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

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.

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

Oh and...

...all my of exams turned out to be good, even that first one! Yeey!

...I had my wisdom teeth operation today. It went smoothly, I don't have pain, but I do look like this:

And it's no surprise that you'll soon forget about me

THE EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!


And I've treated myself to a new badminton outfit I found on eBay. Well yes, is actually a tennis dress, but clothingwise there's not much of a difference between the two disciplines, right?

The tennis fans among you might remember the dress from the Australian Open 2008, when that year's champion Maria Sharapova wore it (she had a beige and white one, I've bought the beige dress).

I'm looking forward to playing in it!

Say it loud and sing it proud (2 exams done, 3 to go)

I've got my second exam finished and this one went a lot better than the previous one. Let's hope I can keep this up for the next three!

The night before the exam I was out in Brussels for the big Oasis gig in Vorst Nationaal. I had been looking forward to it for such a long long time so forgive me for not caring that much about having my exam the day after. (Moreover, I never learn in the evening, I work hard during the day so I can relax at night. Ha!)

It was quite an eventful night. To start with, it took me ages to get to the venue. Brussels is not the place you want to go to by car around 6-8pm. Poor dad (he was the driver). While I was waiting for Peter, Murat and the rest, I got pleasantly surprised by Tim Broddin who gave me a self-compiled cd for my birthday - thank you! :)

When everybody finally got there, we couldn't get to the front stage anymore. We went up to the seats upstairs for the support act Twisted Wheel. I had checked the band before the gig and they sounded pretty good then, but I wasn't really impressed by their live performance. That wasn't the main problem, though. We were especially bothered by the fact we weren't downstairs, right in front of the stage.

So we decided it was time for some action and went down, where we had to confront a very strict door-keeper. Talking to him didn't help us any further, so Eloise tried to force something by pushing the door and trying to walk through, passed the porter. But he was faster than her and he grabbed her. He - accidentaly (at least, I think so) - grabbed her by her breast. Some tough English bloke had seen what happened and he started to yell at the door-man: "Hey, don't you touch her tits!". He solidly pushed the door open and we ran inside as fast as we could. Turned out there still was plenty of space and we found ourselves a great spot.

The gig was mindblowing. The setlist looked like this:

1. Rock 'N' Roll Star 2. Lyla 3. The Shock Of The Lightning 4. Cigarettes & Alcohol 5. The Meaning Of Soul 6. To Be Where There's Life 7. Waiting For The Rapture 8. The Masterplan 9. Songbird 10.Slide Away 11. Morning Glory 12. Ain't Got Nothing 13. Half The World Away 14. I'm Outta Time 15. Wonderwall 16. Supersonic --- 17. Don't Look Back In Anger 18. Falling Down 19. Champagne Supernova 20. I Am The Walrus

Pretty impressive huh? And the guys are just great on stage. They look cool as ever, and - what people sometimes tend to forget - they're really good musicians. Too bad the crowd wasn't as great, the gig could've been another 1000 times better if the audience wouldn't have been as extremely boring.

Anyway, it was a great night and exactly what I needed to get through the rest of the exams. It was my first ever Oasis gig, but I've got more to look forward to. The guys are doing a gig in Lille at the end of this month, and Paul - the oldest Gallagher brother - got me on the guestlist, so I'm joining the 'Oasis gang' (same people as for this gig) to France! :)

BBC Sound of 2009 (1 exam done, 4 to go)

I've had the first (and immediately the most difficult) of my five exams today. It didn't go terribly wrong, but not too great either. Nothing to do about it anymore though, so I guess I'll just wait and see and concentrate on the four exams which are still to come. The next one is on Wednesday.

Saturday was slightly more exiting, because it was the day when BBC finally reveiled their complete Sound of 2009 list. This is how the list works. It's quite a genious list, because it manages to correctly predict a whole bunch of next year's top acts year after the year. Although - I must admit - they often just 'steal' their ideas from Jools Holland.

This is the complete list:

1. Little Boots
2. White Lies
3. Florence and the Machine
4. Empire of the Sun
5. La Roux
6. Lady GaGa
7. VV Brown
8. Kid Cudi
9. Passion Pit
10. Dan Black

Winner Little Boots is supposed to be the new Kylie Minogue, but whereas I do have a soft spot for Kylie and her extremely danceable electropop, I don't manage to get exited about this girl. Too bad!

White Lies is without a doubt my favourite in this list. I love Joy Division, I love Editors, I love dark sad and kind of gloomy new wave songs, so there's not a single reason why I shouldn't love this band. I just heard their debut album, it's truly ace!

Florence and the Machine is another good act. I saw beautiful Florence and her gang as the support act for MGMT in early 2008. Florence has got a great voice and is a really interesting podium personality. Interesting detail: after the gig, she hugged me several times and expressed her love for my hair. :)

Talking about MGMT, it's pretty obvious where Empire of the Sun has been listening to during the previous couple of months. This could've been original a year ago, now it's not anymore, but what hasn't changed is that these guys make rather catchy tunes that I am going to like nevertheless.

La Roux is a very eighties-inspired London synth duo. Very hip and all, but I'm not a big fan.

Lady Gaga is already really popular here in Belgium. She's got everything to be the next best hype, but I honestly think her music is kind of rubbish.

VV Brown is part of another category, then. I discovered her a couple of months ago on Jools Holland's show and fell immediately in love with this woman. Definitely check out her lovely retro sounding song 'Crying Blood'!

You might know Kid Cudi from the succesful Crookers remix of 'Day and Night'. I'm not too fond of his other stuff, though.

Passion Pit sounds eh, interesting. I still have to make up my mind on wether I like this or not.

To end with, there's Dan Black. He's definitely someone to look out for, with his fascinating mix of electro, hiphop and pop.

My favourites...

White Lies - To lose my life


Florence and the Machine - Kiss with a fist


Empire of the Sun - Walking on a dream


VV Brown - Crying blood


Dan Black - HYPNTZ