| Editorial - 30 June 2006 |
| Damn, had a little too much work left to do, so I missed the first band I
wanted to see : Elbow. Their singles always
sound nice but as this is the second (or even third ?) time I missed them perform I think I better
stop trying to become a fan. It's not going to work I think. So a little late on the festivalground
and nothing more than Live and Anouk to listen to. Oh boy ... Live used to be good when they weren't dabbling heavy into the spiritual mumbo
jumbo. When they didn't write songs like "The River" which nobody remembers, knows the words to the
chorus or can whistle the melody. Songs about englightenment. No, when they wrote songs like "The
Dolphin's Cry", which rocks, everybody knows and can sing along. And which is about orgasms. See ?
Forget spirituality, just write about sex. During Anouk I just shot myself. Three times. Didn't work. Still could hear her whiny voice molest all that's good about rock with her band of no good studio musicians. "Nobody's Wife" ? Yeah, as if. Making 3 babies with her husband in the meantime, buying houses all over the globe. It'd be funny if it wasn't sad. When her dutch superiority attitude took over after the first two singles it all went down hill fast. So off for some food then. Luckily the evening would be ended by The Who. Knowing nothing about what they're like these days - after what ? 20 or even 25 years of doing almost nothing ? - I was expecting a bunch of old rockers with some timeless songs but not that much energy anymore. Hey, when I'm around sixty, I'll be sitting in a lawnchair. But man, they blew me away. Lightshow, wise-cracking, feedback, Pete Townsend's relentless arm-swinging and Daltrey's voice ... Who needs the Stones to come to Belgium when you have The Who playing Werchter ? Only downpoint ... too many songs remind me of CSI tv-shows. |
| Editorial - 29 June 2006 |
| Those 4 special days that mark the beginning of the summer vacation for many
students are here again : Rock Werchter
has started. I wasn't planning on going as of this year - becoming an old git and all that - but Herman
has done it again and booked just enough enticing names to get me over there once more ...
promising 4 days of good concerts, lame wannabee rockbands, sun, expensive food and utter exhaustion. After a day of hard work, I took the free bus from Leuven station towards the site. Just in time to meet up with Martine and check out Tool. The main reason for me for day one. Tool. I've seen them 4 or 5 times already and they are always good. Heavy guitars, wide openflowing compositions, great vocals and eerie videos on the big screens. This is what metal should be about. Feelings and frustration. Crap like Manu Chao is not, I repeat not, worth watching. That guy knows three chords and one melody which he plays endlessly over and over again. I've endured three of his concerts by now and it's always the same. And each and every fucking time the papers write that it was one hell of a party. I'm confused ... where was that party ? I haven't seen everybody jump up and down. I saw people eating, lying down, taking a nap, go see one of Bob Marley's sons on the other stage ... okay, Manu Chao has his heart in the right place, but come on, so does Michael Franti and he knows how to write a song or two. Next please. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were good, but not great. Unfortunately that was probably not their fault as the soundmix left the guitar way down in the background. Flea is an amazing bassplayer, but the Peppers need the sound of their brilliant guitarist John Frusciante. He adds a unique quality with lesser notes, a funky groove and razorsharp solos. Maybe it was just the place where I was standing, but it could've been better. Oh well, we got Me & My Friends so nevermind ... And yes, I ducked outta there afterwards because you don't want to get me started about the quality of The Black Eyed Peas. The Peas ? Please ... |
| Editorial - 28 June 2006 |
Okay, by special request I present you all some more shots from Mandy & Martine. Please behave if you comment. Don't make me
type "/me slaps you with a trout" like in the good old IRC days. |
| Editorial - 18 June 2006 |
Lately I've been going to Antwerp with Franky. There's a new bar - called The Joker - with stand up comedy acts on sunday-evenings. I'm always in for a good laugh
and there are some extremely funny guys in Belgium who don't always get the chances they deserve. We met owner
Fokke via Flickr where he
posts pictures of a teddybear I used to have. His bear is way kinkier than mine. Due to our concertphotos Fokke asked Franky (and me later on) to come on
over and take pictures of
the comedians performing. Last week there was an Open Mic featuring the one and only
Sh3ll4c (Gerrit for his
friends and mother). If you like his Freddy comics, you'll
probably like his act as well. From time to time we meet other bloggers there. We hooked up with Nicodemus (the one and only eskimo), with Bamm Bamm and we have taken I-Manuel with us a few times. Or we go for some attractive female company and have these two lovely girls tag along : Mandy and Martine.By coincidence I got to make Adriaan Van den Hoof (actor, Comedy Casino presenter, MC in Discobar Galaxie and DJ as half of the Bad Lieutenants - together with Lt. Castillo) believe that they are both my girlfriend. He couldn't get over it (neither would I actually) and never stopped staring. Even told his own girlfriend about it. Sorry for pulling your leg like that man, it was just to funny not to do it.  Here's Adriaan acting as the MC during the Open Mic. |
| Editorial - 15 June 2006 |
Recently this song anchored itself into my brain. First heard it on Studio Brussel and it's so perfectly calm and simple ... until you listen to the honestly heartbraking lyrics. I've always been a sucker for stuff like that and this one has immediately grabbed hold of the ventricles of my heart, the neurons in my brain and the water in my eyes ... anyone who prefers Britney to this should be taken out the back and shot. Twice. Leave (Bunny) If I could be, I'd be someone better If I could dig, I would help you burry What if I told you all my secrets, would you still wake up by my side ? If I could fight, I'd fight all your battles What if I told you all my secrets, would you still wake up by my side ? Can't I just sleep upon your shoulders ? What if I told you all my secrets, would you still wake up by my side ? |
| Editorial - 10 June 2006 |
Been so busy with work and personal stuff (boring paperwork) I didn't have time
to process all pictures of the last two gigs I went to. Anyway I have one done and uploaded it on Flickr.
