(no subject)
ok, so i guess i should write a bit.
got back from holland around 13:00 on tuesday. the trip, all in all, was fantastic. i procrastinated a bit with purchasing my tickets online - primarily because the website didn't work with firefox, and i didn't want to switch to windows. eventually i gave in and used one of my school's computers and bought my tickets - leaving friday afternoon (16:30) and arriving in amsterdam at 6:00 on saturday. however, it wasn't the central station, as i found out - but amsterdam amstell. only a 10 min ride by train, though, so no big problem. when i got to the central station it was just past 6, and the coffee shop i was going to meet stubbs and justin at (Barney's Breakfast Café) wasn't open until 7:00. so i hung about in the train station for a bit, eating some yoghurt and trying to figure out how we would get to the hague that evening. about half past six i start walking, and just as suddenly it started sleeting with a vicious sideways thrust. i stumbled around for a bit, my glasses all fogged up from the sleet, having no idea where i needed to go. but, thankfully, the sleet stopped maybe 7 minutes after it started (which was long enough, though, for me to get a thorough soaking). i found a map next to a boat-tour place, and saw that the street i needed to go to was only a few blocks away. i walked in the emerging sunshine, trying to dry off a bit, until arriving at Barney's. picked up a bit of nepali blonde, which was, incidently, high-times hash winner '99, and started preparing a joint. stubbs and justin came soon enough, and we smoked and ate breakfast there, wasting away the all-too-early morning.
the dead can dance show was in the hague that evening, so after going back to their hotel, we decided to figure out how to get there and where to stay. we relaxed for a bit, waiting for the american express office to open so justin could cash traveller's cheques, and then they packed up their stuff and checked out. we found some information by way of Betty Boop's juice bar and coffee shop, that also had internet access for some nominal fee. adam knew some website that allowed us to find and reserve a hotel online, and we found directions from there to the venue (the congress centrum in the hague). all that was left was to eat, get very stoned, hit up the smart shop, and go. stubbs and justin had some copelandia cyanescens left over from the night before, but i needed to pick up something for the show as well, so we found a nice smart shop along some street near where we ate. deciding to stick with cubenises, as i know them so well, we headed to the train station and boarded to the hague.
we arrived, took a cab to the hotel, and checked in. the only downside seemed to be the room was non-smoking - which meant pre-rolling masses of joints and walking around outside. rested for a bit, and then got up and ready for the concert which started at 20:15. we got a bit off route while walking to the venue, but made it there soon enough. we waited around in the venue for a bit, which was a strange architectural feat indeed, smoking cigarettes and drinking a few beers. then the show began - to my dismay - with some opening act - a dutch singer-songwriter woman who really wasn't bad at all, but i certainly didn't want to hear it at that moment (stubb's comment was, "that blue light is shining really brightly into my already-dilated pupils!"). a brief intermission was followed by dead can dance coming onto stage. i don't think i've ever seen that much percussion equipment on stage at one time before. there was literally a triangular scultpture of drums of all varieties, with 3 and sometimes 4, and even sometimes 5 people playing at the same time. the show was, simply, amazing. but we all picked up on the strangest energy between brendan perry and lisa gerard, and actually between him and the whole rest of the band. we joked, stoned afterwards, that the band wouldn't make it the whole tour without breaking up again. but, anyhow, the concert was great. the rest of that evening was spent searching for some food at 12:30 at night, and eventually finding a guy who would drive us to his (cousin/friend/i have no idea)'s shawarma place, that had both beer and falafal. eventually, i recall falling asleep to some special on national geographic about giraffes.
the next day we made the long (4,6km - ok, not so long...) hike into the city centrum, to the train station. we made it by 13:00 or so, and took a train at (i believe) twenty past one, or thereabouts. sunday was actually fairly uneventful, due to our general exhaustion from more than 24 hours of being uproariously stoned. we wandered around the city (although it wasn't warm, the sun was shining most of the time, so it was actually quite pleasant) looking for a restaurant, and then for a hotel. we stopped before finding the hotel at the black-star, some (i assumed from the accents and posters) ethiopian owned coffee shop that was just a few blocks from our hotel. after finally checking in, we crashed out - and didn't awake again until 23:00! we spent the rest of the evening eating, and then enjoying the great feeling of rolling up a spliff while drinking a nice, foamy tap-beer, without having to look over your shoulder. damn.
