“They are cheerful-looking and photogenic, but close to all have a very sad story,” said Budi Soehardi, founder of the West Timor orphanage.

“Some of the babies come because a mother passes away right after delivery because of lack of nutrition. Others come from extreme poverty. Some come from families [that] just do not want the children and abandon them,” he said. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year

Soehardi, a 53-year-old Indonesian pilot living in Singapore, and his wife, Peggy, look after 47 children at the orphanage. They have a personal relationship with each one, and consider them part of their family. The couple named many of the children since they entered the orphanage as babies — some of them tiny victims and refugees from the conflict in East Timor.

Soehardi has three children of his own but says there is no difference between what he supplies for his biological children and those living at the orphanage. They all get clean living spaces, vaccinations, food, clothing and vitamins from the United States.

“Mr. Budi is like my own father,” said Gerson Mangi, 20, a resident at Roslin Orphanage. Mangi, who came to the orphanage when he was 12 years old, had no means to attend school after his parents died. Now, thanks to the educational training at Roslin and a private sponsor, he is in medical school.

Soehardi, whose father died when he was 9 years old, can relate to these young people’s hardships.

“Food was hard to come by and my school fee was very difficult,” Soehardi said. “The refugees just really strike me so badly and [I want] them to be better off.”

Young victims of a fight for independence

A 1999 news report on the situation in East Timor inspired the Soehardis to take action.

Soehardi was eating dinner and watching CNN with his wife and family at home in Singapore when he saw the plight of the refugees fleeing East Timor for West Timor, Indonesia. Families were living in cardboard boxes, children were wearing rags for clothes, and sanitation was nonexistent.

“It was devastating,” Soehardi said.

The poor conditions were a result of conflicts in East Timor that surfaced after the residents voted for independence from Indonesia. Following the election, militias — with support from Indonesian security forces — launched a campaign of violence throughout the region. Hundreds of East Timorese were killed, and as many as 250,000 were displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Soehardis had been planning on taking a vacation, but watching the news made them rethink their plans.

“[My wife and I] look at each other and we have a thought of our own. … ‘Hey, let’s do something else. Why don’t we visit the place … to make a different kind of holiday,’ ” Soehardi said.

He began coordinating financial donations, food, clothing and supplies. With help from friends and ground volunteers, the Soehardis navigated the conflict-ridden areas and delivered more than 40 tons of food, medical supplies and toiletries to East Timor refugee camps.

Soon the Soehardis determined West Timor could use a space for orphans.

“My wife was initially asking me to build three rooms. Then two hours later she [asked for] five rooms, and then later nine rooms and finally, the orphanage building.”

They completed their orphanage building in 11 months and named it Roslin Orphanage, after a pair of Timorese women whom Peggy looked up to as a girl.

In April 2002, the orphanage opened and provided a home for four children. Since then the residence has expanded to provide free education, clothing, housing and food for 47 children of all ages, newborns to university-age. About half of its residents are younger than 8 years old. Watch Soehardi teach the children the alphabet »

An unexpected harvest

The orphanage was built on donated land that the Soehardis initially thought bore barren soil. But today, the rice they feed the children comes solely from their own land.

“We dared to take the challenge,” said Soehardi of his foray into irrigation. He and Peggy, who are not trained in agriculture, used two pumps and a generator to get water for irrigation.

Then they began planting rice. “One hundred days later, we were having our first harvest and declared ourselves to be self-sufficient on rice for the orphanage children,” he said. Watch Soehardi explain how he made the land more fertile »

It’s a fortunate cost-cutting tactic, especially with Soehardi losing his piloting job in November because of the struggling economy.

Soehardi, whose pilot salary goes toward maintaining the orphanage and funding medical student Mangi’s education, is hopeful that the end of his contract will not affect the children’s well-being.

I always wonder if there’s any obvious and scientific proof about the existence of global warming. All this time, I can’t say that I truly disbelieve in global warming, but I also cannot say if I’m a believer as well. But frankly speaking, I’m more a sceptic, than a believer in this case. And if you ask me whether I hate all the global warming propaganda, yes, in some ways, I hate it.

Not that I don’t care about the Earth and our livings. I care a lot and I believe, it’s our duties to take care of our home planet. But, do we take care of it because there’s global warming? I don’t think so. See, the way we destroy the Earth just sucks. We have to recover our home planet. We should change our way of taking care of it into better ones. But, putting global warming into the whole perspective of this is just sometimes too much. It tends to make people think that global warming really exists while it’s still really questionable and debatable.

There are always two sides of everything. It’s either you’re wrong or you’re right. Either way, at least, you can always try to see from both sides. The view is always better from here, where someone lays in between. And believing that everything must be seen from many sides is just the way of how I hate fanaticism. Fanaticism of everything.

So then I found this article, saying there’s no such thing as global warming. I read it, and I do think it’s very interesting. So I just want to re-post it here to share so you can get second opinion about what’s really happening with this planet, and why. Is it global warming? Is it natural? Well, just read the article below. It’s long, but it’s worth reading. Hope it gives us a better two-sided perspective of the existence of global warming. (mb)

There is No Global Warming

by American Policy Center

There is no global warming. Period.

