Sioen

Been a busy few weeks again. Not that I am complaining. It's just the way I like it. My friend Martin invited me along to a gig at the Paard last night. This is the same person who has introduced me to VHS or Beta and Dredg live plus many many other new bands and artists, so I tend to trust his instinct when it comes to music.

We got there as the opening act was half way through. Had a few beers and waited. The band consits of the usual bass, drums, guitar, piano and somehow typically Belgian a violin.
Sioen is the last name of the singer/songwriter Frederik, who once they were finally set up and ready to go sat at a piano front and centre stage it started with just him and yes the violin player for two songs. He does not have a mind-blowing voice but is charismatic and can sing sweetly enough to not let it be an issue. They are all quite talented and according to Martin even tighter now as a band since the first time he saw them over a year or so ago. The songs were well written and presented flicking between sweet pop and somehow Deux influenced chords and style.
All in all, a really nice way to spend a Thursday night and 12 euros. Well plus 15 if you add the new CD I bought from them, Ease Your Mind which is really quite good after only one listen again this morning.
Other CD purchaces this month include:
The New Pornographers Twin Cinema, talent oozing as usual.
Matthew Good's newest In A Coma, which is a complilation of his career in a great package of 2 CD's and a DVD. CD one has 2 new songs one of which might have some of the catchiest lyrics yet "Oh be joyful, cause that shit spreads".
CD two is 9 acoustic versions of his songs from the past 10 years and two of his little EP releases, one (Loser Anthems) of which has some of my favorite Matt songs on it. Oddly enough I had not had the chance to sit down and watch the DVD yet but I am sure to be impressed as I have only seen maybe 2 of his Videos not being exposed to many Canadian Music station on television here, that also being something to look forward to.
And on my stereo now is David Grays latest Life in Slow Motion, which at first listen is really nice and typically David Gray which is certainly not a bad thing.

Up coming gigs: Buck 65 at the Paradiso in Oct and Jasper Steverlinck The singer from Arid in November again in the Paard, and being very tempted by the 2 day Music in my Head festival at the Paard which has quite a good line-up. Other than that nothing else of the top of my head. Although I am sure to get provoked by Martin at some point and be introduced to yet another new musical experience. Cheers mate!

Bon Jovi

Last Friday night I had tickets to see Bon Jovi in concert, only one of 3 shows in the world to promote his new CD and it was the first time since 1986 that I had seen them when they were on their Slippery When Wet world tour.
It was kind of fun to be singing along to the songs that I knew, and not so fun to be there for the songs I didn't. But all in all not a terrible way to spend a Friday night, especially after a great shopping spree and dinner at my favorite Irish Pub before hand.
Anyway there were a few songs from the extensive repertoire that were not played but in the end it was a listening party for the new album Have a nice Day so I guess they were obliged to play some of the new tracks. Which to be honest are not really my thing any more.
The one thing I can say after seeing more than one nostalgic blast from the past in the last few years is that they have aged well at least from the 20 meters back where I was standing.
I am not what one might call a fan, certainly not compared to come of the people that were there on Friday night, I even saw hair there that made me think back (and cringe) what mine might have looked like in 1986... Ladies that much hair spray is not good for the enviroment let alone your hair. But speaking of hair, the question that has been niggling away since Friday is....
WHAT HAPPED TO BON JOVI'S CHEST HAIR? Did some stylist come along when he was trying to break into the movies and say, you know Jon the ladies would really love it if you took it all off and became as smooth as a babies bottom, forget that macho stuff from the 80's lets heat up that wax....



















Oh well does it really matter, thankfully his leather cod pieces went away with time as well as he is in dam fine shape for his age.

dredg

Last week I went to a concert at the Melkweg in Amsterdam on the recommendation of my friend Martin, who had a few months before gone to see this band and had been blown away by them.
I had already heard the music and was a little concerned that it might be a little to proggy sounding for me.
But first I must mention the opening band Miss. Antartica who I thought were quite good, they reminded me of a nice Placebo. No one else who was there with us thought they were any good but I guess that is what makes the world go round, the simple fact that we are different.
The singer of Dredg has one of those very high voices like he might have taken classical training and then to watch him on stage was like someone had torn a page from the Jim Morrison book of stage craft. And dam near impossible to take photos of cause he is constantly moving with an energy that that of an autistic child.

The rest of the band (guitar, bass and drummer & keys) were all intense guys in their own right and seemed to be set apart from one another. There was no interaction between any of them on stage aside from the guitar player facing the drummer once in a while but he could have easily been listening to his amp, they did their parts and that was that. The singer also played a slide guitar set on a table, he teased the strings with different objects such as a drum stick and what looked like a knife. But this allowing him to not at all interact with the audience.
The show was quite good there is no denying their talents, and entertainment value was high. At the very end of their set they have their 2 roadies come on and start disassembling the stage as they are playing. The drums get taken away, the bass guitar and then the guitar and the singers mic when all their is left is the drummer (without drums) playing his piano with single minded intensity.
I think it is good to get a taste of new music once in awhile and I am glad I went on a Tuesday night to see them. I will probably not again but not because they were bad but because they did not grab me like they could have.
The opening band was a Dutch one that is worth mentioning. They reminded me of a nicer Placebo, and I thought they had something to bring to the club as well.

