I was browsing this Dutch news portal when I came upon an article on Marion Bloem who encourages her Facebook pals to translate her poem Vrijheid into as many languages as possible. I've no idea who she is, I don't know her on Facebook either, but I'll do a translation anyways into both English and Indonesian because that is how I roll.
For the original Dutch poem go here.
Indonesian translation (last updated: 5/16/12):
Kemerdekaan
Jika arti merdeka: diam kau
karena aku hendak bicara
Jika arti merdeka: kau di balik jeruji,
supaya kami tak perlu takut
akan segala rupa dan adatmu
yang berbeda
Jika arti merdeka: memasung mentari hari esok
dengan cara sedikit meredupkan
mentari hari ini
Jika arti merdeka: menutup pintu
dan di layar menyaksikan dengan merdeka apa-apa
yang mestinya tak bakal datang kemari
Jika arti merdeka: selalu tidur nyenyak
karena lidah orang lain telah dengan sengaja
dibelenggu
Jika arti merdeka: makan apa dan kapan kau kehendaki
tapi dengan menjatuhkan kulit ari ke dalam koran
tempat kelaparan diberangus
Jika arti merdeka: tak perlu tahu apa
yang memerdekakanku, yang mempertahankan kemerdekaanku,
yang setiap hari menyekapku dalam kemerdekaan
Jika kemerdekaan berarti: menunggu sampai yang lain
memerdekakanku dari ketakutan-ketakutan
yang kuyakini dengan teguh
Jika kemerdekaan menurap pemikiranku
Jika kemerdekaan di sekitarku terbang di mana-mana sekeliling
dan dalam diriku,
tapi ia tak tertangkap olehmu
Jika kemerdekaan melindungi aku
terhadap gagasan-gagasanmu yang
kelewat asing bagiku
Jika kemerdekaan hari ini
bagiku adalah begitu lumrah, tapi kau
tak bisa memaknakannya
Maka kemerdekaan adalah ekor bagiku
dan pancung kepala bagimu
Maka kemerdekaan adalah angin dan sewenang-wenang
Tapi mungkin – dengan persetujuan bersama tentunya – aku
untuk sementara waktu
atau pun untuk waktu yang lebih lama
boleh melepaskan sedikit dari kemerdekaanku
yang berlimpah-limpah ini
untuk memerdekakanmu dari kemerdekaanku
yang menyesakkan
Marion Bloem
English translation (last updated: 5/1/12):
Freedom
If being free means: you, shut up
because I have something to say
If being free means: you behind bars
so that we don’t have to fear
your being different
and all your different doings
If being free means: defining strictly
the day of tomorrow by making the day of today
a bit less of a day
If being free means: closing the doors
and freely watching on the screen
that which should be safely away
If being free means: sleeping at ease always
because others have been wilfully deprived
of their tongue
If being free means: eating what and when you want
though peels are being dropped into newspapers
where hunger is concealed
If being free means: not needing to know what
has freed me, keeps me free, confines me every day
in freedom
If freedom means: waiting for others
to free me of fears in which I
have profound trust
If freedom plasters my thoughts
If freedom around me blows everywhere in
and about me, but
remains elusive to you
If freedom protects me against
your ideas which I
deem too different
If freedom today
seems so natural to me, though you
don't know what it means
Then freedom is tails to me
and heads off to you
Then freedom is air and arbitrary
But perhaps – by mutual consent of course –
I am at liberty
to either temporarily or for a longer period of time
cede some of my ample freedom
to free you
of my suffocating
freedom
Marion Bloem
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Monday, 26 December 2011
tChron holiday recipe
Like all great things, this recipe came about following an accident. An accident, you say? Why, yes, an accident.
As a kid in Holland, at a chips-and-lemonade event organized by the local community centre where you had to peel and cut your own potato, I accidentally tipped over my plastic cup with lemonade, which spilled onto my plate of freshly deep-fried chips. Guffaws all around, but, to my surprise, the lemonade-soaked chips tasted rather good. It was so good, I offered people left and right to have some please. Them guffaws died down, then ceased all together, and with a shrug I proceeded to dig in. Their loss.
