Rabu, 07 Desember 2011

Hugo - Movie Reviews

 Martin Scorszese's Hugo
"I would recognise the sound of a movie projector anywhere!" says one of cinema's greatest pioneers, hearing that mechanical, sprockety whirr. It's a climactic moment in Martin Scorsese's new film: a family fantasy adventure in 3D which turns out to be a hi-tech magic lantern presentation on the wonder of early cinema, and its origins in the world of clockwork craftsmanship: toys, games, illusions.
  1. Hugo
  2. Production year: 2011
  3. Countries: France, USA
  4. Cert (UK): U
  5. Runtime: 126 mins
  6. Directors: Martin Scorsese
  7. Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Frances de la Tour, Helen McCrory, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Richard Griffiths, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley
  8. More on this film
Hugo is pitched as much to cinephile adults as children, and insists, in a fervent if rather pedagogic way, on that magical quality of cinema which children and grownups generally feel without needing to be told. This is a spectacular and gorgeously created film, with allusions to Harold Lloyd and Fritz Lang, and it's an almost overwhelming assault on the senses from the very first shot: a vision of post-first-world-war Paris which sees the city as one gigantic clockwork contrivance. We are then treated to a terrific camera move, whooshing into a crowded railway station where the action is to commence, and where the audience will feel like rubbernecking in awe at a cathedral of digital detail. Here is where a young boy called Hugo (Asa Butterfield) hides in the station's secret passages and recesses, winding all the station clocks himself: supposedly the job of his drunkard uncle and guardian (Ray Winstone), who has long since vanished.
Hugo has more secrets: he is trying to repair and restore a remarkable automaton which had come into the possession of his late father (Jude Law), a kindly watchmaker. But without Hugo quite realising it, this robot hides within its workings the secret of the 20th century's great new art form. Young Hugo is to come into contact with Isabelle (Chloë Moretz) and her formidable old grandpa, who runs a toy stall on the station platform: he is, in fact, M Georges Méliès, the great film-maker and innovator, now fallen on hard times. Ben Kingsley plays Méliès, and gives him the melancholy air of a deposed and exiled king, or at any rate someone who has been marginalised by great historical forces which he himself has brought into being: a little like Robert Donat's William Friese-Greene, the British cinema pioneer, in John Boulting's 1951 film The Magic Box. The illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, on which this movie is based, was inspired by the nonfiction study Edison's Eve, by British author Gaby Wood, which discussed Méliès's lost collection of automata.
The movie's opening act makes it actually look more like Spielberg than Scorsese, especially in the appearance of the villain, the station inspector, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, as a moustachioed martinet and stickler for station rules who vows to track down that little urchin Hugo. The inspector has, crucially, a sinister distinguishing feature: a metal clasp around his leg where he was injured in the Great War. Homing in on that feature looks like a Spielbergian tic – but then it becomes something else, a poignant mark of vulnerability and humanity, especially as this mechanism becomes positive, associated with the creativity and ingenuity of Hugo's robot and Méliès's secret career.
The quietly spoken, self-possessed old man reveals himself to be a great imaginative artist, and creator of the legendary adventure A Trip to the Moon. He was first a magician, and early adopter of the cinematograph when he saw the Lumière brothers' legendary 50-second film showing the arrival of a train at Ciotat station. (Here, incidentally, the film playfully repeats the apocryphal story of the audience fleeing from the train in panic. Scorsese's use of 3D for this movie is a clue that he is well aware of film historians' consensus that this tale is likely to have grown from the audience gasping and jumping when the Ciotat film was re-shown in the 1930s in stereoscopic 3D.)
It is when Isabelle and Hugo discover that the point of the story is the movies themselves that this film becomes at once so much more, and yet ever so slightly less, than a story about a homeless frightened boy and the mysterious toy robot which is all that he has left of his dad. Discovering and repairing old automata becomes a fable for film restoration and film history (of course, a great passion of Scorsese's), and the tensions between everyone involved are dissolved in universal reverence for this historical rediscovery of Méliès's genius. And of course, no red-blooded cinema lover could fail to sigh happily at these events, but this is in some ways an earnest and temperamentally conservative film, and I sometimes got the strange feeling that it was something that a really nice teacher might show in the runup to the Christmas holidays.
For all that, it's a deeply felt piece of work, something which only Scorsese could have brought to the screen, which finds a key point when Hugo must use a heart-shaped key to operate his automaton. The heart – that mediator between the head and the hands – is an image which points to the movies as a ghost in the machine: the technology, mass-production and grinding commerce which exploded in the 20th century would also facilitate the growth and vitality of the cinema itself.

Young Adult - Movie Reviews

 
A Paramount release presented with Mandate Pictures of a Mr. Mudd production in association with Right of Way Films and Denver & Delilah Films. Produced by Lianne Halfon, Russell Smith, Diablo Cody, Mason Novick, Jason Reitman.

