Patrick Blanc, Vertical Garden in Paris

Check this out guys, this is so awesome! Green Wall has been applied since many years ago especially in European countries buildings, however, you usually need to build your house with a thicker wall, like the castle look, and none of them had ever planted flowers on it,. Most people plant some kind of Ivy, or woodbine or grass that grows down or up along the wall. One of my neighbors had a wall planted with ivy, and it`s just created cracks everywhere on the wall as it`s settling in. But this one is amazing! He put another layer of rocks and soil wall stapled on to the wall of the building and set up PVCs behind it for irrigation, so it wont damage the wall, and it also means that you never have to re-do your wall and care about the painting. Furthermore, the water can be recycled, and you can set the watering time automatically. SOOO CREATIVE! and EASY... hahaha. Who would have thought that this guy is actually a designer who learnt to be a botanist.

The Mayor in my hometown is really recommended to watch this since he`s kinda obsessed with building parks everywhere in the city, and at the same time is worrying about people dating behind the trees in those parks (which is againts the "Syariah Law"), and hiring people to water all those plants 2-3 times a day while water crisis is a big thing in my hometown after the electricity.

Geminid Meteor Shower 2010

Okay, tonight I should have kept working on my final paper, but since our nextdoor neighbor was performing xxx procedures all over their apartment, it was so distracted to listen to them after midnite.


Then I decided to  accept my roommate offer to go outside and catch the falling stars outside the apt. Tonight Geminid meteor showers have started since 10 pm and were going to have their peak at 2 am and will stay showering until 5 am on Dec 14. We took a walk and were looking to the East (that`s what Google community told us to find them). After a while, we still saw nothing but darkness in the sky LOL! and it was freeeezzziiinnnggg ..... I guess live streaming is the best choice for now hahaha...


My roomie found UStream link and we decided to stare at the sky through our laptop screen, it was a unique experience to catch the falling stars and made lots of wishes online this year hahaha....

Facebook Anthem

                           

OMG... this song is sooo true... LOL!!

There Once Was An Island

                    

Can anyone tell me where to watch this movie online?

My friend told me about this movie a couple of months ago. It is about an island called Takuu that is sinking down somewhere in New Zealand territory, and the people are getting crazier everyday due to this problem. I used to ignore it, but lately I've been hearing about it more and more, and now I`m super curious.

This movie might remind me of Mentawai and Pagai Islands in Sumatra that are sinking too. However, I never heard of how the people in those two islands overcome this situation. When I was still working, I remember reading a post from humanitarian mailing list that UN was looking for somebody who wants to work in Mentawai Island for a very high salary. I bet it must be really bad there.

Razorback Fan Song

This song will only be sung when Razorback wins the game, either football, Volleyball, Baseball, any games.

  

I firstly thought that somebody created the song special as a winning theme. I love it since the lyrics are funny. But then you tube told me that it was originally sung by Mac Davis, and titled as "Oh Lord, it`s hard to be humble". Mac Davis  is a legendary country singer from Texas. (Oh Boy, our winning song wasn`t a piece of Arkansan`s creation..).

I heard that many international students are looking for the lyrics (I used to be one of them anyway hehe), so that they can sing along instead of just moving their bodies up and down.

So here's the lyrics

O Lord it's hard to be humble

When you're perfect in every way

I can't wait to look in the mirror

I get better looking each day

To know me is to love me

I must be one heck of a fan

O Lord it's hard to be humble

When You're an Arkansas Razorback Fan!

GO HOGS!

Kenapa obesitas merebak paling ekstrim di Amerika?

Obesitas sudah menjadi masalah di seluruh dunia, setiap tahun angkanya selalu bertambah seperti halnya HIV/AIDS. Tapi khusus di Amerika angkanya paling besar diantara seluruh negara negara di dunia.


Bulan-bulan pertama setelah saya memulai sekolah, saya mulai banyak membaca tentang obesitas di Amerika, dan ada satu artikel yang sangat mengejutkan saya bahwa disini obesitas pernah menjadi outbreak dan sekarang menjadi epidemi.