Coolest brother ever!

Check this out. My brother made this for me from one of my own photos... If I could just figgure out how to upload it to my profile all the time. Sweet.

Usedom (Uznam): 27-28. 08. 2005

It is always nice going to the Sea U Site parties. You can almost be sure that everyone will be a great mood, your friends will come from all over an you get to see a corner of the former DDR (GDR) that you might not ever see otherwise.
Now If I am not mistaken I have attending 6 Sea U Site parties in 7 years, sadly only missing last years 2nd Ruegen Island party due to unforeseen circumstances.
2 x KÜHLUNGSBORN
1 x NEUSTRELITZ
1 x RÜGEN
1 x SCHWEINRICH
and this time USEDOM .... even more photos click here.
The last few years my dear friend Jacco has come along and we have had a grand time, singing and being silly in the car or commenting on all the beautiful people.
My plan was to sleep a night in Bremen at Guddi's and after shopping for food, packing the van we would be on our way Sat morning. We did not bad and were on the road by 12:40. The drive takes quite a few hours in an older VW bus like hers, but we had Anna to keep us alert and awake by her non-stop (for 6+ hours) squeaking and barking. Thank the gods I have ear plugs!
Just after Rostock at a rest stop we met with Gunner, Toby and a friend from Hamburg in their VW bus and we decided to caravan to the Island Usedom together, but not before I embarked on a highly dangerous guerilla mission into a mini-mall for bananas.
Just as we crossed the blue bridge to the island, Jens called to let us know that the police had already blocked the entrance and that we should find a place to park near Peenemuende and take a walk on the beach and wait for further updates. We pulled into a small parking lot about 2 km from the entrance with many other people and decided to have a look around.
According to http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Peenemuende this was during WW2, an extremely important site for the testing of the V1 & V2 rockets, after the war according to agreements the Soviets said they destroyed the whole area, but this many years later the forest that surrounds the old site is quite beautiful and quiet all the way down to the beautiful beach. Go through the link for more info, it is really quite fascinating.

The police I think were being quite reasonable, but not knowing what to do with the many hundreds of people who just kept showing up and invading their little island.
Guddi and I after exploring the beach, meeting with a few others walked back to our parking spot to meet with Jacco who had just taken a tour of the whole Island and had ended up in Swinemünde at the Polish border, because apparently there is more than one blue bridge on Usedom.

We then sat and chatted with the Hamburg boys while they Feasted on Fleisch (BBQ’d) and drank some wine. Guddi went to bed and Jacco and I headed to the party place with the boys, our sleeping bags and a airmattrass with the idea how nice it would be to sleep under the stars.
The movie theater was open and the bar, and then later some music was coming through the trees, we sat on the beach and had some drinks, and not to much later fell asleep under the stars which was great until I woke up.
I was not being able to feel my right side of my chin, it was as if I had been to the dentist the night before and had some dental work done, as we made our way back towards the bus I got bit by a mosquito under my eye and it started to swell up until I felt I could see my upper cheek Waah, for a short while I was a very unhappy girl. But we got back to the bus and made coffee and breakfast and gave Dirk his Birthday presents, he was so happy with his two pairs of sunglasses that you could not help but smile along with him.

After freshening up Jacco, Guddi and I headed back to the party area and spent some time on the beach first just watching the beautiful scenery, chatting with friends as they came and went and then watched the police helicopter circle over head almost the whole afternoon, what a waste of police resources! We were discussing how one might catagorize the kind of techno music that is played at these parties because people often ask me what kind of music it is. Guddi came up with MFT (Mädchen Freundlich Techno) which I thought was a really great way to describe it, Girl Friendly Techno music.

At some point a U site person came along and asked everyone on the beach to come to the dance floor and “Greet” the police of course to stay calm and friendly during the time they are here. So we packed our things and headed over to the wonderful little meadow where the dance floor was built and waited. The theme song for this event was appropriately the Beastie Boys: Fight for your Right (to Party), the whole dance floor was hopping and jumping and generally in a great mood.

Sven told me there was a girl from Canada there and brought her over to meet me. She was not only from the West Coast but from Cortez Island. How small is the world really. I forgot her name (sorry) but it was nice meet someone who maybe has some idea why I love both countries so much. And she had a great eye for fashion and recognised Guddi's "Holy Souls". Peace on West Coast girl, good luck with your life in HH!

