Concert: The Magnetic Fields @ De Duif, Amsterdam

Wednesday was the The Magnetic Fields gig, and it was pure, freaking awesome.


The gig was taking place at the Duif in Amsterdam, via the venue Paradiso. I did not know what to expect exactly, since the website of De Duif doesn't say much about it as a venue, but more about the community that surrounds it. Anyway, De Duif was a church (not your regular one, you would not notice much about the outside of the building that it is a church) and the inside is beautiful. Seats were lined up (I couldn't say how many seats there were though, but my boyfriend estimated about 400 seats?). The gig was sold out, hooray! TMF's so deserve that.

So, the day and hour of the gig had arrived. Me and my boyfriend seated ourselves in the middle of the second row even though the seats on the first row were completely free (but reserved... :(). And after waiting an hour or so (we were the first to get in) the hall was crowded with people. It was a bit messy for everyone to get a seat because, well, to be normal is not to pass on of course! And there was absolutely no room for walking or standing in between the rows (which meant I was lucky to be on the second row so I could step right over the first row to get out, unlucky part was that I was wearing my platform boots).

I'm straying! The gig! The gig! (I never said I was good at reviews.....)
The band entered the stage and people clapped (duh!)

Here's the setlist! And it's a long one, it is!

1 - Kiss me like you mean it

2 - You must be out of your mind

3 - Interlude

4 - The luckiest guy on the lower east side

5 - Better things

6 - I don't want to get over you

7 - Acoustic guitar

8 - The nun's litany

9 - I don't really love you anymore

10 - I don't know what to say

11 - Shipwrecked

12 - Suddenly there is a tidal wave

13 - Walk a lonely road

14 - I'm sorry that I love you

[Break]

15 - Xylophone

16 - Long Vermont Roads

17 - The doll's teaparty

18 - Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget

19 - Always already gone

20 - All the umbrella's in London

21 - The one you really love

22 - a song by the 6ths (unfortunately, I can't find the lyrics anywhere so I've got nothing to compare it with for a title)

23 - Fear of trains

24 - Tongue tied

25 - We are having a hootenanny 

26 - From a sinking boat

27 - 100,000 fireflies

28 - Papa was a rodeo

The gig was acoustic (practically probably because of Stephin Merritt's ear problems), and it was certainly an excellent choice. A church, an acoustic show, seats... Not something I am accustomed to, but certainly a nice change for once!
What was also particularly nice about the show was that not only were the songs played acoustically (well, almost) but the manner in which the songs were song (by whom and some of the melody or singing ways in general) were changed as well. It was very awesome to hear some of the songs sung by Stephin himself instead by Claudia or Shirly, and vice versa. Also the duets were very nice. Sometimes I didn't recognise a song at once because of this, or didn't even realise something had been changed from the "original" recorded/released one.

Stephin and Claudia were the ones who did the talking and I certainly was entertained the whole of the show. Dry humour at it's best!

I don't know if the band noticed me singing along almost every word of the songs (I did catch my boyfriend singing along softly too! Which was a very nice surprise, I didn't realize he knew so many of the words!), and I really don't know if the band or anyone else thought I was being annoying, but I just couldn't help myself. The gig was awesome and I love this music so very, very much. I was actually surprised that I could sing along SO very well to everything, except for two or three songs I didn't know very well (because I don't own every song Stephin ever wrote :P).

It was a nice surprise as well to hear some Gothic Archiness during the gig, since I absolutely adore that project of Stephin very much as well. I need that album.
Which reminds me, I would have loved to see more merchandise! I would have murdered for a poster (or perhaps a shirt, or the The Gothic Archies album...) but the only things they were selling were some albums (I did by Realism!) and the Realism LP.


Did I mention I got autographs as well? I didn't! But I did get them! Are you confused yet? Anyhow, Kevin and I just wandered around a bit in front of the stage and we were lucky enough that a roady was willing to ask the band to autograph my album and the tickets. The album has autographs of the complete band, but we could only get 3 on the tickets... Too bad, I really wanted to hang those on my wall. Oh well.

I guess this is the end of my very bad, but lovingly written review on the The Magnetic Fields gig. May they live happy lives and make many more records :3


I can only dream of the next gig....


