That time we almost watched the eclipse...

Who cares if cloud was forecast? With the promise of a pretty full eclipse I was determined to be outside, attempting to see it. Well, I managed on the first part, the last part wasn't quite so successful.

After a quick ask round last night, Dania and Leonoor decided that they were both free, and stupid lovely enough, to join me. So, this morning, ignoring the ominous overcast nature of the sky, I filled several plastic bottles with tea (I don't have a multi-person flask), we bought croissants and orange juice, and we set off to the park.

Other than the constant cries of "I'm cold" coming from a certain person - no prizes for guessing who -  I think we had a pretty good fun time. I mean, sure, it wasn't exactly picnic weather but there's something rather enjoyable about sitting outside eating breakfast. It's certainly more worthwhile than being stuck in the flat working or, just as likely, in bed sleeping!

Just in case you do struggle to guess who was the moaning one!

However, sadly, the cloud cover didn't break for us and we didn't really catch a glimpse of the eclipse itself. I mean it did get a bit darker but, with the amount of cloud, that change felt more like the herald of a storm rather than an unusual event!

So, I'm just going to pretend that we weren't trying to see the eclipse at all. Instead we were having a casual picnic to celebrate the vernal equinox and that bit, at least, was pretty darn successful!

And it was fun too ;-)

Taking The Mother to see Rapalje "Met de billen bloot"

It's Mother's Day on Sunday the 14th and I decided to use it as a complete and utter excuse to take my mother to various things etc etc. I know that using such (now) commercialised days may not be the best way to show genuine appreciation for someone but if you're trying to find an excuse to 'force' them to come to a foreign country when you want to do things then such days are pretty darn useful!

Anyway, our week of adventures (*) started yesterday with a Rapalje concert in Rotterdam. I had planned to book this one anyway due its date, and to book a hotel, but I realised, relatively late, that it was a lunchtime concert meaning the hotel wasn't needed. Saved a bit  of time and money! One of the many joys of the Netherlands is that, as long as timings are okayish you can get from one side of the country and back with relative ease, at least if one's comparing to back home.

It was actually my first time visiting Rotterdam although I can't really say I saw much of it. We were highly conscious of my need to study for exams and therefore only really went to the show and back. First impressions seem to say that the city is a fair bit more modern than Amsterdam but that's based solely on the area around the station. I'll just have to go back to judge it properly ;-)

I'm not sure if the venue is also a theatre or solely a concert hall (although the layout suggests the latter to me). I'm too lazy to google it. Either way, it was a very easy to access place with a rather good hall layout which meant you could have a pretty good view from anyway, I'd wager. Can you tell I keep lists of decent places to sit in each place I visit? 

The show opened with a performance based person by person introduction to the band which was something I'd not seen before, and I assume it's new to this show although I cannot be sure on that front. Either way it was a lovely added touch. Maceal came on as a one man band and played a rather speedy piece that did get us clapping although there were multiple rhythms going on throughout the audience; William sung a song with guitar and harmonica... well, almost without the harmonica as it got left offstage until the last minute; Dieb and Maceal played "Into Folk" while wearing some stunning embroidered jackets (yep, no kilts!); David played a short bagpipe medley which was really cool for want of a better way of describing it! We were reminded, once again, of how (multi) talented the members of this band are. 

After that followed a more 'normal' set during which the band played songs off of their albums as well as some new songs (I forget how many so if there was just one please adjust grammar to match). It was a good fun show that saw the usual mix of fast tunes and slower pieces. I think this may have been the first time my mother's seen Rapalje play with dancers too so that was a nice bonus for her. Meanwhile, David playing bagpipes and leading the three dancers (and Maceal playing a drum) around the hall certainly impressed the audience. The final number was the "Wild Rover" which clearly lives up to the show's name. And all that, as my mother said, before lunchtime!