When the police finally arrived I had the feeling that it was more an excuse for the Police chief to have his squad practicing with their riot gear than anything really serious, they were not even carrying weapons, they took ages suiting up and then walked in a somewhat orderly fashion over and behind the DJ stand and apparently had a discussion. I was up on the top of a dyke so I could take some photos but could not really see them through the trees it all seemed very civilized. Having been once before at a Sea U Site party where both the police and crowd got a little too aggressive I wanted to keep my distance “just in case”.
But it seemed they were discussing terms, and with full agreement of everyone there we were allowed to keep dancing until 7pm and must leave the property before 10am on the Monday morning. So off went the police, dogs and chief back to their vans and we continued to dance and have great fun until 7pm. When it was over. I wanted to go back for more drinks and something warmer to put on, so Jacco, myself, Dirk and Sven all walked back to the cars to pick up supplies so we could be nice and cozy on the beach later, as per tradition.
The usual suspects where at the party Sandra, Jens, Matthias, Andre, Marco, Jenny and a surprise to me, Irene; who I know I have not seen since at least last years Fusion.
Anyway we headed back towards the party with drinks in hand and met back with Guddi and a few others and headed towards the beach for more drinks under the stars and good company.
After some time I had the inability to keep my eyes open and headed off to sleep, sadly I would have loved to have stayed up longer and enjoyed the environment but I just could not. At some point in the night I woke up to find two more people in the tent with me, Sandra and an unknown sleeping bag and body. Quite funny.
When morning came I made my way back to the parking place to have coffee and get ready to go.
The rest of the Guddi and HH boys were all going for a swim in the ocean before heading back, but Jacco and I decided that because of the 8+ hour ride ahead of us we better get going as soon as possible. Guddi made us a wonderful breakfast and we basically said our goodbyes. I actually don't remember feeling quite so sad at saying goodbye at a party like that before, it was just all so nice and cozy and I wish it could have lasted longer. Oh well until the next years Fusion at the latest.
This site has even more great photos and links to the NDR News website and other great links.

Lowlands

I arrived back in the NL last Thursday and uneventful but long and hot flight. with one day to rest and making up with my cat before we headed north to the Lowlands Festival. This is one of the better summer festivals in Holland, with 3 days of a massive line-up with acts for almost everyone’s taste. I must admit I was not really in a "I have to see as many bands as possible" mood and the jet-lag was making me pretty tired. I regret not seeing a few of the bands that played, but did see a few that inspired me to stay and watch the whole thing.

On Friday I wanted to see Juliette and the Licks, but I had just gotten to the press tent and did not want to walk to the other end of the festival just then. So in fact the first band I wanted to see was The Doves who had cancelled, and the band that replaced them I don’t recall what they were called, next was the Kaiser Chiefs who were a typical Brit-rock band from the UK, good fun and nice to see even though the singer had hurt his ankle he still gave a pretty good performance. Up next was The Bravery who were another Brit-pop band. Franz Ferdinand was the last one we saw on Friday, in fact they were quite fun and enthusiastic to watch for a wee band from Glasgow. After which I decided to skip both The Prodigy and Royksopp as much as I wanted to see them I could barely keep my eyes open and we still needed to drive over an hour to get home.

Saturday was a find day at the lowlands festival, warm and sunny and just the right temperature to make people want to drink more beer. The festival seemed to have picked up a notch from the day before, more people in strange outfits, some great tee-shirts and a few entertaining things along the way between the stages. One thing that really caught my eye was the Silent Disco, people were really into it, and great fun to watch. We got there just as Apocalyptica was beginning so I missed them again, but I was quite excited because Death from above 1979 was playing on one of the smaller tents, this band I have only just gotten into on the prompting from my younger brother. They were great fun to watch not only because they are Canadian but because they only have two guys playing in the band, which is quite fun and full of great energy. After which my most anticipated band was Arcade Fire, another Canadian band making waves all over the place right now. I stayed to the end to watch them, they were FANTASTIC, right up to the drummer climbing to the top of the speakers with his drum, I am sure the security loved it; I am know the crowd did. Sadly Vive la Fete was playing at the same time and I made the decision to skip them. After was a bit of a wait for me, I skipped the Pixies and was waiting for Marilyn Manson, as usual a huge show with loads of lights and effects and larger than life Marilyn with all the stage fun to go with it. Then it was time to head back for a nights sleep

Sunday was a slow start, but arriving in time for Morcheeba narrowly missing Korn. Morcheeba was not what I expected because there was a new girl singing, apparently the singer no longer wants to tour so they have brought in another woman to sing on tour. She did a pretty good band, but it was not quite the same. Then I wanted to see The Dresden Dolls, who also had cancelled so we went instead to see Sons and Daughters who were ok, needing some energy on stage, but I can imagine they were quite nervous to be playing. All the photographers headed over to Queens of the Stone Age, but we decided to go and find some food and ended up in front of a tent with perhaps the most energetic band at the festival, even more so than Arcade Fire. Cheb Balowski (sorry the link was all I could find) was givin’ it all and the over stuffed tent was taking it all with enthusiasm. The music sounded like it had Polka, North African, French and Gypsy music all squished in, I could not tell how many people were on stage but there were a lot, I cannot recommend enough GO AND SEE THIS BAND if you like music that you can’t help but dance, jump and cheer along to. After they ended we decided sitting in the Sun and drinking a Witbeer was a great option while we waited for Heather Nova. Which was also worth the wait, and who drew an astonishingly large crowd. She was photogenic, sweet and played really well and I was happy that I caught a chance to see her play live. After that I had no desire to see anything else and call it a nice and early night as we both had to work the next morning.

