Strive Again

strive

2011-01-01T19:21:00.008+01:00

Life.Sign.World.Radio.View.Camera.Hope.Television.Fear.Internet.Doubt.
Media.Identity.Connect.Music.Solitude.Film.Group.Book.Strive.Generation.
Earth.Pen.Soul.War.Goal.Paper.Mind.Word.Human.Ecology.Guitar.River.
Emotion.Sky.Politics.Industry.Piano.Melancholy.Style.History.Lost.
Mountain.Diplomacy.Forest.Communication.Realize.Art.Believe.Love.
Material.Family.I.Society.You.Structure.Us.Rule.We.Dislike.They.Like.
Difference.Same.One.Discriminate.Together.Alone.Unique.Similarity.
Friend.Brother.Sister.Parent.Era.Time.Look.Take.Give.Listen.Talk.Move.
Taste.Live.Care.Help.Fight.Wind.Electronics.Oil.Sun.Resource.Water.
Mood.Person.Display.Intelligence.Relativity.Ignorance.Substance.Metal.
Wood.Essence.Leaf.Wish.Disappointment.Money.Bank.Power.Government.
People.System.Mirror.Strife.Nature.Story.Travel.Live.Organism.Philosophy.
Psychology.Economy.Social.Beat.Rhythm.Culture.Education.Safety.
Survive.Mainstream.Sorrow.Happiness.Emptiness.Sound.Circle.Fullfilment.
Write.Draw.Competition.Sport.Hate.Search.Find.Understand.Try.Race.
Countries.Species.Literature.Game.Heart.Honest.Value.Recongnize.
Future.Regulation.Past.Line.Present.Work.Observe.Learn.Smile.Cry.Go.
Stay.Fly.Walk.Run.See.Truth.Right.Wrong.Good.Bad.Equal.

Substance

2010-10-25T22:30:00.004+02:00

Don't try to be pretentious.
But I'm not.

This whole thing is empty.
Do you feel the emptyness.

Is there any substance.
Or only a tempting silence.

Shout out your heart.
That's what we all do.

Don't let time past you by.
This is what it is.

Reason & Rain

2010-10-23T18:36:00.004+02:00

Are there any special people in this world?
I mean, among us, are there any persons who are truly special?
Between you and me, do you know anyone?

A person who will grow up to be someone succesfull or important to the society.
Or someone who will change our generation for the better.
Someone who will define our generation.

Are there any special people in this world?
I mean, the ones that will grow up to play a defining role in life.
Between you and me, do you know anyone?

A person with character, who knows the thin line between integrity and hypocrisy.
Or someone who will put action in something that matters.
Someone who will define this generation.

Go find reason in this world.
Everything happens for a reason.
Go stand amidst the rain and search for reason.

Life

2010-10-22T15:18:00.005+02:00

Hello Mr. writer,

Will you strive again?

Yes, I will.

Let's go.

- I live, and that's all that there is. Live trough each day. And all will be here.
After and before I don't know. But for now. I'm here. I'm now here. I'm nowhere.
I'm not there. Not there where I should be. Not where I want to be. But I'm here.
Here and there. Anywhere is not everywhere. Everywhere is anywhere.
Fear what you don't know. That's where you are not. Go there to find out. -

Lost Generation

2010-09-15T17:58:00.002+02:00

A poem by Jonathan Reed
video from metroamv @ youtube

A Midsummers' Roundup

2010-08-27T11:22:00.038+02:00

-Tips of Blogging-
by ShiftySeven

#1. If you got something to write about, write it down asap. Hence it will be still fresh in you mind, and writing will be much more easier.
#2. Be up to date. It is best to post up events that happened not long ago.
Writing about a national day on april in august doesn't really appeal to the news-hungryminds of readers.
#3. Don't make long, complicated and hard to read sentences. (See above? is it readable?... Hmmm maybe it isn't that hard to read huh?)
#4. Don't write too much of those 'supposedly-funny-to-read-own-thoughts-of-blogger'-comments.
#5. Titles should somehow match your posts content.

Well about #5...midsummer should be somewhere around june/july...certainly not by the end of august. I had this idea for the title a long time ago...but didn't quite had the chance to post it. So with a midsummers' roundup I wanted to write about a 'roundup' (summary) of the events I still have not written yet.
Queensday 2010 / Koninginnedag 2010 (30 April 2010)
See my post on Koninginnedag 2008 here. (for further explaination on this Dutch Holiday)
This year I went to Gelderlandplein in/near Amstelveen, where there is supposedly a lot of Japanese people selling their stuff on queensday. What I found their was indeed some Japanese selling, mostly old books and magazines. It was quite interesting.

Tip#6. Use the magic word 'interesting'. Use that and no further explaination is needed. Saves a lot of hassle of writing down your arguments and feedbacks. (Recommended for lazy bloggers!)

I did not make any photos while I was at Gederlandplein.

Tip#7. Always make photos on the location! (Event, subject etc)
Tip#8. Thus, taking your digital camera with you at all times would be handy. Preferably one of Sony. But that's just the personal preference of the writer of this blog. Olympus would be good too. Or Canon, Nikon, Pentax...

I did made photos of some other places I went on that same day.
I believe I was at Slotervaart? I can't really remember. Nevertheless I quite like these photos.

These photos are taking with a Sony Cybershot W30 Digital Camera

Automatic/manual mode.
Shutter time: I don't know
ISO: I don't know
Other configurations used: I don't know
The writer of this post will or will not explore further on the wonderful world of photography.

Eason Chan Europe Tour 2010
(8 May 2010, Ahoy Rotterdam)

We all have been waiting for it...and there he was...Eason in Holland!!

Part of Easons Europe Tour 2010, which consisted of Manchester and London, Eason also came to Rotterdam, Holland.

It was interesting...

No seriously, being one of my favourite HK singer, he coming to Holland was I chance I would not want to miss! Listening to his songs everyday, inspiring me and everything.

Tip#9. Another magical word (see also #6) is to add "...and everything" to the end of a sentence. With that you don't need to write down every single thing. Everything is really a magical word...it really describes the whole feel...the grander scheme...the ... eeh... yeah everything.

But there was another bonus! Hongkong band Mr. was coming along as the stage band of Eason! Woohoo~!

It was interesting and everything!!

(Use both tips to make a super combo!! And blogging is as easy as making a piece of cake! It's a piece of a cake!)

Here some snapshots of this memorable concert. Looks like it was quite packed up right? But looks can be deceiving. As you can see on the photos below. I expected more people to come, but then again, it is Holland we're talking about. So who came? A lot of young people, lot of fans from England. Some die-hard fans from Hongkong as well. Heard a lot of mandarin speaking chinese as well.

Here we can see the shortcomings of the Sony Cybershot W30 Digital Camera. At places with little light, photos would become hard to make.

I had a place at the mid-mid of the hall.

To Organiser of this concert, Oriental Touch. Thanks for putting up this. But one advice/request...don't make those tickets so damn expensive! Okay I know it is one of a lifetime chance, so I wouldn't mind spending a bit, but...

It does looks like a rip-off especially when at the end of the concert everyone from the end rushes to the front. For those who paid for the premium and diamond seats (not me) it was as if they might as well could have paid for the zone3 cheapest tickets. Since you will end up at the front anyways. On the other hand, I did liked this (scened/planned) act of rushing to the front, standing and cheering. It quite loosened up the atmosphere.

Actually OrientalTouch is planning another possible concert tour in 2011!! I got this survey on which artists I would like to see coming here again.

Hmm Eason Chan again? Or Kay Tse would be cool too.

Digital Era
(Youtube Era)

No need to bother making photos or videos myself. Literally everyone around you will do it for you and put it on youtube. And fast too! Within hours it was on youtube!! Look at all those cameras and phones!!!

Video made by wervel on youtube

Tip#10. Don't re-edit your post too much!!

And to Google blogger: I want a much more user friendly interface to work with!!! Writing and adding photos is still a hassle!!

Media Connecting Life

2010-07-11T17:10:00.011+02:00

Media Connecting Life

Friday 9.7.2010
Got back home from work as usual. Already being all sweaty from the humid and warm weather, the moment I entered the house it felt like entering a warm heated oven! I imidiately turned on the ventilator to cool down. Although that didn't help much.

Hungry as I was, I wondered whether it was another day of self-home-cooking or perhaps there might be some food prepared. I was lucky to see the cup of salad when I opened the refrigerator!! Some cold fruit & pasta salad just perfectly suits this weather.

Well after taking a refreshing shower I got behind my Vaio and logged on to, the modern social platform a 21st century man can't lived without: Facebook.

After logging in to facebook, the eyed will imidiately glance to the upper left corner to scan for some small red boxes with a, preferably (or not), high digit number in it. After all, social network sites are meant for "networking". And the term "networking" can be defined in many possible ways. Some take it more seriously than others. (Replying to endless reactions on a boardmessage like: "I can not sleep, I think I will skipp class tomorrow..." or "Went to school on 8.30 but the teacher is sick, so now I'm stuck here for 5 more hours untill the next class". being some examples ) Hey it's fun right? I'm not complaining.

Me myself am not that much of a "poster/reply'er" on facebook, but on friday I got a message from someone on facebook who is studying International Marketing at a University in London. She was doing her master thesis on social media, and in particular: The Greenpeace Kitkat Campaign, to stop Nestle from chopping rainforests to use palmoil for making several of their products. Anyway, being a supporter of Greenpeace myself I reacted on some of the messages on facebook, that I guess caught the attention of this student. So I was asked whether I was willing to participate in this scientific research (to call it in a fancy way) regarding social media. And being a former Communications student myself I was, ofcourse without doubt, gladly to help her out.

What I like about this is, social media like facebook can really connect and reach out to a lot of parties.
In this case, Greenpeace could both make this issue heard for a lot of people who didn't knew about this, and making a statement, but also offering public pressure to Nestle by showing all the supporters of this campaign.

Funny enough, or maybe logically, the way this student reached me is also through social media. So that is what I really like. Media really can connect people as opposed to 20 years ago, where this could not have be possible, or at least not so easily as it is on this scale.

Having stopped at the University as a Communication student, I'm really fired up now for next year at College. As I will be studying Media, Information & Communications. I just can't wait!!

Saturday 10.7.2010
If you're in a routine, it's hard to adapt to a change. One of the very few routines I had the past year was to get up early on saturday mornings to go to Chinese school. I was so used to this that on this particular saturday morning I didn't knew what day it was nor at what time I should be getting up. Being disoriented for a while (and perhaps also being in a dreamy-condition) I finally realized it was saturday and chinese school was over.
Got up and took a shower (again! yes this warm and humid weather forces you to spill extra water!) had a brunch, which is a nice word-mix-up of breakfast & lunch, and prepared to go out for an outing later on the evening.

The day was pretty warm (note: I don't use the word "hot", that one is reserved only for places like HongKong or Japan=P ). It was basically too unbearable to go out in long jeans or trousers of some short. For a long time I wasn't particulary a fan of shorts. And beside, I thought the only shorts I had were basketball shorts. Untill I accidentaly found not one, but even two! shorts in my closet. It was those 3/4 styled. Although if you extend it down abit it would be like 85% styled short. Hurray~~! Now I don't have to buy one!

