Author: Bas

  • Time to get moving!

    Okay, I’ve been procrastinating loooong enough (plus I’ve been ill for a while which really ruined the momentum). It’s time to get this exchange in Istanbul sorted! Firstly, tomorrow I’ll get all the forms fixed so I can deliver them to the partner university in Istanbul, called Yeditepe. This means that I’ve been selecting courses. The courses I plan on following at Yeditepe these fall are:

    • Introduction to Political Science;
    • Democracy in the Global Society;
    • Society, Culture and Communication in the 21st Century;
    • Scope and Social Impact of New Media;
    • Consumer Behaviour;
    • Humanities;
    • Theories of Mass Communication;
    • Corporate Public Relations;
    • Semiotics;
    • Persuasion and Perception.

    Needless to say, I’m very excited! Those that know me well will understand, based just on the list above here and how well it suits me 😉

    Second thing is, the to-do lists are back. Last year they were here as I was preparing for Bulgaria, disturbing my natural laziness, now they’re back. Tomorrow I have an exam, so I better start studying now. I discontinued the ‘Latest Updates’ posts – they’ll now just be placed in the side menu. Besides that, more posts about my life and about going to Turkey: I promise.

    Also, the website is still under construction, but it’s about 80-90% done now 🙂

  • Reconstruction

    Dear visitors.

    I’m currently revising my website. The lay-out may change, options in the menu’s might change, who knows. Thank you for your patience.

    Love,
    Bas

  • The Flu

    As you might have noticed from my Tweets, I have the flu. I’m going to try to be as coherent as possible in this post. It’s not so bad anymore, but it’s still a bit hard to structure my thoughts.

    It began a few days ago on Wednesday, with some coughs and feeling a bit ‘tired’. I figured it was probably because I’d been procrastinating too much, which is a state-killer, but I was wrong. When I went to bed, I started getting fever, the chills, but at the same time feeling very hot. I was balancing between sleeping and being awake, dreaming and hallucinating, sober and flu-drunk. Ugh.

    The fun thing about this flu though, is that every day there’s a different symptom. The first day, starting with the night, it was just fever and headache mainly, accompanied by muscle aches throughout my whole body. Everywhere imaginable (unless you have a sick imagination). I didn’t want to leave my room, let alone the house to go to the supermarket… because that would have been a great challenge. The interesting thing was though, that when you’re ill you’re supposed to feel shitty, right? I did feel physically shitty (elephant shitty), but mentally I was very at peace. It was easier to be at peace than normally. I guess my thoughts got so incoherent that I didn’t really bother with listening to them anymore. Quite relaxing, as you can imagine if you know me well.

    So the next day, it got rather different. More coughing, fever was down a lot (though at times it came back, but not so bad as the day before), but there was a new ingredient to my flu! My body was aching. A very weird type of ache at that. It was all over my torso and not as deep as the muscle aches but it felt like my skin was hurting, or just below the skin. About one and a half year ago I fell down some stairs that had a rug on there, and as I slid down the stairs it tore open my back (Woohoo! Stairslide!). The days after, it hurt to wear a shirt, because even though it was touching the wounds just lightly, it was tingly and prickly. Such a baby, aren’t I? Anyway, this time was the same, except I had no wounds. So that was quite the sensation as you can imagine. This feeling started yesterday and still hasn’t faded by the way. Oh and in the evening I got Bouwe over to have dinner (I was in no state to cook myself) and I remarked that I looked rather healthy. He agreed, but then went on to mention the black rings below my eyes which I hadn’t noticed before. At least they were not as bad as this guy’s:

    Wim Kok.

    Then last night I was sleeping, dreaming a little… and suddenly I wake up with a shock. The first thing that goes through my head is “no DJ Tiësto!” This had absolutely no connection to my dream by the way. It also didn’t have a connection to my phone vibrating and hoping that it’s not DJ Tiësto who was calling me. It was completely random, like “Rosebud” or whatever your last words might be. And that scared me a bit… I don’t mind dying at some point, but I don’t want my last words or thoughts to be something as retarded as “no DJ Tiësto!” I got hit by a car before and they say your life flashes by in front of you in these situations… Well, it didn’t. My mind was very clear. The single thought going through my head was “shit!” Then I woke up on the road.
    .
    So today it’s sore throat day. Some flu symptoms are still present but very manageable. I’m going to the supermarket today (by myself, hell yeah), do some school work, plus if I’m a nice boy and do all my chores I’ll treat myself to some baklava. Wooh. Sugar overdosing is fun!
    .
    So yeah, to all friends and family reading this: don’t worry, I’m doing ok again. No, I will not go to the doctor. Yes, I am eating healthy. Thanks for your concern. Have a nice weekend!
    .

  • NO TORCH IN TIBET!

    Just one month left!

    Torch scheduled in Shannan Diqu on June 19. Then in Tibet’s capital Lhasa June 20-21. It would be a disgrace if we let this happen! Speak up, speak out! Watch British Channel 4’s documentary “Undercover In Tibet”.

  • What a music… a recollection

    Miro, a friend I made in Bulgaria, just sent all his friends on Facebook (including me) a dedication via a particular application. Apparently his song “What A Music” is now uploaded in there and while listening to it again, I realized just how much that song reminds me of Bulgaria.

