Bagels & Guns

Hold Fast

2010-08-31T18:36:00.000+02:00

picture by Chris Gray

We're thick as thieves, you know

2010-08-31T18:12:00.003+02:00

Did anyone go to see The Libertines at Reading or Leeds festivals, or one of the gigs earlier that week? I still can't believe I didn't (it's just that I can't really afford to buy festival tickets now I'll soon have to face the terrifying renting prices in London), especially after seeing these vids. The band seems on good form, the setlist is amazing, the chemistry is still there and the crowd is going wild - aaaah!

The Delaney

Carl & Pete getting all cuddly & kissy (I'm still a sucker for this)

Music When The Lights Go Out

What Became Of The Likely Lads

(3 days of) Stockholm

2010-08-28T16:09:00.008+02:00

Does it feel better than love?

2010-08-28T15:34:00.001+02:00

Here are some pictures of one of my last trips to London about a month ago.

Pics 1-6: Once again, I had a blast. I waited too long to book cheap Eurostar tickets, so I came over by bus instead. The 7.5 hour trip turned into a 10 hour trip after the bus got stuck in Calais, so Alan was already off to work when I eventually arrived. Thom and Alex were home, we had some pizza and then went to Yacht Rock at the Social, a club night entirely dedicated to the yacht rock genre (Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Journey...). I don't think it'd ever be possible to have a similar night in Belgium. Honestly - one of the best parties I've ever been to.
Pics 7-9: These were taken in the V&A museum, where I went to check out the temporary architecture exhibition that was running. Young architects were challenged to present their idea of what "a space" could and/or should look like. These were two of my favourites.
Pics 10-11: Elise and Emma were on a citytrip in London and of course we had to meet up. During day time we went for a drink and some shopping, we got back together in the evening (joined by Alan) for some good times in the Lock Tavern.
Pic 12: Alan and his special iPhone skills on the terras of a pub in Cambridge.

Most played (23)

2010-08-14T15:17:00.003+02:00

1. Tired Pony - I am a landslide

2. Mark Olson - Little bird of freedom

3. The Drums - Forever and ever amen

4. The Young Veins - Change

5. Kylie Minogue - All the lovers

I'm a landslide, don't you know?

2010-08-08T16:50:00.005+02:00

Things are getting so exciting. If everything goes as planned I'm moving to London in less than a month (6th of September). Charlotte, a girl I met whilst partying in the Make Up Club in Ghent, will be joining me. I'm looking for a job, she will be studying English for a year before trying to get into fashion school. I'm going to Stockholm tomorrow, but very short after that we're both going to London to do some house hunting, as time is running out. It's weird - I've been thinking about moving to London for such a long time, but it always felt like something that was still ages away. And now it's finally happening.

I do think the timing is right, though. I've been saving up some money so I don't have to start stressing immediately if I don't find a job right away. I've met loads of lovely friends in London during the last three years, so I don't have to worry about feeling lonely. I've found a sweet flatmate (Charlotte). I've got a wonderful boyfriend in London - we've been together for 6 months now and I'm thrilled that we won't be living 200 miles apart anymore. I feel ready to do something different from what I've been doing so far. And I know things won't always be easy and at times I'll probably wish I'd never left, but I really, really want to do this. Now.

Italy part 4

2010-08-07T15:37:00.005+02:00

12/07, 13/07

Italy part 3

2010-08-01T13:31:00.003+02:00

10/07, 11/07

Italy part 2

2010-07-31T14:13:00.004+02:00

08/07, 09/07

France/Italy part 1

2010-07-31T13:47:00.004+02:00

Chambéry, France, 06/07 and Susa, Italy, 07/07

Back

2010-07-30T17:28:00.003+02:00

Hey everyone! I hope you're all well. It's been a while, but I've got plenty of excuses - mostly including travelling. Picture proof coming up starting from tomorrow!

P.S. Good news - I officially graduated!

Most played (22)

2010-07-05T16:19:00.002+02:00

1. Delays - Unsung

2. The Morning Benders - Ceremony (New Order cover)

3. Sia - I'm in here

4. We Are Scientists - Rules don't stop

5. Menomena - Sleeping Beauty

We'll make a picture, not a scene

2010-07-05T16:14:00.004+02:00

A while ago my parents took me and my sister for a day to Vlissingen and Goes in football-crazy Holland. Such an excellent way to start the summer. I really look forward to moving to London, but am nonetheless planning on enjoying the next two months before I leave. This was a good start.

You see colours

2010-06-26T19:33:00.004+02:00

I finished what are hopefully my last exams ever a couple of days ago. Haven't got all of my results yet, but I think I did quite well. What I do already know is that I've got a fine result for my master paper, yeey!

A few days before my last exam, I went for drinks in Brussels with Elke. Long-time readers might've noticed that Elke, who used to be one of the main characters in my 'stories' , has been out of the picture for quite a while. As a matter of fact, our friendship has gone through a tough time for a while. Things started to go wrong at the beginning of last year, during summer time we found the courage to talk again for the first time, a couple of months later we went for a friendly but rather uncomfortable drink. To be honest, I was a bit worried we could never go back anymore to what we once had. We both wanted to make it feel good again, but it was just plain awkward.

Strangely enough, not seeing each other for another couple of months seemed to change everything. When we met up again last week, I didn't feel any pressure at all. I just wanted to see her and have a good time with her. And this time, it actually worked out the way we wanted it to, probably because just because we didn't try as hard as last time. We've planned to spend a lot of time together this summer, and that prospect makes me as happy as a little child going to Disneyland. I'm so glad I didn't give up on this friendship just yet.

You and me, we're gonna be fine

2010-06-26T19:23:00.002+02:00

My dad found this little sweetheart in our garage!

Everything counts in large amounts

2010-06-26T19:03:00.005+02:00

Tonight is the big night for Stethoscope Stewards, as me and Bart will be dj'ing at Twisted Melon in Leuven, alongside Bent Van Looy (Das Pop) and Stijn Van De Voorde (StuBru). But a couple of weeks ago, we had a great time spinning tunes all night long for the great audience at the Beurskafee in Brussels. We played before, in between and after the gigs (TV Buddhas and Harlem) and fucking loved it. We were quite lucky though, as the weather was amazing and the Beurskafee has this beautiful terrace where all sane people would love to spend hours and hours. It was a lovely night and whilst dj'ing, I managed to take a few pictures..

Marina is a diamond

2010-06-16T16:26:00.003+02:00

Most played (21)

2010-06-14T16:53:00.003+02:00

1. Future Islands - Tin Man

2. The Divine Comedy - I Like (live)

3. Nada Surf - Love And Anger (Kate Bush cover)

4. Everything Everything - My KZ, ur BF

5. Marit Larsen - Under The Surface (live)

Football!