A few things that were quite funny by the festival, the large screens near all the stages, which showed some silly filmed things like “Pimp my Tent” & “Low Land People” shot from a camera on a stick walking through the crowds. There was also a cooking show of what nice dinners people on the camping place were cooking, filming people brushing their teeth and washing their faces in the communal washrooms. I loved the portable Dance floor and DJ’s that was driving around in one of those little 3 wheeled vehicles. I would say it was a job really well done, even Mr. Jan Smeets seemed to be having a great time when we saw him backstage, and he should know running Pink Pop all these years.

Whale of a time

I spent my last few days on the Island just relaxing and enjoying time with my family, visited a few vineyards and said goodbye to Sylvia. On my last day I was waiting for some deer to come back as they almost always do in the morning and after 2 hours still nothing until I walked out the front of the house to get the paper and my dad came after me to say mommy and Bambi were in the back. Then not 45 min later off the side of the house was another mommy and baby boy deer. So sweet.

I have to say that is is not easy saying goodbye with perhaps the knowledge that it might be the last time that I see her. My parents took me to the ferry to try and catch the 4pm, and just as we got there they would not sell me a ticket and I had to wait an hour for the next one. Which wasn't so bad but frustrating with those kinds of emotions swelling up inside.
5pm came around and me and the zillion other tourists and commuters got made their way on board, got our bus tickets and found a half decent spot on the outside desk to pass the 90 min ride. About half way across during the crossing of Active pass, the captain announced that there was Orcas on the starboard bow, my entire life I have been taking the ferry and have never seen such a sight.
There were around 15-20 in total, split in several pods, feeding off what I guess was a big salmon run or herring. What a site to see, beautiful black and white beauties with their babies in tow and teaching them how to hunt. It felt a little like it was a gift to behold.

I after the ferry I got into the city and made my way to Jen and Merlyn's place, it was so good to see them after so long and because they are my closest connection to my life in Holland in Vancouver. We made our way up to The Main on Main street and had a great catch up.

Celebration of Life

One of the reasons I came back home was because our friend Sylvia was told that she should just go home and enjoy what time she has left of her life. This has been hard on everyone who knows Sylvia, she is the kind of vibrant and alive person who we all wish we could tap into her energy and enthusiasm. The tumors grow in her every day and she is trying my types of things to perhaps slow them down, but unfortunately according to the doctors to no avail.
What was decided on was a celebration of life party in her honor.
If we build it they will come, my father and his friend built a stage in the back yard, and people came from all over our community to celebrate life.
there was the marimba players, guitarists, singers, keyboards, choirs, sing-along, Alice, dancers and many more. Not to mention that they all brought food and drink as well.
What a great party and what an amazing turnout, I guess if it was my time I would much rather have the party before hand than after when I couldn't enjoy it.
If this truly is Sylvia's time to go, then I hope she knows just how much we have all been blessed by having her in our lives for whatever it is she has brought to us as a mother, friend, teacher, healer and compassionate human being. WE LOVE YOU SYL.

Mr.C

Still at home (meaning Vancouver Island/ Vancouver). I have had an extremely relaxed and uneventful time while being here. And one of the pleasures I have had is seeing old friends. Namely Mr.C my former art teacher from grades 9, 10 and 12. I was telling him that I hardly remember any of my other teachers good or bad, so it must be a good sign that I fondly remember his classes, even if he was a big grump sometimes.
He was the kind of guy you would be either scared of or not in class but in the end he was a great teacher and friend, and a huge inspiration for myself and quite a few others I knew, he always let us focus our talents as we saw fit. And I am pretty sure I am not the only one who was touched by his ability to pull out the best of us during our time in his class.
We met for some Serious coffee one morning while I have been back and it turned into a 4 hour chat about everything under the sun, really great!
Mr. C enjoy your retirement and thanks for all those years of pushing us to be our best, even if we had to listen to CCR during it.
THANKS!

Home Sweet Home

I am back in Canada now since Wedensday, it was an uneventfull flight and trip thank goodness, even if I had to return as a Brit and stand in the longer customs line it is just so nice.
I have come back to spend some time with my family and friends, and to attend what should be a crazy celebration of life party for our friend Sylvia. She says it should be a reminder and celebration to everyone who will come that life is not to be wasted but we all know it is for her.
I arrived yesterday, took a taxi to the ferry enjoyed the ferry trip in the sun and then got picked up by my parents and after som,e shopping and coffee came home.
I have been swimming in a beautiful river, seen 2 live deers in the back yard and just been enjoying the sites and smells of summer here. Yesterday I was in Victoria met with my Brother saw his friend Matt who is also a miracle on legs. This kid a fw years back was just getting back to school, had enough talent to be a fantastic graphic artist and a great surfer to boot. Drove off the road one night coming home from work and ended up in a coma and later a wheel chair having being told he would most likely never walk. He does now, he has regained his speech and many of his motor skills. Of course he is not good as new but he is still alive and able to function in life. It is just so sad.
After Eric and I went for lunch and window shopped, I amused myself by watching all these girls throw themselves at my baby brother in a 3 block radius, I headed over to my friend Paul's for an appointment.
Paul and I have known each other for years since I was about 18 I guess, he has been cutting my hair since then as well, and it is a nice way to catch up with my friend in Victoria when I am back. Afterwards we went for a quick bite to eat before I headed home. So nice great looking hair and a good visit as well. Oh and Paul is the one who took the best portraits of me ever!! He is also an extremely good photographer. Pity I have not updated those pages in forever!
It may sound boring to some, but this is home sweet home to me.

