I should.

Falcor

I want a luck dragon. No. I need a luck dragon.
Anything else?
Nah, not particularly.

determination= fail badly + try again

I don't feel too hot at the moment. I hope I haven't caught the influenza... The days I make during my internship are way long. I hate having a 9-5 job and it's definitely something I'm going to try and avoid in the future. I'll fight for that!

"What if you could fly? Where would you go?"

This question has been asked so many times to so many different people and still, no one has ever given a seriously considered answer. You usually get something like "Hawaii"(sure), "the girls' locker room" (FLYING, not invisibility), "To somewhere far away" (like iraq?) or "New Zealand" (Good answer, I've seen Lord of the Rings so I can sympathize with that).

Thinking the question over needs a little time, which, I know very well, is something most journalists don't have and most interviewees don't want to give them. Still, like, really... what would you answer if you could really fly to that place right this second. I wouldn't pick New Zealand.. I can tell you that much.

Pézenac, the place I made these photographs, might be a good destination when your head feels cluttered and confused.

I play the drums in an imaginary band

During the holidays I always read a ton of books. Just because I love hanging out on the beach but I'm too restless to just lay there. Some books I read this summer completely surprised me and others I had very high expectations of just didn't live up to them.

The biggest surprise this year was a book I found at Selexyz the day before I left on a holiday, while I was actually looking for a music mag to read in the car. It's called 'I play the drums in a band called okay'.

Page 1: "We are in a band called okay, lower case, italics."

When I'd finished the book and read the recommendations on the cover, I realised the writer, Toby Litt, hadn't been in a band called okay. Which I could've known if I had paid any attention because the drummer's (real) name is Brian and not Toby (thoughout the book he's referred to as Clap, though, I think that's why I never noticed)

At that moment I thought: Jesus Christ, Litt can write! Thoughout the book I was honestly in the illusion the book was autobiographical. One of the reviewers of I play the drums in a band called okay, (Peter Hook) wrote:

It's like he's been hiding under the beds in hotel rooms, in the corner of rehearsal rooms, in the toilets in bars, in the darkest corners of our minds, listening all the time.

I second that.

It feels like Clap is a real person. The drummer. The one with a conscience. The guy who sits in the corner, observing his fellow bandmates, philosophizing about random stuff. And not just Clap. The book makes it seem as if okay really did exist. Like you can find their record in every store or go see them live in your local venue. Their band lives.

"Our first meeting. I've told this too often in interviews. I know when I say about Syph dropping out of a tree in front of us, it's probably a story I made up years ago and now believe it's true. But I do believe it's true."

For this reason, I was very disappointed when I realized I would never be able to find okay's cd's anywhere, or meet Syph the charismatic leadsinger... or philosophize with Clap about Buddhism.

"Whatever- it makes it pretty hard to forget that the Buddha, like all men, was from time to time a fucker. Perhaps that's the point, exactly. Of course, this took place when he was an unenlightened being - but after he sat under the Budhi tree and became enlightened and saw whatever he saw, did he go back [to his wife]? Did he apologize? No - because he must have realized there was no reason to."

Whatever the reason may be, this book was such a good read that I'm actually recommending it to everyone I meet. Especially to people I've met during my holiday, while I was reading the book. Ask them. If you ever meet anyone who's talking about this book, they have probably met me. Especially when they highlight the bit about Syph leaving the japanese girl waiting in his room for a week. You should really read that chapter by the way..

The sky is the limit

I absolutely love flying.
Even though 100 tons of steel in the air just doesn't feel right..
It's taunting nature's law.

Tomorrow I'm starting my internship. I'm nervous as hell. I wish I could just fly away.
I'm just trying not to think to much about it but focus on my birthday, which is this friday.
I'll be turning 20 but I won't be growing up. Does that make sense?

No, it doesn't.


photo is by myself

Paris et Montpellier

I'm back. My laptop has been fixed and I'm back from my holidays. Paris, as I'd already blabbered in last post, was incredible. Above you see my favourite photo from Quatorze Julliet. I don't know how I did it, but this one turned out beautiful. I think I might get it printed at poster-size and put it up the wall to remind myself that sometimes, things work out exactly the way you've always wanted them to.
Montpellier, my other holiday, was sun, beach and sea. I definitely needed that before starting my internship next week. All photo's from this post by me. (for a change)

Nationalism

Inferno!

Montmartre

Paris

Paris Paris Paris
This city is wonderful. My feet hurt, I have a cold and I'm really exhausted but it was worth it. The quatorze julliet fireworks were incredible and there was a gig in front of the Eiffel Tower! Johnny Hallyday performed there for nearly three hours (!) that's as much time as Bruce Springsteen had at Pinkpop!! Honestly, I didn't know who he was, so I asked the guys next to me (who were drinking champagne and singing along at the top of their lungs) and they said he's like a God in France. The next day I was at Lafayette so at the media department I went looking for his cd and there were about ten times as many of his cd's as ANY of the other artists in the store (except for MJ, but he's dead so that doesn't count). I guess the guy was right, then.
I made a lot of photo's of the fireworks, quartier latin and my fave: Montmartre but at the moment my laptop is being repaired and I can't make a proper blog post on this one (no software on it whatsoever). Maybe next week :)
I've just read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and seriously guys, I nearly cried at the end. This book is just perfect on so many levels and a must-read for anyone. It was a short break from my 76-short stories book of Vladimir Nabokov... that's quite a big read, I tell you.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Harry Potter and the half blood prince. Anyone seen it yet? What do you think?

Tbh

There probably won't be any updates from me for the next week, since my laptop crashed and they will come to pick him up for repair next wednesday.. I'm devastated.. now I'll have to go find a life..

Holidays and Blur

Blur performed in Hyde Park July 2nd. I was devastated when I first heard about it and realised I couldn't be there. As a cold comfort Absolute Radio decided to broadcast the gig this sunday. I listened through two hours of Damon, Graham, Dave and Alex giving it their magnificent all and kicked myself in the head again for not taking the first train to London (80 quid) three days ago. Ah well, I'll get over it... some day.

To put things in perspective: I'm only one week away from Paris! I'll be taking my D70 with me so hopefully I'll be posting some nice somethings on her in two weeks time. Just a brief flashback to remind myself of my amazing time in London last summer.