Category: Entertainment

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Entertainment Movies Music

David Bowie

Bowie has passed away.

I did not like all his music. I was brought up with Let’s dance and the (wonderful) This is not America (from The Falcon and the Snowman, if I recall correctly). He also had a mediocre Drum & Bass outing.

My favorite band in my younger years was Suede. They were heavily influenced by Bowie. They made me look into Bowie’s Berlin period, which to me still is his best period. That and Ziggy Stardust.

I did not like all the newer stuff.

Bowie had the biggest influence on me with just one of his films (yes, of course we watched Labyrinth with the kids): Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. An impressive movie with similarly impressive music. The butterfly on his face will never be forgotten. This is the famous ‘kiss’ scene:

 

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Games

Avid gamer

As some might know I’m quite an avid gamer (but lately have less time, still have to finish Witcher 3). I wrote about my best 2014 games before and also about games in maths education. This is an invited lecture I gave at Winchester School of Arts about narratives in games.

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Education Education Research Games ICT Math Education MathEd Tools

Games in maths education

This is a translation of a review that appeared a while back in Dutch in the journal of the Mathematical Society (KWG) in the Netherlands. I wasn’t able to always check the original English wording in the book.

Computer games for Maths

Christian Bokhove, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

51iyzu1DTlL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_Recently, Keith Devlin (Stanford University), known of his newsletter Devlin’s Angle and popularisation of maths, released a computer game (app for the iPad) with his company Innertubegames called Wuzzit Trouble (http://innertubegames.net/). The game purports to, without actually calling them that, address linear Diophantine equations and build on principles from Devlin’s book on computer games and mathematics (Devlin, 2011) in which Devlin explains why computer games are an ‘ideal’ medium for teaching maths in secondary education. In twelve chapters the book discusses topics like street maths in Brasil, mathematical thinking, computer games, how these could contribute to the learning of maths, and concludes with some recommendations for successful educational computer games. The book has two aims: 1. To start a discussion in the world of maths education about the potential for games in education. 2. To convince the reader that well designed games will play an important role in our future maths education, especially in secondary education. In my opinion, Devlin succeeds in the first aim simply by writing a book about the topic. The second aim is less successful.

Firstly, Devlin uses a somewhat unclear definition of ‘mathematical thinking’.: at first it’s ‘simplifying’, then ‘what a mathematician does’, and then something else yet again. Devlin remains quite tentative in his claims and undermines some of his initial statements later on in the book. Although this is appropriate it doesweaken some of the arguments. The book subsequently feels like a set of disjointed claims that mainly serve to support the main claim of the book: computer games matter. A second point I noted is that the book seems very much aimed the US. The book describes many challenges in US education that, in my view, might be less relevant for Europe. The US emphasis also might explain the extensive use of superlatives like an ‘ideal medium’. With these one would expect a good support of claims with evidence. This is not always the case, for example when Devlin claims that “to young players who have grown up in era of multimedia multitasking, this is no problem at all” (p. 141) or  “In fact, technology has now rendered obsolete much of what teachers used to do” (p. 181). Devlin’s experiences with World of Warcraft are interesting but anecdotical and one-sided, as there are many more types of games. It also shows that the world of games changes quickly, a disadvantage of a paper book from 2011.

Devlin has written an original, but not very evidenced, book on a topic that will become more and more relevant over time. As avid gamer myself I can see how computer games have conquered the world. It would be great if mathematics could tap into a fraction of the motivation, resources and concentration it might offer. It’s clear to me this can only happen with careful and rigorous research.

Devlin, Keith. (2011). Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Medium for Learning.

Categories
Games

My five best games of 2014

Some might know I’m an avid gamer. MY best five games (ok ok I smuggled in more) I played in 2014 are:

South Park: The Stick of Truth
This an excellent, basically, adventure-meets-RPG game. The originators of South Park had a hand in this and it shows. The game basically is an interactive, whole series worth of South Park material.

Watch dogs
This was presented as a blockbuster A* game and after some tweaking I got it working well enough on my PC. The open world game clearly adopted elements from Grand Theft Auto but I particularly liked the ‘hacking’ twist: several times I raised the bridges while racing across them. There was a lot to do about the ‘dumbed down’ graphics after demos at the E3 conference, but as I have a PC: no problem.

Alien: Isolation (I think the gamespot 6 is unfair)
After the disappointment of AlienS: Colonial Marines this title does one of the best SciFi movies ever justice. The game is not so much a First Person Shooter but more an atmospheric ‘stealth’ game. Especially the sections where you have to evade the xenomorph are gripping and tense. I recorded the end (spoiler!):

Far Cry 4 (still finishing this one)
This basically is Far Cry 3 all over again but in a new (and gorgeous) environment, new animals (rhinos, elephants) and the same, excellent gameplay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P6FXTxBON8

Everything from Telltale: The Wolf Among Us, Season 2 of the Walking Dead, Tales from the Borderlands, Game of Thrones
This is just a whole category of games, with very limited and simple gameplay. But that’s ok because the games are ‘story-driven’. The stories are captivating. Choices made in the game influence the subsequent events in the game.

