Music Festival.

Last Friday and Saturday were the two most important days on my calendar.
It was time to uphold a tradition I started with friends over 7 years ago.
It was time for Appelpop.



There is not one other reoccuring event I both love and hate so passionately.
Running into an abundance of old friends, classmates and colleagues, but not seeing the ones you're supposed to see untill the night is practically over.
Prices of drinks that cut down your already unrealistically small budget.
Not hearing your phone when a friend tries to find you, then the mutual joy of running into eachother after all only to split up again and find other friends.
Checking out lots of cute and hot girls, and then realizing an old man is staring at your package.
These are just a few of the things that make Appelpop (or practically any festival) as great as it is.
Truly, if the volume wasn't up so damned loud you'd forget there were bands playing at all.

So, it's pretty obvious I didn't go for the music, but then what did I do?

Well, I hung out with Irvina most of the time, one of my dearest friends.
She's the biggest smart ass someone of her intellect can be (She's very intellectual) and acts like they biologically crossbred a construction worker with Hello Kitty. With an almost extraterrestrial love for Star Trek and Star Wars.

And during the festival we really only talked and did the things mentioned above.

We didn't really do anything that resembled partying until we reached the Jam Inn on Friday night.
DJ Uzi was playing that night, which basically meant it was a Headbangers Ball that featured some gentler sing-alongs.
Think along the lines of AC/DC and Rage Against The Machine mixed with Don McClean and Michael Jackson.
Irvina actually got me to dance, and I kept dancing for about an hour.
That means I danced more in one night than I have through all of my teenage years.

The Saturday wasn't really that much more exciting, but it wasn't any less either.
Although the festival started around one, I didn't get there until 9 o'clock.
You might say I had some trouble with getting out of bed.

Since I hadn't set up a meeting with anyone in advance, I casually strolled to the third stage to see what was playing there.
I still am glad that I did.
'Cause after waiting there for about 15 minutes, my new favourite Dutch rock band started playing so-called roof off the place.



They are called The Pikeys, and are best described as a mix between AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Alice In Chains and Audioslave. Not only are they a talented group, but the energy and adrenaline they give off can only be compared to.. Well, other amazing rock bands that do that.
The rest of the time that the festival went on Irvina and I loitered around on and near the festival terrain, for a while with our mutual friend Kirsty.
Just so you know, Kirsty always smells nice, and loves hugging,
And is very loveable.

Around 11.30 we left Kirsty behind and headed for the Jam Inn again, only to be let down by the horrible playlist in comparison to the night before.
A call from Irvina's boyfriend saved us, and we went back to the festival terrain to play "I have never" with some free booze.
Of course, I only picked things I had to drink to.
About 20 minutes later, my night out was concluded with a tight hug and an exchange of sweet words between Irvina and me.

Now I lay here in bed typing this, while I should've been asleep two hours ago 'cause the alarm clock goes off in a little under three hours.

Goodnight, and see you on the flip side.

Marth

Colour in my life.

So I've been making massive work hours lately, at the expense of my summer.
50+ hours aren't going to be that unusual, and they might even grow up to 60+ hours.
With that much time wasted, you'd say I don't have any time left for myself.
But somehow, I manage to relax every day.

The first thing I do when I get home, is get a cold beer from the fridge.
I'll light a cigarette and sit down outside, preferably listening to artists like Robbie Williams, Jamiroquai and Justin Timberlake.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going mainstream, this just suits my mood so much better.
Or could you picture someone mallow out to Lamb Of God's Redneck, or Pantera's By Demons Be Driven?

Right now, I'm sitting here listening to Summer of 69 and drinking an almost ice cold Monster.
(For those of you don't know, 69 isn't a year but the sexual position.)
With a cigarette in my mouth, I decided to text Erik and ask if we'll go swimming this afternoon.
It's too bad that he's working 'till six.

For those who've known me longer than a few weeks, you probably know I almost only walk around in black or the occasional white.
Yeah, change is coming. I won't stop wearing those colours all together but I need a bit more variation.
That's why I ordered all kinds of different coloured shirts from Districtlines.com, 4 Ray William Johnon shirts, and an aqua MeekaKitty shirt.

I'm actually not that excited about wearing colour, but I imagine lots of people would think it'd be an improvement from my usual gloomy appearance.
And I'd hate to have people think I'm gloomy.
(I mean, we all know I'm always extremely happy and content with myself, right?)

There's a block party here tonight, with a western theme.
I'm not really looking forward to it, I'd rather have a normal party instead of a themed one.
But since I'm in charge of music, I might as well show off what I can do and what I know of music.
My mom actually thought Cotton Eye Joe is real vintage country music.
I slapped her with a Johnny Cash album.

I'm also planning lots of other stuff for this summer, half of which probably won't come to fruition.
Appelpop 2010 is the first edition of this festival to have foreign superstars on the program. We've had Anouk, Di-Rect, Golden Earring, After Forever and Within Temptation over quite a couple of times but it's not the same.
So the first two international artists to ever play on that stage are Gabriella Cilmi and Alphabeat.
Neither of those two really interest me musically, but I'll go see Gabriella to drool some.

And the thing that'll cost me most of my money this summer: A weekend in Bristol.
I'll probably need about 700 - 1200 euros for that. It's what I'm really excited about, but dare I say it?
I dare say it: It would very possibly be the best weekend of my life.
No, wait. The best weekend of my life that doesn't involve sex or excessive use of alcohol.

So in short: This is going to be an interesting summer.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a book to write and beer to drink.

See ya on the flip side.