You can’t find a real scientist anywhere in the world who can look you in the eye and, without hesitation, without clarification, without saying, kinda, mighta, sorta, if, and or but…say “yes, global warming is with us.”

There is no evidence whatsoever to support such claims. Anyone who tells you that scientific research shows warming trends – be they teachers, news casters, Congressmen, Senators, Vice Presidents or Presidents – is wrong. There is no global warming.

Scientific research through U.S. Government satellite and balloon measurements shows that the temperature is actually cooling – very slightly – .037 degrees Celsius.

A little research into modern-day temperature trends bears this out. For example, in 1936 the Midwest of the United States experienced 49 consecutive days of temperatures over 90 degrees. There were another 49 consecutive days in 1955. But in 1992 there was only one day over 90 degrees and in 1997 only 5 days.

Because of modern science and improved equipment, this “cooling” trend has been most accurately documented over the past 18 years. Ironically, that’s the same period of time the hysteria has grown over dire warnings of “warming.”

Changes in global temperatures are natural. There is no proof that temperature is affected by anything that man has done.

In fact, recent severe weather has been directly attributed to a natural phenomenon that occurs every so often called El Nino. It causes ocean temperatures to rise as tropical trade winds actually reverse for a time.

The resulting temperature changes cause severe storms, flooding and even draught on every continent on earth.

It’s completely natural. El Nino has been wreaking its havoc across the globe since long before man appeared.

How about the reports that the polar ice cap is melting?

Well, yes it is. In fact, it has been for about a million years or so. We are at the end of the ice age in which ice covered most of North American and Northern Europe.

There’s at least one environmentalist, named Al Gore, who is panicking over the possibility that we may soon lose Glacier National Park in Montana because the ice is melting.

One hates to tell him that we’ve already lost the glacier that used to cover the whole country.

Perhaps he’ll want to start working for new regulations from the Interior Department to begin immediately restoring this lost historical environmental treasure. Re-establishing a sheet of ice covering the entire continent would certainly serve to stop mining, timber cutting and urban sprawl.

The truth is, someday humans may be able to take tropical vacations at the North Pole – and it will be perfectly natural.

Yet our world is being flooded with the dire predictions of Global Warming.

We are being warned of killer heat waves, vast flooding and the spread of tropical diseases. Ocean levels are rising, they say. America’s coast lines are doomed, they tell us. Hurricanes and tornadoes have already become more violent, we are warned. Floods and droughts have begun to ravage the nation, they cry.

Any change in temperatures, or an excessive storm or extended flooding is looked upon as a sure sign that environmental Armageddon is upon us. Diabolical environmentalists are using the natural El Nino phenomenon to whip people into a Global Warming hysteria.

TWO KINDS OF SCIENTISTS

We are assured by the White House that scientists everywhere are sounding these warmings and that we may only have one chance to stop it.

Well, as the debate rages, we find that there really are two kinds of “scientists.”

There are those who look at facts and make their judgements based on what they know.

Their findings can be matched by any other scientist, using the same data and set of circumstances to reach the same conclusions. It’s a age-old practice called peer reviewing. It’s the only true science.

And then there are those who yearn for a certain outcome and set about creating the needed data to make it so. Usually you will find this group of scientists greatly dependent on grants supplied by those with a specific political agenda who demand desired outcomes for their money.

Let’s just take NASA, for example – the most trusted name in American science.

A lot of NASA scientists have fallen into this trap. Environmental science has become the life-blood of the space program as the nation has lost interest in space travel. To keep the bucks coming, NASA has justified shuttle trips through the use of earth-directed environmental research. And the budgets keep coming.

At the same time, many of NASA’s scientists come with a political agenda in great harmony with those who advocate the green agenda. And they’re not above using their position to aid that agenda whenever the chance is available.

This was never more clearly demonstrated than in 1992 when a team of three NASA scientists were monitoring conditions over North America to determine if the Ozone layer was in danger.

Inconclusive data indicated that conditions might be right for ozone damage over North America, if certain things happened.

True scientists are a careful lot. They study, they wait and, many times they test again before drawing conclusions.

Not so, the green zealot. Of this three-member NASA team, two could not be sure of what they had found and wanted to do more research.

But one took the data and rushed to the microphones, with all of the drama of a Hollywood movie, announced in hushed tones that NASA had discovered an Ozone hole over North America.

Then Senator Al Gore rushed to the floor of the Senate with the news and drove a stampede to immediately ban freon – five years before Congress had intended – and without a suitable substitute. He then bullied President George Bush to sign the legislation by saying the Ozone hole was over Kennebunkport – Bush’s vacation home.

Two months later NASA announced, on the back pages of the newspapers, that further research had shown that there was no such damage. But it was too late. Remember that when you have to buy a new air conditioner or refrigerator for no reason other than your freon has run out of the old one.

