Word on a wing

Winter wonderland

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:13:19 +0100

This was the view from my balcony this morning. All the fog had frozen onto the tree's branches during the night, which made for a beautiful view. Then there was this very bright, low wintersun, which made everything just look beautiful and stunning. A lot of people went skating... I haven't been on iceskates in years and would probably just fall over if I tried. So I did all kinds of dull stuff. Bought a sander to finish up the work I'm doing in my kitchen, got home just in time to catch the postman, who delivered my skiing pants. They're wonderful and warm, and best of all, cheap! So today when I finally came around to going to the horse, I wasn't cold at all. Wonderful! Should have bought one years ago.

Anyway, pictures. The view from my balcony this morning.

And the beautiful roses in my living room. I get them from one of the glasshouses in the neighbourhood. They sell of the flowers that didn't quite make the grade real cheap, but I can't really see anything wrong with them. They're just stunning. Surprisingly enough, the cats haven't knocked them over yet either. Shocking.

And this is the area my horse lives in. This is only about 30 minutes out of Amsterdam's city center, mind, and about 10 minutes away from my house. On bike, that is :-] I may live in boring suburbia, but I like it. So there.

And of course I had to take some pictures of Himself. He couldn't quite figure out how the skaters managed to float over ice, and was quite alert because of that. The low sun and frost made for some really nice pictures.

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Union Jack

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:12:38 +0200

I found out MySpace isn't all that bad. I popped of a message to Fiction Plane on it with a link to the pictures I took and promptly got a reply from Joe. He really seemed to like them and asked me whether he could put them on their site. I decided to be cheeky for a change and say "Sure! Can you fix me up with tickets for the Antwerp show?". Then he said "Sure!", so I may be going to see the Police again. How cool. I'm quite thrilled.

Even cooler is it to see the comments people leave on my pic on Fiction Plane's MySpace site. A nice little ego boost :-]

Other than that, there's miserably little going on in life at the moment. I did fuck all this weekend, slumming around the house doing the standby duty for work (which basically means doing fuck all all weekend and making 300 bucks doing it). Did some minor shopping in preparation of Halloween this weekend. Found some really nice fabric swatches in a local shop, which will do me just fine. Some dark blue velvet, bright red cotton and some white fabric, which has a plasticy layer, which will do great for varnishing and making it shiny. The idea is to make a Union Jack coat, and go with a bit of a Dr. Who theme. Maybe a Seven of Nine-like eyepiece and a mini Dalek to follow me around. We'll see how it works out. I'm looking for a second hand sewing machine at the moment, which is faintly amusing as I have never learned how to use one :-P I'm a wee bit late this year starting preparations, and the cats aren't helping. But we'll see how it goes.

I managed to find a ticket for the London Calling festival on Marktplaats. There aren't a lot of bands playing that I now, but it usually ends up being a lot of fun regardless, and 6 months later, half of the bands have had their breakthrough. Such as Kate Nash, whose picture I took at the March edition of the festival earlier this year. Sadly enough, I failed to get me a ticket to her show at the Melkweg november 29. Shucks.

Kate Nash

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My new baby

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:32:01 +0200

Due to arrive tomorrow:

Canon40d

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How Do You Think It Feels?

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:00:07 +0200

Lou Reed & Steve Hunter

Over the past 2 days I was lucky enough to see Lou Reed doing his Berlin twice. He is yet another someone I have been dying to see for a long time, but circumstances prevented me each time. Circumstances, and ticket prices. However, now I am slowly turning into a yuppie, I splashed out and bought tickets for each night. I got 8th row smack dab in the middle the first night, without the hassle of queueing at the ticket outlet, and then later that day they put the second night on. I checked the site, and it came up with a 4th row ticket which I couldn't refuse.

I did see Lou for a little bit at the Came So Far For Beauty thing in Dublin last year, but it was a brief appearance, and he wasn't doing his own stuff, but Leonard Cohen's. Quite a good performance then, still a stunning voice but slightly shaky appearance.

That slightly shaky appearance was the first thing that struck me this time too. Slightly shaky, somewhat fragile. He shuffles onto stage and it takes the audience a little while to react, to realise this is indeed Lou Reed. And what an audience. At 30, I feel one of the youngest people there... Unless, of course, you count the middle aged people that brought their children to see their youth legend. Fair play.

The New London Children’s Choir, a few members of the London Orchestra, a full band, and a singer that's clearly not Antony Heggarty, Sharon Jones. Not a bad singer, but I would have loved to see Antony with Lou on this one. All this fills the spacy Heineken Music Hall stage to the brim.

Lou Reed

They start off a little rocky. It seems the band have trouble communicating on the full stage, meaning sometimes parts of the band seem to miss what the rest of the band is doing. Lou missing a few notes (the higher ones) and Sharon mucks up a refrain. Frankly, it seems a little untogether.