Around noon I went out in my "black 85% shorts" with a white! shirt (I haven't wore white outside for a long long time, blue or black or grey it was, always) backed up with my Eastpak backpag! I felt like a tourist. And I think most people thought I was too.

Met up with the band for a BandOuting, since half of the band would be gone for Holidays, we wouldn't be jamming for a while. When we walked out on the Damsquare, my 'asian-senses' imidiately spotted some non-chinese-most-probably-korean-or-japanese- group of youngster stalling out some stuff. Curious as I was I kept looking, untill one of the girls shouted to me: "It's FREE!!!" I was like: "it's FREE??!!!" So when something it's free you are obligated to check it out =) So we went closer to take a look and it turns out they were korean students studying Visual Communications (woow another 'media related' encounter!) at a University in Korea. They came here to do some Creative Design Project of some sort. Anyway, we needed to pick out a sticker and stick it to a big white cardboard that marks a big 'M' on it. We were actually the first to past the stickers onto the board. And after that we get to choose a FREE =) button. I picked a blue one with recycle mark as you can see on the top photo. Amidst this short conversation we even managed to say some korean words like kamsamida and shouted "So nyuh shi dae" , that being one of the most popular groups right now in Korea.
The girls seemed quite suprised when we said that, don't know if they were fan, but I guess the one guy that was there most probably is. Along the way, even a photo was taken of us. I guess now our faces will end up on one of those wallboards in one of Korea University hallways. Or maybe in the local university newspaper. Who knows.

This is really another thing I like. Doing projects like this. Visual communications, media etc. And even coming all the way from Korea. I hope one day I can go to Korea or Japan or some other nice country for my study as well. (and ofcourse meeting some other peers from Korea who are studying something in common is fun too!!)

Saturday night on Sunday 11.07.2010
After some Iced Lattee and life discussions later, we decided to go home before the lightning and thunder struck us. (Or as they say it in Dutch: 'Before the hell breaks loose!") Back home again, it was warm again. I couldn't really sleep and I kind of decided to stay up the whole night. I'll just go to sleep in the morning when it has cooled down. Surfing on the net checking media sites, and japan blogs and so on, I remembered again what I wanted to do. One of my dreams was to have a own media production company. Making films/adverts/blogs/sites and so on. That's really one of the things I want to do. Combine that with some journalism, trips to asia (or other places), inspiring projects, film, music and fun...that would really be something I would want to do.

6am...
Somehow, life seems promising again. Standing right there in my kitchen watchin over the breaking dawn, at the day that most likely will be a historic one for the whole country. As the Dutch national football team face up Spain in the finale of the WorldCup 2010 in South Africa.

I hope they win.

Since this life is full of hope.
This is the life.

By the music

2010-07-06T15:45:00.004+02:00

Live by the sea
Live by the music

I wouldn't know what to do, without music.

Give me the pace....
Strum the chords and go
Beats come in by bass
Hit the drums
Lead the tune

Storytelling lyrics always goes emotional
Backing vocals on the back and harmonize with the chorus

Try to understand the world
If only, your own world

This life is here
With music on my side

Up there in the sky can help me
But as long as I got music
I will be here

(Part 1 of Music & Life / Part 2: What Music Means To Me)

No good person

2010-06-25T12:44:00.002+02:00

I'm not a good person...
But then again, who is?
Nobody is perfect.
But even so...
Can't help to think I'm no good.

I wish I was a better person.

I wish I was a better son,
I wish I was a better brother,
I wish I was a better friend,
I wish I was more, more than this.

I'm half the man I would like to be.
To everyone who know me, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry if I'm not good enough. I'm sorry for my mistakes.

I'm half the man I would like to be.
All I wanted was to be free.
So I could see, all of this world.
I just want to be me.

And more...

I will try to change.
I will try to do better from now on.
But still, there are some things...that can't be changed.
I wish I could...

I'm sorry.

Life's Like a Story

2010-06-19T08:51:00.003+02:00

In this life or only in stories...

Life's like a story

Thank you / sorry

Live. with all the good memories

- 林競文／K.Lam -

Waiting on the World to Change

2010-06-09T14:44:00.005+02:00

A few months ago, I talked about voting. Today are the National votings.

I'm waiting...
I'm waiting on the world to change.

Have a clear mind, and care for the world.

Peace.

Neko

2010-05-31T14:31:00.008+02:00

According to this site, in Japanese: http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html

Neko, besides cat, also means: asleep, in bed, sick in bed.

Now, I don't know if those two have some kind of correlation. But it does somehow suggest that a cat is 'lazy' and likes to sleep.

Well from my own experience, cats are active. Hunting, climbing, leaping over fences.

Just like my backyard: The cats' "natural" habitat.

I'm sure your backyard is the same.

Photo: Here we see a not-so-rare sample of a Felis catus, also known as the domestic cat. Hunting, searching for food, in the backyard;where survival of the fittest is all that counts.

No Fresh Carrot Skin

2010-05-25T16:33:00.004+02:00

Translated from cantonese...

The cantonese saying 'I'm no fresh carrot skin', which would roughly translate to something as: I'm not something special, I'm just a regular/average someone. Nothing more, nothing less.

Then again, sometimes I'm just like a piece of trash really...
But hey, even pieces of trash need to go on right ? =)

However, there are times too, when you'll feel you are really far 'more' then all those 'others'.

Arrogance and ignorance don't go well together.
Arrogance and intelligence however...can go together, but true intelligence does not include arrogance.

Not trying to be more...
Or less...

Just this

But 'others' will always perceive something else.
Points of view.

Therefor, all there's left to be...
Is to be.

A Journalist's Life

2010-05-20T22:53:00.006+02:00

So what about it?

Well, nothing, just like the title.

Wanting to live the life of a journalist eh?

I guess so, ever since my early days in highschool, being a journalist is one of the few things I wanted to be.

You know, there's a certain 'romance' about being journalist. Individuals who stand amidst life & society, trying to do something. Just like a detective in crime stories who solves mysteries and helps people. An independent individual who, preferably, works alone and solve/create/make things on their own. Goes to many places, talks to many people, see a lot of things. Yeah, a journalist is pretty much a detective, both try to gain information.

I see...sounds adventurous.

I think it is, well of ofcourse it also depends on what kind of journalist you are.

But with all adventures, the possibility of danger is always lurking. Just recently again, in the turmoil of the political chaotic Thailand, 3 journalists were injured.

I know, that's also what my former chinese teacher told me. Being a journalist in warzone areas is dangerous. But you see, I'm not craving for adventure or anything. Just want to do what should be done.

Okay, let's go talk about something else. Do you have the 'abilities' to be a journalist?

A a journalist you should be an allrounder. Someone who knows a bit of everything. For me, I do want to know a bit of everything, that's what my daily life is about actually. Also, knowing a lot of 'connections' would help too. For that, I'm working on it...well sort off. It will come with time. It's not about how much people you know, more so, how much different kind of people you know.
Don't you ever got the feeling there are different kind of 'groups' of people. Some people belong to one group and stick with them all their life. Some got more 'groups' they're into. Maybe 2 or something. For me, I want to know all different kinds of people. And I do think, as I have sort of experienced in life, that I do might have the abilities? Personality? to interact with different kinds of people. Maybe it's my natural instinct to adapt to situations or just to blend in.
Ofcourse, the amount of things I have experienced so far in my life is still few, so I don't how the future would be, but I do hope that I truly can be like an allround person who everyone can talk to with their subjects and thoughts.

It seems like you have thought about this?

Well you know, sometimes I've got a feeling I'm caught in between 2 worlds. Or maybe even more.
For example, I can talk to person A, who get along with group A people, but I can also talk with person B, that rather prefers to be with Group B people. And these 2 groups will never really interact or don't even get along with each other. But for me, I'm just fine with both.

Hmmm...you DO have thought about this, I would like to hear more from you about this, but let's save that for another time. okay?

Okay sure, I'll write more on my blog from now on, so you can read it if you do drop by.

Well that's good to hear. I would like to thank you for this...ehm dialogue?

Hmm, well not much of a dialogue this is eh? More like a monologue?
Since this is just me writing all this...

Hmmm...

Well thanks anyway!!

Upcoming posts on striveagain.blogspot.com
# Eason Chan 2010 Europe Tour !!!
# "Koninginnedag 2010" Queensday 2010 Gelderlandplein ~ Nihon no hon ya Nihon no zasshi!
# Street Snapshot Story ( I took a photo of this 'epic fail' paper that was glued on a lamppost! )

Peace and be good person!

Not A Single Plane

2010-04-20T08:11:00.007+02:00

Bright clear is the sky

Only few clouds drifting by

Not a single plane

-ShiftySeven/K.Lam-
My attempt doing a Haiku =)

Dancing In The Dark

2010-04-06T15:50:00.002+02:00

My favourite song of this moment.
Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen. Although the first time I heard this song is actually Amy Macdonalds cover version. I like both the original and the cover. I've posted them both. First up the original by The Boss and scroll down for Amy's beautiful acoustic version.

I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is

You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look

You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Hey baby

Riff 'n Lick

2010-03-11T14:55:00.006+01:00

DWDD talks about the best guitar riffs voted.

Rwaaang~~ Rwaaang ~~~ Rwaang ~~ Daaang ~~~

=D

Requiem For A Dream

2010-03-03T15:04:00.005+01:00

Today again, it's time to vote.
What does voting means?
Living in a 'democracy' means most votes counts. So they actually make you believe that your vote counts. I don't know if that's true. I don't know if my vote is going mean anything. I hope it does.

Democracy isn't the 'best option' there is. But it is the most 'fair' one. Democracy only means we'll go the way what the most people want. 'Most votes wins'. Sounds fair to me. But...
The fact that most people choose for one way, doesn't mean thats the best way.

What if only a fair amount of people knows the 'truth' to the 'best solution'? They won't be heard, since the masses will choose elsewise.
But then again, we know there's nothing like 'the absolute truth' and more so, the best solution is different for any individual. What works best for me, might be bad for you. Opinions differ...

What kind of world you want to live in?
Lets say you actually can make a difference by voting. Then I would vote.
Been making all these tests at kieswijzer.nl & 'kiescompas' at at5.nl and it's hard.
There's hardly one single party that complies with all your opinions. So you gotta choose the one that suits you best. And when you do have decided what party want to vote for, you still have to choose a candidate.
For me I want someone who knows what he/she is doing. Someone educated, someone who knows whats going on the streets. Someone with vision, an idealist but also a realist. Choosing the right/best decision by acting rationally but with a compassionate heart as well.

You know, making decisions is hard. I don't think I can be a politician. There's never going to be way to fullfil the needs of every person. You can't go both ways. There will always be people who disagree with you.