FLAWED COMPUTER MODELS

Then there are those computer models. Night after night Americans watch the local news as the weatherman predicts what kind of a day tomorrow will be. These meteorologists, using the most up-to-date equipment available, boldly give you the five-day forecast.

But it’s well known that, even with all of their research and expensive equipment, it really is just a “best guess.” There are just too many variables. If the wind picks up here it could blow in a storm, if the temperature drops here it could start to snow. The earth is a vast and wondrous place. Weather does what it wants.

Yet those who are promoting the global-warming theory have the audacity to tell you they can forecast changes in the global climate decades into the future.

The truth is computer models are able to include only two out of 14 components that make up the climate system. To include the third component would take a computer a thousand times faster than we now have. To go beyond the third component requires an increase in computer power that is so large only mathematicians can comprehend the numbers.

Moreover, even if the computer power existed, scientists do not understand all the factors and the relationships between them that determine the global climate.

So it’s an outrage for Al Gore, Bill Clinton and the Sierra Club to tell you that Global Warming is a fact and that we Americans must now suffer dire changes in our lifestyle to stop it.

SCIENTISTS ARE NOT ON AL’S BAND WAGON

And so too is it an outrage for Al Gore to tell you that most true scientists now agree that global warming is a fact.

What he doesn’t tell you is that almost 500 scientists from around the world signed the Heidleburg Appeal in 1992 just prior to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, expressing their doubts and begging the delegates not to bind the world to any dire treaties based on global warming. Today that figure has grown to over 4000.

He also doesn’t tell you that recently a Gallup Poll of eminent North American climatologists showed that 83 percent of them debunked the global warming theory.

And the deceit knows no bounds. The United Nations released a report at the end of 1996 saying Global Warming was a fact, yet before releasing the report two key paragraphs were deleted from the final draft.

Those two paragraphs, written by the scientists who did the actual scientific analysis said:

1. “none of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases.”

2. “no study to date has positively attributed all or part of the climate change to …man-made causes.”

Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the people of the world – bar none.

THE CLIMATE CHANGE PROTOCOL

Those who have been fighting against the green agenda have been warning that modern-day environmentalism has nothing whatsoever to do with protecting the environment.

Rather it is a political movement led by those who seek to control the world economies, dictate development and redistribute the world’s wealth.

They use the philosophical base of Karl Marx, the tactics of Adolph Hitler and the rhetoric of the Sierra Club.

The American people have been assaulted from all directions by rabid environmentalists.

School children have been told that recycling is a matter of life and death.

Businesses have been shut down. Valuable products like freon have been removed from the market. Chemicals and pesticides that helped to make this nation the safest and healthiest in the world are targeted for extinction.

Our entire nation is being restructured to fit the proper green mold. All of it for a lie about something that doesn’t exist.

But the lie is about to grow to massive proportions — and the game is about to get very serious indeed.

In December of this year Bill Clinton will travel to Kyoto, Japan to sign a legally-binding United Nations treaty called the Climate Change Protocol.

The sole argument for this treaty is that Global Warming is a fact and we must take severe action to stop it.

Right now the Clinton Administration is bombarding the airwaves with the sales pitch. Conferences are being held in cities across the country. Special reports, magazine articles and documentaries are all being used to pound home the message – global warming is here – we must stop it.

But the most offensive assault on the expression of free thought by the American people, as the Administration drives to sell you this snake oil, was committed by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Babbitt said that anyone opposed to the fight to stop Global Warming was “unAmerican.”

He accused those opposed to the Climate Change Treaty of engaging in a “conspiracy to hire pseudo scientists to deny the facts.” So now, according to Babbitt, to disagree with the Clinton Administration is tantamount to treason.

In fact the Climate Change Protocol is a legally binding international treaty through which signing nations agree to cut back their energy emissions to 15 percent below 1990 levels. And the treaty says this goal is to be accomplished by as early as the year 2010.

That means that all of the energy growth since 1990 would be rolled back, plus 15 percent more in just twelve years.

Yes, there are negotiations, debates and arguments taking place over the exact terms of the treaty as we speak. Perhaps the final version won’t be so severe.

But it doesn’t matter. Such a massive disruption in the American economy, particularly since it has nothing to do with protecting the environment, will devastate this nation.

To meet such drastically-reduced energy standards will, in the short run, cost the United States over one million jobs. Some estimate it will cost over seven million jobs in 14 years. If the treaty sends the economy into a tailspin, as many predict, it will cost even more jobs.

It will cost the average family $1,000 to $4,000 dollars per year in increased energy costs. The cost of food will skyrocket.

It has been estimated that in order for the United States to meet such a goal the U.S. gross domestic product will be reduced by $200 billion – annually.

To force down energy use the Federal government will have to enforce a massive energy tax that will drive up the cost of heating your home by as much as 30 to 40 percent.

In all likelihood there will be a tax on gasoline – as high as 60 cents per gallon.

There will be consumption taxes and carbon taxes.