Executive producers, Nathan Kahane, John Malkovich, Steven Rales, Helen Estabrook. Co-producers, Kelli Konop, Mary Lee, Beth Kono. Directed by Jason Reitman. Screenplay, Diablo Cody.
Mavis Gary - Charlize Theron
Matt Freehauf - Patton Oswalt
Buddy Slade - Patrick Wilson
Beth Slade - Elizabeth Reaser
Sandra Freehauf - Collette Wolfe
Hedda Gary - Jill Eikenberry
David Gary - Richard Bekins
Jan - Mary Beth Hurt
American comedies have spent the last few years exploring the idea of the man-child -- physically mature, but mentally stuck somewhere between high school and adulthood. Now we meet his female counterpart, and it's not a pretty sight. So much the better: Reteaming pop-savvy scribe Diablo Cody with "Juno" director Jason Reitman, "Young Adult" revels in breaking the rules of safe Hollywood storytelling, casting Charlize Theron as an emotionally stunted YA novelist with limited appeal and no tidy character arc. A B.O. gamble, the deliberately prickly pic courageously risks offending audiences to arrive at a truth beyond its genre's normal grasp.
Cody has found herself in the media crosshairs after the overnight acclaim of "Juno," and though the snark-meister has managed to sustain her unique brand through a mix of Twitter updates, Entertainment Weekly columns and edgy writing assignments ("Jennifer's Body," "The United States of Tara"), "Young Adult" will surely be the make-it-or-break-it project in many people's estimation of her talents. Rather than play it safe, Cody spins a personal case of writer's block -- possibly inspired by her gig adapting "Sweet Valley High" for screen -- into a deeply unflattering, semi-autobiographical takedown of adult-onset insecurity and egotism, inventing the story of a self-absorbed teen-lit novelist who returns home to rekindle things with the now-married boyfriend she dated in high school.
Theron plays Mavis Gary -- beautiful, successful and a mess. Mavis long ago achieved her goal of escaping the perceived oppression of small-town Mercury, Minn., to live the dream in Minneapolis. So why is she so unhappy? "Young Adult" is hip to the answer, but never preaches it outright: When people can hardly stand to be around themselves, they continue to run from and reinvent their lives until they address the fact that the root of their dissatisfaction lies within.
Though Mavis is undoubtedly fashioned from aspects of her creator's own personality, the operating idea here seems to be that people don't change. The high-school queen bee will always be insufferable, and her fitting punishment will be having to live with herself -- which is precisely Mavis' situation when the film opens: divorced and getting by on TV dinners and one-night stands in a dumpy caricature of her cosmopolitan ideal.
In such straits, an innocuous email announcing the birth of her old flame's baby is all it takes to send Mavis' mind back to the glory days, when she and football star Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson, reprising his laid-back "prom king" aura from "Little Children") were the school's cutest couple. On the surface, "Young Adult" is about Mavis' delusional quest to steal her former beau away from new wife Beth (Elizabeth Reaser in a sly supporting turn). Deeper down, the film engages with the concept of maturity in a culture that celebrates such youthful ideals as beauty and instant gratification.
In Mavis' case, writing pulp melodramas for the Noxzema set encourages her to stay stuck in an adolescent mindset. However, since comedy is tragedy that happens to other people, the film easily plays as satire, following in the same vein as Alexander Payne's shrewdly observant, gently condescending Midwestern portraits, featuring character moments so true, one can't help but laugh in pained recognition.
While Cody settles on a less singular yet still piquant voice for her contempo characters than the one heard in "Juno," Reitman and his cast expertly manage the film's tricky tone. Even so, "Young Adult" seems content to remain small, retreating from Mavis' climactic moment of catharsis to deliver an ending that breaks yet another long-standing Hollywood rule, as the flawed heroine stares self-realization in the face and consciously decides not to learn from her experience.
In a film intent on authenticity, it's no coincidence that Mavis seems to be surrounded by inane reality-TV programming. Real life is messier than that, as demonstrated by the film's most sympathetic character, a former classmate named Matt Freehauf who was crippled by the cool kids during a miscalculated gay-bashing incident. In a poignant, career-redefining performance by comedian Patton Oswalt, Matt has every right to be resentful, and yet, he's coped with his adolescent issues better than Mavis.
Mavis, by contrast, comes across like a vampire straight out of one of the supernatural YA book series so popular these days. Shying away from the sun, she eavesdrops on real teens for story ideas and stalks Buddy and his new family, oblivious to the damage she's capable of inflicting on others.
For Theron, this represents a different kind of performance from "Monster" and "North Country," for which she won plaudits while allowing herself to look superficially unattractive. Here, the actress plays closer to home, inviting auds to observe the process by which she makes herself beautiful, painting on makeup, clipping her nails and attaching hair extensions to disguise her physical flaws. But the scowl etched on her face reveals the ugliness within, demonstrating a naked candor -- one that extends to the screenplay itself -- that's plenty admirable, in part because it's so squirm-inducing to behold.
Camera (Deluxe color), Eric Steelberg; editor, Dana E. Glauberman; music, Rolfe Kent; music supervisor, Linda Cohen; production designer, Kevin Thompson; art director, Michael Ahern; set decorator, Carrie Stewart; costume designer, David Robinson; sound (Dolby Digital/Datasat/SDDS), Ken Ishii; supervising sound editors, Warren Shaw, Perry Robertson, Scott Sanders; re-recording mixers, Michael Barry, Eric Hirsch; visual effects supervisor, John Bair; visual effects, Phosphene; stunt coordinator, Peter Bucossi; assistant director, Jason A. Blumenfield; casting, Suzanne Smith Crowley, Jessica Kelly. Reviewed at DGA Theater, Los Angeles, Nov. 15, 2011. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 93 MIN.

