Blog closed (for now)

I'm posting this message (as if someone is still reading this) to let you know that you don't have to expect any more posts on this blog anymore.

No one cares anyway... what an illusion I had back then :-)

Catching up

I've finally managed to start posting again, yay. I still have 11 posts in my draft folder, so you will see more stuff appearing here the next couple of days.

I'm glad to see the new Blogger Beta has gone into production. It offers a lot of new features. However, since I have done so much customization to my blog template I will need to update all these changes to be compatible with the new templates before I make the switch.

I'll keep you posted, and I guess you can take that literally as well as figuratively speaking.

The Prestige

The Prestige is the term used for the third act of any magic trick, with the first and second acts being the Pledge and the Turn.

Christopher Nolan teams up again with his Batman Begins cast of Christian Bale and Michael Caine, joined with X-Men's Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson. The choice of this cast set many tongues wagging as to whether it will be able to live up to the hype of Nolan's long awaited movie that is directly challenging the other motion picture about Victorian magicians: The Illusionist.

[ Click here to show or hide the full review ]

This movie definitely lives up to its name. It plays out like a huge magic trick, with the audience waiting to see how it unfolds. You're getting the suspicion on how the magic's done, but yet you're sitting through it thoroughly engaged to discover how everything will be revealed and resolved. The Pledge tells the story of how two magicians who were fellow apprentices eventually turned into unfortunate rivals. They plod down the path of jealous obsession, revenge, and numerous attempts to go at great lengths to steal eachother's ideas.

Much of the film is very realistic. It's an easy step to accept that such unwavering determination spills over into deadly territory, as rival magicians suave Rupert Angier (Jackman) and audacious Alfred Borden (Bale). Each continuely seek to wreak revenge upon the other.

The story, though adapted from a novel, feels like a perfect fit for Nolan's directing sensibilities. The machinations of the two men become increasingly convoluted during a back-and-forth tug of wits that keep you guessing in the style of Nolan's "Memento." As the game becomes deadly and threatens to consume all they ever loved, the film becomes a fascinating study in single-mindedness.

The Pledge is beautifully filmed and strongly acted. The only odd note in casting is David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. Solid performances are all around, with Michael Caine adding dignity and depth as the old master, Scarlett Johansson as the lovely stage assistant who becomes the third point in a twisted love triangle, and even Andy Serkis in a memorable supporting role.

At the end of the movie, one quote popped into mind: "Misdirection - what the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes." Quite apt to describe how things work out during the movie, or to describe Nolan's films in general.

This is a truly entertaining movie. It takes you on an original and unusual dark ride worth seeing in a theatre for its grand scope and vision.

The One With All Ten Seasons

How you doin'?

A while ago, a friend lent me the first six seasons of "Friends" that she had in her proud possession. It didn't take me very long to get addicted to the show. I don't watch television very often, so it is one of those shows where I occasionally pick up one episode.

After being hooked up with those DVDs and after shamelessly seeing them in an all-records-breaking timespan, I bought myself the ten-season-box and saw the rest of them funnies.

Yes, you can call me crazy. But as long as I don't start to use Joey's pickupline (oops) and start to share Ross's habit in bad marriages (honestly, do I look like I've already been there?), I think I'll be fine. However, you might recognize some Chandler-sarcasm in my stupid jokes from now on. Then again, some people claim that has always been the case.

October 14th, TMF Awards 2006

The TMF Awards is a yearly awardshow, organised by TMF.

Although I absolutely love music, I would never buy a ticket to this show. However, in 2003 I won free entrance and went for the first time. I don't know why or how, but I kept winning every year, as if someone wanted me to be there.

This year this someone apparently changed his mind because I didn't win. But I got something better.

[ Click here to show or hide the rest of the story ]

A week before the Awards, I got a VIP entrance ticket. My colleague's boyfriend is a TMF employee and he could get his hands on two of those precious babies. I didn't know what to expect. I had been to some VIP arrangements before, at the time I was still a 'journalist' for De Middag, but that was a long time ago and the facilities obviously differ per event.