on monday, i needed to take the bus back to århus at 23:15 from amstell, so we decided to get a bit drunk early on. after eating some lunch and having a few lunch-time beers, we decided to look for a place where we could shoot pool. the first place was a bust, the pool table being out-of-order - but the second place had a nice, available table. justin bought a pitcher of beer (which i forget to give you money for, sorry j!) and we played for a while whilst getting drunk (and rolling the more-than-occasional spliff). after this, justin tried to make a phone call to no avail, and then we went back to the hotel to switch the room to a 2-person, since i'd be gone by nightfall. to kill time before my bus left, we ate thai food and then got drunk in the red-light district. honestly, it was a very shocking experience. on the one hand, i don't think that criminilization works. for anything, really. and, so the proponents say, the girls who work in amsterdam get medical treatment, physical protection, etc. but, still, just to see hundreds of young (and even quite a few old) women standing there behind glass windows offering up their bodies. it certainly was strange, to say the least. we waited out the rest of the evening in a nice bar, playing 9-ball and drinking and smoking to pass time. i left from the central station at around 22:30, leaving adam and justin who would stay for a few more days (but whom i believe should be home by now).
upon getting back in århus - after a long and uneventful bus-ride, where i woke up only twice, both times to hit up the toliet and smoke a cigarette - i ate some lunch and went to go catch the bus back to my school. by 14:15, tuesday, i was back at ask and my brain was a fog. also, i got a bit perturbed, because i was hoping on seeing this girl, sara, when i got back (she is my friend stian's friend, also from trondheim, but she lives in århus). she was planning to go to trondheim today for a week, but we had planned to see each other in the couple of days inbetween. but, so i find out, she woke up on sunday morning with this weird pain in her leg - not so much a pain, but a numbness. so i guess she talked to a doctor, who said that it might be a slipped-disc, but it would require some checking out. she opted to go back to trondheim early so she could go to a norwegian doctor she knew better. dammmmmnnnnn was my first thought! but, truthfully, i think things are working out quite well between the two of us, and will continue working even better in the upcoming weeks...
since then, i was busy preparing a presentation for both my music class and my forfatterskole - in the former i had to play quite a few quite crappy numbers, but it was nice enough (having the music equipment out on this stage, we were able to jam a lot last night while partying a bit). in the latter, i read a couple of poems that i had written throughout this past half-semester; we now are getting a new teacher and are working on short-prose instead of poetry.
and now, today, the majority of my højskole is going somewhere for a salsa party. but i've got no big desire to put on my (non-existent!) dancing-shoes. so, i'll just hold down the fort, drinking whisky with the few others staying behind, and relaxing a bit.
more to come as more things happen. have a good party tonight, trent (and whoever else goes there).
got back from holland around 13:00 on tuesday. the trip, all in all, was fantastic. i procrastinated a bit with purchasing my tickets online - primarily because the website didn't work with firefox, and i didn't want to switch to windows. eventually i gave in and used one of my school's computers and bought my tickets - leaving friday afternoon (16:30) and arriving in amsterdam at 6:00 on saturday. however, it wasn't the central station, as i found out - but amsterdam amstell. only a 10 min ride by train, though, so no big problem. when i got to the central station it was just past 6, and the coffee shop i was going to meet stubbs and justin at (Barney's Breakfast Café) wasn't open until 7:00. so i hung about in the train station for a bit, eating some yoghurt and trying to figure out how we would get to the hague that evening. about half past six i start walking, and just as suddenly it started sleeting with a vicious sideways thrust. i stumbled around for a bit, my glasses all fogged up from the sleet, having no idea where i needed to go. but, thankfully, the sleet stopped maybe 7 minutes after it started (which was long enough, though, for me to get a thorough soaking). i found a map next to a boat-tour place, and saw that the street i needed to go to was only a few blocks away. i walked in the emerging sunshine, trying to dry off a bit, until arriving at Barney's. picked up a bit of nepali blonde, which was, incidently, high-times hash winner '99, and started preparing a joint. stubbs and justin came soon enough, and we smoked and ate breakfast there, wasting away the all-too-early morning.
the dead can dance show was in the hague that evening, so after going back to their hotel, we decided to figure out how to get there and where to stay. we relaxed for a bit, waiting for the american express office to open so justin could cash traveller's cheques, and then they packed up their stuff and checked out. we found some information by way of Betty Boop's juice bar and coffee shop, that also had internet access for some nominal fee. adam knew some website that allowed us to find and reserve a hotel online, and we found directions from there to the venue (the congress centrum in the hague). all that was left was to eat, get very stoned, hit up the smart shop, and go. stubbs and justin had some copelandia cyanescens left over from the night before, but i needed to pick up something for the show as well, so we found a nice smart shop along some street near where we ate. deciding to stick with cubenises, as i know them so well, we headed to the train station and boarded to the hague.