Anyway, gak perlu waktu lama untuk tau apa penyebab dari obesitas disini, di sini, kalo belanja groceries (sayur, ikan, daging, buah, dsb) harga bahan makanan mentah hampir dua kali lipat harga makanan kaleng. Nah, kalo di Indonesia, harga bahan makanan mentah (scratch) malahan lebih murah dari makanan kaleng, makanya orang mikir-mikir kalau mau beli, di sini mah murah abis. Trus, fast food restaurant, yg di klaim diseluruh dunia sebagai penyebab obesitas utama, harga makanannya lebih mahal dari fine dining, alias makanan yg dimasak dari scratch. Contohnya, satu pan pizza ukuran besar harganya USD 11, nah dengan harga segitu kalo makan di restoran  fine dining cuma cukup buat satu orang doank. Trus, harga Big Mac McD yang kalorinya lebih dari 500, cuma 2-3 dolaran, gak ada apa2nya dengan makan di restoran kan?


Tadi pagi saya pergi ke toko makanan organik, karena sejak nonton film Food Inc. saya jadi agak geli dengan daging yg dijual di salah satu groceries store terbesar di Amrik. Mereka memperlakukan daging sangat mengerikan, hampir semua ternak dikasi makan jagung supaya cepat gemuk dan cepat besar, jadi bisa cepat disembelih. ketidakmampuan masyarakat untuk membeli makanan dimanfaatkan untuk mengambil keuntungan pribadi dengan mengkambinghitamkan mereka dan menghalalkan segala cara. Kalau yang organik, ternaknya cuma dikasi makan rumput, emang sih harganya jadi lebih mahal, tapi secara saya tidak makan daging tiap hari dan hanya tinggal sendiri, ya bolehlaahh..


Bedanya daging organik dengan non organik, kalo daging non organik lebih bau amis dan pas dimasak jadi menyusut. Oh ya, soal daging menyusut ini, ada satu hal informasi menarik yang saya dapat dari teman sekelas saya yang bekerja diperusahaan pensuplai daging terbesar di Amerika. Dia bilang kalo daging-daging tersebut sebelum dipacking di lewatkan di arus air kencang yang mengandung chlorine, supaya bakteri2 pada mati, but as a result, volume dagngnya jadi keliatan lebih besar, tapi saat dimasak, dagingnya kempes jadi setengahnya, appearancenya saat dijual juga jadi lebih pucat.


Then saya teringat dengan insiden daging glondongan di Indonesia, dimana si peternak memaksa ternaknya untuk minum air yg banyak dan bahkan sampe disuntik air segala ke ototnya, meskipun airnya gak mengandung chlorine, tapi tetep aja appearance nya jadi sama dengan daging yg di suplai sama perusahaan di Amerika dan beratnya tidak sesuai karena ditambah berat air. Do you think both are acceptable?


Dengan masalah seperti ini, sudah pasti banyak sekali impactnya bagi berbagai sektor, terutama angka kesakitan dan penyakit yang muncul dari kondisi obesitas sendiri. perusahaan yang pake self insurance mati-matian ngasi fasilitas wellness and health buat pegawai dan keluarganya gratis, biar mereka pada mau olah raga, sampe bonus uang tunai tahunan kalau si pegawai gak pernah dirawat atau tidak merokok sekalipun selama setaun penuh. Selain itu perusahaan asuransi juga ngasih promosi besar2an untuk check up kesehatan gratis, supaya kliennya sadar sehat dan gak sebentar sebentar ngeklaim polisnya gara-gara jatuh sakit.


Disekolah-sekolah, ada program makan siangnya, baik full maupun tidak. Tapi ternyata makanannya hampir semuanya frozen dan difortified, dan lebih mengejutkan lagi, hampir semua karbohidratnya dari gula, alias makanannya manis-manis banget. Belakangan mulai banyak sekolah yang mengganti isi vending machine dari minuman dan snack yang penuh gula dengan snack yang lebih sehat. Snack-snack baru ini juga masih berkadar gula cukup tinggi, cuma lebih bervitamin saja.


It is so complicated, kalau pemerintah dan masyarakat masih belum satu hati, apalagi pejabat pemerintah yang masih belum mau kehilangan sumber profitnya supaya tetap ada yang sponsorin kalo mau ikut pemilihan umum lagi.