Ratih Asthary Wulandari, S.T.

akhirnya.akhirnya lho.momen itu dateng juga.momen yang membebaskan gw dari segala kepenatan.yah, ngga cuma kepenatan sih.KETEGANGAN lebih utama sepertinya.

semuanya diawali dari pertengahan Juni.selesai penelitian,semua orang mulai tegang karena belajar kompre bareng belom juga dimulai.gw sih belom tegang.haha.akhir minggu kedua Juni akhirnya belajar dimulai.MASYA 4JJI.baru sadar gw.yang harus dipelajari tuh banyaaaaakkkkkkk banget. dari kalkulus I sampe manpro.banyaknyaaa.saat itu gw cuma bisa termenung dan menyemangati diri sendiri.waktunya masih banyak tih.masih bisa kok mempelajari itu semua.

Rutinitas gw berubah.kalo menurut gw,siklus hidup gw waktu itu diawali sekitar jam 8 pagi dimana gw udah berangkat ke kampus untuk belajar bareng.belajar barengnya mulai sekitar jam 9 sampe jam 4 atau 5 sore.dan gw selalu pulang dengan kepala sakit banget.gw mengambil waktu dari jam 5 sampe jam 7 untuk istirahat,entah apa bentuknya.jam 8 mulai belajar lagi.dan gw ngga mw begadang.alhasil jam 11 gw udah tidur untuk bangun lagi sekitar jam 1-2 dini hari.untuk ini gw berterimakasih sama EURO 2008,walaupun kali ini gw sama sekali ngga bisa menikmati dan ngga punya kesempatan untuk ngebahas “PIALA DUNIA KECIL” ini di blog gw.selesai bola jam 4 atau 5 gw tidur lagi d sampe jam 7,trus bangun mandi dan berangkat lagi ke kampus.

Kepala gw sakiiiitttt banget.makin mendekati hari H,gw makin tegang.berasanya sih udah belajar yaa,tapi kok tetep aja ada yang kurang gt.soalnya bener2 ngga kebayang.H-1,gw deg2an setengah mati.tapi akhirnya pas ngerjain udah ngga tegang sih.soalnya?SUMPAH.SUSAH BANGET!!!! apalagi bagian 4 tuh,kacau banget.gw udah ngga bisa mikir,soal dalpro yang sebenernya pengen gw lewatin ternyata keluar banyak banget,statistiknya jg gt.adanya bagian 4 nih yang bikin gw takut ngga lulus.

Setelah hari itu terlewati,bukannya lega bos (yah,setengah sih).makin deg-degaaannn.mana pengumumannya sore lagi.gw udah belingsatan,ngga bisa ngapa2in.ngga nikmatlah.pengumuman katanya jam 3.aslinya?jam 5.GOOOOOOODDDDDD.makin tegang gw.apalagi gw ngeliat dosen pembimbing gw dateng.yang ada di pikiran gw adalah: “ya ampun,jangan-jangan si bapak lagi ngebelain gw di dalem gara2 nilai gw di perbatasan lulus ato ngga!! huaaaaaa”.alhasil gw makin tegang.jam 5 kita disuruh baris menurut nomer ujian dan disuruh masuk ke dalem ruangan.

Ini nih.yang ngga lagi2 deh pengen gw lewatin.masuk ruangan,hampir semua dosen ada disitu.menatap.menilai.dan mereka menikmati wajah-wajah tegang yang masuk ke ruangan.akhirnya diumumkan.gw nomer urut 61 yaaa.masih lamaaaaaa banget.harap-harap cemas.takut salah satu dari temen-temen yang ikutan ujian ada yang ngga lulus.dan memang ada.SEDIH.tapi pas akhirnya sampe ke gw:

Ratih Asthary W. dinyatakan lulus dengan nilai B.

ya ampun perasaan itu.bangganya,leganya,senangnya,semuanya.mengalir.ngga ada lagi lutut lemes karena tegang.yang ada hanya luapan bahagia dari sarjana-sarjana baru.kebahagiaan karena apa yang kita lakukan 2 minggu terakhir ternyata ngga percuma.LULUS.sebuah hal yang udah gw harapkan dari 2 tahun yang lalu.karena gw bosan.ngga ada lagi nikmatnya jauh dari keluarga.jauh dari pacar.jauh dari tempat yang familier.

Yang ngga gw sangka.tempat ini bukan lagi tempat yang ngga familier.tempat ini juga rumah gw.tempat yang membuat gw nyaman.dan sebentar lagi bakal gw tinggalkan.mencari rumah baru.untuk suatu cerita hidup yang baru.

yah,sekarang officially jobless ni.ada yang mw ngasi kerjaan? ;p

note: buat yang belum lulus, semangaaaaaatttttt yaaaa..

Let’s get to know: American Idol 7 Finalists (2)

 

Okay, after David Cook, here comes David Archuleta. A  17 years old boy who greatly take America’s breath away.

David Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida to James Jeffrey Archuleta and Lupe Marie Archuleta. He has three younger siblings, Amber, Daniel and Jazzy, and an older sister, Claudia. Archuleta’s family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when Archuleta was thirteen and currently lives in Murray, Utah, where Archuleta is a student at Murray High School. The only regular job he has had was over the summer of 2007 as a sound “techie” at a park amphitheater. He once suffered partial vocal paralysis but refrained from risky surgery and feels he is almost fully recovered.

Archuleta started singing when he was six because he was inspired by a Les Misérables video. “That musical is what started all of this,” he said. He started performing publicly at ten years old when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation, and won the kid division.