we arrived, took a cab to the hotel, and checked in. the only downside seemed to be the room was non-smoking - which meant pre-rolling masses of joints and walking around outside. rested for a bit, and then got up and ready for the concert which started at 20:15. we got a bit off route while walking to the venue, but made it there soon enough. we waited around in the venue for a bit, which was a strange architectural feat indeed, smoking cigarettes and drinking a few beers. then the show began - to my dismay - with some opening act - a dutch singer-songwriter woman who really wasn't bad at all, but i certainly didn't want to hear it at that moment (stubb's comment was, "that blue light is shining really brightly into my already-dilated pupils!"). a brief intermission was followed by dead can dance coming onto stage. i don't think i've ever seen that much percussion equipment on stage at one time before. there was literally a triangular scultpture of drums of all varieties, with 3 and sometimes 4, and even sometimes 5 people playing at the same time. the show was, simply, amazing. but we all picked up on the strangest energy between brendan perry and lisa gerard, and actually between him and the whole rest of the band. we joked, stoned afterwards, that the band wouldn't make it the whole tour without breaking up again. but, anyhow, the concert was great. the rest of that evening was spent searching for some food at 12:30 at night, and eventually finding a guy who would drive us to his (cousin/friend/i have no idea)'s shawarma place, that had both beer and falafal. eventually, i recall falling asleep to some special on national geographic about giraffes.
the next day we made the long (4,6km - ok, not so long...) hike into the city centrum, to the train station. we made it by 13:00 or so, and took a train at (i believe) twenty past one, or thereabouts. sunday was actually fairly uneventful, due to our general exhaustion from more than 24 hours of being uproariously stoned. we wandered around the city (although it wasn't warm, the sun was shining most of the time, so it was actually quite pleasant) looking for a restaurant, and then for a hotel. we stopped before finding the hotel at the black-star, some (i assumed from the accents and posters) ethiopian owned coffee shop that was just a few blocks from our hotel. after finally checking in, we crashed out - and didn't awake again until 23:00! we spent the rest of the evening eating, and then enjoying the great feeling of rolling up a spliff while drinking a nice, foamy tap-beer, without having to look over your shoulder. damn.
on monday, i needed to take the bus back to århus at 23:15 from amstell, so we decided to get a bit drunk early on. after eating some lunch and having a few lunch-time beers, we decided to look for a place where we could shoot pool. the first place was a bust, the pool table being out-of-order - but the second place had a nice, available table. justin bought a pitcher of beer (which i forget to give you money for, sorry j!) and we played for a while whilst getting drunk (and rolling the more-than-occasional spliff). after this, justin tried to make a phone call to no avail, and then we went back to the hotel to switch the room to a 2-person, since i'd be gone by nightfall. to kill time before my bus left, we ate thai food and then got drunk in the red-light district. honestly, it was a very shocking experience. on the one hand, i don't think that criminilization works. for anything, really. and, so the proponents say, the girls who work in amsterdam get medical treatment, physical protection, etc. but, still, just to see hundreds of young (and even quite a few old) women standing there behind glass windows offering up their bodies. it certainly was strange, to say the least. we waited out the rest of the evening in a nice bar, playing 9-ball and drinking and smoking to pass time. i left from the central station at around 22:30, leaving adam and justin who would stay for a few more days (but whom i believe should be home by now).
upon getting back in århus - after a long and uneventful bus-ride, where i woke up only twice, both times to hit up the toliet and smoke a cigarette - i ate some lunch and went to go catch the bus back to my school. by 14:15, tuesday, i was back at ask and my brain was a fog. also, i got a bit perturbed, because i was hoping on seeing this girl, sara, when i got back (she is my friend stian's friend, also from trondheim, but she lives in århus). she was planning to go to trondheim today for a week, but we had planned to see each other in the couple of days inbetween. but, so i find out, she woke up on sunday morning with this weird pain in her leg - not so much a pain, but a numbness. so i guess she talked to a doctor, who said that it might be a slipped-disc, but it would require some checking out. she opted to go back to trondheim early so she could go to a norwegian doctor she knew better. dammmmmnnnnn was my first thought! but, truthfully, i think things are working out quite well between the two of us, and will continue working even better in the upcoming weeks...
since then, i was busy preparing a presentation for both my music class and my forfatterskole - in the former i had to play quite a few quite crappy numbers, but it was nice enough (having the music equipment out on this stage, we were able to jam a lot last night while partying a bit). in the latter, i read a couple of poems that i had written throughout this past half-semester; we now are getting a new teacher and are working on short-prose instead of poetry.
and now, today, the majority of my højskole is going somewhere for a salsa party. but i've got no big desire to put on my (non-existent!) dancing-shoes. so, i'll just hold down the fort, drinking whisky with the few others staying behind, and relaxing a bit.
more to come as more things happen. have a good party tonight, trent (and whoever else goes there).