Long time no blog

[Friday 21 November] Long time no blog. I am a busy man, school is asking much from me as well does my social life. Although I am still injured and so I do not practise sports very often, I do not find enough time for all the things I would wish to find it for. But, and that is the far most important fact: I am having a lot of fun lately.
Take this morning: I got home at 6am from a house party (gangfeest) at campus. It was fun, just until they ran out of beer. But fortunately for the inhabitants of the student house, anarchy was avoided. I spoke with strange people, that was kinda spooky though. There were some good people to talk with too, so not that bad ;-).
Even better was the party me and my friends from Babylon dropped in Malle Babbe (Nijmegen) last Tuesday! It was surprisingly crowded, given the fact that we had the flyers only one day in advance. That was a serious bummer, but the party rocked. It was so much fun working behind the bar and laughing with friends while doing your job, and I certainly want to do stuff like that again. The party itself had a Volendam-theme, which normally means terrible Dutch music. But it was Volendam with a twist, as we wanted to name the party ,,We hate Volendam, you too?!”. But that was not allowed: We were told that we were spreading hatred and so we had to change it into a cynical ,,We love Volendam, you too?!”. But people got the message anyway, so it all turned out well.

[Tuesday 23 December] Let’s write on. I finally found some time to write more, as I still have an hour before I have to catch the train to Schiphol Airport. For the fourth time this week I will work for KLM as a ground steward. Nice work though, helping people from around the world checking in. I even met famous people like Pierre van Hooijdonk (Feyenoord, Galatasaray) and Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax Amsterdam). Especially Sulejmani was fun to meet: We had a chat about his injury and Ajax; he’s a nice guy!
The last couple of weeks I’ve been very busy working on my university stuff, as we have to hand in many assignments. On top of that, my Bachelor Thesis requires much time. Now that I finished the literature and method sections of my study, it’s time for the actual research. So starting from this week I will send out questionnaires in order to obtain 100 respondents. I hope to finish before 31 December so I can hand in my pre-final thesis in the first week of January.

Last Friday I went to a wicked party in Rotterdam: Soulwaxmas. Elektro and Elektrorock music is alive and so was that night in the Maassilo. A gig by Justice, Soulwax, 2ManyDJs, Tiga, Erol Alkan and many more was sold out, and I was there with two friends from Nijmegen. Especially Justice and Erol Alkan were good, although I enjoyed all the other DJs too. Soulwax was playing live, and that was refreshing. That’s definitely something to keep an eye out for!
These last days of 2008 will mean hard work on my thesis and seeing my family again. Although last year was a drag, I certainly have good hope for the next few days because I won’t be bored.
Finally, on the 31st of December, I will go to Rotterdam to celebrate the National NYE party at the Maas. After that, me and three friends will go to Outland Rotterdam were Roger Sanchez and Sebastien Ingrosso will blast in the new year with awesome house music. I’m very looking forward to this night and I’m sure it’ll be great!

So, that all for now. As for Dublin, I got everything in order now, so I’m ready to leave. The university finally approved all the stuff I had to arrange, so Ireland here I come. I will fly on the 19th of January, and my Hello-Goodbye party will be on Thursday 15. Please drop by, I would very like to see you then! And don’t forget that photo!

Next blog I will inform you about Dublin. What I’m going to do, where I will live, when I leave, etc. So keep logging on!

Best things I did this year:

1. Lowlands 2008 (with Pim & Jurriaan) (& Eva)
2. London 2008 (with Jurriaan)
3. Madrid 2008 (with Berthold, Pim, Casper, Paul, Jurriaan and Jeroen)
4. IT International Student Football Tournament Groningen 2008
5. Groningen 2008 (with Sanne & Pieter)

Best gigs:

1. Crookers, Tommy Sunshine, Digitalism @ Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE)
2. David Guetta @ Outland Rotterdam
3. Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Tiga, Justice @ Maassilo Rotterdam

Finally, my music “review” charts. This one’s special, cause it’s got the obvious 2008 review.

2008 charts

Best album: De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig – De Machine
Best electronic album: MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Best pop/rock/jazz: Room Eleven – Mmm Gumbo

Cheers for: Junkie XL – Booming back at you & Juno Soundtrack (2008)

Best song: Room Eleven – Lovely Morning
Best electro track: MGMT - Kids
Best rock track: Sugarplum Fairy – The Escapologist
Best house track: Meck ft. Dino – So Strong (Impetto remix)

Best newcomers: Sugarplum Fairy, MGMT, Crookers


At this moment:

Best track: MGMT – Time to Pretend
Best electronic track: The Presets – My People (Dim remix)
Best pop track: Adele – Hometown Glory

Best Album: Soulwax – Nite Versions

Next gig:
NYE Rotterdam – Het Nationaal Nieuwsjaarsfeest (31 December 10:00 pm)
NYE Rotterdam – Roger Sanchez & Ingrosso @ Outland Rotterdam (01 January 02:00 am)

See you all next time!