Coming Soon!

I know I recently promised more posts... and they're coming soon!

Keep an eye out for the following posts about our summer!

Movie Park Germany

 

Irrland

 

Noordwijk

 

Lowlands

If I don't get to blogging this week, next week school starts and I should be getting back to a more fixed routine!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Perks of Downtown

Downtown, the center, anyway you want to call it, it's where we live in Eindhoven.  Right smack in the middle of things, and we love it.  (If only we had a house & yard, but hey, can't have it all!)  This past weekend besides all of the World Cup action in town, there was the Guus Meeuwis concert.  He is an insanely popular Dutch singer/songwriter.  For three days parts of town were impossible to get to due to the roads around the PSV stadium being closed off for the concert.

Apparently my husband had tickets but decided to give them to a couple he knew would appreciate them more.  And he's right, it would have been fun but I know all of one song.  And the other couple had the night of their lives.  Even though we didn't go we were still able to enjoy the concert at home.  How?  I mentioned we lived in the center of town right... well the sound from the stadium echoed through town all the way to the terrace of our apartment.  We didn't spend long outside listening, but we did enjoy a couple numbers.  It was amazing, not because of the lone man singing on stage, it was the thousands of people singing along that made it so incredible.  It was a interesting moment, closing our eyes and taking in the sounds just ten minutes away.  These are some of the things we will miss once we sell our apartment, so it was nice taking in the moment.

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

X Factor USA

Even though we live across the Atlantic Ocean we do our best to keep up with the US X Factor.  There are too many of these types of shows out right now, there are even many Dutch versions, but for now it just happens to be the one we picked.  We haven't had a chance to watch the last episode so please don't give anything away!!!  From the beginning I had two favorites, Josh Levi and Alex & Sierra.  Unfortunately a week or so ago Josh Levi was voted off (big sad face).  When talent like him gets voted off a show it makes me wonder what people actually consider talent these days.  The kid sings, dances, and definitely gives Justin Bieber a run for his money.  So why didn't people vote?  I know why we didn't, we're here in Europe!  I'm crossing my fingers he gets a contract elsewhere, because he deserves it.  But his situation reminds me of a contestant from American Idol (old post), Joshua Ledet... the man was so talented and yet 1-2 yrs later he still doesn't have a record in the market, how it that possible!  But yet groups like Emblem 3 and 5th Harmony get contracts, I just don't get it!  At least my other hopefuls, Alex & Sierra, are still in the race, without them I would have probably lost interest in the show with painful contestants like Restless Road and Carlito Olivero.  There aren't many great duets out right now, and Alex & Sierra should fill that void.  I really enjoy their twist on every song they do, their quirkiness makes them extra interesting, and no one can deny their love for each other melts everyone's heart.  I've been trying my best to avoid anything to do with X Factor on the tabloid sites I read since we're not caught up, but I did see that Alex & Sierra brought Demi Lovato to tears this week... can't wait!!!  Do any of you follow X Factor?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Bospop