Well, I had a lot of fun, but I wasn't amazed. Yes there were famous people around me. See me care, they're just persons like you and I. I'm sure as hell not going to stalk, harass or bother them. Although I would make an exception for Linda ;)

Seriously, some people would go insane. I think they just are. I did enjoy being treated like a VIP: shuttle transport back and forth, red carpet, lanyard with VIP pass, welcome present (CD), free drinks à volenté (Burn and Red Wodka is a wonderful combination) and, of course, the VIP party afterwards.

I noticed that a lot of VIPs weren't remotely interested in the award show. The VIP afterparty was obviously the only purpose of their visit. Let me describe this afterparty: a lot of bad, mindless, tedious music, dancing queens (both male and female) in cages, and unmannered drunk celebs. Not very charming. Needless to say, I didn't stay very long. After a chat with some people I left the party and went home to seek peace and silence.

Milk Inc. Supersized - The Concert (2006)

At the dawn of September, I wrote an article on the new Milk Inc. album called "Supersized" and I promised I would give more info on the concert. Since this was a sold-out concert, I thought it would be best to wait until after it had passed, so I could share the experience and make all of you pretty damn jealous :)

I had been looking forward to this concert ever since I received word that there would be a concert. Actually I forgot that Milk Inc. already existed for ten years. Like a lot of other people, my interest in the dance group was very little until Linda Mertens joined as a singer. She doesn't only have an amazing voice, she's also a very pretty lady to droo... um... look at. Since I really LOVE their dance music, and found it amazing that they were going to do a live show, I wanted to lay my hands on tickets as soon as humanly possible. Especially after reading the article below from the Milk Inc. website.

[ Click here to show or hide the article ]

Today, Regi and Linda presented Milk Inc. Supersized. During a press conference, they told us several things concering the concert.

On September 30, Linda and Regi won't be alone on the big stage at the Sportpaleis at Antwerp. Filip Vandueren, co-producer of Milk Inc., will be there on stage with them with his synths. At the drums, Michael Schack (drummer of Camden and Ozark Henry) will be there too. Supertalent Roland Synth/Dj wizzard David Ahlund from Stockholm will be present. And to finish with another talent, Peter Schreurs, as absolute synth-specialist, will support Filip and David. Linda will be supported by some backing vocals and some dancers.

Of course, a lot of songs from the Milk Inc. repertoire will be played and there will be some surprises during this marvelous show. On a special stage, we'll see Linda, Regi and Filip in a high technological state-of-the-art show. Lightshow, videowall,... Milk Inc. Supersized will be engraved in your mind forever. There's only one aim for Linda and Regi: total ambiance so the Sportpaleis will shake on its foundations.

The promotion for Milk Inc. SuperSized will start completely now. Up until now, 4000 of the 15000 tickets are sold. Do you want to be there on September 30? Visit the Milk Inc. Supersized page on the Sportpaleis site and click on the ticket button to order your tickets.

Did they live up to their promise and did they fulfill all expectations? Hell yes! Apart from the splendid live performances with the wellknown (and new) Milk Inc. sounds, samples and vocals, they had a few surprises as well. You can take a look at the setlist below.

[ Click here to show or hide the setlist ]

• Intro
  
• La Vache
  
• Run
  
• Shine On
  
• Sleepwalker
  
• Blind
  
• No Angel
  
• Losing Love
  
• I Don't Care
  
• Keep Your Hands
  
• No Music
  
• Lonely
  
• Rhythm Is A Dancer
  
• No Limit
  
• In My Eyes
  
• Whisper
  
  Break
  


• Saxy Motion
  
• Time
  
• Land Of The Living
  
• Tainted Love
  
• Never Again
  
• Oceans
  
• Maybe
  
• Walk On Water (acoustic)
  
• Walk On Water (normal version)
  
• The Sun Always Shines On Tv
  
• Breathe Without You
  
• Go To Hell
  


• Heaven + Band Introduction
  
• Insomnia

As you can see, there are quite a few unexpected surprises in there. The whole concert is recorded to be put on DVD. I'll go deeper into the songs when I review the DVD. Until then, be sure to reserve your tickets already for the 2007 edition of the concert!!

I've won a photoshop contest!

The contest rules were simple: create the nicest, prettiest or funniest photo manipulation in which you blend iBOOD or one of their recent products. The photo has to fit in the theme History. You can submit as many photos as you want.

