powers which kept them alive. Things went bad between them after they joined the other mutants and involved in dangerous missions under the command of the wicked William Stryker.

Victor went violent and Logan was forced to leave the team. Their paths separated since then. But their destinies as mutants and brother unite them again and again in dangerous quests between good and evil, plus seeking their own self image and destiny.

We all know that people’s character was formed more by his/her environment and surroundings, rather than his/her origins. But from this movie we can learn that the same environment can create two different personalities and characters.

You always have a choice. It is not your environment that makes you like you are now. It is you… and only you who can decide what you want to be. Decisions and destinies are always in your own hands. As long as you’re sincere and have good intentions, what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.

Logan became Wolverine – Bone to Adamantium metal - his claws were forged through hard times.

Where are you from? – is not that important.

What do you want to be? – is far more important.

What you become? – is the most important.

Ivan the Freelancer

ASSASSINS FROM THE FUTURE

2009-05-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

What is the difference between humans and machines? They’re both the same but not identical. If you think humans are smarter than machines, you might want to consider the meaning of “artificial intelligence”. As technology develops, it’s amazing – or should I say creepy, to see what machines are capable of doing at the present time or in the future.

If you think machines have to be programmed to be able to respond to their surroundings, then you’d better consider about machines that are able to re-program themselves. Everything that humans can do can also be done by machines – not to mention machines have better accuracy and consistency.

So if you ask me whether the war between machines and humans are possible to happen in the future, my answer will be – it’s very possible. We often create things that we ourselves cannot control. We often create our own dooms. Machines are created to help humans, but not all people have the same purpose – as they say, knives and coins always have two sides.

One of the best movies about machines is The Terminator and its sequels. The Terminator tells a story about a terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – a cyborg disguised in a perfect humanoid form that was sent from the future (year of 2029) to the present time. It had only one purpose – to terminate a woman named Sarah Connor. Why sending a robot just to kill a woman? Hmm... a good question that can only be answered by watching this movie.

Sarah was supposed to give birth to a man named John Connor in the future. John Connor would be the last hope for the mankind to win the war between machines and humans. Sarah also had a protector named Reese Kyle – also sent from the future. The problem was, Reese was only an ordinary human who was far weaker than the unstoppable Terminator.

It was truly a nightmare for Sarah as she never expected that her life would become so important for the future. The Terminator was close on her tail with Reese Kyle desperately tried to save her life as well as his own. This was the beginning of a judgment day. The movies will tell you the rest…

Be careful and be responsible for everything that you create…

The terminators teach us a very important lesson. They’re consistent and determined to their missions and targets… They will keep fighting… Never complains… Never get tired… Never stop… Until terminated… We all should fight like them…

But what really differentiate us from the machines? It all lies within our hearts… It is something that cannot be programmed.

Ivan the Freelancer

RELIGIONS & SCIENCE

2009-05-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

A symbolist Robert Langdon once again summoned to investigate crime and conspiracy which took place in Vatican. The group called Illuminati was said to be behind a revenge scheme plotted against the Catholic Church. An assassin who claimed himself to be working for the Illuminati managed to kidnap four cardinals and would kill them one by one.

Besides involving a religion, a product of science called antimatter was also stolen from the lab conducted by physicists. The antimatter was meant to be used as a bomb to annihilate the whole Vatican City by the Illuminati. Robert Langdon along with his partner, a physicist named Vittoria Vetra, must unravel the mystery and conspiracy that threatened not only religion and science, but also human lives.

So the religion and science are once again become issues for some people. A debate between religion and science had occurred from a long time ago. Science has developed at a magnificent speed so that it often questioned our own faith towards our own religion and God. Religions have their own rules that often questions whether all the innovations and creations made by sciences are justified by God or not.

It is said that God speaks to us through the voices inside our hearts. The voice that warns you if you are about or already commits something evil.

Do you believe in God? Everyone has their own answers.

Religions & science belong to the world and should be uniting people instead of separating them.

Religions & science had their own flaws. Religions & science are not perfect because we humans are not too.

Angels & Demons… Which side are you??

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal - WATER FROM THE SKY

2009-05-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

When the water falls from the sky, we call it rain. Some say it’s a gift, some say it’s a disaster – Some say its God’s tears; some say it’s just natural.

I want to enjoy the rain like I used to. Now I can’t cause the rain drives me out from my house. Dark clouds and floods never frighten me. But it’s the people I love driven from their house that put me in misery.

May I have the power to reach up and pull ourselves to the sky. Only by then I can smile… when I see the water falling from the sky.

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal - A SONG IN SUNDAY AFTERNOON

2009-05-25T00:33:00.000-07:00

The Sound Of Silence ; Simon And Garfunkel Watchmen Movie

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds
while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs
that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools said i,you do not know
Silence like a cancer
grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whispered in the sounds of silence.

- The Sound Of Silence ; Simon And Garfunkel -

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan's Journal - A PLACE TO STAY - A PLACE TO SHARE

2008-08-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

They say an art comes from the heart to the brain. If it comes just from the brain, it’ll be just logic. Our earth along with all its living beings is a work of art. It’s the art from God Himself. But what can we do as humans? – As we’re merely his work of art too…

The experts made a forecast that the ocean level will increase due to the rise of temperature of our climate. The ice will melt and many islands, cities, and nations will be threatened by massive and deadly flood. This catastrophe is close in the near future and we all know that. The question is how close and how bad?

The truth is we do not have to be an expert to be able to predict what will happen to our earth, if we still carry on living with our “poisonous” way of life. Thank God, while we’re busy destroying our own world, there are still people out there who can come up with solutions.

A Belgian architect named Vincent Callebaut managed to create ideas and put them into pictures and words. The ideas, pictures, and words turned into a project called “Lilypad a Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees”. No, it’s not a flower or a plant. It’s a gigantic amphibian city – half aquatic, half terrestrial.

This awesome floating city is said to be able to accommodate 50.000 people, pollution free, and have its own abilities to produce all the resources we need – even recycle our wastes. The design of this floating city is inspired by Amazonia Victoria Regia leaf. Imagine if we can build many of these floating Lilypad cities…

You can find further complete and reliable information about the Lilypad project by visiting http://www.vincent.callebaut.org

Will humans and nature finally manage to live in harmony? Many people think that this is an impossible project and can only exist in our dreams. But I believe that all the possible come from the impossible and the reality comes from a dream. It is about how to make the impossible become possible.

Truly an inspiration… I wonder, what can we do to help?

My Butterfly, thank you for sending me an email about this.

Ivan the Freelancer

HUMAN NATURE

2008-08-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

I say this with regrets, but it’s not human nature to forgive others. We tend to fight back rather than letting go. We say we forgive, but we don’t forget. The problem is… we tend to remember the bad things rather than the good things about what other people have done to us. Forgiving is often the hardest thing to do in life. Maybe that is the one that differentiate us from God Himself. God is merciful but we humans don’t. After all, we are only humans… Please forgive us… Forgive me too…

The war against terrorists started from a long time ago and took place almost all over the world. The big question is what triggers it in the first place? Is it really true that we are fighting the bad guys? Or maybe we are just fighting at each other? This question must be asked from both sides and both point of view.

The Kingdom tells a story about a team led by an FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) who was sent to investigate a terrorist attack at the housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Terrible bomb incidents took place at the compound and killed many locals and foreigners. Ronald Fleury took off along with his team members Agent Sykes, Janet Mayes, and Adam Leavitt on a revenge mission with an objective to find and stop the mastermind behind the bombing.

Upon arrival at Saudi Arabia, the elite team was supported by Colonel Fariz Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom). Fariz and Ronald slowly became friends and along with the team, they tried to unravel the horrors behind the bombing act. The mission got more difficult as they only had five days, given by government, to solve the case before they had to leave the city. The city was being watched. In fact their every move was being monitored. Ronald thought he only needed a Kevlar to protect his life until he realized that the city was too hostile even for an experienced FBI agent like himself. They needed full firepower just to stay alive.

This is a movie about human nature – A mixture between action, drama and politics. You will get different moral story depends from your point of view and perception. Hope you can get and absorb the positive messages from this movie.

Sometimes a war is inevitable, but a war is always useless...

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal – MATCH SELLER GIRL

2008-08-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

For some people, childhood memories never fade away. They linger but asleep. Sometimes, you remember them when you experience certain things in life – Things like a simple lunch I had at the office with my colleagues just few days ago.

Men used to smoke their cigarettes after lunch, but not me, cause I don’t smoke. Suddenly, in the middle of our conversations, there was one thing that caught my attention. A blue-and-yellow-colored matchbox full of matchsticks was laid on the table. Not many people used it nowadays because there’re so many easy-to-use lighters sold everywhere.

The match reminded me of a story that I used to listen when I was little. There was this cassette that contained a bedtime story about a little girl selling matches on a windy and snowy night – One of the saddest stories I’d ever heard in my entire life. Some of you may already hear / read about this, but let me share it anyway. There’re many versions of this story, but this is what I remember. Since it was only a cassette, you could only listen to the sound (dialogs, songs, and music). But I’ll try to tell you the story here by writing it.

It was a cold, windy and snowy night at Christmas when a little girl was walking around alone in the streets selling matches to the people around. The wind is so strong and snows fell to the ground. Nobody noticed a little girl trying her best to offer and sell matches just to get something to fill her empty stomach. Having no one to give her shelter and no home to give her warmth and comfort, she struggled to face the cold snowy night.