The Iron Lady - Movie Reviews

iron lady 
A Weinstein Co. (in U.S.)/20th Century Fox (in U.K.) release of a Pathe, Film4, U.K. Film Council presentation with the participation of Canal Plus and Cine Plus, in association with Goldcrest Film Prod., of a DJ Films production. (International sales: Pathe, London.) Produced by Damian Jones. Executive producers, Francois Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, Tessa Ross, Adam Kulick. Co-producers, Anita Overland, Colleen Woodcock. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Screenplay, Abi Morgan.

Kamis, 24 November 2011

Arthur Christmas - Movie Reviews

 Arthur Christmas
 
 There are two types of movies that are particularly hard to judge at this strange juncture in cinema: animated films and Christmas movies. The former is not, really, due to a lack of offerings in the medium but more the fact that Pixar has dominated the genre for much of the last two decades; save for the occasional burst of brilliance from Dreamworks ( How to Train Your Dragon), the studio's supremacy in this area has rarely been in dispute, so everything else tends to pale in comparison. Even this summer's woebegotten Cars2 had more originality than a good chunk of the latter three Shrek movies. Christmas movies, meanwhile, generally are what they are, which is to say mildly amusing seasonal escapism with no real purpose or function outside the winter months, originally guaranteed heart-warmers, they've become more formulaic by the year and critics have generally treated as such, rendered cold by the skepticism of a skeptical age. (Case in point: they're usually released on DVD a full year after their theatrical run to coincide with the next year's holiday season. Ho ho ho, meet sell sell sell.)
In any case, the rarely-heard-from Sony Pictures Animation is throwing their own horse into both races, a 3D-enhanced, Bieber-cosigned (the music video for his Jackson Five-interpolating cover of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" precedes each screening, in full 3D no less) holiday jaunt called Arthur Christmas that's hardly a home run on either front, but with an impressively invested voice cast and a genuine heart at its center, it will certainly qualify as a high-pop double. The film is hardly memorable for any of its plot points (except for a genuinely touching ending, but more on that later) but it is infectiously genuine. For all its 2011 bells and whistles, it seems to have come from an earlier, more innocent era of filmmaking when audiences were not yet so jaded; it's heavy-handed at best yet so completely invested in the candy-coated shtick it's selling you can't help but get swept up in its better moments.
The film borrows its wildly amusing premise from the notion that, yes Virginia, Santa Claus (voice of Jim Broadbent) exists, his name is actually Malcolm, and he's got a bustling, Modern Family-style brood to call his very own. Our Arthur Christmas (James McAvoy) is his youngest son, a clodhopping goofball in an itchy-looking sweater and slippers that beep and boop Yuletide carols with every step. Designated responder for all of Santa's fan mail, Arthur is this film's embodiment of the Christmas mythos as applied to young kids; all he wants is for everyone to get a present and believe that Santa loves them enough to have paid them an honest-to-gosh visit. The character himself doesn't really have much to do besides recite the usual Christmas message, but McAvoy's delivery of each line at a high-pitched squeal, as if Arthur is waking up every day on, well, Christmas morning, is as infectious to experience as it is irritating to have described to you. If you have to be force-fed a heap of Yuletide mush, you want it to be from a guy like this.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Santa's eldest son and heir to the big guy's mantle, an enterprising meathead named Steve (Hugh Laurie) who has streamlined Christmas night into a full-scale, military-style operation complete with a giant, sleigh-shaped spaceship and an army of elves (hilarious, every one of them) who deliver presents and slip into houses in the same manner as Tom Cruise tends to infiltrate evil foreigners in the Mission: Impossible movies. If Arthur is the Miracle on 34th Street version of Christmas, all wide-eyed and wonder, Steve is its Jingle All The Way , focusing his attentions on the bells and whistles of the holiday season and not so much on the soul. At one point, he purports to give a child an upgraded version of the toy they had originally asked for. "Bigger, ergo, better," he chips in Laurie's impeccable British accent.

As mentioned before, the plots in these movies are almost superfluous, but it does help that this one is genuinely interesting: Steve is denied the Santa Claus title and forgets to deliver a kid's present to boot. While he convalesces in jealousy and Malcolm snoozes away, Arthur hijacks the original Santa sleigh to deliver the lost gift. Comedy ensues, some impressively adult cultural references are tossed around, the ornery coot "Grandsanta" (a fantastic Bill Nighy, doing what appears to be a Geoffrey Rush impression for some reason) all but steals the show, and the movie generally lives up to its kid-friendly premise while keeping the adults entertained.

Suffice it to say, everyone knows exactly where this movie is headed, except not. While you'd expect the coda to be treacly, preachy, condescending or some unholy marriage of the three, director and co-writer Sarah Smith smartly keeps it quiet and intimate, focusing on the little sounds that make Christmas morning pop in the memories of even the most jaded adults: the creaking of the steps, the cracking of the wrapping paper, the peek of the morning light through the window, and the child's squeal that brings the whole thing home (that this film came from Wallace and Gromit masterminds Aaardman Animation makes it seem less surprising that they nail the scene so beautifully, but at the risk of spoiling the party, one does wonder how the movie would have played out in Claymation). 

