Energy!

Whoohoo, listening to Dizzy Up The Girl and as always I get such an energy boost! I feel like dancing and jumpin' through my room. ;-) For me this is really the best cd to rock out! Ever!

Tonight, by the way, I am going to the concert of Josh Ritter in Amsterdam! Look forward to that enormously! Will try to write an impression tomorrow!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I have some serious writing to do! Therefore, I bid thee farewell for now.

Why don't I live in England or America???

Or why do my favorite artists not come to Holland? The Goo Goo Dolls are playing England right now and Jason Mraz was there only the other day! Why does nobody invite them over here? Why do I not have enough money to travel to the other side of the Channel? Or do you suppose I should just swim there???

Anyways, here's my top 50 of most played artists according to last.fm, since I have nothing else of interest to tell you today.

Top Artists – Overall
Generated: Monday May 29
1 Train 1071
2 Jason Mraz 901
3 Goo Goo Dolls 763
4 matchbox twenty 625
5 Josh Kelley 616
6 Ron Sexsmith 586
7 Bruce Springsteen 575
8 Josh Rouse 573
9 Jude 562
10 Switchfoot 513
11 The Juliana Theory 512
12 Johnny Cash 509
13 Fastball 458
14 Joe Firstman 442
15 Over the Rhine 427
16 Simon & Garfunkel 398
17 Neil Young 376
18 Laïs 368
19 Steely Dan 360
20 Pearl Jam 355
21 Kate Bush 337
22 Van Morrison 333
23 John Mayer 326
24 Counting Crows 321
25 Kathleen Edwards 298
26 Howie Day 297
27 Jackopierce 290
28 Travis 289
29 Maroon 5 288
30 Vega 4 286
31 R.E.M. 282
32 Something Corporate 276
33 Stevie Wonder 269
34 Dave Matthews Band 267
35 Frank Sinatra 264
36 Sam Cooke 256
37 Natalie Merchant 255
38 3 Doors Down 251
39 Brandi Carlile 248
40 Jim Croce 247
41 U2 246
42 Ben Folds 240
42 The Beach Boys 240
42 Tristan Prettyman 240
45 The Beatles 238
45 Sandy Denny 238
47 Gavin DeGraw 235
48 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 234
49 Eagles 233
50 Paul Simon 231

Me and you and everyone we know

Had a very nice evening yesterday going to a very nice movie theater with a very nice girl to watch this very nice movie called Me and you and everyone we know.

Today I want to write a lot, but the last few day I have problems concentrating... I hope today will be better...

The Great Dictator

Yesterday I watched a great movie from a long time ago: Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator. It's interesting that this is one of the rare pre-war movies that dared critize Hitler. On one hand it's scary to see that Chaplin realized what was happening in Europe, while the rest of the world, didn't want to see (yet).
On the other hand this movie is hilariously funny as well! I liked the part with the visit of the Italian leader best!

Rebel cooking!

Went to a bookfair with some friends yesterday and bought me a wonderful book on Civil War cooking! Anyone ever heard about Skillygalee, Hell-Fired Stew or Yankee Baked Beans? Neither had I, but I will now be able to cook it for myself and my friends! ;-)

I also found an extensive book full of literary quotes, a biography on Crazy Horse (by Mari Sandoz) and two novels: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (wonderful story!) and Villette by Charlotte Bronte.

La Vita e Bella

So beautiful...

Miss Ravenel's Conversion

Reading Miss Ravenel's Conversion now. One of the most important novels on the American Civil War, written shortly after the conflict.

Having a good time

Hello! Just got back from a very wet, very windy and extremely muddy weekend of camping with my family in a forest near the city I was born! There were like seventy to eighty people and it was a lot of fun! The first night I got almost lost in the forest while playing a game that was a bit similar to hide and seek (I was one of the people who had to hide and others had to seek us). I was the last one to return to the tents when the game was over (and some people still had not found me, as I am very good in hiding ;-) I decided to take the long way and almost got lost in the darkness, which was fun, because people started looking for me! (Meaning they missed me ;-)
The next day I awoke rather early to hear the rain ticking on my tent, which is a very nice sound as long as you are inside. I stayed inside for a long time, while listening to the rain and some good music. When I got outside it was still raining and it kept on raining for quite some time, causing the ground in our main tent to become completely muddy and dirty. Therefore, me and a lot of cousins went bowling and even though I had to play against some 9-14 year old girls, I managed to end up last with only 30 points in 10 rounds which is very bad if you know something about bowling... As I am not a bad loser (ahum ;-) , I had a lot of fun anyway.
Afterwards I played soccer with some very young cousins which was also very nice, though my team was badly beaten (mostly because my team consisted only of me for quite some time, while the other team had at least 2 or 3 players). That evening, I bangt some head (is this the right way to say this? I mean that we were headbanging...) with the very young son of one of my many cousins, which was a lot of fun. His dad wanted me to hear his favorite music which is hardcore punk and metal. He also gave me some cd's, which is very cool, cause now I can practice some more at home. ;-)
Today, I awoke again to the sound of rain ticking on my tent, so again I stayed inside for a long time, like most of my family. I listened to some cool cd's and finished Peter Pan. I mean the book. Later I played all sorts of games with the two little sons of one my cousins, which was a lot of fun too. Too bad I see most of these kids only once a year...
Of course, we did a lot of other things as well (drinking, talking politics, barbecuing, games, catching up with each others lives), but I'm too tired to tell you about that...