By the time they launch into How Do You Think It Feels all that is completely forgotten though, courtesy of Caroline Says. Somewhere around that time the video screens kicks in as well, which makes the sad story that is Berlin not online a listening experience, but also a visual one. I think they could have done a better job in the video department, which was made hard to see because of the busy backdrop they were projecting on. Aside from all this the music just kept on getting better and better, and at the same time, sadder, reducing some people in the audience to tears.

The performance is captivating, deeply emotional and sweeps people off their feet. Not a single person in the audience remains unmoved. And while the last note of Sad Song still rings through the venue, Mr. Lou Reed humbly receives his standing an ovation an almost shy smile playing on his lips.

Some people were argued there was no need for him to do a "Lou Reed's greatest hits" encore, but I rather enjoyed finally getting to hear Sweet Jane, Sattelite of Love (with a stunning intro by bass player Fernando Saunders) and of course, Take a Walk On The Wild Side live. That, and the crowd moving forward to the stage means I could finally get some up close pictures...

Lou Reed

Lou Reed & Steve Hunter

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Such is the stuff of which dreams are woven...

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:19:49 +0200

The Patti Smith gig the other night was in one word: Amazing! I had never seen her before, liked the last album Twelve, but mostly went to see a legend without really knowing what to expect. I ended up being treated to a show full of humour, emotion, good natured banter and even some sing alongs. The Paradiso was well sold out, and it was crammed tight from fairly early on, though I must admit I came in much later than I had intended.

It was kind of funny seeing the mix of people there and how after a few years of going to gigs, you start recognising the faces all around. I ran into a couple I met last year at a Nick Cave gig in Antwerp. Then a handful of others I met at the Joan As Police Woman gig in Haarlem last year. One woman I meet just about everywhere, but mostly 16 Horsepower, Peter Hammill and John Cale related things and there was one girl I swear I met at a Bowie gig in 2002. Quite a diverse audience, so.

The evening went all over the place. Up, down, left, right. From sweeping trashing sound to tender ballad, from Hendrix' "Are you experienced?" to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" (after a long story about getting lost AGAIN trying to get to Rembrandt's House, finally finding it and having a moment of philosophical insight, then turning around and wandering on to the BlueBird cafe for two cups of mint tea and some cake...).

Then there was the story of being online with Gabriel Byrne the night Keith Moon died and how he looked so handsome and she kept buying him hashies, hoping that if she gave him enough he'd think she was a boy.

Also there's the girl that climbed up on the stage to give her a hug, taken into her arms like a grandmother taking in a long lost grandchild. That image gets scattered a little when she jokes "What can I say? I'm popular with the girls" though.

Peter Buck of R.E.M. is playing the upstairs room with Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus Room later that evening, but joins Patti for a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Highlight of the evening, however, comes when he sticks around to join in on a unrehearsed cover of.... R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts". Nevermind that she forgets the lyrics halfway through... the audience happily takes over. Such is the stuff from where dreams are woven.

All in all, probably one of the most memorable concerts I have been all year, and a perfect night to test my new lens.

Making a little sidestep to the photography end of things... The music mag setup I am involved in is taking shape, and the layout I have seen so far looks promising. It's kind of nice to be involved in something like that, and it's kind of making me a lot more motivated as well.

This is probably the reason I spent most of my day yesterday putting together a little gallery of pictures. Call it a portfolio if you wish. I may actually set up a website again and pimp it a little, though my site programming skills are rusty. Oh well, it doesn't have to be slick, it just has to be functional.

Tom just got in touch with me too for a copy of a picture I took of Bowie in 2003. It's actually one of my favourite pictures ever. He wants to use it for an article they're doing on his work and it will probably be printed in international engineering mags. How cool is that? Frankly, I'm glad I can finally return a favour to him! I do want a hardcopy though :-]

All in all, life's pretty smashing at the moment. I have actually booked a little holiday on Texel in a few weeks, since my mum wants to celebrate her 60th there, with all of the family. Sounds like an accident waiting to happy, but I am taking Solon as well, so I don't have to spend all my time with the rest of them.

One of my German friends just texted me to say Arcade Fire is playing there August 22 and should she get me tickets. How nice! Some of my Bowie related UK friends will come over for that too, so it'll be a nice little reunion.

And once again, summer is shaping up nicely (and quite unexpectedly!)

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The new life

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:07:04 +0200

I am settling into my job quite well (or at least, I'd like to think so) and I've been landed with a few major jobs right away. One is a major change, which involves a new SUN machine, and the installation and configuration of some CMS software, Tomcat and Apache. The idea is that I write an implementation document. Second job is trying to figure out how to build our very own RPM file, so we can install Apache easily into the directories we want, rather than the crap Redhat comes up with (it's all over the place) and pass on our configurations. Third is writing a emergency handbook, of which the bones are in place, but it needs to become a bit more substantial. So that's enough work to keep me busy for a while.

I do have to get used to the faster pace a little more, but I actually like that better.Strangely enough, it's a lot nicer to actually have something to do and have people appreciate your work, than playing around on the net all day, doing fuck all, and realising nobody really cares. Oh, and being in meetings about the stuff we could be doing all day, if only someone would make a decision. I know some people dream of that, but it gets bored really quick.

