Shot in the dark

Well, I've had my eyes on it for a while now, been reading a bit and checking comments. And it seems that everyone is all happy with it. I'm talking about the Canon EOS 5D MkIII with a Tamron 24-70 2,8 to go with it. In most cases I'm really happy with my 50D and the 17-50 lens but there's so much difference between the 70-200 and 17-50, it never gets as clear with the 17-50 as it does with the bigger one. The downside is of course that it needs to be BIG concerts to be able to use the big one. I want the tight, close and fast pics to be as clear and sharp as well. Apparently the 24-70 should be. Also, to get to higher ISO than 2000 makes the pictures very grainy, arty it becomes but that's not what I want.
So yes, I've ordered it... Went to talk to a really nice salesman at MediaMarkt and he promised to get back with delivery date and more info today, which he didn't. Gonna call back tomorrow to check it.

I think the combination will be very good, I do think I will miss the last few steps towards fisheye. Especially at smaller concerts... Of course, there are lenses available for a full format camera as well, rather expensive though.

I hope the performance on higher ISO will be as much better as the reviews and information describes, if so, this will be awesome. And I can't wait until I get the chance to try it out (yeah, yeah, I know, I need to get it first...) on a concert and see if it is as good as they say.

Got some things coming up so I will have opportunities to shoot!

Cheers
E
NP: SLAUTER XTROYES - Winterkill

 


 

At the Dawn of Winter

Yep, snow finally came to Höör this weekend! According to news and other media it was a complete CHAOS, stay inside, leave the car at home if you necessarily needs to get out. COME ON!!! Sure, it was windy and on places it was snowdrifts on the roads, but not that bad. People seemed terrified though and was driving 30km/h on the 90 road. Of course, if you don't feel safe you shouldn't go faster but the road was really nice, a very nice winter road. I really like that since it comes almost completely quiet and it's not slippery at all, at least not with the real winter tires.

Saturday started with shoveling snow, and since the temperature was around 0 the snow was really wet and heavy. A good workout I'd say! I also started messing around with Peter and threw snowballs at him. Got double back though.

Saturday also featured a photo-session with the statue. She's been outside for about 6 months now and still holds strong. Was a bit wet of the snow and extremely cold but still looks very nice!

I've been good these last weeks also. I've been to the gym and I can really feel the difference after just a few visits. I just hope I can keep the inspiration up and continue to go there.

Else the weekend was spent checking out eBay and Discogs getting a bunch of unnecessary stuff (now, everyone knows all records are necessary) for the collection. So now I'm soon ready to do something more serious about the Savatage & Vicious Rumors collections. Perhaps not as serious as Peter did with his Anvil-records though.
Anvil Records
We'll see what happens. 
The good thing with Discogs is that it's a lot easier with different prints of records than eBay. Sometimes the info at eBay is just copied from other add's of the same record, not picked from the actual record. It takes some off the chase but decreases the risk of getting something you don't want. Fun fun it is anyway!

Now, a couple of days of work before it's time for fun again!

Cheers
E

NP: DEATH MASK - Split the Atom

 
 

Madness reigns...

I have to say that eBay has been rather boring lately, at least when it comes to fill the Savatage collection with new additions. I know, there are things available still before it's complete but it feels bad to pay $20 for the LP and $40 for the postage. Previous I've just briefly checked Discogs but yesterday I took it on fully... Was rather ok, but we'll see what happens, I haven't gotten the things I've ordered yet. But it sure is convenient, at least looking for different prints and such.

Anyway, I was really bummed out before new-years and the days after. Mr Postman was a bastard and refused to bring me the things I've ordered. But when I got home this Friday he'd done his job at least. Some CD's for review, some that I ordered and a package of Jon Oliva T-shirts. I saw the add just before Christmas at Facebook and decided I had to have them. I still feel bad for not travelling over the pond to see one or so of the gigs, it seems to have been amazing. But at least I got the T-shirt. Mr Kinder was really nice and sent some guitarpicks as well, thank you!!!

But putting it on display the cat thought the bag was food and refused to move...

He just sat there looking into the camera and of course looking away as soon as the help light started working... Even pushing him off he made sure he's not one to be pushed around and fought with teeth and claws...

So all I could do was to bribe him a bit, opening the door to the fridge did the trick.