Archuleta’s mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child, according to an interview aired on American Idol, was Latin-influenced. She also “was big on dancing” according to Archuleta, and would “make” him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father’s collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and “soulful music”. In a later interview he also revealed that his dad was a jazz musician. Archuleta also enjoys Broadway musicals.

On his American Idol “Fast Facts” page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cites Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. He also cites Tamyra Gray and Elliott Yamin as his favorite former American Idol contestants. Like Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta aspires to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.

Here is Archuleta list of performance in American Idol.

Week #	Theme	Song choice	Original artist
Top 24 (12 Men)	1960s	“Shop Around”	The Miracles
Top 20 (10 Men)	1970s	“Imagine”	John Lennon
Top 16 (8 Men)	1980s	“Another Day in Paradise”	Phil Collins
Top 12	Lennon/McCartney	“We Can Work It Out”	The Beatles
Top 11	The Beatles	“The Long and Winding Road”	The Beatles
Top 10	Year They Were Born	“You’re the Voice”	John Farnham
Top 9	Dolly Parton	“Smoky Mountain Memories”	Dolly Parton
Top 8	Inspirational	“Angels”	Robbie Williams
Top 7	Mariah Carey	“When You Believe”	Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston
Top 6	Andrew Lloyd Webber	“Think of Me”	The Phantom of the Opera
Top 5	Neil Diamond	“Sweet Caroline”	Neil Diamond
		“America”
Top 4	Rock and Roll	“Stand by Me”	Ben E. King
	Hall of Fame	“Love Me Tender”	Elvis Presley
Top 3	Judge’s Choice	“And So It Goes”	Billy Joel
	Contestant’s Choice	“With You”	Chris Brown
	Producer’s Choice	“Longer”	Dan Fogelberg
FINALE	Previous Song	TBA	TBA
	New Song
	Coronation Song

Can’t wait to see their performance!!

Let’s get to know: American Idol 7 Finalists (1)

This week, on Tuesday, American Idol 7 will hold the very last stage of this season competition. And I will give you a sneak-peek to each finalists. I’ll begin with David Cook.

Cook was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. Cook’s interest in music began early in life; he received his first guitar at the age of 2. He began singing in second grade, when his elementary school music teacher gave him a solo in a school choir performance. He proceeded to perform in virtually every Christmas and PTA program. He also participated in choir and drama programs in middle school and high school. At Blue Springs South High School, he performed in musicals, including The Music Man, West Side Story, and Singin’ in the Rain.He had also been an avid baseball player during high school. After losing interest in sports, he focused more on music. He earned a theater scholarship to the University of Central Missouri, but he abandoned theater after two semesters, graduating from the school in 2006 with a degree in graphic design.While in college, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa. After his college graduation, he relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pursue his career in music, telling his family, “I just want to give myself until I’m 26 years old to get a job.”

Cook was the lead singer and guitarist of the band Axium from 1999 until 2006. He formed Axium in his junior year of high school with drummer Bobby Kerr. One of the band’s songs, “Hold,” was picked up by AMC Theatres Movie Tunes and was played before previews on over 20,000 screens nationwide. Axium was also named one of the top 15 independent bands in the country in the “Got Milk?” independent band contest, and it was chosen as the best band in Kansas City in 2004.

In 2006, after the breakup of Axium, Cook relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined the regional touring band Midwest Kings, playing guitar, bass, and singing backup vocals. He recorded one EP, Incoherent with Desire to Move On, with the band in 2006. He also worked as a bartender at several Tulsa clubs, including Blank Slate and Rehab Lounge.

Cook released a solo independent album, Analog Heart, in 2006, the year he graduated from the college. It was written from 2004 to 2006, and he designed the artwork as well. The album was chosen as the fourth-best CD released in 2006 by website Music Equals Life. Cook also won the Urban Tulsa Weekly’s “Absolute Best of Tulsa” award for “Best Locally Produced, Independent Album” in 2007. He had completed recording his sophomore album before his appearance on American Idol.Over the weekend of April 18 to April 20, 2008, Analog Heart was listed as the number one album for “Today’s Top MP3 Albums” on Amazon.com. Soon there after, the album was removed from Amazon.

Here is the list of Cook performance in American Idol.

Week #	Theme	Song choice	Original artist
Top 24 (12 Men)	1960s	“Happy Together”	The Turtles
Top 20 (10 Men)	1970s	“All Right Now”	Free
Top 16 (8 Men)	1980s	“Hello”	Lionel Richie
Top 12	Lennon/McCartney	“Eleanor Rigby”	The Beatles
Top 11	The Beatles	“Day Tripper”	The Beatles
Top 10	Year They Were Born	“Billie Jean”	Michael Jackson
Top 9	Dolly Parton	“Little Sparrow”	Dolly Parton
Top 8	Inspirational	“Innocent”	Our Lady Peace
Top 7	Mariah Carey	“Always Be My Baby”	Mariah Carey
Top 6	Andrew Lloyd Webber	“The Music of the Night”	The Phantom of the Opera
Top 5	Neil Diamond	“I’m Alive”	Neil Diamond
		“All I Really Need Is You”
Top 4	Rock and Roll	“Hungry Like the Wolf”	Duran Duran
	Hall of Fame	“Baba O’Riley”	The Who
Top 3	Judge’s Choice	“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”	Roberta Flack
	Contestant’s Choice	“Dare You to Move”	Switchfoot
	Producer’s Choice	“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”	Aerosmith
FINALE	Previous Song	TBA	TBA
	New Song
	Coronation Song

Hope you’re doing great in the final!! I’m a big fans of yours.. Hahahah

Piala Thomas dan Uber 2008: Euforia itu akhirnya berlalu..