Of course, after that we did get lunch and then made our way home for me to fight with multiple assignments and a tonne of revision. Yuck. Just to clarify that the 'yuck' refers to work... the food was good ;-)

So yes, all in all, I think that the first day of the Mother's Day Week went rather well. I just have to survive a physics exam, for which I am poorly prepared, before the next treat in the form of seeing the musical Elisabeth in Essen. I've even managed to start a painting for that one... gone are the days when I used to paint something before every and any event!

Right, less blogging, more studying, right?

(*) I know, I know, I have the cheese factor turned right up again!

Also, apologies for the crappy post title. I've been up since forever and studying has stolen the little imagination I had... may also explain the repetitive nature of description throughout the post!!

I've found my calling as a tourguide!

Last Friday I was busy bouncing around with excitement. Some of my gig friends from the UK were coming out to visit and also to go to a couple of the Within Temptation theatre shows and somehow the mass facebook chats had made me feel as if I was going on holiday. Of course, Friday is also the day of my stupidly late class but somehow I managed to get out of class a bit early and somehow, with a fair bit of running involved, I managed to get on an early train. Because of this, I arrived at Schiphol just as their plane was landing which was a good thing considering they were up a strange end of the airport and it took me a fair while to find where they'd be arriving. That said, I'm a bit of a Schiphol pro now !! Waiting for them to come through the doors I did consider making a name sign simply because I've never had one before but y'know... didn't happen.

And then the group of five arrived. Kim and her mother Sarah, met on various occasions at a few shows, Marc and his mother Sandra, met once at a Within Temptation acoustic show in London, and Gemma who I had never met.

We then had the utter joy of the admin tasks. Buying five anonymous OV cards, charging them and counting out the Euros wrong was embarrassing enough, I tell you. Seriously Euros still feel like Monopoly money and large numbers... yuck! Oh and then the good old trains were all moved around, delayed and cancelled. It's a bit frightening when you feel responsible for a group, especially when you struggle to get them all to fit on one train!

Late at night - perhaps the only time you can get a photo without
hundreds of other tourists being in shot!

That said, we managed to get into town safely and, once checked into the hotel, we went for a little stroll into town. Our search for food led us to Rembrantplein (it seemed the most promising direction to head in) and it was worthwhile. For all that area may be a complete overpriced tourist trap, it is beautiful at night, and during the day, and I love it. A drink back at the hotel and everything seemed to be getting off to a great start.

Saturday

The annoying amount of work meant that I decided to stay home during the day while the group explored. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped because I was still reading on the train that evening but I needed that time, and more!

Anyway, that evening was the first of the two Within Temptation dates and so all of us, sans Gemma, made our way to Almere. Walking through the closed shopping centre, totally deserted but yet a complete mass of neon lighting, Kim happened to remark on how it would make a perfect setting for a zombie film. With not another soul around, just rubbish blowing in the wind, it was hard to contradict her. Seriously, if my old urban studies teacher ever needed more proof that modern media uses zombies to represent consumerist culture...

We made it through zombie-land and found the theatre itself. After a preshow drink, we went into the hall only to discover that we were in the fourth row - why no-one had realised this from the tickets I do not know! I'm usually loathe to sit so close to the stage because you usually end up looking up and getting neck ache but, at this venue, we were at perfect eye height and it was wonderful. It made for an intimate show which was totally different to the show in Amsterdam a few days later.

When I eventually arrived back home I was bouncing off the ceiling. The show itself was something quite unlike anything I'd ever seen and I really needed some time to come down. Admittedly, phoning my mother and keeping her up until the early hours probably wasn't the fairest way to do this but I think she enjoyed my ranting to start with, at least ;-)

Sunday

Second home in Amsterdam

It was no real surprise that, come Sunday morning, everyone was pretty much dead. My delightful body decided to wake me up at six a.m. and refuse to believe that I really could sleep until nine and even then would not have enough sleep! It meant that, by the time I got the message from the others that they were pretty much all feeling crappy and could we meet later I was way too awake to go back to sleep. Worryingly, I can't remember what I did with that morning which should have been so productive. I ate toast, at least.

