Alterity | Jakarta and Bali

And so another celeb joins the Indonesian Topless Hall of Fame. This time it’s Andi Soraya and she eases off her bra straps in her latest film Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan (*) But while most of the gossipmongers debate the upper half of Andi Soraya’s undeniably attractive body, what seems to me to be more interesting is that the film poster of Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan unashamedly plagiarizes the US 2007 horrorfest which featured 8 films to “die for”: And this is the remarkably similar effort for the Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan film: * Hantu Puncak Datang Bulan (The Menstruating Ghost) is one of those incredibly tacky Indonesian horror/sex films which are so incredibly bad that they can be worth watching for a few laughs. But not this one; this really is so bad that you’ll either: 1) fall asleep; 2) be violently sick. The plot centers on the goings on at an old boarding house (kos kosan) which is sold by the owner because his daughter died there in a fight with her boyfriend (who then acci

Foto mesra Richa Novischa sudah beredar di internet. Kok bisa? Gary Iskak : Siapa teman baru lou? Richa Novisha : Nggak usah kamu tahu deh! Hehehe!! Oh my God!!!!!!!!

"When I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Every wife had seven cats, And every cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, man, and wives; How many were going to St. Ives?" Polygamy has always been against the law in the UK and punishable by a jail sentence of up to seven years. In the past it’s never been a big issue because, let’s face it, who’d want to have more than one wife? Divorce is (relatively) easy to get, so you can marry again if you want. And also, more and more couples are deciding not to have their partnerships formally recognized by the state anyway. But now, unbelievably, the British government has recognized polygamy by agreeing to pay husbands with multiple wives state benefits for all their married partners. Ministers have decided that, even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, polygamous marriages can be recognized formally by the state - provided they took place overseas, in countries where they are legal. The outcome will chiefly benefit Muslim m

One of my fave tunes from yesteryear is the Hombres' Let It All Hang Out. Originally released in 1967 it’s a bit of classic and was even used in an advertising campaign for Foster's Lager and in the soundtrack of Cameron Crowe’s film Elizabethtown. And the lyrics? Arr, the lyrics... Saw a man walkin' upside down My T.V.s on the blink Made Galileo look like a Boy Scout Sorry 'bout that, let it all hang out Sleep all day, drive all night Brain my numb, can't stop now For sure ain't no doubt Keep an open mind, let it all hang out It's rainin' inside a big brown moon How does that mess you baby up, leg Eatin' a Reuben sandwich with sauerkraut Don't stop now, baby, let it all hang out Let it all hang out Let it all hang out Let it all hang out A smoking hot Acha Septriasa lets it all hang out

Just another overpriced T shirt from Armani? Or an item of subversive clothing that threatens the very fabric (sorry!) of Indonesian society?  Well both actually. The first point of contention is its astronomical US$42 retail price. Utterly mad.  By way of comparison, I usually get my T shirts from Blok M for between US$3-10 depending on the quality.  And as they manage to survive the brutal scrubbing of my thick-armed maid, they can’t be half-bad.   As for the Armani T shirt being subversive?  Well, this is what Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the nationalistic Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had to say:  "It's such an insult for us… The Garuda is very sacred to us as a nation.”   But threats from some members of the House of Representatives to sue Armani Exchange for willfully desecrating the Garuda Pancasila - which carries a prison term of one year or a Rp 100 million fine - seem to have worked.  Armani have removed the product from their Indonesian web

You don’t get a much more interesting Point of View than from a Space Shuttle, and that’s why this image of Mount Agung and Mount Batur is so impressive . But that sort of got me wondering. What else - apart from any cheeky surveillance of course! - have NASA been up to in Indonesian skies? And have they produced any other of those wonderful topographic maps with their Space Shuttle data? Well, there aren’t, alas, any topographic maps of Java or Indonesia, but NASA have done one of Bali. And it’s truly impressive: the whole island of Bali beneath the Space Shuttle as it whizzes around the Earth some 300 km above… Click on pic for full size image