And yes, there is a certain amount of mush following that particular scene, but that, it seems, is the trade-off. Still, there is something to be said for a movie that, at the end of the day, puts its money in faith and fancy to carry the day. Grinch about it all you want. Resistance is futile.
 

The Muppets - Movie Reviews

The Muppets
 
 One of the great things about Jim Henson's Muppets shows and films was really just how much of the Muppets there were in them. Sure, humans continually popped into frame -- whether it was Steve Martin mugging for his ten seconds of screen time or Charles Grodin playing baddie. But mostly Henson stuck to his gloriously personable sock puppet weirdos destroying the set or bringing the house down with a big musical number. So while it's fantastic to see Jason Segel bringing the guys back to the big screen in proper form, it's disconcerting to see humans so prominently displayed. Amy Adams certainly does pull off a sweet solo number with admirable flash, but wouldn't it have been better with a backup chorus led by Rizzo the Rat?
Segel stars in and wrote this snarky-smart film, and he deserves credit for bringing back a franchise that had been driven into the ground by the uninspired likes of Muppet Treasure Island -- and with no less a creativity-killer behind him than the Muppets' new bosses: Disney. A soft-featured giant with a penchant for innocent-faced hangdog types, Segel plays Gary, mild-mannered resident of Smalltown whose brother Walter just so happens to be a Muppet who's obsessed with the TV Muppets. Gary agrees to bring Walter along on the anniversary trip he and his longtime girlfriend Mary (Adams, beaming to beat the sun) are taking to Los Angeles, blithely ignoring Mary's total disatisfaction with the arrangement.
A high-stepping song in which Gary and Walter sing about how perfect everything is kicks things off like a chirpy, hard-working Broadway musical. The smiles are stretched as wide as an IMAX screen and an air of mildly trippy surrealism pervades (perhaps the film's best nod to the original 1979 film). Disappointment looms when Walter discovers that the Muppet theater is a run-down dusty shell on Hollywood boulevard, and the old gang scattered to the winds. That blow is followed up by the arrival of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who's exploiting a loophole in the Muppets contract that gives him control of the theater --  and the oil deposits underneath -- if the Muppets can't raise $10 million in a few days.

Like a latter-day Blues Brothers, the film quickly pivots into "we're getting the band back together mode," always a convenient excuse for giving a large cast of characters their moment to shine. As great as it is to see Miss Piggy swanning around the Paris offices of Vogue and Gonzo as a filthy rich toilet magnate, though, Segel earns extra points for imagining Animal in anger management class ("Jack Black says no drums!").

Segel and director James Bobin set the mood to full, beaming grins. All this sunshine is layered with gags that mostly zing (Kermit blowing dust off his old guest-star rolodex and calling up President Carter is a nice touch) but don't come as fast and thick as they could. Surprisingly, given Bobin's experience directing
Flight of the Conchords, he doesn't pack the film with songs. Earlier films like The Great Muppet Carpet had so many production numbers they were essentially musicals. The Muppets has just a few original numbers, including one with Cooper that could be the best solid minute of film audiences will see all year, padded out with covers ranging from the good (Gonzo's chickens doing Cee-Lo) to the sublime (a barbershop quartet rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit").

The Muppets
is most satisfying the closer it hews to the glorious chaos of the old TV show, a mood heavily replicated in its last third. That sense of flailing vaudeville anarchy is missed in the rest of the film, which is funny enough and even occasionally touching, but sometimes forgets the cardinal rule of any Muppets creation: the humans should be there for cameos and celebrity hosting, not to star.
 
 

Indahnya Pulau Komodo

Berikut liputan pulau komodo dan keindahannya,
Keindahan Pulau Komodo

Kehadiran Taman Nasional Komodo yang menjadi salah satu nominator kompetisi voting populer “New 7 Wonder” saat ini cukup mengundang daya tarik. Kontroversi yang menyertai ajang tersebut tentu sama sekali tidak berpengaruh pada upaya-upaya intensif untuk terus menjaga kelestarian taman yang pada 1986 ditetapkan UNESCO sebagai situs warisan dunia.

Taman Nasional Komodo terletak antara Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat dan Nusa Tenggara Timur ini mencakup tiga pulau besar yaitu Pulau Komodo, Pulau Rinca, dan Pulau Padar serta beberapa pulau kecil dengan wilayah darat seluas 603 km² dan wilayah total adalah 1817 km². Secara administratif kawasan ini terletak di dalam wilayah Kecamatan Komodo, Kabupaten Manggarai Barat, Propinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur. Taman Nasional yang ditetapkan sebagai kawasan pelestarian hutan oleh menteri Kehutanan dengan luas 132.572 Ha ini pada awalnya dibentuk dengan tujuan melestarikan spesies komodo atau kadal raksasa yang unik dan langka.

