Bagi setiap orang yang pernah chatting, posting ataupun berkirim email, rasanya tidak mungkin untuk tidak kenal lambang senyum yang satu ini.
Pernahkah anda berpikir darimana datangnya dan sejak kapan lambang tersebut digunakan?
Ternyata pada tanggal 19 September 2007, senyum tersebut sudah melanglang buana di dunia maya selama seperempat abad!!
Artikel dapat diakses di alamat:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=7&contentid=2007091920070919024913843423b2a69
:-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
Pittsburgh: We have all seen it at some point in our lives: A colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis – :-). It has been twenty-five years since US-based professor Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University first used the three keystrokes as a “horizontal smiley face” in a computer message.
To mark the anniversary, Fahlman and his colleagues are starting an annual student contest for innovation in technology-assisted, person-to-person communication, dubbed ‘The Smiley Award’.
Language experts say the smiley face and other emotional icons, known as emoticons, have given people a concise way in email and other electronic messages of expressing sentiments.
Fahlman first posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board on Sept 19, 1982, while discussing the limits of online humour and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly.
“I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-),” wrote Fahlman. “Read it sideways.”
Fahlman’s smileys spread from the campus to other universities, then businesses and eventually around the world as the Internet gained popularity.
Today, instant messaging programs often contain an array of emoticons to express a range of emotions.
Amy Weinberg, a University of Maryland linguist and computer scientist, said emoticons such as the smiley were “definitely creeping into the way, both in business and academia, people communicate.”
“It has been fascinating to watch this phenomenon grow from a little message I tossed off in 10 minutes to something that has spread all around the world,” Fahlman said.
Untuk melihat seperti apa pesan asli yang menjadi moment kelahiran lambang senyum ini, silahkan dilihat di:
http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Smiley.html
Untuk melihat komentar dari Fahlman sendiri mengenai senyuman maut ciptaannya, silahkan dilihat di:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/sefSmiley.htm
tags: Kopas author: bebek rewel comments: 3 Comments
September 19th, 2007
10 tahun sudah berlalu sejak tewasnya Putri Diana dalam kecelakaan tragis di Paris tanggal 31 Agustus 1997 waktu setempat.
Namun dunia seakan tidak pernah melupakannya…
Berbagai spekulasi baru mengenai kematiannya terus beredar dari tahun ke tahun. Sebagian orang yang pernah mengenalnya berusaha “memanfaatkan keadaan” dengan berlomba-lomba mengeluarkan buku mengenai dia. Bahkan (bekas?) pacar Pangeran William, Kate Middleton, juga tidak bisa lepas dari bayang-bayang “Princess of Wales” yang satu ini.
Kematian Diana yang tiba-tiba memang sempat “menggoyahkan” kedudukan monarki Inggris. Saat itu, keluarga kerajaan sedang berlibur di “Balmoral Castle”, Skotlandia.
Terlambatnya reaksi kerajaan untuk mengeluarkan ungkapan duka cita dan tidak adanya pengibaran bendera setengah tiang di istana Buckingham sempat membuat popularitas keluarga kerajaan merosot drastis.
Pada akhirnya, demi “menuruti keinginan rakyat” (dan juga dorongan media massa), sejumlah aturan protokol dilanggar (contoh: pengibaran bendera “Union Jack” setengah tiang di atas istana Buckingham. Suatu hal yang sebenarnya tidak pernah ada di aturan protokoler kerajaan mengingat seharusnya hanya bendera “Royal Standard” saja yang boleh dikibarkan di atas istana untuk menandakan kehadiran Ratu). Popularitas keluarga kerajaan pun terdongkrak kembali…
Begitulah kilasan singkat mengenai efek kematian ”Lady Di” 10 tahun yang lampau.
Lalu bagaimanakah kabar “para pelaku utama” yang terlibat langsung dalam drama nyata ini?
Ditulis oleh Gordon Rayner
Artikel dapat diakses di alamat: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/31/ndiana1531.xml
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How the key figures 10 years ago have fared
Harry
His party lifestyle has brought with it the risk that he would forever be branded a playboy, but Prince Harry has finally come of age with his moving and assured address at the memorial service for his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry’s eloquent tribute to “the best mother in the world” managed to be deeply personal without lapsing into the sentimental, and drew tears and applause from the crowds gathered outside the Guard’s Chapel in London.
No official explanation was given by Clarence House as to why it fell to Harry to give the address, rather than his older brother William, but on the rare occasions the Princes have spoken together in public, such as at the recent Diana memorial concert, Harry has appeared the more relaxed and assured of the two.
Prince Charles is rightly proud of the way his sons have coped with the loss of their mother. In the ten years since Diana’s death Prince Harry has demonstrated an impressive determination to be his own man, most notably in his insistence that he should be allowed to lead his soldiers in combat in Iraq.
Although the Army ultimately denied Harry the chance to go into battle, his undoubted courage won him widespread respect.
His Achilles heel, however, has been his love of boozy nights out at London nightclubs where, unsurprisingly, he invariably finds the paparazzi lying in wait, leading to at least one unseemly scuffle between the Prince and freelance photographers.
The Queen has reportedly expressed her own disquiet over Harry’s drink-fuelled exploits.
Even his choice of girlfriend has been turned against him by tabloid newspapers, who have branded South African-based Chelsy Davy a “chav” because of her preference for revealing outfits.
Harry, 22, now has a chance to put all that behind him after showing his undoubted maturity and ability to connect with the public in a speech seen by millions worldwide.
William
Aged just 15 when his mother died, he became the adopted son of almost every mother in the country as they watched him following Diana’s coffin, which bore a card with the single word “Mummy”.
His popularity remains undimmed, helped partly by his striking resemblance to his mother and his easy manner.
His on-off relationship with Kate Middleton has triggered the sort of media frenzy once reserved for his late mother, to his undisguised irritation.
Once he has completed his military service, William must prepare himself for his eventual role as king, a role he is widely rumoured to be reluctant to fulfil.
Charles
Charles’s approval ratings plunged following the tragedy because of his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
He was forced to consider the possibility that the public might never accept him as king.