Ever wanted the PURRfect pet to inflate your already oversized ego? Well why not consider a critically endangered Sumatran tiger?!!!  Yes folks, this is a once in a lifetime offer that you’d be foolish to let slip through your fingers!  And not only will these cuddly cats impress your friends but they will also keep your children entertained for hours on end (sometimes even eating them!)  But you’ll have to be quick – there are only around 400 of these cats left in the wild and they are PRICED to GO at only US$100,000 a pair!   So contact us today! We look forward to doing business with you!!!!!!   Source: AFP

The Save the Gecko Coalition has reacted strongly to news that Indonesia’s much loved little reptile, the Gecko, is being hunted down by heartless Indonesian villagers in Banjarsawah, East Java:  The industry began four years ago when one villager, Abdurrahman, began drying geckos at home and selling them to an exporter. Now, more than 100 hunters scour the forest nightly catching the skittering lizards and delivering them to Abdurrahman, 40, who delivers them to the exporter.   Most villagers in Banjarsawah are now involved in dried gecko production. Hunters venture into the forest in groups of four or five, wearing battery-powered head lamps and catching the lizards with their gloved hands.   Source: ABC News   “We cannot allow this to go on”, said Doug Graves, the head of the Save the Gecko Coalition, adding that Geckos were not only a “highly intelligent fellow species”, but also “prophetically gifted.”  This ability of geckos to predict the future is acknowledged by the Javanese

The Sharpe ratio was developed by the Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe to measure risk-adjusted performance. This is important because a return only means anything to an investor if you take risk into account as well. Let’s say, for example, that investment A gives you a return of 20% and investment B gives you a much lower return of 10%. So which investment should you pick? Answer? You don’t know! It’s a trick question because the level of associated risk is not given. If the 10% return on investment A was entirely riskless but the 20% return on investment B also involved you having to stick your head in a hungry lion’s jaw for 10 seconds, then most people would be eminently more satisfied with the lower return provided by investment A. To calculate the Sharpe ratio is simple. You simply subtract the risk-free rate (something like the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond) from the rate of return on the portfolio and divide the result by the standard deviation of the portfolio retur

Uh Oh. This is a pretty worrying development – It looks like the rat population in Bali has started to get infected with rabies!!!!! On Thursday night, Tabanan regional hospital's management confirmed the death of 46-year-old Ni Nyoman Koming. Based on the diagnoses, the victim suffered from rabies symptoms when she was firstly admitted to the hospital on Jan. 13. The doctor added the patient was bitten by a rat two months ago causing an infected wound on her leg. Source: the Jakarta Post . Hell, I can just see it now. Rabid armies of delirious rodents foaming at the mouth, coming out of the open drains in their millions and descending on Kuta to seek ultimate revenge…Arggh!!!!! Or maybe not. Cos rats are very keen to avoid contact with humans and you’ve got to be real unlucky to be bitten by one – although I was many years ago when one of the blighters somehow found its way into my bedroom and gnawed at my hand whilst I was still asleep. Since then I’ve always slept with gloves on

EV/tonne is how cement companies are conventionally valued. It is simply the size of the firm – i.e. its NET DEBT and EQUITY VALUE (market cap) added together – divided by the cement firm’s ANNUAL CEMENT PRODUCTION. This figure essentially shows how much capital is used to produce one tonne of cement. The lower the figure the CHEAPER the cement company appears to be. The higher the figure the MORE EXPENSIVE the cement company appears to be. Hence cement company A which has an EV/tonne of US$80 is cheaper than cement company B which has an EV/tonne of US$120. Most large cement companies have an EV/tonne of between US$100-120. Small cement companies might have a 30 percent discount. Another way of looking at it is from the replacement cost perspective. Suppose a company has a EV/tonne of US$100 but the replacement cost – i.e. the cost of building a new cement plant – is U$150/tonne. This would suggest the company is cheap and a likely candidate for a takeover (rather