[ Click here to show or hide the full story ]

I will say a word or two about the three pictures I have submitted. You can always click the picture to enlarge it.

1) the Pergamon

The original:

This impressive talisman is called the Divining Disk of Pergamon. It was discovered in Asia Minor in 1899, and is preserved in a Museum in Berlin. It is 0.12 cm. It formed part of an apparatus used by the magicians of Pergamon for divination and obtaining Oracles in the first half of the third century A.D. of our Era. The inscriptions on the convex side are arranged in concentric-circles and contain a large number of magickal glyphs. Among them are several Greek letters, and a whole circle of Greek vowels. Also, it contains the Egyptian hieroglyph for B, the symbols of the sun and the moon, etc.


My edited version:

I've given the talisman a golden fill colour. Eventually I created the iBood logo with it; pretty simple.

Just some layers and gradient filling got the job done. Most of the effort was put in creating the transparency of the original medaillon.






2) Einstein

The original picture and my edited version next to eachother. Doesn't need much explanation, other than a clone tool, a chalk brush and some smoothening. Some people asked me how I came up with the idea. I don't know. It's probably pure genius. No I'm kidding (no I'm not!).













3) the Ancient Greek ship Armada, on its way to the city of Troy

I can't put the original here without breaking copyright laws, so you can watch the original here.

My version:




Translation:
Faster!! Don't let captain iBood get away !!!





Against all my odds, Einstein won. I really didn't expect this as I found so many other submissions superior to mine.

What did I win? Well, seems like a "multimediaset" with a mouse, keyboard and webcam. I don't need any of those, I was just playing for fun.

Milk Inc. - Supersized

Today is a special day for the Milk Inc. fans. Belgium's most popular dance sensation is finally releasing their new album to the public. It's entitled "Supersized" and contains 14 tracks with the well-known Milk Inc. sound.

A few of its songs were already released the past couple of years, such as "Blind", "Whisper", "Go To Hell" and the recently released "Tainted Love". "Run", the first track of the album, will be released on single tomorrow, one day after the album release. Next to the album version, it will feature a Sunshine Mix and a Simple Mix.

This album is the runner-up for the already sold-out 10th anniversary concert "Milk Inc. Supersized" on September 30th in Antwerp. I will post more info on the concert in a next blog entry.

You can listen to samples of the new Milk Inc. album here

[ Click here to show or hide tracklist ]

1. 1. Run
2. 2. Tainted Love
3. 3. No Angel
4. 4. Go To Hell
5. 5. Answer Me
6. 6. It's Over
7. 7. Blind
8. 8. Fiction
9. 9. Breakin'
10. 10. Remember
11. 11. Whisper
12. 12. Secret
13. 13. Morning Light
14. 14. Things Change

Time-out

If you hope think I have disappeared off of the face of the earth, I hate to disappoint you. The truth is that I have been extremely busy the last couple of weeks, working in the house to get "stuff" done.

All the work and after-work relaxation leaves me with very ample time (and motivation) to sit in front of a smartass, windows-updating and coffeebeancrushingnoise-making computer.

I will post a status update as soon as I have time and feel like doing so :-)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest does the right thing as a sequel: it maintains the same spirit of the original and creates an even more fitting Pirates story.

After narrowly escaping the gallows - with the help of his friends Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) - and reclaiming his cursed Black Pearl, it still seems Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has a few more fish to fry. More specifically the barnacle-encrusted undead on board the ghostly Flying Dutchman, lead by Mr. Octopus Face himself, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).

Jack apparently owes a blood debt to the inky captain and if he can't find a way out of it, Sparrow will be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife. Making matters worse, Jack's problems manage to interfere with the wedding plans of Will and Elizabeth, who are forced to join Jack on yet another one of his mischievous adventures.

[ Click here to show or hide more info (contains minor spoilers) ]

Depp's Oscar-nominated performance as Captain Jack Sparrow is still marvellous in pirate behaviour: his speech, swaying swagger 'n slack and waving arms. It's the duality of the character that continues to intrigue: he is a lusty, fearless man with a deeply defiant and somewhat sneaky appearance but whose delicate features give him a subtly effeminate air that belies his macho behaviour.

