"Tumblr was founded by David Karp and launched in New York City, in February of 2007... It was built to be a simple, social blogging platform..."

"Users could design their own home pages; post text, images, gifs, or videos; and follow a feed of others doing the same.... In 2013, when Tumblr had seventy-three million accounts, Yahoo acquired it for more than a billion dollars. But, in 2016, the company did a writedown of seven hundred and twelve million dollars... [In 2019] Automattic, the commercial arm of the content-management system WordPress, acquired the site for a reported three million dollars. It was easy to assume that Tumblr was dead.... It’s one of the few social networks where users can still publish entries that resemble blog posts. The Tumblr users I spoke to, both new and returning, cited a few unfashionable aspects that keep them using the platform. Tumblr’s main feed doesn’t shuffle posts algorithmically based on what it determines might appeal to a user. It’s 'a good, old chronological river'... 'It’s the periphery of the internet; nothing important is happening there.'... What makes Tumblr obsolete, for the moment, are the same things that lend it an enduring appeal. The fact that it maintains a following should remind us that we use social-media services by choice; no platform or feature is an inevitability. As Karina Tipismana, the student, told me, 'People say stuff like, "I wish we could still use Tumblr." It’s there, it’s there!'"

From "How Tumblr Became Popular for Being Obsolete/The social-media platform’s status as a relic of the Internet has attracted prodigal users as well as new ones" by Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker).

Tumblr predates the places that are not obsolete — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. The point here is that the obsoleteness is what's so good. If there's nostalgia for blogs, if there's something inherently appealing in blogs that is lost in these other places, let's remember not only Tumblr, but also Blogger, which has been around since 1999.

I thought I was getting into blogging late when I began this blog 18 years ago. Blogger had already existed for 5 years. I didn't want to miss out on blogging entirely, though part of me thought, it's too late. And I remember when Tumblr was the new thing, 3 years later. I remember all the others — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok — when they were new. But I'm still here with the old, still blogging old school. I don't need to look back to the time when blogging was blogging, like it's something quaint, from simpler times. 

I've stuck to the discipline, daily blogging, absolutely no skipped days in 18 years. I've got to make the announcement every year, and it's that day again, my bloggiversary. I'm not stopping now. And thanks to everyone of you. If you've got this far, you haven't stopped reading.

Astri Ivo - Hati Yang Kau Lucuti

Judul Album : Hati Yang Kau Lucuti 

Artis : Astri Ivo 

Tahun Produksi : 1983 

Music Director : Pompy 

Produksi : Insan Records 

Distributor : Asia Records

Terlahir sebagai putri dari penyanyi legendaris IVO NILAKRESHNA membuat ASTRI FEIZATY IVO a.k.a. ASTRI IVO sudah berkecimpung di industri hiburan sejak dini. Mengawali kiprahnya sebagai pemain film, Astri cukup laris berperan dalam banyak film sejak usia 6 tahun. Setelah itu dunia rekaman juga dimasukinya sebagai penyanyi anak-anak dan terus berlanjut sampai usia remaja. Album HATI YANG KAU LUCUTI adalah salah satu albumnya yang cukup berhasil di pasaran. A. RIYANTO sebagai pencipta lagunya cukup cerdik mengakali materi vokal Astri yang tipis dengan menghadirkan lagu medium beat, range nada yang tidak terlalu lebar tapi tetap terdengar catchy, plus pilihan judul dan lirik lagu di bagian chorus "kau lucuti hatiku..." yang tidak lazim digunakan dalam lirik lagu tapi justru menjadi hook yang membuat lagunya menjadi gampang dinyanyikan dan diingat. Lagu inipun berhasil menjadi hits, sekaligus menandai bahwa karir Astri cukup stabil di dunia film dan musik sekaligus.

Track List:

1. HATI YANG KAU LUCUTI

A. Riyanto

2. PELANGI DAN DIA

Martin Mailoa

3. HATIKU HATIMU

Andy Pamelay

4. TEMAN LAMA

Dian S.

5. DI LEMBAH SUNYI

Pompy

6. HAPUSKAN DUKA

Rudy Rampengan

7. SABDA HATI

Erns F. Mangalo

8. CITA JADI NYATA

Bambang Handirowo

9. MALAM MINGGU

Pompy

10. DAMBA DALAM JANJI

Leo Manuputty

11. SALAH PILIH

Harry Van Hove

12. ENGKAULAH

Dicke R.