Ngga kerasa ya? udah seminggu kita disuguhi tayangan bulutangkis sehari 2 kali. Jam 1 siang dan jam 6 sore. Seluruh Indonesia bersuka. Senayan dipenuhi pengunjung, toko olahraga diserbu (hanya untuk beli kok atau raket bulutangkis ;p), jalanan dalam kompleks perumahan dipenuhi anak-anak yang bermain bulutangkis. Bulutangkis. salah satu dari sekian banyak hal yang bisa membuat bangga bangsa ini. ngga heran kalo “Visit Indonesia 2008″ juga menggunakan perhelatan piala Thomas dan Uber tahun ini sebagai batu loncatan promosi.

Akhirnya piala yang lepas itu belum juga bisa direbut kembali. Kedigdayaan Cina masih terlalu kuat untuk dihentikan bangsa lain, atau ini cuma masalah persiapan tim semata?Tim putra Cina menunjukkan bahwa mereka masih yang terbaik saat ini. Tim putra Korea akhirnya berhasil menjajakkan kaki di final piala Thomas untuk pertama kali setelah menorehkan kekalahan pertama Indonesia dari mereka. Tim putri Cina pun berhasil mempertahankan piala Uber yang sudah diraih sejak 1998. Bagaimana dengan Indonesia?

Banyak yang berubah kalo menurut gw. Kenapa? karena tahun ini ternyata tim putri lebih baik secara keseluruhan dari tim putra. Sejak Cina berhasil merebut piala Uber dari Indonesia pada tahun 1998, putri-putri kita ngga pernah bisa bicara banyak dalam perebutan piala Uber. Paling sedih ya tahun 2006 lah. Indonesia ngga lolos ke putaran final!! Torehan sejarah buruk untuk perbulutangkisan putri Indonesia. Dari catatan itu, masyarakat Indonesia ngga terlalu berharap banyak dengan tim Uber kita. Kenyataannya? Perjuangan mereka luar biasa. Semangat mereka luar biasa. MEREKA LUAR BIASA.

Nonton final piala Uber? Untuk tunggal, kita emang ngga bisa bicara banyak. Mereka jauh lebih kuat. Postur, teknik, strategi lengkap. Pas pertandingan penentuan, Lu Lan lawan Adrianti Firdasari, gw sampe jijik ngeliat bola silang Lu Lan. Karena itu bagus banget. karena itu bikin mati langkah banget. Karena itu… makin memperlihatkan perbedaan kelas tunggal kita dan mereka. Tapiiiiii untuk ganda, jangan salah.

Pertandingan kedua, ganda pertama Indonesia, Lilyana Natsir/Vita Marissa melawan ganda putri no.1 dunia Yang Wei/Zhang Jie Wen. Mereka kalah? iya. Tapi kalah secara permainan? kita kecewa dengan penampilan mereka? yakin banget gw, seluruh Indonesia pasti bilang ngga. Ngga bakal ada yang kecewa sama mereka, karena itulah permainan yang terbaik dari mereka. itulah yang terbaik yang bisa mereka berikan. Dan standing ovation buat itu. Cantik. Apa yang mereka tampilin tuh bener-bener ngga bisa dilupain. Kalah 12-2 di set ketiga ngga bikin mereka patah semangat. apa yang terjadi? kedudukan berbalik kan? 15-14!! Bener-bener di luar akal sehat gw. mereka bisa membalikkan keadaan!! gw yakin kaki mereka sebenernya udah ngga bisa digerakkin tuh, cuma karena semangat ngga mau kalahnya aja yang bikin mereka bisa terus gerak. Adanya Susi Susanti di tim ini sangat memberikan pengaruh besar buat tim. Susi bisa bertindak sebagai motivator bagi anggota tim untuk tetap bersemangat.

Semangat itu yang ngga keliatan di tim Thomas. Semifinal paling jelek tuh kalo menurut gw. Ngga ada yang mw ngejar kok itu. payah banget. Dari awal, Sony bener-bener ngga memperlihatkan mentalnya sebagai tunggal pertama Indonesia. Dia tuh tunggal putra terbaik Indonesia looooh. Tapi yang gw liat dy masuk lapangan ky cuma dengan kapasitas: PEMAIN no.1 JAWA. payah banget. Cupu. Main ky ngga pengen menang. Ya udahlah, dari awal kejuaraan ini digelar, gw emang udah putus harapan sama si Sony ini. Harapan terbesar emang di nomor ganda. Indonesia emang ngga pernah keabisan stok pemain ganda bagus. tapi begitu juga dengan Korea. Kido/Hendra emang no 1 dan ganda Korea itu cuma ranking 3, tapi apa yang terjadi di lapangan? Kita kalah. Hendra off banget hari itu kalo menurut gw. Kido ky main sendirian, dan tiap kali bola dipukul ke arah Hendra, pasti pasangan Korea dapet angka. Hendra bilang ganda kita ini kalah kekuatan tangan dibanding mereka. Satu masalah akhirnya terangkat ke permukaan. Bisa jadi ini masalah kesiapan fisik? Mungkin. Tapi bukan itu yang gw liat pas kekalahan Taufik. Dia malesss. Titik. Abis perkara. Lee Hyun Il bener2 nguasain lapangan, dan entah kenapa di bayangan gw, hari itu emang Taufik ky kerdil banget di hadapan Lee. Lee menang segala-galanya d. Ngga ada kepuasan setelah nonton pertandingan ini. dan selalu itu yang terjadi setiap kali gw nonton tim Thomas Indonesia bermain. entah kenapa. sampe akhir gw ngga bisa liat semangatnya. Mungkin kita perlu seorang seperti Susi Susanti sebagai motivator? Siapa yang bisa ya? Paling mungkin itu, memanggil pulang Rexy Mainaky. Kynya dy pas banget jadi motivator buat tim putra Indonesia.