When we did meet, everyone feeling a little more alive than earlier, at least. we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe. This was somewhere that Kim had been on her previous trip and somewhere that I had never been, basically. Having been unable to eat properly for the past week now (yay for health crap!) I stayed away from the rather exciting looking cocktails and the large very meat based dishes and had a strawberry lemonade and a caesar salad. I'm not complaining, to be honest, although my order did seem overly sensible, it was delicious.

After that, we made our way to the Anne Frank House. This was something that the group really had wanted to do and something that had never really attracted me so much. Her story is wonderful in its human poignancy, as are those untold or unshared stories of those whose humanity has been reduced to just names in registers. The people who helped hide her and others - amazing people who risked consequences upon themselves for doing the right thing which is something, sadly, I don't think many people would feel able to do. The only reason I'd not been so interested in the museum itself is that I had heard it was rather a let down. I found quite the opposite. It had been set up in a way that wasn't tacky, didn't glorify anyone, and allowed people to elegantly follow the story of those people involved. It allowed you to 'touch' the human beings involved in one event, to feel some connection to them, and then to expand it out, if not to every person then to some. Personally, I'm so pleased that I did visit and would now recommend it wholeheartedly.

After what was rather an emotional stop for all of us (I know I cried a bit going round), it was time to replenish with some cakes. I took the group to one of my favourite grab-a-cake shops and we grabbed cake ;-)

Well, you have to be a stereotypical tourist too, right?

After that we went for a quick stroll around the red light district because they had been told by so many people to behave and 'not' go there that it simply had to be done. I guess I don't need to describe this bit - women and the odd man in windows etc etc etc. It's also the best place for overheard conversations as slightly inebriated tourists speaking loudly about sex related things makes for an entertaining time. I'll leave that bit completely to your imagination!

Monday

Somehow, although I didn't realise it at the time, we managed to explore until super late again which meant getting up on Monday was even more painful, made worse by the fact I had three classes, all of which I was rather ill prepared for. That meant that, not only did I somehow have to get ready for the evening over the morning and the lunch period but I needed to juggle my final class prep work too. Somehow I managed and, at around six in the evening I was running for my tram in a veritable gale ending up with complete earache... but also getting there in time ;-)

The Amsterdam show was held in the Carré, a theatre that I had heard about but never visited. Seriously, it was so stunning. We were on the balcony this time, except for Gemma who was down in the stalls. We had a great time waving at her and having other people wave back... like those guys who returned my flirty wave interpreting it as aimed at them... oops. The show was exquisite and the setting really did do it a lot of favours... it was a bit wow!

After the show itself, the group, quite naturally, decided to gravitate towards the stage door in order to attempt to meet the band. I waited for Leonoor and Dania who had very kindly agreed to meet me after the show so I didn't have to make my way back late at night alone. However, a few minutes after their arrival we checked train times only to find that all the late trains had been cancelled and we were basically stranded by the delightful Amsterdam public transport system. We decided that there was no rush if we couldn't get home anyway. Dania and Leonoor being the complete heroes that they are waited with us until after 1 a.m. and put up with the usual pain of numb toes just to allow me to hang and meet some of the band. For all I detest the way in which fans gravitate on lead members of bands, Sharon in particular was so very lovely, and spent a lot of time making everyone feel special despite her PA rushing her, that I can't help but feel her status is well earned.

Waiting for the band in the cold. Worth it? Oh yes!

We eventually made our way back to the hotel although, as the bar was closed, I still owe my personal bodyguards a drink for their services. We also managed to get a taxi from the hotel which got us home in record time and for a lot less than I had thought so I can't complain at all there. It was such an amazing night and it ended so easily.

Tuesday

I had managed to switch to an earlier science class on the Tuesday so that I could spend a little more time with the group and see them safely to the airport. It seemed like a really good idea at the time but it was one of the most painful things I've ever done. Getting up at 6a.m. and staying awake through two hours lecture on the origins of the universe... well, it wasn't easy! That said, it was 100% worth it!