HATI YANG KAU LUCUTI

Ma, tolonglah hatiku yang berduka

Hanya karena si dia

Ku menanti dalam kerinduan

Ma, lihatlah mengalir air mata

Karena dia janji di malam ini

Dia pun tak datang

Kau sengaja membuatku bersedih

Itu tanda tak tulus cintamu

Kau sengaja membuatku menangis

Itu tanda kau menyayangku

Kau lucuti hatiku

Kau hancurkan jiwaku

Kau lupakan janjimu

Kau lupakan diriku

Oh sakitnya hatiku yang merana

Tak lagi-lagi diriku mengenangmu

Sungguh ku tak mau

At the Black Ice Café... you can talk about whatever you want.

It finally warmed up enough that I could take an afternoon walk. I hadn't seen the lake in 7 days, and those very cold days had transformed the lake:

There's some beautiful glassy-clear ice on the lake. Look out there:

2 ice skaters with 2 dogs:

Higher up, the prairie and the sunset:

The strange case of Grichka and Igor Bogdanoff, who have now both died (of Covid).

 

Here's the NYT obituary for the twins. 

Jabbing with a sharp object — tolerated and not tolerated.

This is not about hyperdermic needles. Not another post about vaccines. This is about 2 movies I encountered last night, and the sharp objects involved — a surgical scalpel and a harpoon.

I began watching the 1950 movie — written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz — "No Way Out." Sidney Poitier plays a young doctor, working in a prison ward, and Richard Widmark is his no-good racist patient. It's unfolding well enough. Here are some early scenes...

... but then a tray of medical instruments is left right next to racist Widmark so that it's easy for him to grab a scalpel. I had to turn it off. I wouldn't subject myself to the cheap suspense of waiting for Widmark to whip out the scalpel and stab Sidney Poitier!

I switched to a different movie, "Terror in a Texas Town." This is a 1958 western that's of interest because it was written by Dalton Trumbo during the blacklist days, and it stars Sterling Hayden and Sebastian Cabot. But it's an absurd refuge from that scalpel, because it's absolutely no secret — it's shown in part at the beginning of the film — that in the final showdown between hero and villain, the hero is armed with a harpoon! Watch the ending here:

I watched that entire movie. All that harpoon action. The harpoon was displayed and described again and again. It's so weird that I wouldn't put up with the scalpel business, but I watched an entire movie that was about one man harpooning another man. Unlike Sidney Poitier's character, the harpoonee deserved skewering.

Now, you're probably thinking that the harpooned villain was played by Sebastian Cabot, a fat actor who always played a fat man. He was a villain — an evil capitalist — isn't a cartoonish capitalist always fat? He's fat, and a harpoon is displayed over and over again, and Sterling Hayden is getting more and more focused and determined. Cabot must be his "whale."

If you watch the clip, you know — spoiler alert — that guess is wrong. In fact, Sebastian Cabot filmed all his scenes inside a single room — a hotel room. He didn't attend his own shootouts. He hired people, while he remained ensconced indoors with copious room service food and a beautiful secretary. Luxurious for the character and low-budget for the filmmakers.

Freddy Hitipeuw - Kini Kusadari

Judul Album : Kini Kusadari 

Artis : Freddy Hitipeuw 

Tahun Produksi : 1985 

Produksi : Asia Records

Di era 80an, ketika sebuah lagu menjadi hits besar, maka bisa dipastikan akan bermunculan lagu yang sama di pasaran dalam berbagai versi, termasuk yang paling umum adalah 'versi jawaban' yang biasanya berupa lagu yang sama hanya diubah liriknya kemudian dibawakan oleh penyanyi yang berlainan gender dengan penyanyi aslinya. Trik jualan semacam ini terbukti cukup sakti di masa itu. Maka tidak heran ketika lagu UNTUKMU KUSERAHKAN melejit lewat suara LYDIA NATALIA, kemudian muncul versi jawabannya yang dibawakan FREDDY HITIPEUW dengan judul KINI KUSADARI. Yang membuat versi jawaban ini agak berbeda adalah, OBBIE MESSAKH sebagai pencipta lagunya masih mau memberikan effort untuk mengubah melodi lagu di bagian chorus sehingga terdengar berbeda dari lagu original. Freddy juga cukup pas membawakan lagu ini, hanya sayangnya lagu ini tidak berhasil menarik minat penikmat musik saat itu. Memang, trik yang sama belum tentu bisa berhasil, pun di saat industri musik sedang subur-suburnya saat itu. 

Track List:

1. KINI KUSADARI

Obbie Messakh

2. ADINDA

Obbie Messakh

3. KAU RINDUKU

Jhony Putuhena

4. RASA RINDU

Eric Van Houten

5. HANYA SATU

Hermes Sihombing

6. BAYANG BAYANG RESAH

Syaraf T.