This time around, young actors Knightley and Bloom have a little more to do, with Elizabeth's growing attraction to Jack and Will's reunion with his father, Bill "Bootstrap" Turner (Stellan Skarsgård). Nighy makes his mark as an effective villain, infusing his rather quirky acting ticks. His arrogance shines through all the special effects make-up, certainly rivaling Depp, even with tentacles for a face.

The other thing Dead Man's Chest does right is make things bigger and better. From a hair-raising swordfight on top of a spinning water wheel to the way Davy Jones and his crew look, the film is simply amazing. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski make sure the action sequences, the sets, the costumes, the make-up and the special effects give the audience a familiarity to the original while also taking them on a whole new adventure.

Dead Man's Chest does lag a bit from time to time, but that's ok since some elements are essential to this story, and possibly the next one. For those who'll want more adventure after this movie ends, Dead Man's Chest gives us a promise the third installment, planned for a May 25th 2007 release, will be just as much pirate fun.

Antwerp Sings 2006

Yesterday evening was the ninth edition of "Antwerp Sings". Whether your are a tenor or a soprano, whether you can sing or are completely tone deaf, everyone was welcome to this yearly Antwerpian singing fest.

No artists on stage, just a bunch of people creating a nice ambiance and giving the crowd, 30.000 according to the organisers, the good example. The crowd is the star of the night, singing mostly very well-known Flemish and English songs. The general idea of the event is that everyone sings from the top of their lungs.. and so they did, guided by the lyrics everyone received in print.

This is the third time in a row that I joined in. The weather during my first two times was absolutely horrible. This year, however, it couldn't be better. My head hurts, my voice sounds like a rusty watertap, but hey, I had a jolly good time together with my friends. The party went on until a little bit past midnight, after which we unfortunately had to return home. There's an extra edition on September 8th for charity. Who knows, perhaps I'll join in if I can find some other crazy voices to accompany me ...

[ Click here to show or hide playlist ]

1. Rene Froger - Just Say Hello
2. Guus Meeuwis & Vagant - Ik Ben Blij Dat Ik Je Niet Vergeten Ben
3. André Van Duin - Als De Zon Schijnt
4. Will Tura - Het Kan Niet Zijn
5. André Hazes - Ik Meen Het
6. Billy Paul - Your Song
7. Rocco Granata - Marina
8. Boney M - Hooray, It's A Holiday
9. Jan Smit - Als De Nacht Verdwijnt
10. Laura Lynn - Je Hebt Me Duizend Maal Bedrogen
11. Frans Bauer - Heb Je Even Voor Mij
12. Tina Turner - Proud Mary
13. Dario - De Clown
14. John Denver - Thank God I'm A Country Boy
15. The Radios - I'm Into Folk
16. The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia
17. Vader Abraham - Het Kleine Café Aan De Haven
18. Zangeres Zonder Naam - Mexico
    bonus: Hans De Booij & Wannes Van De Velde - Lichtjes Van De Schelde
    bonus: De Strangers - Aantwaarpe
    
    BREAK
    
    
19. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
20. De Kreuners - Layla
21. Peter Koelewijn - Klap Maar In Je Handen
22. Dean Martin - That's Amore
23. Freddy Breck - Uberall Auf Der Welt
24. Noordkaap - Ik Hou Van U
25. Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Loving Feeling
26. Harry Nilson - Without You
27. Gerry & The Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone
28. Raymond Van Het Groenewoud - Liefde Voor Muziek
29. Village People - In The Navy
30. Abba Medley
31. Claude François - Alexandrie, Alexandra
32. Hermes House Band - Que Sera Sera
33. Paul De Leeuw - Vlieg Met Me Mee Naar De Regenboog
34. Michel Sardou - Les Lacs Du Connemara
35. Abba - Thank You For The Music
    bis: De Strangers - Aantwaarpe

One hour photo

Today I went to a photo expedition that documented the art of seven photojournalists working for the Belgian newspaper De Morgen.

The five walls, each displaying about ten pictures, are easily done in an hour. It may not seem very much, but it is definitely worth it. Some photos tell a whole lifestory, while other photos are snapshots of concerts or festivals that take you back to the event itself.