To change the world, is to see it.
In sci-fi films about the future, the future is always either a grimmy place with no order at all, garbage everywhere, un-safe streets: The 'post-apocalyptic' -scenerio. Or you got the 'Perfect-society' - scenario: Beautifull clean streets, regulated progress of life, ID-taged transactions by eye-scan or what not, no crimes, surveillance camera's everywhere, police on every corner......................that's not a perfect world...that's a fake & plastic world.

However it does looks like we might setting out for that direction. These days everyone talks about 'safety' on the streets. People suggesting more surveillance camera's on every corner of 'dangerous' streets. More cops on the field, preventative examinings (preventief fouilleren ;) ) for every person. Now you might say, if you got nothing to hide , then you got nothing to lose. That's true. For me too, I got no problems with more camera's and all those other countermeasures against criminality...but is that what really helps? Is that really the solution to the problem. A problem that is part of a grander issue that's going on. Integration? Education?

Do we really want to live in a world where every single thing is being regulated? A world in which every single step you take will be monitored? A world between 'we and them'? Where's the free world we used to live in? The one where we could just go outside and play as kids. A world with no fear of being robbed, a world in which we can talk to our neighbours, a world in which we are all equal.

Vote and see what happens. Atleast try. I wanna try it and see what happens.
What kind of world you wanna live in?
Today it might be just voting for the city/citydistrict. In a few months we must vote for the country. You still got some time to think.

What kind of world you wanna live in.
We do can make a difference. And if this is all just a lie, then at least we tried.
I would like to believe we can, and if that makes me a believer then so it is. But at least I tried.

"You can't rant if you didn't vote =P"

PS: I know 'Requiem for a dream' is a somewhat overused piece of music, but still, it suits the text & thoughts of this post. Listen to it while reading)

A Protagonist Revived

2010-02-22T16:42:00.005+01:00

The Kid
The Young One
The Student
The Soldier
The Journalist
The Guitarist
The Protagonist
The Atagonist
The Idealist
The Realist
The Musician
The Troubadour
The Filmmaker
The Photographer
The Radioman
The Detective
The Writer
The Composer
The Lyricist
The Poet
The Athlete
The Dancer
The Singer-Songwriter
The Artist

2nd Anniversary

2010-02-15T23:51:00.006+01:00

~striveagain.blogspot.com 2nd anniversary~
From 15.02.2008 to 15.02.2010: 2 years of striving & blogging.

It's been two years since the first ever post "Roots" was written on striveagain.blogspot.
Made a total of 38th posts (deleted one, because of spam) and this post you're reading now is the 39th post of this blog. The first year 2008 had a slow start of 7 posts total. In the second year my blogging began to shape form with 23 posts made in 2009. And now into our third year, the counting has already reached 7, which was the whole amount of the first year. I got a feeling there will be more frequent posting coming up ahead. (Ofcourse quality > quantity, so will try to write better. But then again, gonna write whatever comes to my mind anyways...so).

~What has changed these past 2 years for striveagain.blogspot?
Well to start off, there are more readers. When this started off, Nobody knew about this. I was literally just writing for myself. And that was and still is my purpose now. Ofcourse, knowing there's actually some people reading this does affect you.
Also there seems to be more people blogging that I know of. Ofcourse blogging isn't new, but it sure is a lot easier than before. youtube, facebook, twitter; it all adds to the multimedia society we're living in.

~Had you been blogging elsewhere?
I did had some blogs elsewhere, but didn't posted alot there, since once again, noone knew about it. Had xanga for a bit, but didn't used it. Most noteably was my blog at Hyves. It gained quite some popularity and controversy on it. Also replying on other blogs on Hyves was fun to =)

~What do you want to achieve with your blog?
Like I said before, The solely purpose for this is to write for myself. I just like to write things down. Not only online, but on paper/notebooks too. We as humans communicate, and everyone got something to say. Just look at youtube, literally everyone wants to upload something of themselves just to show to others.
Ofcourse I know people will be reading this and I'm glad for that. There are times when I feel there's something that should be said and I want people to know about a certain issue or topic then it's only good that I got such medium as a blog for me to communicate through. "The pen is stronger than the sword".

~Do you think people get your blog?
Ofcourse I can deny that, there's alot times that I write things that are difficult to understand (pardon my bad english). Or really personal things, but I do think that somehow, someway, if you can relate to it, it would be worth reading it.

~What do you wish for the future of striveagain.blogspot?
I hope that I can continue to write on it everyday, every week, every month and every year. I will work harder too on everything. I'm content with this blog and if some readers do actually have gained something reading out of striveagain.blogspot then I'm glad =) I just hope that everyone would continue blogging. So we could share all the good (and less well) things in life to support each other.

All you have is you yourself and your thoughts and minds.........and everyone & everything around you =)

Peace!
ShiftySeven / K.Lam

多少22年

2010-01-29T21:11:00.007+01:00

"多少"
主唱：陳奕迅
作詞：蔡健雅
作曲：蔡健雅

我用盡所有方式找個人給我安慰
渡過寂寞的黑夜
我問守護的天使也許她能夠體會
這無助讓我好累
走到無路可退我還能相信誰

＃用多少天用多少年的跌跌撞撞才找到終點
用多少傷痛的心愛才不離開身邊
用多少謊言去掩飾彼此的不完美
要用多少個世紀讓我看透一切＃

我走在這個城市熟悉又陌生的臉
有誰能給我安慰
我問守護的天使也許她能夠體會
這無助讓我好累
走到無路可退我還能相信誰

REPEAT＃

我沒有任何防備沒方向到處地追
沒翅膀卻好想飛
我努力順風跟隨
黑或白找不到個絕對全都是灰

REPEAT＃

要用多少個世紀讓我看透一切

______________________

The song with english translation

(Link to video, if you can't see it on here)

Not Who You Are

2010-01-24T22:35:00.004+01:00

Talk is cheap
That much I know

Everybody wants to be someone
Nobody wants to be noone

Everyone got something
I got nothing

Talk is cheap
That much I know

It's not who you are
Then who are you

Do you know me?
You don't know me

Talk is cheap
That much I know

Time will tell
Fake hopes won't sell

What's really true
Will be true

Best of Both Worlds

2010-01-15T16:12:00.003+01:00

(Bring Back Balance Part 3.)

Don't bring me down
I take the best of both worlds
Balancing on the line
Is what you need to do

The best of both worlds
Balance between back and forth
Setting up the world
For us to live in

Taking on forth the difference
Bringing back the balance
This is our resemblance

Bring Back Balance Part 2

2010-01-14T02:54:00.002+01:00

Bring back the Balance
Bring back the Battle
Back to Back

The line between...

Now and Then.

At your best when you're alone.

Bring Back Balance

2010-01-10T17:59:00.004+01:00

A line of life
Bring back balance

At your best when you're down
Bring back balance

Not a noisy silence
But a real difference

Bring back balance

An End of An Era

2010-01-03T12:23:00.003+01:00

It's an end of an era, but every end has a beginning.

This post should have been made on December 31st 2009, but I was too busy watching TV/eating and didn't felt like blogging.

This is in fact part II of the 'review/preview decade/newyear post'. If you haven't read part I yet, feel free to read it. (Although you won't miss a thing if you don't...)

Actually I should preview the upcoming year/era, which has already started as of now. But the thing is, I can name alot of things that I want to happen, but I've done that already many times before. Saying from now on I will do this and do that, making new years resolutions. (Why is it called resolution? Like the resolution of my screen 1280x800? yeah I got widescreen =)

So I'm not gonna name anything significant that I'll do this year, like making a film, making a radioshow/podcast, working hard on school, concentrate more on music, training for.......wait wait wait stop ....STOP. I said I'm not gonna say those things...

We'll just see what has happened on 31 dec 2010...

It's hard to forecast the future.
Sure you can wish, you can hope.
But more important, you should strive for it.

---

I was listening to the radio the other day and the DJ talked about the usual batch of sms/messages you get at new years eve. Those messages that are send out to literally everyone in you contacts list. Each of them containing more or less the same content: Wish you a happy 2010, have a nice new years eve, wish you all the best, may all your wishes come true ( oh this one is a good one, I like it. May all our wishes come true, hmm, it hits on to every owns indivual wishes, which is good. So everyone can be happy? What if my wish is to conquer the world? I don't see how's that making everyone happy. Yes not everyone can be happy, and not all your wishes can come true, that's life. So it's both an unrealistic and unoriginal wish! Although I do have wish people this before, and probably will continue to do so...) Anyway I did received a bunch of these messages. Normally I would send something back, like last year. But to everyone who has send me something. Thanks, I really appreciate it. Forgive me for not sending something back, since my old school 2006 phone can't handel multiple-sending (unless you wanna call a maximum of 6 'multiple'). Plus, I couldn't think of anything original. Sending a plain message back would be kind of meaningless, since you would have already received a dozen of those.

Back to the radio dj, he asked the listeners to send their most original new years wishes to him. One man won the price. I want to share with you guys this one original message...

"May the best day of 2009 be the worst day of 2010"

A Decade of Life

2009-12-30T16:06:00.008+01:00

It's been a decade of life.

For those who were born in the Eighties.
We grew up in the Nineties. Our childhood years.
From 2000 - 2009, our younger years. The era which will be known as 'Our Time'.
The period which will be told as "when we were young" to our children.

"Those were the days..."

Millenium bug, 9/11, tsunami, natural disasters, iPod, internet, mobile phones, war on terror, global warming, terrorism, global epidemic, financial crisis...

I went to highschool from the beginning of this century, graduated in '06. It was sure a time to be remembered. It had it's ups & downs, like life has.
Do you remember your teenage years? 12, 13 years old kid. So young and pure. When I look at kids these days they look so different huh? Then again, I'm still just 21, not like I'm already an old grandpa looking back at things. But still, it's good to watch back once and a while.

Soon turning 22, I guess getting older, for once, does feel okay. It really feels like an end of an Era. We've come from a long way, we've gotten this far... Been trough alot or so it seems. Then again, nothing really happened...It's all within you minds.

A Decade of our Generation.
See the world at 13.
Mindless at 15.
Our Heydays at 17.
And who are we at 19?
You acknowledge life at 21, cause you can't go back.

"All is well with the world" / "It was the best of time, it was the worst of time" *

If you had the chance to go back, would you?
I would not...I'm glad for everything life had offered.

"Downwards looking at the reflections of the skies" (As said somewhere in the middle of the decade/2005)

Tomorrow last post of 2009! Part 2 continues...'An End of An Era'
(Preview of what's about to come: Into the new world of 2010)

*('All is well with the world' as inspired by "Neon Genesis Evangelion" / 'It was the best of time, it was the worst of time' as used as the tagline for the HK film "Infernal Affairs II")

A Gain Generation

2009-11-30T23:46:00.008+01:00

"It's not who we are that matters,
It's what we do that defines us."
-from Christopher Nolans' Batman Begins-

"When you get what you want, but not what you need"
-from 'Fix you' by Coldplay-

---------------------
Sometimes you get a second chance. Sometimes you even get a third chance.
I'm a lucky person. I've been giving four, five, six, seven chances.
Each time I tell myself, this is the last chance.
But still, I waste it anyways.
Recently I've been giving another chance again.