But his marriage to Camilla in 2005 became something of a public relations triumph, helped by his sons’ statements of support and insistence that they just wanted their father to be happy.
The prince’s standing has also been improved by his championing of the environment — an issue which was once derided but is now embraced by all politicians.
Above all, he can take credit for his role as a loving father.
Camilla
Described by Diana as the “third person” in her marriage to Charles, Camilla was largely reviled following Diana’s death by a public who blamed her for ruining the princess’s royal fairytale.
In 1997, the prospect of Prince Charles marrying Camilla — let alone making her Queen — was dismissed by seasoned royal watchers.
But a PR campaign by Charles’s advisers gradually won her public acceptance.
Since marrying Charles, she has shrewdly maintained a relatively low profile but the decision to invite her to the memorial service threatened a major setback until she decided to pull out.
Earl Spencer
His powerful eulogy at his sister’s funeral, describing her as “the most hunted person of the modern age” earned him rapturous applause inside and outside Westminster Abbey.
But his chaotic personal life eroded public affection, starting with his divorce from first wife Victoria in December 1997.
She accused him of having affairs and of being a “bully”.
He later married his Oxford contemporary Caroline Hutton, but she divorced him earlier this year after newspaper stories of an alleged affair with an American TV presenter.
The 43-year-old peer, who has four children from his first marriage and two from his second, was not invited to speak at yesterday’s service.
Trevor Rees-Jones
The sole survivor of the Paris car crash, who suffered horrendous injuries.
The former paratrooper, who remembers nothing about the crash, has struggled to rebuild his life, haunted by “survivor’s guilt” and moving to Shropshire to avoid the media.
In 2000 in his book The Bodyguard’s Story, he defended himself against accusations that he was partly responsible for the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed because he had not insisted they wore seatbelts.
After divorcing his wife, Sue Jones, he reverted to his birth name of Trevor Rees and has since remarried. He did not attend yesterday’s service.
The Queen
Although the Royal Family’s popularity plunged following Diana’s death because of their refusal to leave Balmoral or fly a flag at half-mast, the Queen restored public faith in the monarchy by speaking to the nation on television and bowing to Diana’s coffin as it passed.
The deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother in 2002 resulted in a huge outpouring of public sympathy.
By the time of her Golden Jubilee shortly after her mother’s death, the Queen was almost as popular as she had ever been.
Helen Mirren’s Oscar-winning performance in The Queen further cemented the public’s affection.
Mohammed Fayed
In the weeks before Diana’s death, the Egyptian-born owner of Harrods was ecstatic at what he believed was his son Dodi’s impending engagement to the princess.
Since then, his life has been overtaken by his quest to prove the car crash was an Establishment conspiracy involving Prince Philip and the intelligence services.
His campaign led to Harrods losing its royal warrants.
In 2005, Mr Fayed, 74, moved to Switzerland, saying that HM Revenue and Customs had effectively forced him out. He was not invited yesterday.
His daughter, Camilla, a friend of William and Harry, represented her family.
tags: Kopas author: bebek rewel comments: 1 Comment
September 3rd, 2007
Waktu bebek sedang berGJ-GJ di sebuah situs blog politik (baca: LGF), ada sebuah comment “out of topic” yang memberikan link ke youtube:
Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww
Bebekpun takjub… Kok ada ya orang yang bisa menjawab pertanyaan (aneh) dengan jawaban sebodoh itu? Entah rasanya bebek mau merasa kasihan (demam panggungkah ia?) atau mau mencemooh?
Jika kita bandingkan jawaban ”Miss South Carolina” ini dengan jawaban Putri Indonesia 2005 (baca: Nadine “Beautiful City” Chandrawinata) di ajang Miss Universe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTHos1nobIY), Nadine pun serasa seperti Einstein…
BUT… Surprise-Surprise: (Diambil dari wikipedia)
Miss Teen USA 2007: Hilary Cruz (Colorado)[1]
The runners-up were:
Statistik video “Miss South Carolina” dalam waktu 24 jam:
Views: 303,028 Comments: 2589 Favorited: 1449 times
Gak ngerti si Mbak “South Carolina” ngomong apa? Gak usah kuatir, emang kayanya banyak orang yang gak ngerti dia ngomong apaan. Here’s the script:
Question: “Recent polls have shown a fifth american can’t locate the US on the world map. what do you think this is?”
“Answer”: “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the US should help the US, uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us.”
Walaupun bebek setuju berat dengan salah satu komen dari youtube (”I dont think any comments are needed for this video. It explains itself XD”), tapi rasanya bebek “berkewajiban” untuk menghibur pengunjung kedai bakmi dengan beberapa quote “pilihan”:
Ouch… but at least she looks good
FOR OUR CHILDREN!!!
She means “I’m even stupider than the people who can’t find the US on a map.”
Is this the daughter of Bush?
Hair - $150
Make-up - $75
Dress - $400
Making a fool of yourself on national TV and YouTube - Priceless!
And they goddam applauded for her!!
At least she proved she’s a part of that one-fifth!
WOW! I bet she can give a great blow job though…LOL
Not all americans are dumb, only those who enter pageants.
well.. at least shes hott This is what the show is about: provocative questions, in depth answers and tits.
wtf was she talking about?
Proof?
According to research gathered by Dr. Richard Lynn for his book “IQ and the Wealth of Nations” The U.S.A has an average IQ (intelligence quotient) of 98. This is far from the “smartest” country in the world. According to the studies used in this book the country with the highest IQ average is Hong Kong with 107 and South Korea is a close second with 106.
But don’t worry U.S, you are in good company, France, Denmark and Norway all have an average of 98.
I’m ashamed to be on the same planet with this
Actually, I think she did a very good job of showing why some Americans cant find America on a map
my dog is Einstein compared to her, but who gives a f**k when she is so hot
OMG -_________________-
well i’ll agree that the answer was absolutely terrible. i still have no idea what she just said and i’ve watched the video 4 times. but in her defense, what the hell kind of question is that? how do u answer that?
why do u think ppl cant find usa on a map? cuz they’re fucking stupid.