Komodo yang dikenal dengan nama ilmiah Varanus komodoensis adalah spesies kadal terbesar di dunia yang hidup di pulau Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, dan Gili Dasami di Nusa Tenggara. Oleh penduduk setempat, komodo kerap disebut Ora.

Termasuk anggota famili biawak Varanidae, dan klad Toxicofera, komodo merupakan kadal terbesar di dunia, dengan rata-rata panjang 2-3 m. Ukurannya yang besar ini berhubungan dengan gejala gigantisme pulau, yakni kecenderungan meraksasanya tubuh hewan-hewan tertentu yang hidup di pulau kecil terkait dengan tidak adanya mamalia karnivora di pulau tempat hidup komodo, dan laju metabolisme komodo yang kecil. Karena besar tubuhnya, kadal ini menduduki posisi predator puncak yang mendominasi ekosistem tempatnya hidup.


Komodo ditemukan pada 1910. Tubuhnya yang besar dan reputasinya yang mengerikan membuat mereka populer di kebun binatang. Habitat komodo di alam bebas telah menyusut dan karenanya IUCN memasukkan komodo sebagai spesies yang rentan terhadap kepunahan. Biawak besar ini kini dilindungi di bawah peraturan pemerintah Indonesia dan sebuah taman nasional didirikan untuk melindungi mereka.


Sebenarnya daya tarik Taman Nasional Komodo tidak semata-mata oleh kehadiran Komodo belaka. Seperti yang saya kutip dari situs resmi Kementerian Kehutanan yang mengelola situs Taman Nasional Komodo ini, panorama savana dan pemandangan bawah laut merupakan daya tarik pendukung yang potensial. Wisata bahari misalnya, memancing, snorkeling, diving, kano, bersampan. Sedangkan di daratan, potensi wisata alam yang bisa dilakukan adalah pengamatan satwa, hiking, dan camping. Mengunjungi Taman Nasional Komodo dan menikmati pemandangan alam yang sangat menawan merupakan pengalaman yang tidak akan pernah terlupakan.


Beberapa lokasi yang menarik untuk dikunjungi antara lain:

1. Loh Liang: merupakan daerah konsesi wisata yang dikelola oleh
PT. Putri Naga Komodo (PT. PNK). Aktivitas yang dapat dilakukan
antara lain pengamatan satwa komodo, rusa, babi hutan,
pengamatan burung, bermain kano dll.


2. Pantai Merah: merupakan pantai dangkal yang indah dengan terumbu karang yang menawan. Aktivitas yang biasa dilakukan oleh turis yang berkunjung adalah snorkeling atau mandi matahari.




3. Loh Sebita: Loh Sebita merupakan daerah mangrove dan aktivitas yang cukup menarik untuk dilakukan adalah pengamatan burung serta trekking.


4. Loh Buaya: merupakan daerah konsesi wisata yang dielola oleh PT. Putri Naga Komodo (PT. PNK). Aktivitas yang dapat dilakukan antara lain pengamatan satwa komodo, rusa, kerbau, burung, monyet ekor panjang, kuda liar, pengamatan burung, bermain kano, dll.


5. Pulau Kalong: Aktivitas yang dapat dikunjungi antara lain pengamatan koloni kelelawar dalam jumlah yang cukup besar. Pengamatan paling menarik dilakukan pada saat sore hari dimana kelelawar mulai keluar untuk mencari makan.


6. Golo Kode: Dari puncak bukit yang dikenal dengan Golo Kode, pengunjung dapat menyaksikan panorama dan bentang alam yang cukup fantastik karena keterwakilan berbagai tipe ekosistem dapat disaksikan dari tempat ini.


7. Selat Molo: selat yang memiliki arus deras seperti air sungai yang mengalir pada saat pasang.



Terdapat 36 situs penyelaman di dalam kawasan TN. Komodo. Yang sering dikunjungi oleh wisatawan mancanegara untuk menyelam dan snorkeling yakni: Pulau Tatawa, Pantai Merah, Gililawa Laut, Loh Dasami, Pillar Steen, Batu Bolong dan Taka Makasar.

Untuk mencapai tempat ini bisa dilakukan lewat jalan Lewat darat melalui Bali - Mataram (P. Lombok) – Bima - Sape (P. Sumbawa), kemudian diteruskan dengan perjalanan menggunakan kapal feri setiap hari menuju Labuan Bajo. Dari Labuan Bajo pengunjung dapat berkunjung ke Taman Nasional Komodo menggunakan kapal boat atau speedboat. Alternative lain adalah melalui udara, pengunjung dapat menggunakan transportasi udara dari Bali (Denpasar) menuju Labuan Bajo setiap hari dengan maskapai penerpangan yang ada diantaranya; Indonesian Air Transport (IAT), Merpati, dan Trigana Air.

