the return of random things

--> the gossip . standing in the way of control

Interesting notices of today

1. I got a TAN !


2. I need more sleep than the human body even needs. Humm...should I think about that or just give up wondering ?

3. I'm really messy. You know, not messy like throwing garbage in my flat - I just forget many things and feel like sleepwalking awake. Strange.

4. SOMEONE changed my blog settings. So, now it looks fucked up on both browsers. And YES, I did refresh the browers. *wink*

5. France was much better than expected and I'm happy for Zinedine Zidane and his goal. One of my favourite players and probably one of the best midfielders of all time anyway.

6. I tell myself everyday to go to bed earlier but I always happen to go to bed around midnight. I can't even call it an inner clock. I just don't feel like sleeping before that time. Maybe this would change if I had someone to lie next to.

7. I'm curious about my exam results and honestly : Maybe it would be even good if I fail. Don't look like this ! It's good to not go nuts about it, right ? So : I'm calm like corn in the field.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHMMMMMMMM .

Later than late
murmel

PS : A tip, just to let you know :
Germany vs. Argentina 2:1
^^

Impressions from "Southside Festival" 2006

As I know that Mel will probably write also a review I just thought of posting some snapshots I did this weekend.

Short summary :

+ GOOD +
+I met some very nice people, had good talks and got their adresses to stay in contact
+the weather was more than summer like and I have like 5 sunburns - but who cares if you had the perfect festival weather ? :)
+I had a nice trip to the swimming pool in Tuttlingen with our tent neighbors from Stuttgart
+the bands were awesome and I even happened to see some new bands I haven't heard that much of
+We were able to watch the Germany football game and they won ! :D
+I met "the kooks" and "elbow" at the autograph stand and they were VERY nice - :)
+Best Performances: Billy Talent, The Kooks, Skin, The Raconteurs, Elbow, Wir sind Helden, The Gossip

-BAD-
- my backpack got stolen - I got to wear the SAME clothes from friday to sunday night and some of my favourite Band T-Shirts are gone - I hope, not forever :s
- the baggage controls at the festival ground entrance were a bit too picky - I always had to wait 10 minutes to get through :(
- I missed "The Cardigans" because of the Germany game - but Mel said they sucked anyway ;)
- the prices for the beverages were totally off the wall - and of course the well-known german beer brewery made the deal of their lifetime in the heat of Neuhausen *grrr*
- Although we were lucky not to get stuck in the huge storm we had big problems to drive - the sky seemed to open its gates and a dangerous mix of wind/hail/rain/thunder/lightning was coming over

All in all it was a good weekend and I hope my tent buddies see it the same way.

Here are some photos (-> click to enlarge) :

Luke Pritchard (The Kooks)

Ben Harper

Benjamin Kowalewicz (Billy Talent)

Guy Garvey (Elbow)

THE STORM

Laters

murmel

hands down . . .

...feet up, head high ! I'm done. Done with my exams, done with my working mates, happily looking for my second festival this year!

Southside Festival :)

And I found out that I'm not resist against the heat that's raging here in Germany. I'm slightly going nuts, but to quote "SOMEONE" :

me : "Aw, yeah I'm crazy today, I know.."
Mel : "today ?"

That's all folks ! ;)

See ya

murmel

Watch out, Sigmund Freud !

--> traffic noise from outside

Yesterday night I dreamt shitloads of pointless stuff. Amusing, but as I take my dreams pretty serious I started to wonder about :

- > me, holding hands with a girl, that surly DOESN'T want to hold hands with me
- > running with her up to a hill (people told me it's a good place to hang around) where we find a rusted, old bus
- > the radioin the bus is still working and tells us that a body was found near this place
- > we run like hell, while we are chased by this man


For your information - he's no murderer, politician or bad person in any sense. Just a sport moderator. Strange enough that HE should be the enemy. Tss. But maybe sport moderators are the new bad people of tomorrow. Who knows ?

- > after being chased (we got away safely ! YAAAY! ) the "girl" runs away and feel that I lost her
- > I scream her name as loud as I can and suddenly and old classmate of mine says [imagine a incredibly low voice for a girl] : "Hey, maybe she's on the hill!"
- > I run up that hill, but I just find her keys and she wrote on it "HAHA!" with an arrow to the left
- > I find her and introduce my former classmate to her

Then I wake up and I just have one question :

WTF ?


Sigmund Freud would be pleased to analyse this.