Hey! Psst!
Some very bad, taken in the dark without flash, shaky and unfocused PHOTOGRAPHS! (at least you can recognise everyone... :P)

Updates, Alice In Wonderland & Selling Goods

I really should update more regularly. I really want to, but my schedule just keeps being busy and I don't have much energy to spend on things like my blog. Lately I've been crafting a lot again (and I've also been buying lots of supplies!) and I'm really looking forward to the 30th of April. Not only is it Queens day and is it also my dad's birthday, but a friend of mine had the idea of renting a stand on the market in our town, to sell our own stuff. At first I doubted this idea a bit because it takes so much energy for me to be in crowds/be among so many people the whole day. BUT, then I thought, this is the perfect opertunity for me! That friend will be there the whole day, and so will my boyfriend. So even if I need a little break, they can always keep an eye on my part of the stand.
Not only have I been crafting a lot, I've also been thinking a lot about opening a webshop, which is one of my goals. Unfortunately I still haven't decided on which website to use (ebay, etsy, dawanda? Suggestions?) because I have to choose because most of my items are one of a kind (not all of them are that special but I barely ever have large supplies of one thing, so I usually can't make one item more than once). Today adjustable rings and earring pins (and stops) came in, so I've been making a lot of those today. Good thing I've ot only been collecting beads and pendants ;)

So, anyway, if you happen to be in (or near) Veldhoven at Queens Day/the 30th of April, don't hesitate to drop by ;)

Working space invaded by little animals!

I got a package today! I love getting packages<3
However, the seller made a little mistake and sent me the wrong item, instead of little round red and white striped bead I got hello kitty pendants. (in the end luckily this was solved and the seller sent me the right item free of charge <3)

Something else happened as well today - little squirrels invaded my desk!!!

And this is the mess called my desk...

Museum: Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Psst! This message was secretly antedated, but don't tell anyone!

Today I went to Den Haag with my parents, because I really wanted to visit the exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum about Kandinski & Der Blaue Reiter.

*More coming soon!*

Movie: Alice In Wonderland

Today I went to the new Alice in Wonderland movie by Tim Burton. To be honest I was a bit hesistant about going at first, because I DO love the book and I really liked the Disney animation from 1951, but still. I was a bit afraid of this movie letting me down. Anyway, it was a good, good movie. A bit.. well, not exactly what I myself would have made of it. Also, to be honest, even though the movie had an awesome cast, I must admit that I'm getting a LITTLE tired of the Deppster x Helena Bonham-Carter x Alan Rickman x etc. I mean, aren't there any other good, maybe less well-known actors and actresses? The way the Mad Hatter walks over the table full of teapots and cups and what not, is much like Captain Jack, isn't it? But maybe that's just because Johnny Depp has played so many roles, and good ones they were, and seeing the same actor in the same role will probably also result in seeing similarities in the acting itself.

In the end, a good movie, but I still prefer the book. I think I would have liked this movie much better if I hadn't read the book (so many times) already!

Oh well, certainly a movie I want to go another time in the cinema, and certainly a movie I want to buy on DVD.

Phantasium & New Boots!

I had a great time at Phantasium with my boyfriend! Some friends joined us at Saturday and it was really nice to have my mum with me for once at Sunday. I now know exactly which underbust I want to buy! It's a black one with a white pinstripe. Thanks to a very nice lady from Realm of Darkness who helped me fit some underbusts, I now know my size for certain.

Anyway, as usual I barely have pictures, I just forget about taking pictures when I'm at an event, it doesn't seem important at all at the very moment. I only now realize I don't even have a picture of my complete outfit, since in the ones I do have, I'm already wearing my new boots (which are pure LOVE, see down below for a better picture!) so no pictures of my legwarmers. Oh well.

BTW! No editting, it seems no use with pictures of this awful quality.

And, last but most certainly not least! My new Boots!!!!!!

I've already been showing them off, I have only worn these boots since I bought them at Saturday. They make me smile. :)

Cheshire Cat Outfit & Phantasium

It's been a long few days. Wednesday I had this idea for an outfit for this weekend (a fantasy market named Phantasium in Eindhoven, my boyfriend and I are going both days). At Thursday I bought some fabric and started working on it. I'm going as the Cheshire Cat. To be honest, this idea was not at all inspired by the new Tim Burton movie (I haven't even seen that one yet, but I'm planning to!) I've always loved Alice in Wonderland (the original book is still the best!). The outfit isn't VERY special or complicated, I actually only made some assecories to go with some cloths I already own.

I made a pair of leg warmers, a pair of arm warmers, a tail, something to pull up my skirt a bit at one spot, a pair of cat ears on hair clips and a choker with a bell. Almost everything is striped, in blue and pink (I wanted blue and purple but the fabric shop I went to didn't have the fabric I wanted in purple :(). Ah, also, I finally painted a shirt! I already had the shirt (I need more.) and ideas, but for this outfit I came up with a better (well, bigger anyway) design so I just did that.

This is what the living room looked like:

And the freshly painted shirt:

I used my old little digital camera so the photographs aren't very good and very grainy.