2010-06-11T17:05:00.002+02:00

Not even two weeks after the joy of Roland Garros (although it wasn't my favourite RG, to be honest - Federer and Henin out way too early, and two pretty boring finals), there is more pleasure on tv for the sports fan. The football World Cup in South Africa has been kicked off about an hour ago. Since Belgium didn't make it to the tournament, I'm supporting Germany (like I always do) and England (especially for the mister!). When it comes down to winning the cup, my bets are on Spain, though. Who are you supporting and who do you think is going to win?

He's wondering only what you do today

2010-06-03T17:40:00.004+02:00

A couple of days after handing in my master paper and right after doing a presentation on Twitter (in front of a jury consisting of people from the Flemish public broadcaster), I took the Thalys to Paris to meet my boyfriend there. He was doing a cycling trip from Italy back to the UK, but was staying at the friend's place in Paris for a part of his trip. The timing couldn't have been better for me: post-paper and post-presentation, but pre-exams with plenty of time left to study. Alan's offer to spend a couple of days with him in Paris was more than welcome: I was longing to see him again (I'm pretty good at the long-distance thingy, but wouldn't go as far to it's easy), liked the idea of going back to Paris and to be honest, I needed a holiday after being locked in my room for such a long time because of that paper.

After the longest Thalys ride ever (it left half an hour late to begin with, and had to stop for at least another hour because of 'a small technical problem' that turned out to be 'slightly more serious than we initially thought' - fortunately I love having dinner on trains) I finally arrived in Paris, where Alan, Adam (the friend that was hosting the both of us, he's a lawyer who is temporarily based in France) and Flora (another friend of Alan's who works as an au-pair in Paris) were waiting for me. Alan and Adam hadn't had dinner yet, so we went to a restaurant where Flora and I decided to have dinner for the second time that night.

While Adam was working during daytime, Alan and I spent the next three days lying in parcs (getting awfully sunburnt - the weather was amazing, which I hadn't forseen, hence my lack of sun lotion - auch!), eating wonderful food, cycling on vélops, going to a flee market with Flora, eating not so wonderful food (at a place where they translated croque monsieurs as 'crunch-misters') but also more wonderful food, and walking around the city. On our last night, Adam took us to Jewish wine bar, which turned out to be the coolest place ever. It looked a bit like my beloved Make Up Club in Ghent (on a side note: Make Up Club is closing down in half a year, nooo!), but smaller, warmer and with Jewish music playing, haha!

Me & Alan trying our best MySpace shot

Alan getting ready to cycle out of Paris

I almost missed my Thalys back - Alan and I were planning on cycling to the station, but we wasted too much time and he noticed I could probably better take public transport in order not to miss my train. We said goodbye and I hurried to the metro station. My metro ticket didn't work so I had to buy a new one, which I couldn't do in the part of the underground I was in, so I had to find the other entrance, buy a new ticket (after begging the people in the queue to let me go first), find out which metro stop I had to go to (it would be so much simpler if they'd just call it Garde du Nord as well), get on the metro, watch the time every second, walk for almost 15mins from the metro bit of the ENORMOUS station to the part with the trains, and get there 5mins before departure - phieuw! When I finally got there, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Alan, who had made his way through the busy traffic on his bike to wave me out. That was such a lovely suprise after all the stressing!

Saying goodbye was really sad, but fortunately I got to see him again only three days later. The next part of his cycling trip brought him to Belgium and more specifically my hometown Grimbergen. He only stayed for one night, but I was happy to have him with me. We went out for dinner with my parents (both my parents and Alan were pretty nervous, hehe) before my dad dropped the two of us off in Brussels. We went to the Mort Subite, a bar famous for its beers, but Alan started to feel really ill. I drank both our beers ad fundum (the people next to us looked at me as if I were...hm, nothing too positive, anyway) and we went back home. Except for a sore troath, Alan felt better the day after. After watching some tennis, he had to leave. I was planning on joining him on part of his trip that day, but had to go back as someone had to pick something up at my place and I was the only person around. Saying goodbye was the horror, knowing our next meet (in London, after my exams) would only be 5 weeks later. :( Only 24 days left now, though!

Eurovision 2010

2010-06-03T13:36:00.004+02:00

Long-time readers might remember how much I love Eurovision, sometimes because it can be so awfully bad that it becomes amusing again, sometimes because it features some suprisingly good songs among the many rubbish ones. I thought this year's winner wasn't very convincing with her fake British accent and rather boring song - I mean, they call her the German Kate Nash, but every single Kate Nash song is at least three times as catchy. These were my personal favourites of the latest edition:

Georgia: Sopho Nizharadze - Shine
Excellent singer, classic but beautiful song.

Romania: Paula Seling & Ovi - Playing with Fire
Catchy, I like the act with the piano and especially love the female singer's voice.

Ireland: Niamh Kavanagh - It's For you
Very traditional, but quality song. Again, really good singer.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Vukasin Brajic - Thunder and Lightning
B-H sends excellent songs to Eurovision almost every year. Eastern-European rock pur sang, quite bombastic but I like it.

Iceland: Hera Björk - Je ne Sais Quoi
Not at all the kind of genre I usually listen to, but she's a terrific singer and this song was stuck in my head for three days at least.

Denmark: Chanée & N'evergreen - In a Moment Like This
Biggest rip-off I've heard in a while ("Every Breath You Take", "The Winner Takes It All", "Simply The Best" and some Shania Twain song combined in one 'new' song), but the result is pretty good. And that guy is a sort of hot.

Belgium: Tom Dice - Me & My Guitar
And yes...I actually liked Belgium's entree this year! Tom Dice was an X Factor finalist in Belgium, which probably doesn't make it very cool to like him, but I think he's got a special voice and his song turned out pretty nice as well.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it: don't forget to check the Moldova entree. It's one of the worst songs of this year's contest, but I thought the bit with the sax player (great moves, haha) was extremely funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-seDrv1eQo

In my dreams we're still screaming

2010-05-27T19:29:00.005+02:00

I guess that's enough looking back. Back to the here and now, and guess what? Arcade Fire have finally released new material! Their album won't be out until August, but to lessen the pain we're offered a double single to keep us sweet until then.

One of the songs is called 'The Suburbs' (which will also be the album title) and is pretty fantastic. Musically not completely in the line of 'Funeral' or 'Neon Bible', yet still without a doubt the same band. The songs excells thanks to a great chorus, dito lyrics and a lovely old-fashioned honkey-tonk piano.