All I can say is that I had a wonderful time!

Too bad I don't have pictures of this fun weekend. As soon as I find myself a good job I will buy a digital camera!

Oh, and one of my cousins who only visited the campsite on Saturday gave birth to a little girl when she got home that night!!

Music, music, music! And a bit of wind and rain...

Wow, daily updating this blog while being out of work is still harder then I thought. Friends and writing are more important though... ;-)

Today I just wanted to say that I feel very happy. This morning I listened to a whole bunch of sad records that I had to review, by artists such as Sebastien Tellier, Leya and Gregory Page, but now I am listening to this very relaxt record by Donavon Frankenreiter which almost feels like summer, even though outside the wind is blowing hard and it sometimes rains cats and dogs... This is really a very nice cd!

The good thing is that I'm going out camping with my whole family this weekend and the weather forecast isn't any different from today. ;-) For some reason it is always like this during are annual meeting... ;-) Well, every year it is fun and who cares about a bit of rain or wind anyway?

Oh, that Gregory Page cd is also very cool. Gregory is a friend of Jason Mraz, but his music sounds way different. It's called Love Made Me Drunk and is inspired by traditional French (!) music! And that cd by Sebastien Tellier (Sessions) is also great. His song Fantino was featured in Lost In Translation, which happens to be one of my most favorite movies ever. And Watch You Don't Take Off by Leya is another great. Sounds a bit like Jeff Buckley and Starsailor. Go check it out!

The nice thing about reviewing cd's is that you come across cool cd's that you would never have discovered otherwise! Having to listen to music you really don't want to hear sometimes, is therefore always taken for granted. ;-)

Well, still have to write one review and gotta start packing soon, so goodbye! Hopefully I won't drown in my tent this weekend! ;-)

Led Zeppelin

Listening to Led Zeppelin! Haven't been doing this in quite some time, but I find that I still like them as much as I used to do!

Went to the library this afternoon, but felt too tired to really study. Feeling a lot better now though!

Gonna clean my room tonight. I really love to have my own room and my own kitchen now. I somehow feel I am a very lucky person.

Reading Peter Pan

"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the firsttime, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all wentskipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies."

Tedious talk this, but being a stay-at-home she liked it.

"And so," he went on good-naturedly, "there ought to be onefairy for every boy and girl."

"Ought to be? Isn't there?"

"No. You see children know such a lot now, they soon don'tbelieve in fairies, and every time a child says, `I don't believein fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."

Just started, but already love this book!

A lovesong for Bobby Long

Yesterday I watched A lovesong for Bobby Long. I bought it because Scarlett Johansson has become my favorite actress and she plays one of the main characters. I loved the story, the atmosphere and the acting, though the movies has certain flaws that don't make it a classic. It didn't move me to tears, while the storyline had all the ingredients to do so. Still, I found it a very nice movie to watch.

The end of an era?

Spent all afternoon lying in the park, listening to great music (Jack's Mannequin, Train and Fastball), watching pretty girls, reading The House at Pooh Corner and a book on the fantasy tradition in American literature, and thinking about my own novel.

Before that, Misguided Roses by Edwin McCain arrived in the mail. I had ordered it from my favorite webstore for only $5! That's really cheap, considering the fact that it has never been released in my country, as far as I know.
In some way, this purchase marks the end of an era. More than three years ago, my musical taste changed enormously under the influence of a girl that I liked very much. Since then I have literally bought hundreds of cd's that I would not have bought had I not met her.
Misguided Roses was the last of her favorite records that I did not own. I had not bought it yet because I thought I would not particularly like this one, though I love the song I'll Be. That song is the reason I finally ordered it. And it turned out I was wrong. This is a really nice record!