Ini ada cerita benar tentang seorang yg hampir setahun menjadi janda. Namanya saya tidak tahu. Janda ini cantik dan kerna tak mau lama-lama menjanda dia taruh iklan di salah satu surat kabar: Dicari Suami -Harus dibawah usia 45. -Tidak suka pukul. -Tidak suka pergi pergi sendiri -Harus pintar di ranjang. -Semua orang yg berminat harus datang ke rumah saya. Dua hari kemudian, ada orang yang datang. Si janda cantik ini buka pintu tapi dia kaget kerna orang di luar itu sudah tua dan duduk di kursi roda. Dia tidak ada kaki atau tangan. “Kamu ke sini kerna lihat iklan saya?” bertanya janda cantik itu. “Kamu berfikir saya mau sama kamu?!!!” “Ya, saya berfikir begitu.” Si janda cantik lalu omong: “Tapi lihat kamu! Kamu ngga punya tangan!” Si laki tua itu senyum dan membalas: “Berati saya tidak bisa pukul anda!” “Dan kamu tidak punya kaki” “Berati saya tidak bisa pergi sendiri sendiri!” si laki jawab. Lalu si janda cantik itu tanya: “Apakah anda pintar di ranjang?” Si laki itu lihat ke atas, b

1. Gunung Kemukus . Or the lucky mountain. It’s located 25km north of Solo, and on top of the hill is said to be the grave of Pangeran (prince) Samodra and Dewi Ontrowulan. People come here seeking blessings to either become rich, get a promotion at work, win the lottery or perhaps find a suitable marriage partner. However, there is a catch. And it’s this: you have to have sex on the sacred hill. And with a stranger!!! 2. Sukuh temple . On the western slope of Mount Lawu , Central Java, the Javanese constructed an ancient temple which pays homage to, er, sex. Carvings of sex and genitalia are all over the place – a sort of porn set for the ancients. Shocking! And most bizarre of all is this peculiar chap: Oh My God - what on Earth does he think he's up to?!   3. Dolly . The name of SE Asia’s largest red light district where over 15,000 girls ply their trade. Named incidentally after one of its most popular girls (and not the cloned sheep), Dolly is a bloody incredible place

This is a very good way to measure how much money (i.e. capital) a company has tied up in capital. The definition is: average working capital / annual revenues What you get is a number which shows how many days it takes for the company to convert its working capital into revenues. The faster a company does this, the better. This measure is especially useful when looking at companies which spend a lot on capex, most notably construction companies. If, for example, it takes 200 days for a construction company to convert its working capital into revenues, that indicates that their could be very significant exposure to interest costs as the working capital may ha ve to be financed by borrowings (such as costly bank loans). 

Schapelle Corby : buxom Aussie lass who tried to smuggle 4.2 kg of wacky baccy into Bali. She got 20 years, but will serve less thanks to yearly remissions (provided she doesn’t die first of course). This is her cell: Where : Kerobokan Prison, Bali Size of cell: ? (shared with SIX others) Bed : green mattress on the floor Drapery : None Floor : ceramic tiles Cooling : crappy little wall fan Treasured possessions : Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom , and a Donald Duck toy. Facilities : None. Artalyta Suryani : narcissistic businesswoman who handed over 660,000 big ones to a bent prosecutor. She got five years but will almost certainly serve only a fraction of her sentence. This is her cell: Where : Pondok Bambu Women's Detention Center, Jakarta Size of cell : 690 square feet (single, not sharing) Bed : King Koil double bed (well, you never know when it might come in useful, right?) Drapery : designer curtains made of premium quality material. Cooling : Air

Not as risqué as it might sound, the stripping ratio does NOT refer to the propensity of Jakarta’s nightclub dancers to throw off their clothes but instead to the relative amount of overburden (waste) required to be moved to access coal seams. The definition is: Total overburden (waste) removed / coal mined Hence if a coalminer has a stripping ratio of 8x, this means that eight times more overburden (waste) is removed in relation to the amount of coal mined. When coal prices are low, coalminers will typically seek to achieve a low stripping ratio – as removing waste is a costly business. If the stripping ratio is very high, above say 12x, it may mean that the coal is uneconomic to mine.