In a week or two we're travelling to see Transsiberian Orchestra. Even if I'm not as stuck on the Christmas-records as Bethoveen's Last Night this will be amazing. First, Chris Caffery, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jeff Plate and Al Pietrelli isn't bad. Even if it would have been amazing to have Jon there too. Still the show is fantastic, massive and filled with effects and visuals. 

http://www.trans-siberian.com/

So, the year is starting off rather good! Some good concerts coming up and I've also managed to save some money, still have a bit to go before I've saved enough for my new camera though.... But soon!!!

Cheers

E

NP: SAVATAGE - Sirens

 

 
 

Vows of the new-year...

Naah, I'm not making any new-year-promises I can't keep... I always try to say I should go to the gym, drink less beer and do more of this and that. One thing though I realized during the Christmas-vacation is that I need to allow myself to rest on occasion. So perhaps that can be it? It's not as easy as it seems. At least I shall make sure to keep a good balance, try to keep to regular work-weeks and do what I enjoy which is pretty much what I've been doing lately as well but hopefully the work-situation can be kept in better shape than it has been. I enjoy what I do but life isn't work!
Another thing stating that is how damn long it took to get rid of the cold that hit just before Christmas. Had a bit of a problem the last few days in the office since I felt ok but my voice was completely gone. Had to have someone speaking for me all the time so I wrote on the Chat-program and someone else red it...

So, apart from sleeping during the vacation me and Peter arranged a new-year's party. I realized I'm not very good at calculating amount of food for 10 persons. We had leftovers for days after. Ok, the food was really nice so I don't really mind but regardless how good it tastes it's boring to eat the same thing 4-5 days in a row.
The deal was that everyone should bring something and of course it was plenty of everything, chips, dip and icecream, sauces lasted for days also.
I decided to serve Heavy Metal Wine to the dinner also, so there was one bottle of Ac/Dc Wine, one of Motörhead Shiraz and one Slayer... The Slayer got the best feedback from the guests! 

Also, we almost managed to get rid of all Beer's and such from the Wedding Party. Sure, it's nice to have beer at home but the amount we've been trying to finish during the fall was actually crazy. And not the most fun brands either.

Then we started recording some new Void Moon stuff. The plan is to release an EP during the year at least. Exactly when and how we don't know yet. That time will tell. But Thomas put down the drums and I've been working on some guitars. Not used to be playing several hours per day a few days in a row I tell you. Damn my fingers hurt now! But it starts to sound rather good and it will be interesting to hear when it's finished. Still not really happy with everything but I do have more time before everything should be finished. Also, if everything goes according to plan a really cool guest will appear on this recording.

We also decided to go out on a small roadtrip yesterday. Just to do something more before it was back to work again. Just checked out the villages around Höör though and since it was a Bank Holiday it was rather dead everywhere. The day was rather grey also, felt like it never became daylight but I guess it's the time of the year. Days like that I really miss snow. 
But we found some cool ancient Grave-sites, from 500 and 600 AD... It's fascinating to think that people has been walking around where we live a century ago. But it would be even cooler to get to visit that age and just watch for an hour or so... But perhaps it's more interesting around 1000 AD when the Vikings roamed the country.

 
So, that was the last few days of vacation. This morning it was back to work... Felt rather dead when the alarm went off. But I doubt I was alone feeling that this morning. So now, and a few weeks forward all to look forward to is work I guess. Takes a few more weeks before the concert season starts. I don't have very much planned, yet...

Cheers
E

NP: JAG PANZER - Shadow Thief

 


 

Another year has passed

And it sure has been a lot of things happening lately...
Biggest event is of course that we, me and Peter became Mr and Mrs Wallberg at the end of the summer... 

How it feels to be married? Well, not much different from how it was before, just that I get surprised when Peter calls himself Mr Wallberg... *s*

Then of course, I missed both the 1 month and 2 month anniversary. For the first one I was in Shanghai and for the second I was in Dubai. Peter spent the second one in Malta drinking with Pim and the rest from Officium Triste and Wilburg from Semlah/Count Raven so I assume he had a good time, I myself was trying to squeeze everything in to my bag and get a beer which isn't easy or cheap in Dubai I tell you! 

Even if work has taken a lot of time this year I've managed to go to a few shows and buy a lot of records. I realized though that I haven't kept up AT ALL with what's going on in the music world, it's been more what I've stumbled upon that I've been listening to rather than trying to check out what's new. So in the end of the year I had a list with 30-40 records I should have checked out for my Top 10... But to do that in a week, nope, that won't be good. So it is a rather sparse selection (at least compared to other years) I've picked my Top 10 from, then 10 to list the ones I should have listened more to, the ones who also could have made it is rather long instead. 