The second song is less impressive. 'Month of May' is Arcade Fire's first effort to make a real rock song - it's even a bit glam, now I come to think of it - but even though it's not a disaster, I'd advise them to stay away from the genre in the future. If you can make songs like Arcade Fire does, you don't want to waste your talent on a genre you're only average at.

It's like I'm watching the A4 paper taking over the guillotine

2010-05-26T18:43:00.006+02:00

... and I was invited by Sony music (the label) to join them to London for a blitz visit.

Sony is busy promoting upcoming talent Hurts (very eighties inspired, rather bombastic, but very catchy electro pop), who were playing the NME Radar Tour in London that night. Hence they invited me and 3 other journalists (Tom, Hannes and Erna) to join them and write something about the band on our websites or magazines. We'd only be there for 16 hours, but how could I say no to a trip to my favourite city?

(pictures by Erna Janssens, except for pics 1/6/9 which are by me)

All of us got a lovely, huge room in the St. Pancreas Novotel. Here's me in the bathroom showing off my new favourite dress (I was initially looking for an Unknown Pleasures t-shirts, but this is so much better).

Koko, the place to be that night.

The line-up: Darwin Deez (support), Everything Everything (headliner 1) and Hurts (headliner 2).

Koko's balcony, with Tom, me and Hannes in the middle of the picture.

Hannes, one of my travel companions.

We missed out on Darwin Deez (except for the two last songs) because of the delicious burger & beer we had before heading to Koko, but Everything Everything totally made up for it. If you haven't heard of these very talented Mancunians, check out their song 'My KZ, UR BF' (or any other song by them, really).

Hurts, the band we made the trip for in first place. They're are quite interesting with their full-on eighties sound and über-dramatic podium presence - not completely my thing, but they sure know who to write a decent song and there's definitely a big audience waiting for them.

After the gig, we went to the VIP bar for some drinks and chatting before heading back to the hotel. Sabine (from the record label) and fellow travellers Erna and Hannes went to bed early, but Tom and I decided to make the most of our stay in London. We didn't really think of the early closing pubs in London, though. When the hotel bar turned out be closing as well, we nevertheless resumed our search for beer in the streets of London. We prevailed in the end!

We're so disarming darling

2010-05-26T18:33:00.002+02:00

...I went to Grimbergen's Prinsenbos with my sister and a camera...

You couldn't possibly find it in your heart to forgive me

2010-05-17T14:43:00.005+02:00

...me and Bart made our debut as Stethoscope Stewards (our dj name) at the Kinky Star in Ghent, which was sooo much fun to do (plus, we've got 2 new dates planned for next month!...

I am not what you anticipated

2010-05-17T14:26:00.005+02:00

...I went to another Hindu Nights in Ghent...

(awesome pictures by Barbara Peremans)

Just let me be here, I won't tell anyone

2010-05-17T13:14:00.007+02:00

...I went back to London in the beginning of April, back to the same couchsurfing hosts where I stayed at in February...

One of them, Alan, has been my boyfriend ever since. We already had something going on when I left in February, but now it's official! He is super amazing and despite the long distance between us, it feels like I'm finally in a healthy, non-destructive relationship. Totally weird, but totally fantastic as well.

So yes, I obviously had a great time in London. Alan and I went record shopping in Notting Hill, he showed me around in Hampstead (his favourite part of London - even though it looks French and the English don't like France very much - where we had some really delicious crêpes), treated me to a gig by Mt. Eerie at the Scala and taught me how to play bar billiards (not very surprisingly, he was heaps better than me - but surprisingly, I did manage to beat Alex, one of Alan's house mates!).

Alex and I playing bar billiards, but both failing in beating Alan.

We also spent a couple of days on the countryside in Essex - one night in Landermere (where Alan grew up), one night in Alan's father's house in Harwich. Especially Landermere was exceptionally beautiful. It's a shame I've barely taken any pictures, but I've been so busy enjoying myself that I haven't even thought of taking pics most of the time.

Alan having fun with an axe

Ooh la la

2010-05-12T13:51:00.008+02:00

...we went back to Nua's shortly after for a fun night of karaoke...

Kim and Anja, my karaoke partners in crime

Anja having a good time with a French boy called Florentin

and me being squeezed by an Irish boy called Ivan

Living in the gap between past and future

2010-05-12T13:39:00.002+02:00

...celebrated Anja's birthday at Nua's, where we had a good time with a Scottish woman called Karen who thought one of us looked a lot like Robert Pattinson and who we rescued from a terrible guy that kept on following her throughout Brussels...

Everybody's starry-eyed

2010-05-12T12:17:00.006+02:00

About an hour ago I had my master paper printed. It possibly caused my parents' bankruptcy (damn you colour prints!), but all in all I'm very relieved. Another good thing is that this means I've got time to blog again! I've been the worst blogger in history for over a month, but was very pleased to get a few messages from readers who were looking forward to new posts - thank you for the support!

Working on my master paper meant that I spent the last 1,5 month mainly in the company of Vladimir Putin (not literally - my paper is about the reporting in Flemish newspapers on Russia during the 8 years under the reign of Putin) and not so much where and with who I'd rather be. But fortunately there were exceptions. A short overview of what I've been up to next to reading, analysing and reporting...

I went partying in Leuven...

(first four pictures by Maxim Solomaniuck, the others by Barbara Peremans)

Indie Stars

2010-04-15T15:49:00.004+02:00

So many pictures to post, so many stories to tell. Instead, I've been spending the last 5 days in my room working on my master paper - the price one has to pay for going to London/not doing anything uni-related for an entire week. HOWEVER I do have to share this with you all. I'm dj'ing in Ghent tonight, and you're all invited! The place to be is the Kinky Star and there'll be dj-sets by Bible Club, Dilly Boys and Stethoscope Stewards (me and Bart from Indiestyle) - all for free! Be there!

The Albion sails on course

2010-03-30T19:47:00.003+02:00

When The Libertines split up, I cried and cried and cried. It's the only time I've actually cried because of a band. Not because of a song that makes me emotional - that happens quite often - but because of the band itself and the people in it. When Pete & Carl met up for the first time after falling out and became friends again, and about everyone time they had a personal 'reunion' afterwards, I did a happy dance, and sometimes I even had to cry again. I've always believed and said that one day they'd get back together as a band, and now it's finally happened. I still can't believe it, really, but it has! Unfortunately they're only playing 2 UK festivals this summer, but I'm seriously considering taking that Eurostar + bus to Reading and go see them over there. Up the Albion!

Bloodbuzz Ohio

2010-03-28T09:55:00.001+02:00

This great track is a first leak of the upcoming new album by The National. Can't wait to hear the rest of it, and I hope they'll pay Belgium a visit soon!