Setelah semua euforia ini selesai, apa yang bakal terjadi ke depannya? Prediksi gw, Cina entah kenapa kynya piala Thomas dan Ubernya bakal direbut negara lain 2 tahun lg. Cina udah ngga sekuat 4 atau 2 tahun yang lalu. Baik di putra maupun di putri. Di putra, Korea kynya bakal muncul jadi kekuatan besar, Malaysia bakal mencari bibit baru untuk posisi tunggal, Denmark juga harus secepatnya menemukan pengganti Peter Gade. Hati-hati dengan Jerman, dari apa yang gw liat di Jakarta ini, putra Jerman bakal berkembang pesat. Indonesia juga jangan sampai berdiam diri aja. Evaluasi dari Piala Thomas ini harus segera diperbaiki, kalau memang masalahnya di fisik, segera perbaiki fisik pemain. dan satu lagi, REGENERASI. jangan sampai kejadian putri-putri Indonesia terulang lagi. hidupkan kembali pelatnas pratama. bisa jadi bibit2 unggul muncul dari sana. Di putri, sampai 2 tahun mendatang, setiap negara sepertinya masih akan mengandalkan pemain yang sama, sehingga perkembangan setiap tim akan sangat bergantung pada perkembangan pemain tersebut. Tetapi, putri Indonesia pasti akan berbicara lebih banyak setelah ini.

Semoga semangat itu selalu berkobar dalam diri tiap pemain Indonesia. Semangat yang dititipkan masyarakat seluruh Indonesia. Semangat kebangsaan lewat olahraga bernama BULUTANGKIS. SEMANGAAAAATTTTT!!!

Piala yang lepas, ayo diuber!!!

                     

Apakah anda memperhatikan acara kuis yang digelar setiap pertandingan Piala Thomas atau Uber ditayangkan? Judul post kali ini merujuk kesitu.. Apa gara-gara gaya si Adul yang cukup menjijikkan? hahahha gw ngga tau juga. Tapi tag-line yang bagus menurut gw..

Indonesia ramai!! Senayan heboh!! hahaha.. tapi emang iya lhoo, liat ngga sih waktu pertandingan pertama tim Indonesia? rame parah.. dengan teriakan-teriakan plus stick bomb-nya, Senayan jadi cukup heboh.. dan ini diakui lho sama tim lain, ky Denmark sama Korea yang juga ngerasa disemangatin sama penonton Indonesia pas lawan Malaysia (yah, masa iya kita dukung Malaysia? hahahaha bcanda d).. untung dengan dukungan yang udah heboh ky gt, Indonesia ngga kalah.. malu ngga sih kalo sampe kalah?

Format Piala Thomas dan Uber 2008 ini masih sama seperti 2 penyelenggaraan terakhir di Jakarta 2004 dan Sendai 2006. 12 tim dibagi menjadi 4 grup yang masing2 terdiri atas 3 tim. Tim yang menjadi juara grup langsung maju ke Perempat Final, sedangkan 2 tim lainnya harus bertanding dalam babak yang dinamakan babak ‘playoff’. Cina masih menjadi unggulan utama baik untuk piala Thomas dan piala Uber dengan Indonesia menjadi unggulan ke-2 untuk piala Thomas dan ke-5 dalam piala Uber.

Piala Thomas

Penghuni tim piala Thomas Indonesia bisa dibilang masih orang-orang lama ky Sony, Taufik dan Simon di tunggal sementara Candra Wijaya dan Nova Widiyanto di ganda untuk menemani Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan dan Joko Riyadi/Hendra A. Gunawan yang kebetulan baru pertama kali berlaga di Piala Thomas. Dengan anggota tim ini, diharapkan Indonesia bisa merebut kembali piala Thomas yang pada 2 penyelenggaraan terakhir direbut oleh Cina. Bisakah? Mmm, kalo ngeliat penampilan tim di 2 partai kualifikasi, menurut prediksi gw, BISA, tapi berat banget. Kenapa? Ya ampun, masa lawan Thailand yang menurut gw isinya anak dugem semua itu cuma menang 3-2??? Payah banget. 2 tunggalnya kalah. dan yang kalah itu orang2 yang harusnya menaaaaaang!! Ah, kesel gila gw nontonnya.. Sony ngga semangat, Taufik ngeremehin. payah banget d. Untung gandanya bagus.

Lawan Jerman, walopun menang 5-0, menurut gw mainnya masih belom pol ah. Jerman masih bisa sampe poin 2 digit gt, bandingin sm Cina yang Lin Dan menangnya bisa sampe 21-3 gt? Despite lawan yang beda, kalo pake logika ya, kenapa lawannya Lin Dan cuma bisa dapet 3 poin? Kalo ngga dy bikin 3 pukulan winner, berarti Lin Dan yang melakukan 3 kali kesalahan (menurut gw yang terakhir lebih masuk akal hahahaha). 3 KALI dalam satu set. TIGA. Jumlah kesalahan yang sedikit banget kalo menurut gw. dan pemain Indonesia belum bisa meminimalisir itu. masih banyak salah-salah ngga penting karena ngga sabar ato placing bola yang terlalu lebar dan panjang.

