Blue Monday

Last weekend was PERFECT and I'll tell you all about it later on, but the weekend before wasn't that bad at all either thanks to Date With The Night in Oudenaarde, a rock 'n roll party with my friends from Bible Club and Dilly Boys. I had a very good time, the music was excellent, had good mates around me, AND they had Union Jacks for me to dance with - nuff said.

(the first five pictures are mine, the rest is by the official photographer, Maxim Solomaniuck.

If you weren't real I would make you up

Can't give you my promised pictures from Hindu Nights as I forgot to put my memory card back into my camera (very clever), but here are some pictures taken by friends of mine + an excellent vid by Manu (I'm in it twice, won't tell you when though!), who always manages to capture Make Up Club nights as they actually were. Fucking amazing, that is.

(damn it, those larger youtube screens, if you want to see the entire screen you'll have to click on it)

Most played (16)

1. The Leisure Society - We were wasted


2. The Boxer Rebellion - Soviets (am totally embarrased that I can't remember them being the support act for Editors two years ago in Schaarbeek, especially since I can remember the other support, which was clearly not as good as this band)


3. The Chapman Family - Virgins


4. Pearl Jam - The Fixer (might sound weird, but this is the first Pearl Jam song I actually like)


5. Röyksopp ft. Karin Dreijer - This must be it

We are the last beatniks, the lost heretics

I'd been promising Filip for a while that I would come over to Leuven for a fair bit of party pleasure at some point, and well yeah, so I did last week.

We started out by drinking some beers and watching the Olympiakos - Standard game in Filip's regular student pub, which was fun, even though the game's result wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. Then it was time to practice some sports ourselves. With 'ourselves' I mean Filip and his mates, who had to defend their faculty in a 24h run between the different uni faculties. I was allowed to run myself as well, but since my shoes weren't really appropriate for such an activity, I decided to put all of my energy in cheering (and catching up with Sam, the other Filip and Jeroen from high school). Something I clearly still need to work on, because Filip's faculty did not win. ;)

We ended the night in the Seven Oaks, a pub that goes beyond your imagination (a while ago, I used a less flattering description, but Filip & co couldn't really appreciate that), and danced the night away. :)

Not a cult.

The Chapman Family are in my opinion not only THE band to keep an eye out for, they also have the best merchandising I've seen in a while. I so want a 'not a cult' bag or t-shirt.

High class girls hung in elevators

Hurray, I've got my ticket for Paul McCartney in Cologne!! I'm so excited - I've been walking around like I'm on speed the entire day (the people who know me in real life will definitely get the correct mental picture whilst reading this), and the fact that there's a Hindu Nights in Ghent this evening doesn't make it any better. As usual, I'm going to take plenty of pictures so I can share them with you, but in the meantime you can watch the pics from Heebiejeebies, two weeks ago at the Make Up Club.

MACCA!

Paul McCartney's touring through Europe in December! Yeey! But, typically, he's not coming to Belgium this time. :( Since I'm dying to see him play, I'm considering going to one of the gigs in other countries, with Cologne and Paris on top of my list. No idea how much the tickets are (only found prices for London and Dublin) and how or when I'm supposed to order them, though. To be continued!

In the meantime, this is Macca making mashed potatoes:

This home is more than bricks and mortar

This year's buys at the Brussels book fair (all together for less than 19 euros!):

- Michael Palin's travel book on his adventures in the Sahara

- The Beatles Anthology

- The Beatles biography by Bob Spitz

For I haven't got the room in my head for these things

So what's going on lately?

- I've found a job I can practice whilst still being a student. It's a copywriting job which involves me writing commercial texts on the most divergent topics. I'm so glad I decided not to do an internship so I can do this job.

- In one of my other lives - the one as a student - I've started working on my master paper. It's about the way Russia is represented in Flemish newspapers during the eight years under Putin. I've always wanted to do research concerning Russia and/or Putin, and I might even prefer this topic over the one I picked for my bachelor paper (on the tactics and strategies McCain and Obama used in their three presidential debates).

- I've booked my Eurostar tickets to London!! I'm going there for six days mid-November. I'm staying over at a friend's place and there's heaps of things I want to do!

- I'm in one of my Editors phases. They occur about each time Editors release a new single/release a new album/play a gig I'm going to/or just for no special reason, except for the fact that I am completely in love with their music. Their new album 'In This Light And On This Evening' is simply brilliant - it's the record of the year and you should feel obliged to listen to it!!