Magnums are not the most elegant things to eat ;-)

In town we first gravitated towards de Bijenkorf as Gemma wanted a frozen yoghurt and I just so happened to know a that they sold some good stuff. The rest of us gravitated towards the make your own magnum area. Not only are custom magnums tasty but they are also surprisingly fun and creative to design, bringing out the inner child in everyone.

After that it was back to the Hard Rock cafe for a farewell drink... or two... or three... or, in Gemma's case, four. Oh, wow, what a laugh! We were such a rowdy group but it was such fun. Something that I haven't managed to get across in this post is the amity. For a group that knew each other on a surface level to start with, we had spent a great deal of time with each other and had really gelled. Messing around on this final day seemed to sum up the trip in many ways, with all of us being totally relaxed and open. Okay, I'll admit it, I was a bit concerned about them missing their flight but other than that... ;-)

This image seems to sum up the craziness that was this final trip to Hard Rock <3

And then it was goodbye. It had only been a few days but they had been so special, so much fun, that parting was really difficult. I know it's only a temporary thing... there's no doubt that true friendships have been forged, but all the same...

Life is slowly returning to normal but I can't help but flick through the photos and remember the happenings of the last week as I look forward to, and start to plan, the Next Time.




Photos will be uploaded to my facebook as soon as I can fight my way through them all. Oh and I'm planning to do a separate write up of the shows (hence their absence in this post) so keep your eyes peeled if you're interested in that :-D

More music time: Cesair and The Moon and the Nightspirit

Firstly I should probably apologise for the delay once again. This refers to last Saturday so I guess I'm under a week late which is good with my recent track record. Deadlines, exams, and illness have decided to destroy any semblance of organisation in my life, as usual! I did actually take my camera to this show and it was the first time I've attempted to take photos in low light conditions. Not the best results ever, as one might expect for a first attempt, but there are a few photos that might work out okay and I'll upload those onto facebook in the coming days... if they do exist ;-)

Anyway, I haven't said what I'm rambling on about yet, although the title has probably given it away. Saturday saw Thijs, Hester and I make our way to Leiden for a show of Cesair and The Moon and the Nightspirit. It's actually really nice to have Thijs who is basically into exactly the same eclectic mix of music as I am as we get to accompany each other to shows (well, he babysits me really, if we're honest!!) and Hester, who's just getting into the genre, is so so over-excitable. It's actually quite adorable. So we both babysit her ;-)

I have the most stunning friends.

Anyway, we managed to find our way to the venue which is tucked away a bit and probably would be quite unnoticeable unless you know it's there. As always, we were early. Yes, you can probably blame the paranoid about being late British person for that! Anyway, the venue itself was absolutely lovely. The staff members were polite and friendly. The layout of the venue was great with a stepped back area which served as a seating place and also would allow for people to see from the back quite nicely. Couple of annoyingly placed pillars but I guess you can't moan about structural necessity. The sad thing is that the venue faces closure at the moment which would really suck, to put it plainly. There is a petition on the go to save it which you should go and sign here.

So, after lurking at the back, at the top of the stepped area, and taking the obligatory pre-show selfies the lights lowered and my friends went down to the main area for the show. Of course, my delightful friends forgot that I have the whole vision disability, no night vision at all, and was therefore quite as blind as a kitten. I managed to get down the first step... misjudged the rest and somehow landed on my feet, propelling myself across the room and straight into aforementioned friends. That's karma for you! I'm hoping it looked like an elegant jump as opposed to the flailing reality!!

Anyway, a brief comment on the music is in order, I think. As always, I don't need to tell you that Cesair were great. They are a highly skilled set of people playing some wonderful pieces and it makes for a consistently marvelous show. Again, the set was a mixture of older pieces and the newer songs. It's also getting to the stage where Thijs keeps leaning over and going "oooh I like this one" after practically every next-song announcement. I'm not sure if he realised quite how often he was saying that but I guess he does now he's read this!! And it can only be a compliment to the music, of course. Also have to commend the lighting design this time, I think. Not the best for my first attempt at photographing this type of show but certainly atmospheric and fitting, of course, that's what really matters.