About a month ago we decided to buy tickets for Bospop (a classic rock festival in Weert).  In the mean time we've been quite busy, and questioned if we were even going to be able to go.  Sometimes planning too far ahead can actually work against you!  I'm not exactly sure who decided it was a good idea to go to a music festival the day the husbands returned home from a business trip in The States but it happened.  Surprisingly enough the men actually lasted until late into the night, probably thanks to an afternoon nap & Red Bull (long live energy drinks).  We didn't arrive until late in the afternoon, which turned out to be a good idea... we didn't get baked by the sun in the open field all day and we were able to stay almost until the very end.  Bospop had two stages set up, a large stage for the bigger acts and a tented stage for all the acts in between.  It was actually funny watching the people rush back and forth.  When we first arrived we did the usual wandering around, people watching, scooping out the event, hitting up the beer & food stands.  But eventually we sent up camp, we were close to the bathrooms and trash cans (convenient), we could see the main stage, and yet we were out of the way and not constantly being stepped on.  Luckily we brought two small towels, just enough for 4 butts, but usually there was always 1-2 people standing.  One of the most memorable acts was Amy MacDonald.  I only knew one of her songs but I must say I enjoyed her entire set, imagine Mumford & Sons just with a female lead.  I love it when artists can perform live as well as they do in the studio.  During her set a woman decided to pass out next to us, my husband & I were totally freaked.  The paramedics laid her on the ground, then eventually took her away, we had to turn our backs, we didn't like watching someones grandma laid out in a sundress flashing the crowd.  Once she was gone we let out a breath of relief and focused back on the performance.  Then she came back, what!  Who passes out then returns for more!  Other large acts were Roger Hodgson & Band and the night rounded off with Crosby, Stills, & Nash.  In between we were able to enjoy a popular Dutch act (Rowwen Heze), it's popular because the Dutch goes crazy and throw beer around during the performance.  When I first heard about it I seriously doubted we would participate, but of course as the night went on and a couple more drinks later, we were ready for the craziness.  Another funny thing was we ordered a pizza, sounds quite simple but apparently everyone was ordering just slices, you should have seen their faces when we said we wanted an entire pizza.  Then the trek from the pizza stand back to the men was also a feat.  Try stepping through hundreds of feet and blankets while getting hooted at from the crowd.  When we finally arrived with the pizza our husbands asked, "and where's the beer?"  Typical, ha-ha!  Luckily at the end of the night our friends sister picked us up, this saved us a bus ride, train ride, and a walk home, thanks!!!  And to top it off the only thing we lost were the towels, I think at the end of the night we decided the old towels weren't worth it.  It was a relaxed music festival, thanks to the crowd... we'd definitely party with classic rockers again!

A. Tom Collins Band

You never know who you'll meet in Eindhoven.  While walking my dog yesterday morning through the center of town I couldn't help but hear the sound of American voices just ahead in the distance.  (There's something about the American voice that makes it audible for long distances, I've learned this since living in The Netherlands).  Outside of a small hotel/bar stood a band loading up their equipment into a van.  I couldn't help but stop and ask what they were doing here, I can't say I often (or ever) see American bands in Eindhoven.  Apparently they were wrapping up their European tour (6 countries / 16 stops) and had played at the Wilhelmina Cafe the night before.  Obviously my next question was, who are you... they're the A. Tom Collins band.  After the fact I wished I had asked for a cd, I did see a box full.  It never hurts to pick up an autographed cd, who knows, maybe they'll become huge one day.  But I didn't.  I did look them up when I returned home, one site says they're alternative, one says jazz, they say rock, needless to say it sounds like an interesting mix of music, something my husband would thoroughly enjoy.  So, A. Tom Collins, if you happen to read this, I'm still interested in a cd!

Here's a link to their official site if you're curious : http://www.atomcollins.com/

Music Moments #4

Music can influence peoples lives, and activities.  We use music to inspire us, to make us happy, to make us remember, to make us dance, the list goes on and on.  In previous Music Moments posts, I was sure to let you know what was playing around our house at that time, or even what I was using to motivate myself during exercise.  This post is similar, but I'm not going to delve into the tunes filling our heads at this moment.  This post is about a small phase I went through a couple months back, I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed just saying it was unusual for me.  Here goes, I went through a short country music phase, there I said it.  For those who know me, well, they know country music isn't really my thing, as a teen I would cringe when I heard it.  But now as an adult I am a lot more open and occasionally I actually hear songs I like when I give them a chance.  Now, in most of my Music Moments posts I'll mention what I am listening to while writing, whether writing a blog post or a fictional story you can basically say I write most days of the week.  This is actually how I stumbled into this country music phase.  I was working on a love story (all of my stories are love stories, but not your typical mushy romance novels) and one of the main characters happened to be southern.  So to put myself in the right mood, I decided to get my hands on some country music.  Obviously since I don't listen to country I have no idea what is considered good these days, but I do know what was considered good years ago.  Don't laugh, because I ended up with the strangest combination... Johnny Cash, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, & Garth Brooks.  But it worked, it helped me to put myself creatively and imaginatively in a southern town with thick accents all around, helping the story feel more realistic.  Then I ended up planning a trip, back in March, to visit my grandmother in Tennessee, so this sort-of continued the country phase.  Luckily, because there are limited radio stations an hour outside of Nashville.  Turns out country music is different these days, it almost leans more towards pop than drawn out sad ballads.  There were even a few songs I could bounce my head to, but I must say I have no idea who the artist was and I probably never will.  For now, the country phase is finished, I'm on to the next story (I have a lot of unfinished stories) and this one needs dubstep and not country. 