And I play the game, like I did yesterday

2010-03-24T09:26:00.012+01:00

Remember this party? Well, after the huge success of Leehana's X-mas house party, there was of course an enourmous demand for a new one, and preferably before the next christmas. Things even got so far that people created a group on facebook to force a 'second edition'. So yeh, that's what happened two weeks ago - another great party (this time rock 'n roll themed) at Leehana's & flatmates. As I love shooting with Leehana's camera and as it is a great way to meet about everyone at a party, I commited myself again to the task of photographer.

Most played (20)

2010-03-12T14:34:00.003+01:00

1. Goldfrapp - Rocket

2. Marina & The Diamonds - Hollywood

3. Broken Bells - The High Road

4. Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land

5. Good Shoes - Under Control

We're under the sheets and you're killing me

2010-03-10T09:29:00.008+01:00

No matter how cold is still is, a few rays of sunlight are enough to make me feel all summer-like. And so I forced my dad and sister into a nice walk last weekend.

I got you babe

2010-03-07T12:11:00.004+01:00

Hindu Nights at Make Up Club, two weeks ago.
(pictures partly mine, partly Make Up Club's)

Tumblr.

2010-03-04T12:11:00.002+01:00

Completely in accordance with my obsession with everything social network related - I am happy to tell you I now have a Tumblr. page as well. Not sure how much I like it yet, it's still in sort of a 'test phase', but don't hesitate to follow me if you're on there too! x

http://bagelsandguns.tumblr.com/

I only want to be your one life stand

2010-03-04T11:34:00.002+01:00

I usually don't consider Brussels to be a very beautiful city, but sometimes I walk around there and seem to connect after all.

So now you're leaving? I'm not that impressed

2010-02-26T10:23:00.006+01:00

I like looking at random pictures and drawings on the Internet. Whilst doing that, I stumbled upon a fascinating artist called Dmitry Maximov. He's a young Russian photographer and graphic designer who's done a lot of really cool things in his still short carreer. My favourite pieces by him, however, are his two-dimensional images that combine illustration and photographic techniques. The results are micro worlds populated by special, super-cute creatures that live in magical landscapes characterised by human emotions like loneliness, wonder and sadness. Here are some examples - enjoy! (definitely check out more of these pictures by Maximov, they are all over the internet)

Most played (19)

2010-02-21T17:40:00.003+01:00

1. Fanfarlo - Harold T. Wilkins or How To Wait For A Very Long Time

2. Sivert Hoyem - Moon Landing

3. Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

4. Laura Jansen - The End (live)

5. The xx - Islands (live)

Wear your wounds with pride

2010-02-20T16:26:00.007+01:00

Tonight is the night for a new edition of Hindu Nights! Sounds like the right time to post the pictures of the latest edition on a secret location which turned out to be the Backdoor. Another great night with (a loto of) my favourite people in the world. (most pictures by me and Melanie)

Revolver

2010-02-16T10:16:00.003+01:00

The Vatican's official newspaper Osservatore Romano released a list of the pope's 10 favourite rock albums, and I just had to share it with you. Can't believe Oasis is on the list! :)

1."Revolver" - The Beatles
2."If I could only remember my name" - David Crosby
3."The dark side of the moon" - Pink Floyd
4."Rumours" - Fleetwood Mac
5."The nightfly" - Donald Fagen
6."Thriller" - Michael Jackson
7."Graceland" - Paul Simon
8."Achtung baby" - U2
9."(What's the story) Morning glory" - Oasis
10."Supernatural" - Carlos Santana

Christmas TV (London 5-6)

2010-02-15T19:17:00.008+01:00

It's okay that I pray that you will miss your flight
And have to stay with me another night (Slow Club)

As I was leaving London on Saturday around noon, I wanted to make the most out of my Friday. In the morning I made use of another one of Alan's tips, which was the John Soane museum. Soane was this architecture spending his money on a fantastic collection of art from all ages - Egyptian, Roman, medieval, absolutely everything. The location of the museum is the house the man used to live in, so you can imagine it's absolutely one of a kind. And not too overcrowded with tourists so far!

In the afternoon I met up with Alan in Berwick Street to do some cd shopping. Alan showed me some great second hand shops and we both ended up buying heaps of cd's for very little money. Afterwards, we went for a drink with a friend of Alan's. When his friend had to leave, Alan and I went to some more record shops and for another drink. We decided to 'race' back home - I would take the tube and do the rest of the road by foot, he would do the entire trip on his bicycle. Despite my cursing when I had to wait for a tube for 6 minutes (since when does anyone have to wait 6 fucking minutes for a tube in London??) and my pretty impressive sprint on high heels, Alan beat me with 4 minutes.

When I managed to start breathing normally again, Alan, Christina and I discussed wether to go to the Garage (Islington) or not. The Rifles were supposed to play an acoustic gig, but they cancelled and we weren't particularly excited about seeing The Twang or any of the new bands that were on. On the other hand, Rob was djing, which should've been pretty good. Christina seemed to be quite fond of going, until she suddenly got really tired. Eventually, she fell asleep. Alan and I left the room quietly, enjoyed some spirits in the kitchen, and then withdrew to his room. Alan works for the Guardian, which leaves him with heaps of double cd copies, and he invited me to pick out some albums for myself. We were laying on his bed, listening to music (including a selfmade christmas cd - I can't believe someone else shares my love for christmas songs!) for hours and hours and hours, and getting all cuddly.

The next day I had to leave around noon. Christina prepared us a fantastic brunch, but then it was time to say goodbye. Of course I got all teary-eyed when I hugged Christina, Nikos and Alex, but it got even worse when Alan walked me to the tube station and the tears started flowing heavily. It took us at least 15 minutes to say goodbye and I almost missed my Eurostar, but in the end, I was on my way back to Belgium. I felt sort of lost back here, but I'm going back to London soon (well, soonish, as uni prevents me from leaving before the start of the Easter holidays) and I'm quite excited already!

Alex's farm

Christina

Alan

Alan and one of the beer glasses he ordered for his new "bar", covered in stickers

me, covered in stickers as well

and again

Here I lie far from close enough to you (London 3-4)

2010-02-13T14:07:00.006+01:00

Wednesday morning I took the bus to Camden. I had a fantastic banana milkshake in a place called Inhabition. I'd read about it on that 'Secret London' Facebook group (yes, it's not that secret anymore, really) and I can only agree with their enthusiasm. After finishing my drink and having a chat with the lovely woman who worked there, I walked around the stables market and took some pictures.