Should I thank God or Life for this? I guess I should huh?
Cherish everything you have.

Don't focus too much on the result, but live the process of life.
(As much as a cliche it is...still got to be said: Whole life is a chiche not?)

But yeah, Life's been good to me =) It definately is.

-------------------
How's everyone been doing? Going to school, making homework/projects, exams, working, training, doing sports, making music, going out, attending events, cinema's, shopping, having fun? It's getting chilly again, be sure to pack up warm! This new influenza H1N1 is supposedly spreading out to alot of people. So get your scarves, hats & gloves out and keep it warm. =) And don't you think the Winter fasion is much more fashionable than Summers'? You get to wear jackets & coats! Hoodies, long sleeves & cardigans! (haven't seen anyone with a cardigan yet though).
Speaking of clothes, found out the colorrange of my clothes is consisted of all variations of blue, grey & white. I also got some brown & dark green. But mostly it's blue/grey/black. Some say that's boring, but bright red or yellow just doesn't suit me. =P

You know fashion...Fashion is about wearing something you like and be creative about that. Create your own style. Take different things and make it your own. Most people misunderstood fashion by "following it". Blindly following everything what's supposed to be "hot or cool" is like the complete opposite of what fashion is about. Not saying you shouldn't wear certain style, but more so, wear it because you like it. And it should suit you. Something that expresses "YOU". What you stand for. Something that adds to your personality.
(okay someone hire me as an editor for a fashion magazine =P)

Been talking with a friend about the weather (yeah this is Holland! most common standard topic in this country). Appearantly the skies got some suprises for us next week. According to that one site, from next week on the temperature is going down and snow is expected! I want inches of thick pack of snow!

Last month before we go in to the first year of double digits in this new millenium.
Let's make the December of 2009 a pleasant one!

Peace!
--------------------
Music: John Mayer - Room For Squares & Heavier Things (Bought his 3CD Box) It's definately some nice music for the winter days!

Guitar Outing Ep.2 [23.10.09]

2009-11-02T16:49:00.010+01:00

[Guitar Outing Ep.2 is a pun/in-side joke of the name of the Korean variety show 'Family Outing' ;) ][If you don't get it...then nevermind, it's inside-joke]

What happened previously in episode 1 of Guitar Outing? (Months ago)
The first ever outing includes Kin and KS with no guests.
The location for the first ever guitar outing was Dijkman!

~To do list: Buy Plectrums & a Tambourine!~
The tambourine can be seen in this post! And was bought at a Percussion Shop (don't know the name of it)

Along the way we discovered this funny little cute mouse right on the pavement on the street, next to AH @ Dam. Everyone was taking pictures at it. It was pretty odd seeing this. A mouse right in the middle of the streets, not running away or anything, just chewing on his piece of food.

Guitar Outing Ep.2 [23.10.09]
Members: Kin & KS

Guests: No guests...yet.
Location: Dirk Witte
To Do List: Boss OD3 (OverDrive Pedal)
(and PES2010 for KS)

Each episode is always full of fun, with special encounters. The 1st episodes we got the Mouse, this time we encountered a street musician.

He was playing on his acoustic amplified. (The amp is just on the left, outside of the photo). He played some covers including Jason Mraz's, always covered popular song, "I'm Yours". He also performed Snow Patrols' "Chasing Cars". And his last song before he took a break was one of my favourite songs of this moment: "Fix You" by Coldplay.

Apparently he was doing this for promotional purposes, you could buy his CD and he can be booked for parties and events.

So I took a namecard of him, and it seems he is not just a random someone. Meaning, he is already featured on some radioshows and stuff.

Anyway he will now be featured on my blog, which means after my recommendation his fame will skyrocket up 10 times, since we all know my blog reaches out to thousands of netizens......Not. "-__-.

But his name is Rupert Blackman. So just so you knows.

You know I admire him for perfoming on the streets. It's really a oldskool and good way to spread out music! It's not something you still see alot these days. So kudos for that.

After the street music gig, it was time for some food. We went to this famous! Fries/Chips/Potato ->PATAT place! Having lived in Amsterdam for whole my life I never knew about this place. I knew Manneke Pis at Damrak, but didn't knew about this one.

A long line with people queing up shows that this place must have something special to offer!

After we got our fries we found ourselves a good spot in the alley to stand and eat. Cause the whole alley/street was crowded with fries-eating-people. It really was a odd-looking sight.

It was another nice episode on Guitar Outing. See you next time on the next episode, maybe together with some guests!

---
Goodies bought on this outing!

BOSS OD-3

OverDrive Effect Pedal.

Ibanez AC Adapter AC109

Extra guitar wire, since mine was broken.

And...

FAIRTRADE 4-taste Tea!!
Bought at FairTrade Shop.

Should I write a review about the BOSS OD3 Pedal? Well I think I would if I could. But I can't. Not pro enough. But to share my noobish thoughts: It's way better than the build-in effect of my amp...duuh "-___-. I still need to figure out the best settings to get which sound and so on.

That was it for today, see ya next time!!
~ShiftySeven~

1 point for trying

2009-10-22T13:36:00.004+02:00

~1 point for trying~
Gave up trying
So I'll just let it be
But no, they won't let you
So I'll try again
Try again
I'll get 1 point for trying
But...
Give up your dreams
They're called 'dreams' for a reason
Dreams don't come true, now do they?
And...
Maybe this wasn't meant to be in the first place
I'll go back to 'normal'
I'll go back to normal...
The alternative is an option
The current...is a question

Disciplined

2009-10-12T19:55:00.007+02:00

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[Music] [Jpn// HY - Confidence Album (recommended by K) / ZARD - Request Best 'Beautiful Memory' Best of Album (recommended by Uko) / Asian Kung Fu Generation - first 3 albums ] [Eng// The Kooks - Konk / KT Tunstall - Eyes to the Telescope / ] [Krn// Also listening to some Korean stuff lately =P But I'm not gonna name it =P]

[Series][Krn Drama: You Are My Destiny]

[Films][Jpn - Shonen Merikensack (ft. Aoi Miyazaki)] [Eng - UP (Pixars 10th animation film)]

[Books] Paul Arden -"Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite"& "It's Not How Good You Are. It's How Good You Want To Be"

These are the media stuff I've been listening/watching/reading lately/at the moment.
If it looks like I'm a busy man, no I'm not. I'm the most lazy kid ever I think. I might write about some of the stuff above later on.

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Signs: I've been noticing that there might be people reading this!! Thanks for dropping by! I really appreciate it ;) Guess through the Japan Blog, striveagain.blogspot has gain some publicity. But whatever, my humble life is not that much interesting anyways, but I really want to write things that matters to people. You see, it's not about me really, it's about you. I think by reading blogs you will gain something for yourself. Whatever that is, you decide for yourself. But blogging and blogreading is definately more than just writing a 'personal diary'. Everything is connected in way. Readers are not just merely bystanders who just read and do nothing, they'll react and think for themselves, how things affect them in their personal life.

Apologies for the vagueness, although i've said this many times on my blog, if you don't get it than nevermind it. I've added some communication theories in it (Yay, I've been studying lately! I'm studying communications if you didn't already know.)

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Let's start this off with a memorable photo from my summer trip to Japan!

This was roughly 1.5 months ago @ TOKYO Narita Airport. My lunch before departing back to Holland. HMT wasn't here cause he already ate something. When I orderd this, I thought I would get some potatoes, turns out, it was just chips."-__-

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~New Start 2009/2010~

I've switched school since the start of this schoolyear. After 3 years of VU [Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam] I've decided it was time for something New & Refreshing! 3 Years VU, 2 studies, nothing achieved! So yeah, yell at me or look down on me, whatever.

My new school is the UvA [Universiteit van Amsterdam]! It's closer, saves me alot of travel-time. But that doesn't stop me from being late at school "-__-.

Been into it for a month now, ofcourse you got the usuall colleges and classes. New year, new school also mean new classmates. But I'm not excited, cause it's the same every year. The compilation of people are fairly the same each year. Nothing special. =P

~Disciplined Me?~

One day at school, in a conversation about making homework, my classmate said this:" Well he (meaning me) is Chinese, and you know Chinese are always disciplined." I literally laughed out. Chinese are disciplined? Well not me! This chinese here is far from disciplined (when it comes to waking up in the morning =P)

So are Chinese disciplined? I guess each ethinicity do have some unique traits. Like they say Dutch people are greedy, Surinamese are lazy, Germans are 'punktlich', Americans arrogant, Italians romantic etc. Some might be true in general, but let's talk about the Chinese case.

~Made in China~

Chinese are disciplined? Well I think, Chinese CAN be disciplined. As you can see in this whole economic growth they're going trough, China is slowly getting in the right direction to become one of the big economic blocks in the world. Also another recent example, the Olympics 2008, look at how 'well' they organized it.

This very own 'well organized' Olympic also brings along the other side of China. The bad political organisation. All those people that got their houses brought down, in order to build new olympic facilities. Some got new houses or a amount of money, but still, from what've understand it didn't went that smooth. I'm not against China or anything, but in this same period you also had the 'Baby-milk-powder' -incident. But China didn't reported that cause they didn't wanted to cause bad publicity for China during the olympic games. How wrong is that?

The Baby-milk-powder...it's not an incident. Those Chinese people did that to save money. Thinking it won't harm the babies...How is that disciplined? Same with the case of toxic chemicals in Chinese toys, that occured some time ago. How is that disciplined?

As a summer part-time job, I've work in a 1Euro shop that sells only Chinese stuff some years ago. Most of the stuff you could buy there were quite of good quality for 1 Euro. I don't deny that. But I've seen some stuff...I was really speechless. I'm not gonna write more, since I don't think I'm allowed to say these stuff as a former-employer. But you get the point.

~If people were disciplined, the following stuff won't happen~

Previous week, my adapter, electric plug or whatever you call that thing of my modem was broken. So I called up my internet/tv/radio/telephone provider (which name starts with a U and ends with a C and is 3-letters). To ask them to solve this problem. They promised to send me a new one.

After 2 days it arrived...
Within 5 minutes it was already broken!!!
Reason: Bad design (made in China) The heavy block of like 1 kilo is too heavy for the small plastic plug to hang on. Now I know I won't be able to put in against the wall cause of the weight, so I plugged it in a multi plug case, when I wanted to plug it out...this happened!! (look photo beneath)

They sended me a new one again.
When it arrived, the surrounding case of the block was simply letting loose! It wasn't even hold together, I used a elastic to kept together.

!! 2 times of manufacturing failure !! 1. How can they make these bad products? 2. How can U*C even give these to the customers??!!

~While I'm at it...more bashing!~

Most of the days I'm alone at home, so making my diner is a everyday-hassle. It's not like I can't do it, more like, I don't wanna do it. Too lazy. So once in a while I order food.

You got good food places, you got bad food places...
Watch below...