Note that I couldn’t include Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Dragon Age: Inquisition because they simply didn’t work well (enough) on my system. Other notable games are Shadow of Mordor and -for the kids but also enjoyable- LEGO Lord of the Rings and Minecraft 😉

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Entertainment Movies

Movie top 100

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Ported from ‘hyves’. Some missing.

1.Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
2.A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
3.La Double Vie de Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
4.Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988)
5.Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
6.Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1982)
7.The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994)
8.The Remains of the Day (James Ivory, 1993)
9.The Sheltering Sky (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1990)
10.Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
11.Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
12.Prick Up Uour Ears (Stephen Frears, 1987)
13.21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
14.Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
15.Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
16.Kill Bill Volume: 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
17.Man on the Moon (Milos Forman, 1999)
18.Shadowlands (Richard Attenborough, 1993)
19.American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
20.The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
21.Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995)
22.Kill Bill Volume: 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
23.The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
24.Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
25.High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
26.Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2001)
27.Das Experiment (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2001)
28.Festen (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)
29.Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
30.Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1989)
31.Monty Python And The Holy Grail (Terry Jones en Terry Gilliam, 1975)
32.Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)
33.Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
34.Face/off (John Woo, 1997)
35.Made in Britain (Alan Clarke, 1982)
36.Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox, 1986)
37.Cidade de Deus (Fernando Mereilles, 2002)
38.The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
39.V for vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)
40.The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
41.Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
42.The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
43.Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
44.The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)
45.Da hong deng long gao gao gua (Raise the red lantern) (Yimou Zhang, 1991)
46.Wo hu cang long (Crouching tiger, hidden dragon) (Ang Lee, 2000)
47.Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)
48.Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
49.Léon (Luc Besson, 1994)
50.The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)
51.The beach (Danny Boyle, 2000)
52.Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
53.Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
54.An Angel At My Table (Jane Campion, 1990)
55.Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
56.Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
57.Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
58.Ben Hur (William Wyler, 1959)
59.Lola Rennt (Tom Tykwer, 1998)
60.Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
61.Tess (Roman Polanski, 1979)
62.Hannibal (Ridley Scott, 2001)
63.The Green Mile (Frank Darabont, 1999)
64.Pi (Darren Aronofsky, 1998)
65.As Good as It Gets (James L. Brooks, 1997)
66.The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
67.Goodbye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker, 2003)
68.Jude (Michael Winterbottom, 1996)
69.The Color Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985)
70.Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
71.Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
72.The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980)
73.Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988)
74.American History X (Tony Kaye, 1998)
75.Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998)
76.Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)
77.The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
78.The Godfather: Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
79.Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002)
80.About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)
81.The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)
82.Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, 2003)
83.A Bug’s Life (John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton, 1998)
84.The Game (David Fincher, 1997)
85.Falling Down (Joel Shumacher, 1993)
86.The War of the Roses (Danny DeVito, 1989)
87.Romancing the Stone (Robert Zemeckis, 1984)
88.Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
89.Once Upon A Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
90.Fahrenheit 911 (Michael Moore, 2004)
91.The last emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987)
92.Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
93.Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
94.Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
95.The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004)
96.The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
97.The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979)
98.Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)
99.Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991)
100.One Flew Over A Cookoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

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Entertainment Music

Good Old War – After the Party

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Entertainment Music

Wu Lyf

On march 6th 2012 Wu Lyf will come to the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam.
The Melkweg website is here.
Their website is here.
Below the wonderful “We Bros”.

