|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 6, 2020 7:28:50 GMT -5
I'm glad to be back in Germany. Screw the virus.
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 9, 2020 12:53:58 GMT -5
I wasn't impressed with Antwerp, though it's not like I had the time or the weather to get some proper exploring in. Save for right before the concert, the weather was crap. I got there on Tuesday evening and it was raining, so I crashed into bed. And then until next afternoon when I left to go to the first show, I spent most of the time in bed, either sleeping or working on my talk. The room was nice, perhaps the nicest room I got on this trip, but the water temperature in the bathroom was beyond fucked up. There was no cold or hot water, only a mix in between, which meant I barely got to drink any water during my stay and showering happened only once... and it wasn't a pleasant experience! Also, I had a fire escape right outside my window, which could have made it dead easy for anyone to enter into the room that way and steal something while I wasn't there. I did set markers and traps, but I had picked a fancier and more expensive hotel precisely so I wouldn't have to worry... Not sure if I'll give the city another chance any time soon. For now it's filed under nice venue, great sound (but remember those steps that weren't illuminated and I almost broke my neck on), shit weather, filthy streets, bad smells and a lot of construction work. Oh, and everything closes fucking early. Most places close between 6pm and 8pm - good luck finding anything open after that! Here are some kinda crappy and dark photos taken at the central station (which is huge and an absolutely odd mix between old and new). Kinda sorry I didn't visit the largest Belgian chocolate museum which was right next to the hotel I stayed at, but... work beats chocolate, I guess...
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 9, 2020 17:44:06 GMT -5
I found Nijmegen pretty, though the weather was too crappy for me to dare to get my camera out and take as much as a single photo outside. Got some chocolate that was on sale (we get those as imports in Romania as well, but not all the cool varieties and not that cheap) and... nutmeg! Holy crap, I think my eyes popped out when I saw the price. Netherlands isn't generally cheap, but this was a few good times cheaper than in Romania and it wasn't even on sale. Hotel seemed really nice when first going into the reception area, okay on the stairs and ah, fuck, when entering the room. At least the room got warm. But the sink was tiny, my hands could barely fit in and the window was right above a roof that was easily accessible from the nearby windows. Turned out to be okay, but it's never pleasant to be worried for what you leave behind. The venue is amazing. I've been to two shows in the Netherlands so far and both venues are incredible. The audience is however quite tame, perhaps a little bit too tame for my liking. And for some reason the start of the show got delayed, so the whole thing got shortened by some 15-20 minutes, which meant Saxon didn't sneak in songs that weren't on the printed set as they did in Antwerp. Damn! At least I got a pick from Paul at the end. Just like the one I got from Doug in Antwerp, it has the signature on one side and the Saxon 'S' on the other side. Just like the show in Antwerp, it was sold out. And so insanely crammed when going out. At least this time I managed to get to the merch stand and get a "girlie". And I say "girlie" because once more, it's just a men's small t-shirt sold under the girlie label. It's nice though and at an okay price. Before leaving Antwerp in the morning, I had bought a bottle of vitamin and caffeine water. Called "Well Awake". Had it that night as I stayed awake to work on the slides for my upcoming talk.
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 10, 2020 11:14:42 GMT -5
I left Nijmegen on Friday morning to go to Düsseldorf to give a talk and see the big anniversary show. I didn't have any direct ride, so I had to change the bus in Eindhoven. But when I got off at the bus station there, my bus from there to Düsseldorf was not on the panel of scheduled departures. Ah, fuck! Ran to the nearby train station and got a very expensive hot chocolate I didn't even feel like having (and which wasn't great anyway) just to get some WiFi and try to sort it out. And... well, I must say this is where traveling for concerts turned out to be useful. In case my bus wasn't going to show up, I considered taking the train from there. There were no trains to Düsseldorf, but I spotted an option to a small town close enough to it... I would have never known about that town had I not been in the area for a bunch of concerts. Well, my bus did show up, even though it wasn't on the panel. But I had no WiFi on the bus and couldn't check how to get from the station to the hotel. Oh, well, I could always do it from the Düsseldorf train station itself, right? Well, yeah, even if that meant getting a second hot chocolate I didn't feel like having. At least this one was cheaper and nicer. And, while I was sitting there, a guy left me a portrait of me he had drawn - that's something that doesn't happen every day! Got to the hotel. It was really nice, even though not as fancy/ business as the one in Antwerp. But at least it would have taken a really skilled cat burglar to get into the room through the window here. Showered, finished my slides and then checked how to get to the venue. The fastest way according to Google Maps was to take the S-Bahn to the Hamm station. Followed the directions on Google Maps, got to the S-Bahn station, went in and... the trains I could have taken to Hamm were not listed anywhere. I figured out why when my eyes caught the name of the S-Bahn station above - it was not the one I was supposed to take the train from. The problem was that outside the station, the letters of the station name had been peeled off. And I had just counted on seeing the S-Bahn symbol, assuming that had to be the station on Google Maps. Well, it wasn't. The station I was looking for was further along the street. Got there, got up on the platform, found the trains Google Maps had told me about... but none had Hamm listed as a stop! The mystery was solved a couple of minutes later by the display announcing the upcoming train, which noted "ohne Stopp in Hamm" - fuck! I don't even know why it wasn't stopping there that day/ week/ whatever, but I didn't care. The S-Bahn was not an option. Ran like a maniac to the main train station to take the tram. And there watched in horror as a homeless and probably not all there dude was hogging and hugging and licking and maybe trying to have sex with the ticket machine... oh, please, leave it alone, I need to inseminate the damn thing with some money so it gives birth to a damn ticket so I can take the damn tram and get to the damn venue! Eventually managed to do that and got on the tram. And I can now say I've learned the area around the main train station in Düsseldorf. It's just that I picked a damn bad time to do it. I was about 10-15 minutes late... At least my talk went well.