Ali Warhol

I know it has been way to long since my last blog, but man I have been running around like mad and also extremely busy. A few weeks ago I turned down a night of dancing to stay at home because my body was telling me to.
Good thing too, the next day I felt as though every joint in my body had been stiffened with out any exercise at all. I guess it was a flu without the stuffy head business. And way on top of that I had to go to the dentist because I know there was something wrong in my mouth, and sure enough the only tooth in my mouth to ever give me trouble has had it's last days, it pretty much has to come out, initially I was not happy about that but then thought hey it is a bothersome tooth why not say adios to it and have it done with?
Then my boss and 50% of my colleagues have been away on their summer holidays, for me this is the best time of year to get things done without too much distraction. Mostly this concept has worked and I have been trying to finish all the projects that I don't get to often enough because when everyone is here it can be kaos.
Last night I was at a leaving do for three colleagues, it was quite interesting one from the UK, one from Australia and one from Cairo, Egypt and his name is Ali.
Now Ali is The Man, this young guy comes from a very interesting family in Cairo and he has set out to gain experience in the big wide world and see where it takes him, and yet he hardly knows the first thing about his ancient ancestors. Aside from that I think he has done quite well for himself, made many friends here in NL, has traveled and has won the hearts of many of us male and female alike with his good nature and pleasant company. According to popular ledgend he is just as popular and liked in his home town, and friends of mine who have met with him there tell me to be a friend of Ali's can do no harm.
Helen had a brilliant idea for his leaving card and I had the photoshop to do it. Imagine if you will a strapping young lad with a head hair that resembles a brown sunburst of varying thickness and curls, very cool.
All the guys in the office have told him to get it cut and some have (I'm guessing they are either jealous of the quantity or know whets in store from their own gene pool) tried bribery, most of the girls think it is just darn cool. I have make Ali promise me that he will not cut it off for anything less than €200. So Helen's idea was to take a photo ofAli'ss head and then make him like a Warhol painting, pretty cool huh? I have decided to print one and hang it in my house cause it is so dam cool.
Needless to say it was a big hit, Ali himself kept saying how much he loved the poster and that it was the best card he has ever received in his life, now if that is not the nicest thing to hear.

Fusion Festival

It has taken me a whole week to write about this experience I had last weekend, number one because I was so dam tired after getting back and had so much to do I could not make the time, the second reason was also because it was so much to take in it has taken me this long to sort through my thoughts and memories.
It started by me getting to Bremen on Wed evening a few hours later than I wanted, but it was really nice to see my Guddi-Girl again, she we had not managed to catch up since sometime in Dec or Jan last year. Far too long.
Thursday it was decided that she was feeling better enough to go to the party so I shopped for food and drinks and she cleaned out the van and about 4 hours after we decided to go, we left picking up Henning along the way, Henning was also a Fusion virgin so nice to have a newbie with us for the ride.
It took us I think 4.5 hours to get to the part of former East Germany where the party is held "einmal jahrlich punklich sein" (sorry I don't have Umlauts on my laptop) It is a great piece of land, a former Soviet Air Base with covered earthen hangers for the MIG's and such. We came off the autobahn and just a few klms down the road came across the craziest traffic jam ever! It took us another 4.5 hours to just to the the entrance of the place in total a 5 km crawl, and then 6 rows of cars trying to get into the camping place it was total kaos! We were met by Sascha who got us into the back stage and Friends area near the "workshop" hanger and luckily did not have to get again into a line to try and find a camping spot in the middle of the darkness.. thank goodness!!!!
Deciding to just get it over with and set up the tent and car we finished just as the sun was rising and greeting us for the day. At first we were alittle sad that we were not near any of our friends, but after seeing how they were all crammed in like sardines we quickly became happy that we had the place we did, and that it was quiet (I actually did not have to sleep with ear plugs for the first time in years at a party) I think we had a few people drop by and say hello, had a few drinks and then GG and I tried to get some sleep.
Waking up on Friday late in the morning was great, I felt totally fresh and ready to go. I think we had a couple of more visitors and then decided to go have a look at the land.