Rabu, 02 November 2011

Tukang Sulap Burung Yang Terbitkan Burung Juara

Ismoyo dan jagoannya Puluhan tahun berkiprah di dunia burung, bikin nama lelaki berlogat Jawa ini jadi jaminan mutu. Merubah burung yang tak tahu apa-apa,  sampai menjadi burung yang hebat  berkali sudah dilakukannya. Tangan dinginnya kerap berbuah nama besar, seperti burung-burung berjuluk Rawit, Golden Boy, DL, Sarah dan sebagainya.
Beritaburung.com mewawancarai Ismoyo (53) Pemelihara-joki , yang selama ini berjasa melatih, merawat, dan membesarkan nama  burung-burung tenar.  Awalnya, bertahun silam, dia ketitipan dua ekor Burung Muray bernama “Golden Boy” dan “Rawit” milik pehobi burung Depok, untuk dipeliharanya, keduanya lantas mulai sering juara di acara-acara pinggiran.
Tertarik oleh bakat merawat dan melatih burung, dia direkrut dan berkerja untuk Kurnia, Bos Burung Depok, Ismoyo mulai meninggalkan usaha wartegnya,  semenjak tahun 2007 sepenuhnya aktif mengurus dan melatih burung-burung milik bosnya hingga kini.
Selain mesti telaten, sabar, menyayangi sepenuhnya, menghormati burung-burung lain, memelihara burung juga mesti rajin melakukan isian lewat burung sejenis maupun burung berkicau jenis lainnya.
Berdasar kebiasaanya semenjak duduk di bangku SD yang mulai suka dengan burung, Joki mesti tahu psikologi dari burung peliharaannya, itu yang repot, termasuk kondisi burung saat akan mengikuti kontes, burung birahi, berkelebihan atau kurang fit staminanya. “Semua mesti dipahami oleh seorang Joki,” urainya.
Dia memberi tipsnya, joki mesti paham di saat-saat rawan ini, ketika burung mabung, Pada kondisi ini burung sedang tidak fit Kejadianya setahun sekali, selama tiga bulan lamanya (masa rontok dan menumbuhkan bulu-red) “ kondisinya bisa jadi hanya 50%, jadi jangan sekali-sekali diikutkan kontes,” tambahnya.
Untuk mecari juara di pertandingan besar, tidak mudah, menyesuaikan latihan yang dilakukan dibanding tantangan kontes, lewat persyaratan durasi waktu kicau (25-30 menit), burung juara biasanya gaya dan iramanya bakal keluar , licin, speed rapat, ngerool, “kalau di lapangan sekedar bunyi tetapi banyak ngetem, nggak mungkin masuk lah,” kata Ismoyo menyatakan bahwa Joki mesti memahami ini dan melatih burungnya sesuai tantangan yang ada.
Dia sendiri merasa sudah kadung cinta dengan dunia burung, sehingga belum terpikir untuk rubah haluan ke dunia lainnya. Dari pemahamannya dan berkerja merawat dan memelihara burung-burung,  Ismoyo mampu menghidupi keluarga, hidup layak dan menyekolahkan tiga orang putranya. Oleh karena itu, bertahun silam Wartegnya  malah ditutupnya, agar focus merawat burung.

Burung Kenari F1









Sabtu, 09 April 2011

Manusia Bisa Bertambah Muda Tiap 7 Tahun




Di masyarakat selama ini beredar mitos bahwa setiap tujuh tahun (atau 10 tahun) tergantung versi cerita yang Anda dengar, kita menjadi manusia yang baru. Pasalnya, dalam kurun waktu tersebut, seluruh sel dalam tubuh telah digantikan dengan sel baru.

Dari penelitian, memang benar bahwa tiap-tiap sel yang ada di tubuh manusia memiliki usianya masing-masing. Namun, apakah mitos itu benar adanya?

Pada buku Science Desk Reference (Stonesong Press, 1995) disebutkan, pada tubuh manusia terdapat 50 sampai 75 triliun sel. Masing-masing punya umurnya sendiri dan saat manusia yang bersangkutan mati, sel membutuhkan waktu berjam-jam bahkan berhari-hari untuk mati.

Penyidik forensik sering memanfaatkan keadaan tersebut untuk menentukan penyebab kematian dan waktu kematian, misalnya seorang pelaku bunuh diri.

Seperti dikutip dari Life Little Mysteries, 6 April 2011, sel darah merah bisa hidup selama 4 bulan, sementara sel darah putih rata-rata hidup lebih dari setahun. Sel milik usus besar mati setelah 4 hari, sedangkan sel sperma umurnya hanya 3 hari saja.

Meski pada umumnya sel memiliki usia yang singkat, namun sel otak umumnya hidup selama manusia itu hidup. Neuron di cerebral cortex, misalnya, tidak digantikan saat mereka mati.

Dari fakta-fakta di atas, siklus 7 tahunan seperti cerita yang berdar tidaklah benar karena sel mati dan diganti hampir setiap hari oleh tubuh. Tidak jelas dari mana mitos ini berawal. Kemungkinan, seorang yang memiliki maksud baik namun kurang memiliki informasi yang cukup berasumsi bahwa seluruh sel diperbarui setelah 7 tahun dan kemudian manusia itu menjadi manusia baru.