“Sir, will you buy these matches? Madam, please buy these matches. It can warm your body and light your fireplace at home. Please, buy one or two for your family. Does anyone need matches? ” The girl kept repeating those words but found no one who’s interested.

The night was getting late and the cold weather pierced to the bone. People started to go home and entered their houses. But the girl still could not sell even a single matchbox. She could barely walk as her stomach cried for food and her body started to weaken. She still tried to knock on doors to see if she could sell her matches. But no one wanted her matches because they had their own fireplace at their houses. They didn’t even realize that the girl was all alone and her body nearly frozen.

As the night got colder and colder, the little girl did not have anymore strength to walk further. So she tried to find a safe and warm place to get some rest. Tears fell from her eyes along with prayers that came out from her tiny frozen lips. “I’m dreaming of a warm house, full of food. God, I’m so cold and hungry.”

Suddenly, she had an idea to use her own matches to warm up her own body. She pulled one matchstick from the box and lighted it up. The fire emerged from the match but quickly washed away by the cold wind. “Oh, still cold, I’ll try to light three matchsticks all at once.” The little girl said. The fire quickly lighted up the matchsticks finally giving her warmth. The warm sensation brought up pleasant memories throughout her life – But not for long because her body started to freeze again as the matchsticks were burnt up.

One last hope, she tried to light up all of her matches. The fire gave her warmth that made her smile. It was a sad smile, knowing that no more matches left. “God, I’m so cold and hungry… Cold… Hungry…”

As the last match was burnt up, she fell to the ground. “I’m so sleepy… so sleepy.” Soon enough, she had visions – Visions of her grandmother who actually had passed away long ago, standing at a nice place with lots of food and warmth. “Grandma, is that you? Oh grandma, please take me with you… I am so cold…”

The little girl finally fell asleep and had the most beautiful dream ever. It’s a dream where she was with her grandmother – the person who truly loves her. They flew to a place, full of warmth and delicious food. She felt warm and happy – Little did she know it was a sleep that she would never wake up again.

In the next morning, people found her frozen body lying on the street with burnt matches scattered around her. Her heart stopped beating but there was a smile on her face. She’s now on a place far away from here… Sleep well little girl, no more hunger, no more pain – you won’t need anymore matches…

Ivan the Freelancer

THE WORLD IS YOURS

2008-07-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

There is a thin line between “passion” and “ambition”. Passion is usually driven by heart and mostly ends up great. On the other hand, ambition is usually driven by lust and mostly ends up in disaster. His name was Tony Montana (Al Pacino), but the world knew him as the Scarface. Being a powerful gangster who succeeded in reaching the American Dream, there’re lots of things we could learn from him. Don’t forget that we can learn not only from the wise or the successful, but also from the wicked or from the one who had shattered life.

This fantastic movie by Brian De Palma tells a story about a Cuban refugee named Tony Montana along with his close friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) who managed to set their feet in the United States. It’s the land where millions of opportunities awaited. They started a small time job together until they were hired by Omar Suarez, who happened to be in the dirty business, to do a dangerous job. Unfortunately the job went wrong but Tony and Manny managed to get away with lots of money and succeeded in accomplishing their mission. Omar’s boss, Frank Lopez was very pleased with Tony’s work and recruited him along with Manny to work for him.

The path in the dirty business went smooth for Tony and he quickly climbed to the top with lots of money filling his pockets. Manny seemed satisfied with the current condition, but apparently Tony had something else on his mind. He wanted more… and more… He wanted what’s coming to him, the world, and everything in it – truly a big ambition for small time gangster like him at that time.

But Tony found his way around pretty fast. He even had many quarrels with his boss, Frank, cause he always chose to play safe. So Tony began to take decisions by himself and set his eyes on the pretty but dangerous Elvira Hancock (Michelle Pfeiffer) for a wife. Finally when his boss gave orders to Tony, he replied, “The only thing in this world that gives orders is “Balls”. Do you have “Balls?” What happened next is only for you to see…

Tony’s power began to grow, and so did his ego and paranoia. Could he handle “The world and everything in it”? The man who wants too much may not get what he really wants. But a man who wants too little might not get anything at all… How about you? Do you really want to get the world and everything in it?

Ivan the Freelancer

PANDAMONIUM

2008-06-23T23:08:00.001-07:00

Po is cute and sweet… Po is clumsy but adorable… Po wears tight shorts and has a big tummy… He is a fat panda who has a talent that only the wise can discover. Being a panda, Po loves to eat a lot and sleep a lot. He lived and ran a restaurant selling noodles with his dad – Although they don’t look like father and son physically, but they surely have emotional bonds toward each other. Po makes me laugh a lot with his big butt and wacky face expressions.

Po had a dream to become a master of kung fu. As we all know, all things start from a dream. One day, Po heard a news that Master Oogway the turtle was about to choose someone to become a Dragon Warrior in a competition held in the Jade Temple. So, he brought his big butt and tummy to the Jade Temple high up the hills. Po always wanted to go there so that he could see the competition and his great kung fu idols, the Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey) – All trained by the famous kung fu master named Shifu.

Shifu with his big-fluffy-furry tail believed that one of the Furious Five would be chosen to become the Dragon Warrior. But Master Oogway had another thing in his head when he saw Po fell down from the sky with a chair full of firecrackers. Everybody dropped their jaws as Oogway with his sleepy eyes pointed Po to become a Dragon Warrior instead of the Furious Five. Everybody thought Oogway was crazy. How could a big fat panda who couldn’t even see his own feet become a Dragon Warrior?

Nearly at the same time, a bad and savage kung fu master, the snow leopard named Tai Lung escaped from his prison and demanded revenge for his exile. Tai Lung was very powerful and his skills in kung fu were superior. The Dragon Warrior was the only one who could defeat Tai Lung, and that choice had been put to Po the Panda by Master Oogway. Being the wisest of all, Oogway could somehow see the hidden talent in Po that everyone else couldn’t see.

Time was running out, as Master Shifu had to give everything he got to train Po, the fat and clumsy Kung Fu Panda into a Dragon Warrior in order to defeat Tai Lung. In the middle of desperation between Shifu and Po, Oogway told them the most precious lessons ever – that they only had to believe. Shifu and Po finally managed to believe, but was it enough to defeat the mighty Tai Lung?

Sweet Po gives us lots of fun and laughter – and we should remember him as a kung fu panda who could reach his dream – simply because he believes in it. Po also tells us that there is no secret recipe to become what we want to be. There is only us and what we do…

This is the first animation movie that I write in my blog. Is this a coincidence? No, there is no coincidence – Like Master Oogway used to say with his sleepy eyes, “There is no coincidence”.

Ivan the Freelancer

LONG WINTER

2008-06-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Narnia is a place where the animals can speak, where the winter and summer can appear in the same time, and where dreams and magic can come true. But this world can only be seen by those who believe. As we all already aware of, that besides us humans, there’re also other living beings that walk the earth. What makes us more superior than those other living beings? In this movie, the humans as the sons of Adam’s became an important part in the survival of Narnia from its long-cold-freezing winter curse.

The story of Narnia is based on a classic novel by CS Lewis. Four kids – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) – were sent and evacuated to another place by their mother, in order to avoid the war which took place in their homeland. Little did they knew, that they would face another war which was far more dangerous and epic in another world called Narnia. They were evacuated to a house of a mysterious professor. The house was huge but they found it dull and boring – until Lucy found a magical wardrobe that could bring them to a mystical land called the Narnia.

The world of Narnia was not able to celebrate Christmas for a hundred years and the cold winter covered it with chilling snow. The source of the curse came from a White Witch named Jadis (Tilda Swinton) who was powerful enough to freeze almost the whole part of Narnia. Yet, a small area remained at summer and the forest was still covered with green trees. The forest was dwelled by the living beings who survive from the winter – the defender of Narnia – led by a wise lion named Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).

The prophecy said that if the four sons of Adam’s came to the world of Narnia, then the battle to defeat the evil witch would come. Apparently Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were the chosen ones in order to lead an army to defeat the army of Jadis the White Witch, and banished her for good. It seemed that the mighty Aslan and his army were powerful enough to bring Jadis’ curse to an end. But why did they need humans – the sons of Adam’s anyway? Let it remain a question for you until you see this movie.

Narnia tells us a clear message that humans are needed in order to bring peace and harmony to the world – any world that we live in. But look at what we do to the nature as humans nowadays. We create so many chaos and destruction. There’re too many “white witches” in this world today.

Nature and animals have the ability to heal or recover themselves, but they cannot save this world alone. They need us humans to help them. The nature calls for our help to restore the once prosperous and fertile land back to one piece – All for our own sake.

Ivan the Freelancer

LOVE BETWEEN TWO REALMS

2008-06-16T00:41:00.000-07:00

They say love knows no border, distance, or limit – even beyond death. Although love can die or wither, the good news is love can also remain no matter what happen in the physical world. The proof is love will still be there although your loved ones are not. Although love can be painful, but it is actually the one that makes you feel alive. This is especially true in this movie called Ghost.

Sam (Patrick Swayze) had a great job at the local bank and his fiancée named Molly (Demi Moore) worked as an artist making ceramics. They were a happy couple who fell deeply in love. Things went fine as they walked the streets in Manhattan. But one day, when they strolled home from a movie theatre, they ran into a mugger named Willie Lopez. Sam tried to overcome the situation but got murdered. The shot from Willie’s gun instantly killed Sam on the spot.