Ordered at this Chicken food place, it came 2 hours!!! after I ordered it! I have no idea what they were doing. From my house to that place is like 5 min with the car. On top of that they messed up my order! I asked for the normal menu, they gave me the large menu?! This aint the first time, they messed up my order, the previous time too! And look at the hotwings, they are more like Blackwings!!

jeesh, I'm never gonna order here again.

Another day, another food order, another place. This time I went there to pick it up (there are quite some foodplaces around in my neighbourhood, alot!)

Got the Tagliatelly Carbonara...
Taste is okay.
Price: 7 Euro...
I know it's the way it is, but for the same price I can make this same diner for 4 people!
I think I'm gonna save some money, and spend some more time playing chef-cook at home.
Okay last thing, they gave me some bread along with the pasta. But what are these? Only the outer crispy edges of the bread? What about the whole bread? Is this supposed to be like this?

Such a multi-topic post. Communications-theories, School, sociology, politics, economics, culinair talk, bashing.

Well I hope you are satisfied, and if not, the next post I'm gonna show you my room and my clothes and gear!

Anyhow, I love writing for myself (Just it takes so damn long..."-___- I've been writing for quite some time now...)

An nyoung!

Reunion

2009-09-19T00:14:00.002+02:00

"It should have been a day full of nostalgic memories..."

Once upon a time there was a class.
A class that 'graduated' in 1999/2000 from primary school.

10 years later...

One student decided it was time for a reunion.

So she tried all her best to contact all the old-classmates from the class.
This wasn't an easy task, since a lot of them had now moved to another place.
But luckily the year is 2009: The 21st century has brought a lot of convenient technology to mankind: Like Hyves, E-mail, Mobile Phones etc.

In the end she did kind of managed to contact all of them.
The initial reunion date was supposed to be in may 2009. But that didn't turned out well.
So it has been postponed to 18 September 2009.

---

Well so today was the day. I was already excited to be able to see all of my old-classmates again. Chatting about the good old days. The fun days we had, playing football outside. The PE-classes, all the teachers, the camp-excursion to Texel, the lessons we had etc etc, hearing all the stories of what everyone is doing now...but...reality turns out to be a lit-tle different...

Let me start by saying that it was already a bit of a difficult task to gather everyone at the same time on the same day in 1 spot. So I really was wondering whether everyone would really show up.

Eventually, 8 people in total showed up including me & WL.
I just knew this was gonna happen..."-____-

Some were busy, some had school, some had work to do, and other had some other obligations.
It was a rather odd time though, 16.00 on a friday is a bit early for most people.
But it had to be done this early, hence the school (our old school) won't be open in the evening.

We still had a good time though, even we this few people. Seeing my old school sure brings back memories~~~
Everything seems so small right now, our changing room in the gym seemed so big back then, now it's just a small room =P

You can't help but to realize that you've grown, and that really 10 years has passed since you last walked out that door. A place with all those memories of childhood. Those really were some days. No worries, no obligations, no problems, no complicated thoughts.
You were young, free and careless.

10 years seems very long, and it is. But it felt like yesterday when we were still sitting in our classroom listening to our teacher talks.

Time really flies by.
If you think about it...

But let's not think too much about it. It's here and now we're living in. Although it is a good thing to look back once in a while...(eeh sounds like some repeated cliche speech =P )

We need a 2nd reunion! So we decided that in the 2nd reunion we should really gather everyone around!

I hope the 2nd reunion would be soon, cause if it would be around another 10 years later, then I really don't know what would have become of us.
Right now we do have grown up, but we are basically still sort of the same 'kids' like we were back then. Just a larger version =P
In another 10 years later...woow I really can't imagine how that would be...=P

Crossroads

2009-08-31T17:02:00.005+02:00

There's always this one point in life where you're ought to make a decision...

I'm sure everyone has been there before. Or actually, quite frankly saying, I think everone will encounter this many many times in his or her life. It's part of our life: Making decisions.
Some are big, some are small. Some have some have tremendous consequences, some are less impactfull. But one way or the another, you'll never know the outcome of it in advance. I think that's maybe the reason why it's so hard to make a decision.

A crossroad of decisions. If you choose to go right, you can't go back to go left. If you go left, you can't go right.
Sometimes you will be able to return, and choose again, but that'll cost your time. Precious time of life. So in a way, you can't go back, since time has already passed.

What to do? You ask yourself. Nobody knows.
I guess what's important is to make a decision you won't regret. Cause that's all you can do.
I don't know whether it's the right or wrong one. I won't know it untill I will know it. Or maybe I'll never know it. Nobody knows. It's life.

Make a decision, and stand behind it. It's all you can do.

Life.

Who knows what will happen next.

We can only guess.

Only Hope will bring us further.

I hope for the best.

Back from Japan

2009-08-25T10:03:00.004+02:00

Finally back again.
Back to the normal world.

I do miss Japan, but for now it's okay. 3 weeks of hectic living holidays, it's fine to be back in your old little hometown. Back to a place you've been living for whole your life.
It's a pretty nostalgic feeling, you wouldn't have felt it if you haven't gone away for some time. Now 3 weeks aint so long, but if you go to Japan, it is.
Japan really is a world apart. Like as if we went to a dream-world like those stories in a Hayao Miyazaki film. Everything was 'magical' in a way.

What we've done, seen, eat, met, went to, it's really a expenrience that we will remember for our lifes.

[Current Music: 3 CD's from Japan: 'Tone' , 'Dreams' & 'Cherry Blossoms' . Nice Japanese instruments, feel, sceneric feel]

Aah, back to the normal world. Back to a place where everything is just the way it is. Everyone just act like they act, so standard. Like it's soulless...

You know, The Netherlands is a nice place to live in, it really is. It's just that if you've been to different world like Japan, it does take some time to revert back to a ordinary life in a ordinary world.

After Japan, nothing will be the same...

Let's Start From Here

2009-07-27T13:54:00.009+02:00

[Current Music: Joanne Wang, The Kooks, The Killers, ELT, DAI,Stereopony]

1 week left untill I go to Japan!
I will be opening a new blog, still thinking about the name of it.
Currently doing the last preparations.

Bought a new Eastpak! It's my 7th Eastpak Item =P
But It was necessary to buy a new medium sized backpack, since I didn't got a proper one.
I think I will do a Eastpak collection photoshoot later on, and post it.
Ofcourse, this Eastpak Backpack "Getter" is going to Japan with me, I actually bought it for that reason too.

---
On July 2 I went to the grand opening of MediaMarkt Amsterdam Noord and got myself a Sony Headphone.

It got both a normal audiojack plus a stereo plug-in for amps and the like.

I also cleaned up my room. And the process of that would look something like this.

And suddenly I know why my room is so messed up, I keep all these trash...
Why are there so many empty chewing gum packages??
And last week I got myself something I always wanted to play: The Tambourine!!
Been looking for a good one for a time now. And finally got this one. Nice wood color and nice size.
Let the music begins =P

The Tambourine really fits Oasis' "Don't Believe The Truth" Album.
Exspecially "Turn Up The Sun" is a good song to play with the Tambourine, haha.

When I'm in Japan I'll be switching over to my Japanblog, so be sure to check that one out, if anyone is reading this anyways.

=)

Peace!

Time Goes By . Life Goes On

2009-07-01T16:20:00.005+02:00

[Current Music: Every Little Thing, Ai Otsuka, Eason Chan H3M Album, Kay Tse 3/8 Album, MJ's Thriller]

[Current Series: Family Outing! (Korean Variety Show, although I've got nothing with Kpop and stuff, it's really funny haha)]

University Year '08/'09 has ended. Next year, new chances, new start.
Time Goes By . Life Goes On

Had a pretty busy weekend, one of the notable things was a BBQ under the rain.
Also went to watch Transformers 2, it was just as I expected...
(Need to get a Pathe Unlimited Pass, cause 9.10 for one film is just too much...)

Tomorrow will be the grand opening of the MediaMarkt in Amsterdam-Noord! Yeah I'm really happy that now the biggest electronic store is within reach of my house. Now I don't have to travel far (Bijlmer Arena) to hunt for electronic gadgets.

Summer time is coming, already feeling the hotness/heat...it's bothersome.
I hope the weather in Japan won't be like in HongKong, Humid & Hot...
Still 1 month to go untill I go to Japan. Guess I'm gonna open a new blog for this trip. StrivingInJapan2009.blogspot or something =P

I noticed I'm not writing everything I experienced on here, hmm....
Oh well...

Anyway, Tomorrow last lesson of Japanese Class 3. I will continue to follow Japanese Class 4 after the summer. Don't know of we would be still with this amount of people, a lot of people of our original class had already left since we started in September with Japanese Class 1.

Also, this Sunday will be the last time for bandpratice before we go on a hiatus =P Or...actually most of us are going on Holidays, so we have this break. After the summer we'll try to make some progress as in finishing/making some songs.

Need to clean up my room!!

Random post =P

Adieu!!

I'm Bad

2009-06-29T15:37:00.002+02:00

This is a Tribute to The King Of Pop
Michael Jackson

May you Rest in Peace.
Your music will always be remembered.
Your music changed the Pop music.

---

Heard about the news when I was on MSN.
Shocked kind off, but at least he's resting now.
First song of him I remembered as a kids was "Bad"
"I'm Bad, I'm Bad..."

---

Still waiting for my CD's too arrive.
All over the world, everyone tried to buy or rebuy his albums again.
Sony needed to repress it.

---

It really is some story.
Legendary King Of Pop.
But also a tragic lifestory.

That's Life.

Again

2009-06-19T14:10:00.010+02:00

YUI - again CD's have arrived!! after 2.5 weeks after shipping. And after I'd pre-ordered it 2 months ago.
It's kinda coincidental that this blog is called Strive Again too =P
Anyway will be updated daily from now on, even though I've said that like a thousand times.

---

I stopped blogging on Hyves, since noone was reading it anyway, or not a lot that is. So instead I will continue my boring writings on here. About me and my interests. Who would wants to read it? Well I want to. It's for myself, and the main reason is, got to improve my writings. Grammar, vocabulary and all that. I'm serious, if you want to improve your english (or dutch, I will write in dutch occasionaly), blogging or writing a lot is a good way to practice it.

By the way I opened a facebook account hahaha. It's really good for putting up photos. It will come in handy when I want to upload all those photos I'm gonna make when I'm in Japan this summer!!
Speaking of which, I will try to keep a blog (on here or some new url) while I'm in Japan. So if you're interested, be sure to bookmark the site. I will try to write and post photos everyday.

---

Life>>> It's going pretty good, but let's not talk about school, next year will be a new year again...a new start again for Uni...sigh.
Guitar>>> Got to learn Daybreak's Bell bass+guitar "-__-. With no time left...till sunday
But in general, got a lot of time now, guess I better use it well and go pratice guitar. YUI songs, Oasis Songs, Beyond songs, yeah.

---

Ever heard about C7? It's a song yeah, and also a guitar chord, but I made up my own 7 C's =P

My C7 Philosophy
C1.Condition
C2.Conscience
C3.Concentration
C4.Communication
C5.Connection
C6.Cooperation
C7. ?