Tapi gw yakin kita pasti bisa!! Taufik juara Olimpiade, Kido/Hendra ganda nomer 1 dunia, masih ada Candra yang juga juara Olimpiade dan Nova yang juara dunia ganda campuran, kita pasti bisa!! Kuncinya ada di semangat dan motivasi ngerebut piala itu sendiri. Semangat bisa ngalahin capek kok. Jangan nganggep remeh lawan, inget yang kejadian sama Taufik pas lawan Thailand, kacau banget. Jangan sampe gt lg. SEMANGATTTTT!!!!!! Gw pasti nonton ke stadion kalo Indonesia masuk final.

Piala UBER

Tim piala Ubernya juga ngga terlalu beda jauh sama tahun sebelumnya. Masih ada Maria Kristin dan Adrianti Firdasari sebagai tunggal pertama dan kedua. Ditambah Pia Zebadiah yang jadi tunggal ke-3 dan Fransiska Ratnasari yang jadi tunggal ke-4. Di ganda, jebolan ganda campuran Lilyana Natsir/Vita Marissa jadi andalan utama ditemenin Greysia Polii/Jo Novita sebagai ganda kedua. Ganda cadangannya Endang/Rani Mundiasti. Skuad idaman? Bisa iya bisa ngga. Tapi itulah yang terbaik yang ada di Indonesia saat ini. Setelah Susi Susanti sama Mia Audina, emang belom ada lagi yang pemain putri Indonesia yang cemerlang banget kan? Soal kans? Jelas Cina yang jadi favorit nomer 1. dan menurut gw emang mereka masih bakal juara tahun ini. Tapi, ngeliat penampilan putri Indonesia di babak kualifikasi hari minggu dan senin kemaren, harusnya MEREKA bisa MASUK FINAL.

Terus terang aja, gw ngga nyangka tim putri kita sebagus itu. Mereka jauh lebih bagus dibanding 2 atau bahkan 4 tahun yang lalu. sekarang udah jauh lebih mateng secara mental maupun teknik. Mungkin ini buahnya regenerasi yang dilakuin sama PBSI. namanya juga regenerasi, jangan ngarep bisa instanlah yaa. mungkin udah 6-10 tahun terakhir mereka semua yang masuk tim ini dipersiapkan untuk jadi pilar bulutangkis Indonesia di masa depan. masa depan itu kapan? mungkin sekarang? atau bisa 2-4 tahun ke depan. asal banyak diturunin di pertandingan internasional, di perebutan piala Uber 2 tahun lagi harusnya kita udah bisa jadi ancaman utama Cina.

Anyway, pertandingan pertama lawan Jepang, KEREN. perjuangannya itu lhooo. keren parah. pantang menyerah. hehehe. cewe Indonesia kuat-kuat!! haha. Maria Kristin pun bisa menang sbenernya menurut gw. cuma ya itu, kurang sabar aja. tapi yang paling ok si Greysia Polii-lah. anjiss, ky cowo banget mainnya. bersemangat gt dy, yang nonton jadi semangat juga kan jadinya. Hebatlah perjuangannya mah. Si Pia Zebadiah juga tuh. dengan jurus netting meliuk (ini namanya bikinan gw haha), ngga ngerti gw gimana bisa pergelangannya meliuk gt? alhasil lawannya mati langkah. hahahha.

Pertandingan kedua juga bagus. Udah lama kan ngga liat putri-putri Indonesia ngalahin lawan dengan skor 5-0? hahahaha. kalo yang kemaren ngga nonton lumayan sayang juga tuh. bagus kok pertandingannya. sayangnya Belanda ngga menurunkan tim utama kynya. mungkin strategi juga, karena paginya mereka baru tanding lawan Jepang dan menang 3-2. Indonesia keren!! hehehe seneng banget bisa ngeliat tim putri mainnya semangat gt. yakin banget gw banyakan yang pengen nonton tim putri dibanding tim putranya. hahahha. oia, mungkin yang paling banyak fansnya ya si Polii itu. hehe. main ok, wajah imut, pasti banyak yang langsung ngefans tuh.

Di pertandingan perempat final besok, tim putra bakal berhadapan dengan Inggris dan tim putri dengan Hongkong. semoga penampilan yang udah ok sekarang bisa ditingkatin lagi dan harapan seluruh bangsa Indonesia bisa tercapai dengan terebutnya kembali piala Thomas dan kalo bisa piala Uber. kita semua di belakang kalian. INDONESIA, ayo main yang bagusss!! hehehehhe. satu yang pasti, INI KANDANG KITA!!!

Piala yang lepas, ayo diuber!!!

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle : Technology Overview

Like I’ve said on my latest post, I have to make a paper for coal utilization and processing (one of my course this semester..). So, I spent my whole saturday afternoon by googling for world energy demand and outlining the paper (since I didn’t have much will to do my other assignment like arranging the pipelines?) but fortunately I still have some energy to make the first part which is introduction.

I decide to split my paper into 5 parts. 1) Introduction 2) IGCC process description 3) Major IGCC Blocks and Components 4) IGCC Performance in Reducing CO2 Emissions and 5) Conclusion. The excerpt will be posted below. I really proud to myself that I can do this. haha. that’s why I will post it.