Sam chased Willie, but Willie managed to escape. Sam ran back to check on Molly if she’s alright. But when he got to Molly, he found her crying while holding his body on the street. How come he could see his own body being held by Molly while he was standing next to her? At that time, Sam realized a horrible truth – which he was dead, and now he had become a ghost.

As a ghost, Sam couldn’t be seen, heard, and touched by the living. On the other hand, he could not travel to another place that he was supposed to be after death either. His love on Molly somehow held him in this world. Not just that, Sam realized that Molly’s life was in danger. So he decided to become her protector.

Being a ghost, Sam couldn’t communicate like any other human beings. But fate led him to a woman who happened to be a spiritualist named Oda Mae Brown (Whoopie Goldberg). Oda could somehow communicate with Sam only by hearing his voices. Sam tried his best to be with Molly and protect her from harm through Oda. But could he do it? – As time was running out for Molly.

Love is a mystery – Cannot be explained by words and can only be felt by heart – Although it can be expressed in many forms. It maybe easy to be loved, but it’s never easy to love someone else. To love means to have each other and to be with each other – no matter what the obstacles and problems are.

Ivan the Freelancer

FALLING STAR

2008-06-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

This is a story about stars, what they do, and how to find one. People often assume stars as something they’d like to pursue. Stars can be referred as hopes, dreams, destinations, or maybe our loved ones. You see them twinkling at night and yet you wonder what they really are. Stars are mysterious – as mysterious as our destinies. We should all pursue our stars, or maybe wait until they fall upon us.

Stardust tells a story about a man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) who was asked to get a star by a girl he loved named Victoria (Sienna Miller), and brought it to her. How can a man reach a star and bring it to the woman he loves? So Tristan ventured on a journey in order to get the star that was said had fallen from the sky. The truth was Victoria didn’t love Tristan so she made what seemed to be an impossible request for him. That’s the only way Tristan could get Victoria to marry him.

It was not difficult for Tristan to find the falling star, but the real problem was to keep it. How come it’s difficult to keep a falling star? Was it too big or maybe too hot? No… It’s because the falling star surprisingly turned out to be a beautiful maiden named Yvaine (Claire Daines). Having no choice, Tristan had to bring Yvaine to Victoria as a proof that he had found the star. But Yvaine was not a “thing” – She was a living human beings. Tristan couldn’t “bring” a girl to another girl just like that.

To make matters more complicated, it’s not only Tristan who was pursuing the falling star. A cruel and powerful witch named Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) desperately searched Yvaine because she needed Yvaine’s heart to make her body became young again. On the other hand, there were also sons from a dead king who were eager to take the throne of the Stormhold Kingdom also looked for Yvaine, because she possessed the evil ruby stone required to gain the throne.

Everybody wanted to get their hands on Yvaine, the falling star. But who would make it until the end? It’s hard to reach the stars at the sky, but keeping a falling star was not easy either. As they say, it’s hard to reach your hopes and dreams, but when you do reach them, it’s even harder to keep them. All stars are able to perform their best talent, that’s to glow and shine – But their light may attract many. Would Tristan managed to “keep” Yvaine? Did he get the star that’s truly meant for him?

Every journey gives us life experiences and we will never be the same person again as before. Every life experiences change our life and hopefully to a better state. In order to reach our own stars, we all have to venture on a journey in our life. A journey that hopefully will take you to a destination you’ve wished for.

Sometimes we fight for ourselves, sometimes we fight for others. So girls, if you ever request your man to get you a star, be very sure you’re there when he returns… Otherwise he will find “another star” instead.

Ivan the Freelancer

THE RABBIT’S FOOT - Mission: Impossible III

2008-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Some people say that it’s impossible to have a normal life if you work as a secret agent in a covert organization such as IMF. But this is Mission Impossible and I say nothing is impossible. Ethan Hunt finally found a girl of his dream and planned to get married. Nobody in the family knew or realized that Hunt was working for the IMF. The upcoming family matters would require him to reduce his role as a secret agent and became a trainer for new agents instead.

One night, when having a party with the family, duty suddenly called him to accept one of the most dangerous missions throughout his career. Between the job and the family, he must save his marriage and also accomplish the mission. He finally chose to accept the mission in order to save his former student named Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell).

Lindsey was captured by an international arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – one of the most cunning villains Hunt had ever faced. This time Hunt was backed up by a solid team – but the question was how long could he keep his identity as a secret? – As Davian would try anything to strike Hunt back and also hurt the people he loves most.

The situation got worse when Hunt was able to catch Davian alive, but Davian managed to escape on the way back to IMF. There’re always many surprises in Mission Impossible and it seemed that you almost couldn’t trust anyone. Hunt faced a situation he feared most where Davian managed to overcome the situation by putting Hunt on a disadvantage.

Hunt always had balls to risk his own life to the very limit – But could he do the same with his loved one Julia (Michelle Monaghan)? The more Hunt tried to defeat Davian, the more dangerous Julia’s life would become. Between Hunt, Davian, and Julia stood a mysterious thing called the Rabbit’s Foot. What’s Rabbit Foot? It was a very important thing for Hunt in order to rescue Julia from Davian.

This impossible mission is packed with great actions as usual. Could Hunt and Julia survive until the end? But the most important question is, will there be another impossible mission for Ethan Hunt?

See also Mission: Impossible & Mission: Impossible II

Ivan the Freelancer

CHIMERA VS BELLEROPHON - Mission: Impossible II

2008-05-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

What is the deadliest weapon in the world? If your answer is biochemical, I must agree with you. Biochemical can be in the form of anything that contains living things and also chemical substances – this time, the example was a virus, which used a name of a mythology creature named Chimera.

In Greek mythology, Chimera is monster which was made of the parts of multiple animals. It’s a mixture between a lion, a snake, and a goat – very deadly creature because of its strength and fiery breath. Chimera was defeated by a hero named Bellerophon. Bellerophon managed to slay Chimera by attacking its throat from the air.

Mission: Impossible II tells a story about Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) who was on a mission to retrieve a sample of the most dangerous virus called Chimera and also the antidote to neutralize Chimera’s effect called Bellerophon. In order to do this, Hunt would need help from a highly-skilled thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton). Hunt had little time to waive his charm and prove himself worthy in the eyes of Nyah to recruit her in this mission.

Chimera virus or substance was able to kill a person in just few hours after infection. It’s even more dangerous if it’s released in the open air as it could infect all people within a vast radius. On the other hand, Bellerophon was the cure that was able to neutralize the diseases caused by Chimera.

Retrieving the Chimera and Bellerophon would not be easy as a ruthless terrorist and criminal mastermind Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) stood in the way. Things got more complicated when the trust and love sparks between Hunt and Nyah had to be put to the test, because Nyah had to play as Ambrose’s lover in order to accomplish the mission.

Mission Impossible always reminds me the importance of teamwork. Whether how many people are involved, teamwork always make the impossible become possible. Hunt tried not to put Nyah’s life in danger, but he didn’t have any choice but to let her risk her own life. Would they finally able to maintain trust and save each other’s life?

Mission Impossible is never simple but it’s always exciting and enjoyable. Hunt said to his boss when discussing the mission, “It will be difficult”. The boss replied, “Well Hunt, this is mission impossible, not mission difficult. Difficult will be a walk in the park for you”.

See also Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 3…

Ivan the Freelancer

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE - Mission Impossible

2008-05-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

To do the impossible mission, you’ll need an impossible team with impossible characters. Mission Impossible is very “classic” to me as I used to watch its TV version when I was little. The most familiar scene in my memory is the one-sided-conversation between a tape and a person named Jim. It always goes like this, “Good morning Jim… bla bla blaa… as always, should you or any other IM Force is caught or killed, we will disavow all of your actions. This tape will self destruct in five seconds. Good luck Jim.” Then Poof… smoke comes out from the burned tape, followed by that one and only “Mission Impossible soundtrack”.

Every Mission Impossible movies always come with unique scenarios and dangerous-thrilling-impossible missions. This big screen series is no exception either – this time it’s directed by Brian De Palma. Unlike James Bond who always work alone, these people always work as a team – as you know, working as a team has its own art and rules. This movie surely tells us to work smart – not hard.

Although Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) played an important role in the organization, the movie focuses its attention on a character named Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as one of the IMF member. Hunt always play as a lead point in the missions – meaning he’ll be the one who face the most dangerous situations due to his excellent trainings and skills.

Trust, cooperation, and reliability are the number one traits that everyone should have in teamwork – but how about if there was no longer trust between the members? This is what happened in Mission Impossible 1, where the mission went sour and everyone had lost trust to each other.

Ethan Hunt was accused for the failure of the very important mission. Racing against time and his enemies, Hunt must find the real bastard without the help from his own organization. Few remaining IMF members still survive although in “disavowed” status, but could Hunt trust them? – And who to trust when everyone’s life was at stake?

Hunt tried to prove that although teamwork was very important, he was no less cunning and dangerous when working solo. It is Mission Impossible… But I believe nothing is impossible…

See also Mission Impossible 2 and Mission Impossible 3...

Ivan the Freelancer

COMING HOME - The Bourne Ultimatum

2008-05-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Bourne was tired… He’s tired of running… This time, he decided to strike back. It wouldn’t be easy, as his enemies would do anything in their power to stop Bourne from learning his true identity. The movie about a man who tried so hard to learn from his past just get more and more exciting with realistic fighting scenes, high speed car chases, and more importantly – interesting plots and great storyline.