Anyway, here goes;

TOP 10 of 2013

1. Oliva - Raise the Curtain

Again, the mountainking has managed to create an amazing piece of music. It's a bit like the first Jon Oliva's Pain record, an odd bunch of songs that doesn't really fit in anywhere. It's a bit of Savatage, it's a bit of Jon himself and a bit of others. This album feels so honest and pure, there's so much passion and absolutely no boundaries on what can be done. Still it's not far away from either Jon Oliva's Pain or Savatage. But as long as Jon Oliva released albums like this one, he can call it what he wants for my sake. And as long as they hold this quality, just take the suite from "Soul Chaser" over "Ten Years", "Father Time", "I know", "Big Brother" and "Armageddon". For the last one, there's no one who can scream line Jon in the chorus... Dramatic, fateful... It's the end of the world...
Favorite track: Armageddon

2. Vicious Rumors - Electric Punishment

Vicious Rumors showed with "Razorback Killers" that they still got it and "Electric Punishment" continues on the same track. Brian Allen shows a real progress and even if it still is a lot rawer than the classic albums the melodies are stronger than before. Riff maestro Geoff Thorpe still got it and delivers smart riffs behind a hitty facade. The mix of Geoff's and Brian's vocals for different part of the songs strikes hard. It is a raw record! And then there's a track like "Together we Unite" which is late 80's MTV generation hit-type. Still awesome but rather far off from the rest, however it still fits perfectly in the bunch.

Favorite track: I am the Gun

3. Queensryche - Queensryche

This might actually come as a surprise to some who knows me. I've never been a fan of this band, for two reasons mainly. First that I got "Operation Mindcrime" squeezed down my throat when it was released, I mean, the album is good but it could have been ok to listen to SOMETHING other on ONE party at least... Also, I really can't stand watching Geoff Tate... But with Todd La Torre in the band all's well, he's a joy to watch and listen to. I still didn't think the album would strike as hard as it did though. But it sure is an inspired album, full with interesting songs. Perhaps it takes a few spins for it to set but when it does it's great and it just keeps getting better. 

Favorite track: A World Without

4. Hell - Curse & Chapter

Andy Sneap is the master of good sound when it comes to Heavy music. And of course that applies to Hell as well. I can't say I've been with Hell since the dawn of time. I've just heard some, or actually just heard of, before they released "Human Remains". But the style suites my style in music perfectly, I love the artistic side as well. Old School songs or not, most everything put on the two albums released by Hell is just awesome.

Favorite track: Something Wicked This way Comes 

5. Anvil - Hope in Hell

Sure, Peter has influenced me a bit here... There's no doubt about that! Still I've been a fan since before we met. And I sure didn't mind having this album spinning constantly for a few weeks when it was released. It is a kick ass Anvil record and holds most of the elements significant for Anvil. It has fast songs and it has mid-tempo tracks and it feels more varied than its predecessor. 

Favorite track: The Fight is Never Won

6. Saxon - Sacrifice

It's mentioned here and there that the classic band loses their skills or passion. None of these goes for Saxon. Biff sounds better and better for each year. Sure, he doesn't sound like he did on the early albums but his voice has grown in depth these recent years which allows much more varied vocal lines and different style of songs. Still he can pull off the classics live as well. 

Favorite track: Night of the Wolf

7. Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock - Bridge the Gap

What the hell happened here??? Sure, Mr Schenker is a peculiar bugger but he has never done anything as heavy as this one. The songs are oozing with Rainbow influences, the odd thing with it is that on top of the Heavy riffs you have Michael's unmistakable style of melodies. Sure, Dougie White has a lot to do with the Rainbow/Dio feeling in the music but there's no understatement saying this is easily my Michael Schenker favorite since 1987's "Perfect Timing". This was actually one of the ones picked up just a few days before my list was due deadline and getting the thumb out earlier it sure would have ended up higher on the list.

Favorite track: The Land of Thunder

8. Tad Morose - Revenant

Bollnäs-Metal always hold high standard. I'm not really surprised that Tad Morose ended up on the list even if this record was released rather late in the year. They normally writes just in my taste. This though being the first in a while without Urban Breed on vocals. And with that spot empty there are a rather bi pair of boots to fill. For me, I've known Ronny Hemlin since decades back and he sure is a good vocalist, always impressive. But it seems like he's taken one more step up here. His voice is better than ever, more depth and more control than before. Awesome really.