Following Cesair was The Moon and the Nightspirit, a group from Hungary who have a perhaps more atmospheric sound. This is the second time I've seen them and, if I'm totally honest, I think this set was a lot stronger than the other one I saw. Despite liking their recorded music, I felt the first show I saw was good but not great. However, this time, I felt they did perform well so I suppose I managed to catch them on an off day last time... or my own mind wasn't in the mood for it, who knows. The audience was really dynamic for their set too, a lot of movement and dance. I know that isn't a comment on the music so much as the atmosphere but the combination of the two matters when it's a live show. In fact, I wonder if that was the difference here compared to the previous show, the audience seemed much more engaged and that has to increase the overall energy. Anyway, I'm rambling on again, as usual!

After the show we attempted to get a photo with the bands which has become rather our habit and is actually really nice for me as a scrapbooker. Seriously, the fact that my friends are into getting photos and taking selfies and whatever makes my life so much easier because heck, I'm too shy to ask so I'd leave without. Also got to test my Dutch skills while Hester and Thijs socialised a bit. The diagnosis: I understand it pretty well now but still can't actually speak a word. Urgh, I need to get classes. Didn't even speak any Hungarian ;-) Mind you, I'm losing the minimal amount I had anyway through lack of practice!

Photo very kindly taken by Kees who also photographed the event.

I'm not quite sure how this developed from a blog post about a gig into a rant about my failings as a linguist but there we go. That's how my mind's working tonight!

Oh, and I have a wonderful weekend to look forward to as some of my music-y friends from the UK are coming over to adventure in Amsterdam. Very excited. 

Now to get healthy before tomorrow!

Space, pancakes, and murder

Having had various people complaining about lack of recent blog post I felt that I simply had no choice but to write one. The silence has not been because of lack of inspiration or lack of stuff going on, quite to the contrary.  There have been posts half finished, or totally finished but for pictures, sat and waiting to be published but I've not published them because of worries about flooding the inboxes of those people who email subscribe... and because I have a bit of an obsession with uploading things in the right order... This post is the only one that is going to be cross posted onto facebook and there'll be a list of 'other posts' at the bottom, complete with links. For now, however, lets have a little overview of the past week, with subheadings because of the sheer length ;-)

Visiting the zoo... and deep space

The only bright side about my science course, so far, seems to be the fact that it includes various trips. I may struggle to understand how one goes about calculating the mass of a black hole but I am quite happy to visit a planetarium and take a trip through space. This was how I spent my Tuesday morning, at Artis Zoo's planetarium. It's not the best planetarium ever, and I believe that it only holds show in Dutch, but there's still something magical about being able to 'see' the universe, even just the night sky, in such clarity.

Serious university students, don't you know?!

To get into the planetarium one has to have a zoo ticket and, as the university had paid for the planetarium trip we found ourselves, at 10am, with a 'free' zoo ticket and no further classes. It seemed only natural to explore a little. Now, I'm a little conflicted about zoos at the best of times... I think that anything that works towards the preservation of species and conservation of our wildlife is a wonderful thing. But all the same, I struggle a little with the sight of animals in such small areas and, if I'm honest, compared to the other zoos I've been to recently, mainly with schools and colleges, the areas did seem a lot smaller. I'd be interested to know if it's a difference in my perception or a difference between countries.

I'd never been to a zoo with dinosaurs before!!!

That said, there were a lot of baby animals which was simply lovely - it shows that the conservation aspect is going well I suppose. Yes, there was a baby zebra. You can see why I was happy! Also, the aquarium was quite impressive and the butterfly house was absolutely fantastic... genuinely glorious. I plan to return simply to take photos in the butterfly house which is a huge expanse of botanical wonders, a little stream with some frogs, and a load of butterflies of all kinds of species flying in groups, alone, eating... it felt like walking through a fairytale. In that regard, I think we were lucky that it was such a gloomy cold morning - we were pretty much alone most of the time.