In the afternoon I took up Alan's advice to go to the National Portrait Gallery near Leicester Square. I don't really know why I hadn't been there before, as it is a great collection of 18/19/20th century paintings and modern photography. Quite touristy, of course, but worth the visit anyway!

Back home I found Alex and Alan cleaning up their living room, transforming their closet in a bar (right side of the closet) and a eh, farm for Alex (left side), consisting of a plastic horse and a stone duck. Alex prepared us some delicious pasta, but had to leave shortly after. I stayed in with Alan, who introduced me to his favourite blogger Momus (who sadly quit blogging earlier this week) and Momus's music and lyrics. I usually tend to go out quite a lot when I'm London, but I must say I've really enjoyed my cosy nights in with Alan. Shortly after midnight, we were joined by Christina, an Austrian girl who'd be my fellow couch surfer from that night on. She turned out to be a very nice girl with a delightful sense of humour.

The day after, I met up with Rob. After doing some shopping on Oxford Street, I told Rob I wanted to look for a toy animal. Rob was quite surprised, but after telling him about Alex's farm, he was happy to help me find a suiting addition to the farm. We went to a children's shop and found a lovely cow. Afterwards, Rob and I went for a drink or two, three before I returned home. Alex was pleasantly surprised when he received the cow.

When everyone was back home (me, Alex, Alan, Nikos and his girlfriend Abi; only Christina was away, she was attending a couch surfing 'drawing' event), we took off for a pub quiz. I was quite excited as Alan had taught me everything one should know about British pubs, including the tradition of the pub quiz. I'd never been to one before, so this was my chance! Unfortunately, the quiz was cancelled, so we ended up just having drinks for a while. Alan had to go to work that night, Nikos and Abi went to their room, and Alex, Christina (who got back by then) and I watched Curb Your Enthusiasm and chatted about Belgian and Austrian music for hours and hours.

But there is someone I'd like to see, she never mentions a word to me (Liverpool 1-2)

2010-02-11T10:45:00.011+01:00

...
I woke up early to catch my coach to Liverpool at Victoria Station. It was a 5h30 drive, which could've been rather boring, but turned out to be not that bad after all. I had my iPod, my book and the company of two lovely South-American girls that were sitting next to me. I'm also really fond of the break in the middle of the trip that gives you the opportunity to spend all of your money on snacks in one of those road shops. Hm, chocolate croissants. :)

Once in Liverpool, I went looking for my hostel, got myself installed and then took off again. I spent the rest of the day walking around through the city centre and the Cavern Quarter, where I of course visited the legendary Cavern Club. By coincidence, I walked in when this Australian edition of John Lennon, Marcus Cahill got on stage. I heard him sing, got myself a drink, sat down and stayed there for two hours. I'm usually not really a fan of cover acts, but this guy was absolutely amazing. He looked liked John (incl. the nose) but he even more sounded like him. After the show I got introduced to him by a local and we had a nice chat. Afterwards, the local guy took me to another Beatles related bar that didn't make it to the tourist guide.

The plan for the evening was meeting up with my very long-term internet friend Liam, but that plan sadly got cancelled last-minute. Instead, I went back to the hostel, had a chat with my roommates (two Spanish girls) and then went to sleep rather early.

After breakfast I immediately walked to the Albert Dock. First up was a visit to the Beatles museum, which I absolutely adored. The shop at the end of the visit was just as great. I liked the fact that so many schools with 8-year-old kids were visiting the museum as well, I don't think that could ever have happened in my old school or in any Belgian school, really. The next museum on my list was Tate Liverpool, where I mostly enjoyed the DLA Piper Series (sculptures). Then it was time to catch my coach back to London, where I'd spend the rest of my trip.

China Town Liverpool

one of the many Beatles shops

Cavern Pub

John & I

Cavern Club

Marcus

hostel

Albert Dock

Virgin offices

Beatles museum

Tell me how do I feel (London 1-2)

2010-02-09T09:35:00.007+01:00

So here I am, back from London. I received my (really good) exam results yesterday, but I haven't got plenty of time to stand still and enjoy the glory, because today is the start of the new semester. Before I leave for my first course of the term, I'd like to share some of my latest UK trip with you guys.

I arrived in London on the last Saturday of January, quite tired because I went out in Ghent the night before and only got about half an hour of sleep, quite nervous because I was going couch surfing for the first time in my life. But first of all, I met up with Jim, who by coincidence was in London that weekend to visit his parents. We went for a drink and a chat, and then he was kind enough to escort me all the way to Alan's (my host) place and carry my suitcase. I said goodbye to Jim and Alan (still dirty from playing football :)) welcomed me into his house. He turned out to be a very charming 24-year old English guy, sharing a place with two other lads (Alex and Nikos). He was absolutely lovely and I felt at home in no time.

The boys had some friends over, and Nikos prepared supper for all of us. Afterwards, all of them took of to see Real Estate. I didn't have a ticket, but we met up after the gig to go out together. There aren't many things I like better than British indie nights, so you can imagine I had a great time (even though the dj didn't play my request, Blue Monday by New Order).

Despite having practically no sleep (again), Alan and I woke up early (Alex decided to have no sleep at all instead) to watch the Australian Open finals. As a UK citizen, he of course had to support Andy Murray, but I was relieved to hear he also admires Roger Federer, who won the match (or what had you really thought? :p).

In the afternoon I hopped on the tube and went shopping on Brick Lane. I absolutely love Brick Lane on Sundays, with its cosy markets and the lively atmosphere. Plus, they have the most amazing vintage shops. I found myself a lovely flowered dress and could go back to the house feeling satisfied. Alan cooked me a typical English meal and we spent the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos of drunk ministers (hello, Michel Daerden). :) I went to sleep around midnight as I had to get up early the day after to catch my coach to Liverpool in Victoria.

...to be continued...

A gorgeous building I had to pass each time I walked from Alan's place to the tube station.

Brick Lane.

We are not the same

2010-01-29T12:11:00.000+01:00

Today is the day of my last exam and I can't wait for it (the exam, not the day) to be over. I'm tired of rehearsing the same things over and over again. After that, I'm having a week off from uni and I've already filled it in with nice plans. Tonight I'm going to Ghent, have some drinks with Elise and Gui at Celtica, then head off to Hindu Nights at the Backdoor. The morning after I return home, get an hour or two of sleep, shower, watch the Australian Open women finals, then pack my bags and leave for...London (again, I know, can't help it that I love it)! I'll be there from Jan 30 - Feb 6, including 2 days of Liverpool, where I've never been before (quite a shame being such a huge Beatles fan!). I've already got heaps of plans for both my London and Liverpool stay, and I'm quite excited as well because my stay in London will be my very first couch surfing experience.