As you watch this movie, be prepared not to miss the scenes even in a split second because everything moves with high speed – including the conversations. Also be careful not to let your eyes got to close to the screen as the scenes moved in a fast and quick rhythm and might make you feel a bit queasy. It seems like many scenes were taken using hand-held camera techniques, which produces rather shaky but terrific images / shots.

Bourne managed to eliminate few main actors in the agency in the previous series. But the true criminal mastermind hid himself behind the mask of CIA agency. As you can see from the previous series, not all people wanted Bourne dead. This time he got people helping him – although that didn’t seem to make his missions became less challenging.

The matters became more complicated as the news about Bourne’s runaway had somehow reached the press. A reporter knew too much about the case (Blackbriar) and his life was also threatened. Unfortunately, the reporter had an important clue about Bourne’s progress in uncovering the criminal mastermind. It would not be easy, as Bourne had to face the most deadly and well trained assassins, ready to pop his head.

I definitely should not tell you about the ending of this movie, as it will ruin your fun of watching it. Bourne finally learn something very important about his whole mysterious past – At last, it had come to a one big conclusion for him. Alone and still on the run… Is there going to be another Bourne’s movie coming up?

See also: The Bourne Identity ; The Bourne Supremacy

Ivan the Freelancer

WANTED AND HUNTED - The Bourne Supremacy

2008-05-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) thought it was over and so did the agency. Everyone thought it’s over but apparently the case was too risky to be closed, so that they opened another operation. The criminal mastermind easily conducted a legal operation (Blackbriar) to cover his previous illegal operation (Treadstone) – An operation to hunt down Bourne.

Bourne still suffered from his headache, amnesia, and terrible past. The memories about his previous missions made him restless. All he ever wanted was a normal life with his love, Marie (Franka Potente), but the agency didn’t want to leave him alone. He tried to run while protecting everything he got – until something bad happened. But Bourne proved that he’s not an easy target. Being fully aware of his skills and intelligence, Bourne tried hard to overcome the situation.

I cannot tell you much about this movie because I don’t want to reveal the surprises. Bourne learnt a lot about his past in this Supremacy series. He made many sins and mistakes – mistakes that would haunt him forever. He had a big question for himself, whether he was being brainwashed or not. It’s as if everything he had done were against his will. Something bad happened to him in the past, but he didn’t have any idea why.

Many people were involved in the agency but it turned out that not all of them had the same agenda. Few new people smelled that something was wrong but they didn’t know whether they should trust Bourne or not – and so did Bourne himself. As they say, you cannot cover the stench of a rotten fish forever.

It’s painful for Bourne to trace his identity, but he didn’t have any choice as he had to find out quickly why the agency wanted him dead. It’s a game of cats and mouse. It’s between highly-trained-hired assassins with everything to loose against a man who got nothing to loose. The movie ends with a great ending, telling there must be another Bourne movie coming up…

See also: The Bourne Identity ; The Bourne Ultimatum

Ivan the Freelancer

MEMORY LOST - The Bourne Identity

2008-05-13T19:41:00.001-07:00

Bourne movies with its sequels are fantastic. I admire Bourne as action movies because of its own uniqueness and original story – based on the International bestseller by Robert Ludlum. It’s unique because most heroes in action movies have missions given by their superiors, but not for Bourne. He made his own missions by following his instincts about his rather-forgotten-mysterious-blurry pasts. That’s right, Bourne had amnesia, and it becomes the essence of this entire movies.

One thing to remember about this movie… is that you have to see it from the beginning and from the first series. Otherwise you cannot enjoy the whole stories because unlike any other action movies, each series of the Bourne’s are related to each other… Start from The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum – See also my stories about them.

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) began his journey when found drifted and unconscious in the sea. He was rescued by one of the fishermen’s ship with two bullets planted on his back. Bourne woke up from his long sleep in a shock condition. It’s even worse that he didn’t even remember his own name. His memory was erased and now he’s walking around with amnesia and constant headaches. It’s quite spooky if you can’t remember who you are, and why you’re here.

Bourne finally made it into the city and his quest to find his true identity began. The only clue he had was from the two bullets taken out from his back. He didn’t expect the search for his identity would become very dangerous as there’re people who wanted him dead for some reasons.

Bourne soon realized that he was not an ordinary person. He is a gifted-strong-intelligent agent, has excellent fighting skills, speaks in many different languages, has great instincts to survive, and trained to be a perfect weapon. Bit by bit, little by little, and as time went by, Bourne struggled to learn about his past as he quickly harnessed his skills as a deadly agent.

The story got more exciting as Bourne met Marie Helena Kreutz (Franka Potente) who’s willing to help him. They didn’t know what they had gotten into as they tried to uncover Bourne’s clouded past. But would Marie have the nerve and courage to hang on along with Bourne?

It turned out Bourne used to work for an agency back then. The agency went corrupt and few people had to take the blame and had to be wasted in order to cover the corrupt and vile operations. It’s a high speed action and a race against time between Bourne and the people in the agency who wanted him dead.

The ending scene was great and it looked like everything went smooth for Bourne. Hmm, well… maybe not…

Ivan the Freelancer

EYES OF WATER

2008-05-08T23:15:00.001-07:00

Do you choose your own life? Sometimes we choose our own path in life, but sometimes life itself chooses you for something you’d never expect. Like it or not, we all have to survive no matter what kind of life we’re living in. There’re times when our life is drifted by current. Fighting back seems useless, and yet we follow – follow but still wary, trying to grasp everything we can to hang on and survive.

Let me share you a unique story that can only happen in Japan. Memoirs of a Geisha tell a story about a little girl named Chiyo who became a mature girl named Sayuri. It’s a journey from Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) – a cute little girl who turned into Sayuri (Zhang Ziyi) – a skilled-stunning-beautiful Geisha. Chiyo had eyes like water – the eyes which gleamed, flew, and melt the heart of anyone who saw them. I like the idea of becoming like water. Water is strong and able to make its own way no matter what, even through walls or stones. Water is flexible, able to put off fire, and even destroy steels. You can bet that women have their own powers which men can’t ever have.

Little Chiyo was taken and brought into a life she would never expected. A drastic change in her life and suddenly being taken from a normal life made her cried and became desperate. Teardrops fell from her watery eyes with empty soul and no hope… until a man named The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) caught her weeping on a bridge. The Chairman quickly brought a smile upon Chiyo’s face and all the tears stopped. Suddenly life had a purpose again and hope emerged from the heart. The real struggle was just about to begin for little Chiyo.

Some people said a mentor will come if you’re ready. That’s what happened to the young Chiyo. An experienced Geisha named Mameha (Michelle Yeoh) taught Chiyo about how to become a woman – or should I say a Geisha. Many people had mistaken the profession of a Geisha. A Geisha is not a whore or a wife. They don’t sell their bodies, but they sell skills as they should master social and artistic skills. A geisha is a walking world of art – able to grasp the attention of men in one single glance. Just like any other profession, the bad image occurred not because of the profession, but because of the bad people inside it.

Growing up was never easy and it’s even more difficult to survive at adulthood. It’s nice to be a witness of this simple but entertaining movie. Men have honors, but women also have their own. Would Sayuri a.k.a Chiyo be able to become top number one Geisha – to become a respected woman? Would the path of becoming a Geisha also bring Sayuri to her true love? It’s a contest of agony and beauty, where beauty and agony walked side by side.

If you think it’s difficult to be a man, well, it’s not easy to become a woman either. Directed by Rob Marshall, this movie told not just a story about growing up, but also the war and struggles between women, with deep love story concealed in it. What is a man without a woman, and what is a woman without a man? They’re destined to fulfill each other’s life. It’s time that man and woman walked side by side – hand in hand – not first or second.

Ivan the Freelancer

VIGILANTE

2008-05-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that you’re not someone you used to be? I felt that sometimes. As you grow up or gain experience in life, you become someone else, whether it’s the one you want or not. But you cannot be the one that you used to be. I often take it from the positive side that I become stronger and better no matter what happens.

This awesome movie called The Brave One is a mixture between psychological thriller, drama, and action. It’s wrapped up with a simple storyline but had deep and complex psychological plot to explore. The Brave One movie told a story about Erica Bain (Judie Foster) – a popular New York Radio host, who experienced a tragedy so bad that it changed her life forever.

Erica would never be the same person again as if there’s someone else living inside her. The tragedy drove her into another life but with the same daily activities. Driven by fear and anger, she strove for revenge. I’m not sure whether the fear or the anger that had bigger influence over her.

Someone told me that fear can be your deadliest weapon if you harness or grind it over and over. You cannot have courage without having the feeling of fear. Someone who is brave is not the one who is not afraid of anything. Someone who is brave is only the one who can overcome their fear.

Being restless and insecure, Erica tried to protect herself and struggle with her emotions. The cops weren’t fast enough to uncover Erica’s case as the city brought her deeper and deeper into the world of crime. As she started to deal with matters with her own way, people started noticing but had no idea about what was really happening.

The cops didn’t have any clue about Erica until one good cop; Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) put a special attention to her. They quickly became friends and had sympathy toward each other’s case. Little did they know their path would cross each other’s. Would Erica manage to handle herself before Mercer found out what was really going on? Would they end up helping each other or hurting each other instead?

Like most people said, people become a product of their environment. That’s especially true in this movie. There was a very thin line between right or wrong, and sometimes we’re trapped between them. Are you the type of person who likes to do the right thing, or do things in the right way?