Lately, I have the feeling that there's no real reason to buy much new cd's. I have so much beautiful music to listen to! The weird thing is that 4 years ago I felt like this as well. That doesn't mean I won't buy no cd's anymore (I really want to have the new Train, Josh Rouse, Bruce Springsteen and some other things), but not as much as I have for over 3 years now. That's a promise! ;-)

By the way, right now I'm listening to The Memorial Hall Recordings by Mark Erelli. One of the most beautiful records I have ever reviewed, which is now four years ago. This guy is being so outrageously underrated!

Mad Season

Feeling way too tired and listening to one of my Top 5 favorite records of all time. Weird how I was not impressed at all when I heard it for the first time, some years ago. Now I think I will never grow tired of it though I can't find the words to explain why I love it so much.

Feeling tired because I got home late yesterday after visiting a friend, sleeping not very long because of the heat and after biking to the city I used to work for a drink with some of my former colleagues in their new building. It was so nice to be out on my bike! The weather has been great for over one week now.

Got some great ideas for my novel but too tired to do anything useful now. Think I'll read some more in The House At Pooh Corner.

Another cd I should really listen to much more often!

Emmerdale

Feeling a bit out of it today for no particular reason, so I wanted to listen to happy music and I searched my cd collection and stumbled upon the first Cardigans cd which is really nice. ;-)

Will have to do something useful tonight!

Dr. Strangelove

Finally, I watched this hilariously funny movie called Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb! I had never seen it before, but George C. Scott as a simple minded war crazy general was so much fun! And, of course, Peter Sellers is so cool as the crazy Dr. Strangelove, captain Mandrake and a brilliant president of the USA... And the dialogues are so great! I just couldn't stop laughing! :-)

Mandrake to Guano: "Colonel, that Coca-Cola machine, I want you to shoot the lock off it. There may be some change in there. "

Guano: "That's private property."

Mandrake exasperated: "Colonel, can you possibly imagine what is going to happen to you, your frame, outlook, way of life and everything, when they learn that you have obstructed a telephone call to the President of the United States? Can you imagine? Shoot it off! Shoot! With the gun! That's what the bullets are for, you twit!"

Guano: "Ok. I'm gonna get your money for you. But if you don't get the President of the Unites States on that phone, you know what's going to happen to you?"

Mandrake: "What?"

Guano: "You're going to have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company."

The Prairie

Haven't said much here lately about the books I have been reading. Right now I have been busy with The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper for quite some time. I took me some time to get into it, but now I like it. I love to read books about the West. The vast emptiness of the plains and all the ideas that go along with it have always captivated me.
The Prairie has the same main character as Cooper's famous The Last Of The Mohicans: Natty Bumpo, who is an old man now.

The Notebook

Yesterday I watched The Notebook and I absolutely loved it! It's a wonderful romantic story about a poor boy and a rich girl without ever being cheesy.

Today the weather was just as beautiful as yesterday, so me and a friend went for a long biking trip through forest, lakes and meadows... Saw castles, ducks and some pretty girls and talked about life. I had a great day, though my arms got pretty much sunburned, which doesn't feel really nice now... ;-)

Today I also visited the last.fm page of an American girl that said about herself: "I'm an enthusiast--that means I like to like things: Movies, music, books, psychology, politics, whatever." I wish I had made that up! Replace the psychology with history and people and you have me. ;-)

Just now it started raining though the sun is still shining and it still feels pretty warm. I love the smell it brings into my room, while I'm listening to one of the most beautiful cd's ever: Ohio by Over The Rhine!

Jobs & movies

Turned down a job offer today, because I would have to work 32 hours, while I only want a job for 24, because otherwise it will interfere way too much with my writing, which is the most important thing in my life right now. I need to earn money again soon, but my heart tells me I made the right decision!

Yesterday, I got to two dvd's as a birthdaypresent from one of my friends: La Vita E Bella, one of my favorite movies, and The Notebook. I'm looking forward to seeing that last one.

When I returned from my job interview, I bought The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. A classic!

How I love this record!

It's hard to explain why this is my favorite record of all time, so I am not even going to try.

Listening to it brings back both good and bad memories, but it's nice to find out every time that the good memories prevail and that the wonderful music is still the main reason why I absolutely love this great cd!

The birthday kid!

Today is my birthday! And before my family comes to celebrate with me I'm going to listen to the most beautiful music in my collection!

And of course, I started with this song:

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat
Take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding
Up my sleeve

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits
Maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers
And all of our parents
They're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
While in their memories
Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you got to rise above

I am invincible
As long as I'm alive
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above
I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion
I'm gonna bust down the double doors
And when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for

My favorite artists according to Audioscrobbler