Taking a shower the Indonesian way is rather refreshing. In fact, you don’t really shower yourself at all. Instead you literally scoop the water out of a large tub filled with water, and chuck it over your head and body; this is the traditional Indonesian bathroom . This can be very refreshing in hot lowland cities, but in a cooler place like Bandung or Malang it can be quite snappy. No wonder then that more Indonesians prefer Western bathrooms with their hot water facilities. Just like Jenny Cortez. ...................What a splash! NB : Jenny Cortez has received much-deserved acclaim for her steamy performance in Maxima Pictures’s recent skin flick, Air Terjun Penngantin ( also starring Tamara Blezinsky ). Here’s a taste of what Jenny got prone to: And here’s another fine shot of Jenny showing her tremendous potential. Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone about this pic, okay? :)

Climbing Mount Ciremai Smoke and mirrors: are cigarettes really killing Indonesians? Mount Semeru – Climbing a big part of India (in Indonesia)

 Overburden is the waste product which must be removed by coalminers in order to access coal seams. As it is costly to remove overburden, coalminers will tend to remove as little overburden as possible when coal prices are low. This helps shore up profitability. When, in contrast, coal prices are high, coalminers will be more willing to remove overburden as their profitability margins are higher.

Climbing Java’s capricious Gunung Slamet Climbing Mount Lawu Kakaban Island: snorkel with stingless jellyfish! Never mind the bollocks, this is Indonesia mate! Ten best and worst beaches in Bali What I still don’t get is:

There is some interesting news of a huge gift given to Harvard University, ostensibly to boost Indonesian studies at one of the world’s top universities:  A $20.5 million gift -- described as one of the five largest in the Kennedy School's 74-year history -- is funding the creation of a new Institute for Asia as well as a new Indonesia Program at the Kennedy School. The Kennedy School today announced the gift from the Rajawali Foundation, the charitable arm of the PT Rajawali Corporation, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates. The private company, founded in the early 1980s by billionaire owner and director Peter Sondakh, is a major player in cement, retailing, palm oil, hotels and other industries.   Source: Boston.com   This is good news of course because the US has a pretty poor reputation when it comes to research on Indonesia. So hopes are high the gift will lead to better research on the world’s largest archipelago. But why has Peter Sondakh made the gift? For purely

Would you want to take out Ayu Oktasari? Of course you would! She is so hot and sexy that she would make a very good date. Her fellow contestant on the “Take Me Out Indonesia” reality show, a fine young man called Egy or Yunus, was also very quick to “take her out”. And the couple were later crowned as the “best couple” of Season One and were given a cool Rp 100 million in prize money. And to put the icing on the cake, Egy then proposed to her; the wedding planned for mid-2010. But now, according to the latest reports, Egy is considering postponing the wedding after a series of very sexy pictures – allegedly of Ayu – came to light. “I was shocked when my friends told me about Ayu’s pictures. I haven’t seen them, I don’t want to see them. I am so embarrassed,” Egy said. Poor old Egy. But the pictures shouldn’t put him off. If anything, they should turn him on, don’t you think?!!!

Best place for a photoshoot in Jakarta Indonesia cracking up as it cracks down Orang Rimba face their final hour The pint of no return: Indonesia to ban alcohol! Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer - wrongly convicted? The Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park How bad was the economy under Sukarno anyway? On signal countdown timers That Was the Week That Was… Defending the State

SPG and the 2014 Indonesia Motorcycle Show Bunaken: two sides of an underwater paradise Have YOU got what it takes to be an Indonesian nationalist? Image of the day (9): doing whatever it takes to turn defeat into victory Book reviews: Indonesian Slang and Making Out in Indonesian Down but not out in Tanjung Priok Image of the day (8): a simple choice? A guide to Indonesian politicians and their chances in the 2014 elections Life’s a Beach at Tanjung Bira Google slaughters Indonesia in 2013! The 7th Jakarta Motorcycle Show 2014

Revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) is a measure of the volume of passengers carried by an airline. The definition is: Number of revenue-paying passengers x the distance traveled. Note that only revenue-paying passengers are included in the calculation. Other non paying passengers - such as babies and very young children who do not have a seat of their own in addition to passengers traveling on freebies – are excluded. By calculating the RPK for each plane in an airline’s fleet, the RPK of the fleet can be determined.