 

INTEGRATED GASIFICATION COMBINED CYCLE: Technology Overview

 

I.        Introduction

The world today is having some serious problems regarding to energy crisis. The energy demand is increasing in alarming rate with average 1.3 percent per year to 2030. The increase will be underpinned by economic and population growth (www.exxonmobil.com). Power generation to meet electricity needs will be the biggest driver of higher energy demand representing more than 40 percent of the increase while fossil-base fuels will continue to provide the supplies for this demand with oil and gas close to 60 percent. Demand for coal will grow as the demand of electricity in developing country rise. Figure 1 shows the world energy demand by sector to 2030.

 

The need for mitigating the effect of greenhouse gases emissions and the rapid increase of oil price lead us to start thinking some possible solutions. One of the solutions which have been the main long term goal for The European Union is the conversion of the fossil-base fuel to the sustainable energy system to gain higher energy efficiency and reduce the emissions. Even with higher energy efficiency, the energy consumption by people around the world is growing. Thus, meeting the need for affordable and reliable energy supplies will not be easy. An effective combination of access, investment, technology and trade is necessary to deliver reliable supplies (Christou et al, 2007).

 

Nowadays, oil holds an important role in world energy system since it is used widely in industrial, residential and transportation sectors. In future projection, the use of oil will be limited to transportation sector while natural gas and coal will be utilized in electricity generation. In addition, natural gas reforming and coal gasification with carbon capture will also be used to produce hydrogen which is an environmentally friendly fuel and free of harmful emissions. Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is one of the technologies which will lead us to hydrogen economy instead of energy economy state (Christou et al, 2007).

 

The integrated gasification combined cycle produces electricity from solid or liquid fuels. The scientific community and major electricity corporation consider this technology as promising to produce cleaner electrical power in the future. First, fuel is converted to synthesis gas which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide through gasification. Second, the synthesis gas is converted to electricity in a power block consist of a gas turbine process and steam turbine process which include heat recovery steam generator (Maurstad, 2005).

 

Coal based IGCC plants are not fully commercial. Although each major components of IGCC have been widely utilized in industrial or power generation, the integration of a gasification and combined cycle power plant is considerably new. The motivation to apply this technology is the potential for better environmental performance at low marginal cost (Maurstad, 2005). Several IGCC pilot plants have been built these recent years to assess the possibility in commercializing the technology.

 I will post the rest later after it is finished.. hahaha

Vantage Point. 6 stories at the same moment of truth.

Vantage Point is an action movie released on February 2008. Script is written by Barry Levy and directed by Pete Travis. It has some unique plot made by viewing the story line from 6 different perspectives. Rex Brook, Thomas Barnes, Enrique, Howard Lewis, President Ashton, and the terrorist share the story from their own perspective. This movie set the place at the summit held in Salamanca, Spain with the presence of its mayor and the President of USA. The President later on was shot while giving a speech in front of the crowd.

1. Rex Brook’s perspective. She was the producer of Global Network News who reported the summit. Rex worked with some cameramen, a few reporter, and some assistants beside her. The story began with her being communicate to her live reporter, Angie. Angie reported the conditions on the summit with a story about people protesting outside the plaza. When the president came forward to give the speech, she prepared to give a short naration about what happened in the background when suddenly sound of gun shot was heard a few times. The President down. Rex then tried to comfort Angie as she must report what’s happening there. A few minutes later, Angie died because of the explosion.

suddenly, time was back to the 12:00 pm, but now we saw a man answering telephone from his friend whom telling him that we’re on duty.

2. Thomas Barnes’s perspective. He was our main protagonist. A secret service whose loyalty would never be asked. He took a bullet for the president a year before and yet hadn’t come back ever since. But he chose to take responsibility to protect president in this summit though the memory of he get shot last year still haunted him. When the president took a step to the podium, he saw a window with its curtain swang like someone was upthere. Then the shooting happened, he still stood there and watched the curtain as Kent Taylor -his partner- shouted at him. When there was a man jumping up to the podium, he tackled him and told everyone that this man was suspected. After watching the video from one of the tourists, he then realized that there was a bomb in the podium. He tried to warn everybody there but the bomb exploded. His sight noted that GNN was reported all of the moment then he reached GNN’s trailer. There, he saw something on the video and took off.

Again, the time came back to the 12:00 pm. Now, we saw a man looked at a couple with jealousy.

3. Enrique’s perspective. He was a police officer assigned to protect the mayor. He spotted his girlfriend being embraced by a stranger and overheard them speaking about a meeting under a nearby underpass. When he confronted her, she assured him in Spanish that she loves him and him alone. She then asked if he has brought her bag and Enrique nodded and handed it over. When the President was shot, Enrique rushed onto the stage to protect the mayor and was tackled by Agent Barnes. As he was in Secret Service custody, Enrique watched his girlfriend tossing the bag he gave her under the podium. Realizing that there must have been a bomb in the bag, he broke custody and started running to the underpass that he heard about earlier while Secret Service agents attempted to recapture him but failed to do so while chasing him through several buildings. His scene ended as he confronted someone at the underpass, asking if they were surprised to see him still alive.

Time was back again to the 12:00 pm.

4. Howard Lewis’s perspective. He was an American tourist who thought he’s captured the shooter on his video camera while recording the event for his family back home. While waiting for the President to speak, he made small talk with a man named Sam and was accidentally bumped into by a little girl named Anna, causing her ice cream cone to fall to the ground. He apologized in Spanish and offered to buy her a new one, but her mother declined. He noticed one of the Secret Service agents, Agent Barnes, looking at a window and aimed his camera at it before pointing it at the podium again. After the President was shot, he stood and filmed the pandemonium while the crowd flees. Barnes ran up to him and requested to view the film in Lewis’ video camera, they both saw a woman throwing a bag under the podium, which was what alerted Barnes in his scene. After the bomb exploded, he picked up Anna, who has lost her mother, while chasing Enrique and the pursuing agents. Dropping Anna off with a female Spanish police officer, Lewis continued to run after Enrique. Lewis was standing on the pedestrian overpass when police officers fired in Enrique’s direction and Enrique collapsed, mortally wounded. A single policeman approached the fallen Enrique from the other direction and crouched down beside him. Lewis then spied Anna, who has run away from the police officer, standing at the edge of the very busy road that ran under the overpass. She saw her mother on the other side and started to run toward her, much to Lewis’ horror. As an ambulance was seconds away from running Anna over, Lewis ran on to the street to save her.