|
|
|
Post by bartman2001 on Mar 12, 2020 10:55:04 GMT -5
I am waiting on a call that I must take at home so while not quarantined for the Corona virus I'm still trapped here. Morning screwed, no coffee and it's really nice out. I'm not particulary happy if can't tell. All for a call that will take 2 minutes at most booo!
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 12, 2020 11:14:53 GMT -5
^I hate that kind of situation!
|
|
|
Post by AeroCooper on Mar 13, 2020 15:47:41 GMT -5
I stupidly thought it was being over-hyped about the idiots hording toilet paper, but nope...I went to 3 stores and the shelves are bare.
|
|
|
I......
Mar 19, 2020 10:52:00 GMT -5
Post by bartman2001 on Mar 19, 2020 10:52:00 GMT -5
Am I safe in concluding everyone around here is dead or possibly very hung over do to the lack of activity 'round these parts? Speaking, sadly, of deaths I find it hard to believe its been 38 years to the day that Randy Rhodes passed.
|
|
|
I......
Mar 19, 2020 14:16:37 GMT -5
Post by AeroCooper on Mar 19, 2020 14:16:37 GMT -5
I'm not dead, I'm only sleeping.
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 19, 2020 17:00:14 GMT -5
I'm drunk.
And I have a story. Yesterday, I went to get something to drink. It's been cold and windy lately, so I wore a coat with a hood because I'd like to keep my ears. I don't want them to freeze and fall off. I've also been following the bandit fashion lately, which meant I've been covering most of my face with a scarf. Most of my clothes are black (sure makes doing laundry easier!) and so was everything I wore yesterday. So I heard someone yell... "look, dude, Death!"
I almost pissed myself laughing.
I need a scythe for the next time I go out.
|
|
|
Post by bartman2001 on Mar 20, 2020 22:48:18 GMT -5
I've never needed a stupid fucking term like "social distancing" to want most people to stay the fuck away from me.
|
|
|
Post by anaix3l on Mar 21, 2020 0:38:12 GMT -5
I wish I could like that a thousand times^
|
|
|
Post by AeroCooper on Mar 21, 2020 7:01:55 GMT -5
I have a new saying: The introverts shall inherit the earth.
|
|
|
Post by bartman2001 on Mar 21, 2020 9:47:52 GMT -5
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in...
|
|
|
I......
Mar 21, 2020 18:05:31 GMT -5
Post by anaix3l on Mar 21, 2020 18:05:31 GMT -5
I got this. It's my collector ticket for the Kreator show in Denmark. Show that was supposed to happen in a week. I thought it was so sad to get my hands on it after the tour has been postponed. But now I think I have been wallowing in self-pity. Too much. Because I saw this: http://instagram.com/p/B9_R5OUJ6J8 Made me feel bad about myself. I'm still terrified... what if my dad... He turns 64 this Monday. And he's still going to work because he "has a responsibility". But I'm getting my ass back to work this Sunday. Staying clean might pose more of a challenge. But I can work either way. Also, when you own a company sitting on more money than I would have made with my current income since the fucking dinosaurs roamed the Earth and now you're asking for donations, framing it as help through these tough times for your workers, the same workers you have a history of underpaying... I am damn sorry there is no Hell for you to go to and I sincerely hope you will get to meet misery before you die. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's Amazon asking the whole world for donations. What different people are doing these days, I guess.
|
|