The expedition runs in the Bozar in Brussels from June 21st until August 27th and the €5 entrance fee is fairly cheap.

[ Click here to show or hide exposition info ]

The text below is the introduction by the Editor in chief of De Morgen as it is displayed when you enter the exposition hall.

---

For more than a quarter of a century De Morgen has had something with photos and photographers something with De Morgen. Because we see photography not as the art of illustrating an article, but as a journalistic form in its own right. Our photographers are visual journalists who have opted for a camera rather than a word processor. The photos in De Morgen are more than items of news, they are both its background and interpretation, and often an opinion too. A cry of outrage, a nostalgic look back at what is on the point of disappearing, a sarcastic wink, a tear in the eye, and everything between. The photographers at De Morgen have over the years won just about every prize there is to be won in the world, several times over. We have almost started to consider it normal. But it isn 't. Because it is only the very best who can time and again weld a subject, technique, vision and creativity together to form an image that says more than a thousand words. We are very happy that they want to work for us.
Yves Desmet, Editor in chief

With Yann Bertrand, Filip Claus, Tim Dirven, Jimmy Kets, Stephan Vanfleteren, Thomas Vanhaute, Alex Vanhee

---

Al meer dan een kwarteeuw heeft De Morgen iets met foto's en hebben fotografen iets met De Morgen. Omdat fotografie voor ons niet de kunst van het illustreren van een artikel is, maar een eigen journalistieke vorm. Onze fotografen zijn beeldjournalisten, die voor een fototoestel hebben gekozen, en niet voor een toetsenbord. Foto's in De Morgen zijn meer dan nieuwsfeiten, ze zijn er tegelijk de achtergrond en de duiding van, en vaak zijn ze zelfs een opinie. Een schreeuw van verontwaardiging, een nostalgische terugblik naar wat nog net niet verdwenen is, een sarcastische knipoog, een krop in de keel, en alles daartussen. De fotografen van De Morgen hebben inmiddels al een paar keer zowat iedere prijs die er ter wereld te winnen valt, gewonnen. We zijn dat bijna normaal gaan vinden. Terwijl het dat niet is. Want iedere keer weer een onderwerp, techniek, visie en creativiteit kunnen samensmeden tot dat ene beeld dat meer zegt dan duizend woorden is alleen aan topmensen gegeven. We zijn blij dat ze voor ons willen werken.
Yves Desmet, Hoofdredacteur

Met Yann Bertrand, Filip Claus, Tim Dirven, Stephan Vanfleteren, Jimmy Kets, Thomas Vanhaute, Alex Vanhee.

---

The picture displayed in this blog is ©Stephan Vanfleteren.

Hairy nuts

I have no idea what you were thinking of when you read this blog title and frankly, I don't wanna know.

Anyway, I'm fond of Pistache Nuts, but today I experienced something that groced me out so much that I won't touch a single one anytime soon!! Yeah you can laugh. Read on.

I was enjoying those nuts until I noticed a weird looking specimen. I took it out of its shell and subjected it to a very close look. It looked like part of the nut was some kind of a hairy cocoon. I opened it, and to my greatest amazement and disbelief, there was a roasted worm-alike thingy inside.

Like I said, no nuts for me anymore. I can appreciate a little extra now and then, but there are limits. And they have been crossed.

DJ Control MP3

I've been doing a lot of experimenting with mixing music lately. Having created a few megamixes already, I wanted to try something closer to the real thing. Mostly because I was using software that's based on a timeline: you put your tracks (on strips) on a timeline and where two songs overlap they get mixed in the way you want them to. But this is not mixing. This is more like authoring.

So I started experimenting with DJ Software. Most DJs will give me the evil eye when I say that, but I have no ambition of becoming professional and therefore do not want to spend thousands of euros on vinyls and equipment.

So I've bought myself a new toy: the Hercules DJ Control MP3 for use with Virtual DJ. It's a device that, connected to your computer, behaves like a real set of turntables and a mixing console. The things you normally have to accomplish using your mouse and zillions of hotkeys on your keyboard, you can now control with this device. I'll post a review once I have it :-)

Signing for a new future

Wendy and I signed the contract tonight. Now we are officially the new tenants of the place, drastically changing tracks in our current life. It's a bit scary that this is all happening so fast, but it is even more exciting. It was time for both of us to take this step.