- Remember my Finnish friend Ann-Sofi? Sadly she left Belgium a couple of months ago after working here as an au-pair for almost a year. But last week she was back in our country for a couple days and of course we had to meet up. We had some great chats and of course our dearly beloved Australian Ice Cream. :)

- It seriously freaks me out how many relatively young people are dying lately. Stephen Gately (my childhood idol), Frank Vandenbroucke, Felice, Michael Jackson, Yasmine... When does it end?

- It's suddenly getting a lot colder over here in Belgium. Days are getting shorter and the evenings and nights are really chilly. I'll probably get tired of it soon, but for now I'm quite enjoying this change in climate. I love buying new winter's clothes and I'm infected by the christmas fever already! The perfect soundtrack for this new atmosphere? The Leisure Society!

Most played (15)

1. Snow Patrol - Just Say Yes


2. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man


3. The Raveonettes - Last Dance


4. Air - Sing Sang Sung


5. Noisettes - Never Forget You

I won't be ok and I won't pretend I am

Before the Make Up Club party I told you about in my previous post, I had a very nice day in Ghent.

Since a couple of weeks, I'm completely addicted to this website called Travbuddy. It's a website which allows travel-loving people to exchange travel tips, write travel blogs, meet people to travel with or to meet up with during their travels. I'd been exchanging messages with a British guy called Daniel. He was about to visit Belgium for one week, so we decided to meet up.

I showed him around Ghent, although it didn't take that long before we ended up in a cosy local pub and had some Tongerlo's (I'm wondering why I never had Tongerlo beer before, it's amazing!) and a nice chat about music, travelling and the western view on Russia (yes, I actually àm capable of having serious conversation!). Later on, we met up with Olga, Daniel's girlfriend who usually lives in Latvia but who is currently doing an internship in Bruges for a couple of months. We did another little tourist tour and then headed back to the pub where we had some more great talks about travelling, languages and the reasons why Daniel should buy Olga flowers. I had a great time, Daniel and Olga both turned out to be absolutely amazing people.

It kicks like a sleep twitch!

Working at the airport for a month somewhat murdered my social life, but now I'm back. To celebrate this, I went out in Ghent and had another great night at the Make Up Club. Can't believe I hadn't been there since August, must be a record!

In the following pictures: dancing crowd, Sis and Christophe, Sam, Elien.

I don't see myself when I look into your eyes - thank god for that

The gig season is back on. It took me a while to get out of the festival atmosphere, but now indoor gigs feel right again. I went to see Explosions In The Sky earlier this month, but last week felt like the real start of the new gig season. First up were Reverend And The Makers (Botanique) and Starsailor (AB), and neither of them dissapointed.

Reverend And The Makers were catchy, energetic and bold in a way a rock band should be. Singer Jon McClure seemed to quite impressed by the Belgian audience (something that doesn't happen too often) and took us outside ("You, me, outside!") to play some more acoustic tunes (including The Beatles' 'Revolution') in the beautiful Botanique gardens. Was an awesome night, good music and a lot of friends around.

Starsailor was pretty amazing as well. They sound a lot live like they do on their albums, which is usually a thing I don't like that much, because you go to gigs to get something slightly different from what you already have on a compact disc. I didn't mind it with Starsailor though, because James Walsh seemed so passionated whilst singing. It's hard to believe that a band with so much love for what they do is going to split (at least for a while).

Mind is a razorblade

+ Known as: Laura
+ Born: 21/12/1988
+ Hair colour: dark brown
+ eye: dark brown

SECTION 2 - HAVE YOU EVER
+ Fallen off the bed?: yes, still got trauma’s
+ Broken someone else's heart?: yes
+ Had your heart broken?: yes
+ Had a dream come true?: yes

SECTION 3 - CURRENTLY...
+ Wearing: black skinny jeans, yellow-black blocked shirt
+ Listening to: Bat For Lashes
+ Located: in front of my dad’s computer, mine’s broken :(
+ Chatting with: nobody, not really the msn kind of person
+ Should REALLY be: working on my master paper topic

SECTION 4 - DO YOU...
+ Have any piercings: no, not even earrings
+ Drive: no
+ Drink: yes (no comments, Bart/Filip!!)
+ Have a cell phone: yes

SECTION 5 - LAST PERSON YOU...
+ Hugged: my sister Iris
+ IMed: ??
+ Talked with on the phone: dad
+ Text: Wing-Ling

SECTION 6 - PERSONAL...
+ What do you want to be when you grow up? Music journalist :)
+ What comes first in your life? Music, friends, family.
+ What do you usually think about before you go to bed? The previous and the next day.