Time again was back to 12:00 pm now showing that president was back to the hotel to avoid an assasination.

5. President Ashton’s perspective. Having been informed of the potential assassination attempt, he had actually returned to hotel and was awaiting his body double giving his speech. Watching on television, Ashton was upset when he saw that Thomas Barnes, who had previously saved him from another assasination was being put out front to test his recovery. The explosion in the distance heard before was revealed to be a suicide bomber in the lobby of his hotel. Moments later, a masked assailant bursts into the room and kills his guards and advisors. He was kidnapped by Enrique’s girlfriend acting like some of the red cross. HE tried to escape when the ambulance ran in the high speed causing the girl fell back at the ambulance.

Time came back for the last time. Again, it’s 12:00 pm.

6. The terrorists plan’s perspective. The final perspective was that of the terrorists orchestrating the attack. The assassination attempt on the double was revealed to be an elaborate ruse, done by remote control via an automated rifle. The rifle had been placed by Secret Service agent Taylor, who had been spotted on the live feed by Barnes as he was leaving the scene in a Spanish policeman’s uniform, clearly lying to Barnes who he was talking to on his walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, Javier, the assassin who has made his way into President Ashton’s room (and who was working for the terrorists only because his brother was being held hostage), led Ashton to the elevator, where he was knocked unconscious and quietly loaded onto an ambulance. Javier joins Taylor, with both followed by Barnes.

At the underpass, Enrique confronted Javier and Taylor, only to be shot by Javier. Javier was in turn shot by Barnes, and finished off by Taylor, and Taylor crashed his car while attempting to escape from Barnes, and was fatally injured. At the same time, Ashton awakens in the ambulance and tried to take out his captors, distracting them as the little girl walks in front of the ambulance. The driver swerved and flipped the ambulance just as Lewis got the girl out of harms way. The terrorist who survived the crash tried to shoot them, but Barnes kills him. Ashton was then rescued by Barnes.

Overall, IT WAS SUCH A GOOD MOVIE!! Well, actually I love the plot. I love how they made us compile all the stories by viewin it from the other perspectives. One mistake, Agent Barnes whom actually had been shot by Javier and down when the bomb exploded, and had crashed the wall for his car collide with a truck, looks fine at the end without any single wound on his body. Does it look possible? I don’t think soooo. Hahahahahha. But it was just a little mistake everybody would laugh at. hehe.

I think i’ll go for the 2nd time today. Hahaha. Anyone wants to accompany me?

Proposal Daisakusen SP was aired last night!!

WOW!! Movie i’ve been waiting is out now!!

It has been 1 year since after hearing Ken’s confession, Rei left Tada during their wedding ceremony. Although Ken and Rei knew how they felt for each other, they were still unable to take a step forward.

At the same time, Eri and Tsuru’s wedding was about to go on in Hawaii, so Ken, Rei, Mikio, and the others went to the church on the beach. However, as the time slowly passed the time of the ceremony, it had yet to begin. While Tsuru desparately tries to cover this fact, everyone finds out that Eri is in fact missing. When he awoke this morning she had been missing, and only a hand written note was left behind saying that she “Doesn’t know how Tsuru feels”.

Ken cannot help but to remember what they had done 1 year before, in the midst of Eri’s parents apologizing to the guests and Tsuru becoming depressed. As Ken profusely wishes for happiness for Tsuru, who can only think of Eri, the Fairy suddenly appears. Although the Fairy felt disappointed with Ken since the relationship between him and Rei hadn’t progressed, the fairy, out of friendship, lets Ken slip back in time yet again! Ken tries his best to relay the information to Tsuru in regards to his future of having his bride run away but….!?

Can’t wait to watch it!!

wawancara dosen terfavorite : TPA

Ini tugas gw sebagai anggota angkatan 04 yang berdedikasi. haha. setelah rapat senen kmaren, udah diputuskan kalo senen depan, beberapa rubrik harus udah mencapai kemajuan, termasuk rubrik yang gw asuh. WAWANCARA DOSEN TERFAVORITE. karena temen gw butuh temen untuk nemenin wawancara dosen wali, akhirnya dy ngebantuin gw juga untuk rubrik ini.

Ada 2 dosen yang bakal diwawancara -dosen terasik dan dosen terese’- yaitu Pak Tri Partono Adhi sebagai dosen terasik dan Pak Yogi Wibisono Budhi sebagai dosen terese’. Dosen yang terakir wawancaranya ditunda sampai nilai KP udah keluar. secara dia dosen pembimbing KP gw. haha. setelah janjian kmaren sore jam 5, tiba-tiba pak Tri memajukan jadwal jam 4. karna rekan gw lg ada kuliah, akirnya gw sendirian ketemu Pak Tri. Karena pada dasarnya Pak Tri itu orangnya santai, wawancara yang bisa dibilang sebagai obrolan si berjalan santai jg. ngga ada ketegangan. heheh. satu kesan yang gw tangkep setelah ngobrol dengan beliau adalah PINTAR dan BERDEDIKASI.

