Monday 29 June 2009

I've got the thing you won't admit to

I had my last exam on Friday and although I will probably only get my results sometime between this and two weeks, I won't fail to have a good time in the meantime. I started out with the motown party Heebie Jeebies on Friday night, my first party at Make Up in ages (as in two months). I was sooo up for a party, and it was a really good nite until I became the eh, victim of a bad mix of beer, cava, martini, cocktail and sunbathing earlier that day (really, people as pale as me shouldn't do that - ever). Poor Bart and Filip ended up with a very sick version of myself, which was pretty embarrasing and not something I'm willing to repeat. Here are some pictures from before the blackout:



Friday 26 June 2009

R.I.P. Michael

You can think whatever you want of him, but he made some pretty damn good tunes and will be missed a lot.

Monday 22 June 2009

He's a dedicated follower of fashion

By the way, have you seen Roger's new Wimbledon outfit? Most stylish tennis player ever, without a doubt!


Warm me up and breathe me

I saw the last Six Feet Under episode two nights ago. It was a great finale for a brilliant series. If you haven't seen it yet, I can recommend you this excellent series about a family-owned funeral home and the lives of the family members living there. It shows very well-drawn characters, non-cliché storylines and beautiful visuals and music choices.





Thursday 18 June 2009

Between the click of the light and the start of the dream

I was feeling pretty down a couple of hours ago, and my typical way of cracking myself up is planning fun stuff to do. That might not be the smartest thing to do while you're in the middle of your exam period, but ah well, so be it. I already had a lot of plans for the upcoming summers (a couple of festivals, trips with my parents and sis to the Côte d'Azur and Dublin, loads of parties...) but I hadn't yet decided on where my 'solo trip' would bring me to this year. So after a bunch of research, I have set my mind on Stockholm. If you live there or have been there yourself, feel free to share your good advice with me. :)
I hate it when the past is catching up with me. I wish it was easier to forget.

Saturday 13 June 2009

The power of listening to what you don't want me to know

So, what's new? I'm in the middle of my exams, two down and three to go. The first one was an oral exam that went really well (I saw the professor write down a 16/20), the second one was a written exam and I'm not sure about how I did on that one. I've finally received the score for my bachelor paper and I can say I am pretty happy with my 14/20, especially considering most people didn't even hand in their paper.

Next exam is up on Monday, then I'll have to wait nine days for another one. Exams can be such a drag, a good study soundtrack has to pull me through the long days behind my desk. A small selection for you:

T.Rex - Cosmic Dancer


Status Quo - Ice In The Sun


Tori Amos & Damien Rice - The Power Of Orange Knickers


Manic Street Preachers - Little Baby Nothing


Air - Playground Love

I never said I was deep

A while ago I went to the 'Rome party' at my old high school with my sister and her best friend Liselot.

Four years ago, when I was in my last year at high school, me and Guy (an ex-Latin teacher and still a good friend of mine) organised the party for the first time as an addition to the last year's students trip to Rome. The concept was a completely Italian party, with ice cream, pizza etc. It was a huge success, and so were the two following editions (even more, because the ex-students came back every year).

Now, for some fuzzy reason, the principal of the school had decided the party couldn't be organised at school any longer. Fortunately, a lovely girl who is currently in her last year at the school, transferred the party to the large shed at the back of her house.

It turned out to be a very nice evening, with yummy tiramisu, lasagna and wine (not as much as last year though - good thing!). Even a bonfire! I was also very pleased to see some of my ex-class mates came over as well.












Sunday 7 June 2009

Roland Garros week 2


I could write a complete report on the highlights of the second week at Roland Garros, but I won't. I know there are some people I should do more justice (Del Potro, Söderling, Gonzalez...) but I can't deny there's only one thing I really want to say right now: ROGER FEDERER HAS WON ROLAND GARROS! This is such a beautiful moment in sports history. Roger now won his first Roland Garros, his "career slam" (which means he's already won each grand slam at least once) and he equalled Pete Sampras's record of 14 (!!!) grand slams!

He managed to do this by beating Robin Söderling (the "Nadal-slayer" but also the unexpected killer of Davydenko and Gonzalez) in straight sets. Söderling fought bravely, but Federer played his best matched of the tournament and let's be honest, nobody knows how to handle Roger when he uses his best tennis. We all know what Roger is capable of, but the big question was if he would be able to cope with the stress now there was so much at stake. That didn't seem a problem at all, though, and so the Swiss managed to finally get what he deserves more than anyone. He was crying from happiness when he scored the deciding point, and I was crying along as I was so happy for him. I can't wait to see what happens now. I think this victory will take away a lot of stress for Roger, which should be a really good thing for his play.

Well done, Rog!


Monday 1 June 2009

Roland Garros week 1

When Grand Slam tennis is on, I'm always glued in front of the television screen, exams or no exams. No exception to that rule was last week, the first week of Roland Garros 2009. It was a very interesting tennis week, with a significant amount of top class matches and some very unexpected losses. The highlights:


- Last year's champion and also favourite for this year's title, Rafael Nadal, rushed through the first three rounds (beating Daniel and crushing Gabashvili and ex-number one Hewitt), only to surprisingly lose in the fourth round against Swedish subtop player Söderling.

- Novak Djokovic was supposed to be one of the most important outsiders to challenge Nadal, but he didn't even survive the third round, when German clay specialist Kohlschreiber crossed his path.

- Someone who did better than expected, is Nikolai Davydenko. The Russian is of course an excellent player, but nobody really thought he already had enough match rythm to really challenge the big guys in this Slam. Wrong. Davydenko well impressed against young talents Wawrinka and Verdasco.

- However, like usual, my eyes are mainly focused on Roger Federer, who is eager to finally win Roland Garros and even Sampras's Grand Slam record. Federer had some tough matches, especially against gravel specialist Acasuso as well as this afternoon at the start of week 2, battling a strong Tommy Haas (who - we may not forget - is a former number two, and whose rather moderate ranking is only due to lots of unjuries). But fortunately there's enough to keep the hopes up. Roger already showed us some new techniques, is mentally ready for big challenges (against Haas, he returned from 0-2 to 3-2 in sets!) and still has that great touch we love so much (which he especially demonstrated against Mathieu). Come on Roger!

- The road seems to be open for Roger Federer to win his first Roland Garros now Djokovc and Rafa are out, but danger is lurking only right around the corner. Murray, Roddick, Tsonga, Monfils, Del Porto and Davydenko are only a few names to look out for.

- Women's tennis is pretty boring nowadays, lacking real champions. However, my vote for this Roland Garros goes out to Safina, who is playing excellent so far (only giving away 5 games in 4 matches!) and who kind of deserves it as well.

- When it comes down to new female talents on the horizon, I'd like to point out Larcher de Brito, a 16-year-old girl from Portugal who made it until the third round, where she lost from Rezai. It's a girl with a temper (!!) but I kind of like that commitment, and it's clear her techniques are great.