I'll try to get a picture of the complete outfit this weekend, stay tuned for updates ;)

Crafting, Supplies and Thoughts on a Webshop

Today was a long day that went by very fast. I watched 2 episodes of Doctor Who and 6 episodes of Torchwood. I made 12 necklaces, 3 bracelets and 11 pairs of earrings. I might make even more, later. Not sure. I would like to, but maybe I should do something else now. I do know, however, I’m probably not going to watch even more episodes of anything tonight. :P Time goes by much to quickly watching a screen.

Here's a peek at my desk, it's quite full of supplies and other stuff as you can see!

Aside to making jewellery and watching my computer screen, I also sorted out some stuff like my e-mail and all the envelopes from everything I bought online the past 2 years (plus 50 envelopes! That’s mad!). Also, I had to start in another dummy (a sketchbook) because the other one was full.

Oh! Yesterday I bought some supplies for jewellery making, and I still need more! I ran out of chain (I didn’t have much to start with) and now I’m planning on making some wholesale orders since I really need the stuff.
I can’t wait for all the packages to arrive! I love getting packages, even though I had to pay for them myself :P

Anyway, I hope to open a webshop soon. I just have to figure out which is the best website to use (Etsy? Dawanda? Plain ebay?). I can’t start several webshops on different websites because most of my items are unique, so I’d have to split things up and I really don’t feel like having to do that. It would take too much thinking, I’d start doubting.

This reminds me, I’ll need to get my paypal sorted. My boyfriend Kevin pays for me through paypal, and then I pay him back. I thought it was good like that so I wouldn’t shop TOO much online, but when I start a webshop I’ll need an account of my own.

If – no - WHEN I finally decide on which website to start my webshop, I’ll have to figure out how it actually works. AND I really need some neat designs for my website and everything else I’ll use for my website and stuff (like other profiles and the webshop etc).

I’ll probably try out some webshops soon. I’ll post links when that happens.

Stoffenspectakel - Fabric Market Eindhoven

Today I went to 'Het Stoffenspectakel" with my mum, it's a big fabric market that kinda travels 'round the country, every Sunday they're somewhere else. Today the market was in Eindhoven, the largest city near my hometown Veldhoven. We bought a lot of fabric, and I kinda wish I had bought even more! There were so many lovely patterns with bright colours and little flowers, strawberries, apples, birds, polka dots and so much more!

My mum and I decided to keep it with fabrics that we would actually use for clothes (I really need to learn how to sew better, I want to make my own clothes! My mum has been sewing clothes for so long, she used to make lots of clothes for me when I was little).

These are our purchases:

This is what we're planning to use these fabrics for:
(Left to right, top to bottom)
- Black+grey fabric - blouse for my mum
- Black fabric+black flowers (You can't see the pattern on the photograph, though :() - A skirt for my mum
- White fabric with blue stars & moons and red hearts - pyjama's for me!
- Black fabric with red+green cherries - not sure yet, perhaps a bag for me? I do know that I've been searching for this print for AGES. Guess where I found it? The last fabric stand we saw!!
- White fabric with white stripes (jacquard?) - not sure yet
- White fabric with light blue and brown flowers/leaves - not sure yet, perhaps for a skirt?
- Blue fabric with red strawberries - this actually is a piece of fabric for quilting, but I really liked it (and wanted something with strawberries on it) so I bought it, I'm not sure yet what I'm going to use it for, though.
- Bright red fabric with tiny white polka dots - not sure yet
- Grey fabric with light grey leaves/branches pattern - a skirt for me
- White fabric with grey dots - a blouse for me
- Light grey/white checked (?) fabric - a top for me
- Grey stretch fabric with white polka dots - part for a skirt with me
- Grey fabric with small white polka dots - other part for a skirt for me

I'm a very lucky girl, we bought a lot of fabric just for me and my mum decided to pay for most of the fabrics because I still get my clothes from my parents and these fabrics will be used for clothes as well :3

In the end I'm really happy with these fabrics, even though I wish I had bought some very bright and (rainbow) coloured fabrics! I saw some great ones, but I didn't have a good enough purpose for the fabric to allow myself to buy it :P

Oh, and didn't I say? I also bought some really cute buttons and strawberry ribbon!

About blogging.

Well then, I have decided.
Although I originally wanted this blog to be just about my art and crafts (this meaning it's about anything I make, not just finished pieces but also the little things, the sketches, the WiP's) and things that inspire me. But, well, I kinda realised that 1# I would like it to be more. And, #2, perhaps my blog should be interesting to more people than just the ones interested in little sketches etc. With this I mean that I want to have this blog be about my life, and not just "this is what I made today". I'm not sure yet what I should do about the antedating of my blogentries. If I'm going to really use this as a BLOG instead of a sort of Archive, well, then antedating my messages doesn't really fit within that idea. But then again, I'm not sure if I can keep up updating everyday. So I guess I'll try to post more often, but there will be antedated messages as well. I'll do my best to keep these to a minimum (which means I'll have to post a lot, quickly. There's stuff waiting to be posted, you know.)