Ivan the Freelancer

BULLDOG OF BERGEN

2008-04-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

When it comes to boxing, I have my own favorite movie. Cinderella Man is not just about boxing; it’s also lessons about life. I don’t know why they call this movie Cinderella Man, but same like Cinderella story, this movie surely inspires a lot of people. Directed by Ron Howard and based on the extraordinary true story, the movie tells us about a man who fight for the sake of his family. I am more than happy to be able to share its story with all of you.

The country was in financial crisis and things didn’t go well for most people. It was a time of struggle and desperation in New Jersey – in 1933 – 4 years into the Great Depression. Poverty and unemployment were so high; many businesses went bankrupt, and even the Wall Street crumbled.

It was a tough time for everyone, including for a man named James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) who lived with his wife May (Renee Zellweger), two sons, and a daughter. They nearly lost everything and Braddock had to rely on his only talent to survive – Boxing. Things began to get worse when Braddock had few injuries – a broken hand; his boxing license was taken out, and couldn’t afford to pay the bills for their house.

Braddock and his family almost lost hope. They counted every last dime in order to survive. Braddock’s work at the harbor was not enough to fill their hungry stomachs. This tragedy touched the heart of Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti). Joe was Braddock’s manager and trainer. They’re best friends. It was Joe who somehow managed to bring Braddock back into the ring. Not only that, Braddock got a chance of a lifetime to win the heavyweight title.

It’s not easy for Braddock to convince May as they faced a dilemma. The risks were too high for winning the heavyweight title as Braddock had to face the most dangerous opponents in the process. Losing the fight could mean death as there’re already two boxers who got killed in the ring – detached brains the doctor said.

When there’s no money to pay the bills, no heater to warm their cold bodies, and no food to fill their empty stomachs, the only thing they could rely on was the fact that they still had each other. Braddock was no super boxer who could easily win every fight. He took punches by punches, injuries by injuries, as he remembered his family waiting at home for good news. As he faced nasty and dangerous opponents, the hearts that awaited him at home was the only thing that kept him standing in the ring.

James J. Braddock may be called a Cinderella Man, but he surely ain’t no Cinderella when he fights on the ring. It’s a movie full of joy but also tears – full of glory but also sweat and blood. Be sure you learn from it.

Ivan the Freelancer

JAKE LA MOTTA

2008-04-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

People said that boxing is the most basic element of martial arts. It becomes the essence of all martial arts. The other martial arts are just the extension or development from it. Most people will remember Rocky as a movie about boxing. But I have my own movie when it comes to boxing. One of them is Raging Bull, which is directed by Martin Scorsese. (See also my other story – Cinderella Man).

Raging Bull focuses its story on a man named Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) about his life and also his boxing career. Compared to Cinderella Man, Raging Bull has a contrast story when you see it from the angle of the boxer’s character and their families.

Jake La Motta didn’t seem to have any critical money or financial problems. In fact, you can say that he lived with above average lifestyle from any other people at that time (the year of 1980). The problems about Jake were his psychological complexities and violent behavior, not just inside the ring, but also outside the ring. He often felt paranoid and jealous about anything around him.

For a boxer, Jake didn’t have huge body postures like one would imagine. His body was just an average size like any other people around him. But his ability and strength couldn’t be taken lightly. Raging Bull was a perfect name for him as he always raged and charged like a bull. He was a deadly and dangerous boxer.

He had quite successful boxing career and wealth although his life and family were often torn apart as he raged not only in the ring, but also raged against his families and surroundings. I believe we can all learn from any kind of situations, whether it’s good or bad. Raging Bull can give inspirations to all of us about how tough it is to control our temper.

If you like to watch a hot-tempered bull, great boxing, hectic families and sarcastic dialogs, then you must watch Raging Bull. But I strongly suggest that you also see my story about Cinderella Man and watch it for comparison and for more complete inspirations.

Ivan the Freelancer

SYSTEMS DOWN - Die Hard 4

2008-04-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

Die Hard 4 had arrived. It’s time to buy lots of popcorns and hit the theatres! Looking at the posters, I knew that Die Hard 4 would deliver some new actions. Well, at least I knew something was new even before watching it. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is now bald (a.k.a no hair) and he got himself a pretty but stubborn daughter, Lucy McClane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). McClane looks a bit old but wiser – and he doesn’t get any less dangerous.

Time and technology had advanced very quickly. This time McClane had to face a young-geek-genius terrorist. The mastermind named Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) with IT background formerly did a government project and accidentally found a weak spot in the system. But instead of reward, he got fired instead. He was furious and declared a cyber war against the government. He threatened to paralyze all the computer systems and send us all back to the Stone Age.

Apparently, he was not working alone. Few great hackers were hired to penetrate the system and few mercenary also hired to do the other dirty works. Suddenly, Thomas was able to take control of the whole IT system in the city, from the traffic lights until the security social numbers. The city quickly turned to chaos with all computer system and electricity down. The stock market went berserk, the traffic went nuts and accidents occurred everywhere.

In the last critical moment, McClane was able to save one of the hacker named Matt Farrell (Justin Long) who unfortunately didn’t have any clue of what he’s doing. The rest of the hackers were killed by explosions from their own computers for the purpose of eliminating evidences. Matt Farrell was the only hope of tracing the terrorists’ motives and movement.

McClane found himself in trouble again as he had to protect the hacker, save his daughter Lucy, and whoop the bad guys’ asses. Not to mention McClane’s relationship with his daughter Lucy didn’t go very well either. McClane didn’t even know how to operate the computers but tried his best to prove that the cyber disasters could also be solved by wits, guns and muscles.

Could the combination of wits, cunning, muscles, and geeks be able to bring the systems back to normal from the hands of a cyber psychopath? Watch and learn… Yippe Kay Yay, You M!@#$%^&*!

Ivan the Freelancer

SIMON SAID - Die Hard 3

2008-04-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

Die Hard certainly deserve the reputation to be called one of the best action movies. Die Hard 3 is not just a comeback of the heroic cop John McClane, it gets even better since the last ones. The story and McClane’s life develops to deliver another great episode of Die Hard. What is a hero without a villain? If there’s no villain, there will be no hero. It’s also the villain with his hidden motive and twisted mind, which make this movie even more exciting.

A lunatic psychopath who called himself Simon (Jeremy Irons) started his action by blowing up a store in one of the New York City’s location. He surely got the polices’ attention after that. As the chief of police spoke to him, Simon said that he wanted John McClane to play a game with him – A deadly game we all knew that someone would get his ass kicked – Otherwise he would blow up another place in the city.

The police quickly searched for McClane and found him in a rather messy-fucked-up condition. It appeared that his life was not well and his marriage was in chaos… again. McClane was tired and had a bad headache. One thing he didn’t realize that he would be having a really bad day soon enough.

Nobody knew why Simon was so pissed with McClane. Even McClane himself couldn’t tell why. Simon wanted to play with him, asked him to do stupid and dangerous things. A failure in doing the tasks meant another explosion in public places. McClane and the police didn’t have any choice but to play along, hoping that some clues about Simon would be revealed during the process.

This time McClane was not alone. He got himself a black civilian from the Harlem named Zeus as a partner (Samuel L. Jackson) – Or should I say, an unwilling partner because he was taken by force. Zeus got involved as he was trying to reason with McClane when he saw McClane did a very stupid-crazy thing – Yeah, you should see what he did and why. Simon preferred to call the black Harlem guy “The Black Samaritan” and asked him – or should I say forced him to play along with McClane.

So the New York City became their playground as Simon gave McClane and Zeus many tasks, which they had to complete within impossible time limits. Who the heck was Simon anyway? What did he really want and why he was so pissed with McClane? Well, you should be surprise as you follow the story that Simon’s twisted mind was not the only problem, but also his hidden motives. Would McClane and Zeus be able to outsmart him? They’re very tired and angry but they were as amusing as their funny and hilarious dialogs filled every scene. Yeah… Yippe Kay Yay… You M !@#$%^&*()_!

Ivan the Freelancer

DIE HARDER - Die Hard 2

2008-04-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Die Hard 2 had been released and I couldn’t wait to share the exciting stories of watching it with all of you. My heroic cop hero is back with his bad ass kickin’ attitude as he once again had to face terror on the cold winter Christmas holiday. Yippe Kay Yay,… and let the story begins.

It was another Christmas for John McClane, and apparently became his next thrilling but deadly adventures. A group of terrorists led by a military renegade had seized an international airport. The problem was they also took thousands of travelers as hostages.

The terrorists had important missions, which were to save a drug lord, rendezvoused at the airport, and escaped together. They had prepared, planned and executed their actions perfectly, but one thing slipped their attention. John McClane was in the same airport, waiting for his wife who was on a plane taken as a hostage. He was again off-duty but his instinct as a cop clearly told him that something had terribly gone wrong.

It was a cold and chilling winter night where John McClane found himself in the same situation like before – A one man army who had to face the fully equipped and deadly terrorists. The planes couldn’t land as the runway and the airport was paralyzed and the electricity was down. They had no choice but to circle the airport as they faced death because the planes were slowly running out of fuels.

Being alone with limited resource and racing against time, McClane had to deal with the airport’s bureaucracy and the ruthless terrorists’ army in order to secure the runway. It’s another desperate survival attempt on a Christmas holiday in order to celebrate the next one…

Ivan the Freelancer

NAKATOMI INCIDENT - Die Hard 1

2008-04-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

If I think about action movies, Die Hard will always crossed my mind. It’s one of my most favorite action movies that can really conclude the meaning of suspense, thriller, and heart pounding into one simple word, “Entertaining”. It’s the most realistic action movie with great stories too.

