Last weekend we went to the China Festival of Lights in Emmen; a light show with lanterns and light sculptures. Traditionally, these light festivals were organized to please the god of heaven to generate some sympathy for the following year. Indeed.

And I got attacked by a ferocious crocodile:

twilight in the forest

I borrowed the camera from my brother a few weeks ago, and made this picture on an early sunday morning.

In the beginning of august we went to Strasbourg for a wedding; I took a few days off and we explored the city and its surroundings for a few days. It’s a quaint little town, and we had the best weather imaginable. I borrowed a camera to take some pictures (since I didn’t yet buy a new one after the burglary), and they came out quite nicely.

Last monday some dickhead looted our house .. now most of our (small) electronics are gone; 3 cameras, 2 ipods, a lens, and my precious laptop… So basically everything that I owned is gone. Including all my documents, photos, etc.. It’s all gone. On the upside, when our house is on fire, I don’t have to get in to retrieve my personal stuff… yay? It feels like there’s nothing left.

About a week ago we went to see Propagandhi in the Melkweg (Amsterdam). It was almost 8 years ago that I saw them, so I was really looking forward to it. And they didn’t disappoint: it was fucking awesome. We were in front of the stage, with the moshpit right behind us.. so it got pretty wild ;). I didn’t make any pictures, and the only guy I saw making pictures had to be evacuated because it got so messy… but i found some pictures on Flickr anyway :)

And a great YouTube video.. Less Talk, More Rock and Haille Selssasse up your ass. We’re the only ones holding hands during Haille Sellasse lol:

And as a bonus, here’s Purina Hall of Fame:

Last wednesday we went to see NIN in Amsterdam for their Wave Goodbye tour. I missed them the last time they were visiting the Netherlands, so I was glad I got a second chance to shell out some money and finally see them.
The selection of songs was diverse, even some songs from the Pretty Hate Machine album, as well as from Further down the spiral, Broken, The Fragile, The Downward Spiral … and of course the new albums as well. All in all, it was the perfect mix of old and new songs, and if I ever have the chance to see them again, I’ll be there.

Next up: Propagandhi!

Previous week I went to Frankfurt, to the FIDIS general meeting, where I had to give a short presentation about the work we did. I didn’t have a lot of time afterwards, but at least I got make some pictures during the night:

Saturday March 21st we went to see Booker T. & the MG’s; you can find a review here. It was much more crowded than the previous week, when John Cale and Vic Chesnutt performed. I didn’t bring my camera, but instead I borrowed some pictures from the previously mentioned site.
My review: they were awesome, and I got to hear my favourite songs (Green Onions and Hip Hug Her).

Yesterday we went to see John Cale and Vic Chesnutt in ‘het Paard van Troje’ in the Hague; Vic Chesnutt performed together with Elf Power. John played really passionate, it really was wonderful to see him perform. He played some older songs like ‘Fear’, ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Paris 1919′, Dying on the vine’, ‘Pablo Picasso’ and  ‘Things’ from a recent album. Especially ‘Amsterdam’ gave me some shivers the way he sang it. Wonderful.

The second performer we came to see, Vic Chesnutt, played together with Elf Power. They played a lot of songs from their ‘Dark Developments’ album. Vic was really relaxed and laidback.

Here are some pics:

Previous weekend I visited some refugees from Holland who moved to Grenoble; I smuggled some contraband syrup waffles over the border … I have to admit I was a little afraid, but it was for the greater good. On the other hand, I wasn’t yet ready to die like a martyr. Luckily, all went well, and the waffles disappeared from the radar in a few days.

The town and its surroundings are really nice; it’s located in a valley, which is a nice change from holland where everything’s flat.

Here are some pics; I forgot to make a picture of Grenoble at night though :(.

I again want to thank C&G for their hospitality :)