Jungle Music

tintin

Maybe you should buy the guy a [I]pacar [/I]who would fix his broken heart and at the same time your broken nerves?

Markit

Basically I live in a jungle. About 200 meters from the ocean on one side separated by rice fields and with jungle surrounding me on the other 3 sides. My question (or what I'm trying to come to terms with) is since I'm the guy that caused electricity to be generally available for the local denizens who live in bamboo huts with coconut leaf walls all around me by paying shedloads of dosh to have pillars put up and copper wire to be strung etc. etc. Why do we (actually "I", since this clearly bothers no Indonesian) have to listen to the pounding of boomboxed "music" from about 6am (when the local village wakes up every-fecking-one with their daily announcement) until about 11pm? I go by these bamboo huts and they don't have fecking running water but they have a boombox with amplifier (oh and what a good one) and they seem to have an endless supply of "Dangdut" I think it's called. Thing is there often isn't anyone home when the area is blanketed with this offering. When I asked my guy about this carry-on he said that this was some young guy with a broken heart and he rents the boombox to let everyone know... I thought bulltacos! Now he's got broken eardrums to go with the broken heart and if he doesn't stop he's gonna have a broken boombox for the hat trick.

Markit

Jeez first I bring electricity to the area and get boomboxs. If I bring girlfriends ([I]pacar[/I]) can you imagine what that might turn into?

Adam

As a footnote, anybody else noted that Indonesians seem to find optimal volume level just beyond speaker distortion point? I don't so much dislike the volume level, its the sound quality that irks me.

Adam

I get dangduted from 6am til 11pm too and I don't even live in Indonesia. This is a war I don't think you are going to win I'm afraid, Indonesians are an incredibly tolerant bunch when it comes to these sorts of things. My only suggestion is you perhaps fight fire with fire. Back in 'ol' days when I used to spend a whole lotta time in our house in Java I used this tolerance to my advantage. I'm largely a nocturnal creature when I'm in Indo because I love the night time weather and the fact that there isn't a whole lot of people around. My music of choice is 'Trance' which is quite bass heavy doof doof music. I could crank it up as loud as I wanted and for as long as I wanted all thru the night without so much as a peep from anyone else in the village other than a the occasional insomniac lost soul that would come and join me for a beer and soak up the tunes as well. Often the night would drag into the morning call to prayer and I would just turn it up louder to drown that out, too. Get yourself a bigger boombox, a nice bottle of something and some Barry Manilow or Engelbert Humperdink or whatever it is you old timers listen to and spend a couple of all-nighters getting even.

DenpasarHouse

Markit wrote . . . from about 6am (when the local village wakes up every-fecking-one with their daily announcement) . . .

Do you really get daily announcements or is it just the recording of the Balinese Trisandya prayer? Personally, I love it (but only because the banjar is 4 blocks away). It fits perfectly into how I want to structure my days. 6am - Get up. 12pm - Eat Lunch. 6pm - Eat tea. No wrist watch required.

Adam wroteThis is a war I don't think you are going to win I'm afraid, Indonesians are an incredibly tolerant bunch when it comes to these sorts of things.

I agree. Also, don't get into any feuds with guys who've got little or nothing to lose. Your only hope is your local banjar. I hope you've already done the required amount of sucking up.

Markit

Double posts are quite startlingly Alzheimery - don't know if it's the same again or just forgotten. Yes, no war planned and no revenge possible. Even my best loved music can't be stood for that long. Once made the mistake of choosing a favorite piece for a funeral - big mistake! Now can't hear that ever without thinking of the dead. Same would happen if I tried the fighting fire with fire option. Teeth gritted and "through the middle" as Gherkin might say if he were still here. A bit brighter horizon this am - my guy informs me that boombox idiot has a cousin with a new baby and baby can't sleep with music... hope springs eternal. Banjar makes announcements every morning at 6am to some lovely Bali music which I really like too but after that's over the booming starts.

no.idea

Markit wrote A bit brighter horizon this am - my guy informs me that boombox idiot has a cousin with a new baby and baby can't sleep with music... hope springs eternal. .

The answer is obvious. Go over and get the cousin pregnant again. Remember to take your Barry Manilow records with you. I read somewhere that you old people like that type of stuff.

no.idea

A big bloody axe would also fix the situation.

Braveheart_shaped_box

I do find fighting fire with fire does work and I heartily recommend AC/DC or Motorhead

sherm

Screaming goats?

Markit

Either the cousin's baby has caused a halt or the perp may be a reader here and felt bad cause today all is peace and quiet. Shhhhh hope it lasts.