Saved by the bell! …GET IT?!
you’re looking at our future.kill me now before they are in charge.
I feel sorry for her. She must have thought all she had to do was stand there and look pretty- since that’s what all the boys tell her!
americans sould see this programm with the volume turned off…
And she actually got second runner up for her rocket scientist response!
I know it was a stupid response, but give her a break. How would you answer a question like that on the spot?
she almost made me believe I do not understand english anymore
A true blonde!
I think she is cute enough to be stupid… =P
Please, send us maps!
I bet she voted Bush
I hear Bush wants to make her the new Secretary of State.
how did a question about americans locating their country end up with Iraq, africa and asia?
americans truly are retarded…
Good fucking god.How utterly embarrassing.Bitch, keep your mouth closed
Scary.
They might as well just judge the girls blow jobs instead of judging their answers.
Keep in mind that Miss North Carolina mentioned that she likes to go “down to Canada” to ski. Hmmm. I think she needs a map also.
I didn’t know South Carolina had 20% of the US population…
She is smart enough to run for President!!
she needs to do herself a favor & drink bleach
HAHAHA blonde to the core. dumb as nails
lol i doubt she could find south carolina on a map.
WOW, this is a prime example of why i would much rather be smart than pretty…smart lasts forever…
>But pretty breeds faster, that’s why there are so many retards on this planet these days.
So wrong. Miss Blonde Teen should have starter questions:
What is a map?
What is a poll?
Do you have any idea what one-fifth means?
Shes stupid, but who really talks during sex?
wow ^^ as expected anyway
Maybe she’s a genius and we are wrong!
my goldfish just answered that question better than she did.
What a fucking dumb question….. She can’t say it’s because they are not educated… like duh ?????? I vote for her because you can not answer that question in 10 seconds on tv …..
damn she messed it up! A simple answer like “well, they dont care to know the map .. coz the GPS helps us anyways!” would’ve been a better answer!! lol
maybe her prize should be something “such as” a brain
I bet she commits suicide because of this.
>wishful thinking….?
>>Please. You’re assuming she has the mental acuity to even comprehend she’s being mocked.
“Beauty Fades,Dumb is Forever”
if you don’t have a map, you can’t read it… perfect blond logics! 
Watching her reminds me of the saying, “It’s not what you say, but it’s how you say it”.
I rather have brains than beauty…Beauty can be achieve by plastic surgery. IQ and brains not…
Dan Quote terakhir yang memberikan inspirasi kepada bebek untuk judul postingan ini:
“This is why there are blond jokes“
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: 3 Comments
August 26th, 2007
Bagi para pecinta Doraemon yang ingin melihat-lihat postingan Doraemon lainnya, silahkan klik di menu sebelah kanan===>
(kategori Doraemon)
Atas bantuan temen bebek (PB) dan kemudian dicek-ulang oleh Venny, akhirnya wallpaper terjemahan “Ekpresi Wajah Doraemon” selesai. (Sila klik di gambar!)
Beberapa terjemahan emang serasa gak pas dengan ekspresi Doraemon. Tapi ya apa boleh buat lah, mandarinnya emang gitu mo diapain? T__T
tags: Doraemon author: bebek rewel comments: 15 Comments
August 17th, 2007
Bagi para pecinta Doraemon yang ingin melihat-lihat postingan Doraemon lainnya, silahkan klik di menu sebelah kanan===>
(kategori Doraemon)
If you can not read Indonesian Language, feel free to read the English / Japanese version at http://www.kejut.com/doraemon1 or if you want to read the Doraemon Ending in paragraph (similar version), you can click here.
Setelah merayu-rayu yuku (pemilik www.kejut.com) akhirnya keluar juga izin untuk menyabot komik ”Tamatnya Doraemon”. (Terharu mode on T____T)
Sebelum diterjemahkan dan diposting di http://www.kejut.com/doraemon1 , komik ini hanya menjadi konsumsi penggemar Doraemon yang bisa berbahasa Jepang. Berkat jasa yuku (dengan bantuan sepasukan teman-temannya), akhirnya komik pendek ini dapat dinikmati dalam Bahasa Inggris.
Komik pendek ini kemudian diterjemahkan dari Bahasa Inggris / Jepang ke Bahasa Indonesia oleh void_inside (http://kaskus.us/showthread.php?t=419771). Selain terjemahan bahasa, rupanya void_inside juga melakukan “pencerminan gambar” sehingga komik tersebut dapat dibaca secara “normal” (Dari kiri ke kanan, bukan kanan ke kiri seperti halnya komik-komik asli Jepang pada umumnya).
Untuk itu bebek, mewakili seluruh penggemar Doraemon yang mengunjungi bebekrewel.com, mengucapkan terima kasih sebesar-besarnya kepada yuku (pemilik www.kejut.com) atas inisiatif dan jasanya dalam menerjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Inggris sehingga cerita ini bukan hanya menjadi monopoli mereka yang mengerti Bahasa Jepang. Dan tak lupa juga bebek berterima kasih kepada void_inside tentunya.
Catatan: Sepertinya ada sedikit perbedaan terjemahan antara Bahasa Inggris dan Bahasa Indonesia. Walau begitu perbedaan yang ada tidaklah mengubah inti jalan cerita sama sekali.
————————————————————————————-
Untuk Ending Doraemon dalam bentuk cerita, silahkan klik di sini.
tags: Doraemon author: bebek rewel comments: 104 Comments
August 5th, 2007
August 1st, 2007
Bagi para pecinta Doraemon yang ingin melihat-lihat postingan Doraemon lainnya, silahkan klik di menu sebelah kanan===>
(kategori Doraemon)
Nama: Doraemon
Arti nama: Doraemon berasal dari kata “dora-neko” yang berarti “kucing tersesat”, sementara akhiran -emon merupakan suatu akhiran nama yang umum di Jepang.