Each year it is basically the same layout with the Main Rocket stage being in one of the hangers, the Lake stage, Tower stage and the Shoebox and Datscha stages each inside the hangers, as well as a new Tent Stage this year. There is also a movie theater and performance theater as well as some kind of living arts "Free Radical" bar each, inside hangers. The Goa dance area is nicely tucked away at the other end of the festivities, and thankfully we mostly don't have to listen to the music or see the day glow colours.
As Guddi and I were walking along the area I was telling her I could hear a horse, after about three times we saw it come around the corner. It was incredible made from all kinds of metal and parts it came rolling down the road. It's head, ears, neck could all move wow. If I can figure out the add photo feature of this program you'll get to see it as well.













Then as we were strolling across the land we ran into Andy and Mandy.... White Tennis rim, light blue and pink velour jogging suites, white tube socks with stripes tucked into the suites and blue shower flip flops. I can't exactly tell you why it was disturbing to see but it was, especially later when they came to visit us at Gudrun's van and looked like they belonged in front of the fore-tent with it's 80's coloured curtains.



I don't remember a lot from Sat afternoon and evening. I remember running into Matthias and then after a few drinks I really needed to get some sleep.
Sat morning I really just needed to relax, some friends from Bremen came by for a visit and a drink. I was reading my new book Transmission which reminds me a lot of Douglas Coupland's style but a good story and kept me reading.
Later we wandered over to our Bremen friends' for a BBQ and then went to see New Model Army play. It was pretty cool, having not really knowing their music, then we went over to the Tower hanger and met with Steffi and Sandra to listen to the music there Jake Fairley which was also good, then we had a cocktail and went to get something warmer on. Later I ended up wandering around the whole night with Matthias and taking photos, which was great to have a DP (Director of Photography) until the sun came up.









We stopped by Bar 25 which was tucked into a nice little forest glade and found that Sven Dhose was holding court there in a pretty Naff outfit. He saw my camera and I could swear was posing for me. So I pretended to be like a Paparazzi and took a photo of him from the back. The Bar 25 apparently is the new hot spot in Berlin where everyone goes to see and be seen, but it was nice to see all the crazy things that go bump in the night, but it was time for me to get some sleep and get ready for the Sunday ahead.

After a few hours sleep it was Sunday. It is strange how Sundays at the Fusion seem to hold the best memories for me. The amazing weather, the melon bowl and great music. Everyone seems to gather at the dance floor on Sunday afternoon. All the lovely people from Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin. This is the time I guess we catch up with those people who you had not yet seen.
After a trip back to the van and a refill of the Bowl and of course reapplying sun cream the afternoon flew by, my dear friend Dirk came along and asked if Sandra and I would like to visit with Herr Dr Hoffman, which I decided might actually be a fun way to end the party. I remember at one point the DJ was mixing some Pink Floyd and it made me remember that Live 8 was probably going on at that point and that for the first time in 25 years Pink Floyd were playing together again. What a cool thing.


The Lake stage shutting used to mean, that everyone would slowly make their way back to their camping and then maybe the Shoebox, but not anymore. The party still goes on. We did go back to the camping place and relax for a while before heading off to see the end concert with the singer from NMA. But for me the place was too hot and sticky to stay so Sandra, Christian and I all headed off to the Datscha hanger where there was also some good music going on. We promptly lost Christian in the crowd so we headed up stairs and found a nice comfy sofa to sit on and look out on the land from what I can best describe a apres ski balcony. After some time, we realized that we might loose out spot if we leave to go get drinks, but then Robert, Dirk and Oli showed up and we asked Dirk if he would be so kind a to get the beers for us. He was. So again we had nice seats and cold beers and a great view. At one point Dirk wanted Whiskey so I walked with him over to the camping place because I knew where the bottle was, and then we walked back. We found Sandra and Oli asleep, so more adventures came and we climbed up the side of the rocket hanger but sadly the rocket was locked, and then back towards the camping place and found Christian and some stupid loud girl who thought I was Dutch but they were headed over to the Bar 25, but that was a little boring so I showed Dirk the Hobbit town behind the Lake Stage and then wandered back towards our camping places. We found Sandra back there chatted with her for awhile and then decided it was enough and went to sleep.

Of course we only could sleep a few hours, Dirk had to catch his ride back, but we woke to a nice breakfast from Sascha and slowly began taking the tents apart and packing the van. It was so hot. I don't remember when we left but we stopped several times on the way back to Bremen, because I was driving and I needed some good breaks. We even got pulled over by the police for a control, and although that was more than a little stressfull it all worked out cause we had all the necessary stuff on hand. They also asked me (the driver) if in the last day I had taken any drugs or alcohol, I said "In the last day? No sir not today" So they tested my eyes with a flashlight and sent us on our way. Just before we got to Bremen we drove into a CRAZY storm where you could hardly see the road before you and the wind was blowing really hard onto the van. It lasted maybe only 15 min but it felt much much longer.
After getting home, unpacking the van with all the necessary things we all took turns having showers and drank some wine and then fell asleep.
The next morning we relaxed a little and then I made my way to the train station narrowly catching it, and then again in Osnabreuck. But I got back to Den Haag around 7:30 and ran into my friend Alex who gave me the run down on the Live Aid concerts on the tram ride home. I still had time to wash my clothes and relax before going to sleep.
Sigh it was over in just a flash, I wish I had time to go to the Nations of Godwana but I doubt I can make it again before I head off to Canada for the 3 weeks in Aug. I guess it will have to be the Sea U Site at the end of Aug.