7. APAKAH SALAHKU

Hanny Tuheteru

8. KAN KUCARI

Hermes Sihombing

9. BISIKAN CINTA

Eric Van Houten

10. KENANGAN BERSEMI

Hendro S.

11. BELENGGU WAKTU

Budy

12. FAJAR PAGI

Syaraf T.

KINI KUSADARI

Hari ini ku datang, kekasih

Ingin ku membalut luka hatimu

Maafkan daku kekasih

Setulus hati meminta

Atas salah yang pernah kubuat

Ku berjanji merubah sifatku

Demi keutuhan kau dan aku

Tak akan pernah ke sana

Ku membagi cinta lagi

Duhai kasih kau tambatan hati

Mari kasih, saling menyayangi

Kan kubalut lukamu

Dengan kasih sayangku

Mari kasih, merajut kembali

Ikatlah cinta kita

Dengan benang kasih

Baru kini kusadari

Perasaan insan sama

Ingin sayang dan ingin dicinta

Andien - Kinanti

Judul Album : Kinanti 

Artis : Andien 

Tahun Produksi : 2002 

Music Director : Indra Lesmana & Aksan Sjuman 

Produser : Indra Lesmana & Aksan Sjuman 

Produksi : Warner Music Indonesia

ANDINI AISYAH HARYADI a.k.a. ANDIEN, penyanyi jebolan kontes ASIA BAGUS ini berhasil mencuri perhatian saat album pertamanya BISIKAN HATI dirilis. Kolaborasinya bersama ELFA SECIORIA di album itu membawa angin segar dan memberikan bukti bahwa kemasan musik dan genre yang terbilang 'berat' bagi penyanyi belia sepertinya ternyata bisa berbicara di pasar. Dua tahun berselang sejak album pertamanya, Andien come back lewat album KINANTI. Sebuah kejutan karena sebenarnya album kedua Andien sudah selesai digarapnya bersama Elfa Secioria, tapi album yang sudah selesai itu urung dirilis. Andien justru kemudian merekam lagi materi baru yang digarap oleh INDRA LESMANA dan AKSAN SJUMAN.  Di tangan Indra dan Aksan, Andien bermetamorfosa dari image jazzy yang kental di album pertama menjadi lebih ngepop dengan nuansa R&B dan jazz. Lagu andalan SAHABAT SETIA tampil catchy dan dibawakan Andien dengan pas. Lagu inipun berhasil menjadi hits, disusul single kedua MENJELMA. Hits lain juga bermunculan dari album ini yaitu TENTANG AKU yang merupakan hits dari JINGGA, MASIH BEBAS dan AKANKAH MUNGKIN. Adapun materi album 'kedua' yang sudah selesai digarap bersama Elfa Secioria ternyata kemudian masternya raib, dan beberapa materi dari album itu kemudian direkam ulang oleh Andien dan dirilis sebagai single di tahun 2021 yaitu SELAMAT JALAN KEKASIH dan BENANG BENANG ASMARA.

Track List:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. MASIH BEBAS

Melly Goeslaw

2. SAHABAT SETIA

Indra Lesmana & Tiara Tobing

3. TENTANG AKU

Therry Mully

4. KINASIH

Tohpati & Eq Puradiredja

5. ONCE I LOVED

Antonio Carlos Jobin & Ray Gilbert

6. MASIH BISA TERTAWA

Indra Lesmana, Aksan Sjuman, Tiara Tobing

7. BERLAYAR

Redyanto Heru, Eq Puradiredja, Tiara Tobing

8. MENJELMA

Indra Lesmana & Eq Puradiredja

9. AKANKAH MUNGKIN

Tohpati & Zoel

10. DI BATAS MIMPI

Indra Lesmana, Aksan Sjuman, Eq Puradiredja

11. KINANTI

Indra Lesmana, Aksan Sjuman, Andien

SAHABAT SETIA

Lama sudah bersama

Memberi arti di hati

Hari pasti berganti

Namun kau tetap di sini

Berbagi semua kisah

Canda tawa serta ceria

Air mata dalam duka

Kita masih bersama

Rajut mimpi-mimpi indah

Menghias dunia kita

Berjanji di dalam cita

Akan selalu bersama

(sahabat yang setia)

Kita bisa bernyanyi

Sunyi di dalam rahasia

Kita senantiasa

Berjalan dengan senyuman

Betapa bahagia

Oh diriku bersamamu

Mutiara dunia

Dalam kasih dan harapan