Ngobrol-Ngobrol about Darkness and Loneliness

Ngobrol-Ngobrol about Darkness and Loneliness

Worked on my laptop for four solid hours at the Phoe Nam cafe this morning. Satisfied with my morning burst of productivity, I plugged on my earphones and rewarded myself with songs by Dewa from my MP3 collection which I also carry with me on my mobile office. The song Mistikus Cinta still fills me with a bit of nolstagia made me slightly misty-eyed.

The weather has been quite hot in Jakarta lately (but still not as bad as Klang Valley though). I decided to have soto Madura for lunch at Kantin Surabaya a short distance away--with the customary twist of lime and a dash of sambel and kecap manis. The place wasn't air-conditioned and the meal made me sweat profusely. But it's good to sweat sometimes, especially when you have spent the whole week living in a hotel.

I don't intend to blog on any "serious" topic today. Just want to ngobrol-ngobrol a little bit about the weather and the food...

I forgot to mention that I went to watch the Exorcist: The Beginning at the Block M Plaza cineplex during the weekends. The first Exorcist terrified me when I first watched it as a kid at the Lido cinema back in my hometown. For weeks I was afraid of the dark and dared not sleep alone.

This latest installment of the Exorcist franchise is a little bit disappointing because it has to cater to modern audiences who expect a cheap shock every few minutes. The first Exorcist starring Linda Blair was a cinematic masterpiece with good acting and a slow atmospheric buildup heightened by the clever application of religious motifs. Even Exorcist III directed by the author himself, William Peter Blatty did a reasonably good job.

In trying to modernize this classic of the religious horror genre, director Renny Harlin (of Deep Blue Sea, Cutthroat Island, Die Hard2 and Elm Street IV fame) made generous use of the latest CGI techniques and ended up making the movie look like it had been stitched together from rejected takes from The Mummy and Hellraiser II.

Obviously it didn't scare me one bit. I had no problems sleeping alone that night. It's strange how when kids grow up, their main fear is no longer darkness but loneliness. It takes some time, but thank God I've outgrown that too.