Deisha Tamar

July 24, 2011

The Jakarta Post

(as published here)

There are several factors that make good movies, such as good acting, interesting locations, a meaningful storyline and last but not least an epic soundtrack. That is also the case with a TV series.

Indonesians have found there are few good TV series on local channels, so sometimes movie enthusiasts opt for international TV series, or more often Hollywood series.

If you are lucky enough to have cable at home, then the options for TV series are endless — but there are also DVDs of course, and even some well-known series are aired on our local channel.

While watching the films on TV, you may hear really cool songs that you like so much. But sometimes you might not be able to figure out what the title is or who the singer is.

It happened to me. I tried to find the name of a really good piece of music that I heard on the Parenthood series. It took me several weeks to finally track down the song I was looking for. And in the end I got my answer from www.heardontv.com. It really helps me search for good music that I have heard on TV.

The simple layout of the website looked rather unpromising at first, as I thought maybe it was just another bogus website, but all that changed when I found my song with the exact artist and title of the song.

Heard on TV is a user-generated website that helps you discover the music you have heard on your favorite TV shows. However, you cannot download songs from the website. you can only search for music — although they provide links as options for you to buy the song legally from Rhapsody, Amazon or iTunes store, or you can watch the video on YouTube.

When looking for a certain song from a series, it is best if you jot down the exact season and episode of the show — to make your search easier on the website. Another cool way that you can help yourself search is by uploading a sound clip of the song you are looking for other users to listen to and help you with your search — you can even add a personal note, like in what scene the song was played.

However, in order to do this, you must first sign up to be a member at Heard on TV. You can also add your favorite music or TV shows and rate or comment on them, once you have signed up as a member. Besides searching for songs, you can actually help other users identify the songs that they are looking for by suggesting a title of the song.

Currently, Heard on TV offers over 135 TV shows to choose from and most of them are Hollywood series. The website also caters to music searches for blockbuster movies, although the options are still limited. It also has a database of hundreds and hundreds of artists’ names.

If you can’t find the song or movie that you were looking for, you can make a request to the website so they can add the criteria of your search.

The website just recently added a new feature which identifies trends of popular songs according to tweets on Twitter, which reveals the singer and song title — so at least you can add some really hot music to your music library, all thanks to Heard on TV.

*i missed posting this article here which was published last Feb!*

Deisha Tamar

Feb 27, 2011

The Jakarta Post

(as published here)

Have you ever felt annoyed by someone, a stranger, your boss or your family where you wish you could tell of your problem with them to their face but you just didn’t have the guts? Well, perhaps now you can channel that annoyance through this website.

Dear Blank Please Blank — no, it is not a typo or a name of some indie band — it is an über website that truly makes my day every time I visit it. It all started when a friend tweeted, “Dear Facebook, Congratulations on becoming a verb. Welcome to the club. Sincerely, Google #dearblankplease”.

I became curious and tried to find out where those witty tweets came from and eventually it led towww.twitter.com. dearblankpleaseblank before I was led to www.dearblankpleaseblank.com.

The website was created by creative duo Jared Wunsch and Hans Jhonson based in Seattle, Washington, US. Why did they create such a website? They stated, “We had this idea for a website, mostly because Hans had a bad experience. So we built it, and now you’re here... Welcome.”

“Dear blank please blank was built by us, hand coded line by line, pixel by pixel. As a rule of thumb, If you can’t see it, Jared built it, if you can see it, Hans built it, if it sparkles, Edward built it,” referring to Edward Cullen, the vampire from Twilight movie, whose skin sparkles under the sunlight.  

And yes, every bit of the website is filled with witty words or comments that will definitely hit your funny bone or at least makes you grin a little.

So, what is Dear Blank Please Blank?

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Deisha Tamar

July 17 2011

The Jakarta Post

(as published here)

 

It’s not only New York that has been dubbed the city that never sleeps. Chicago, which also is known as the Windy City, is another of America’s restless cities.