Another thing I have to get used to his money. At my former employer, I was used to just going the best and often most expensive option. Now I work for a commercial company, rather than a government sponsored foundation and cost suddenly is an issue.

The colleagues are much better. Average age is much lower and given the nature of my new job (basically, it revolves around the design and management of web interfaces and their interaction with remote systems) people tend to be by far more creative and interested in arts and such. It does make lunch conversation a lot better.

Lunch totally rocks too. Basically there's two big tables, around which everyone gathers. There's breads and everything you can dream of to put on it, and it's basically thrown in as a freebie. They're setting out rolls early in the morning, so we breakfast on that around 10:30. Besides that, the building just seems to be filled with candy everywhere. Chocolate bars, crisps, cookies, etc, etc. You can just take whatever you want... It's awesome and is really making an impact on my spending. Before, I'd probaby spend an average of EUR4 each day on lunch and stuff, and now it's zilch. Pretty good quick win, and it's fun!

All in all, I can't say I've had any regrets so far... It's all been pretty cool and easygoing and I just seem to fit right in.

A slight downside is that now I've started a new job, I don't actually have any vacation days built up yet, so I can't take any time off... That's a particular bummer when someone like Rufus Wainwright decides it's a brilliant idea to play Groningen, of all places. I caved in an bought a ticket today though, I will just have to figure out how long it's going to take me to actually get there.

I also bought a ticket to go see Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan again in August. I quite enjoyed them last time... I find Mark Lanegan quite intrigueing and am looking forward to seeing him again. By that time I should have my lens situation sorted out.

Speaking of... a while ago I went to this festival and started talking to this girl. She's studying journalism, and was talking to publishers about a concept music mag. She noticed me taking pictures, so we talked for a while and I promised I'd send her some pictures for her concept mag. Today I got an email of her, with her asking me if I'd be a contributor to her magazine... Of course she can't pay (deja vu Caroline?), but she said she might be able to get free tickets and whatnot... Woo. That'd be quite a welcome little extra. I have been spending a stupid amount of money on gigs lately! Of course, the whole thing is kind of moot until I get my hands on a new lens. Cool stuff though, let's hope the mag takes off (and if not, it will still be fun to see the concept mag with my pics in print). Now I just have to learn how to use the bloody thing ;)

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Joan As Police Woman

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 00:46:38 +0100

Joan As Police Woman

Tonight I went up to Patronaat in Haarlem to see Joan play. For some reason all her previous gigs were jinxed, so it was nice to finally get to see her without anything going horrendously wrong. The Patronaat has been rebuilt quite well, and sound and light are pretty good in the place. The concert itself was pretty good. For some reason I seem to have been going to a lot of those very fragile sounding (yet powerful) female performers lately, which is surprising. Surprising in that I always thought my preference in music leaned more towards heavy male voices. But tonight was Joan's night and she didn't disappoint. She's not only easy on the eyes, but her voice is simply stunning and she has a great sense of humour, laughs a lot on stage and randomly bursts out in pretty far fetched anecdotes that brings a smile on the face of even the most grumy person in the audience. A little plus was that she played Bowie's Sweet Thing, which of course put a smile on my face. She even referenced the 1984 thing! Between Joan playing Sweet Thing and the Killers playing When You Rock And Roll with me, I sure got my Bowie fix this week. Lucky me. Only a couple of more months before I get to see the man himself again.

All in all a fun and entertaining night. More pictures are up on my flickr page, where I incidentally found a message of someone who ~~wants to use some of my Killers pictures for some cultural website thingie~~ asked me if I was interested in taking pictures at more concerts for them. How cool is that?

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When you rock and roll with me...

nobody@vox.com(Eva) — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:52:15 +0100

The Killers

The Killers seem to have made When You Rock And Roll With Me a fixed part of their set now. Truth be told, the most memorable thing about the gig was the atrocious sound, which means it basically took me about half a minute before I realised Brandon had slipped into the Bowie song. It was reverb after reverb after reverb. Enough sound to fill a stadium, except the Paradiso is like a little ex-church club that only holds about 800 people. I think this was the worst the sound has ever been in there, even surpassing the quality of sound (or lack there of) of David's show at the Amsterdam Arena(-ena-ena-na-a).

However... this didn't seem to bother the audience at all, who just went completely nuts. It was awesome to see, and feel the entire crowd shifting, jumping and generally going insane. Band seemed high on the energy coming from the crowd, which fueled some action-reaction thing, where both started feeding of eachother. Great too watch.

For me, it was a revalation, as the only times I saw The Killers before they were playing support for U2 in huge arenas, which must be the most unthankful job on the planet. They kind of got lost in the sheer size of the stadium then, whereas today they were drowned by the audience, who sang every song word for word (which of course made the sound worse =) )

Anyway, I took a lot of pictures, but here's a small selection:

The Killers

There's some more pics of them up on my flickr page

I wouldn't mind seeing them again at the High Line Festival actually. Hint hint.

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