Die Hard with all of its sequels and stories never disappoint me – Plus the legendary cunning character of John McClane (Bruce Willis) against different outstanding villains in every sequel. Another good thing is you don’t have to watch Die Hard according to the sequence / order (start from Die Hard 1). Even if you watch it in random order, you can still enjoy and understand the stories. Directed by John McTiernan, the legend started on Die Hard 1, which took place at Nakatomi Plaza building, Los Angeles.

The best thing about John McClane is he ain’t no top special agents or a super-cop. He’s just a New York City Detective who always happens to be in a wrong place and in the wrong time. He is a simple-but-dedicated detective who often find himself in twisted and dangerous situations - Always do his missions with limited resources and limited time as he faces the most sadistic and deadly criminals.

One day, he arrived at Los Angeles to celebrate a Christmas Holiday with his wife Holly Gennero (Bonnie Bedelia). McClane didn’t have any trouble finding Holly in the Nakatomi Plaza building. The problem was their marriage was in trouble and they didn’t get along really well. Their sweet meeting quickly became sour.

A party was being held in the building and McClane was told to wait inside until the party was over. One thing that they didn’t know was that a group of terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) managed to slip inside and took control of the building. They had seized the building and taken all people as hostages. All but one man named John McClane who managed to slip away unnoticed.

Hans and his goons thought they had taken control of the situations. But they never knew that John McClane alone could bring them so much trouble. McClane was on a vacation and an off-duty cop, but he didn’t have any choice. He was alone, in a bad mood, and trapped in the life and death situation. The only choice he had was to fight back or die.

McClane started his own-one-man-army war, armed with only a handgun and his wits, against fully equipped terrorists. Watch as the Nakatomi building became their playground. It was a terrible Christmas holiday for McClane and Holly, but they had to survive in order to celebrate the next Christmas. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

Ivan the Freelancer

THE NYMPH

2008-04-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Do you read bedtime stories before going to bed? Do you like to share bedtime stories with your children before they go to bed? Well, if you happen to run out of fairy tales, this story about the Lady in the Water can be a good alternative for a nice lullaby. The movie seems like a mixture between drama, thriller, and comedy.

The world of men and the world of sea creatures were used to be linked. The sea creatures used to tell prophecies about the future and men listened. The prophecies would all came true. But later men were overcome by greed and selfishness that brought them further to the land and became separated from the sea creatures. The sea creatures tried to reach us but we wouldn’t listen. The world of men became more and more violent. They got trapped into endless wars and fights – Yet the sea creatures didn’t stop trying… trying to reach us.

The beautiful creatures of the sea were usually brought by the great giant mystical eagle to our world and back to their home world. But they couldn’t roam the land freely, as dangerous and vicious wolves prowled everywhere and tried to destroy them. One day, the sea creatures tried once again to reach us humans. The men just needed to be reminded a little as they had forgotten about how to listen…

That is the introduction that I summarized from the movie of Lady in the Water, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This is a bedtime story about a beautiful nymph from the ocean named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) that happened to arrive and stay inside a swimming pool in an apartment complex. The occupants of the apartment seemed to play an important role for the nymph so that she could complete her mission.

Mr. Cleveland Heep (played by Paul Giamatti) was the manager of The Cove Apartment who found Story for the first time. They’re both strangers to one another, but it didn’t take a long time for them to get to know each other. Story said that she had to go home but it would be very dangerous because the evil wolves were lurking nearby, ready to kill her whenever possible.

Mr. Heep tried to learn and understand about Story and her world, which was apparently beyond or outside ours. As he dived deeper into the mystery, he realized that Story would need help from the other occupants in the apartment.

I won’t ruin your curiosity by telling the whole story in here. I leave it all to you to discover it by yourself so all of you can sleep well with sweet or scary dreams. Good night…

Ivan the Freelancer

THE THREE MIRACLES

2008-04-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

A man who had terrible childhood memories and had no real identity traveled the world claiming himself as Simon Templar (Played by Val Kilmer). Yet no one knew his real name or his true identity. Being a talented spy, master of disguise, and one of the most successful thieves, Simon was hired by certain people to perform dangerous tasks. Directed by Phillip Noyce, The Saint is able to bundle the elements of love story, action, and thriller into one great movie.

Simon always showed up with different identities, had names taken from Catholic Saints, and even spoke with different accents. His unpleasant childhood memories when he was an orphan boy hunted him forever. He refused to stay and study with a priest who was not nice to him. One night, he decided to escape with a name of Simon Templar, the magician who was always escaping since then.

Escaping was Simon’s specialty with a purpose of performing his talents as a thief until his bank account reached a number of 50 million dollars. It’s an amount which he preferred as a goal to a perfect retirement. He never realized that he was about to experience 3 miracles… Miracles that would make his life complete.

Simon’s missions finally brought him to Russia, where he must face Ivan Tretiak (Played by Rade Serbedzija), who was a Russian mafia who gave Simon a simple task. Simon was supposed to steal a formula of Cold Fusion. Cold Fusion was a very precious formula, which was developed by a young and lovely scientist Dr. Emma Russell (Played by Elisabeth Shue). The formula was said to be capable of producing energy by using only a few gallons of water. The energy, which was useful for all countries and would make the seller and the inventor, became a billionaire.

Simon did his magic works and finally managed to steal the Cold Fusion formula from Emma and delivered it to Ivan Tretiak. But something went wrong as the formula didn’t work and the money didn’t reach Simon’s bank account. The story got more interesting as Simon and Emma got deeply in love and Tretiak had his own plan for dealing with them.

Tretiak turned out to be just a lousy bastard who was thirsty for power and money. So Simon had another thing in mind to save Emma and himself from the grasp of the most dangerous mafia in Russia. But could Emma trust a man who had no real name, a man who stole from her, and a man who love him? Could Simon outwit Tretiak and his powerful army while protecting Emma? Could they both finally become successful of solving the mystery of Cold Fusion? As they ventured danger together, they’re about to face the miracles… The miracles that you have to see it for yourself.

Ivan the Freelancer

BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES

2008-04-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best classic gangster movies. It’s the story about Mike Sullivan whose life were in between two families, his own and his boss’. Directed by Sam Mendes, the movie produced great visuals and music (I like the opening scenes). I enjoy looking at the view, environments, clothes, furniture, cars, and even the country sides. They’re so classic and antique.

Sullivan’s family was nothing when they’re first started. But they became something after they joined and devoted their life to John Rooney with his wealthy and powerful gangster family. Mike Sullivan was good at his job and became one of the most trusted family members.

Once you’ve become one with them, you’ll be considered their own family, their own blood. They will treat you with respect as you’re one of their family members, but you’ll have to follow certain rules and codes… Theirs. The punishment for breaking the codes and rules usually means death. It’s called “the Omerta”, which means you have broken the rules, you’re no longer become their family, and you’re dead.

Mike Sullivan had a wife and two sons. His life became messed up after his son, Michael, witnessed a terrible incident that he’s not supposed to see. Being curious of his father’s job, Michael got himself too deep into danger and knew too much. The incident brought the family into disputes. Everyone had lost their trust for Mike, and quietly planning to waste him.

Whether he decided to strike back or to run, Mike Sullivan knew that his life would be changed forever. Being hunted by his other family, he had to protect his own family before all was too late. In the end, he made a choice to escape to a place, with a ruthless assassin close to his tail… A road to Perdition, where all the things would come to a conclusion… It’s a conclusion that you have to witness for yourself.

Ivan the Freelancer

UNWORTHY SACRIFICE

2008-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

“If love is worth fighting for, it has known no greater battle than this.” The quote is true as it is in the movie of Troy, which is directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

I don’t know whether to call this a love story or a war story. Everybody knows the story about Helen of Troy. The movie had been remade so many times. This time, the title is only Troy, and the point of view is mostly from the war and battles.

The two most important things to learn from the history of Troy are the famous Trojan horse and the love story that claimed the fall of a kingdom. It’s the tragedy that claimed so many bloodsheds, lives of mighty warriors, and the fall of a kingdom, all for one thing called love (Or should I say stupidity).

Trojan horse has long become a famous term and is still used until today. Trojan is a term or terminology used to explain a trap, which is hidden or disguised as something harmless or even interesting. In the computer or Information Technology field for example, Trojan means a virus or a dangerous destructible codes, which is disguised in the form of harmless files, such as pretty pictures or even interesting commercials.

There was a kingdom so powerful and never been defeated in battle because of its strong defenses. No one had ever managed to break the defenses of Troy. One of the Trojan princes named Paris (Played by Orlando Bloom) fell in love with Helen (Played by Diane Kruger), Queen of Sparta. He managed to persuade her to leave her husband Menelaus and brought her along to Troy.

Menelaus found out that his wife left him and got really pissed. The thing that Helen was taken by the Trojans flamed up his anger. Menelaus asked his brother Agamemnon to help him win Helen back. Agamemnon saw this as an opportunity not just to take Helen back, but also the opportunity to defeat Troy and gained more power. There’s a perfect excuse and reason for him to set up a war against Troy.

So the strategies, tactics, troops, and armies were assembled. It’s Agamemnon with an ambition of power and territory, and Menelaus with an ambition of winning back his wife. One of the biggest and most bloody war in history were about to begin between the Greeks and the Trojans.

Between the Greek and the Trojans stood one mighty hero named Achilles (Played amazingly by Brad Pitt). Some said he was half God and half human because he couldn’t be wounded by normal weapons and never been defeated in battles. When he was little, he was baptized with his whole body dipped into the water with up side down body position. That was believed to be his source of power and immunities. But unfortunately, a part of his leg didn’t get dipped by the water because the man who’s holding him didn’t lower Achilles’ body deep enough. So his weakness was said to be around his ankle and feet.