I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Chili's. The place has been around for years and I even remember going to its soft opening to get a free burger back when ole Suharto was still in power. Being centrally located, the bar at Chili's became a focal point for expat gatherings – especially on Fridays when they sold pitchers of Bintang for half price. Those days are long gone alas, and what is noticeable now is how very high the prices are. A glass of beer will cost you more than Rp50k after tax.  The food remains pretty much the same, however – generous portions of Mexican inspired nosh. Fajita, Nachos, Quesadillas. You know the stuff. The steaks and ribs come in generous sizes and are pretty tasty. All in all, a great place for those with huge appetites. Otherwise be ready to get out your doggy bag… Chilis Bar and Grill Jakarta Sarinah Bldg 2nd Fl, JL MH Thamrin 11, Jakarta, 10350 Telp: (021) 314 6587

On LG and political incorrectness The Derawan Islands made easy Indonesia plans ‘Disneyland’ to stem growing financial crisis Chelsea, away. In Jakarta, Indonesia The Thinker, Singapore Top 10 Restaurants in Jakarta Image of the day (7): Jakarta payphone Is Jakarta in a property bubble? The Road to Nowhere The Duck King, Grand Indonesia Seven ways to lose money on the Indonesian stock market Six strategies for volatile markets! 10 things to do in Bali before you die Cost of Living in Jakarta - 2013 Update Top 10 tourist attractions in Indonesia

I always thought Prita Mulyasari’s letter of complaint about a dodgy hospital was a bit tame. Hunter S. Thompson would have done a far better job .

The passenger load factor (PLF) of an airline, sometimes referred to as the seat load factor (SLF) or simply load factor, is a measure of how much of the airline seat carrying capacity is used. The definition is: passenger-kilometres flown divided by the seat-kilometres available (expressed as a percentage). In effect, this term is an assessment of an airline’s capacity utilization. Many airlines will have a PLF in the region of 70-80 percent. A PLF of less than 50 percent means that over half the seats are empty – a sign the airline is in big trouble considering that airlines incur huge fixed costs from having to buy or rent their airplanes.

Menara Saidah - a shabby portent of a dystopian future Things you thought were Balinese but are not Hacienda Bar and Grill SKYE Bar and Restaurant (Menara BCA) Sydney 2000 Shanghai Blue 1920 Dreamland or Brickland? Top 20 bars in Jakarta Murphy's Irish Pub Kemang Ya Udah Bistro Six reasons why Jakarta is getting more expensive Fred Perry Indonesia The Jaya Pub: stuck in a timewarp Jakarta’s top 15 tourist attractions for photography Eastern Promise, Kemang bar review So this is Jakarta? Delusions of grandeur and the Jakarta Signature Tower Rio Ferdinand promotes smoking in Indonesia! Unexplained mysteries and Guinness Indonesia Waterbom Jakarta Paulaner Brauhaus, Jakarta Jackrabbit Bar Jakarta Affandi Museum, Yogyakarta I-ta Suki Restaurant Indonesia now worth more than 1.8 times Google!

There’s a bizarre dispute going on in Malaysia at the moment and it revolves around the right of Christians to call God “Allah”. And all has come to a head now that the Herald - a Catholic weekly published in the country – has surprisingly won a court case allowing the publication to still refer to God as "Allah". However, the matter is still far from resolved and strong protests are now being made according to reports: Thirteen non-governmental organisations protested here yesterday against the use of the word "Allah" in the Herald, a Catholic weekly. Ten police reports were also lodged by the NGOs to express their disappointment over the use of the word in the publication. About 100 protesters gathered outside the Sentul district police headquarters about 3pm before 10 representatives were allowed in. The entourage was led by Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Dr Ma'amor Osman. In his police report, Dr Ma'amor said the NGOs re

Slumdog Millionaire was one of the best films I saw in 2009. Based on the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup, young Jamal has to answer nine questions to get the grand prize. The questions he answered are listed here .  But what would the questions have been if the story had instead been set in the slums of Jakarta rather than in the slums of Mumbai?  Well, here’s my guess (most of the answers can be found on this blog if you look hard enough):  1. Which of the Azhari clan starred in the low budget American popcorn flick "Outraged Fugitive"? a. Ayu Azhari b. Sarah Azhari c. Tia Azhari d. Rachma Azhari   2. What motto is used as the national emblem of Indonesia? a. Money alone triumphs b. Power alone triumphs c. Beauty alone triumphs d. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika  3. What weapon does an Acehnese warrior hold in his right hand? a. Rencong b. Celurit c. Keris d. AK-47   4. Who painted this? a. Affandi b. Antonio Blanco c. Basoeki Abdullah d. Walter Spies  5. Whose picture app

Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) is a measure of an airline's passenger carrying capacity. The definition is: seats available ×distance flown By calculating the ASK for each plane in an airline’s fleet, the ASK of the fleet can be determined. A seat-kilometre is available when a seat that is available for carrying a passenger is flown one kilometre. The ASK for an airline is, in effect, the maximum number of kilometers it could fly passengers if ALL the seats are occupied.