Nama (salah satu?) pacar (dengan status hubungan yang terkesan tarik ulur): Mii-chan
Pemilik asli: Sewashi (Nobita’s great-great-grandson dari abad ke 22)
Lahir ke dunia (Diciptakan pertama kali): 1-12-1969
Dibuat oleh: Fujimoto Hiroshi dan Motoo Abiko
Debut: 1970 (kemungkinan dalam bentuk komik yang terpecah-pecah)
Karir di komik: 1974 - 1996 dengan jumlah sirkulasi lebih dari 80 juta komik di seluruh dunia (1992)
Karir di TV (Asahi): 1979 - sekarang
Karir di film: 1980 - sekarang (untuk edisi tahun 2005 ditunda sampai dengan musim semi 2006)
Debut di Indonesia (TV): Juli 1989 (menurut Doraemon-land)*
Makanan kesukaan: Dorayaki
Hal-hal yang dibenci: kedinginan dan TIKUS!!
Lahir (dalam cerita): 2112-9-3 (3 September 2112)
Tempat lahir: Pabrik Robot “Matsushiba”
*Data agak diragukan. Menurut wikipedia: tahun 1991. Tapi sepertinya tahun yang diakui secara resmi di Indonesia (oleh pihak Elex Media Komputindo?) itu tahun 1990!!
Ada yang spesial dari angka 1293 tersebut loh:
Tinggi badan: 129.3 cm
Lingkar badan: 129.3 cm
Berat badan: 129.3 kg (seharusnya tidak mungkin Nobita selamat kalau tertimpa Doraemon :P)
Tinggi loncatan: 129.3 cm (kalau bertemu tikus)
Kecepatan lari (kabur): 129.3km/? (kalau bertemu tikus)
Spesifikasi:
Mata: infra merah, dapat melihat dalam gelap
Hidung: 20x ketajaman hidung manusia (sayang, sering rusak)
Kumis: mempunyai radar yang dapat mendeteksi benda dari jauh (sedang butuh perbaikan…)
Mulut: dengan ukuran mulut sangat besar (wastafel-pun bisa dilahap!), dapat memakan apapun
Bel: berguna untuk memanggil kucing-kucing lain (lagi-lagi sedang rusak!)
Kantong: 4 dimensi dengan kapasitas nyaris tak terbatas, tempat penyimpanan berbagai macam alat
Tangan: mempunyai kemampuan menyedot sehingga benda apapun dapat menempel
Kaki: telapaknya datar, dapat berjalan tanpa suara seperti halnya kucing biasa
Ekor: berfungsi sebagai “tombol” pengaktifan Doraemon
Wallpaper angka ajaib 1293: Doraemon-47.png
Wallpaper spesifikasi Doraemon: Doraemon-28.jpg
tags: Doraemon author: bebek rewel comments: 70 Comments
July 31st, 2007
“Chu Kiang” Brand super concentrate Tieh Ta Yao gin has enjoyed popularity for a hundred years since it came to the market. Owing to its preparation from super quality medicinal herbs and to the effectiveness in staunching, painkilling, wound healing, activating blood circulation and relaxing sinews and muscles, it has been recommended as an ideal remedy both at home and on trip for the treatment of injuries and bruises of all kinds. (http://www.wle.com/products/TD89.html)
Painkilling? Sebelah mananya yang painkilling? Obat “nyegerin” gitu… Mungkin maksudnya “meredakan rasa sakit” yang dirasakan sebelumnya dengan cara memberikan sensasi rasa perih yang lebih? Saking perihnya nih obat, bebek percaya kalau obat ini bisa digunakan dalam proses interogasi dengan cara menyiramkan “Die Da Yao Jing” ke luka orang yang diinterogasi. Lebih manusiawi bukan? Menyiksa untuk menyembuhkan…
Btw, gambar-gambar ini adalah pola yang dibuat secara tidak sengaja ketika bebek menumpahkan obat “Die Da Yao Jing” ke lantai kamar (Lagi ngobatin luka di kaki sambil nonton Xena, karena meleng maka obatpun jatuh dari meja).
Tadinya mau keluarin sumpah serapah waktu botolnya melakukan gerak jatuh bebas. Tapi setelah melihat pola indah yang terlukis di lantai… WOW!!! MAGIC!!! Alhasil, bebek malah minjem HP roommate bebek (Thanks Ricci!! :D) dan sibuk moto-moto selama lebih dari satu jam.
Karena dibiarkan berlama-lama, akhirnya obat tersebut mengering dan jadi sulit dibersihkan. Sekarang jadi ada noda coklat muda di lantai kamar bebek. T__T
Jadi mikir, ada gak ya seniman yang ngebuat lukisan dengan obat “Die Da Yao Jing” sebagai “tinta”?
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Karya tak jelas lainnya dari bebek: “Bribet” dan “Keluarga Kendi”
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: 8 Comments
July 28th, 2007
Never knew that Doraemon has part time job as Nazi cover boy…
“Doraemon Hitler” - Way Magazine, No. 1, October, 2006
Doraemon Hitler says “I come to help you to do good today. This is only one way to change your future.” [We are not sure what this means, but Way Magazine is the new magazine from the former a dayweekly team.]
Taken from: http://www.2bangkok.com/06/news06oct.shtml
tags: Doraemon author: bebek rewel comments: 4 Comments
June 6th, 2007
Sekitar 10 bulan (lebih sedikit) sudah berlalu sejak bebekrewel.com “diresmikan” pada tanggal 1 Agustus tahun lalu. Pada tanggal 29 Mei yang baru saja lewat, counter bebekrewel.com (yang sering down itu) menembus angka 10000 (Akhirnya!!)
Dalam kesempatan ini, maka izinkanlah bebek berterima kasih kepada semua makhluk hidup yang mengunjungi bebekrewel.com, baik itu pengunjung setia, pengunjung tidak setia maupun pengunjung nyasar dan tentunya kepada sesama penggemar Doraemon.
Memegang komitmen untuk terus nge-update blog tiap akhir minggu itu ternyata sangat susah. Bebek cuma agak konstan di bulan-bulan awal. Biasanya bebek mulai mencari calon bahan gunjingan di hari Jumat. Deadline biasanya Sabtu malam, sebelum bebek pergi tidur (kadang bebek “terpaksa” nangkring di depan kompie sampai jam 4 pagi…).