Pancakes!

Of course, Tuesday was something else special and that is pancake day. Okay, technically it's Shrove

Tuesday but in my family we've observed the eating of pancakes as a tradition rather than a religious thing therefore the day has a rather secular significance but a significance nevertheless. The idea behind the eating of pancakes was to use up all the luxury items before the start of Lent but, as I said, it's become a more secular day although always, for me at least, a family affair.

Every year my parents and I, and my grandparents when they were still around, would celebrate together. We even managed to celebrate the day when we were homeless after the flooding... didn't have a kitchen but still had pancakes!! Each year we'd make pancakes and the batter would always be lumpy (because my dad would get impatient) and the first ones wouldn't be properly cooked through (because my dad would get impatient) and more pancake would end up on the floor than on the plate (because it's not  pancake day unless someone's managed to flip one and get it stuck to the ceiling). My grandma would always tell the story of how everyone got out of school early and how she went to fetch oranges for on the pancakes one day when she was a child. Coming home she saw the school on fire and it was the happiest pancake day. In short, it's a day with a lot of family-time significance and I was kinda dreading it.

My plans were to make and eat alone because I just didn't feel like spending it with my friends. I love them all dearly but it's hard to truly communicate the above when explaining the day. However, having spoken to Leonoor and Laura at the zoo earlier that day I ended up inviting Leonoor round to cook with me... she didn't feel like cooking for herself and I think I knew deep down that the company would be a good thing.

And, we had a really, really good evening!

Only half a pancake got dropped on the floor. I managed to flip successfully four times... and got a carpet burn in the process. Hey, it's a serious sport this thing! I told the story about my grandmother's school which, as the thing my grandmother feared most when she was close to dying was that she'd be forgotten... well, I think it's pretty clear she'll never be forgotten.

We spent the evening, Leonoor and I that is, eating, drinking tea, watching inane but amusing television shows and just chilling. It was a relief from the stress of university and it was a really lovely evening that could so easily have just been me moping.

And a little bit or murder

And then Thursday night saw the rearranged murder mystery party with a rather large group (I think there were eleven of us) set at a film awards party. Considering I'm not the best at circulating at parties at the best of times, I'm more the wallflower type unless I'm firmly part of a group, I don't think I made the best sleuth ever. That said, no-one guessed that Ryan was the one who murdered the poor victim. He had us all trusting him and now we know how good a liar he is... well, I doubt we'll forget that in a hurry ;-)

That, ladies and gents, is the smile of betrayal!

All joking aside, it was a really good fun night which got a mixed group together and, again, it was a welcome distraction from the sheer amount of work I have on at the moment.

On that note, I probably should get back to studying. Yuck!!

Previous posts

These are the posts that I would have intended to post to facebook but that have been sitting in my drafts folder for too long. Other posts may exist but they're more likely to be in rant form.

Midwinter Fair

Christmas tree decorating

The start of semester

Castlefest Winter Party

Starting the semester

The faster life goes the more I have to write about and the less time to do it.

I'm really not complaining. I like busy!

Mother managed to fit the bronze owl I got given for
Christmas in her case weight allowance. Magic woman!

Today I said goodbye to my mother who was out for a few days visiting... she needed my help with her computer stuff for work and I needed English food. It was a win win situation. Anyway, we had a really lovely time doing random rubbish (like buying DVDs of Shakespeare shows) and some more interesting things too, of course. The main development was our booking to go and see the (wonderful) musical Elisabeth when it tours through Essen. I don't think I need to explain to you why this makes me so happy and the fact that I'm taking my mother to see it for mother's day makes it extra special. Before you ask, she  is a fan of the show too ;-)

Before her visit it was the Castlefest Winter Party which I attended with the lovely Thijs and before that was the start of my second semester at university and I will bore you all with a basic overview of which courses I am taking because they, no doubt, will feature highly in the next 14 weeks!