Anyway, why did I all of a sudden think of this? Well, my boyfriend (and I) has (have) been working on my website for a while now, and I'm very eager to see this finished soon. I will have a blog on my website, but then I thought, why have THREE blogs??? (actually, 4. I've got this blog about my art, the other blog about schoolwork even though that's on hiatus, and then there's Livejournal, and last but not least the one I'd be keeping on my website). So, I'll probably keep LJ for the really deep stuff, schoolblog for school (if school thinks it's necessary to keep things separated). And THIS blog will be integrated on my website, so that's two in one go. :)

Museum: Gemeentemuseum Helmond

*Note: This message is antedated. It was originally posted on the 22nd of March, 2010.

Today I went to the Gemeentemuseum in Helmond with my mum. The museum there has got two different locations, one is the old castle and the other is a more modern building.

*more coming*

Header 04

Another header. I was bored with the snowy one. I'm looking very much forward to Spring! (I know this isn't exactly a very Srping-y picture, but at least it hasn't got snow in it :P)

Ah! I knew there was something I forgot: The signature. Well, that will have to wait until tomorrow evening or later.

Drops Of Glue (Sculpture/Photography)

A few days ago I used the glue gun for making hairclips. This was also created that evening. I really liked these heaps of drops, these nice little constructions of transparent stuff. I kept the carton with the dried up glue, because I wanted to take some photographs of this, for my archive (and so I wouldn't have to keep the carbon forever). Today I made some photographs, and in the end I wouldn't know if this is about the glue itself, or more about photography, so I'm tagging this Sculpture as well as Photography.

Coming To A Village Near You: Spring! (Photography)

Today I went out to fiddle a bit with the SLR Camera, and though there was a lot of wind and well, I didn't feel like leaving the back garden, I still feel like there are a few photographs that aren't too bad. In spite of the title, I don't think these pictures really are portraying the season of Spring very well, the title just refers to the nice weather today (lots of sun but still cold, you can see there's still ice in the pond).

Well, I edited them a little and here is a small selection;

And yeah, didn't I ever tell? We've got a pond-monster. It likes to blow bubbles.

Earring collection

Sorting through the earrings I never really wear... My own private earring collection just won't fit inside one box anymore... :P I guess I'll just need two of them.

Movie: The Lovely Bones

This movie is a bit surreal here and there, but it's absolutely wonderful. Got some very, very nice atmospheres. And imagery.
I absolutely loved it. The character of Susie Salmon kinda stole my heart.

Oh, by the way, did I say? She's a HIPPY! <3

Composition Of Coincidence

I was taking photographs of some school work from a while ago, and then I noticed this. I quite liked the look of it, so I took a photograph. It's an interesting combination of background, a heap of random 'objects', bright light and shadows, all in all, it's pure coincidence.

Gifts For Emilie Autumn (Final)

*Note: This message is antedated. It was originally posted on the 3rd of March, 2010.

Monday the first of March meant the Emilie Autumn gig at the Effenaar in Eindhoven. It was amazing. I still have to post what I gave to Emilie and the Crumpets in the end, so here we go. These gifts are in random order, and I might have posted about them separately, or unfinished before.

 

Felt hearts with initials, one for Emilie and one for each Bloody Crumpet (From left to right, top to bottom: Contessa - Emilie - Aprella - Veronica - Maggots)

A slightly editted horse plushie, it has now become an unicorn. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to make one from scratch, so I did this at the last moment.

Front

Back.

Little plague bunnies, same idea as the felt hearts (the initials) I also painted something on the bunnies their backs, a little symbol to represent each person it was given to (from left to right: Veronica, Contessa, Maggots, Aprella, Emilie). I didn't make the bunnies themselves though, I could have but didn't have enough time.

A bag I made in a hurry, to put the hearts and the unicorn in.

The bag filled.

 

A plague chicken. Editted.

A little rat, I sewed the heart on.

Some felt trinkets (a chocolate chip cookie, a muffin, a heart, another muffin)

 Remember these? :) This is the group with Emilie Autumn and the mobile: Picture by Bluefunk.

Tags: Antedated , Bag, Animals, Antedated, Cookie, Colour, Emilie Autumn Gift Project, Fabric, Felt, Gift, Heart, Key, Plushie, Rat, Sewing, Tea, Trinket, Unicorn