Bebek bukanlah tipe makhluk yang bisa mengarang panjang lebar dengan sekali jalan. Kebanyakan kasus, bebek harus mengedit postingan berulang-ulang sampai bebek sendiri kadang berasa eneg ngebaca tulisan yang sama berkali-kali. Memang kadang ada tulisan yang bisa bebek tumpahkan dengan sekali jalan, tapi biasanya ide tulisan itu sendiri sudah mengendap di otak bebek berminggu-minggu sehingga terlalu sesak untuk tidak dikeluarkan.
Karena itu harap maafkan bebek kalau bulan-bulan belakangan bebek jarang mem-posting artikel baru. Bebek benar-benar sibuk (atau sok sibuk). Beberapa postingan yang bebek tulispun rasanya kurang “berperikebebekkan”: kurang ngawur, kurang sesad, kurang menggigit. 
Bebek sadar kalo pola penulisan bebek mungkin masih kaku (dan ada yang bilang kalo gaya bahasa bebek susah dicerna). Karena itu bebek sangat membutuhkan sekali komen-komen dari para pengunjung.
Untuk bidang komen, bebek angkat topi dan berterima kasih kepada sesama penggemar Doraemon yang menyempatkan waktu untuk meninggalkan pesan ataupun sekedar memproklamasikan rasa cinta terhadap Doraemon secara terbuka.
Sejauh ini, postingan yang paling sering dibuka orang adalah “Wallpaper Doraemon”. Dalam batas tertentu, tujuan bebek membuka kategori khusus Doraemon untuk penggemar berbahasa Indonesia sudah cukup tercapai (Dan diluar dugaan, cukup banyak juga rekan penggemar Doraemon dari Malaysia dan Thailand yang mampir).
Beberapa bulan yang akan datang, mungkin update bebekrewel.com akan melambat (1 bulan sekali?). Bebek sudah memasuki tahun terakhir masa kuliah. Pengalaman dari tahun kemaren, tugas-tugas kuliah jadi agak terlantar karena akhir minggu abis gitu aja untuk nulis postingan baru di bebekrewel.com…
Selain itu mungkin bebek berencana untuk memulai proyek baru: nulis buku lagi?? Masih belum tahu sih (dan belum mulai pula). Mungkin kalo semua berjalan lancar, selesainya baru 1-2 tahun lagi. Yah moga-moga aja jadi. =P
Bagi pengunjung baru (atau pengunjung lama yang blum menjelajah bebekrewel.com secara menyeluruh), bebek rekomendasikan 4 artikel kedai bakmi kebanggaan bebek:
- Tarian Sang Maut
- Apakah Doraemon Merupakan Suami yang Ideal?
- Hamil dan Lahir
- Perkenalkan, Ini Suami…….-Suami saya…
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Note: Bagi yang masih gak tau apa yang dimaksud dengan kedai bakmi, silahkan klik “???” di menu sebelah kanan
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: 2 Comments
June 5th, 2007
New-new this, duck got this picture from forward-tan email from me friend.
Baru-baru ini, bebek dapet gambar ini dari forward-tan email dari temen daku.
Duck self don’t know exactly what noisy is this. But if we see-see, funny too.
Bebek sendiri gak tau pasti apa yang diributin di sini. Tapi kalo kita liat-liat, lucu juga.
Hear-hear from friend. Talking this is demonstration by workers freeport.
Denger-denger dari temen. Katanya ini demo oleh pekerja bebaspelabuhan.
Dunno correct or not.
Gak tau bener apa kagak.
Oh yes. Happy May day for anyone who partying it!
Oh iya. Hepi Mei Dei bagi yang merayakannya!!
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Kalo beneran ini demo freeport…
pantes freeport gak ngerti-ngerti biar didemo berkali-kali juga…
“Harusnya”-kan:
If not now, when again?
If not me, who again?
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: 4 Comments
May 1st, 2007
Dua artikel kedai bakmi kali ini menjelaskan bahwa “Suatu Ketika di Zaman Baheula…” kedudukan kaum perempuan MUNGKIN lebih baik dari zaman sekarang.
Benar atau tidak?
Sila simpulkan sendiri…
Untuk membaca bagian pertama, sila klik di sini.
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Pernah dengar hukum Hammurabi? Hukum Hammurabi adalah salah satu hukum tertulis tertua yang bertahan hingga saat ini. Ingatan bebek akan apa yang tertulis di buku pelajaran sejarah mengatakan bahwa hukum ini bersifat keras. Kejahatan yang terlihat sepelepun bisa membuat nyawa anda lepas dari tubuh.
Tapi dalam beberapa point untuk urusan rumah tangga, rasanya hukum ini gak jelek-jelek amat:
(Catatan: Yang tertulis di dalam kurung adalah tafsiran bebas oleh bebek (baca: seenak jidat, semena-mena dan ditambah-tambahin supaya lebih seru))
128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
(Jika seorang pria mengambil seorang wanita untuk menjadi istrinya, tetapi tidak (atau gagal ?) ”bersenang-senang” dengan istrinya, maka wanita tersebut bukanlah istri dari suaminya dan berhak untuk main mata dengan pria lain seperti halnya seorang wanita single lainnya)
130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father’s house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless.
(Jika seorang pria mengkejami istri orang, yang gak pernah kenal seorang lelaki dan masih hidup di rumah papinya, dan tidur bersama wanita tersebut dan terkejut, pria ini harus dihukum mati, tetapi istrinya boleh lenggang kangkung tak bersalah. Bingung? Bebek juga bingung)
133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is a sustenance in his house, but his wife leave house and court, and go to another house: because this wife did not keep her court, and went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and thrown into the water.
134. If any one be captured in war and there is not sustenance in his house, if then his wife go to another house this woman shall be held blameless.
(Kesimpulan dari kedua point di atas: Jika suami tak pulang ke rumah dan tidak ada sumber mata pencaharian bagi istri untuk tetap bisa makan (mungkin karena selama ini sang istri dilarang untuk kerja), maka jangan salahkan sang istri jika pada akhirnya dia ngabur dari rumah)
135. If a man be taken prisoner in war and there be no sustenance in his house and his wife go to another house and bear children; and if later her husband return and come to his home: then this wife shall return to her husband, but the children follow their father.