The purpose of these punitive costs is to drive up the cost of modern living in order to force you to drastically change your lifestyle. That is the diabolical plan behind this restructuring scheme.

Every single product that is produced with the use of energy will increase in price. Including items like aspirin, contact lenses and tooth paste.

Yet just recently Bill Clinton said that compliance with the treaty would not hurt the economy. He said he can “grow the economy and do right by the environment.”

The truth is, to date, the Clinton administration has refused to release an economic impact analysis of the effects of the treaty.

But a leaked study by the Department of Energy’s Argonne Laboratory finds that the treaty will cripple six U.S. industries including paper, steel, petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing, aluminum and cement. That about sums up the economy.

When Clinton is through complying with the treaty you may find yourself sitting in a dark house after lights have been ordered off early in the evening, unable to drive your car because of gas shortages, unable to walk to the shopping mall because stores will be ordered closed after dark, even if you have a job and money to spend.

GLOBAL RAID ON AMERICAN WEALTH

But perhaps you still are not convinced. Maybe you still cling to the idea that such drastic action is necessary – that our president and the UN delegates are really in a panic over global warming and are trying to find a solution.

Then ask yourselves why the treaty will only bind developed nations to its draconian emission levels.

You see, only developed industrial nations will be bound by the treaty.

Undeveloped Third-World nations will be free to produce whatever they want. These will include China, India, Brazil and Mexico. And guess what? 82% of the projected emissions growth in coming years is from these countries.

Now ask yourself, if the Climate Change Protocol is all about protecting the environment – then how come it doesn’t cover everybody? The truth, of course, is that the treaty is really about redistribution of the wealth.

The wealth of the United States is and has always been the target. The new scheme to grab the loot is through environmental scare tactics.

If, today, you were to attend a UN session on the Climate Change Protocol you would find yourself in a discussion with excited delegates from Third-World countries. They would make comments to you like, “when the technology transfer takes place my country will begin producing this or that item.”

Translation – when the United States is stupid enough to fall for this scheme, the third world will take up the slack and get rich.

And international corporations, who owe allegiance to no nation, will bolt America and move their factories, lock, stock and computer chip, to those Third-World countries where they will be free to carry on production.

But that means the same emissions will be coming out of the jungles of South America instead of Chicago.

So where is the protection of the environment? You see it’s not about that – is it?

Still not convinced? One more thing. Hidden in the small print of the treaty is a provision that calls for the “harmonizing of patent laws.”

Now, robbing a nation of its patent protection is an interesting tactic for protecting the environment, don’t you think?

CAN IT BE STOPPED?

Bill Clinton, pushed by Al Gore and the massive green lobby, is determined to sign that treaty. The war has been engaged.

Industry is finally beginning to wake up to the terrifying threat of the green monster that it helped to create. For the past three decades industry has given into every outrageous green demand. And it has fueled the monster by filling green coffers with massive tax-deductible donations. Now industry finds itself trapped.

But more frightening is the fact that many prominent proponents of property rights and limited government still fail to see the danger in the treaty. Many say the Senate will never ratify such a treaty.

They point out that, in a vote of 95-0, the U.S. Senate rejected in a “non-binding” resolution the Climate Change Protocol. That overwhelming vote, they say, will stop Clinton in his tracks.

That resolution was presented by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. He, along with Congressman John Dingle of Michigan have led the opposition against the treaty. Republican leadership, so far, has been silent.

It is, of course, commendable that Senator Byrd and Congressman Dingle have taken the lead to do “something” to protect American interests. But both of them are established liberal Democrats, who have based their opposition solely on the fact that only industrial nations are tied to the treaty.

That’s not fair, they say, and so they oppose the treaty – “as now written.” Apparently they are taking the stand that if America must be enslaved, then it’s only fair that the rest of the world share our misery.

Not once have they said the whole concept is wrong. Not once have they challenged the validity of the science that is based on the supposed fact of global warming.

Is this then the wall of defense that we are to hide behind? Are we now to entrust the very future of our Republic onto the shoulders of Senator Byrd and Congressman Dingle? That appears to be the current wisdom of our leaders on Capitol Hill.

Wary Americans, of course, know what will happen next. The story is all too familiar. Very soon Clinton will summon Byrd and Dingle to the White House and offer them a compromise. Then everyone will smile for the cameras and the Republicans, in the spirit of bipartisanship, will give away the store. In fact, that process has already begun.

So Bill Clinton is moving full-speed-ahead with his plan to travel to Kyoto, Japan this December to sign the Climate Change Protocol. When he does, and after the Senate has ratified it, the final blow will have been struck.

The United States of America will begin a long, agonizing decent – strangled by its own hand.

The question now is; can it be stopped? And more importantly, will we even try.$ e target. The new scheme to grab the loot is through environmental scare tactics.

November 22, 2009 | 10:29 pm
by Gerrick D. Kennedy
Additional reporting by Todd Martens
Photo: Associated Press

Reader Richard Bowen agreed, posting on Pop & Hiss, “I know he wants to break out and show the world his dangerous side, but why alienate an entire population of kids to do it?”