But maybe Sarah Bettens was true when she sang :

"It's okay to wonder why but don't expect to understand your life."

murmel

2006

sportfreunde stiller . 54, 74, 90, 2006 ;)





Mercy to everyone who hates football these days. In Germany you can't get out of this alive. And for those who wrote good marks in the history lesson it wasn't always easy to be proud of Germany. But lately a kind of invisible power has moved the country. Strange enough that such a pointless sport like football can unite people from all possible countries, but in Germany I think everyone would agree if I call it mass hysteria. Gladly, I'm a football fan and former footballer (yes, hit me! I can stand it! ;). And I surly will be at some place with a biiig screen on the next match.

grassy greetings -- :)
murmel

anti or independent ?

--> alice in chains . rooster (unplugged)

Do you know that point when you felt like you had built up your own little universe with favourite movies, music and people and suddenly feel so stressed out of holding all these things up ?

I thought a bit of my life in the last half year and I came to the conclusion that I don't need to be anti or something. It's the wrong expression of a life-style that has corrupted myself. I feel like I need to be independent.
Independent of all these consum things that try to suck up the rest of your mind and the money out of your pocket, independent of people who cost me so much power to hold on and don't even notice it, independent of this "if you don't like this or do this you're uncool" attitude, independent of my feelings and thoughts who often stop me from living life as it is : Precious.
And even if some people will think now : Ow, come on you're not one of this consum people !
I'm only human. I often wish myself a new car or other material things. Maybe to stuff up the lonliness, I don't know.

But it feels good to know that autumn will change some things. Hopefully. I feel dried out lately.

"alright"

One of the best new songs of Anouk, a kick-ass live version and that fitting moment that you may know.


Anouk . alright

Some things are better left unsaid
You'll find a nice place to hide them
But days like this
There is just too much going on, yeah
So I'm picking up the pieces of my past
But I can't find no peace at all

So in other words
I am so ready to be found

So I'll try and I might
Stand up and fight
To leave this place someday
All I need is that moment
To make me believe that you're alive
And then I'll be alright, alright

Paradise grown cold
One hand on my door
Way too high hopes
I can't tell right from wrong
Show me how it's done
Lord I need to be saved
And then I'll be alright, alright yeah

On days like these
There is just too much going on
So I try and I might
Stand up and fight
To leave this place someday
All I need is this moment
To make me believe that you're alive
And then I'll be alright

Paradise grown cold
One hand on my door
Way too high hopes
I can't tell right from wrong
Show me how it's done
Lord I need to be saved
And then I'll be alright
And then I'll be alright
And then I'll be alright
And then I'll be alright
And then I'll be alright

Click to listen to "alright" :

http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/clipserve/B0009S1D8G001006/303-9687387-9110605

I'm away for the weekend, if you might wonder why I don't respond to private messages or e-mails. You can reach me on mobile, if necessary or wanted.

greetings *
murmel

tracks , plugs and miles for more - Rock im Park 2006 - Part 2

-> Star FM (again, great mix of music !)

still Saturday, 3rd of June, 2006 - center stage
After our odyssey of walking Oli and I decided to stay at the center stage where some "kick-ass" (in it's truest sense) bands where waiting to be seen.
I totally enjoyed myself when a guy popped up who stared at Luzies injured finger (as probably 100 other people did this weekend) and introduced himself as a double. Sometimes I feel embarrassed to even like this guys song but hey : We all got our dark past. Some more, some less. ;)

The sexiest David Hasselhoff double on this festival *gg*

The time flew and while Mike and Luzie walked off to see "Kaizers Orchestra" we had the pleasure to see the latest hit band from Japan : "Dir en grey". Lets say it was : WEIRD ! And in a really weird sense. The singer Kyo looked like he was facing an exorcist right on stage, while the rest of the band looked preoccupied in nothing. And if that wasn't enough he thought he needed to spice up his performance with a self-destructing action.

Kyo (Dir en grey)

I had a good laugh when he looked into the crowd like they had spiders on their heads. And besides that, lets not forget what they played : A mix of industrial, death metal and hard rock. In japanese, of course. Now I know how a bad trip could feel like.


Later on, some true old school guys were waiting to rock the stage : "Deftones".
The band played some well known songs but didn't get it to really to elate me.
Anyway, good groove and well played as expected.

Chino Moreno (Deftones)

But now I got curious, cause no one else but "Korn" were up next. After a long waiting period they appeared on stage with some strange guys in with horse and rabbit masks who sang background vocals and played synthies. Jonathan Davis felt the need of taking a shot of a oxygen machine after every song. But that's nothing special for a Korn gig and somehow everyone was fine with because all hits were delivered. "make me bad" , "freak on a leash", the latest single "twisted transistor" and the all-time classic "Shoots and ladders" which made everyone freak out (including me)

Jonathan Davis (Korn) with bagpipe at "shoots and ladders"

Afterwards "Tool" followed. But I tell you something : In all my time of listening and seeing music I've never been so disappointed about a band than on that evening.
Pubertal sentences like "Are you wet ?" after a short period of rain and a not recognisable singer . Plus for the guitar player wearing a germany football shirt and the good musical set-up, but I was simply bored. And I even don't know why, because I love Tool and Maynards side project "a perfect circle". Anyway, switch to the "club stage" which we entered to see "Dredg", but we were too early and I really enjoyed "Art Brut" who made the audience go wild with songs like "We formed a band", "Moving to L.A.", "Good Weekend" and "Emily K.". Well, actually the whole record is a hit although not everybody liked them. But I did.
Next band : "Dredg". Do I need to add anything to this band ? One word : Wonderful.