I forgot about the last C =P
Anyway these words can be applied on daily life...
Yeah I know it looks kind of random "-__-
Explaination:
Condition - A physical good condition is needed. If your body feels good, so does your mind. Both got to be in balance.
Conscience - Don't be ignorant for the things that happen around you. Try to understand whats right and wrong, What things mean. Have a clear mind. This in combination with point 1.
Concentration - Try to focus on the things you do. If you focus, if you put your heart in it, it will succeed. Or at least it will work way better than if you do it just loosely.
Communication - Communicate, it will lead to better understandings of each other and how a progress works. Be it sport, job, school, hobby, friends, family. A good communication will lead to better cooperation. See point 6.
Connection - Connect with each other. It's kind of a second step of communication. Even if someone is not like you, or different. Connection takes away the fear of the unknown.
Cooperation - The human being is a social kind. You can't make it own your own, that's why we live in societies. Work together to achieve something.

Sorry I forgot about the last C, haha.

Anyway I know it's kind of random, but hey, it's just something I came up with.
But it's not just something, I mean it does mean something.

See ya next time!

TwentyOne'sSomeOne

2009-05-15T22:21:00.004+02:00

NothingEverGetsDone.NotEvenIfYou'reTwentyOne.
OrSoISaid...
But...
EvenIfYou'reTwentyOne.ThingsWillGetDone.
TwentyOne.Don'tBeOnTheRun.
GoAndChaseTheSun.
GoFeelMorningGlory.
LiveTheStory.
TwentyOne.
SomeOne.

Goodbye Guitar Pick ~My Broken Plectrum~

2009-04-27T16:13:00.012+02:00

In memory of my favourite guitar pick.

I went jamming yesterday with the band, and it was one memorable day.
First of all, it was from 1800 to 2100, which was not the usual time we normally go. Also we got this new room we never played in before. Anyway...we started tuning our stuff and all that.
Then my guitar strap let loose and ...my guitar fell on the ground...
First time my guitar actually falls on the ground, in the past when something like this happens I always managed to grab/save it from falling. But this time it was inevitable.
Lucky it felt on his 'stomach' (front side of the guitar). So nothing was really smashed.
But it did mess up the 'G' snare, I spent like half an hour trying to tune that snare again. It was like totally messed up or something.

Okay so that was already something bad, but after like 45 minutes we finally started...and it was 'bad'! I don't know what it was, but I totally felt it wasn't going anywhere. Ofcourse I can only talk about myself so, but I wasn't into it really. Spend the whole session trying to get the right sound to match the actuall guitar riff, cause I wasn't feeling it. It sounded so off. And plus, ofcourse my playing was bad. Is bad. Will always be bad?
You know I can blame it to the new room, the amplifers, or anything else. But the really problem is me I guess. Don't really wanna go into 'depressive mode' but I can't sing, I can't play the guitar, I can't play sports, I can't do anything. Yeah basically useless for that matter...hahaha.
But yeah you know what they say, don't give up and try. "I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying" ~ Michael Jordan. I was watching MJ's vids on youtube the other day haha =P

Anyway, I don't think I got anything to lose now. When one got nothing to lose, he can go all out.

My guitar pick also broke! I was playing real hard and all of a sudden it broke. I was like...."what?" On one hand it is a bad thing, cause it was my favourite plectrum. On the other hand it means you've played a lot? (But then again the plectrum was second hand I guess, when I bought it, is was already a bit 'used'.) But still, had a lot of memories with this plectrum. It is a special one really. It was the only Gibson pick on the whole stash with all those other brands. Don't know, maybe it was destined to be.

So I'm gonna frame this guitar pick and hang it on my wall. To remind me to keeps on playing. To never give up. and more of this sentimental talks.

Goodbye to my favourite guitar pick. I will never forgive. You will always be here. I will remember you. I will work harder. I will live out my passion.

Thanks for all these years.

Goodbye.

Education In This Generation

2009-04-24T17:37:00.027+02:00

Bring back education in this generation.
Don't seek for redemption, but for liberation.

---------------------

I've got a Laptop a.k.a. Notebook!!
The Sony Vaio SR 31M/S or it's full name SONY VAIO VGN-SR31M/S.
Already got it last week actually, but I needed some time to get used to it. Like with all the new things, you got to take the time to get to know them. And well, I think I'm used to my laptop now, but I haven't fully 'discovered' it (yet).

I'm not really into facts and specs and all that but for your information:
Intel Dual Core 2 2.4 Ghz
4GB RAM
320 GB HD
ATI 3470
13.3 Inch 1.99 Kg

etc etc bla bla bla =P
Lets go to the photos!!

The Packaging--------------------------------The ModelType

This was a hard decision for me... --------------The Laptop still 'covered'

I present...The Laptop!! Sony Vaio SR!! -------------Left side with HDMI, VGA & FireWire ports

Right side with the 'eye catching' on/off button --------Front view

Opening... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------Open.

Enjoy the photo -------------------------------------------------------Another point of view

The keyboard, which is really nice to type on --------------------Close-Up of the keyboard...=P

Some stickers, Vista, ATI Radeon, Intel Centrino2 ---------------It also promises 4,5 hours batterylife?!

More stickers ----------------------------------The booklet, AC adapter, powerchord, batterypack

The Batterypack -----------------------------------------------The AC-adapter and powerchord

Me in the reflection of the screen...trying to be...cool ------------------------The start-up screen.

Ofcourse you got to test the screen! ---------------YUI on a absolutely stunning sharp LED-screen!

YUI perfoming on the streets on my laptop! -------------The screen is of top quality! And so is YUI!

So that was a lot of work, blogspot isn't really blog-friendly if I may put it like this. Uploading this photos was really a hassle. Anyway this were the photos.

About the batterylife, although it promises 4,5 hours, when I switch to 'energy saving' and low screen brightness it got 2 hours and 40 mins. Maybe with more tweaking it can last longer?

Also still need to uninstall all those software from sony I don't need. It's slowing the laptop down. It should be faster!!

Anyway, I'm happy with my Laptop!! Wireless Online everywhere in the house!!

Bye!

The Guitarist On The 17.55

2009-04-06T03:33:00.006+02:00

I went to work as usual.
Already late as always.
Took the 17.55 to Schagen.
Sat down in the 3row flip-out seats next to the door.
On the opposite sat a young fellow.
Strumming the Guitar.
An Ibanez semi-acoustic.

He asked me if it was bothering me.
If it was, he could stop playing.
I said, no, it's cool man, continue.
I have 2 of these at home too.
He: oh yeah?, Relax!

Continues playing on his semi-acoustic.
It sounded cool. Both the guitar and his playing.
There he sat, in the train, right in front of a little train-window, Strumming his guitar.
This sceneric set-up could come straight from a music-video, or a Black and White photo in a music-magazine.
The guitarist in the train, a melodramatic scene. With a meloncholic mood.

---

True story, really happened, a few days ago.
His Ibanez was a semi-acoustic, like one of these, although his one got a different finish that the ones on the page. Maybe it was some limited edition? Or maybe an older discontinued model.

---

About other things:
I'm going for a Notebook/Laptop!!
Have been doing research for some while now. So expect a brand new laptop this week or next week! It is necessary though, the PC I'm using now is still having this 'problem'. Malfunction is the word. Will try to continue to fix it.
Yesh, then most probably this striveagain.blogspot will be updated more frequently. (If anyone care that is...) Well I care, cause I want to write stuff to improve my writing skills =P
And also then I don't have to write these things at midnight no more. The reason I'm writing it now instead of tomorrow is that maybe tomorrow my PC won't even start up...

About 'CreativeReview':
Withing a short time 'CreativeReview' will be launched.
Sounds cool huh? Well it's nothing more than my so-called reviews of films, music, gadgets, events or anything that I interest in. Don't expect a true 'review', cause it's not. Why do a review about a film if you can find the same review on the net too. No no no, this will not be a plain review like you see in other blogs, it will be a 'creative review' hahaha........ No it won't...

About right now:
It's somewhere in the midnight, I got school tomorrow at 11.00
I remember me saying this on this blog, but I will be definately going tomorrow.
The subject of the class/college will be "Usage of Games".
Sounds interesting huh?

About the title:
Cool title, not? So cool that I will repeat it again.

The Guitarist On The 17.55

Have a nice day.
Peace.

Laughing 哥 / Laughing Sir

2009-03-29T03:54:00.005+02:00

Mwuhahahaa =P
Just finished watching TVB's Emergency Unit a.k.a 學警狙擊.
That also includes the "special extended ending" with Laughing 哥!! Or should I say Laughing Sir!! =P
That 1 min extra was just perfect. It wouldn't have work out if he would 'come back' to life, so this kind of 'special ending' to please the fans is good enough. And believe me, he really got a lot of fans.

I don't think anyone expected that this would turn out to be this big, Laughing 哥's character is like the most important character everyone cares about. It is understandable though, a character like this does creates a lot of sympathy. It's also something I haven't seen before actually to be honest.
We've seen the mole/undercover story like a thousand times, but never in this perspective. To actually 'find out' that he's mole instead of already knowing it from the beginning...Nice find!

Another thing that adds up to this sympathy for this character is his background story, I mean, his former girlfriend Wendy never get to know his true goals! How sad is that.
And ofcourse we all know what he did, the ultimate sacrifice for Justice.

I was hoping, and with me a lot of others too, that includes my mom and all those other tvb-watchers, that Laughing 哥 will get at least some kind of 'Tribute' in the last chapter. Where it would be revealed to everyone what he did. To get a memorial sort of thing you know, with all the policemen saluting him. To get the recognition of what he did for 9 years long...but nothing...
I was dissapointed. Come on!! Most probably the scriptwriters didn't thought he would become this popular.

But like Michael Tse as Laughing said in the ending:
"It doesn't matter whether Laughing is dead or alive, as long as everyone is remembering him!
LAUGHING SIR!"

The special extended ending of Laughing
The Opening Song (which actually kind of reminds of the older Young'NDangerous Songs =P)
Interview with '孝哥' & 'Laughing哥' Funny check it out too =P

Next post will be a 'review' of this HK Series, as well as another review of a JPN Film!!
So stay tuned!! If anyone is reading...Mwuhahahaa (laughing hahaha)

What it's already 5AM? ...This DayLightSavingTime is tricking me...it's supposed to be 4AM!!

The Midday Waker In The Dusty Room

2009-03-23T16:37:00.003+01:00

Waking up at Midday
In a Dusty Room
But not Today

Livin' we should
Not like we can do anything else

Outside raining
On a Monday Noon in March

Writin' I want
Not like I can do anything else

Inside thinking
What this day means in a Life

Making the Earth turns
In a Dusty World
But not for You

So much Going On
You say Bring It On
Before it all Goes Wrong

Clean up the mess before we go
Unleash the stress before we blow...
...Out of our Minds

Dreaming goes on and on and on

So much Going On
You say Bring It On
Before it all Goes Wrong

Waking up Again
And I don't know where I am
It's 12 AM...