Achilles didn’t believe all of those stories and his past. His self confidence and superior battle skills were the things that made him invincible. He had his own small but loyal and powerful army called the Myrmidons. Whenever there’re combats and battles, he’s the one who always charges first. He was a leader who led at the front. He bowed to no kings. He served to no kingdom. The reason he joined battles was because he wanted to as he fought only for himself and Greece. Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, was a very close friend of Achilles. He was the one who managed to convince Achilles to join the war for Greece as Greece would definitely needed help from a warrior like him. The battle would never be forgotten.

Achilles had to decide whether he wanted to join the war against Troy. The temptations of glory hunted him as he was born for wars. It’s in his blood with talents and power to win battles. People would tell stories of his victories and hear his name even long after he was gone. That was the choice he made… So the Greeks set off with 1,000 ships, 50,000 Greek soldiers, along with Achilles and his Myrmidon army. They’re about to face the great fortress of Troy with all its best Trojan warriors, including Prince Hector (Played by Eric Bana) who was said to be stronger than any other Greek’s warriors.

For those who know the history of Troy, they will surely know how the story ends. The clash between two kingdoms was inevitable. All because of one stupid prince who took someone’s wife and one king with bloodthirsty ambition to rule the world. You will also understand what a Trojan horse is and how it works. Maybe the song who sings “Too much love will kill you” is right after all...

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan's Journal - MARTHA STEWART LIVING

2008-04-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Few days had passed since the monthly meeting in my office discussing the next topic for our favorite magazine, Marketing Magazine. The topic for April 2008 was about Top Female Marketers. It’s always exciting to talk about women as we came up with a list of powerful women who made it to the top position of their career. I was just finishing few articles and updating our company’s website, www.marketing.co.id, when my boss suddenly called. He asked me to write an article about Martha Stewart.

I knew very little about Martha Stewart and had to find lots of references before I could begin writing about her. All I know, Martha was good at cooking and making recipes. But the more I explored her stories and experiences, the more I admire this great woman. I want to share my stories about her for you, here in my blog, if you didn’t have time to read the Marketing Magazine before.

“I’ve always felt that life should be an adventure. Everyday should be important.” That’s a great quote I found from this multi-talented woman who’s also a great cook.

Born with the name Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941, she began her adventure in the industrial area in New Jersey, United States. Being the first daughter of six children, Martha grew up in a modest-middle-class family background. Her mother worked as a school teacher and her father worked as a salesman.

Her father, Edward, was a figure who always pushed his children to have a great and clear purpose in life. Martha’s passion in homemaking appeared since she was little. Her father taught her about gardening while her mother taught her how to cook, bake, and sew.

Barnard College in New York became a place where she studied and gained a scholarship because of her great achievements on the previous school. Martha worked as a model for extra income and felt fame for the first time.

She continued her study focusing on Chemistry. After that she moved to art, history of Europe and architecture. This was the time when she met a guy named Andrew Stewart, a law student who later became her husband. They were married when Martha was still on her second year of college. Once she graduated from college, she returned to modeling and gained success by becoming a TV commercial star for Breck, Clairol, and Lifebuoy.

In the year of 1965, Martha’s life changed. A daughter named Alexis was born and she focused on becoming a housewife, taking care of her family for 2 years. In the year of 1967, Martha tried a career as a stock broker and become quite successful in it, until she finally left the profession 6 years later.

Martha bought a farmhouse named Turkey Hill in Westport, Connecticut. Her life walked toward a new successful path since then. She and her husband ambitiously restored the farmhouse. This activity pumped Martha’s passion in house renovation and decoration.

In the year of 1976, she built a catering business in her own basement with her old friend from college. The next step was opening a retail store nearby that sold food and other supplies. The promotion strategy involved putting ads on local newspapers and also by word of mouth promotion. The efforts paid off in less than 10 years, when her activities turned into a business with 1 million dollars value!

Martha began to enter the world of publishing business. She wrote articles for New York Times and became an editor in House Beautiful. She agreed to become a co-author for a book about catering with a fashion expert named Elizabeth Hawes, which brought her to a more successful life. The name of Martha Stewart quickly became well known in the field of homemaking through her routine performance on The Today Show. It didn’t take a long time for her to become famous and created her own “brand”. She managed to turn her spirits and passion into million dollars Business Empire.

“All the things I love are what my business is all about,” says Martha who gained a successful life through homemaking business. Many great opportunities were opened in front of her eyes. She ventured into the world of video tape, CD, television, and wrote a book about cooking, baking, entertaining, homemaking, and house decoration. Through her performance in Oprah Winfrey Show, Martha was able to make her face and her brand became famous and well known to the world.

In the year of 1987, Martha signed a 5 million dollar advertising and consultation contract with Kmart and became their speaker for their home department division. In 2000, she released a book called Weddings. Ironically, the book was launched on the same day her husband sent a divorce statement. Although her personal life was in trouble, Martha didn’t let it disturb her career path.

A year later after her divorce, she launched her own premiere edition magazine called Martha Stewart Living. The magazine quickly became famous and printed more than 1 million copies. The New York Magazine declared her as “The Definitive American Woman of Our Time” in 1995.

Two years later, Martha founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), which later became the parent company of all her other businesses. In the year of 2000, MSLO managed to become a public company and entered the New York Stock Exchange. On the first day, the company scored a net value of more than 1.2 billion dollars. Now the company employed more than 650 employees and hit revenue of not less than 200 million dollars.

Unfortunately, Martha had to face a big problem in 2002. She was accused of becoming an “insider trading” and found guilty because of lying to the investigators. She was sentenced 5 months prison. She then stepped back from her position as a CEO of MSLO and the company suffered a lot because of her absence. But that was not the end of Martha Stewart.

After she was released from prison and back to the society, this “Queen of Domestic Style” managed to save her business from danger. She focused her whole energy on Martha Stewart Living, extended the contract with Kmart, worked together with Sears and started her debut on television.

She managed to reach a high rating on the television for most of her shows. After she launched her book called The Martha Rules, A Guide for Entrepreneurs on How to Start Up and Manage a Successful Business, Fortune Magazine declared her as one of the Most Powerful Women.

“Without passion, work is just a work, a chore,” says Martha. “Passion is the first and most essential ingredient for planning and beginning a business.” Martha knew her passion since she was little and felt alive when experimenting with her mom in the kitchen or when gardening with her dad at the backyard. She knew that if she wants to have a meaningful life, she will have to put her passion into her career and work.

Martha didn’t pursue money or wealth. All she wanted was to spend her time doing things that she loves most. “To become an entrepreneur, start with loving at what you do and become an expert in it.” Oh, she also has a great website and blog, www.marthastewart.com. I’m sure it would be useful for all of us. It’s truly an inspiration not only for women, but for men too. I am glad I can share it with all of you about a woman who knows so much about home and business.

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan's Journal - BEHIND THE SCOPE

2008-04-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

It was May 1998, when we suddenly had a tragic moment. It’s a tragedy that claimed not only money, but also lives. It was a hot morning when I found myself sitting at the classroom of my college. It was a strange day when things were too quiet in the morning. The class was supposed to start at 08.30, but very few people came that day. The teachers were absent and even the office boy were nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, few people were running like hell, yelling that the complex would be attacked by thieves, robbers, and pillagers. I didn’t really know what had happened, but the situation went chaotic as the country was in chaos. The televisions and radios were filled with news about riots and angry mobs who roamed the streets unleashing their anger.

Some people were even too scared to get out from the campus building. I didn’t have much time to think and rushed to save my car at the parking lot. People were running everywhere and cars drove like crazy trying to find a safe spot. There’re no visible threats yet at that time, but I didn’t want to take any risk. I hit the gas and drove my car to the residential complex, which was about 3 kilometers from my campus, followed by some of my friends and other people from the shopping mall nearby.

The residential complexes were also in panic. People were looking at each other with confusing expressions. The phone lines were busy and the sirens started to roar, meaning that we should be wary and took cover. I called my parents at home far away from my campus and they’re ok. They told me to stay here and don’t try to go home yet as the situation was still dangerous. Well, my parents were a lot safer in their house, and I was much safer in here too.

So, here I was, stuck in my boarding house / dormitory, along with some of my friends and many other local residents. The girls and women gathered in some of the houses, terrified and looked shocked. Few men were busy comforting them, but apparently didn’t make things better. Rumors said that the mobs were near and approaching the area.

Soon enough, I saw some men did more useful things like making themselves weapons. Any kind of things could be used as a weapon. So I decided to join them and made myself one or two weapons. We even prepared two buses, just in case we needed to evacuate from the residential area. One man took command as the leader setting barricades along the road so that the mob couldn’t enter the area. We even prepared few Molotov cocktails and fireworks just in case the situation got out of control. That was far more useful rather than crying and hiding.

Time went by fast. My stomach told me it’s time for lunch. So I took a moment to eat my lunch at my boarding house. I still didn’t believe things could be like this. It’s like we’re going for a war or something. Praying was the best thing we could do, hoping the situation didn’t get much worse. Few people gathered near the front gate of the residential area and other people seemed busy searching for information using mobile phones and walkie-talkies. It’s said that some places in the city were already burnt down and robbed. Stores were closed and the streets were full of barricades and angry mobs.