SECTION 7- FAVORITES
+ Show: Six Feet Under, Flight of the Conchordes
+ Store: any decent cd store, Mango, Zara
+ Food: Chinese and Italian
+ Color: blue, black, red

SECTION 8 - DO YOU...
+ Like to give hugs: yes
+ Like to walk in the rain: yes
+ Prefer black or blue: blue just as a colour, black for clothing
+ Sleep on your side: yes
+ Have stuffed animals: yes

SECTION 9- THIS OR THAT...(pick)
+ Pierced nose or tongue: nose
+ MTV or BET: MTV
+ 7th Heaven or Dawson’s Creek: Dawson’s Creek (but not a fan of either)
+ Chocolate or flowers: chocolate
+ Colour or black-and-white photos: colour
+ Stay up late or sleep in: stay up late
+ Hot or cold: cold
+ Sun or moon: moon
+ Left or Right: left
+ 10 Acquaintances or one best friend: one best friend
+ Spring or Fall: spring
+ Happy or sad: happy
+ Wonder or amazement: amazement

SECTION 10: FIRSTS.
First Screen Name: can’t remember
First self purchased CD: Spice Girls
First pet: fish called Sarah
First piercing/tattoo: none

SECTION 11: LASTS.
Last GOOD cry: a while ago probably, cause I can’t remember
Last phone call: dad
Last time showered: yesterday evening

SECTION 12: CURRENT.
Current mood: relaxed
Current food: just had a Kinder Bueno
Current hair: like usual
Current annoyance(s): my broken computer :(

SECTION 13: WHO LAST...
1. Made you smile: Daniel (his postcard, to be exact)
2. Saw you cry? parents and sister

SECTION 14: WOULD YOU RATHER..
1. Be serious or be funny? Depends on the situation
2. Drink whole or skim milk? skim
3. Spend time with your parents or enemies? parents

SECTION 15: DO YOU PREFER...
1. Do you prefer gray or black? black
2. Lust or love? Love (no problems with lust, though)
3. Sunrise or sunset? sunset
4. M&M's or skittles? M&M’s

SECTION 16: ANSWER TRUTHFULLY...
1. Do you like anyone? yes
2. Do you believe in love at first sight? yes
3. Do you fall for the wrong guy or girl? Most of the time/always

Most played (14)

1. Editors - Papillon


2. Jamie T - Sticks 'n' Stones


3. Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart


4. The XX - Chrystalised


5. Absynthe Minded - Envoi

Mother Superior jump the gun

Being (or at least trying to be) the best big sister ever, it is of course my duty to promote 'Watch it go...bling!' - the blog my sister Iris and her best friend Liselot founded the other day. Check it out!

You're still my friend, it's impossible to hate you

Another day trip (this time with my parents and their long-time friends Flor and Ursula, my sis was at school) to Lille on a day off from work. The sun was shining and everything was perfect.

(btw, that darling sheep was a present from Ursula to my sister, who had her birthday a day earlier)

Who is right, who can tell, and who gives a damn right now

I'm having a day off from work and spent the last hour and a half watching Grant Gee's Joy Division documentary. It's by far the best music docu I've ever seen and I think I even prefer it over 'Control' (Anton Corbijn's movie on Ian Curtis). The live footage and interviews (with Tony Wilson, the other JD members, Ian's Belgian girlfriend Annik...) are simply amazing.

A touch of genius

For those who didn't get to see the US Open semi-finale between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (and also for those who did, because it's still great), Roger's amazing between the legs shot:



It's not the first time he pulls a trick like that. This was a couple of months ago against Andy Roddick:



(haha, look at Roger smiling at the end of the video)

But I know I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

Wednesday was the birthday of my lovely sister Iris, who turned 16. I remember desperately wanting to be 16 when I was a kid, of course inspired by way too many American teenage series. When come to think of it, I'm enjoying things a lot more now than when I actually was 16. Nevertheless, I also have many great memories of that time and I'm wishing my sis lots and lots of those! Some pictures of the celebration.

In the evening, I met up with Sam - a very good friend from back in high school - for an Explosions In The Sky gig at the Rivierenhof (shame I haven't got a good pic of it, because it's an incredibly beautiful venue, sort of an open air amfitheatre in the middle of the woods).