Red Square Jakarta Zenbu Jakarta Plaza Indonesia Monolog - Plaza Senayan Jakarta proposes “Semanggi Interchange at rush hour” as new seven wonder! Y Grill – Jakarta’s most expensive restaurant? Nexian Pad G311 and other Indonesian advertising gems Taj Mahal Jakarta Gedung Arsip Nasional, Jakarta The Jakarta War Cemetery Face Bar, Menteng Jakarta Kantor Pos Pasar Baru The Abuba - Alibaba steak wars! Rancamaya Golf and Country Estate Q Smokehouse (Senopati) Mickey Rourke to visit Jakarta for Java Heat movie What is the ideal number of stocks you should have in your investment portfolio? Cafe Gran Via Jakarta Kinara Indian Restaurant, Jakarta 10 more amazing Wikileaks on Indonesia! Monumen Pancasila Sakti 10 most amazing Wikileaks on Indonesia The world’s largest menorah and who funded it? Cafe Havana, Ubud, Bali Ceningan Island, Bali The eight myths of being a real man in Indonesia A taste of revenge and Beer Bintang Sunset, sunrise and what makes them diff

Wow! Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur like you have never seen them before: in a color-coded 3D image produced from data obtained from NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour that was launched on 11 February, 2000!! That’s one hell of a POV, I’m sure you’ll agree, and truly depicts the majesty and expanse of Bali’s major volcanic group. The huge cone on the left is Gunung Agung, and at 3,148 meters (10,308 feet) is the highest point on Bali. This volcano is of great significance to the Balinese and commands huge respect. This is probably understandable given its potential to cause widespread damage if the gods are not kept happy – the last time it exploded in 1917, thousands of people were killed and lava flows caused extensive damage.  To the right of Gunung Agung is the huge caldera (volcanic crater) of the Batur volcano, left over from a “massive catastrophic eruption” about 30,000 years ago, which if it happened today, might just get people out of their beds in places as far away as Jakart

Kerapan Sapi Christian Gonzales Tanamur   Treespotting Street food Jakarta   Secrets of survival in Jakarta   Honda VTR250   Trolleyology   Kasepekang   The End of History and who took the Borobudur Buddha heads?!!!!   Gereja Koinonia, Jatinegara   Toko Merah and does the preservation of historic buildings really matter anyway?   Besakih Temple, Bali: sacred extortion?   Kebon Kacang and Hansel and Gretel   Wacky holidays  Gus Teja at Ubud’s 2010 festival   On Ayam Taliwang and personal legacies   Speaking English in Indonesia   Obama Anak Menteng: movie review   Indonesia: land of smiles  Where are Jakarta’s garden gnomes? The Spirit of Pink Floyd   Gili Trawangan: Paradise lost?   Secure Parking? Not.   Ten great Indonesian gifts  Renew British Passport in Indonesia? Arggggggg   The Indonesian communist quiz   The tourist’s guide to Bali, tempo dulu   Stiff neck syndrome hits Indonesia!   When one hundred trillion dollars ain’t enough, thanks   On a violent meeting and psyched

Carve your name into my arm. Instead of stressed, I lie here charmed. Cuz there's nothing else to do, Every me and every you… It’s not often that a decent band does a gig in Jakarta so I’m well pleased – but also very surprised - to see that the brilliant alternative rock band Placebo are scheduled to give a concert at Istora Senayan on 16 February 2010.  I say surprised because Placebo are no strangers to controversy and their visit to Indonesia may raise more than just a few eyebrows.  Questioning gender norms   Strange as it may seem, it is actually correct to say – statistically wise at least - that the average person is androgynous (females and males are roughly in a 50 50 mix) but even so, I don’t think too many people would describe Placebo’s lead singer Brian Molko as an average dude. Brian Molko questions gender norms     The band’s questioning of gender norms is a theme which runs through many of the bands top songs including one of their most popular songs, the exc