Categories
Movies

Movie top 100

1.Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)
2.A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
3.La Double Vie de Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991)
4.Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988)
5.Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
6.Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1982)
7.The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994)
8.The Remains of the Day (James Ivory, 1993)
9.The Sheltering Sky (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1990)
10.Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
11.Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
12.Prick Up Uour Ears (Stephen Frears, 1987)
13.21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
14.Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
15.Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
16.Kill Bill Volume: 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
17.Man on the Moon (Milos Forman, 1999)
18.Shadowlands (Richard Attenborough, 1993)
19.American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
20.The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
21.Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995)
22.Kill Bill Volume: 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
23.The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
24.Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
25.High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
26.Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2001)
27.Das Experiment (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2001)
28.Festen (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)
29.Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997)
30.Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1989)
31.Monty Python And The Holy Grail (Terry Jones en Terry Gilliam, 1975)
32.Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)
33.Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
34.Face/off (John Woo, 1997)
35.Made in Britain (Alan Clarke, 1982)
36.Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox, 1986)
37.Cidade de Deus (Fernando Mereilles, 2002)
38.The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
39.V for vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)
40.The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
41.Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
42.The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
43.Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
44.The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)
45.Da hong deng long gao gao gua (Raise the red lantern) (Yimou Zhang, 1991)
46.Wo hu cang long (Crouching tiger, hidden dragon) (Ang Lee, 2000)
47.Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)
48.Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
49.Léon (Luc Besson, 1994)
50.The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)
51.The beach (Danny Boyle, 2000)
52.Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000)
53.Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
54.An Angel At My Table (Jane Campion, 1990)
55.Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
56.Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
57.Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)
58.Ben Hur (William Wyler, 1959)
59.Lola Rennt (Tom Tykwer, 1998)
60.Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
61.Tess (Roman Polanski, 1979)
62.Hannibal (Ridley Scott, 2001)
63.The Green Mile (Frank Darabont, 1999)
64.Pi (Darren Aronofsky, 1998)
65.As Good as It Gets (James L. Brooks, 1997)
66.The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
67.Goodbye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker, 2003)
68.Jude (Michael Winterbottom, 1996)
69.The Color Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985)
70.Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
71.Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
72.The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980)
73.Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988)
74.American History X (Tony Kaye, 1998)
75.Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998)
76.Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)
77.The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
78.The Godfather: Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
79.Russian Ark (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2002)
80.About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)
81.The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)
82.Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, 2003)
83.A Bug’s Life (John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton, 1998)
84.The Game (David Fincher, 1997)
85.Falling Down (Joel Shumacher, 1993)
86.The War of the Roses (Danny DeVito, 1989)
87.Romancing the Stone (Robert Zemeckis, 1984)
88.Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
89.Once Upon A Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
90.Fahrenheit 911 (Michael Moore, 2004)
91.The last emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987)
92.Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
93.Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
94.Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
95.The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004)
96.The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
97.The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979)
98.Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)
99.Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991)
100.One Flew Over A Cookoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

Categories
Entertainment Music

Verslag lowlands (Dutch)

Donderdagavond om 20:00 vertrokken om vanaf 21:00 ongeveer drie uur in de autofile te staan. Snap ook niet waarom al die borden er staan, ik volgde ze tegen beter weten in, terwijl ik Flevoland goed ken en beter een andere weg kon nemen. Naar binnen komen ging snel, volgens mij stond tegen 1-en de tent.

Wat maten en matinnen hadden een plek vrij gehouden. Nog even munten scoren en 24-uurs tent, rond 3-en in bed.

VRIJDAG
Volgende dag op tijd wakker en…bijna niet hoeven wachten in de rij. Fijn aangezien ik velen hoorde zeggen dat het lang wachten was. Begonnen met Fucked Up. Laatste CD vind ik heel wat beter dan die ervoor: goed verhaal en melodieuzer. Leuk dat de zanger in publiek sprong en ging knuffelen (maar was het lekker, dat zweetlichaam :-P) maar rest band stond er wat verloren bij. (6/10). Wombats had ik best nog willen zien maar na eerste CD niet meer de oude, vind ik.
Hierna Joan as a policwoman. Ik vond het toch wat saai. Ik houd meer van de ritmische nummers, zoals het duet met Antony Hegarty. Niet mijn kopje thee. (5/10).
Rest terrein verkend om lekker in het gras naar James Blake te luisteren. Ik vond hem erg goed maar de muziek met al die laagjes leent zich wat minder voor een grote tent in vol daglicht. Uiteraard was het hoogtepunt The Wilhem Scream. (7/10). Op één of andere manier niet meer bij India aanbeland.
In plaats daarvan bij Chase and Status beland. Mooie show. Te weinig live zang. Van dik hout zaagt men planken. (6/10)
Vervolgens X-ray tijd. Ik vond Trippple Nippples erg leuk. Leuke performance. Ja simpele muziek maar het gaat om het gehele plaatje. Leuke visuals ook trouwens. (7/10) Gebleven om vooraan bij Beardyman te kunnen staan. Ik vond hem geweldig. Had wat meer standup comedy van hem willen zien, nu werd alles knap aan elkaar gemixt maar op Youtube ook veel humor (ik geloof ook bijv. Edinburgh festival). (8/10)
Hierna Fleet Foxes. Prima show. Tikje saai. (7/10)
En weer terug naar de X-ray waar ik Tiger Love erg leuk vond. (7/10)
En opgemaakt voor avond/nacht dubstep en drum ’n bass. Als geheel vond ik de nacht geslaagd, maar de aanloop met dubstep duurde mij wat te lang. Gomes was wel aardig (6/10). Borgore vond ik erg infantiel (4/10). Trolley Snatcha was al weer wat beter (6/10). Maar de koning is natuurlijk Grooverider die goed langzamere dubstep en Drum ’n bass afwisselde (8/10). Immers, na 15 minuten d&b ben ik wel kapot en moet ik uithijgen. Ik word ook een dagje ouder! Nymfo dan weer zware kost (5/10). Mijn maten waren ondertussen vetrokken. Ik lag er 6 uur in. Ook deze avond al een feestje in de kampeerwinkel van de Hema. Eén van de gezelligste plekken van Lowlands!