Pertanyaan pertama gw adalah, Gimana kesan Bapak terpilih sebagai dosen terfavorite?, dimana dy menjawab dengan agak bingung. dy merasa terlalu banyak memberi PR dan kuis yang mana harusnya hal ini ngga akan menjadikan dy dosen terfavorite. walopun sambil bercanda dy bilang kalo seandainya memang dy terpilih karena itu, berarti pemikiran angkatan gw sedang bergerak ke arah yang benar. hehe. sejujurnya gw ngga tau jg sih, knp dy terpilih. tapi gw ngakuin kalo dy emang salah satu dosen yang cara ngajarnya enak bgt. Dy sendiri ngaku kalo ngajar itu adalah salah satu hobinya. tau sendiri kan gmn seseorang terhadap hobinya? pastinya ngerjain dengan senang hati dan bakal ngasih yang terbaik. begitu jg dengan Pak Tri. Beliau selalu serius dalam mengajar, -mengajar adalah suatu kesenangan buat saya- dan mahasiswa bisa merasakan keseriusannya tersebut sehingga kita pun ikut serius dalam belajar. Gw sempet nyinggung soal betapa tidak menariknya mata kuliah PID yang dy ajar dulu dan betapa terbaliknya dengan mata kuliah KAPSEL PP yang menarik bgt. dy cuma berujar satu kalimat: Mungkin pikiran kalian yang sudah lebih dewasa dan ilmu kalian sudah bertambah jadi kalian sudah lebih bisa menikmati kuliah padahal saya sih sama saja kok mengajarnya. WOW. mungkin juga. gw ngga pernah kepikiran ke arah sana lhoo. hehe.

Kemajuan teknologi menurut beliau merupakan salah satu faktor yang menguntungkan untuk mahasiswa-mahasiswa jaman sekarang yang lagsung gw setujui. Pernah ngga sih lo mikir bikin PFD digambar tangan trus dibikin blueprint-nya dst. padahal sekarang udah ada Microsoft Visio yang memudahkan kita bgt. Ngerjain RP tanpa komputer sekarang udah mustahil banget kan? sementara mahasiswa jaman dulu y begitu. haha. Jadi kalo menurut Pak Tri, mahasiswa sekarang dapat belajar lebih banyak hal dalam waktu yang lebih singkat karna adanya kemajuan teknologi tersebut.

Terakhir, beliau memberi pesan buat TK angkatan 04: Selalu berbuat yang terbaik kapanpun dan dimanapun kalian berada dan kalau kalian berada dalam kesulitan dan butuh berdiskusi atau sekedar ngobrol-ngobrol feel free to stop by since we’re always happy to help. GT.

Hasil wawancara selengkapnya ntar liat aja di Yearbook 04 yaaa.. huhuhhu..

SEMANGAT!! Next Target: Yogi Wibisono Budhi 

Review: Seluas Langit Biru

A new novel from my favorite writer. SITTA KARINA. I’ve been waiting this book since last year when the excerpt was published. haha.

Seluas Langit Biru bercerita tentang seorang Hanafiah yang tomboi, Bianca. Gimana Bianca membiarkan cita-citanya hilang karena tiba-tiba dia dijodohin sama seorang work-a-holic bernama Sultan Syahrizki juga gimana dia harus mematikan cinta terlarangnya terhadap… Aozora -Sora- Syahrizki yang ngga lain adalah adik tiri Sultan. Sora selama ini selalu ngerasa jadi bayang-bayang Sultan, apalagi Sora ‘dipungut’ oleh Sultan setelah ayah mereka meninggal. Karena selalu merasa Ibu Sora adalah wanita yang merebut ayah darinya dan Ibu, Sultan selalu bertindak seenaknya. Menurutnya, tindakannya ‘memungut’ anak dari orang yang menghancurkan keluarganya sudah lebih dari cukup. Yah, Sora juga ngga bisa apa-apa selain menerima perlakuan Sultan sambil tetap mencari informasi soal ayah dan terutama ibunya.

Sora bertemu Bianca ngga sengaja di sebuah lounge besar di Jakarta. Saat itu Bianca sedang mabuk dan tertimpa kesulitan. Sora jatuh cinta pada gadis berparas latin tersebut dan bertanya-tanya apa yang menimpanya hingga gadis ini harus minum sebanyak ini. Jawabannya diketahui Sora tak lama kemudian setelah mengetahui bahwa Bianca adalah tunangan Sultan. Namun sekali ini, Sora ngga akan mengalah dan melepaskan mutiara hitamnya.

Ceritanya bagus dan masih tetap sama ky cerita-cerita Sitta yang lain. Karakter tiap tokoh tergambar secara sempurna, ide cerita yang bikin kita bermimpi pengen mencapai hal yang sama, ataupun gaya penceritaan yang bebas dan mengalir. Walaupun ngga sebagus ‘Pesan dari Bintang’, tapi Seluas Langit Biru tetap menghibur dan wajib baca kok. Satu yang menurut gw kurang di cerita ini adalah setting waktu di cerita ini, kadang jadi ky tumpang tindih sama cerita Sitta yang lain. Sekali waktu gw akan berpikir Inez udah melahirkan, atau gw masih bingung sampe sekarang Diaz sm Sisy itu udah nikah ato belom. Dan yang paling penting, kejadian di buku ini terjadi berapa lama setelah Diaz dan San Fransisconya sih? Itu menurut gw yang kurang dari novel ini.

But still, it’s good to read.