Mimpi Buruk Bisa Membuat Orang Meninggal

Penyakit “sindrom kematian tiba-tiba tak terduga di malam hari” (SUNDS) sangat menakutkan. Penyakit ini menyerang pria dan wanita muda, bahkan membuat orang takut tidur.
Asisten profesor kardiologi di Baylor College of Medicine di Houston Matteo Vatta mengatakan,”SUNDS merupakan penyakit genetik yang membuat tubuh gagal mengkoordinasikan sinyal listrik yang menyebabkan jantung berhenti.”
Penyakit ini menyerang orang dewasa muda, terutama keturunan Asia Tenggara.” Jantung bisa normal selama beberapa waktu, kemudian berhenti mendadak,” kata Vatta.
Biasanya, jantung berhenti di malam hari dan di Asia Tenggara menyebabkan lebih banyak kematian di antara laki-laki muda dibanding kecelakaan mobil.
Kematian terjadi pada malam hari karena jantung berdetak lebih lemah ketika orang tidur, kata Vatta. Ketika jantung melambat saat tidur, masalah listrik yang menyebabkan SUNDS menjadi lebih jelas, menyalip kemampuan tubuh mengatur jantung sendiri dan menjadikan jantung kejang mematikan.
Terdapat beberapa teori yang menghubungkan SUNDS dengan stres yang disebabkan oleh mimpi buruk. Penelitian ilmiah menunjukkan adanya hubungan antara kematian SUNDS dan isi mimpi.
Saat ini, tak ada pengobatan efektif untuk SUNDS. Tak ada alasan jelas mengapa cenderung mempengaruhi orang Asia Tenggara dibanding kelompok lain. Sindrom ini sangat sulit dideteksi, bahkan dengan membaca elektrokardiograf sekalipun, kata Vatta.
Dokter di AS dan Eropa pertama kali mengetahui penyakit ini dari pengungsi yang melarikan diri dari Perang Vietnam.
Pengungsi mulai menetap di AS pada akhir 1970-an dan awal 1980-an dan memunculkan cerita misterius pria sehat Asia Tenggara mati dalam tidur dan menyebabkan mereka takut untuk tidur.

Wow.. Orang Ini Bergaji Rp 721 miliar/Tahun

Pastinya orang ini super kaya. Dialah bos Ford Motor Co, Alan Mulally. Pada tahun 2010, gaji dia melonjak hingga 48 persen menjadi Rp 230,38 miliar. Lonjakan gaji itu setelah produsen mobil Amerika tersebut mencatatkan penjualan terbaik mereka.

Dan bila ditotal dengan bonus, tunjangan dan pembagian saham maka penghasilan tahunan Mulally pun membengkak jadi sekitar Rp 721 miliar.

Gaji CEO Ford ini mencapai US$ 26.520.000 atau sekitar Rp 230,38 miliar pertahun. Dan bila ditambah dengan US$ 56,5 juta atau sekitar Rp 490,8 miliar dari hasil saham Mulally di Ford maka pria ini mengantongi sekitar US$ 83 juta atau sekitar Rp 721 miliar.

Sementara Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr menerima US$ 26.460.000 (Rp 229,86 miliar) untuk tahun 2010, di samping penghargaan saham bulan lalu senilai US$ 42.400.000 (Rp 368,3 miliar) sehingga secara total Bill mendapat kompensasi total hampir $ 69 juta (Rp 599,4 miliar).

Namun ini adalah gaji pertama Bill sejak beberapa tahun lalu bekerja. Sebab Bill Ford telah bekerja tanpa kompensasi sejak kuartal pertama tahun 2005 ketika pabrikan mobil itu berjuang dari krisis finansial.

Mulally yang bergabung dengan Ford dari Boeing Co pada tahun 2006 memang diharapkan untuk membantu Ford keluar dari krisis. Di tangan Mulally, pabrikan asal Detroit ini memperoleh US$ 9.28 miliar selama dua tahun terakhir, termasuk US$ 6,6 miliar pada 2010 setelah mengalami rekor kerugian hingga US$ 30,1 miliar pada rentang waktu 2006 sampai 2008.

Gaji Mulally sebesar US$ 26.500.000 untuk tahun 2010 naik dari US$ 17.900.000 pada tahun 2009 dan US$ 16.980.000 pada tahun 2008 termasuk US$ 1,4 juta tunjangan dan US$ 9.450.000 bonus tunai. Selain itu Mulally mendapatkan tambahan US$ 15 juta, dan ada US$ 678.000 untuk biaya transportasi dan keamanan.

Namun besarnya gaji eksekutif Ford itu diprotes oleh serikat pekerjanya karena dianggap tidak adil. "Alan Mulally adalah seorang CEO besar, tetapi saya tidak berpikir setiap manusia di dunia berhak untuk mendapat uang sebanyak itu. Itu keterlaluan," cetus Presiden United Auto Workers, Bob King seperti detikOto kutip dari Detroit News, Senin (4/4/2011).

Gaji yang didapat Mulally pun terbilang sangat tinggi bila dibandingkan dengan gaji CEO General Motors Co yang sama-sama merupakan pabrikan asal Detroit. CEO GM, Dan Akerson 'hanya' menerima sekitar US$ 9 juta (Rp 78,1 miliar) dalam bentuk tunai dan saham setiap tahunnya.