(For those of you who do thoroughly enjoy country music, like my grandmother, I'm not putting it down, so please don't misunderstand me.  Whether I enjoy it or not doesn't mean I do not appreciate the talent.)

Song Singles

Don't expect this to take long, but I had to get it out there.  There are two song singles out right now that I keep playing over and over, can't wait until the actual albums are released.  They're 2 completely different songs, different genres, and different feels but both are worth listening to!

Wow, wait a minute, I just did my research and apparently both albums are already out, I guess I've been living under a rock.  I can't wait to get my hands on them.  Anyway, I still love the debut singles and will continue to play them out!

 

The first and definitely my favorite :

Home sang by Phillip Phillips (what a name, but easy to remember, ha-ha!)  And the album I intend to listen to pronto is The World from the Side of the Moon  His style is unusual and it was obvious he was a star from his audition on American Idols.

 

And the second song :

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys  Apparently from the album also titled Girl on Fire.  Now this song grew on me, at first I thought she was way off and had no interest in the song, and now I find myself belting it out around the house!

Hope you check them out!

Music Moments #3

My life is full of music moments, certain activities almost require that there is music involved.  For me those main moments are while driving, exercising, and writing.  But throughout the day music also fills our house, especially when my husbands home, his iPhone is always bolting out the latest tunes.  And when he's not home, well, there's a lot of kids music... Barney is a favorite with my tot!

 

What's the number one album blasting through our house at the moment :
 

It's Mumford & Sons latest album, Babel.  They can do no wrong!  I thought their last album couldn't be topped, but now there's Babel.  I'm sure you've all heard I Will Wait playing on the radio.  The banjo and mandolin keep your head bobbing and the songs are catchy and hard to get out of your head.  There's a great mixture between upbeat songs and slow ballads, all of which worth listening to.  And what's even better, it's music I can listen to with my toddler around and not worry about her repeating vulgar words or hearing adult only content.

 

What's playing in my car (o.k., my husbands car that I borrow occasionally) :
 

I have to admit, I still haven't taken Fun or Lana Del Rey off the USB stick.  But I also added Green Day's newest album, Uno.  When I added this album it reminded of how much I enjoyed their 1994 album Dookie.  It was one of those albums that accompanied my early teenage years.  As soon as I added it to my car playlist I realized I still remember all of the words.  The mind is a funny thing, I can't tell you what I did last weekend but I know all the words to Basket Case and When I Come Around 10 yrs later!

 

What's playing while I exercise :
 

Somehow I missed out on a genre of music called Dubstep.  When I finally realized I was interested in it, I coined my own term, techno-hip-hop.  My husband was embarrassed for me and after I said it to friends for the umpteenth time, he told me it was actually called Dubstep.  Immediately I hopped on the computer and looked around for a popular artist in this genre, and I found Datsik.  I wouldn't say this music is for everyone, but wow does it get you pumped up.  Something you need while working off the fat on the elliptical machine.  And on one of the rare occasions I ended up in a bar after 2AM, they were blasting this music and the crowd couldn't get enough.  I could have danced the rest of the night away (except I'm 31 yrs old and I knew the next day my toddler would come home from grandma's!)  I'm sure there are other great Dubstep artists out there, so if you know any, please let me know.

 

What's playing while I write :
 

Well, right now Mumford & Sons, but lately the Queen of the Damned soundtrack.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Queen of the Damned, it was a great vampire movie from 2002.  It also had a worthy rock music soundtrack.  Not just any rock, great music created with the help of Jonathan Davis from Korn!  I was working on a mythological story and the music was perfect to play in the background.  Once I played the album a couple times it dawned on me that I could also use it while exercising.  You can't compare it to Dubstep, except it does get your blood flowing... and... you really have to enjoy this type of music to get into it (I imagine a lot of people my age and over cringe at the sound of either!)

