sunday. the netherlands. what a perfect combination. rumours say this country has invented modern chill out. i strongly believe... and as time goes by, you start to adapt: eating bread and soup for lunch, driving 110 km per hour on the motorway without feeling bad and enjoy relaxed weekends. like today. giving my knee a rest after some stressy trainings, going for a regenerative run to hoornse meer (is this a contradiction?), sitting together with a floor, that is starting to grow again. three hours of common pasta cooking, talking massive and politically incorrect bullshit and finally contriving a keen plan for next week. fasten seatbelts, something big is coming to town...

usually city of rain, but not these days. groningen reminds its sunny face and decides to welcome spring in town. twenty degrees, thousands on the streets, inhalating the bright rays, breathing wonderful air, smelling like rebirth. and as every year, you can feel the energy. grass is growing (especially in groningen, i guess...), people are friendly and the van houtenlaans are doing their kitchen dutchies. also me ;) today i even cleaned my room. what the fuck...

the process of change in van houtenlaan seems to be completed. almost all of the one semester students have left the city, new arrivals from all over the world have begun to settle down. it's not the same, that's for sure. and probably, it doesn't have to be. the challenge of living together should never become routine, especially not in a student house, i guess. anyway, this is how the community in good old vhl looked like at the end of february. a wonderful snapshot of internationality and the essence of everything here.

optimism should never steal your head. or better call it enthusiasm? my knee is stable, for the first time since october. not yet as strong as it has to be finally, but almost. since two days, i am able to train with the most wonderful toy again. a ball. a pitch. a perspective. what more do you need to be thankful? not much.

i remember it well. when i was 15, i would have given my life to see rage against the machine live. two days before the concert i almost broke my leg... not that it has been the same now; age is striking, also with me. but in a way, i guess, it is...

i love him, and a lot of people reading these lines know it. i have spreaded my appreciation for the talent of damien rice quite joyfully over the last years; just out of the reason, that i estimate his music as one of the most precious gifts in my life. i don't know how many profund moments i experienced accompanied by his songs. a lot for sure, and all beautiful in their certain ways. yesterday evening i had the privilege of watching him playing live in hamburg, supported by the incredible magic numbers. i am not going to lose words about the concert nor about an undescribeable feeling of intimacy, standing in between 1500 spectators. therefore.

sorry, just forgot to refill my weblog balance, therefore two weeks of non-entries. comunque, this is what happened this weekend. chris and me in amsterdam, proofing our chilled-out shopping skills - impressing - and visiting billy talent at melkweg. being part of one of the most powerful sets, i can remember. we two somewhere in between 600 enthusiastic adrenalineros, enjoying a furious band and a wonderful location.

while i'm waiting for my brace to dry to be able to go for a sunday run ("to go for a run"??? stupid english language!), i can use the time to show you some pictures from the last weeks.



01 certainly the most sold pullover in groningen: the official rijkuniversiteit hoodie. for rebels like sven, moses and dirk in freaky black... 02 björn from bremen, blind as a bat, borrowing glasses. definitely not healthy... 03 austrian jause on the second floor (thx to pani for the incredible speck!) 04 words excluded: vhl baywatch 05 feel free: imke and debbie from germany

a privilege. the frames from ireland (and their great support bell x1 - take a look at today's halfweekly tune) yesterday played one of the best concerts i've been to. after months for the first time back in the osterpoort, this beautiful location not far from my student house. built like a cinema, creating a certain cosy atmosphere. feel home. bell x1, presenting acoustic versions of their latest album "flock". two guitars and one bass. i liked it a lot, the perfect opener for glen hansard and his band. to the point: they are amazing! two and a half hours of silent-loud music, unsuccessful tries of speaking dutch and tender violine solos. a special evening, that's for sure.

low agrarblog frequency currently, sorry for that. time is precious, and in the moment, i'm not spending it for writing. however, today again some sweeties for my fellow readers. agrar is always on your side, as you know. student manager bram, new in van houtenlaan, plays in a band called sexton creeps, who just released their first EP "cas". like it, even if i haven't got that much time to listen to it yet. therefore i was licking some asses to be allowed to give it to you as a complete album download ;) prego: cas EP

why goalkeepers should focus on their hands: tricky (wmv, 959 KB)

it's only a guess, but i would say, that every six months, an outstanding album crosses my way. like yesterday when i decided to listen to the debut release of dredg, "leitmotif". i had done this several times before, without noticing the size of it. an incredible piece of music, full of emotions and great instrumentation.