    I met Miro in the middle of November. Asya (sorry if it’s misspelt), a colleague of mine at the National Radio, gave me a call one day that she said she was still going to take me to a party. I had no recollection of this, but then again, when I met her at the Balkan Youth Festival, days were long and nights were drunk. She told me there was a CD presentation of the winner of the Bulgarian Pop Idol in a club in the centre and asked me to come along. I hesitated for a second, then told myself to just say yes. So I did.

    We arrive… free booze! She runs off and starts talking to people and I’m kept busy with people who talk to me because I’m not from Bulgaria (and because they’re just as drunk as me, from the free booze). At some point after the CD presentation, Asya gets us into the ‘artists’ area and I meet some of the people there. They are getting restless and want to have a party somewhere. Asya leaves. I was told to come along, because it was going to be fun. Obviously, I was intimidated, so I went along – I would have rather been responsible and go home of course. Who likes parties anyway?

    So uhhh, the next day I wake up with a massive hangover. Pictures I don’t remember, business cards I vaguely remember, and random entries in my phone. Names with no numbers, just the letter ‘E’ with a number. You know those nights where you’re too drunk to type the name and then in your mind you go “fuck it” and tell yourself you’ll just remember it? Yeah. You won’t. If you’re too drunk to type… you’re too drunk to remember. And also, you might take pictures of the Iranian embassy on your way home.

    I remembered one business card that I got belonged to the producer of the CD of the girl who won. I was a bit intimidated… It’s not every day that I get the contact cards of a ‘celebrity’. If I think back to my thoughts at that time, they’re a bit ridiculous, but make a good story. So I think I emailed him or called him, I don’t remember. Added him to Skype and it turned out his studio was right around the corner from my apartment. Literally, not even 2 minutes from door to door. He invited me and I came over. He showed me his studio and his pride. We maintained our connection and were hanging out about once a week, I guess. One of the songs he let me hear when I first came ’round to his studio (correct me if I’m wrong Miro) is ‘What A Music’, the track I was just sent on Facebook.

    Those times were strange. The Pop Idol party, sitting at the same table as Philip Kotler at a high tea-styled press conference with a panorama view of Sofia, meeting my current girlfriend… but also Sofia getting colder and the weather getting harsher and harsher. It was a moment of highs and lows, which makes the highs even more magical as they already were. And that’s what this song reminds me of. The song has a magical sound to it and reminds me of the magical times I had back in Bulgaria. Therefore, without further adue, I present to you the video of my friend Star Tattooed’s ‘What A Music’. Dedicated to everyone I met in Bulgaria!

  • What’s up?

    Hey, figured it’s about time I give a small overview of what’s up with me. A couple of things.

    • Doing a project on International Affairs Representation (lobbying) for university. Very interesting. Looking at all that the IUCN organisation has to offer on their website. What a great organisation!
    • For the same course I’m going to Brussels for a field trip on the 27th of this month.
    • Got a potential marketing/sales project coming my way. If I decide to take it on, I expect I could make about two thousand Euro with it this summer. Which would be great, because I’m broke now. Looks like my interest in internet marketing and entrepreneurship is finally manifesting itself in my day to day reality, right?
    • Looking for a job doing some promo-work (like handing out samples and stuff) for a while, so I can make some money. Or maybe doing work at the homes of elderly people. Although I’m not sure if it would be productive to invest my time in that instead of the above project. Probably smart to have an extra, small income stream though.
    • Figuring out when I’m done with the semester and when I can fly to Bulgaria to go see my girlfriend!
    • Figuring out when I would probably be broke and have to fly back to Holland…  together with my girlfriend… to show her Holland. First time she’ll be in Western Europe. Culture shock :shock:
    • Applying to a Turkish language course at the end of August and beginning of September.
    • Getting my stuff handled with Yeditepe University in Istanbul, so my Erasmus exchange will start smooth. Or at least smoother than when I went to Bulgaria last year.

    That’s about it. If you think you can help me out with any of this. Please contact me.

  • The Front Fell Off

    It’s actually quite simple. 😀

  • Easiest 30 euro’s I’ve ever made…

    Recently I received an email about some marketing research being done into people who buy stuff at the shops at trainstations. Being a commuter, I decided to reply and filled in a short survey. Later they contacted me and asked me if I would be free to be interviewed face-to-face.

    Long story short, I just walked into a conference room at a hotel here in Utrecht, was asked a bunch of questions and was made to think about my consumptions at the train stations and 40 minutes later I walked out 30 euro’s richer. Woo-hah! 😀

    Sign me up for more! 😈

  • Eco-Idea: Solar powered Bit-Stage

    Yesterday was Liberation Day in The Netherlands. Because of Liberation Day (or ‘Bevrijdingsdag’ as we call it), there a lot of free open-air music festivals in parks all across the Netherlands to celebrate our liberty. Since the weather was awesome and there was free live music, I had to be there. The coolest thing I saw at the festival in Utrecht was not any artist in particular but this thing:

    Solar powered Bit-Stage

    What you are seeing right here is a DJ booth, including 4 speakers with good sound, on a car, all powered by solar panels! What a great eco-friendly idea! I like going to free parties, but often wonder about the effect or impact all these parties have on the environment. Especially parties in forests or in nature attended by a lot of eco-loving people. It always seemed a bit hypocritical to me to claim to love nature, yet cause such ecological ruckus.

    This stage offers what seems to be an ‘eco-friendly’ option for parties and quite possibly carbon neutral. I also found two videos of the stage live in action yesterday at the festival. You can choose either funky or Balkan.

    Apparently the car’s batteries can also be charged by pedaling. Cool!

    More info here.

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