This semester I am taking Big Questions in Science, Logic, Periods and Genres Modern, and Text and Genre.

The first course of the semester was the one I was most afraid of: Logic. It's a mixture between maths, philosophy and common sense with an infamous fail rate. I was dreading doing it. Now I've started, I'm surprised to say, I actually quite like it! I mean, it is going to be a real challenge for me to remember all the things I have to remember for the exams and it's probably going to get harder but I am enjoying it so far. I go into the classes and struggle a little bit with the concepts at the very start and then, after a few minutes I get the hang of it. It's enough of a challenge to be interesting but taught well enough that it's not overly daunting... yet ;-)

I'll talk about the other not so fun course, namely Big Questions in Science. I'm doing it because I need to take a science course and this sounded like the most accessible for a humanities major such as myself. Indeed, it was what it was designed for. I've not studied any sciences since I was 15. We're studying physics at the moment and, quite simply, I do not get it. The teacher is a lovely person and clearly quite intelligent but, sadly, I'm not quite so well versed in the physics world as he is and therefore things he takes for granted confuse me massively. This course and I may have some issues. On the bright side, next lesson's at the planetarium!

Periods and Genres is a continuation from last semester's course, focusing on a latter period, and is art history by any other name. There were some little hiccoughs with the teacher not providing the (very small) things I need to get by with my vision problem but, hopefully, this is getting sorted now. I kinda know I'll like this course because I'm aware of the kind of things included and, as a bonus, there are additional creative elements that mean that I'm going to have to find time to paint and draw. Since starting at university I've hardly touched a pencil and it's not a good thing at all!

And the final course, Text and Genre is shaping up to by my favourite. It's a literature foundation theory course thing and I expected it to be rather dry but, in fact, it's so much fun. We're looking at literature itself (at last!) and working in a really interactive environment chaired by two teachers who are so energetic and obviously have such passion for the subject. I don't think you could ask for more!

So, that's how life is shaping up at the moment. Next week looks to be super busy. Who am I kidding? The next few months look to be super busy! But anyway, exciting times!


This is not for facebook because I've written another post since and don't want to flood out my feed.

Castlefest Winter Party

Saturday evening saw Thijs and me making our way to Hilversum for the first Castlefest Winter party thing. It was strange for something to be 'Castlefest' yet be in a theatre type indoor venue and in the middle of winter. Nevertheless, it was a lovely evening with some wonderful music, as always. This time I didn't take my camera as we weren't sure if it would be allowed so I have no photographs to share, sadly... and none for my scrapbook either which is even worse!! On the bright side, that also meant that I could bring a tiny bag and just have fun dancing (well bobbing) a bit without getting awful back ache. Seriously, Thijs' phone was too big to fit in my bag... it was bliss ;-)

Anyway, I digress!

We arrived part way through Jyoti Verhoeff's set (possibly because it took us so long to work out that Thijs' monster of a phone really wasn't going to fit in my bag). 

Next up was Shireen who I'd encountered at the Midwinter Fair some time ago back but didn't really know before that. I'd really enjoyed their set those few months back and, if anything, they seemed to surpass themselves. Theirs is a strong sound in every sense of the word and I will certainly be buying their EP when I have the opportunity (and spare cash), of course.

After Shireen came Cesair and I feel that I've written about them enough so that they don't really need much explanation! The set was really enjoyable with quite a few newer pieces as well as wonderful older numbers. Atiny Naya remains my firm favourite, however, and luckily it got a play too ;-)

Finally was Scrum with their fun rockyness. It's probably the last time I'm going to see the band with their lead singer Skottie which is a real shame but, I'll be honest, it was such a good show that it was a fitting 'end of an era'. Looking forward to seeing Scrum move forwards :-)

So yes... there is my incredibly short and unimaginative round up. What can I say? I'm tired.




This post is not for facebook because it was written in a sleep deprived trance... I don't even know if it makes sense.