(Jika seorang pria menjadi tahanan perang dan kebetulan istrinya ngabur ke rumah orang laen karena tidak mempunyai sumber mata pencaharian dan melahirkan anak bagi orang tersebut, dan jika kemudian suaminya balik dan ngedatengin rumah baru istrinya, maka istrinya harus kembali ke sang suami, tapi anak-anak hasil serumah dengan orang laen itu haruslah tetap tinggal bersama bapaknya. Cukup adil)
136. If any one leave his house, run away, and then his wife go to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this runaway shall not return to her husband.
(Jika seorang suami ngabur dari rumah tanpa alasan yang jelas (ngabur karena alasan jatuh cinta dengan wanita lain bebek anggap sebagai alasan yang tidak jelas) dan kemudian istrinya ikutan ngabur dari rumah untuk pergi ke rumah lain, jika kemudian suami tersebut kembali dan berharap jika sang istri kembali ke sisinya, namun karena dia kabur dari rumah, maka istri dari orang yang ngabur ini gak usah balik ke suami aslinya)
137. If a man wish to separate from a woman who has borne him children, or from his wife who has borne him children: then he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is given to the children, equal as that of one son, shall be given to her. She may then marry the man of her heart.
138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the dowry which she brought from her father’s house, and let her go.
(Dua point yang mengatur tunjangan perceraian)
141. If a man’s wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is judicially convicted: if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband’s house.
(Jika istri dari seorang suami, yang tinggal di rumah suami, ingin meninggalkan rumah itu, mengoleksi hutang yang menumpuk, mencoba untuk menghancurkan rumah tangga, cuekin suaminya dan terbukti bersalah: jika suaminya meng-ampuni istrinya, sang istri berhak untuk lepas dari hukum dan sang suami tidak memberikan apapun sebagai hadiah kebebasannya. Jika sang suami tidak mau melepaskan istrinya, dan sang suami mengambil istri baru, maka istri lama harus menetap di rumah suaminya sebagai pembantu - dan tidak ada hak cuti lebaran…)
142. If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: “You are not congenial to me,” the reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she shall take her dowry and go back to her father’s house.
(Jika terjadi pertengkaran rumah tangga dan seorang istri berkata “Gue sama Lu gak cocok,” maka sang istri harus bisa menyodorkan bukti ketidak cocokan tersebut. Jika istri tersebut tidak bersalah dan tidak ada kesalahan di pihak istri, tetapi sang suami pergi dan menelantarkan dia, maka tidak ada kesalahan apapun yang ada pada wanita ini, dia boleh menagih kembali mas kawinnya dan pulang ke rumah papi)
143. If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into the water.
(Melanjutkan point sebelumnya: Jika dia TIDAK tidak bersalah (baca: istrinya bersalah), tetapi sang istri kemudian meninggalkan suami dan menghancurkan rumah tangga, menelantarkan suami, maka wanita ini mendingan ke laut aja)
145. If a man take a wife, and she bear him no children, and he intend to take another wife: if he take this second wife, and bring her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed equality with his wife.
(Point yang mengatur urusan poligami karena istri tidak bisa berfungsi: Jika seorang pria mengambil istri dan sang istri tidak bisa memberikan anak, dan sang suami berkeinginan untuk mengambil istri lain: maka suami berhak untuk mengambil istri kedua, dan memboyong wanita itu ke dalam rumah, namun istri kedua ini tidak mempunyai hak-hak yang setara dengan istri pertama)
148. If a man take a wife, and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second wife he shall not put away his wife, who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives.
(Alamakk…!! Di antara hukum yang setengah kezam, setengah antik dan setengah ajaib, ternyata menyisakan sebuah point yang sangat romantis: Jika seorang pria mengambil istri, dan sang istri ternyata penyakitan, jika sang suami berhasrat untuk mengambil istri kedua maka sang suami tidak boleh menelantar-kan istrinya, yang diserang oleh penyakit, tetapi suami tersebut harus menyimpan istri yang penyakitan tersebut di rumahnya dan menyokong istri yang penyakitan tersebut sampai pada akhir hayatnya)
Dan seterusnya dan seterusnya…
Bebek sudahi dulu pelajaran sejarah di kedai bakmi ini.
Hukum Hammurabi terjemahan bahasa Inggris dapat diakses di alamat: http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm
Kunjungilah dan bacalah kalau sempat. Sila pikirkan sendiri, apakah hukum tersebut adil atau tidak dan apakah kita sebenarnya melangkah maju atau mundur dalam dunia peradilan.
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: No Comments
April 22nd, 2007
Dua artikel kedai bakmi kali ini menjelaskan bahwa “Suatu Ketika di Zaman Baheula…” kedudukan kaum perempuan MUNGKIN lebih baik dari zaman sekarang.
Benar atau tidak?
Sila simpulkan sendiri…
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Membaca bagian-bagian awal buku “The No-Nonsense Guide to World History” oleh Chris Bazier seakan membaca sebuah buku yang ditulis oleh seorang feminis dengan agenda terselubung. (Conspiracy theory mode on)
Dikatakan dalam buku tersebut bahwa pada awal mula peradaban manusia, perempuan berperan cukup besar dalam wilayah publik dan pembagian kerja antara kedua gender yang relatif setara.
Masyarakat berburu dan meramu (hunting and gathering) misalnya. Kegiatan berburu hewan memang dilakukan sebagian besar oleh kaum laki-laki, namun hasil berburu yang didapat tidaklah mungkin untuk mencukupi kebutuhan hidup. Mengambil contoh dari masyarakat berburu-meramu yang masih eksis di zaman modern ini, !Kung San Bushmen dari Botswana, mereka berburu hanya 1 minggu perbulan. Hasil buruan yang didapat tidak mungkin bertahan lama di iklim Afrika yang panas. Alhasil, sebagian (besar?) menu makanan bagi orang !Kung adalah berbagai macam tumbuhan yang dikumpulkan oleh kaum perempuan.