When the sun started to disappear behind the clouds, I saw thick smokes coming from the direction of the shopping mal nearby. I took my binoculars and rushed to the roof of my boarding house. My binoculars could only see 1000 meters radius. Although the distance to the shopping mal was about three times longer than 1000 meters, I could still see that the shopping mal was already under attack and had been set on fire. The view was much better from there so I decided to spent longer time watching things.

Funny thing, I was too busy watching the surroundings hundreds meters away that I didn’t realize a man was watching me not far from my boarding house. He waved his hand toward me, asking me to come down to him. He looked polite and nice, so I walked toward him. After a few conversations, he turned out to be a local resident who lived nearby. “How did you know that was a good spot?” He asked.

“Well, that happens to be my boarding house and I know I can get a good view from there”. I replied.

He told me to wait a moment and took out a scope from the bag which he carried. The scope looked better and more sophisticated than mine. “Wanna try this?” He asked with a big grin on his face.

“Let’s find ourselves a good spot.” I smiled and walked back to the high spot on the roof of my boarding house.

The view from the scope was excellent but what I saw was not a good thing to see. The shopping mal had been robbed and set on fire. But unfortunately, the mobs couldn’t get to the residential area because the army had arrived and barricaded the location. Few panzers, tanks, and military vehicle were ready along with military troops equipped with guns. Thank God…

Suddenly I realized that the scope I was holding was not an ordinary scope. The man told me that it was a scope from a sniper rifle. But he didn’t bring the rifle with him. He said that it was too dangerous. The man told me stories that he used to be in the military and trained as a sniper. Gosh, my heart pounded hard as I like to imagine myself being a sniper, and there I was, face to face with a real sniper.

We couldn’t see much longer as the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and the sky got dark. All the men were not allowed to enter their houses and were told to stand guard at the front gates / barricades. The women and children were told to stay inside and took cover in their own houses. We slept on the streets that night with cardboards as the mattresses and the stars as the roof.

The man with the scope told me lots of stories while we slept and guard the front gates. He said not to worry as he was sure that the army would hold back the mobs and we would be just fine. He was a former sniper and had retired. He looked a bit old, but still in good shape. I enjoyed his stories so much as we talked about his experiences as a sniper for almost 3 hours. He told me that he was leaving to another city 2 days from that time and asked me to keep his stories for myself. It looked like he just needed someone to share his experiences as he didn’t share any confidential or important information anyway.

Being a sniper turned out to be boring and not as exciting as I would have imagined. The main duty of a sniper is searching and gathering information about the enemies. Much likes a secret agents or informants, but we do it from a long distance and cannot allow ourselves to be spotted by enemies. Waiting and watching are their most frequent jobs. They have to wait in the same spots for hours and days. They even have to bring plastic bags for them to take a pee or take a leak. The most dangerous enemies for snipers are of course the enemy snipers. Snipers cannot risk themselves to be spotted as they will be killed on the spot. Snipers become the primary target for the enemies to be eliminated.

Snipers are like ghosts. They start their training with short range guns and later proceed with reaction shots target practice. As they advance, the distance of the shots gets longer and longer until they finally get a chance to hold the real sniper rifle. A sniper should and must kill with only one or two shots while maintaining concentrations and reflexes, which usually got disturbed because of lack of sleep and long waiting period. Most snipers have good stability with their breath, along with great coordination between their eyes and hands. It means you cannot have those shaky hands to shoot with a rifle. They have to calculate the winds, distances, directions, weather, and many other things before actually make a shot.

The man left me at about 12 o’clock at night because he had to pack for his departure the next morning. Never saw him again since then. I fell asleep at about an hour later, and woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning. I slept on the streets all night, along with other local residents. Things were pretty quiet and the riots seemed to be over. I rushed to my boarding house and packed my things as I thought this was a good chance for me to go home.

Three girls rode along with me on my way back home. They’re all my friends from campus and their homes were on the same route as mine. We left the complex at about 05.30 in the morning, passing the soldiers who still held their automatic weapons toward us. But when they saw we’re students, they let us through. The streets and highways were full of debris and trashes. Many buildings were burnt and scorched. There’s nobody on the streets and no cars too. It’s just us alone. It was a long and tiring day. The ride home was quiet and scary but we got home just fine.

Ivan the Freelancer

HONOR AND JUSTICE OF A MARKSMAN

2008-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

How to kill someone from a great distance without anyone noticing? One of the answers is hire a sniper. How to protect someone from being killed from a great distance without someone noticing? One of the answers is also hire a sniper to detect and eliminate the other sniper.

How to kill someone from a great distance without someone noticing, plus make the others think that someone else is doing it? One of the answers is hire and frames a sniper. Unfortunately, that ugly fate happened to a marksman named Bob Lee Swagger (played by Mark Wahlberg) who was being framed and double-crossed on his mission in order to prevent an attempt to assassinate the president.

This is one of the best movies about a sniper. You can look at how snipers work and the things behind their life (Read my Journal – Behind the Scope). Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Shooter tells a story about one of the world’s best marksmen who lived alone at his cabin in the mountains. He had left the military after his last mission, which was went sour and he got left behind along with his fellow sniper friend being killed in action.

He was then recruited by a colonel to prevent and stop the president’s assassination. Being left with no choice and with his conscience still intact, he finally accepted the mission. Little did he knew, that the whole plot was designed against him. So he did his job, but got framed and double-crossed as he suddenly became the main suspect for the president’s assassination attempt.

Being badly injured from a direct shot and hunted by many throughout the nations, he must try to find a way to protect himself while seeking the truth and justice to clear his name. The skill of his marksmanship and help from all of his friends who’s life was in danger because of helping him, were the only hope he had to survive.

Ivan the Freelancer

Ivan’s Journal - The Voice of Aikido

2008-04-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to differentiate between sports, arts, and cultures because all of them are closely related to each other. Culture gave birth to our habits, arts, and sports. They can be our trademark or identity. Every nation has its own original sports, arts, and cultures. They’re the one that makes the country and nation become unique and special. If we talk about cultures, sports, and arts, the results can be endless.

I don’t know if I should call Aikido a sport, an art, or a culture, because it involves all the three elements altogether. Aikido is a sport, an art, and also a culture. Some people even call it “their way of life”. I heard about this great culture when I was still in senior high and had a chance to experience it directly in college. It is a very precious culture originated from Japan.

A friend of mine gave me a book about Aikido. He told me to learn it because it was more suitable for me due to my small body posture and great speed – I was the fastest runner in my class at senior high and also fast with my hands. He was right though, as I joined Karate at that time, got whacked so many times and not being able to defend myself. My opponents were simply more powerful than me.

There’re times when a man had to fight to defend himself or others. All the things that he had learned can mean a difference between life and death. In street fights, you don’t have a second chance. You don’t have time to think and whether you end up standing or lying on the ground is absolutely up to you. There were times when I found myself being in the situation like that, and all I could do was run like hell. My “Sensei” used to tell me to avoid street fights and only defend yourself when it’s really necessary – In Aikido, you call your teacher Sensei.

My sensei once demonstrated how he defeated 4 men all at once, with time less than 10 seconds. All I could say was, “Wow”. I didn’t understand how he managed to grab my hand and suddenly I was on the floor in pain. He only needed one hand to handle attacks from 2 men. Sensei was still young and had a tall and tough body posture. He used to carry a big and heavy wooden sword when practicing. The wooden sword was too heavy for me, but he always lent me whenever I needed to practice myself with a sword.

Aikido is like a wind or waves. It absorbs opponents’ strength and uses it against them. The stronger the opponents the better – The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Timing, precision, and techniques are very crucial in Aikido. No need for excessive strength – In fact, if you have to use your strength to the maximum, then there must be something wrong with your techniques or timing. It moves with your whole body in one rhythm as the rhythm should not be disturbed and must flow with correct timing and precision until the opponent is defeated. If you move too soon, mostly you’ll loose momentum needed to absorb the opponent’s strength. If you move too late, you’ll obviously get your ass kicked.

The most important thing about learning Aikido is you must not memorize the techniques and movements. The correct way to learn is to practice the techniques and movements so that they finally become one with your mind and body. The moment that you practice a technique, you actually are absorbing it and try so that it can be a part of your mind and body. Many people memorize the techniques and try to use them according to the situation. This may help you at the start, but this will not help you to master Aikido.

You cannot forget Aikido – Even if you had amnesia, Aikido will still be in your mind and body. Once you face dangerous situations and become one with your surroundings, your mind and body will automatically tell you when to move, how to move, and what to do. It will tell you how to start and end your combat. So listen carefully… Listen to the “Voice of Aikido”.

I imagine Aikido as a samurai without a sword. An empty-handed samurai is still deadly. I fit myself well in Aikido as I am able to practice and advance real quickly. I say Aikido had a nice-and-quick-less-messy fighting style. Many women joined and felt its usefulness in combat. There’s once a girl who liked to practice with me because we both have the same body postures. Never saw her since then, but I believe she got along just fine.

I was not able to finish my training due to the thesis and graduation. I had to move back to my home far away from my dojo – We used to call our place for training a “Dojo”. I was brokenhearted as I had to leave Aikido. Thanks a lot Sensei… Hope we’ll meet again as I will definitely miss listening to the Voice of Aikido.

Aikido had long stories to tell and great histories to learn. As you advance in your training, you will find that it’s more than just a self-defense or a martial art. As you go deeper to its great history, you’ll find lots of things to learn. Be prepared though as Aikido is one of the most difficult martial arts to master.

Ivan the Freelancer