I know Wendy for more than two years and I'm convinced that there won't be any problems between us. I guess we'll learn to know each other in a different way, but I'm not even remotely afraid or worried about that. At this time I can't think of anyone else I would even dare taking this step with. We both hope we'll find peace and quiet in this new place. The future will tell.

First watch

We went to have a look to the house today. We were guided around by the current tenant and his girlfriend. There are three bedrooms: a large one, a bit smaller one, and a third which you can only use as a baby-room or a small computerroom. There's a dry basement and an attic, a bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room. And a toilet, of course. The places aren't very big, but they sure are big enough to do something with. We decided to take it.

The decision had to be made fast, because other interested people were coming over too, and the first one with the agreement gets it. No option, no time to sleep on it. Sometimes you have to be able to decide fast, and this was one of those times. You won't find any better for such a good price!

After the conversation with the landlord, we found out that he is going to put double-glass windows, a new front door, and make some other adjustmenst to the house. He seems like a social and honest person.

We've got everything we need to get the paperwork and upfront payments done. Tuesday we are meeting him again to sign the contract. Exciting!

Roommates

Today we've had a consultant visiting our company. He is one of the persons we are working together with on our current project. In the evening he needed a ride to the train station, so I took him there. On my way back to work, I went to McDonald's drive-thru for a refreshing chocolate milkshake... mm yummie. While I was driving back to the office, I got a message on my mobile phone.

The message was something like "Hey! A friend of mine has let me know there is a nice place for rent. I already had a look and it's promising! What do you think of becoming roommates?"

It came from Wendy, my soulmate. I didn't have to sleep on the question whether I wanted to become roommates or not. That was a no-brainer: of course I do. She made an appointment with the landlord. Tomorrow we're going to visit the place. I'm curious!

Phantasialand

Saturday morning, 5.30am. A song of Marco Borsato sounds through the clockradio and announces it's time to rise and shine. I rose, but I refused to shine. I forgot what a pain it was to get up so early, especially when it was already past midnight when my cheeck eventually touched the pillow. Yes. The cheeck of my face, you weirdo.

But look at the bright side: we're going to Phantasialand today!! It is an amusement-slash-fantasypark where you have variations, going from slow merry-go-rounds (aka a Carousel) to exciting, breathtaking and violently fast thrill rides.

[ Click here to read the rest of the story ]

Phantasialand is located in Germany. I recently bought a Tom Tom One GPS for my car, but unfortunately it only contains the Benelux maps (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg). Most fortunately, a friend has a Garmin GPS with German maps which I could borrow. I swapped it for my Tom Tom since she had to go to Centerparks in the Netherlands this weekend. Good swap if you ask me :-)

After a two hour drive, a short stop in between, and a lot of frustration (our following car wasn't following at all; it was constantly stalling as if the gas pedal had to be touched gently), we finally arrived. The nice computerized GPS woman guided us right to the entrance. What a lady. But so ... artificial.

The cashier, another lady, was a little more reluctant to help us. She had a weird look on her face when we wanted to exchange our prepaid vouchers for a real entrance ticket. She eventually mumbled something in German and gave us the tickets. We must have looked like gangsters.

Our first attraction of the day was the Race for Atlantis. We didn't know what to expect, we thought it had something to do with water. Wrong. Once inside, after the short queue, we sat down on a platform that was raised a few feet in the air. We didn't know what was happening, but seconds later we realised we were inside a simulator. It was an IMAX movie, projected on a screen (a so called "Dome Screen"), so big you couldn't see the edges around it. It was a little fun. Not much more to say if you know IMAX movies. It wasn't 3D, but it was visually satisfying. Fun to do if you have kids. You can view some images here.

We then followed the natural trail of the park, going into as much things that we were even remotely interested in. The Silvermine, Hollywood Tour, Wildwash Creek, Temple of the Night Hawk and River Quest are just a few of the long list. The latter proved to be a lot of waterfun, definitely worth the long wait.

