Tom Brown's Schooldays

Another nice day, just relaxing, listening to music, do some writing...

Reading Tom Brown's Schooldays now. An English classic with an interesting style.

Think I'm going to rewatch Lost In Translation tonight. It's been some time since I've last seen it.

In love with a lovely movie

Everything Must Go?

Found a brand new and unexpected copy of the 10th anniversary edition of Everything Must Go by the Manic Street Preachers in my mailbox today!! Work and the weather were nice too, so I'm having another great day. ;-)

And a weekend coming up that I have all for myself for a change! Look forward to reading, writing, relaxing!

By the way, I don't think everything has to go, it's been a long time since I've last thought that ;-) Therefore the question mark...

A warm day

Not much to tell today. It annoys me that I still haven't found out how to upload photo's from my camera to my computer...

I heard that today was the warmest late October day in 300 (!) years... With 22 degrees it was a nice day indeed. Had a nice day at work as well.

Right now listening to No One Is Really Beautiful by Jude. A great record.

Never for ever

Today was rainy and windy. Autumn has finally arrived and it got me in the right mood for Kate Bush, so I listened to songs from her first three records. The Kick Inside and Never For Ever are definitely among my favorite records ever. Right now listening to Chaos And Creation In The Backyard by Paul McCartney, which is also great.

Tomorrow I will be free. Look forward to writing and listening to music a lot!

I love autumn!

The Final Solution

Back home again after a nice weekend at my parents and a fun day at work. It was my last day there. I don't mind not having to travel that far for a day of work anymore, but I met some nice people there as well, so...

Finished Puck Of Pook's Hill that I liked very much and started The Final Solution by Michael Chabon who is one of my favorite authors.

Back home

Spending the weekend at my parent's place. Earlier this day I went to my favorite recordstores to trade in some cd's and was quite successful in getting me some new ones without paying any money. ;-)

Paul McCartney - Chaos And Creation In The Backyard
Josh Joplin Group - Useful Music
Brian Wilson - Smile
Mike Scott - Bring'em In
Caitlin Cary - While You Weren't Looking
Eels - Beautiful Freak

And one dvd: Before Sunrise. I really look forward to seeing that one!

The weather was really beautiful by the way.

Josh Kelley - Just say the word

When I returned home from work today I found two new cd's in my mailbox! Just Say The Word by Josh Kelley, one of my favorite singers, and Hang On To A Dream, a best of Tim Hardin.

The fist one has - in my opinion - an ugly cover, but it's really a nice record. I have already heard it quite some times, since I downloaded a week ago.

Feeling rather tired after two long days of working, but it's nice to listen to music and just feel quietely happy. ;-)

Drops Of Jupiter

Although there was no particular reason I was feeling incredibly happy and peaceful today. The weather was extremely beautiful and work was fun too!
Right now listening to Drops Of Jupiter by Train. This cd is so great! If I had the time I would listen to it everyday...
Tomorrow I have to get up very early to go to Leeuwarden again...

I think I'm going to read a bit now. Puck Of Pook's Hill is really a nice little book.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Yesterday I went to the cinema to watch The Wind That Shakes The Barley. It was a good movie, but it made me feel very uncomfortable. It was very realistic, almost like it was a documentary, and I like movies that leave something to the imagination of the viewer better. Though I have to say that I kept thinking about this film for quite some time...

Puck of Pook's Hill

Yesterday I went to a meeting with a number of European writers and literary critics in Amsterdam. Those present were Desanne van Brederode (NL), Jens Christian Grondahl (Denemarken), Vytautas Martinkus (Litouwen), Annette Pehnt (Duitsland), Elif Shafak (Turkije), Pedro Sorela (Spanje), Jachym Topol (Tsjechië) en Michaël Zeeman (NL). They talked about European identity and I thought it was very interesting.

Afterwards, me and some friends went out in Amsterdam which was a lot of fun! It's really great that they have night trains here, so I didn't have to be the first to leave for a change! And I do not even have a hangover from the free wodka... ;-)

Won't be doing very much today though... Reading Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling now. Finished Extremly Loud & Incredibly Close and thought it was one of the most beautiful novels I have ever read!

Bruce Springsteen live!

Whoohoo I've seen my greatest musical hero live yesterday! You can read all about it on my last.fm page. I think it was one the best concerts I have ever seen! Too bad I don't have any pictures...

The 10 best concerts I have seen so far:

Natalie Merchant (Amsterdam, 2002)
Counting Crows (Rotterdam, 2003)
Train (Amsterdam, 2003)
REM (Werchter, 2003)
Starsailor (Lowlands, 2003)
Gavin DeGraw (Amsterdam, 2005)
The Juliana Theory (Arnhem, 2006)
Josh Ritter (Amsterdam, 2006)
Pearl Jam (Arnhem, 2006)

Music music music

Found Continuum by John Mayer, Born In The Uk by Badly Drawn Boy en the dvd of Brokeback Mountain in the mail today! These are the moments I really enjoy my job as a reviewer. ;-)

Right now listening to Bruce Springsteen whom I'm going to see live tonight for the first time in my life!!!!

Travelling through the country

Now I now again why I accepted this project that is so far travelling from my home. It's just fun! I love travelling by train, just listening to music, watching people, looking out of the window, reading...

And the people at the project are fun too, so I am not complaining even though I just got home...

Brought Leaving through the window by Something Corporate with me, and I don't think there's a cd I like to listen to more in the morning train.

We Shall Overcome!

Reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer now. So far, I like it a lot!

One of my friends gave me the cd + dvd We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions today! Of course, that made me very happy!

Have to sleep early tonight, because tomorrow I have to work in Friesland again! Meaning I have to travel for 2,5 hours to get there... And 2,5 hours to get back home... Am I crazy? ;-)

Badlands

Yesterday I watched Badlands. An intense movie about an ordinary smalltown guy who turns into a ruthless killer. Set against the badlands of South Dakota and Montana. What makes this movie most fascinating is the voice over narrative of his girlfriend, which is both poetic and romantic...

Tried to write today, but it didn't go very well . I'm still not completely in my story again...

The Outlaw Josey Wales

Probably the best western I have ever seen. Highly recommended!

Zwartboek

Went to the cinema yesterday to see Zwartboek with a friend. Although I'm not a big fan of Dutch movies and not of war movies either, I thought this was quite a good film. A bit over the top sometimes, but it captivated me until the end. And isn't that what a good movie is about? ;-)

Tonight I will finally watch The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Winnie the Pooh

Already finished The Notebook, Monday night. I thought it was a really wonderful story, it just wasn't written too well. The movie was really way better.

Yesterday I started reading Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. These stories are really funny. ;-)

Writing did not go as well as I wanted today, but at least I'm finding my way back into my story. That took more time than I had expected...

The Notebook revisited

Finished reading Rob Roy that I liked a lot and started The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. An easy read and not very good literature. It's a nice book, but this time around I think the movie was way better.

Listening to Matt Nathanson. Another cd I should really listen to more often...

Everything is illuminated

I just watched Everything Is Illuminated. A nice slowpaced roadmovie that was different from the book, but that was good in its own right.

Right now it's pouring outside. I love the sound of the rain rushing down from the sky.