visiting the thermals

today i am going to meet up with marius (the club diana bass player and song text writer) in utrecht and we will travel to tilburg to meet the rest of the dianas minus ketz - we are going to see the thermals a new young american band in the vein of the strokes - i hope they are better than the white stripes - i am really looking forward to seeing those boys again but i am bummed about ketz - he can't get a babysitter and his missus has to work or something - i will meet up with him after christmas and there is a possibility of a gig in nijmegen on the 14th of january with club diana and king me

it was great to see marius again - we had arranged to meet in a cafe near the medieval gothic church tower which is in the centre of the old town where i grew up but we ran into each other earlier not far away on the oude gracht and we spent a couple of pleasant hours drinking coffee and talking about everything : what has been happening and what happened before - before setting off for tilburg where we met up with marcel and neef for dinner in a cafe - it is great to see them too - everyone wants to know how sarah is and why she isn't here and i tell everyone that even though she isn't here she wants to know why ketzer isn't here and marcel says one of the highlights of the outback babes tour was sarah's apricot jam and did i bring any - but i had to tell him that this year's jam making had not gone entirely smoothly ;1 and so sadly there is none to be had and we have a nice dinner and inevitably we recall many good memories about our australian adventure

i wish i was wearing the thermals because it is several degrees below zero but instead we go to watch the thermals - unfortunately everyone in the room is at least six foot and the singer has lost his voice - he doesn't have a strong voice anyway in fact in the punk tradition he can't actually sing at all - he looks like he just wants to get it over and done with and the drummer plays like he is possessed by the devil - so it is a bit disappointing - the record is better - the song no culture icons is great : has been going round and round in my head after marius played it in the car about 9 times "...hardly art hardly starving..." - but i am surprised : marcel really liked them

after a quick beer the cousins are off and me and marius get ready for the hour drive to boxmeer where he lives with his wife germa 2 children okkie (7) and nico (4) 2 dogs 3 cats - his is the most clutter free house that i know - on the coffee table is a book : minimalist living

we are very tired and after a glass of wine we have to hit the sack

only sleep for a few hours before i am awoken by a strange noise it sounds like a small child has been locked in a room and is trying to open the door by shaking it but it must be one of the dogs wagging its tail or scratching itself- i don't manage to get back to sleep and i feel hungover and headachy even though i only had about 10 beers in as many hours - duvel (a belgian beer) was my favourite :-)

in the morning okkie and nico open the door and shyly peek in to check out the semi-conscious australian poet oog before heading to school - a dog lola and a cat name unknown also enter the room to see what all the fuss is about - coffee painkillers and an internet connection are urgently required -eventually all three are provided : the blog is updated urgent emails are answered and one is half human - it is time to bid the club diana bass player au revoir and head home

by i.j.oog