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Rice paddies, like paradise, but with hell just beneath the smooth surface of the waters

thirty-three seasons in hell: a prologue (I)

  Eight years ago, an interview and profile of me appeared in the magazine BaliSavvy, “the official American Express® guide to the island”. This afternoon I happened on a copy of it in my messy archive of the eight plus years in hell I have endured between March 2010 and now. … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Concerns , The Saga , Tribal Art , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
Comment Number : 2 Comments

For David Pfeiffer, Northwest Landscape Designer

Kudos for the Kudus House Garden My new home is Vashon Island, in Washington State. It’s a place where many threads of my personal history are woven together. Surprisingly, some of them are also knotted tight to the threads that bind my heart forever to Indonesia, where I lived for … Continue reading

Author : Susi
Comment Number : 1 Comment

Filastine | Colony Collapse

Stills from the video “Colony Collapse” by sound artist Grey Filastine and Nova, Javanese vocalist of sounds and messages without borders. Filastine will appear at Antidasoundgarden on 10 January, and at BetelNut in Ubud the evening before. Can we all make our contributions for the “tukang terang” (cloud clearer), perhaps? … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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Sea of garbage

Look carefully. It appears most of the beached flotsam is organic; leaves, brush, seaweed, etc. This kind of organic material accumulates naturally on beaches. In fact, the banks of driftwood and organic stuff that are swept ashore following storms are an important part of coastal ecosystems. They become living parts … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Concerns
Author : Susi
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Kuta, Bali by Adrian Vickers

Wow. What a find. Material for a Master’s Thesis, for sure. A book by an Indonesian writer that exposes Indonesian perceptions of foreigners as they are known. It reflects direct observation, extrapolation from popular media, and a spectrum of preconceptions arising from indigenous ways of being in and seeing the … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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A History of Modern Indonesia by Adrian Vickers

Get on down to the nearest bookshop or online bookseller. Get yours quick. The new edition of Adrian Vickers’ superb and readable history of modern Indonesia is out! Adrian seems to be a force of nature, he never stops. And thank goodness for that! “Since the Bali bombings of 2002 … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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APEC CEO Summit

Looking forward to a very important forum, and hopefully an interesting one. There are so many opportunities for the Asia Pacific region to work together for a better future. I do hope that voices of sustainability and humanity will be heard during the forum. Synergy around the Pacific is not … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Concerns
Author : Susi
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Jakarta environment

This seems like a step in the right direction. But the problems of environmental imbalance that affect the watersheds upstream of Jakarta are bigger than just a few dozen villas. It’s not just the upper elevations that affect the whole watershed; the lower elevations and flatter lands nearer the city … Continue reading

Filled under : Architecture , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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My drugs story in Bali

This is a fairly accurate news story about my recent experience here in Bali. One important element does not appear in this story: I was treated with respect, dignity, and pure neutrality by all of the personnel of the narcotics unit of Polresta Denpasar once I had been delivered to … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Bali Police , Concerns
Author : Susi
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Nicholas Hughes: Impressions of an Ageing Mountaineer

To sit atop a mountain is an extraordinary, even spiritual, experience when amongst relics of the Hindu and Buddhist periods or on a mountain that locals treat with great reverence. An Australian national, he has lived in Indonesia on and off since 1972. Nick will explain the science behind the … Continue reading

Filled under : Bali , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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Breakthrough in Cinema: The Act of Killing

Today, I discovered The Act of Killing, a newly released film that is of major significance in Indonesia’s evolution, and in the evolution of cinema itself. Werner Herzog, who I consider the most impressive living filmmaker in the known universe, put it this way, “I have not seen a film … Continue reading

Filled under : Concerns , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
Comment Number : 2 Comments

Jokowi: Soon to be a Household Name

Jokowi is a phenomenon. Funny how his miraculous and idiosyncratic ascendancy has gone unheralded by the world press. They should be all over it. And they will be. They’re just a few hundred sluggish heartbeats behind you and I and the rest of us who live in the big world, … Continue reading

Filled under : Concerns , Uncategorized
Author : Susi
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