Kaum perempuan di zaman Mesir kuno (sekitar 2000 SM?) mempunyai kemandirian finansial yang tinggi. Saking mandirinya, seorang suami yang meminjam uang dari istrinya bisa dikenai bunga pinjaman! Salah satu sumpah yang diucapkan oleh seorang suami di hari pernikahannya adalah agar tidak pernah bertentangan dengan kehendak istrinya. (Aturan main yang sungguh menyenangkan. =P Wew… bebek mulai berpikir, apakah bebek terlahir terlalu telat?)
Seperti yang pernah disinggung oleh Dan Brown dalam novel ‘Da Vinci Code’ dan salah satu postingan kopas bebek “The Great Goddess”, zaman baheula dulu perempuan menduduki peran-peran penting dalam ranah keagamaan. Ada Tuhan yang feminin, ada pendeta-pendeta wanita (berlawanan dengan zaman yang lebih kemudian di mana wanita yang “mempunyai kekuatan spiritual” dikejar-kejar sebagai seorang penyihir) dan ada upacara keagamaan di mana terjadi acara persetubuhan massal (Di zaman sekarang, pemandang-an yang kira-kira serupa mungkin cuma bisa ditemui di film-film porno yang menyajikan adegan orgy party).
Jika memang benar orang dulu tidak mengerti bahwa seorang anak datang dari kegiatan kejang-kejang nikmat (well, bebek sendiri baru mengerti tentang konsep ini entah kelas berapa. Bagi yang belum pernah membaca postingan yang membahas hamil dan lahir, sila klik di sini), maka bebek bersabda bahwa pada mula peradaban manusia, kegiatan sex adalah kegiatan rekreasi semata (Kalau mereka gak ngerti fungsi sex untuk kegiatan membuat anak, lalu alasan apalagi yang membuat mereka mau repot-repot bergoyang?).
Dipikir-pikir lucu juga kalau di waktu kemudian (dan dalam batas tertentu masih berlangsung sampai sekarang) sex kemudian dianggap sesuatu yang kotor dan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu, sex yang bersifat rekreasi adalah jahat sifatnya.
Lanjut ke bagian kedua…
tags: Kedai Bakmi author: bebek rewel comments: 1 Comment
April 22nd, 2007
Guru sejarah bebek pernah bilang, peradaban manusia dimulai dengan sistem matriarkat bukan patriarkat. (Heran. Kok gak ketemu kata matriarki dan partriarki di KBBI ya? Apa karena kamus bebek edisi tahun jebot?)
Selama ini bebek tidak menemukan penjelasan yang cukup memuaskan mengenai proses perubahan sistem tersebut sampai bebek membaca buku yang berjudul “The No-Nonsense Guide to World History” oleh Chris Brazier (Bacaan ringan yang sangat amat menghibur bagi para penggemar sejarah).
Agak aneh memang untuk membayangkan kalau suatu saat di zaman baheula, wanita pernah menduduki peringkat yang mungkin lebih baik daripada zaman sekarang. Mereka berperan sebagai Tuhan, pemimpin agama dan mempunyai peran yang cukup setara dengan rekan pejantannya.
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In the beginning God was a woman. For at least 25000 years people worshipped the Mother of All Things. The Father God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam has been revered for only a tenth of that time.
The worship of the Great Goddess emerged out of woman’s clear link with nature: the way she produced blood in perfect rhythm with the with cycles of the moon. Even more magical and vital was her production of children, since people did not understand men’s part in this miraculous process - some Aboriginal peoples, for instance, believed that spirit children dwelt in pools and trees and entered woman at random when they wished to be born. So it seemed natural to believe that one great mother had brought the world into being. Thus the Babylonian goddess Ishtar was herself the cosmic uterus, while in Roman mythology Gaia, the Mother Earth, emerged from primal vagina, the abyss of all-feeling and all-knowing.
But this Great Goddess oversaw death as well as birth. And she could demand sacrifice in return for co-operation. Often this was a sexual sacrifice, since the Goddess had a voracious sexual appetite - the fruitfulness of crops and animals was only ever a by-product of the Goddess’s own sexual activity and enjoyment. So in many cultures a beautiful young man was sacrified to her each year - ‘king’ was originally an honorary title given to this man. The Assyrian goddess Anaitis was honored each year by the most beautiful boy, who would be painted and clothed in red and gold and spend a last day and night having sex with her priestesses in full public view. He would then be covered with a cloth of gold and set on fire.
This did not always mean that women held power on earth - there was no age of matriarchy as a mirror image of the later patriarchy - though examples of women power bound. Queen Sammurammat of Assyria, for instance, ruled the country for 42 years and led military campaigns as far as India, calling herself the Goddess. In ancient Egypt dynastic power passed through the woman even when the Pharaoh was male.
Eventually, though, the Great Goddess was dethroned by male Gods. This took place over hundreds, even thousands, of years at a different pace in each culture. The starting-point was usually men’s discovery of their role in birth. But the change was also linked with social factors. For thousands of years women were responsible for growing food through horticulture.
But about 6000 BC an upsurge in population caused a shift to more intensive agriculture, which saw Nature as having to be tamed. Men took on this role, plowing and sowing the passive fields in the same way as they saw themselves acting to women (hence the word ‘husbandry’). And the more military become the organization of urban society, the more men with their greater physical strength gained the upper hand.
But whatever the reason, the phallus now become the focus of worship, the sacred source of all that lived. Phallic pillars proliferated in Greece, and in India Shiva achieved dominance over the other two main gods just by the size of his organ - for thousands of years the priest of Shiva came out naked ringing a bell to call women to kiss his holy genitals.
So the Goddess was deposed. This revolution is represented in most mythologies, which begin with a Great Mother Creator but then see her son or lover gaining more and more power until eventually he rules alone. In the simplest mythological version, that of the Semitic Babylonians, the god-king Marduk wages war on Ti’amat, Mother of all Things, and hacks her to pieces. He forms the world from the pieces of her body.