But a few rides were so amazing they still give me the goosebumps. Let's elaborate:

• Mystery Castle: the waiting queue wasn't the classic, boring queue you'd expect. It was a journey through a haunted fortress. Occasionally, a huge hooded man (a real person) would jump out of the dark right next to you. It scared the shit out of most of the women. Once you've passed a library, a chapel, and something that looks like a secret laboratory, you end up in front of a wooden gate. It's the entrance to the tower. You know nothing... you hear nothing strange or out of the ordinary. You don't know what to expect. It was exciting even before it began!
  
  Once inside, it reminded me of the Dalton Terror in Walibi Belgium (ex-Sixflags). We thought that, just like the Dalton Terror, we would be carefully raised and have a thrilling freefall once arrived at the top. Wrong. We sat down and were heavily secured in our seats. Employees in white coats, looking like nutty professors, wandered around, checking if everything was tight.
  
  The lights went out.. it was completely dark. You could hear a pin fall. Then it happened: we were launched in the air at a breathtaking speed of I-don't-know-how-fast but man .. it was amazing! Once at the highest point, you drop down as fast as you got up, and when you expect it to be all over, you'll go up and down a few more times, but in small bits and perhaps even randomized. You don't know where your head is!
  
  
• Colorado Adventure: it looks like an ordinary train, but don't be misguided. It's fast, it's thrilling, it's crazy, and it doesn't stop for anything! It was a rather long ride as well. I don't remember it doing loops, but it has some nasty turns and dives.
  


• Black Mamba: newcomer for the 2006 season. Let's just call it an upside-down rollercoaster where your legs hang loose. It takes you on a thrilling ride of high speed, taking various sharp turns, long dives, corcscrew turns, loopings, etc. The queue was quite short to be such a new ride. I think a lot of people were too frightened to enter. It does look dangerously scary, really. For more info, also visit this dedicated Black Mamba website.
  

General feeling: it was a hot sunny day, it turned out to be a very tiresome trip and the two hour drive wasn't exactly worth it, even with the fun we had. Almost everything is advertised in German. We noticed Dutch and English signs a couple of times only. The food isn't very tasty, nor is there a lot to choose from.

It was also peculiar, and probably a reason for the former, that there weren't many tourists. Most people were German. Lots of cute (lesbian) girls though. That made up for something :-)

Where are my socks?

My "Cya tomorrow" in the previous post turned out to be a bit longer than initially expected. I wish all my "tomorrow"-days were that long! Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite that caused the neglection of my digital window to the world.

Today I want to write about something that could happen to all of us. And to me.

[ Click here to read the rest of the story ]

Imagine your bankcard requires a renewal, for whatever reason you may think of. In my case it was because:

• I switched from a java-based webbanking application (requires specific software which can cause a lot of trouble!) to an application that requires a digipass to logon
  
  
• My bank account changed to a basic account because I turned 25 (before I had an account that was especially for -25yr, which had some advantages)

I received a letter that my new card was waiting for me at my local bank. Because the bank office is only accessible for people that don't work or are on vacation (doh, it's only open during business hours), I wasn't able to pick it up for at least the next coming month. So I called to my bank, asking whether it was a problem. "No no, not a problem, the card stays here for 2 months" was the answer I got. So I thought I'd wait to pick it up as soon as I was one of the lucky ones on vacation.

Last Friday I tried to overbook some money from one account to another using webbanking. My card was rejected. So I called to the helpdesk and they told me that my card was blocked for webbanking access because that new shiny card was waiting for me. Ok, I could live with that as long as I had the guarantee that drawing money from a selfbanking terminal or paying with my card wouldn't be a problem. "No no, not a problem" was again the answer. But, as you could have guessed, it wasn't meant to be that easy.

On the same Friday, the night before leaving for a trip to Phantasialand (see one of my next posts), I wanted to draw some money from a selfbanking terminal. Card rejected ... say WHAT? I called the same number of the helpdesk that I had dialled on my mobile before and the guy there told me that he couldn't help me. Instead he started faking his empathy of how frustrating this must be for me, but that I should go to my local bank office. I asked him (and I didn't fake my sarcasm) if I needed to remind him it was Friday evening 10pm and that the office he referred to wouldn't be opening anytime sooner than 56 hours later. Oh, and I did mention I was about to leave the country the next day. But this didn't change a thing to the situation.