Old skoolers Dog Eat Dog are back with a new album
and they stopped in Leuven. They soon realised they were very close to the
Stella Artois brewery (part of InBev) and its birthplace.
Pictures can be found
here. |
| Editorial - 5 June 2006 |
| Story time. There's a lot to tell about what's been happening in my life lately.
As some of you might remember I worked for Holiday Autos, the online carrental service of lastminute.com.
I was hired to revamp the benelux websites, bring them into the 21st century. Over the two years I've
worked there I had a good time. It was at times frustrating to get things done, but all the more fun when
it all worked out. I had a great time with my boss - who's funny as hell, ranging from Tony Soprano to
David "the office" Brent - and there were a lot of nice co-workers. Unfortunately the company was at the time also merging two compagnies together, and was recently taken over by an american company. Rules became stricter, work-units changed from month to month, people went, new ones came and went as well and at the end all I planned to do was done. Only thing left were additions to the existing site and the backlog at the parent-company slowed things down too much for my liking. Top that with a new boss who I didn't see eye to eye with and it was time to go. So after a while they let me go and I had what I wanted : time for myself while still being paid. I know that may sound selfish but those who have been following my life the past few months can understand why I had to start doing things for myself for a change. In order to get my head straight on again I dove into the remodelling of my appartment. I cleared as much space as possible and started removing the decades old wallpaper in the hallways. Meanwhile my dad and I tore out the old kitchen and replaced a wall. Put in some new floortiles a few days later and the kitchen was ready to receive a visit from the professionals who'd provide me with a brand new kitchen I designed myself. Nothing ready made, all hand made. Last week they added the last two shelves and the sink (which was broken on delivery the first time around) and the thing is now complete. And I'm happy with the way it turned out. Normally I'd left designing stuff like that to Elischka, but that was obviously no longer an option. Nice to know I can do it too. "So, okay, doing stuff for yourself, but what else ?" Okay, cool you ask. The money I was paid when I was let go, can easily get me into 2007. So at first I wasn't in a rush to look for a new job. Time to work with my hands for a change I thought. Clear the head, brush out the cobwebs, flush the bad dreams and all that. Take a daytrip to the zoo ? Cool, let's do it. Hang out in the park on a sunny afternoon ? Sure, what's stopping me ? Stay up late and watch 3 movies ? Hell yeah ! Help the guys from drieduizend set up an exhibition with our concert-pictures in the lobby of the venue Het Depot ? Obviously and immediately. But there's only so much you can take while hanging around doing nothing, so when I got a call from an old co-worker in The Netherlands who has set up his own company, I accepted the offer. Help start up a flemish website within the benelux market for an english company - worldwide leader in it's market. Something that has proven to be right up my alley and big international companies are always fun. As long as it's not live yet, I'm not supposed to tell you anything about it, so I'm keeping this vague, but I can tell you I'm in London right now - typing this in my hotelroom - for some in house training. I'll be doing some more work from home until August and then we'll see what happens in our market. "Okay, sounds nice, good for you. But what about the personal stuff ?" Look here you nosey miss parker, I'm not going to tell you everything. Lately I've had lesser ups and downs than usual but I still mis her more than you can imagine. However that didn't stop us from having a great time together friday evening when she came over for dinner and talking. There were moments it felt like old times and then there were moments when it all just felt different. She knows and accepts how I feel and I'm not bothered by those feelings. In fact, I might even be ready to move on. Not too quickly, but with the right person ... who knows ? Because ... "I want something good to die for ... to make it beautiful to live." (Queens Of The Stone Age) |
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