Well, that's it for this time... who knows what I'll be listening to next!  Do you have any suggestions?

Music Moments #2

Here's another follow-up post!  It's not that I'm out of things to talk about I just wanted to share some great albums with you. 

What's playing in the background as I work on my blog and books?  I keep switching because I can't decide which album I like better.  There's stiff competition between Fun. - Some Nights & Lana Del Rey - Born To Die.  They're not exactly the type of music I have always listened to, who knew I liked Indie Pop; my husband says it's because I'm getting older so the music I listen to isn't as intense.  Maybe he's right, or maybe I haven't heard any rap or rock albums that really interest me lately.  Well, except for Jay-Z & Kanye West's album - Watch the Throne.  Needless to say there are some great songs on the above albums, besides their main singles you should listen to Carry On & National Anthem.

What's playing while I'm exercising.  Rihanna's 4th & 5th albums, Rated R & Loud.  I still can't believe how many popular songs/albums she has pumped out over the years, she's on #6 now.  She makes great music for dancing and exercising.  My daughter also loves her music, unfortunately she's not allowed to watch any of the videos because of their intensity.  Actually there are few videos my daughter is allowed to watch, most of them are quite disturbing these days.  Sometimes my husband and I flip on the music channel (not MTV because they don't even play music) and after a few videos we look over at each other questioning what we were just exposed to.  We're not prude, it's just most videos these days are strange, they'll do anything to get a rise out of you.  (Seriously I'm not getting old.)

What's playing in the house that my daughter enjoys?  Right now thanks to American Idol she's enjoying Creedence Clearwater Revival.  We just play a best hits albums and she thoroughly enjoys it.  Even at 2 yrs old she can appreciate real music and instruments.  And since the entire family loves oldies, you'll also occasionally hear the Forrest Gump soundtrack, and if it's just the girls even the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.  I think movie soundtracks are a great place to find a good compilation of music.  Plus you get the added benefit of having great movie scenes pop into mind when you hear the songs, it's an all around fun experience.  Since American Idol had such strong contenders this season, we are also eagerly awaiting albums from Joshua Ledet & Phillip Phillips.

I hope all of you have background music in your lives.  Whether singing along in your car, bopping around your living room, or just kicking back and taking it in, everyone should have music moments.

Music Moments

In my house music is very common, and my daughter has grown to enjoy music as much as us.  We like to crank it up after my husband gets home from work and dance around the living room, great family music moments!   

One album we are all enjoying at the moment is Mumford & Sons (they're a British folk rock band). It seems to be the running background music of our lives over the past two weeks. It's funny how you can like an album so much you will listen to it repeatedly. I remember at one time thinking Kings of Leon would never get taken out of rotation, but eventually they all get replaced. As of now Mumford & Sons is taking their slot on our playlists.  Then there is always Adele, she's great, I think everyone can appreciate her talent.  She's also someone we can listen to with the entire family or individually.  I'll often turn on one of the above albums while I'm writing, they're soothing, don't distract, and have a lot of emotion to them.  From what I understand Adele has become quite popular in The States but I'm not sure about Mumford & Sons... so for the ones of you who have never heard of these albums you really should give them a chance.  Now if I'm not listening to mellow British music, I'm listening to American rap, I love it! 

I love any music that will get me dancing but there's something special about rap. I wish I could say I outgrew it as a teenager but I didn't. I also wish I could say there are a lot of great rap albums out today, but I can't.  Other than dancing to it, I really enjoy exercising to it.  It's peppy enough to get me moving, yet has this aggression to it to keep me motivated on the crosstrainer.  The past couple of weeks I have either listened to Flo-rida or Nicki Minaj while exercising.  My husband also appreciates rap but he can't stand Flo-rida; he's more of an Eminem type.  And Nicki Minaj just makes fun rap, she's a little eccentric and that definitely reflects in her album.  I'm sure you've read this and lost a bit of respect for me, but you have to understand I enjoy a variety of music.  Before driving lessons I like to listen to Andrea Bocelli, and while growing up I almost played out my Phantom of the Opera cassette tape.  And I enjoy Metallica as much as I enjoy The Beach Boys!  I hope you all have music moments throughout your day!