Mark Engles (Dredg) - afterwards my battery decided to fail :(

End of Day 2.

Sunday, 4th of June 2006
Today we decided to go earlier to the festival terrain, because Mike was keen to see "animal alpha" play at the club stage. They didn't rock my socks, but played solid rock music with a nice singer. She reminded me of Sandra Nasic of the "Guano Apes" and that's no bad reference.
I knew that my new personal heros "The Dresden Dolls" would play on the "Alternastage" in about an hour, so we left immediately after the gig of "Alexisonfire", who battled with some technical issues.
We were too early, but in this case it wasn't bad at all. Let me introduce : the discovery of the festival - Jason Mraz.

Jason Mraz ( middle ) and band

Totally acoustic set, cover of "rocketman" from Elton John, very well-sung two and three voices with the percussionist and the bass player. Three thumbs up ! :D

Third on this afternoon, but not less good : "The Dresden Dolls". :)

Amanda Palmer and Brian DiViglione (The Dresden Dolls)

They played such songs as "coin-operated boy" and "half-jack", but also new stuff like "backstabber". Priceless. Catch them everywhere you're able to. I just love their way of interpretating music and lyrics. The definite highlight was a cover of the german 80s hit "Eisbär", sung in GERMAN by Amanda ! And she told us in german, she isn't sure if Pete Doherty even will be here (the "babyshambles" were up next). Funny, exciting, sympathic ! Three and a half thumb up ! :D

"There can't be anything better" I thought and dashed off to the "center stage" to see "The Darkness", THE fun-80s-Glamrock Sensation of the last years. I almost laughed my ass off when Justin Hawkins overpitched his voice to catch the REAL high notes. And the band did a kinda running gag when they played intros of several AC/DC songs. The crowd went nuts when they really played "highway to hell", sung by bass player Richie Edwards who is a new member of the band after former bass player Francis Poullain left. Very good, funny and entertaining. They definitely know how to make people go crazy. If my camera works I will post some pics of the gig here.

Highlight of the evening and the whole festival : "Metallica".
I never expected them to be such ass-kicking, professional and nice guys as they were on that night. Playing all classics from the LP "master of puppets" and some evergreens like "fuel", "sad but true", "seek and destroy", "wherever I may roam", "nothing else matters", "so fucking what?" and "one".
I also have pictures of that highlight and James Hetfields incredible old beard. ;) Sadly they're on that part of the disk that didn't work. Will post them as soon as possible.

Summing up the weekend I'd shoot with the following words :

*aching feet*earplugs*x-box ;)* dear friends* food* injured fingers* tracks * classics* photos * weed (because strangely there was always someone smoking pot next to me ! I fucking don't know why !) * blue eyes * elegy * melody * guitars* scream * only next year with less miles to go ;)

Thank you again, Mike. Because of your hospitality, the guitar playing, the cooking, the car crashing and the companionship with your incredible funny sister you made the weekend something to remember and for a long time. :)
Feel tightly hugged !

And the best thing is : SOUTHSIDE IS ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY ! :D ;)

Have a nice evening *
murmel

tracks , plugs and miles for more - Rock im Park 2006 - Part 1

--> Star FM ( http://www.starfm.de )

Back from THE festival in the southern hemisphere I'm trashed, rocked and buzzed from the music that hammered in my ears for 3 days. But lets not anticipate everything. This is the first part. Second will follow.

Friday, 2nd of June 2006 , 4:15 pm
After arriving at the central station of Nuremberg I was quite unsure where to go. But hey ! THERE ! Dozens of people with backpacks, food and broad smiles on their faces ! Rock im Park can't be far away ! So I followed (which isn't one of my favourite activities as some people might know ;) and arrived at the huuuge festival terrain. It seemed like a refugee camp. From everywhere people came, drunk and sober in a quite 50/50 proportion. *gg*
I wasn't happy about the fact that I had to carry ALL my stuff (which weighed something about 10 kilos [20 pounds for the guys without the metric system] ) to the festival and back. But at least I had the opportunity to sleep at my dear friend's Mike place. :) So : No camping in the freezing cold. At least something good.
After leaving my shtuff at one of the baggage service stations (Good idea. And 1,50 € is fair for one piece of baggage) I met Mike right before the