-ShiftySeven/K.Lam-

Moku-Yobi no Post Desu

2009-03-19T23:00:00.005+01:00

The Thursday Post...a.k.a lost creativity to come up with a catchy title...

Note:Due to this situation with my PC, I can't write as much as I want to...

About Life.
Spring time!! 2 days left untill it's officially Spring (21 March).
Winter is my favourite season, but Spring is cool too! Smell the smell, breathe the wind, feel the sun.
For all the depressive people, spring should make you feel good!

About Uni.
Next 2 weeks will be exams-weeks. It's a long long time since I've did any exams...
I guess it's time to continue school again. To actually get some points.
It's not like I can still save this schoolyear but if I can at least get 30 points I'll be content. 30 points is still not enough to do 2nd years courses next year but it's the most I can do for now...

Sigh...It's really troublesome actually...

About Travel.
Bought Tickets already!!

About Sport.
Ajax got eliminated...
I'm not in the mood to write about it...

My Basketball Diaries: After not having played for a long long time, I started again this year (January). Still need time to get back in the flow again. Defense is okay, haven't put any attention on offense yet. Gotta sleep early and wake early...

About Music.
Ongaku wa watashi no life desu!!
Definately feeling it.

JPNMusic: It just keeps amaze me how Japanese people always can come up with some Catchy songs that you'll keep on listening again and again. Stereopony's Hitohira no Hanabira is the song I've listened the most these few days. It's C.A.T.C.H.Y. I knew about this new band because YUI wrote a song for them. Many people may probably know them through anime's, but I haven't watched anime series for a while now. They did the Bleach ending and Gundam 00 opening, but I don't watch Bleach and I stopped with 00 since it was so bad.

About the song itself: The guitar-riffs are so AKFG-style!! Check out AKFG's Kimi to Iu Hana, the opening riff sounds abit the same.
I think Stereopony (which name kinda reminds me of Stereophonics =P) did listen to a lot of other bands...
Well that sounds obvious actually...I mean which musician don't? But yeah, Hitohira no Hanabira does feel like a song which is a mix of a lot of other songs.
About the PV: Ah the PV is cool.

ENGMusic: Hmm not much lately I guess. Haven't bought Albums for a long time, I think I should buy new ones again. Time for some new music, I've been listening to my old albums too much.
Thinking of buying:
-The Killers (Their first 2 albums, their new album is cool, but a bit over the top...)
-The Strokes (Listened to them long time ago)
-Five O'Clock Heroes (1st Album...although their new album got that track with Agynnes Deynes...)
-Starsailor (Actually only know 2 songs,But did listened to their whole album once in MediaMarkt =P)
-Kaiser Chiefs (They got freaking good singles, but other tracks on their albums often don't appeal me that much...)
-The Kooks (maybe for the spring time...=P)

Oh maybe some classic albums too! You know those you have to have.

I actually just name a few randomly, I mean there is so much good music out there, but you can't buy them all. I notice I always buy albums when my PC is broken, since I can't listen to the songs online.

By the way: OASIS's video of The Shock Of The Lightning is "copied" by U2's Get On Your Boots!!
I'm sure U2 themselves are not responsible, but rather the makers of the video. But how can they do it. I mean it's just literally copied off Oasis' Video. Ofcourse U2 is a great band, although I don't listen to them, but how can they do this? I mean the makers should have know Oasis'video...

About News.
Another shooting at school?! This time in Germany.
Busdrivers being treatened?

Will write about it later.

Bye!!

I Think, Therefore I Am

2009-03-09T19:39:00.007+01:00

"I think, therfore I am"

-René Descartes-

---------------------

Well, who doesn't like personality tests? I know I do, I mean they're good for a laugh.
Cause I was laughing out loud when I did these the other day.

You Are Emotional

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Agreed to a certain extent... =P
Although I have my doubts about the "charming part"...

----------------------------------------------------

Next one...ooh I like this one: Are you boring...?

You Are 44% Interesting

Truth be told, you're not the most interesting person in the world.
You don't put much effort into expanding your horizons. You're content to stay in your little comfort zone.

You tend to get stuck in a rut, and you often bore people who spend time with you.
You are predictable and somewhat narcissistic. You're too focused on yourself to see how boring you can be.

You have the potential to be an incredibly fascinating person. You just have to be a little more proactive.
Shake things up. Try something new. Take a risk. The worst that can happen is that you'll have an amazing story to tell!

Are You Boring or Interesting?

"...you often bore people who spend time with you"
So...hmm...well nice to know that...I mean...I guess it's true, wuhahahaaha.

----------------------------

Next:

The True You Values Harmony

You want your girlfriend or boyfriend to be more relaxed, calm, and composed.

With respect to money, you spend as little as possible.

You think good luck doesn't exist - reality is built on practicalities.

The hidden side of your personality tends to be methodical in your ways - with trouble adapting to the rules of society.

You are tend to think about others' feelings a lot, perhaps because you are so eager to be liked.

When it comes to finding a romantic partner, you don't have any particular type in mind, but you are inclined to look for someone who will say yes when you ask him / her out.

Who's The True You?

Hmmm, I don't know about this one. This one is kinda off...
I guess these 2 are kinda right:
"The hidden side of your personality tends to be methodical in your ways - with trouble adapting to the rules of society.
You are tend to think about others' feelings a lot, perhaps because you are so eager to be liked"
While the others just aren't right.
Hmm...bad test this one.

------------------------------------------------

I did some "Age Test" too =P.

You've Experienced 24% of Life

You have the life experience of someone in their early 20s.
You've seen some of what life has to offer - but you have a long way to go.
Over time, you'll do enough and see enough to gain some wisdom.
But for now, try to learn from people who've lived a little more than you have!

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

Hey, nice. =D I am 21 so...

-----------------------------------------------------

Last one... this is troublesome to post with html and all that...=S

You Act Like You Are 28 Years Old

You are a twenty-something at heart. You feel like an adult, and you're optimistic about life.
You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

You're still figuring out your place in the world and how you want your life to shape up.
The world is full of possibilities, and you can't wait to explore many of them.

What Age Do You Act?

I act like a 28-year old...
I don't know if that's a good thing or not...

Well, Funny isn't it?
=P

By the way, In case you're wondering what the title has to do with the tests, well not much. The famous line by Descartes "I Think, Therefore I Am" is not about the question who you are, but more so, IF you are. If you exist.
Kinda philosophical...read about it if you are interested...

One More Time, One More Chance

2009-03-02T15:42:00.006+01:00

About Me. Whatever
About You. Whatever

About Uni. I went today
Yes, been to school today, and most probably I'll be going for the next few days...eerhh I mean the next few remaining months of the season too. There's a limit in how much you can ditch school.
Seriously...I don't think anyone can imagine how much I've skipped.
But hey, it's never too late and besides I won't be the first one to have arrears.

About Sports. Good
LEONARDO!! Do I need to say more? Last Thursday we all knew that at one time Leonardo shall be brought in the game. Everyone just knew it. It was 0-1, and something had to be done. When there was a call for a substitute I just knew it was time for the 'secret weapon'. Most probably Sulejmani would be the one to go out I thought, since he hasn't been doing anything great since he came to Ajax. But to my suprise, Lindgren was the one to go. I guess Van Basten wanted to take risks, and put everything on the attack.
The first moment Leonardo got the ball the whole, and I mean the WHOLE crowd was screaming. Look Leonardo is not Ronaldinho, he's not a star. He got speed and movements. But that's about it. Still, everyone had hope in him to do something. Since he was the one who brought some action to the last few games of Ajax.
The excitement of the crowd didn't last long, cause when the game was about to end, they saw that there was a big chance that they weren't going home for another 30 minutes.
Untill...
the ball was on the foot of Leonardo on the left side, 4x Scisscor moves, passing 3 Italians, trying to pass the ball with the outside of his left foot (Or was he using the player to bounce back the ball?) passing through the other italian on his right, came free for the goal, swing his 'chocolate leg' (as he call it) and Boom! 1-1 at 88'minutes. I was screaming in my living room!!

Leonardo, I don't think he can play a whole match, he is the sort that should be sub in the last 20 minutes. I think we will see this a few more times in the Eufa Cup matches this season untill he leave Ajax next year for Panathinaikos.

Next match: Olympique Marseille.
History: Ajax never losed from them before...

About Music. 6 Strings to 4 Strings
Well I guess Bass is cool too huh? Dumm Dumm, Dummm Dum Dum Duuum. =P
By the way,
Listening to One more time, One more chance by Yamazaki Masayoshi

About Film. Makoto Shinkai
Makoto Shinkai, called the new Miyazak!? Well saw one of his works last Saturday, and the animation and art was just beautifull man. The scenerary was supremely wonderfull.
I watched Byousoko 5 Centimeters (5 Centimeters per second). They used the song I posted up here as ending. It was free to watch on Crunchyroll on the Global Shinkai day on 28 Feb along with 2 of his other animation films. Didn't had the time to watch them all though.

it's About the end of this post. Bye.

Nothing Ever Gets Done, Not Even If You're Twenty One

2009-02-01T18:06:00.006+01:00

As much as I wanted to write this on my 21st birthday on 29 January, I'm writing it right now.
Reason: My PC is acting crazy again. Sometimes it needs to restart a few times to actually work.

Nothing Ever Gets Done, Not Even If You're Twenty One

Having lived for more then 2 decades on this earth, you do expect one to have learned enough to be what they would call a "grown-up". Or that's what they say, 21 means 'official grown-up'. What about 18? That's just a big lie to ease the teenagerkids. No, 21 is the real deal.

So a big celebration for this 'birthday of birthdays' wouldn't be misplaced eh?
Well I guess it would be cool, but as of now I'm not feeling to celebrate it. Birthdays were always a special day for me, for anyone I guess. I remembered when I was little I always got excited and all hyped up for this day at the end of January. Excited for the next day to treat all your classmates at primary school on chips and to 'make the round' in school to the different classes to treat the teachers with delicious' chocolats.
And then, after school, it was party time! Invite all your friends to your house, eat birthday cake, play games, watch TV, eat some more chips, drink soda, kick balloons, sing Happy Birthday, take pictures, go to McDonalds, recieve gifts. Yeah, those were some fun times when you're young. Although ofcourse, people are still doing this no matter what age. But for me as time passed on, I did less and less with my birthday. I still had given parties in high school, but that stopped when I was 15. A birthday cake with candles on it is still a must, but inviting people and all that, no, didn't did that anymore. It's not a bad thing though as you may think. It's just the way it is. Didn't had the need.

So times goes on, and last thursday my 21st birthday: It was as if it was just like any other day!
Just did the usual. Went to Japanese Course like every thursday, but(!!) I did bring along sushi my aunt made to treat everyone. So yeah, I think I did do something with it though. Oh and ofcourse, I had the birthday cake with candle earlier that day. And some photos ofcourse!! That's a must too, for memories-purposes.

---

To Be Or Not To Be

"So 21 huh? I guess I should act like a grown-up now?