Rockin' Park

This is where I spent my Sunday last weekend. I went because to be honest I had a press pass and with the bribe that if I wrote a few words about it I would get in for free. For me the the line up was not interesting enough to even consider buying a ticket, but I thought why not if it was for nothing. All the acts at the two main stages were quite famous but I found the mix to be to eclectic for the many different people they were trying to draw. And then who in their right minds hold a festival concert on the exact same day as Park Pop, the 25 year institution held in The Hague for FREE?! I guess the numbers speak for themselves. 35,000 people in Nijmegen and over 350,000 in the ZuiderPark in the Hague.

We got to Goffertpark and could hear Krezip on stage, I like this little lowlander band, they have spunk and don't seem to sound like all the other Dutch girl bands out there, and they did a rocking version of (Britanny's) Toxic as well to finish up their set.
Just after we got our passes sorted out Simple Plan was about to hit the big double stage. I had only heard of these guys but then found out that they were not only from Montreal, Canada but they seemed to have more energy than was allowable by law on stage, they worked for their audience. Reminiscent of Blink 182 and other such from that genera and not at all like the other Canadian bands that I have been hearing lately such as the Dears, Metric, Broken Social Scene and New Porographers.
Next came Queens of the Stone Age on the other side of the double stage. I am not at all sure why exactly this band has rose to stardom in the last years. I find their music not at all interesting nor their "talent" worthy of all the attention they get. Oh well it takes all kinds I guess.
Then the strangest band on the bill Jamie Cullum, there is no doubt this kid has talent for singing the blues standards, but what the heck was he doing at a ROCK concert? He is booked usually for events such as the North Sea Jazz Festival. I really wonder if the organizers of this even knew who they were booking or they picked haphazardly the acts to fit their schedule.
Keane came next, these guys are also quite popular these days, and I'm not sure why.... exactly. I like the fact there is no bass player in the band and the guys plays the keys which are front and sideways on the stage in barefeet. But other than that his voice is so Arrggg, and to me the music sounds so much the same. I must mention their back drop though, it was quite special and looked to be by the same artist who did the cover for a lesser known Brit band Martin Gretch.

During Keane I headed down to the Tent stage for Interpol. One of my favorite new bands from New York. They were on my iPod when I got it from Wes and I was hooked from the beginning. They also remind me of bands such as The Dears, The Shins and The New Pornographers, somehow the New-new Pop-Rock sound that is out there.

I decided to stay near the tent as I was not that interested in watching Lenny Kravitz nor R.E.M. and was much more intrigued with Nine Inch Nails who were due next in the tent. While we were waiting for than LK came on up the hill on the main stage, I have never really been a fan, but can imagine he probably used to be quite a force on stage, now it seemed fairly wooden. I just heard a lot of noise, and although he was scheduled for 1.5 hours. He wasted at least 10 min walking off and getting back on for an "encore" what a gyp for those people who came to see him play.
Just around the same time NIN started, so did R.E.M. as they moved up their slot a bit earlier. I am guess the majority of people who are big fans of REM are not so into a band like NIN, who have not seemed to slowed down in their stage presence nor energetic and aggressive music... Wow! There was guitars flying into the photo pit, and drum kits nearly being knocked over.
Meanwhile up the hill was a fairly big production for REM, having never seen them I am sure it was a good show. Michael Stipe was wearing his zoro mask and seemed to be doing ok. But I was glad to be down near the tent watching all that testosterone fly about.

Over-all mood of the festival, mellow, quiet and laid back. It just seemed to be lacking some sort of umpff in the line-up. By the time NIN and REM were not even half way through their sets, it looked as though at least 1/4 of the park had emptied out.
Maybe next year they will manage a bit more continuity and draw more people... Perhaps not as many as the ZuiderPark still but you never know.
The photo is of a guy who managed to jump into my frame at the exact moment I was taking a photo... actually it is perfectly framed and quite funny!

I Love Metric!

Metric showed up at a crazy little pub in Rotterdam opening for another Canadian band Broken Social Scene. Metric from the second they stepped on stage were alive and energetic and wow'ed the pants off us.. I did not think a person could move like that and play and sing all at the same time. In fact I was lucky enough to be able to take photos and have some rocking shots of the band that were not actaully totally blurred... I mailed some for the website of Rotown but I am not sure when they might be put up, and Metric have also gotten back to me since and said they love the shots and will put them on their website.. so Yay!











Either way they were amazing live, only sad thing was no Combat Baby.