Favorite track: Spirit World

9. Trouble - The Distortion Field

I for once was positive about bringing Kory Clarke in when Eric Wagner decided to leave. Unfortunately Kory has done a lot better performances than he did with Trouble, he's so much better than he showed. So perhaps it wasn't right. Then, if Eric never wants to come back, the line-up now with Kyle Thomas in the line-up is just as good as it ever was. It feels like the band really is inspired to play again, even if this don't fully matches "Manic Frustration" it's absolutely a good step in the right direction.

Favorite track: The Broken has Spoken

10. Carcass - Surgical Steel  

Who could have thought this? I still hold "Heartwork" as one of the greatest albums ever. I think the mix of brutality and melody is genial. I don't think Arch Enemy (you know, Mike Amott...) has captured the same mix and neither does Carcass on "Surgical Steel", frankly, Bill Steer and the rest can't write as strong melodies as Mike can. But Carcass still win over Arch Enemy with their brutality and ability to keep the Death Metal, no compromise and still have a catchy record.

Favorite track: Cadaver Pouch Conveyor System

I realized writing this that there's really nothing new in here... I have been listening to new bands as well though. Even if it hasn't been to the same extent as it usually is. So with this, I like to mention one more even if it's not listed in the Top 10, but it probably should have been, at least keeping in mind how much I've listened to it...

Extra for top 10:

Surpuissance - Affamé de Metal

French bastards, with Metal sung in French... So it's hard to keep up with them. And I assume I've made up my own lyrics for this album since it's hard to not sing along. It has that naive feeling as "Show No Mercy" or "Kill 'em All" has. It's raw, not all that precise all the time (I didn't say not tight though...). 

Favorite track: Agression Métallique Positive

And the ones that ended up just outside, alphabetically;
Avatarium - Avatarium
Black Sabbath - 13
Helloween - Straight out of Hell
Legend - The Dark Place
Metal Church - Generation Nothing
Motörhead - Afterschock
Procession - To Reap the Heavens Apart
Satan - Life Sentence
UDO - Steelhammer
Warlord - The Holy Empire

And 10 more that could have made it if I'd gotten the thumb out and listened a bit more;
Argus - Beyond the Martyrs
Atlantean Kodex - The White Goddess
Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark
Chastain - Surrender to None
Deep Purple - Now What?!
Midnight Messiah - The Root of all Evil
Muro - El cuarto jinete
Running Wild - Resilient
Spiritual Beggars - Earth Blues
Witch Cross - Axe to Grind

Peter's List;
1. Anvil - Hope in Hell
2. Saxon - Sacrifice
3. Oliva - Raise the Curtain
4. UDO - Steelhammer 
5. Midnight Messiah - The Root of all Evil
6. Hell - Curse & Chapter
7. Satan - Life Sentence 
8. Avatarium - Avatarium
9. Procession - To Reap the Heavens Apart
10. Muro - El cuarto jinete


What's your favorite albums of 2013?
What did I miss completely?

Another list over concerts will come in a few days...

Cheers
E

NP: 220 Volt - Power Games

 

Hazy Dayz

It was a really nice morning today! I really like this time of the year when it still fairly warm outside but not as hot as it was down in Holland/Belgium or at Headbangers Open Air. +10 suites me really good but I don't approve of the rain very much. I want to go by bike to work when I can since I hate to take the bus and the adjusting of time etc that comes with it...

But since it was raining when I was going home from work yesterday I had to catch the bus anyway but took the chance to take a walk to the city center and skip one of the buses. Arriving at the South Square the image was really cool, foggy mornings are very nice and photographs really nice. Mobile camera isn't the best though of course but it still is ok at least.

Back to yesterday though, since I had to take the bus home... This evening there was a woman standing in the back door, trying to keep it open and screaming out on the Square. The driver started the bus and tried to close the doors. The woman started screaming at him instead. The rest of her group showed up eventually but before stepping on-board the bus they sure HAD to finish their cigarettes as well. The screaming continued on the bus and there seemed to be a problem with paying for the ticket also. Why scream? Ask instead. And perhaps, don't leave a full bus waiting just because you need to smoke...

This morning I woke up to this;

The landlord will be cleaning the building and change out the windows so I guess this week will be the last days until December (yey!!!!) with actual outside visual from my window, then it will be a covered working platform outside my window. Seems they will close off the bike cellar as well so I guess I need to squeeze the bike into the flat again. That's for my shoebox flat of course, but luckily I might not have to spend too much time here during the fall.