Begitu pula bila dibandingkan dengan CEO Chrysler yang juga termasuk dalam Big 3 pabrikan otomotif Detroit. CEO Chrysler Sergio Marchionne bahkan tidak menerima gaji sebagai CEO Chrysler di tahun 2010 tapi hanya menikmati sekitar US$ 600.000 (Rp 5,2 miliar) dari saham meski sebagai CEO Fiat SpA, Marchionne telah dibayar US$ 4.800.000 (Rp 41,69 miliar) tahun lalu.

Namun gaji Marchionne di Fiat tetap saja kalah bila dibandingkan dengan pejabat Ford seperti Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth yang menerima hampir US$ 8.200.000 di tahun 2010, termasuk gaji $ 1,2 juta dan Presiden Ford untuk kawasan Amerika, Mark Fields yang mendapat US$ 8.800.000 dengan gaji hampir US$ 1,3 juta.

Seperti diketahui Ford bersama General Motors dan Chrysler selama ini dikenal sebagai Big 3 dalam kancah otomotif Amerika.

Lupakan Dulu Rooney Untuk Beberapa Saat

Manchester - Manchester United tak bisa diperkuat Wayne Rooney untuk laga melawan Fulham. Wazza musim ini memang menjadi aktor utama MU, namun akhir pekan ini "Setan Merah" harus melupakan dia untuk sementara.

Laga MU kontra Fulham digelar di Old Trafford, Sabtu (9/4/2011) besok. Setan Merah tidak boleh menganggap enteng sang tamu meski tengah terpaku di papan tengah.

Pasalnya Fulham membuktikan diri sebagai tim yang mampu menyulitkan MU. Dalam lima perjumpaan terakhir mereka di laga resmi, The Cottagers bahkan mampu dua kali menang dan sekali menahan imbang tim asuhan Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ceritanya memang bakal berbeda bila laga dipanggungkan di Old Trafford di mana Fulham terakhir kali menang 3-1 pada Oktober 2003. Ketika itu gol-gol Lee Clarke, Steed Malbranque, dan Junichi Inamoto hanya mampu dibalas satu gol oleh Diego Forlan.

Namun akhir pekan nanti MU akan tampil minus pemain utama mereka, Wayne Rooney. Pemain yang biasa dipanggil Wazza ini menunjukkan perannya sebagai penentu kemenangan The Red Devils. Hal itu bisa dilihat setidaknya dalam dua pertandingan terakhir yang dilakoni MU yakni ketika mengalahkan West Ham di Liga Primer dan Chelsea di leg I perempatfinal Liga Champions.

Memang, untuk urusan mencetak gol Sir Alex Ferguson bisa mengandalkan Javier Hernandez yang tengah on fire. Namun Rooney tak sekadar mesin gol semata. Ia juga rajin mencari dan merebut bola. Bahkan tidak jarang pemain timnas Inggris itu turun membantu pertahanan.

Sanksi untuk Rooney memang mendapat komplain baik dari pemain yang bersangkutan atau pun klub. Namun untuk akhir pekan ini, MU harus melupakan Wazza untuk sementara waktu.

"Apakah ini hanya karena sosok Wayne Rooney, lalu dia mendapatkan skorsing dua laga? Ya, saya terkejut. Ini belum ernah terjadi sebelumnya. Kita memang bisa mengeluh tentang itu, namun kami juga dinanti banyak pertandingan penting," ujar pemain senior MU Ryan Giggs diTelegraph.

"Kini saatnya pengalaman yang dimiliki pemain senior, staf, dan juga manajer tentu saja, berbicara. Kami hanya ingin konsentrasi di sepakbola," tuntas pemain asal Wales itu.

Senin, 04 April 2011

Di Saat Kecil Manisnya Minta Ampun, Disaat Besar Buasnya Minta Ampun

Mungkin kita akan berubah pikiran kalau melihat hewan buas ketika masih bayi. kita yang biasanya ketakutan melihat hewan buas namun ketika mereka masih bayi justru membuat kita gemas dan ingin menyentuhnya 

berikut ini adalah kumpulan foto hewan- hewan buas ketika masih bayi 

Singa

Spoiler for buka




Beruang
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Serigala
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Harimau
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Panda

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Cheetah
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Angkot Super Mewah

Langsung aja gan..
Angkot keren dengan tarif Rp1500 - Rp2500 tergantung jarak dan status gan.
tapi fasilitasnya...
kadang kalau anak SD di kasih 1000 aja mau tuh sopir gan..
trus kalau temannya yang naik, di kasih gratis aja gan.. kalau di kasih juga duit, si sopir langsung tancap gas gan.. nggak mau makan teman


cekebrot gan..




tu angkot jurusan "Pengambiran - Pasar Raya Kota Padang"

Siapa yang nggak tau kegokilan angkot-angkot Padang gan..

ternyata ada juga yang nggak percaya kalau tu angkot gan..


ni ane punya pic tu rivalnya angkot di atas..




kalau dah kena polisi tidur jadi gini gan.. dicopotin..



ane sendiri yang jepret gan


ni dari sumber yang lain..













ririsatria40.wordpress.com






nggak percaya juga kalau tu angkot, ya sudah.. cek aja di plat nya gan.. warna kuning..


kalau bicara Sound System dll, Padang masih nomor wahid gan..
dan juga beberapa angkot padang juga memakai CCTV (entah apalah gunanya gan..)











jepretan ane sendiri gan..