Broken Social Scene on the other hand was like watching some guys jamming in their garage and smoking a little too much of the wacky tabacky. There was at least 10 people on the tiny stage and including the bass and guitar player from Metric, it had a reminiscence of PHISH or one of those jam bands like The Dead. Emily even got up and sang with the band one song, which made their music actually interesting. The first few songs were ok then they really all started to sound the same. In fact I think maybe they should have stayed in their garage and actually finished a song before going out on tour... and then to amaze me even further most of the people there were young 20 somethings who were really into the band and many who had never heard of Metric. Well I hope they were educated!
But myself and my friends who went were happy to see Metric play on a Monday night and still be able to get home to bed before 12.

Puma Fever!

It is pretty crazy when a whole country is talking about a Puma sighting, I can imagine back in the 50's when things like Big Foot and UFO stories became things of legends because of gossip and speculation. Now with our high speed technology and perhaps nothing else news worthy to talk about... Iraq, poverty, 3rd world debt.
Granted the Netherlands does not have any larger animals running wild much bigger than a small deer but wow the speculation and the Puma Fever is great! I was on a bike ride last weekend and at a stop light, a little boy was asking his daddy about puma's and were they as big as a pony and his dad said as big as a large dog.
The fact is that most Canadians I know have never seen an live one outside a zoo. I have been so lucky and have seen two in my life on Vancouver Island where I grew up and where oldly enough
Then the speculation happens, a zoologist was quoted as saying that it was almost impossible and it was most likely a Lynx because Lynx have been spotted across the border in Germany.
Anyway judging by the very blurry photo through the link in the title it could very well be a puma or a panther or a hybrid Big Cat.. or just a mud covered dirty Puma trying to cool itself off from the heat.
However you look at it, if it has survived this long (apparently 5 years) in the Veluwe then leave it be, If someone trying to emigrate to Holland either through asylum or something like it, stays 5 years then they automatically are given a permit.. why not the PUMA? He/ She has not killed any young children that we know of or eaten someone's livestock leave it alone!

Constantine

I just watched this movie. It was actually quite a good story pity it scored so low on the IMDB. I think it was because the ending was not exactly mushy hollywood BS. But i liked the idea of the guy who was born with a gift and keeps messing it up thinking he will get absolution and yet it is all about his own in-ability to believe in what he actually knew existed... he knew it was there but did not have faith.. Keanu was actaully really good in the role as well, I think he know his limits and sticks to what he can...and he does it well.

The special effects and dialogue are very good and the story is very much like the The Prophecy it hardly made a mark or at least scored the same low 6.4 on the IMDB.. very odd.

Besides the interesting story I particularly liked it because not only was Eric Stoltz great as Simon but also we got a taste of a very wicked Viggo Mortensen YUM!

flipflopflying

Normally I don't have a lot of time to cruise the net and spend my working hours checking stuff out (cough) but this guy's blog speaks to me from the heart. Turns out we cover alot of the same topics as well, the only real difference is he lives in the Uber-cool-city of Berlin... oh the irony!
Check out his other site http://www.flipflopflyin.com/ full of all sorts of fun and games....
cheers Helen

Cancer

And I am not talking about the zodiac sign. I am talking about that thing that can creep up on a body and eat it from the inside out. Well I just got news about our friend Sylvia, she went for another catscan after she returned to Canada and they just told her that it has spread through her body. She was so resilient to the chemo they did not think it wise to put her through that again and that perhaps she should just live her life to the fullest as long as she can. This is a huge blow to myself, my family and I am sure to the rest of everybody who are a part of Sylvias life. None of us can really comprehend just how our lives would be without her around. The Entry A little taste of home was all about this amazing person.
Of course you can say that Life if not fair and why some people and not others. Michiel's dad has had both Lung and colon cancer in the last 6 years and has come away quite ok from both. Another 2 colleagues of mine have both gone through breast cancer as well in the last years and both come away fit as well. I guess it is just in the stars.
So I encourage you all to go out and live each day a full as you can make the most of life and don't for a second take it for granted.
I am planning on going home in a few weeks. I want to be there with my family and friends and spend some more quality time with them while there still is. Life does suck just a little sometimes you have to wonder if it really is left to the stars.

Garbage

The funny thing about seeing this band as well as Duran Duran this week was the only thing they had in common besides coming from the UK is that they both have done pretty cool James Bond soundtrack songs.
The Concert was rocking and a beautiful 1 hour and 15 min. I really don't mind that as long as I feel I was entertained. Shirley knows how to rock! I like the new album Bleed like Me as well it has some great songs on it. And now I can also tick them off of my list of bands I would like to see play live. Sorry no link, I could not find one that was obvious.

Simon, Nick, John, Rodger and Andy

Last Tuesday night we went to see the boys bring back some of the hits from the 80's and more recent songs from the new album.
I actually had seen them back in 1997 in Los Angeles playing a promo gig in the parking lot of Tower Records, by pure chance I happened to be working that week in LA and there they were. This weeks' concert was a Half & Half effort. Half of what they played was great and exciting and the other half was lackluster and boring. Oh well I was there for a show and I got one more or less. Nice to hear some of the oldies that brought me back to junior high and the other songs from the new CD Astronaut that I actually really like.