Today we're going to re-enact the recipe step by step:
Lemonade-soaked Chips
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Serves one
Chips
Peel spuds and cut into long rectangular shapes. Rinse until water runs clear. Dab with a kitchen-cloth to get them as dry as you can.
Deep-fry over medium heat for about 20 minutes. The idea is to cook the inside without burning the outside. Lift out of oil. Set aside.
Crank the heat all the way up. Slide the half-done chips back in and fry until golden brown. Lift out of oil. Season with salt. Serve in a deep plate.
Lemonade
Anything you have available. Feel free to experiment. Serve in a 200ml plastic cup.
While the chips are still hot, pour, say, half a cup of the lemonade over the chips. The idea is to create a puddle in the middle of the plate; we don't want to drown them. Enjoy!
As a kid in Holland, at a chips-and-lemonade event organized by the local community centre where you had to peel and cut your own potato, I accidentally tipped over my plastic cup with lemonade, which spilled onto my plate of freshly deep-fried chips. Guffaws all around, but, to my surprise, the lemonade-soaked chips tasted rather good. It was so good, I offered people left and right to have some please. Them guffaws died down, then ceased all together, and with a shrug I proceeded to dig in. Their loss.
Today we're going to re-enact the recipe step by step:
Lemonade-soaked Chips
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Serves one
Chips
- 2 spuds
- pinch of salt
Peel spuds and cut into long rectangular shapes. Rinse until water runs clear. Dab with a kitchen-cloth to get them as dry as you can.
Deep-fry over medium heat for about 20 minutes. The idea is to cook the inside without burning the outside. Lift out of oil. Set aside.
Crank the heat all the way up. Slide the half-done chips back in and fry until golden brown. Lift out of oil. Season with salt. Serve in a deep plate.
Lemonade
Anything you have available. Feel free to experiment. Serve in a 200ml plastic cup.
While the chips are still hot, pour, say, half a cup of the lemonade over the chips. The idea is to create a puddle in the middle of the plate; we don't want to drown them. Enjoy!
Friday, 23 December 2011
tChron Xmas Special
One thing to look forward to during the holidays is of course the TV specials. At least, that used to be the case way back when.
When I was a kid, come Christmas Eve, I would be looking forward to, say, a Disney special which would feature the classics and all them quacky and goofy Disney characters. But I knew I would miss the show because I had to attend service that may or may not be followed by a family get-together at my grandparent's (during which, somehow, I would forget all about television).
So, to make up for all the Xmas specials I missed as a kid, and since I don't trust today's television programming, I have decided to produce my very own tChron Xmas Special featuring stuff from way back when with the one and only André van Duin:
Yes, the word you're looking for is gezellig, a Dutch word which roughly translates to 'sociable'.
You have a good one.
When I was a kid, come Christmas Eve, I would be looking forward to, say, a Disney special which would feature the classics and all them quacky and goofy Disney characters. But I knew I would miss the show because I had to attend service that may or may not be followed by a family get-together at my grandparent's (during which, somehow, I would forget all about television).
So, to make up for all the Xmas specials I missed as a kid, and since I don't trust today's television programming, I have decided to produce my very own tChron Xmas Special featuring stuff from way back when with the one and only André van Duin:
Yes, the word you're looking for is gezellig, a Dutch word which roughly translates to 'sociable'.
You have a good one.
Saturday, 10 December 2011
So... we was watching VCDs 4
True Grit (2010). Ethan Coen and Joel Coen directed and wrote this western proper based on a 1969 novel of the same title by Charles Portis.
Just going from a handful of Coen movies I've seen so far – Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), Burn After Reading (2008) – I'd say the Coen brothers do a mean job at creating characters which are as original as they are relatable, not to mention that they are expert at painting the local colour.
