1. Do you wear a name tag at work?
No. We're supposed to wear our security badge visibly, but I always put it in my pocket.

2. What kind of car do you drive?
Renault Megane, blue

3. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
I never went to a Taco Bell. We don't have it here.

4. Have you ever had a garage sale?
Nope

5. What color is your iPod?
Any colour I want it to be in my imagination, as I don't have...

(from the Bruce Springsteen song Land Of Hope And Dreams, found on Live In New York City)

So I didn't have any plans for last Saturday night. Or rather, I had a plan to do nothing. Maybe watch a DVD (especially if I could find the deluxe edition of The Joshua Tree reissue) or something like that. You know, use the weekend to have a bit of a rest, to catch my breath after a busy week. But it turned out a bit different...
On Friday, Bruce Springsteen was supposed to play his...

Have you:
Been kissed? Yes
Eaten an entire box of Oreos? No
Been on stage? Yes
Gotten in a car accident? Yes
Made homemade fudge? No
Seen the Eiffel tower? Yes, but only from a large distance

Your favorite:
Shampoo: Some L'Oreal stuff
Soap: Whatever smells good
Color: Blue
Day: Changes by the day
Night: Whenever I either have an excellent party or a good sleep
Band: U2, Urban Dance Squad
...

It was stronger than me...

What time is it? 22:37 CET
Name as it appears on your birth certificate. Marinus Johannes
Nicknames. Marty, Tijn
Parents' names. Theo and Joke
Number of candles that appeared on your last birthday cake. I can't remember the last time I had candles, or a birthday cake.
Date that you regularly blow them out. If it would happen, it would be on 15 August
Pets. None
Height. 1.85
Eye color. Brown
Piercings....

(by Brian Ferry and Antony, from the V/A compilation Rogue's Gallery)

After a week I've finally recuperated (a bit) from the Lowlands festival. Is it my age?
I had a wonderful time, saw lots of great concerts and such. And to get it out of the way immediately, I didn't think it was as good as last year, but still excellent. Then again, last year had 2 of my favourite bands (Urban Dance Squad and Spearhead) and a brilliant concert by Iggy And The Stooges. This year didn't...

(song on the Prince album Batdance)

Last weekend I made a short trip to London for a concert by His Royal Badness, Prince. I still can't believe that I managed to score tickets the regular way. Even though he's playing 21 (!) concerts in London, all shows sold out in a flash (for comparison, next weekend the Rolling Stones are playing 3 concerts in that arena and there are still tickets available for at least one of the nights). I'd never seen Prince live and wanted to see him based...

(from U2's Numb)

Yesterday I finally had some time to pick up the pictures of my first roll of film of India. There were some pretty good pictures among them. So here's a small selection.


One of the giant Buddha statues in one of the temples of the Kanhere Caves. I think this is one of the biggest in the world now (after the Taliban destroyed the biggest...

(from the Dire Straits song Les Boys on the album Making Movies)

I still have an old-fashioned camera. You maybe remember those things, the ones that have film in them. So even though I've made pictures here in India, I haven't had the opportunity to have them developed, let alone scanned. Luckily, my colleagues do have a digital camera. So I'm making use of the pictures they've taken. Hey! I was there too!
As for my own pictures, you'll see them one day. ...

(from the Primal Scream album XTRMNTR)

Being here in India certainly has enriched me with the influence of another culture. While on the one hand the Indian society has westernised a lot (as they've absorbed influences from the West over the last couple of thousand years) and certainly in Mumbai it still has its own spirit.
In the weekends I have time to explore Mumbai a bit (as during the week I have to work). Today I went to the Nehru Centre & Planetarium (named after...

Three lanes moving slow... (from the Dire Straits song Telegraph Road of the album Love Over Gold)

I'm now in Mumbai for almost a week and I'm still overwhelmed by it all. There's so much to see and tell about, that I really don't know where to start. And then I haven't even seen all the sights yet (apart from Sanjay Ghandi National Park and the Kanheri Caves) as I've been working all week.

The one thing I can't stop being amazed about is the traffic here in Mumbai....

(Elvis Costello & The Attractions song and album)

My Elvis (Costello) obsession has grown to healthy proportions over the past few years. I now have most of his regular albums (since a few months all his Rhino reissued albums, plus some other stuff). But he has released so much -and is still releasing music- that's almost impossible to keep up with everything. This year alone has seen 3 EC releases: the last Rhino reissue (his collaboration with the semi-classical Brodsky...

(from the Gotcha! album with the same name)

I finally have some time to put down my thoughts on the past Lowlands festival (18 to 20 August), or rather A Campingflight To Lowlands Paradise to give the festival its full name. Three days, about a dozen stages, more than a hundred acts (bands, stand-up comedy, Tai Chi, debates, movies, etc.). Surprisingly, this was going to be my first multi-day festival. So in the past weeks I'd bought a self-inflatable mattress and a tent that would...

(original version by Buddy Holly)

I just want to have this recorded for posterity:

Friggin' brilliant!


clt. Bruce Springsteen - Pink Cadillac (on IWB's radio show)

And of course the car selection:
Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning...

(from the song Bee Gees - Massachusetts, which is on their compilation Their Greatest Hits: The Record)

Over the summer I had my share of U2 concerts. In total I got to see them 7 times! Once in Brussels and three times in both Dublin and Amsterdam. Add to that the concert in NYC in May and you can see that I had one helluva U2 year this year. So it didn't cross my mind to see them again in the fall. I had 8 amazing nights and was satisfied with it.
However, when they started...

(that old Robert Johnson blues song, although I'm not selling my soul to the devil... I hope )

Today I got my yearly review. Yeah, I know, it's not the end of the year yet, but my company always plans these things in August/September. It's also not a salary discussion meeting, as that one is a separate meeting at the end of the year.
Anywhat, the review I got was generally positive. Some very positive aspects (my flexibility, my knowledge, etc.) and some aspects...