Lambert wasn’t the only former “American Idol” contestant to get risqué. Earlier in the night, Carrie Underwood strutted in a pants-less outfit, but the country star was still a long way removed from Lambert’s sexually suggestive performance. With a crotch rub and a make-out session with a band member, Lambert sent tongues wagging and the Twittisphere erupting in controversy, bolting to the top of the site’s trending topics.

“The energy felt good. Adrenaline is a crazy thing to feel,” Lambert said to Pop & Hiss after the show. “That’s what I love about performing. I’m hoping people were entertained. For those who weren’t, maybe I’m not their cup of tea.”

When asked if he thought the most extreme moments would be edited out of the West Coast broadcast, Lambert wasn’t shy about how he would react to such a move.

“If it’s gonna be edited, then in a way that’s discrimination. I don’t mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney and Christina weren’t edited,” Lambert said. “It’s a shame. Female entertainers have been risqué for years. Honestly, there’s a huge double standard.”

Lambert said his goal wasn’t to upset anyone with his performance: “I’m just trying to have a good time onstage. It’s a sexy song. It’s 2009, it’s time to take more risks. It’s about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It’s too bad that people are so scared.”

A clip of the performance, which as of Sunday night is available on YouTube, is embedded below. Vote on the performance on Ministry of Gossip.

Earlier, I was thinking about giving her some audio present of me playing piano and sing “Happy Birthday”. I think it’d be the best gift for her tonight. But I just want to give her more. So.. that will be one thing, and here’s the other one.

To you,
I still remembered how you found me pics to give me as my birthday present nearly six months ago. I was so happy that I didn’t expect it. I was so happy because I loved the pics. I was so happy because of every gesture you showed that night. It was memorable, valuable and something to be really thank for. I know there are not a lot of people remembered my birthday the way you did so it meant a lot to me as much as what you’ve done.

Facing today, your big day, I just want to do the same thing to you. So here I am, wishing you the best day of your life, wishing it won’t ever be over, wishing all your wishes come true and for God to always bless you. It’s been my prayers and will always be. To make it complete, I found this great picture for you and I just hope you like it.

Susah bacanya? Pake cermin makanya!! ;joke

And of course, I made some recording earlier before. Hope you like it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NYEMOD!! (mb)

The Fame Monster is Lady Gaga‘s 2nd album. At the beginning, the eight songs of this album supposed to be part of her first album re-release. But after doing some further considerations, Gaga decided to release it as a new album, stand alone apart from The Fame. Gaga thought it’d unfair to add those eight songs as a part of The Fame re-release. Also, it’d be expensive.

“I think re-releases are unfair. It’s artists sneaking singles onto an already finished piece of work in an effort to keep the album afloat. Originally [my label] only wanted me to put out three songs and now it’s much more than that. It’s a new album’s worth of material.

Having that thoughts, Gaga also decided to release The Fame Monster in three version.

A standard version which includes these eight songs; a deluxe version which includes the eight songs plus her first debut album, The Fame; and a super-deluxe art book version, which includes The Fame Monster, The Fame, fanzines, 3-D glasses, paper dolls, a puzzle, pictorials, a lock of Lady Gaga’s hair and other surprises, as written in LadyGaga.com. The album will be released on this November 23 while the super-deluxe on December 15.

Well, I found this new album is really interesting. Still remembering how good the massive first album, and her single, Bad Romance is, I put a high hope on it. And I can say I’m not disappointed. To repeat a success from a debut album is quite a challenge, especially when it’s pretty huge with many great achievements and records. However, Gaga seems to successfully do it again with The Fame Monster.

The overall impression of the album for me, is that it has more euro disco style than The Fame did. That leaves us with a different sense of the beat and the music itself. I don’t know if it’s related with certain purposes whether Gaga wants to be more accepted outside US. Anyway, here’s my impression for each song, with my most favorite ones will be Bad Romance, Telephone and Monster. But I also recommend you to listen to Speechless. That song is just beautiful.

Bad Romance is a solid song. It begins with a very drifting and smooth intro, and then continues with solid beats and a couple of broken chords. I love the lyrics. It reflects a woman’s desperation, yet a strong will to keep on surviving. It’s accompanied with great chords of the chorus and the powerful beats and rhythms. The sounds give you mixed feelings. Sometimes you hear wildness, the other times you’ll hear sadness, while plenty of times you just want to dance real good. The whole part of the melody itself is one of the best from Gaga. The closure of the song is really at its best. Gaga’s voice is powerful here, slightly with wording a la Poker Face. But what I think the best part of the song is how the instruments sound. The synth of the music’s just robust. Fantastic. Maybe if I’m not mistaken, this song probably the best song yet from Gaga. Listen.