"So it is common that you deactivate my current bank card while I haven't picked up my new one?", I asked. The eerie silence that followed suggested the answer was "Yes it is".

Anyone ever said that money stinks? Having said that, where are my old socks? So I can at least store my OWN money back in a place where I can always access it...

Let the sunshine in

Okay, I admit. This topic is just a lame reason to post a nice picture of a sunbathing beauty. But truth be told, the weather was damn good today! I am told that our everlasting patience for some nice weather will be rewarded with as much as 27°C tomorrow. Seeing is believing, but so far it looks promising.

I'm going out now; hopefully I'll run into the "arms"of a beautiful lady that needs a refreshing drink... fat chance to that *sigh*

That's all, folks! Cya tomorrow.

Hooray, it's a holiday!

The roads were abandoned today; not because I live in a godforgotten neighbourhood - no no, far from that. The roads are usually very lively here in Antwerp, either crowded by cars or roadworks. The latter can both prevent and cause the me(n)tal roadmadnesses.

The reason for the eerie quietness lies in the fact that most people had a day off today, and lots of Belgians fled abroad for a city trip (where the grass is greener and the air is cleaner?). There were, of course, unlucky souls that work in an industry that require their places to be permanently occupied (I once belonged into that category), but I guess that's life, and partly their choice.

This holiday is called "dag van de arbeid" in Dutch, or the international Labor Day, as you prefer. I use this day as an excuse for a fulltime day of nothing-happening (it's in fact by far the only day I can really justify my laziness).

This doesn't mean I didn't do anything today; it just means I did nothing productive, I guess. Unless catching up with a dear friend falls into that category :) Because the clouds outside were filled with sadness, and temperatures were below acceptable degrees for this time of the year, the activities were mainly indoors: PlayStation 2 and a movie. In between we went out to visit a family who had a nest of kittens. As a side note, the daughter looked pregnant too. My friend was interested in getting one of the cuties, so we had to take a look. The cat mother is a Holy Birman, the father is (probably) the neighbour's Blue Russian cat. They were a-dorable! I'm an animal lover, so I'm pretty sure a cat will be one of my comrads when I leave this place to live on my own. Our landlord doesn't allow any pets... what a shame.

By the way, the picture on this blog entry is a modified version of a Garfield cartoon, courtesy of Jim Davis. You'll find the original here.

New Game: Dreamfall

It's here, it's here!

Dreamfall is the long awaited successor of The Longest Journey, the best (in my humble opinion) adventure game on the market, next to Syberia. The fans' patience was stretched to its fullest as the game's development took four years. Originally announced for a Q4 release in 2005, the game was postponed because the team's focus was to deliver quality, rather than making a deadline. This raised expectations of many critics and gaming communities alike.


"It's quite easily one of the most anticipated adventure games in years" - Gamespot

The challenging question "will it be as good as its predecessor?" was already partly answered positively during development phase by sneak previews during many game events and developer interviews.

I got the PC DVD release of the game yesterday. In case you wanna play for discjockey, it comes in a PC 6-CD release too. There's also an X-Box version. Anyway I'm addicted to it ever since I started to play. The gameplay is very different compared to The Longest Journey, but after 30 minutes you get the hang of it (this is the learning curve, as reviewers like to call it). The graphics are wonderful, the voice acting is superb and the musical score blends it all together.

Unlike The Longest Journey, your character can die so it is important to save your game often, which you can do at any point. If you don't have the reflex to save the game unti you finish playing, the autosave feature does this for you at critical stages in the game. These are so-called checkpoints. You can die in several ways, but one of them is during the combat mode, which is another new gameplay addition compared to Dreamfall's predecessor.

Tagline: "The future holds secrets only the past can reveal"

Also new is that you can play three different characters. You start off as Zoë, but very soon you will get introduced with April Ryan, the heroïn from the original game. A very interesting aspect of the game is that you can respond in different ways when talking to people. The way you respond might take you onto a different path in the storyline (if you like this concept, check The Pandora Directive). For me this is enough reason to start the game all over again once I finished it, to answer the eternal question in life: "what if?".

I already dare to call this the best game of 2006. If you are an adventure gamer, then you will definitely want this gem on your shelf.