HOWEVER now I need to concentrate on that bloody exam! It really does my head in, especially because I feel too guilty to do interesting things during the time that I could use to study. Nonetheless, I had a very good Wednesday night. I interviewed Good Shoes to find out they were a bunch of really nice blokes. I watched their gig (very energetic, uncomplicated, just 40 minutes of really catchy music - that's how I like it!) and hung out with the band afterwards. They set up their ping pong table right in front of stage, which was quite funny. :) Here are some pictures..

And it really, really, really could happen

2010-01-22T18:17:00.004+01:00

A couple of days ago I went to see 'No distance left to run', the documentary on Blur's reunion. In the context of the Battle of Britpop I would've picked the side of Oasis, but my love for Oasis never stopped me from liking Blur as well.

The documentary was really well made, a nice mixture of old and new video material and interesting, surprisingly honest interviews with all band members. Their story is quite sad, it somehow reminded me of what happened to The Libertines, only Blur has managed to come up with a happy end.

Anyway, watching the film got me in a Blur-mood, so I haven't been listening to much else since then. And because I don't have much more to tell you as I'm still in the middle of my exames, I decided to share my favourite Blur songs with you guys.

First up is 'Coffee & TV' with my favourite Blur member, Graham Coxon on vocals. It's so charming and perfect in a very lo-fi way. The video below shows the band at a Rough Trade instore gig from last year, but don't forget the check out the cute official video!

Then there's 'The Universal' with its super dramatic yet fantastic chorus. It was also used in the trailer to the movie, an excellent choice if you ask me.

Fool's Gold

2010-01-15T17:39:00.007+01:00

Not much going on during the exam period, so I'm glad I finally have a good story to tell!

Two nights ago I went to see Ian Brown in Brussels and saying I had an amazing night, might be a major understatement. Ian played 'Fool's Gold' and my friend Elise and I decided to go on stage. Before us, some guys who tried to do the same thing, were thrown off immediately. When Elise got up first, they tried to push her back as well, but Ian said we could stay. So we ended up dancing the entire song next to and with Ian. :) After the show he invited us to his backstage, where we had a beer, a chat and a short photo session with Ian and his entourage. Still can't believe it!! Ian is a long-time hero of mine so you can imagine my joy! To end the night on a high note, I sang 'Strawberry Fields Forever' with a busker outside of the AB.

Someone filmed us! (I think we're on starting from 1:15 aprox.)

The universe is expanding

2010-01-09T13:08:00.004+01:00

She didn't win the finals against Kim Clijsters in Brisbane, but even Kim fans will have to admit either one could've won. My point is: Justine Henin has made the best come-back ever, showed everyone she still has that magnificent fighting spirit and technique, and is ready to become the world's number 1 in tennis again soon! Allez Juju!

A cinq heures cinquante-cinq

2010-01-05T13:50:00.008+01:00

I'm sure 2010 will be at least as fantastic, but I won't forget the magnificent 2009 anytime soon. By example, Peter's birthday party at the Make Up Club mid-december. It was not your typical birthday party, in two ways. 1 - the incomes were all being donated to Music For Life and Amnesty International, 2 - everybody had to dress up. I went as a devil (vampire, according to some - I blame my very pale skin) myself and saw loads of great costumes worn by the other guests.

Michaël was the hero of the night in that chicken suit, I seriously couldn't stop myself from laughing each time I saw him! :)

(pics partly by me, partly by the official photographer, not too hard to find out who did what exactly)

This is the end, beautiful friend

2009-12-31T16:13:00.004+01:00

Before we dance the night away and enter 2010, let's finish the year with some music lists...
edit

Most played (18)

2009-12-28T11:48:00.004+01:00

1. Marina & The Diamonds - Obsessions

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (still prefer the original to the A-trak remix, even though I'm probably the only one in this world to think so, and even though that remix is quite great as well)

3. Owl City - Fireflies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9EKJatJvA
(click to see the video, it didn't allow embedding and I didn't want to post some amateur-made vid as the original one is so lovely)

4. Little Red - It's Alright

5. Bell X1 - The Boys Of Summer (Don Henley cover)

Merry X-mas darlins!

2009-12-25T09:29:00.002+01:00

Not in the mood to be original, and let's face it: this is a classic. Happy Christmas sweeties! x

You don't know how lucky you are, boy

2009-12-24T12:07:00.007+01:00

Last week I went to Cologne, Germany with Tessa, Shera and Pieter to see Paul McCartney perform. Tessa had seen him once before (two weeks earlier in the Netherlands) but it was the first time for me, Shera and Pieter. The gig was mindblowing, possibly the best I've ever been to. Almost 3 hours long and packed with fantastic songs by The Beatles, The Wings and Paul solo. Paul is still a great performer, you could never tell his age by his stage appearance. Our stay in Cologne was very nice too. We didn't get too touristy (I had been in Cologne before anyways) but spent most of our time walking around the huge christmas markets, eating and sitting at Starbucks. Some pictures of my friends (no misplaced self-portraits for once :p), the Paul gig and lovely Cologne:

We've got obsessions

2009-12-23T16:27:00.007+01:00

I recently went to a house party by my friend Leehana and her flat mates. I didn't know too many of the invited people, but being the 'official' photographer (as in: Leehana lended me her lovely camera to take as many pictures as possible of as many people as possible) I got to meet heaps of them, mostly international students and mostly very nice people. Might've been the best house party I've ever been to.

Cheers

2009-12-21T15:11:00.005+01:00

...for all the birthday wishes I got so far and am yet to receive by facebook/twitter/e-mail/text message/phone/postcard/in person/... They are very much appreciated!! xxx

'Cause everything is never as it seems

2009-12-18T12:35:00.004+01:00

I got back from Germany last night (from the amazing Macca gig and a small trip to Cologne - more about that later) where were we had no snow at all, and was rather surprised to find Belgium covered in a white blanket. Today it's still there, traffic is a mess (and I have to go to Ghent tonight, help!), my feet are hurting like hell after walking a few meters on the snowy ground, but I did manage to take some pretty nice pictures.

'Cause they'd fill up the air and leave teardrops everywhere

2009-12-15T10:03:00.005+01:00

I know, I know, I've been a rubbish poster (again) the last week, but I promise things will get better (again) after this week, when things calm down a bit. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of Brussels' christmas market, which is a success as usual!

(hurray for Mongolian vodka!)