But wouldn't it be better to just act like myself...?"

-"Act? Why not 'be' yourself?"

"It's hard to 'be'..."

-"Well you are or you are not. It's that simple."

"I guess I am...No I know I am."

-"Then just be it!!"

"But even if I am, not anybody will know"

-"If you just are who you are and 'let it be' then it will be."

---

So many new years resolutions and I haven't even accomplished them yet! And already one month has passed. Oh well, I guess we start tomorrow again. Cause I'm going back to school again (again! and again!)
How many times have I gone "back to school" again.

Nothing Ever Gets Done, Not Even If You're Twenty One

Many many things to do in the upcoming time: University (getting used to it again will take some time.)
Reading books, JPN classes, work, basketball, guitar again, music, film, writing on here, planning for Japan'09, more reading, college, college, more college, almost forgot chinese school, eating, drinking, sleeping, waking up early, sleeping early, gaming!, talking, walking, running, striving.
and anything else I forgot to say.

There's definitaly a spirit of "Whatever" on here.

Nothing Ever Gets Done, Not Even If You're Twenty One...
Whatever, As long as you have fun, and you're not on the run, then everything will be done, my son.

Or whatever you want to believe.

Be True A Heart.

Peace.

StartAgain [revival of striveagain.blogspot.com]

2009-01-21T15:41:00.006+01:00

I haven't posted for more than 3 months...
From this day on, striveagain.blogspot will be back again.
If you're interested be sure to visit the site often and perhaps leave some comments too.

"Yes We Can" A Bettter World Starts With You

A few lines of Obama's speech at his inauguration.

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

" ...the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

"But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again ..."

"... what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage."

"... We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; ... -we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself..."

"... just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment -- a moment that will define a generation -- it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all."

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- ... , firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. ..."

The full transcript of the speech can be found at the link above or here
I've taken out some lines inbetween the quoted text to let it sound more universal to everyone. Not just for the american people. But the main idea remains the same.

One might not be interested in world matters, it doesn't concern them, it doesn't affect their personal lifes, so why bother. But it's only natural to believe that you are part of the world. You don't have to change the world, but you could change yourself for the better. And if everyone does...the world as a whole would be a better place to live in, eh?

Late For The Sky

2008-09-30T20:43:00.007+02:00

The words had all been spoken
And somehow the feeling still wasnt right
And still we continued on through the night
Tracing our steps from the beginning
Until they vanished into the air
Trying to understand how our lives has led us there

(...)

How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been dreaming I could make it right

(...)

How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
(...)
Through the whispered promises and the changing light

(...)

(Lines taken from "Late For The Sky" by Jackson Browne)

Although the lyrics might be about love, It can also be interpreted in an other way (like many songs, the different lines can apply to everyones own situation) And so it is with this song for me at the moment.

It's funny sometimes how things can be really ironic in life. Is there such thing as fate? If I had done some things differently, maybe the turnout would be different. You know they say that everything you do in life would affect the other.
It's like every moment in life you got to choose which path to take, there's many many paths.
And if you have taken one path , it means you haven't choose all those other paths. But I don't want to repeat the same old story again about to learn from your mistakes and all that other "so-called-life-lessons-said-many-times-by-everyone" chit-chat.

You can talk a lot, but in the end, it's yourself who have done the things you did.
And all that matters is now.

The Start Of Fall / The Beginning Of Autumn

2008-09-22T16:06:00.002+02:00

Today is the first day of Autumn. Autumn, also called "Fall" in North American English, is the season of rain, falling of leaves and more rain. It's dull, grey, gloomy, sad, dreary, drab. (These words I basically searched up in the dictionary.) But you get the point. It isn't exactly a cheerfull season. And for most people autumn also marks the beginning of a new season. Be it school;work;sport; in September everyone starts with something somehow. We've got the happy and warm summer behind us, where we all played,chilled and relaxed, and now it's time to start up again. Although the weather isn't exactly encouraging to say the least.

So why is it called "Fall" in Nothern American English? The fall of leaves? Or is it because of:"Fall, the sudden arrival of birds due to drift migration" (wikipedia). That wouldn't make sense though, since the birds would fly to the south, for a warmer climate, so birds are actually departing from North America rather than arriving.So why is it called "Fall" then? I don't know. But it sure fits to the depressive weather of Autumn. To fall...

So for everyone, Fall starts today, but I don't hope we all starts to fall from now on. It's a new season, a new begin and a new start, so let's all work hard for school, work, sport, music, hobby or whatever you want to do. Don't let the weather graps you. Everything has it's beauty. When all the yellow brown and old leaves falls from the trees, it only means that the old is making a place for the new. And so it is for the things we do, the hard-work we do today, is also a stepping stone for the succes of tomorrow.

Are You Righteous At Heart?

2008-07-14T02:22:00.004+02:00

Are you righteous at heart? Sincere? Honest?
Are you kind?

A good person?

Who is it that you really are?
Your Strives?

What is it that you really want to gain?

Do you care for others?
Do you feel it?

Why is it that you do the things you do?

Can you smile without worries?
Can you sleep at night with a clear mind?

Are you proud of yourself?
Do you wish to be someone else?

Can you choose?
Would you go back to undo your mistakes?

Why is it that you walk the path you choose?

What is right? What is Wrong?
Who is right? Who is Wrong?
What's moral?

Who decides what's right or wrong?

Can one be righteous?

I want to be righteous.
Sincere.
Honest.

Everyone should be.

Should.

They could.

Strive or Strife

2008-07-14T02:12:00.010+02:00

Something That Matters
It matters if it matters to you
--------------------
Anything Is Not Everything
Everything Is Something
--------------------
Just think about it, just think again
Strive Again
--------------------
Who's to blame?
Blame God?
--------------------
Do you care at all?
Do you even know?
--------------------
Mainstream
What is your way? path? road? style?!
--------------------
Talk about "YOU"
The same and the same
--------------------
Difference.canbemade
Should it?
--------------------

--------------------

--------------------
Ignorance Is Not A Bliss
It would if it was
But it ain't
--------------------
I Would If I Could
But I Can't
I Will if I Want
But I Won't
--------------------
You Should If You Could But You Can't
You Will If You Do But You Don't
--------------------
The Grander scheme of things
The World as a Whole
The General Idea
The Principle
The Underneath
The "What's beyond this?"
--------------------
Don'tBelieveTheTruth
Don'tBelieveTheHype
Don'tBelieveTheTV
Don'tBelieveThePapers
Don'tBelieveTheInternet
BelieveYourself
--------------------
"You can't be noone else"
Not like you could
--------------------
Your own Interest
Your own Advantage
Your own Profit
Your own Gain
--------------------
What is selfish?
Can one be not?
--------------------
Humans Afterall
Good,Bad,Right,Wrong
Ethical
--------------------
Only You
And everything around You
That Matters Afterall
Cause we don't know what's after this.
So might as well, live it well.

Dutch Holidays / Koninginnedag 2008

2008-04-30T19:58:00.011+02:00

Koninginnedag 2008

So today was Koninginnedag aka in english Queensday. It's a yearly event on 30 April in which the birthday of her majesty, our queen,is celeberated.

It's a big national event where a lot of people wearing orange go on the streets to celeberate. Why orange? Because that's the color of The Netherlands as you might or might not know.
But celeberating isn't the only thing, there's also the "Free Market": Everyone is allowed to sell things on the streets. So if you have some old stuff at home you wanna get rid of, you can put a blancket on the ground, stash your stuff on it, get a little chair to sit comfortable on, and you can start selling! A lot of kids will sell their old toys, and some will give a little performance just to earn some money, be it playing the guitar, the violin, some magic tricks, anything is possible. You don't have to sell old stuff only, some people buy new stuff, just to sell it at queensday. Ofcourse trying to earn some on it. But the most important is to have fun on queensday.

This Years weather wasn't too good. Rain was predicted, but despite that, it stayed sunny, with some clouds from time to time. Temperature around 15C. With that, it wasn't that crowded on the streets compared to other years. As usual I went out too. Most people come to Amsterdam, cause that's the "place to be" at queensday.
So if you ever thought of visiting Amsterdam, it might be fun to visit it around this yearly event. =P

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hong Kong Visions @ Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ

Hong Kong Visions

04.04.08 - 17.04.08

Photo Exhibition

http://www.hongkongvisions.com/

Okay, it's not really relevent to post this information, since this exhibition is already over. But nevertheless, just some little talk on it.

I went to this Hong Kong Visions Photo Exhibition on 17 April. It showed photos of Hong Kong ranging from photos of recent years to photos dating from the 60's. So I went and watched it, didn't expect a lot of it. The photo's were taken by famous? photographers, including Dutch ones. Most of the photos were "nothing special", like I could have taken them too...Ofcourse I wouldn't have taken them in a proffesional way like they do, the right lighting and stuff like that, but the content of it wasn't that spectacular. However, something else was spectacular, the price. 950 Euros for one photo. Honestly I don't think anyone would buy it. I think the exhibition is nice to check out (it's free). To see Hong Kong if you haven't been there, but noone would actually buy these "artworks". Ofcourse there were some photos which I liked, with beautiful composition and angle, but still kinda too expensive. Some big ones were even over 1100 Euros.Anyway, maybe there are some people who will buy it, who knows.

Asia sure is booming these days...

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ behind Amsterdam Central Station

Snow in March'

2008-03-26T15:12:00.005+01:00

Snow in March, it has became a common thing over here.
Or at least, for me it has.
2 March 2005, it snowed. If I remembered correctly, on some places there was even 50cm of snow. Now that's not something usual for The Netherlands.
When I decided to talk a walk around my street to make some footage of the beautifull scenery with my camera, I found my feets disolving into the thick pack of snow.
2 March 2006, exactly one year later, it snowed again. Can you believe that? But this time not as much as in '05. I decided to record this strange yet beautifull phenomenon with my camera again.
March 2007, I can't really remember if it snowed. I don't think it has though. To be honest, 2007 was kind of a blurry year for me. But looking back at my camera tapes, I didn't filmed any snow in March'07.
March 2008, yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before the day of yesterday it snowed. A white Easter.

So snow in March has became a common thing for me.
Why is it snowing in March? Or, why has it been snowing frequently in March these past few years? Some say climate change.
And why is the climate changing? Some say it's us, the people whose causing it. Some say it's just the nature. Some say it's both.

During highschool, I wrote a 20-page paper about Climate Change. And from the information I gathered, I think that it is both. But one way or the another, I don't think you can deny the fact that the world is being polluted

So in the end it doesn't really matter what the cause is. Fact is, the world is being polluted by humans. So it doesn't hurt to "pollute less".
I'm glad this whole 'climate change - save the world'-thing has become a hype. Most of the time you shouldn't believe the hype. But this time the hype is true.

Roots

2008-02-15T14:51:00.003+01:00

Welcome to the Generation
Standing at the Roots

Let's go back to the back.
Back to the Roots.
The origin, how things started.
How we used to be.
Where we stand for.
What we dreamed of.
When we were young.
Why we were born for.