satD iPod; And mahkamah opportunities

“Isn’t that `Apple iPod’?” No, satD iPod; and I insist. “Who/What is satD?” This is what the post is about – and maybe a bit more.

Firstly, satD is that hilarious blogger with his political Pure Shiite blog. But I doubt if you’d think of him as `hilarious’ if you are unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his lashings:-) And this guy moves around a lot on the SoPo blogosphere – you’d see his comments at quite a number of blogs. I have to say that I’m amazed with his work-rate – satD holds a very important and stressful job, but yet still manage to achieve a lot of things in the cyber world!.

Last Thursday, 26 March I received a package by post – it was sent by Sherry in Kuantan. And there was a gray iPod Shuffle in it, given by satD. Sherry, Nazmi and their three children were in Jakarta last week, and had met satD there.

I can only shake my head and feel humbled by the generosity shown – not just by him but by so many people whom I’ve known through the blogs. And they aren’t just in material form, for I’ve received gifts that are perhaps even more valuable – of a few people giving me their time and helping me to see through some difficult moments, like what I’m facing right now with the Mahkamah Syariah.

(BTW if some monkey think I’m going to fold and crumble due to `setback’  and be affected by this; boy, they sure don’t know what Gambang had done for me! And of how influential people like Sherry, Nazmi and Shakirah are. But this in its own good time)

To satD, I can only say Thank you. And not just for the iPod Shuffle, but for what he had done in Jakarta earlier.

Just after Sherry and family had arrived at the airport there on March 16, I had emailed satD. informing him of their presence there. As I had mentioned in previous posts, this is the family of someone whom I care about… a lot. I had thought how nice it would be if satD could just call them; to let them know that should there be anything they might need help with, he was there.

But satD went way beyond this! Not only did he contact them – the following night, he took them out for dinner, plus showed them around a few places in Jakarta. And they later went to a nice cafe to have a pleasant chat. It was thoughtful of Sherry to keep me updated with a few SMS. I’m thankful and grateful for what satD had done that evening – of making it such a memorable evening for Sherry and Nazmi. (satD tried to extract some `cerita’ about me Heheh!)

I would not have been happy had it been a spur of the moment thing with the iPod. But I learnt that satD had bought it some time before Sherry and Nazmi were in Jakarta, and had even hinted about it in a comment somewhere (I didn’t figure it out, clueless that I am – I’m the type who has to be told direct, in no uncertain terms, about anything). When he mentioned a gift, my first guess is “A book”; of which I would already have been more than grateful. I would never have guessed in a hundred years it would be an iPod Shuffle.

And what an amazing thing it is! Okay, I’m going to reveal how `jakun’  I am – I had no idea what it looked like, for “hardware” isn’t something that I had kept up with. Oh, I had read about it but never did find out more. My initial thought was: “Most likely yet another over-hyped and over-priced product from Apple.” Yes, I’m one of those in the “anti-Apple/Macintosh” crowd:-)

The package arrived last Thursday – and as you all know, this is often the most hectic day of the week for me. But last Thursday was different – it was even busier than usual; plus I had to deal with that matter concerning the Mahkamah Syariah the previous day.

When I opened the package, I was surprised when I saw what the iPod really looked like – it is so small! I even had this thought: “It’s a replica – a joke satD was playing on me”. I couldn’t believe a music device could be that small! I didn’t have the time to do much with it last Thursday due to the work – in fact, I had gone on until dawn on Friday. No, I’m NOT complaining – I’m doing work that I like, and I’m working with people who are great:-)

There was trouble when I started the iPod. After plugging in the USB cable to the laptop… nothing happened. It wasn’t even listed when I started Windows Explorer. I read the instructions again, carefully, and repeated the steps. Still nothing. I had this syak wasangka – “a dirty tactic by Microsoft to make it difficult for Apple?… purposely forcing users to go through hoops first before finally being able to use it?” When I started iTunes and the “Sync iPod” in the “File” menu was blanked out, the problem became clearer – the laptop didn’t see the iPod connected. But why? And surely Microsoft isn’t that `busuk hati’.

So, the conclusion was that the problem was on my end. And it was – I didn’t dock it properly! After pushing it in all the way, it came to life. Well, needless to say, the synching with my laptop went on smoothly.

Initially, I had some reservations about its sound quality. But after listening to just one song, this immediately disappeared – I’m impressed! For instance, I had listened to Pink Floyd’s Not Now John for 26 years, but there were nuances in it that I was not aware of – until I heard them through the iPod earphones. And since I wouldn’t be disturbing anybody, I can now listen to it for as loud as I like (satD has warned me not to turn the volume to the maximum to protect the earphones).

For those who are curious, these are the initial songs that I’ve synched to the iPod:

Time            Pink Floyd
Stargazer        Rainbow
Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin
Idiot Wind        Bob Dylan
Hurricane        Bob Dylan
Rivers of Belief    Enigma
Not Now John    Pink Floyd
Alhamdulillah        Too Phat_Yasin
Aduh Tsumawi    Amuk
Elegi Sepi        Azharina
Like a Rolling Stone Bob Dylan
Don’t Think Twice    Bob Dylan
Mea Culpa        Enigma
Sadness        Enigma
Brain Damage    Pink Floyd
Eclipse        Pink Floyd
Run Like Hell        Pink Floyd
Another Brick in the Wall Pink Floyd
Vera            Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd
Sixteeth Century Greensleeves Rainbow
Man On the Silver Mountain Rainbow
Aku Bukan Untuk Mu Rossa  Once Dealova
Lady in Black    Uriah Heep
Sentuhan Kecundang Rahmat
Hanya Segenggam Setia Rahmat

There will be more, of course – I’ve used up less than 20% of the capacity.

By the way, I must be listening to the iPod while typing this, right? NO – I try to use my heart when writing, and having music in my head might not allow that. Yes, I know for a fact that women can multitask…

That part in the title about  “Mahkamah Monkeys” – Well, I’ve decided not to write about it just yet. But there’s one thing I should let you folks know – I’m okay.

Right, time to read the books that a very nice and helpful assistant editor sent to me. Which one will it be first, because I’m eager to read both at the same time!:-)

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