In True Grit the Coen brothers dropped their guard – albeit slightly – and allowed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (older and washed-out, Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (younger and stalwart, Matt Damon) to come over as stereotypical and cartoonish. Watching the interplay between Cogburn and LaBoeuf you kind of recognize what they aimed for, but that they had just missed the mark.
Cogburn and LaBoeuf are trying to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) though Cogburn is in employment of Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and LaBoeuf of the Texas Rangers. Ross is out to avenge her father's death and, at 14 years of age, displays a precociousness that's pushing it – even for the Wild West.
Brolin's Chaney, though given only a bit part, rings more true, as does his boss Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper), who steals the show actually. Both Brolin and especially Pepper look suitably haggard and make the most of their limited screen time by layering their characters.
Keep an eye out for Bear Man (Ed Corbin), the Tom Bombadil of the Wild West, who has no other purpose, apparently, other than looking magnificent.
(Running time: 110 minutes)
Just going from a handful of Coen movies I've seen so far – Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), Burn After Reading (2008) – I'd say the Coen brothers do a mean job at creating characters which are as original as they are relatable, not to mention that they are expert at painting the local colour.
In True Grit the Coen brothers dropped their guard – albeit slightly – and allowed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (older and washed-out, Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (younger and stalwart, Matt Damon) to come over as stereotypical and cartoonish. Watching the interplay between Cogburn and LaBoeuf you kind of recognize what they aimed for, but that they had just missed the mark.
Cogburn and LaBoeuf are trying to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) though Cogburn is in employment of Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and LaBoeuf of the Texas Rangers. Ross is out to avenge her father's death and, at 14 years of age, displays a precociousness that's pushing it – even for the Wild West.
Brolin's Chaney, though given only a bit part, rings more true, as does his boss Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper), who steals the show actually. Both Brolin and especially Pepper look suitably haggard and make the most of their limited screen time by layering their characters.
Keep an eye out for Bear Man (Ed Corbin), the Tom Bombadil of the Wild West, who has no other purpose, apparently, other than looking magnificent.
(Running time: 110 minutes)
Monday, 5 December 2011
Moonlight Shadow
I heard a song once on Dutch television as a kid. It was sung by a lady and on that song she also played the flute, which lent the whole thing an ambient feel. Moreover, the performance was shot at Efteling.
Now, every kid in Holland worth his liquorice has at least heard of the theme park Efteling. It's a place of wonderment where merrymaking is to be had; it's a place where fairy tales come to live. It is quite a magical place. I thus forever came to associate the song with wonderment and enchantment, though I had no idea what the song was about, which was sung in English and of which the only word I could catch was "shadow".
It was only recently that I heard the song for a second time – after a lifetime has passed – thanks to Google and Youtube. Turns out the song came out in 1983 and was written by Mike Oldfield and was originally sung by Maggie Reilly, of whom both I had never heard of. The song is titled quite poetically "Moonlight Shadow".
I could locate the original clip with Reilly but not the one I saw as a kid. I suppose I could also look up the lyrics to the song but I've deliberately chosen not to: I want the song to mean whatever I make it to be and in so doing make it all mine.
Here then "Moonlight Shadow":
Now, every kid in Holland worth his liquorice has at least heard of the theme park Efteling. It's a place of wonderment where merrymaking is to be had; it's a place where fairy tales come to live. It is quite a magical place. I thus forever came to associate the song with wonderment and enchantment, though I had no idea what the song was about, which was sung in English and of which the only word I could catch was "shadow".
It was only recently that I heard the song for a second time – after a lifetime has passed – thanks to Google and Youtube. Turns out the song came out in 1983 and was written by Mike Oldfield and was originally sung by Maggie Reilly, of whom both I had never heard of. The song is titled quite poetically "Moonlight Shadow".
I could locate the original clip with Reilly but not the one I saw as a kid. I suppose I could also look up the lyrics to the song but I've deliberately chosen not to: I want the song to mean whatever I make it to be and in so doing make it all mine.
Here then "Moonlight Shadow":
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