The Kikuyu of Kenya recall how their male ancestors overthrew women by raping them all on the same day and mastering them nine months later. In an Aztec ceremony every December a woman dressed up as Ilamtecuhtli, the old goddess of earth and corn, was decapitated and her head presented to a priest wearing her costume and mask.
But this was only the beginning: in the 1200 years between 600 BC and 600 AD five major religions came into being, all based on the divine word of one man. From then on male power was more enshrined than ever and the age of patriarchy began.
tags: Kopas author: bebek rewel comments: No Comments
April 17th, 2007
Dapet dari milis yahugrup. Sumber aslinya dari CNN.
Sayang alamat aslinya rusak…
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• Woman presents special plate of fish to man; he takes a bite and is married
• Matriarchal society exists in archipelago of 50 islands off Guinea-Bissau
• Missionaries bring new concept of men proposing, causing strife in families
• Women build the homes: Once completed, couple moves in, officially wed
ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate in front of him containing an ancient recipe.
Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the steaming fish to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl.
“I had no feelings for her,” said Nananghe, now 65. “Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her.”
In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue water off the western rim of Africa, it’s women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in red palm oil.
It’s the equivalent of a man bending on one knee and offering a woman a diamond ring, except that in one of the world’s matriarchal cultures, it’s women that do the asking, and once they have, men are powerless to say no.
To have refused, explained the old man remembering the day half a century ago, would have dishonored his family — and in any case, why would he want to choose his own wife?
“Love comes first into the heart of the woman,” explained Nananghe. “Once it’s in the woman, only then can it jump into the man.” ‘Now the world is upside down. Men are running after women’
But the treacherous tides and narrow channels that have long kept outsiders out of these remote islands are no longer holding back the modern world. Young men are increasingly leaving Orango, located 38 miles (60 kilometers) off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, a country in West Africa.
They find jobs carrying luggage for tourist hotels on the archipelago’s more developed islands; others collect oil from the island’s abundant palm trees and sell it on the African mainland.
They return bringing with them a new form of courtship, one which their elders find deeply unsettling.
“Now the world is upside down,” complained 90-year-old Cesar Okrane, his eyes obscured by a cloud of cataracts. “Men are running after women, instead of waiting for them to come to them.”
Standing in the shade of a grass roof, he holds himself upright with the help of a tall spear and explains that when he was young he took extra care to maintain his physique, learned to dance and practiced writing poetry — all ways in which men can try to attract women, without overtly making the first move. ‘Now, with men choosing, divorce has become more common’.
In recent years, young men have become increasingly bold, going so far as to openly propose marriage — a dangerous turn, say traditionalists.
“The choice of a woman is much more stable,” explains Okrane. “Rarely were there divorces before. Now, with men choosing, divorce has become common.”
With records not readily available, it’s unclear how many divorces there were earlier, but islanders agree that there are significantly more now than in the years when men waited patiently for a proposal on a plate.
They waited some more, as their brides-to-be then set out for the eggshell-white beaches encircling the island, looking for the raw materials with which to build their new house.
Women build homes; afterward it’s official
Women built all the grass-covered huts here, dragging driftwood back from the ocean to use as poles, cutting blankets of blond grass to weave into roofs and shaping the pink mud underfoot into bricks. Only once the house is built, a process that takes at least four months, can the couple move in and their marriage be considered official.
There are matrilineal cultures in numerous pockets of the world, including in other parts of Africa, as well as in China’s Yunnan province and in northeastern Thailand, says anthropologist Christine Henry, a researcher at France’s elite National Center for Scientific
Research, or CNRS.
But the unquestioned authority given to women in matters of the heart on this island is unique — “I don’t know of it happening anywhere else,” says Henry, who has written a book on the customs of the archipelago.
That things are changing is evident in the material chosen for the island’s newest house: concrete. It was erected by paid laborers, not local women.
Although priestesses still control the island’s relationship with the spirit world, their clout is waning, as churches sown by missionaries have taken root. Missionaries bring upsetting new custom of men proposing
“When I get married it will be in a church, wearing a white dress and a veil,” says 19-year-old Marisa de Pina, who strikes a modern pose under the blond grass of her family’s hut, wearing tight Capri pants and sequined sandals.
She says the Protestant church she attends has taught her that it is men, not women, that should make the first move, and so she plans to wait for a man to approach her. To make her point, the teenager pops into her hut and returns holding a worn copy of the New Testament, its pages stuffed with Post-it notes, letters and business cards.
It’s a decision that has caused strife inside the mud walls of her family’s house.
Like her niece, Edelia Noro wears store-bought clothes instead of the grass skirts still favored by some older women. She, too, attends church. But she says she doesn’t see why these trappings of modern life should alter the system of courtship.
More than two decades ago, she set off for the closest beach looking for the ingredients with which to propose to the man she loved. Noro waited for the tide to recede, then dug in the wet sand for clams, collecting them in a woven basket. She was embarrassed, she said, that she was too poor to afford a proper meal of fish and could only offer her groom-to-be what she could gather with her own hands. So after preparing the dish, she placed it in front of him, then ran and hid behind a tree, peeking out to see his reaction.
“He did not hesitate and ate right away. I could see the love shining in his eyes,” she said, a glow spreading across her cheeks. ‘I learned the hard way, a man never approaches a woman’
Although the island’s unique customs may be fading, there are still pockets of resistance. Often, it’s women that lure men back into the fold of ancient ways.
Now 23, Laurindo Carvalho first spotted the girl when he was 13. He worked in a tourist hotel, wore jeans, and owned a cell phone and thought of himself as modern and so he thought he could turn tradition on its head, asking the girl to marry him. With the wave of a hand, she rejected him.
Six years passed and one day, when both were 19, he heard a knock at his door. Outside, his love stood holding out a plate of freshly caught fish, a coy smile on her face.
Carvalho still wears sandblasted jeans and flip-flops bearing the Adidas logo, but he now sees himself as embedded in the village’s matriarchal fiber.
“I learned the hard way that here, a man never approaches a woman,” he says.
tags: Kopas author: bebek rewel comments: 2 Comments
April 17th, 2007