Chicago, located in Illinois, US, is one of the three most populated cities in the US. It is a metropolitan city, similar to Jakarta with all of its hustle and bustle, and cars honking here and there, traffic and skyscrapers. Of course with the exception of adequate and reliable public transportation, fresh air to breathe and decent sideways, which pamper the needs of pedestrians — and unlike Jakarta, people in Chicago prefer to walk, from tourists like myself to businesspeople. 

Navy Pier, located on Lake Michigan, is one of Chicago’s landmarks and a one-stop place for everything entertainment. It’s almost like Ancol here in Jakarta, with more and better selections for recreation. Built in 1916, it holds one of the most famous Ferris wheels in the US. With just US$10 you can ride on it and view the spectacular Chicago view – best to see at night when all the lights from the buildings and roads sparkle. The Pier is also home to several interesting museums and theaters, such as Chicago’s Children’s Museum, the breathtaking Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, Chicago Shakespeare Theater — which holds occasional Shakespeare plays and also a Shakespeare resource center — and the IMAX Theater offering its viewers a top notch 3-D movie experience.

Next stop is the Magnificent Miles — the nickname given to Michigan Avenue for holding celebrated stores such as Prada, Aldo, Zara, Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, H&M and even a Disney store. These stores are actually located right on the sides of the busy streets where pedestrians can easily window shop. And yes, the best way to enjoy the magnificent “shopping” journey on the Magnificent Miles is by walking. Water Tower, located at the same street, was built in 1869 to hold water pipes but now it is one of Chicago’s famous landmarks for its distinctive castle-like design.

Chicago is also well-known for its skyscrapers and bold architecture. Sears Tower, formerly known as the Willis Tower, was once the world’s tallest building in 1974. Another skyscraper worth visiting is John Hancock Observatory, which claims to have the fastest elevator in the world — it only takes a minute to reach the 96th floor. There is also the brand new Trump International Hotel and Tower, which is of course owned by property mogul Donald Trump. The luxurious tower is also the filming location for Trump’s reality show The Apprentice. 

Just a few minutes’ walk from the Trump Tower, is Hotel 71. Located on 71 East Wacker Drive, the hotel itself is another famous and must visit place in Chicago. The hotel is often used for Hollywood movie productions. It was used last July as the set of Transformer: Dark of the Moon that will be released later this year. The Dark Knight — of the Batman movie sagas — was also partly shot there.

 

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Deisha Tamar

July 17 2011

The Jakarta Post

(as published here)

English Department students of Binus University invited author Raditya Dika to its Anggrek Campus in Jakarta to share his knowledge on how to become a writer, or one who can rake in the cash.

In the talk titled “Get Creative in Your Writing to Keep You Prosper” on June 16, the students’ body, HIMSI, partnered with stationery producer Faber-Castell. Almost 500 people flocked in to join the talk show or perhaps merely see their favorite wacky blogger-cum-writer in person although tickets were Rp 40,000 (US$4.86) each for students and Rp 50,000 for the public.

With writing as its theme, HIMSI hopes to open the knowledge of young people who, nowadays, like to express their feelings or share their stories through blogs or other various kinds of social networks — and help them turn that hobby into a source of income. 

In addition, it helps to enlighten young people on career opportunities in writing – not just by publishing a book or becoming a novelist. As said by Desvina, the head of HIMSI, a writer is actually a highly promising job, and by becoming and learning to be a good one, we can generate a good income.

Raditya delivered his presentation with his wittiness and comical approach that kept the audience laughing throughout the entire seminar. He pointed out that it was important to keep personal stories as a foundation of our writing, even the most bitter ones. Yet we need to be able to turn them into something unique. Distinguishing ourselves and our style of writing are also vital, as there are more and more writers emerging today. We have to create our own signature and set ourselves apart. 

After three hours of knowledge sharing, he asked the audience to engage in a 10-minute writing session and question and answer session before ending the event. During the event, some of the participants and Faber-Castell did live tweeting, and even held a quiz via Twitter. Putri Utami, a Binus University student tweeted that it was her second time joining seminar with Raditya Dika as the speaker, and she was pleased with the seminar and Raditya’s approach. 

Desvina contributed to the story