First time I hear leaked demo version of Alejandro, I’m not interested this much with this song. But the final retail version offers you longer and better intro, also better music synth. It’s richer and those facts change almost everything I felt about this song before. And the pause in between the interlude is really something. I love how this song turn out to be a slow mellow romantic trance. The verse is calm, giving a relaxing sensation. In the end, I love how this song feels. It’s romantic, even more with the addition of the violin. Listen.

Monster is probably one of the most solid songs in the album. I love parts of the lyrics “he ate my heart”. It reflects how a monster does. Monsters eat. In this context, he ate her heart and she liked it. Oh, I love naughty lyrics! The beat, melody and harmony sound so classic, yet so electronic and trancic. It’s like listening to a song from the disco era, mixed up with recent beats styles. I notice in the bridge of the song, there is the phrase “just dance” in a similar tone with Just Dance’s chorus. That’s awesome. Gaga now makes her own phrasing with those words by putting it into a new song. I love this song so much, that I can tell. Listen.

I heard that Gaga dedicated Speechless to his father, Joseph. Let me tell you a bit about that. So Joseph has been suffering from heart illness for 4 years, and recently had open heart surgery. Before that, her father refused to have any surgery and medication, and this was the time when Gaga said that she’d quit singing if her father keeps doing so. In her Twitter, Gaga once said, ““My daddy hap open heart surgery today (October 23). And after long hours, and lots of tears, they healed his broken heart, and mine. Speechless.”She later updated her page to read, “At the hospital. Giving daddy a foot rub while he falls asleep. He’s my hero.” Joseph is as much a hero for Gaga as he’s the one helping gaga much out of her addiction to cocaine. Well, I listen to the lyrics, and I’m just.. speechless. This song’s not that much of my taste, but I even had a tear first time hearing this. It’s just beautiful. Listen.

Dance In The Dark is a great song with powerful lyrics. Gaga even includes five women, or I could say four women and one young little girl who tragically died young. This song sounds just like 80’s song, with its synth and stuffs, only mixed with her style of electronic. Not to mention the chords of the chorus who appears to be strongly influenced by the 80’s. The song, in short, is appealing enough to me. Listen.

Telephone (feat. Beyoncé) is absolutely one of my most favorite songs from Gaga. Gaga’s voice sounds so natural here, like she did in Just Dance. This song is really good to dance with. The beat is lively with naughty lyrics. I love how the lyric is once again about a party in a club, just like Gaga wrote in Just Dance. It’s like a repetition of Just Dance, which is also one of my most favorite, only this repetition is a good one. Beyoncé ’s part successfully make this song step up further to a new level, leaving the song in a good position, not just to remain a dance song, but more. I love the closure, the chords and keys progression is awesome. It reminds me of the keys Beyoncé often includes in her songs, only with Gaga’s style. I definitely can listen to this song again and again. Listen.

So Happy I Could Die, in my point of view, is just another dance song. It includes trance sounds, but in an ordinary level. Listening to it the first time, I wasn’t that interested. And after had listening it a couple of times, I’m still not that interested. It’s not bad either though. You can still enjoy the beat. Listen.

Listening to Teeth, I’m kind of reminded of Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basic. Funny, eh. Well, Gaga sounds just like Christina’s here. Not to mention the song, it’s in the style of Christina’s Back to Basic. Of course, with the addition of Gaga’s rough (in a good way) vocal. I kind of like this song, really. It’s fun and the most soulful one in the album yet. Only I feel that Gaga don’t deliver as much as I expected. She should’ve been improvised more with her vocal, which she didn’t. Listen.

Overally, The Fame Monster is really worth buying. I’m planning to buy the deluxe edition myself. I’d love to collect the two albums since I haven’t had the chance to buy The Fame. It will be a good decision I believe. And what about you? (mb)

Django and Emile, eating foods taken from garbage.

For me, Ratatouille is easily the best movie. This is Brad Bird’s best yet. Its plot is very simple, yet brilliant when it’s mixed up with the idea of a rat who got what it takes to be the best chef. I also fall in love with the animation. It’s fantastic. The objects texture, the drawings, the furs. Not to mention, the best angles and composition yet in an animation movie. It’s just so colorful, detailed and alive. I was like watching moving paintings, which is so full of art sense. Even you may be overwhelmed by just watching how the rat’s heart beats.

The story is one of the most original scripts. It’s very solid with humor that’s not pushed over the limit. It’s classic in many other ways. The character development is also one of the best in Pixar’s. The director once again succeeds to build characters that are gray, not the typical black or white characters as seen on many other children movies. And I’m personally in love with Remy! Remy is talk-active, smart, enthusiastic, passionate, perfectionist, but also a bit cocky, pushy, crafty.

Remy’s father, Django is against the idea of getting too close to humans. From his point of view, humans are dangerous. But Remy thinks the other way. Humans are interesting. “They create,” said Remy. Having the differences in opinions, Remy often has fights with his father. I still remember how Django warned Remy of how dangerous the human world is for rats.

Django: This is the way things are. You can’t change nature.
Remy: Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.