Last weekend there were a fair in Höör, with a Tivoli as well... We took a stroll down to check it out but there wasn't much. A guy selling 2:nd hand records and films but most everything was in rather poor shape it wasn't very interesting. Still bought two Treat LP's and one Gillan... Cheap and at least the record itself was in good shape even if the cover had some wear and tear. There also was a booth for some cat support or cat shelter and of course I had to support a bit. 

The Blue little fish with Cat Nip won't survive long, the black hooligan will eat it whole when he's back from Summer Camp. But it was a good cause at least!

Today was the only day when I don't had any late meetings so I decided to go home quite early and since, as a Swedish tradition, half Saturday, or Half week or so I took the opportunity to try out Trooper Ale which I got from a colleague just because he could buy my Iron Maiden tickets for Stockholm. Only sold them since we were playing with Void Moon at Metal Magic Festival!

 
The beer is really nice actually. A lot of character and taste! But that it is super is no surprise when it comes from Iron Maiden, right?

As always I've been shopping for records, I got a package from eBay the other day with some rather expensive versions of Sirens & Dungeons are Calling and one not so special Power of the Night. Got it for a bargain also, that's nice!!! Also, the Banzai version of Dungeons was out on eBay a while but that was too expensive for now... Still, what bugs me about it is that I found it once but then, regardless what I was searching for it never showed up. Can't figure out what the limitations are and why it wasn't possible to find it, it's not THAT many Savatage items listen at eBay.
But getting the package the urge to listen to Savatage came back and the records spun throughout the weekend. Also read the storyline for Streets which feels like a bit of a funny co-incident since this was posted on the web early this week.

 
earMUSIC has announced the long-awaited final chapter of the successful SAVATAGE reissues series. Previously unreleased and originally only intended for the Broadway rendition, "Streets: A Rock Opera" — the groundbreaking album by SAVATAGE — is now available including its original narration parts.
To complete this extraordinary release and to award the many fans who have shown dedication and love for SAVATAGE's legacy, the final chapter of this reissue series will feature the band's favorite videos. Released for the first time on DVD and restored from the original tapes, the video collection spans from SAVATAGE's 1987's video "Hall Of The Mountain King" until 1996's "One Child".
As on all previous chapters of the SAVATAGE reissues series, the album includes newly written liner notes by Jon Oliva, who is sharing his memories about all SAVATAGE videos.
Fans looking for unreleased and rare bonus tracks will be happy to discover a lot of extra audio content on the DVD: "Shotgun Innocence", "Forever After", one instrumental acoustic version of "Voyage", live versions of "Stare Into The Sun" and "Conversation Piece" recorded in Japan (but NOT included on the official live CD) and the piano version of "Sleep". The bonus track "Larry Elbows" deserves a special mention: this previously unreleased song didn't make it on the original "Streets: A Rock Opera" album due to time limits and is finally available to all the fans that never forgot the creativity and the energy of this extraordinary band.
"I'm really excited for this version of 'Streets' to finally be released," says Jon Oliva. "It was something different, an idea that Paul O'Neill had to take the progressive rock opera format to a bigger and better place than anything we had done, and anything I had heard anyone else doing before. This version of the album has only been floating around on bootlegs."
CD "Streets: A Rock Opera: Narrated Version"
01. Streets
02. Narration To "Jesus"
03. Jesus Saves (Original Version)
04. Narration To "Tonight He Grins Again"
05. Tonight He Grins Again
06. Narration To "Strange Reality"
07. Strange Reality
08. Narration To "A Little Too Far"
09. A Little Too Far
10. Narration To "You're Alive"
11. You're Alive
12. Narration To "Sammy And Tex"
13. Sammy And Tex
14. Narration To "St. Patrick's"
15. St. Patrick's
16. Narration To "Can You Hear Me Now"
17. Can You Hear Me Now
18. Narration To "New York City Don't Mean Nothing"
19. New York City Don't Mean Nothing
20. Narration To "Ghost In The Ruins"
21. Ghost In The Ruins
22. Narration To "If I Go Away"
23. If I Go Away
24. Narration To "Agony And Ecstasy"
25. Agony And Ecstasy
26. Narration To "Heal My Soul"
27. Heal My Soul
28. Narration To "Somewhere In Time
29. Somewhere In Time
30. Believe
Bonus Track
31. Larry Elbows (previously unreleased)
DVD The Video Collection
01. Hall Of The Mountain King
02. 24 Hrs. Ago
03. Gutter Ballet
04. When The Crowds Are Gone
05. Jesus Saves
06. Edge Of Thorns
07. Sleep
08. Handful Of Rain
09. One Child
Bonus Audio Tracks
01. Sleep (piano version)
02. Stare Into The Sun (Live In Japan)
03. Conversation Piece (Live In Japan)
04. Voyage (Al Pitrelli acoustic instrumental)
05. Shotgun Innocence
06. Forever After

Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/savatage-streets-a-rock-opera-narrated-version-reissue-detailed/#OAFdu737r8aRmMUf.99
A must have of course!!!! With the listening sessions the urge to go and see the Jon Oliva's Storytellers tour in US during December sure became strong! NC, NJ isn't that far and expensive... We'll see! Still have a lot of vacation to take out... (if not to get away from the flat)

Now what then? Perhaps try to get to bed early? 
Cheers
E


NP: SAVATAGE - "Handful of Rain"

 
 

Forged in Fire

Well, maybe not but it was a damn hot week down in Holland and Belgium. Absolutely worth the effort though since the two Anvil concerts were fantastic and how can Kind Diamond fail???

At least we had a few days at home sorting out everything from Headbangers Open Air, chill down a bit since that one was extremely hot as well. Also do some gardenwork and clean up the Void Mansion a bit. We also managed to get my birthday present out from the garage and on to the selected location in the garden. I know you shouldn't talk about weight around females (because it is a she) but she was damn heavy. Me, Peter and David worked hard to get it around the house. The few people passing by on the street looked at us like they'd seen a ghost or so...

There's still a few more things to sort out in the corner around the gargoyle, put a few things back in place and so but it sure looks cool!!! No comments from the neighbors yet though! 

Anyway, we went to Holland and Belgium for a few concerts after Headbangers Open Air. Since all shows were in the cities and rather close to the stations we decided to skip the car and travel by train this time. It's always a bit nervous beforehand, the uncertainty if we were going to make it to the location and so. But everything went fine and it was really good to relax on a train rather than sitting in a car. 

The route stretched from Schiphol to Haarlem to Sint-Niklaas to Lokeren, back to Sint-Niklaas, off to Tilburg before returning to Schiphol. It felt even better when Anvil told us they'd been stuck in traffic for over 3 hours driving from Wacken to Haarlem because they pained the lines on the road by hand in Germany closing three of four lanes in the freeway....

 
The Anvil show in Haarlem was really much fun. It was a very long time ago I last saw Anvil play in a club. Don't think I've ever seen them headline in a club either so 90 minutes worth of music sure was a treat! More about that on Metal Kaoz later though!

Then off to Lokeren and the Lokerse Fest. That was more of a town party than a Festival but since they had the good taste in booking Anvil together with Fear Factory, Danzig and Sabaton and a few more it was worth a visit. It was extremely hot to stand on the asphalt infront of the stage though. But again, a good day with good concerts.

Then we actually had a day off in Sint-Niklaas... What you do in Sint-Niklaas you ask? No clue, we couldn't find anything interesting (Free Recordstore had 10 Heavy Metal records in total) so we took the chance and catch up on some sleep and have the AC in the Hotelroom work hard.

But it is a quite cute town and we found a very nice place for dinner... Ironically it was called Copenhagen Tavern or something like that. Danish we can eat almost any time we like. But ok, it's not that much difference and I was certainly NOT up for more fried stuff with mayo at this point. The food was great and we took the opportunity to try some Belgian Beers... Peter stuck with his new favorite though... Mc Chouffe, the dark brother of sinister La Chouffe (who got Peter good on their first meet *s*).

So we had some time to relax as well. We actually took some more time to check out the church in Haarlem, simply because it was so massive. It kind of looked like they'd put one giant church on top of another giant church. Of course the city of Haarlem had realized the greatness of it too and charged an entrance fee to let us in... On particular impressive thing was the organ. The info-sheet said it had over 5000 (YES!!!) pipes and was about 30m high. It would be so awesome to get the chance to play something like that... Just imagine how cool a really doomy song would sound on a machine like that!

After Sint-Niklaas we took the train to Tilburg for the King Diamond show. Luckily the temperature had eased up a bit by this time. Still not enough to make the venue a place to breathe in though so it was a bit painful on occasion to look at the show... But more on that later as well!

First day back in the office after vacation today. Of course I could have taken a few more days of vacation but it's still rather calm which is a good start... That gives me a few days to regroup, start up and set a plan for the coming weeks. I think the pace will be the same as before the summer so it was really good to get a few extra days of vacation to relax now..

Cheers
E

NP: DRAGONSCLAW - Judgement Day