"center stage"

which is the stage where the "big" bands play. My watch said 5:15pm when I saw the bright shining logo of "Franz Ferdinand" at the center stage. 15 minutes later groovy chords halled through the park and the band appeared on stage with sun glasses. In the meanwhile I got to know Mikes sister Luzie and some of his working mates. Little "saying-hi-session", having snacks, spilling beer over jackets ;) and dancing to the wonderful "do you want to" after I felt the need to leave the guys to see "Anouk". I just love her voice and her music and was thankful for the opportunity to see her in Germany.
So I started to my way to the "club stage" which was a little tent with a capacity of 2.000 people. What I didn't know was the fact that the stages were farer away because of the world cup that will take place also in Nuremberg in a few days.
The end result was a 2 kilometers [1.24 miles] walk through the whole festival ground with aching feet and the slight feeling of panic because I was VERY late. And that's not good if you're familiar with the fact that some bands just play 30 minutes at a festival. :s
I started to hate football even more after asking my way through tent villages, broken beer bottles and kissing couples just to find out I was wrong again. So I called Oli, an old music fellow of mine who was also there to see Anouk and he led me to the club stage.
The good news : I was right on time ! :)

[check out http://www.fotoseite.net for more photos]

And there she was. Bombastic, strong, cheerful and funny. With a fantastic band in the back she rocked out and played many songs of the new album "hotel new york", but also "nobody's wife" which made hell break loose within the circa 200 viewers. Three thumbs up ! :D

But Oli and I weren't able to celebrate our enthusiasm, cause Placebo was next on the center stage. So, what does that mean ? YESH PEOPLE ! AAAALL the way back to the center stage! *sigh*
But hey : It's Placebo. So we almost ran the whole way when hearing the first notes of "post blue" from far away, one of my favourites of the new LP.
Many new songs but also classics like "every you, every me" and "20 years" were played and you could see Brian Molkos enthusiasm when the crowd started to sing along.
Stunning. Although I was more fascinated by the girl behind me who cried her eyes out. And I even don't know why but I couldn't help but stare at her. The music of Placebo and her sad blue eyes just fitted perfectly together. Strange.

Then, the highlight of the day (which made some people really jealous)

Depeche Mode

Phenomenal light effects and a supertight playing band with one of the greatest singers of all time : Dave Gahan. They were more in for the old stuff and played evergreens like "enjoy the silence", "personal jesus", "behind the wheel" and "stripped". A true headliner, even metal fans began to scream when Dave sang "reach out and touch faith!". Cool !

I was happy and absolutely satisfied with the day. But also VERY tired. But bad news for my feet : I needed to go back to the "club stage" to meet with Mike and Luzie. At least I knew where to go. *laugh*
When arriving I catched a few songs of "Goldfrapp" and was glad I had my earplugs with me. To be honest : They didn't catch my attention at all. No doubt that Alison Goldfrapp is a very elegant and sexy woman but their music isn't appealing to me. I thought it would change, because they've been the support for Coldplay last year and sucked, but if not - then not. I missed "Phoenix" because of my backpack I needed to pick up at Oli's tent but in the end I was just happy when we started to go towards Mikes flat and I fell dead into my bed.

Saturday, 3rd of June 2006
I was more than glad to wake up in a flat than in a tent. Because the weather wasn't looking like summer at all. And being in a tent in THAT night isn't a very good thought. Thank you again for offering me space in your wonderful flat, Mike. :)
We left a little earlier to catch "Stone sour", but still just caught the last song "get inside" which I like a lot, although this kind of music is placed aside from my usual musical taste.
3pm : Alice in chains. Please nod [NOW!] if you're familiar with that name. And yes, it's the guys from the post-grunge era, delivering highly evolved rock music with two voices and a wall of guitars, celebrated by the master himself : Jerry Cantrell.
Sadly, Layne Stayley wasn't there. He left the shocked rock world with only 35 years on the 5th of April 2002. Remember who else died on that date ? Yes, scary.
Today William DuVall (Comes with the Fall) took over the microphone and sang like he would vocally run for his life. And if you close your eyes you feel the magical symbioses of all instruments again. This was one of the best moments in my musical life. Truly. All classics were reanimated and came to life. "them bones", "down in a hole", "rooster" (priceless!), "man in the box", "angry chair". Wonderful. Even if sentences like "Today is a good day to die!" seem a bit macabre to me, but it's Jerry Cantrell, so what ?

[William DuVall and Jerry Cantrell]

to be continued ....

ready to rock ?

--> now playing : piccadilly on the phone

So people : Tomorrow I'll be at "rock im park" until Monday in the afternoon.
Trying to catch the best moments and bands for you on digital space.

have nice wee......kend *ggg*

murmel