(This is the part when Remy turns to leave Django)

Django: Where are you going?
Remy: With luck, forward.

Remy’s so rich and natural in his character. For me, he’s also one of the best Disney’s character because of his heroic thing. There aren’t many Pixar’s movies who have the identical ideation as other previous Disney’s character, but Remy has it. From time to time, Disney’s characters always tend to be different and be something or someone that stands out in the crowd, and against all odds. And that idea of being different is brilliantly drawn in Remy, that I don’t see also being drawn that brilliantly in any other Pixar’s character (except maybe WALL-E).

Remy's watching Gusteau in TV, while holding a small jar of saffron. I love this frame so much cause it shows perfectly how much passion Remy has to create new things. It inspires me to do the best with my talents.

I also love Emile. He’s with his tummy is so cute. And speaking about cuteness, the rest of the rats are also very cute, with their tiny bright sparkling eyes. Yes, as I said, if you speak about the animation; the camera angle, the composition, the artworks of the movie are the best ones amongst all Pixar’s movies. It’s just so artistic and delightful.

The quality of the animation is well accompanied with the warming music from The Incredible and Up’s Michael Giacchino. Even besides, the sound editing is very good. All the characters seem to fit the voices. I love how Patton Oswalt voices Remy. Just perfect. Or how Ian Holm voices Skinner. Fantastic.

(The parts below contain spoilers)
But above all the praises, what I like most from the movie is the second half part of the movie which I think, excels in many ways. You are first offered the feel of happiness when Linguini officially owned the restaurant and fired Skinner. Then all of a sudden, there are lots of conflicts like when Remy couldn’t accept the fact that Linguini started to deny his capability, over Colette, Linguini’s girlfriend. It continued as when Remy brought the whole colony to steal foods, that made Linguini really disappointed and said harsh words to him and kicked him away out of the kitchen.

Remy and Linguini figuring out what way they can work together nicely making dishes.

All of the desperation continued when all the gourmet employees quitted their job when they think that Linguini was out of his mind for trusting a rat, and even Colette walked away from him. It’s all in the night when it was the most important night for them and Gusteau’s. Gladly, Colette is an important character so she’s brought back to the whole ending scenes, along with the movie essensial slogan “anyone can cook” which she had believed from the very beginning.

And after all the desperations, out of nowhere, Django gently spoke to Remy in a very fatherly way. And boom! This is the part I’m talking about. It’s when the rats colony get into the kitchen and help to cook. Wow! The feeling I got when watching this part is just overwhelming. Now I can see why they call themselves “a family” and am just so excited to see Remy walked around the kitchen and tasted all the sauces, the cookings and said words such as, “good, too many salt, good”. It’s just so entertaining and at the same time, inspiring. That part is also so hilariously funny, if not the funniest part of the movie. Like when the health inspector got tied up by the rats. LOL.

Linguini and Collette start getting into each other. This is the point where Remy starts to feel he's left behind.

And speaking about this part, it’s concluded with the best ending yet, when Remy cooks Ego ratatouille and afterwards, Ego makes a review about it. The review is really breath-taking.. It speaks about the morality of a critic itself which I think is really genius. How can you criticize a movie that’s concluded with something speaking about the work of a critic itself?

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.

Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: “Anyone can cook.” But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau’s soon, hungry for more.

Those lines from Anton Ego are amazing. Peter O’toole just speaks it right, in a perfect manner. Spoken along with the movie’s main theme which is so melodious and romantic, with the sound of accordion and strings, the scene really touched me in a way I could never imagine. I cried (and heavily) when it came to this part. And after watching it 27 times, I still cry when I see this beautiful scene.

Have you ever thought of its meaning? It’s very deep and has a lot of love message, of how you appreciate others, no matter where they come from, or what they are. Spoken wise, a great artist can come from anywhere.

And the fact that the ending has something really related to its own title (Ratatouille) is just superb because not so many movie can save its very own title from the beginning of the story ’till the end, yet make it the bomb for the ending. Like wise saying, save the best for last.

In the end, it leaves us with spirits that “anyone can cook” (but only the fearless can be great!). The spirit of how “a great artist can come from anywhere”. And also some cute memorable moments and an originality that easily mark it the best movie ever made. At least, from my point of view and all the Oscar judges that honored the movie in 2007 with the highest title an animation movie can ever achieve.

In the end, Ratatouille always leaves you with lots of warm feelings, and also with superb 2D animation of the credit title. The whole movie is so artistic, romantic and beautiful in such an elegant simplicity.

It has been two years since then, and I don’t think I will meet another one that can capture my heart like Ratatouille did, and does. And hopefully, will always. (mb)

I love making blogs. Designing the template, the layout, the background images and anything related is just a wonderful feeling. It’s like you’re creating something into your own image. And since people change, that image also changes and therefore you have to make sure if your design really fulfill what your emotions need to show at the moment. Or no? Maybe it’s just me then.

