Arlene Radasky's 'THE FOX'

'The Fox' is a very beautiful and romantic story. It is a story about love and sacrifice.

There are two intertwined settings in the story. The first setting is Jahna and Lovern, a couple, in the ancient age. Their lives and society were threatened to be invaded. As they were preparing themselves for the unexpected, Jahna used her druid ability to tell her story. She sent her visions to someone she had never met before, someone who was always eager for her story.

The second setting is Aine, an archaeologist, who was fighting to keep her digging site. She could not tell anyone that her project was based on her 'dreams' of the ancient people. She led a team of knowledgeable and enthusiastic people, but there was always a 'ghost' that showed her the exact locations of the important artifacts.

Jahna knew that her life was extraordinary, and she did her best in showing the images of the important events of her life. While Aine was racing against the time in following Jahna's clues to find the artifacts, she needed to keep her digging project. The more Aine learned about Jahna, the further she was pulled into mystery of her site. When history was finally revealed, not only Aine found the truth about the site of her dream. She also learned so much about love and life from Jahna's story.

More than a love story between two people, 'The Fox' reminds us that there are situations where we have to be prepared for things that are more important than our love lives. The book also teaches us that failure is not always a bad thing; it often serves as a passage towards a bigger success in the future. However, it can only happen when we have done the best we can as long as we live.

This e-book can be downloaded from free-ebooks.

Ruth Rendell's 'Road Rage'

Back in Australia, I loved watching the series 'Ruth Rendell's Mysteries.' It was an UK program, and I liked it because it was different from other law enforcement shows on TV, which were mostly US based.

One day when I was in the book shop, I saw this book, and I thought it would be a good souvenir to take home. However, one thing led to another, this book ended up safely kept for years without being read, until last month.

'Road Rage' tells the story about the uprising in Kingsmarkham City due to the plan of a new road being built cutting across the city forest. Chief Inspector Wexford who was closely watching the protesters ended up chasing the leaders of the protester groups after the kidnapping of seven people who were taken hostages by a group that was not among the ones camping around the planned route of the new road.

Seven people were kidnapped and one of them was the chief inspector's wife. When she was strangely released near her home in the middle of the night, people were having doubts about the chief and the police force. In the meantime, the police had to keep the investigation confidential until the time limit when public had to be informed about the case.

The chief's wife tried to retell everything she experienced during the time she was held hostage to help speed up the police work. Unexpectedly, one of the other hostages turned up dead and the group went silent. Was it, a murder or an accident? Was the group really a protest group or was there something else behind the kidnapping? Why was it hard for the police to find this group? Who were involved?

This book is a good read. I couldn't guess the ending until I finished the book. I suggest this book to anyone who enjoys law enforcement stories.

Museum Fatahillah (Museum of Jakarta History)

Picture from this link

Museum Fatahillah is the museum about Jakarta history (description in English).

The building originally was a Dutch building which, apart from some necessary renovation, has been preserved to this day.

Information about Jakarta's history, starting from pre-colonialisation era can be found on the ground floor of the museum. The second floor of the museum is kept as the original design, which were rooms with antique furniture.

The museum might not look much for some people, and children might not be much entertained being there, however, the guides can provide various information about Jakarta history. Visitors who are looking to see old architecture should be able to appreciate more of the existence of this museum.

It is a good idea to read about Jakarta prior to visit to this museum, to be able to have a better 'feel' of the visit.

On Saturday (13 March 2010), there was a 3D-video-mapping show, a collaboration of D-Fuse (an English multimedia artist) and local artists. They did an amazing show which used the front part of the museum as their canvass and the museum turned back into a large swamp, just the way it was before the Dutch fort was built.

Original article about the 3D-video-mapping show from Yahoo! (in Indonesian)

Video of the 3D-video-mapping show

This museum is one of my favorites and I hope, the show can attract more visitors, while the government is going through the grand plan for Jakarta preservation program.. ;-)

madebyde

I guess I have been 'ignoring' this blog for much too long.. It is not always that easy to find the right things to say about things that we like.. :-)

Today, I would like to put here, the art crafts that my friend make.. beautiful brooches from stones, beads, laces and/or wire.. The brilliant part is that these brooches can also be worn as pendants..

The main part of the brooch is real stone and as you know, stones never come in exact same shape or pattern, so, whichever brooch you choose will always be the special one for you.. while the beads, laces and wiring pattern, will always be unique too, as they are always made to match each stone.

I was amazed the first time I looked through her newly made collection, as they were all beautiful and unique.. the lace-work was all neat and pretty, and the wire-work was vintage and intricate..

Just beautiful.. :-)

If you like these brooches, please leave a comment.. All your comments will also be received by my friend who makes these beautiful brooches.. ;-)