Most played (17)

2009-12-07T19:31:00.002+01:00

1. Julian Plenti - Only if you run

2. The Boxer Rebellion - Spitting Fire

3. Stereophonics - Innocent

4. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

5. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (usually not much of a fan, but I must admit this is a really interesting single)

Don't answer me, don't break the silence, don't let me win

2009-12-04T18:17:00.003+01:00

R.I.P. Eric Woolfson

London part 6

2009-12-02T19:07:00.010+01:00

And so we've arrived on my last day in London. I spent the morning on my own (Mathi and Lenny took the coach back to Belgium very early) and made a little trip to Covent Garden (I've passed your greetings, Bart!) as I was dying to see how they would have decorated it for Christmas (I am a sucker for Christmas decorations). There's a lot of picture material so you can judge yourself.

After having a great tagliatelli carbonara, I met up with Rob. We took the tube to South Kensington where he could finally show me the Natural History museum he had been telling me about for a long time. He seemed to be quite into the dinosaurs exhibits and considering my own enthusiasm for the dinosaur museum in Brussels, he said I should definitely see it. The museum was absolutely worth the visit, even if it was just for the amazing building. The architecture was fenomenal, on the inside and outside. But of course I enjoyed the dinosaurs just as much. :) Mine and Rob's favourite was the huge whale, though! We had a drink at the museum, then made a walk through Hyde Park. A part of Hyde Park was now renamed to 'Winter Wonderland', an extremely tacky but - that's the Christmas freak in me again! - also very cosy christmas market/ fair. Unfortunately there wasn't too much time left before I had to leave, so we took the tube to Liverpool Street and had one more drink and a very nice chat in the Ten Bells (Jack The Ripper pub :)). Then I headed back to Brick Lane to pick up my luggage, met up with Eloise at Liverpool Station to hand her the keys and say goodbye, then got to St. Pancras for my Eurostar. The end - but hopefully not for long!

The shop on the left ('Duke of Uke') was the cosiest ukelele shop you can possibly imagine. One night a week, they even give ukelele classes. :)

Covent Garden.

Natural History museum/the whale!

Rob and the wonderful architecture of the museum.

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.
Goodbye Brick Lane.

London parts 4 and 5

2009-12-01T19:57:00.006+01:00

My fourth day in London was a rather quiet one. I had stayed over at Rebecca's (she lives in Hackney and honestly, I've never seen a flat as huge and gorgeous as hers) and returned to Brick Lane in the morning. That's where we (Eloise, Lenny, Mathi and I) spent most of the day, strolling through the countless vintage shops and markets. I bought a pair of lace gloves and some second hand books. Late afternoon, we went to the Old Blue Last again for a drink. Later on, we met up with Rebecca and had dinner in a Mexican restaurant. We made sure to get back home in time for the X Factor show, especially for Rebecca who is quite into Jedward, the exentric twins. :) I can't believe how quickly I became hooked myself. My favourite contestant, however, is this young lad called Joe McElderry. What a voice! We were planning on going out after X Factor, but it was raining so hard that we didn't feel like doing so anymore. Rebecca went off because she was going to a birthday party, the rest of us stayed in. We watched a charity music event and a documentary on Britpop, drank the cava I had brought from Belgium and had a lovely night after all.

The day after, I met up with Jonathan (my host on my previous London trip) at Tate Modern. He's got a membership card so he took me to the paid exhibitions for free. :) I especially enjoyed the Pop Life exhibit on Andy Warhol and other pop art icons. But it was even better to see Jonathan again after such a long time. We had a cup of tea and a piece of pie in the member's cafetaria, then took the tube to Putney, where he lives nowadays. I couldn't stay very long, but it was good to catch up. Back on Brick Lane, I met with Eloise, Lenny, Mathi and Rebecca. We went to a cinema in Whitechapel to watch New Moon, which turned out to be a very crappy movie.

London part 3

2009-11-29T13:39:00.007+01:00

On the third day I woke up...oh no, wait, I didn't, thanks to Dean you can reduce that to just stepping out of bed and still be sort of awake. The worst part was he hadn't even noticed Eloise screaming at him and me kicking him all night long. He was very embarrased though, poor guy. :) Eloise went off to work, me and Dean headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

After some good laughs and Dean showing me all the pictures on his phone, we seperated ways and I took the tube all the way to the Wimbledon museum. Cost me 10 quid, but I didn't mind as it was quite a good museum if you like tennis. You get to see a whole lot of old (old, wooden rackets, tennis outfits for women that look like ballroom dresses...) and more recent (Wimbledon cup, Roger Federer's amazing military style outfit...) tennis attributes and the fantastic Centre Court (with the new rain roof). The shop is pretty good too!

On my way back I made a stop at Rough Trade East, which turned out to be HEAVEN. I bought myself a whole lot of stuff, ran into my mate Murray by coincidence, then headed back to Brick Lane. Lenny, Mathi, Eloise and I met up with Eloise's friend Rebecca. After watching some tv, we had a drink at the Old Blue Last before going to this place called Catch. At Catch, we had a great time dancing to eighties tunes you'd rather not know. We also ran into Grant from The Rifles, again by coincidence.

Breakfast with Dean

Wimbledon

Centre Court

Pretending to be Roger Federer

Roger's outfit

Rough Trade East
Party at Catch

Grant and Eloise
Rebecca's impeccable dance moves

London part 2

2009-11-27T10:43:00.008+01:00

On my second day in London, Eloise had to work and Lenny was in the studio to master the upcoming second Freaky Age record. I spent the morning in the Tate Modern, where I visited the free exhibitions (I would still get to see the paid ones later on my trip). I was mostly impressed by Miroslaw Balka's installation. When I first saw it - a huge and rather ugly turbine - I felt quite insulted that this guy was thinking I could possibly see this as art, but then I went inside and experienced the actual power of the work. It's hard to explain to someone who wasn't in there himself - it feels like you're being sucked up in the darkness of the turbine. You're kind of scared even though you knów nothing bad will happen, and even though you're scared you can't stop yourself from walking further. Fascinating is the least you can call it.

In the afternoon I took the tube to Oxford Street for some decent shopping, the huge HMV record stores and Topshop being my favourite places to spend a few fun hours! :) I bought some christmas pressies and found myself some good dvd's, cd's, a cute dress and my new favourite shoes.

Back home, I watched some Top Gear until Eloise came back from work. She was planning on staying in that evening as she had to work the day after and was feeling a little ill as well. I was invited by Dean to join him that night. He had put me on the guestlist for The Enemy who were playing the Forum in Kentish Town. First we met up in a bar near the tube station, where I got to meet Deans brother and another friend of his. We had some drinks and chose some good tunes for the jukebox before heading to the Forum. Over there we met Nikki, Nadya and even more of Deans friends (he has over 2000 facebook friends, no need to say he knows about everyone in London).