I never continued writing on those blog anyway. Perhaps I’m just in love with the making progress instead of the writing itself. However, I told one of my friends on Twitter @sepatumerah that I’d like to do this blogging things more seriously. But I need to know the possible best place for this blogging is. Had knowing that she’s a senior blogger (or I suppose so), I asked her where I should start. She mentioned Blogger and WordPress because of their easiness to use.

I have three or four Blogger accounts before so having another Blogger page wouldn’t interest me much. It’d be boring instead. So here I am, trying WordPress and ready to experience it.

I’m aware that most people knew WordPress and been using it from years ago. But I really don’t care that I just have mine now. What important is that I’m ready to write and to share inspirational thoughts which often cross my mind, tickling and demanding myself to tell them to the world. With that reason, I really hope that many will keep reading Stealing Romance, as much as I hope many people will be inspired as well. I also hope you who are reading this, will always come back to read more.

Enjoy your stay here and sure I will close this introduction with the words “thank you”. (mb)

p.s. The name Stealing Romance is inspired by Lady Gaga’s song, Bad Romance. :))

The last two weeks I’ve been playing Bad Romance for hundreds of times. This song is just totally awesome. It’s melodious, free, wild, satirical, rich with emotions and of course, feels right to dance with.

So I was so excited waiting for its music video premiere, which was on November 9, 2009. It was a week ago and still after been watching in for over a week, I still love it. Yes, I love it.

The music video, as Gaga told, is about tough female spirit. Directed by Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend”), this video turned out to be what expected. With this clever collaboration of Gaga and Lawrence, we will see so many details in the video, extending the meaning of the tough spirit she previously talked about. Gaga even stepped up further with her fashion by including some razor-blade sunglasses in this video. It’s terrifying to realize such a dangerous thing presented in an artistic way and as fashion.

Gaga said, this video should project the tough spirit to its extent. “This is my shield, this is my weapon, this is my inner sense of fame, this is my monster,” said Gaga. The word “monster” really punctuates what Gaga wants to deliver in this first single of The Fame Monster, her second album (of which release date is this November 23!). And I think, she and Lawrence just did it. The video turned out to be one of the best videos I’ve seen nowadays. It has so many details, and also commercials. If you basically love art, you will simply love it, too.

Bad Romance video shots

There are several great reviews achieved by the video. I will share what gagadaily.com wrote earlier.

Entertainment Weekly: “This video is AHHHHHMAZING. There are more wardrobe changes than a Mariah Carey-episode of Cribs. The choreography incorporates elements of “Thriller” and the Twist. And I don’t think Gaga has ever looked prettier than in the close-ups where she’s more stripped down. On the flip side, I love those crazy dilated pupils she sports for much of the video.”

E!: “In the past, we’ve found her relentless ploys for attention pretty exhausting, but this music video really makes us appreciate everything Gaga actually brings to pop music. She’s exciting to watch, plain and simple. Sure, her theatrics might cause a few eye-rolls, and she definitely isn’t breaking any pop music conventions, but while Britney’s out there making the same old boring video, we need someone like Gaga to really bring it. To put actual thought and care into her product so that it feels alive.”

MTV: “So what’s so great about this video? Well, of course there’s the costuming and the choreography, the sly nods to Anubis Airlines from “True Blood”, but aside from that, there are the scenes where we get to see the real Gaga: stripped of her makeup (and her clothes), she sings directly to the camera, a single tear trickling down her face. It’s a disarming moment, a glimpse at the woman shed of her outer layers … a Gaga we rarely get to see.”

Rolling Stone: “Just one album into her career, Lady Gaga has established herself as someone impervious to predictions — especially in the music video department. And the video for her first Fame Monster single, “Bad Romance,” has Gaga providing fans with perhaps her craziest, brightest canvas yet. A collaboration between director Frances Lawrence and the Haus of Gaga “Bad Romance” finds Gaga simultaneously paying homage visually to Kubrick and lyrically to Hitchcock, all while dressed in some of the most outrageous outfits she’s ever worn (and that’s saying a lot).”

As for me, I noted some of my favorite, but it would be spoilers anyway. So I suggest you don’t read the following should you haven’t watched the video. As I said, this video includes so many details. What I love from them is the bathhouse setting. It’s pretty white, meaning really simple and clean. In the beginning of the video you can see Gaga with Hello Kitty eyes make-up. Oh, I love these eyes. They’re just repulsively cute.

Another thing that I noticed was the bathtub of course. It’s a symbolism of Gaga washing away her sin, to be later auctioned to a group of guys, whom she explained during the sneak preview, Russian mafias. I love the Beats laptop displayed in this part by the way. What a cool gadget.

Then it came to the part when it was getting more interesting. Gaga stood there, frozen, surrounded by shards of diamonds. I really love this scene. Photographically, these frames are stunning. But I didn’t get enough, I wanted more and luckily this video offered its beautiful climax with Gaga appearing more feminine, dropping a tear, and burnt like in hell. The closure was.. touching.

Speaking words won’t ever explain the real magic about this video. You have to watch it yourself and be a part of the bad romance. (mb)