Tambak Sari Stadium
Tambak Sari Stadium, Surabaya There is something mournful about an empty football stadium. The stands are empty; the pitch is free of action. The air lacks the buzzes of expectation and the urgent statements of PA announcements indicating which player is coming off, which player is coming on or which player has been awarded a […]
Phil Hughes and the Dreams of Playing Cricket
Mum and dad are moving house. They are leaving behind their house in Glen Iris and moving to Richmond. I remember the Glen Iris house for many things, but, perhaps specifically for driveway cricket. Our backyard was on a hill and not suitable for the game, so, my brother and I played in the driveway. […]
Buku PSIM
Teman-teman pecinta PSIM dan sepakbola di Indonesia, isi buku saya tentang PSIM dan Brajamusti kurang lebih begini. Maaf, untuk sementara ini, bukunya dalam Bahasa Inggris. Versi Bahasa Indonesia segera menyusul. judulnya: I Love PSIM: the Brajamusti and the Fight for Soccer in Indonesia (Saya Mencintai PSIM: Brajamusti dan Perjuangannya untuk Sepakbola di Indonesia) Kata Pengantar: […]
Death at Manahan
Joko Riyanto went to the game with a few thousand rupiah in his pocket. He left the game, carried by trembling police, with Rp.3,000 (30 cents, for what it is worth) in his pocket and a bullet hole in the right side of his chest. The day after the game, players and the coach of […]
PSIM Murals
These are some photos of the PSIM murals I have collected over the past two months. Jl.Tirtodipuran, opposite Bu Ageng restaurant Jl.Veteran Jl.Taman Siswa Jl.Kol.Sugiono (correction)
What Makes This City Yogyakarta
*draft of introduction to my co-authored work with Dimaz Maulana. Perhaps it will form a book. We’re working on it. The woman at the counter asked me about the work I do. I told her “writer”; which is an arrogant way of saying, “unemployed”. The next day, she asked me what am I writing about, […]
We are PSIM
We are PSIM
Acceptance Speech
*any resemblance between the names used below and their real life characters is purely Matt Priddis stepped up to the podium. He was wearing the usual outfit: a black suit, a white shirt, and a black bow-tie. His curly blond hair hung almost to his shoulders. Some curls gently fell onto his checks and over […]
Swimming Studies
Leanne Shapton, Swimming Studies, London: Penguin Books, 2012. Here is Leanne Shapton’s website: leanneshapton.com I am reading Leanne Shapton’s Swimming Studies, yes I am. Shapton is a Canadian artist and former elite swimmer, who almost made it to the Olympics. Nowadays, it seems that she is equal part author, publisher, illustrator and recreational, but regular […]
The Overhead Lockers Landed in a Sunflower Field
Fragments /1/ There is a Ritual Salts bag lying in a field in Eastern Ukraine. The farmer, Valeriy Sulyivka who picked it up and who saw the suitcase in which it was packed fall, doesn’t care for Breestraat in Leiden, but that is where the passenger Hans Noteboom bought his gifts for his wife. He […]