The Enemy did quite well - I like them but I'm not a superfan, though I did enjoy this gig quite a lot. After the gig we went to the afterparty in The Enemy's dressing room (Dean's a friend of the band), I got to meet the band and had a good time chatting with Nikki and her mates. I was planning on taking the night bus home - didn't want to stay out too late as I had to wake poor Eloise to get in the house. Dean didn't have the money to get home (all the way to Kent) so he joined me on my way to Brick Lane where Eloise told him he could stay over if he wanted. Not the best of ideas: Eloise and I didn't get a second of sleep that night because of Deans eh, impressive snorring. :p

Tate Modern
the turbine

Oxford Street

Top Gear

The Enemy @ The Forum

London part 1

2009-11-26T19:09:00.006+01:00
As I might have told you before, I'm planning on moving to London after I - hopefully - finish my studies in a little over half a year. Until then I'll have to keep myself satisfied with a couple of shorter visits. A couple of days ago, I came back from such a six day trip to the city of my dreams. And I feel like going back already.

I stayed over at my friend Eloise's place. She's from Leeds, but has already been living in London (on Brick Lane) for a while now. Some time ago her Belgian boyfriend Lenny moved in as well. Since Eloise had to work, I spent most of my first day in London with Lenny. We had breakfast in a place called Yummy's, where the owner told us a story about some kind of UFO's he had seen a while ago. He even had quite an interesting video to back up his story. Hmm. Afterwards, we headed to Camden and strolled around the markets. Some guy claimed he knew me, which was quite impossible, as my last visit to Camden was ages ago. Ah well, our familiarity got me a nice ring from his shop for only half the price!

After a great meal at McDonald's (the chicken selection, WHY OH WHY don't we have this in Belgium??) we went back to Camden where I was meeting Dean (singer from Regency, part-time key board player for The Rifles) and Rob (from The Rifles) at the Enterprise. Dean introduced me to some eh, interesting people (especially refering to this one very enthusiastic bloke who was non-stop joking and dancing) and we had a few beers and Sambucca shots. After a while, we all headed to Proud for Narrow Minded Social Club. There were gigs by Karova, The Paddingtons, Jersey Budd etc and it turned out to be an excellent night. A lot of my friends were around, English and Belgian (Lenny, Matthi, Wouter, Luc), and I got to meet some really nice new people. However, I still don't understand how the news got spread so quickly that I am Belgian. There were at least 10 random people coming over to me, asking silly questions like "Oh, so you're from Belgium! Tell me about Belgian beer! How about Belgian chocolate?" Rrrright. Great night nevertheless!!

Liverpool Station.
Cyberdog in Camden, possibly the weirdest shop I've ever seen!

Narrow Minded Social Club at Proud.
Jersey Budd.

Dean and I.

Wouter.

L O N D O N

2009-11-17T20:06:00.002+01:00

I'm off to London tomorrow morning, coming back on Monday evening. I'm so excited to go back, have loads of plans. I've been missing that city so much, and of course my lovely friends over there. See you next week darlings! xx

Calling moon and moon

2009-11-16T19:25:00.004+01:00

A couple of months ago my sister went to a festival in Luxembourg. My parents and I spent a day in the city of Luxembourg while she was spending hers jumping to Kings of Leon (I was saving my money for other festivals). In the evening, I joined my dad when he was picking her up by car after the festival was finished. It was a beautiful night, listening to Bat For Lashes, watching the street lights of Luxembourg.

Stay, don't just walk away, and leave me another day

2009-11-15T19:49:00.006+01:00

Went to see 500 Days Of Summer - not your typical rom com - a couple of days ago, and enjoyed it very much. (great soundtrack as well) I loved how it was playful, a little excentric, in a certain way totally devestating and very recognisable at the same time. I've been in the position of both Zoeey Deschanel's ànd Joseph Gordon-Levitt's (btw, how cute has he become!) characters and thought they depicted everything rather accurately!

Waiting, you are fading

2009-11-15T19:27:00.006+01:00

Part two of the fantastic weekend was the Editors gig at Vorst Nationaal. It was the sixth time I saw Editors play, but I can look you right in the eye and tell you they are still getting better and better and better. Tom's voice, the setlist, everything was perfect. I got so caught up in it that I even didn't take pictures, but here's one of me and Tom on the Editors signing session earlier that day in Brussels. (fan girl alert!)
And this is Phara, Tessa and I with Felix from the Maccabees, who did really well as the second Editors support act (the first one was Wintersleep, but I didn't enjoy them that much).

The world is ours and ours alone!

2009-11-11T15:18:00.005+01:00

Part one of that great weekend I was telling you about earlier on was last Friday, when I went to see The Rifles play in Antwerp. Been a fan of the band since their first album and even more since I met the lads, a bunch of really great guys.

They were playing the Trix last weekend, which is a rather small venue somewhere in the outskirts of Antwerp. I hadn't been there before, but telling from the website, one could get there by bus or tram. I figured the tram would be the easiest way. Horrible choice. I started feeling a little worried when the tram started driving in directions it definitely shouldn't be driving in, so I asked the driver what was going on. He told me all trams were driving to the Sportpaleis (another gig venue, but a lot bigger and most of all...somewhere very different!) that week, so I had to take the tram back to the station (where I started out) and take a bus from there on. On my tram back to the station I was joined by seven British boys. I figured out they were going to The Rifles as well and felt very relieved now I wasn't lost in Antwerp on my own anymore! We hopped on a bus (those lads were fantastic, high fiving with the bus driver etc :p), and after a very long drive we finally got to our destination.

At the venue, I met up with Rob from The Rifles. The two of us, joined by the British blokes, looked for and miraculously found a bar not too far from the (very isolated) gig venue. Not really what you'd call a trendy/charming/any positive adjective bar, but ah well. There was Belgian beer and everybody was happy.

Back at the venue I started talking to this guy from France who turned out to live very near me and was dj'ing in the Make Up Club the next evening - seriously, how small is this world?? :) The gig was really good, a long and energetic set. The Belgian crowd sucked, but I had my newly found British friends to ensure me of a great night.

Afterwards, Rob and I wanted to go out in Antwerp, and some nice Antwerp people we only just met were friendly enough to take us to a good pub. The start of a very good night out!!

Blue Monday

2009-11-09T09:46:00.005+01:00
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

2009-11-04T17:57:00.005+01:00

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)

2009-11-01T18:28:00.005+01:00
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

2009-10-29T10:20:00.005+01:00
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.

2009-10-28T19:10:00.004+01:00
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

2009-10-24T16:53:00.006+02:00

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!

2009-10-22T19:37:00.002+02:00
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

2009-10-18T15:53:00.005+02:00

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

2009-10-16T11:52:00.003+02:00

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!