ZATERDAG
Na een kort nachtje toch weer redelijk op tijd (rond 11-en) op het terrein. Lekker chillen bij Nationale ballet en ondertussen even de telefoon opladen bij Hi. Tegen 13:00 lekker meegedaan aan Lowlands Zingt. Muziekkeuze had wel beter gekund.
Vervolgens de enige film bekeken in het weekend: de docu over Creation Records. Vooral ook omdat ik aan die tijd goede herinneren heb. Ik ging dagelijks bijna naar de melkweg en paradiso en houd nog steeds van My Bloody Valentine en Primal Scream. Leuk.
Na afloop naar de India voor Apparat. Vond ik erg goed maar publiek niet vooruit te branden. (7/10)
Vervolgens weer de X-ray naar baas Omar Souleyman. Dat was geweldig!!!!! X-ray veel te klein. PVVers even oren dicht hoor want het lijkt wel Eurabie 😛 (9/10)
Hierna chill Timber Timbre bij de Lima. Lekker. (7/10). Rest van avond op matje op heuvel naast Alpha gelegen, achtereenvolgens Selah Sue (7/10) en Elbow (7/10). Het kabbelt mij allemaal wat te veel. Helaas wel wat artiesten gemist daardoor maar he, dat gebeurt… Rest van de avond en nacht: Lowlands rave en X-ray. Na feestje Hema naar tent.

ZONDAG
En weer op tijd op het terrein, om te beginnen met wat dwalen over terrein, beetje Fink beetje opladen (jaja, die accu is snel leeg). Eerste echte act Erland and the Carnival. Vond ik erg leuk; beetje mix Divine Comedy en Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. (8/10)

Daarna chillen bij Stanley en de Menzo’s. Beetje saai. (6/10) en vervolgens toch tijdje met open mond bij glasblazen staan kijken. Vervolgens via Trentemoller (7/10) naar sbtrkt. Die geef ik geen beoordeling: ze hadden technische problemen. Erg storend, had er meer van verwacht.
Eigenlijk weer vooral veel gechilld. Eerst bij The Kills. Wel aardig. (6/10) En vervolgens Warpaint. Die waren best goed, al blijft het hoogtepunt toch Elephants. (7/10)
Hierna Interpol. Die heb ik vaker gezien. Retestrak gespeeld. Het doet me gewoon niet zo veel. Ze doen me ook denken aan die indie bands die Beardyman in zijn shows nadoet. (6/10)
Het hoogtepunt vond ik Wild Beasts. Zuiver gezongen. Interessante ritmes. Bezwerende muziek. Aardige gozers. Volgens mij hebben relatief weinig personen hun gezien, mede door tijdstip (vrijdag 21u). Zonde, beste optreden vond ik. (9/10)
Hierna zowel belegen maar goede Offspring (7/10), zeer saaie Karnivool (4/10) en tenslotte feestje van Kakkmaddafakka gezien (7/10).
De dag beëindigd bij Superstijl (toen het al werkte). Leuk concept (Wipneus en Pim leuker). Eindigen met Bassie en Adriaan altijd goed, en toch ook een kwartier gehakt op Gabber. Wel paar uitstapjes gemaakt naar Pop-o-matic (veel te grote tent met te weinig mensen), Bravo (Skrillex, euforisch maar muziek maar zozo), en X-ray (Loefah he). En naar de tent. Kampeerwinkel was helaas dicht.

MAANDAG
Blij dat we vroeg waren opgestaan. Om 9:30 uur het terrein afgereden met de auto. Las later dat het bij anderen uren duurde. Snap alleen niet waarom ik helemaal naar het noorden moest om richting Lelystad te mogen. Niet alsof de doorstroming door dit alles zo goed was. 😛

Top 3:
1. Wild Beasts
2. Omar Souleyman
3. Erland and the Carnival

Gezelligste plekken: X-ray en Kampeerwinkel. X-ray vond ik overall de leukste tent, maar veel en veel te klein. Wel héél jammer dat Lowlands Wu Lyf niet heeft kunnen contracteren.

Categories
Whisky

For Peat Sake

For a couple of years I’ve been a fan of Whisky. Was I at first -having tried cheap stuff- not enthusiastic about the “golden liquid”, when I discovered mild single malt whiskys I was hooked. My project is now to, over the next decades, have tried all single malt whiskys.

One of the best so far is the mild lowlands whisky from Auchentoshan (see http://www.scotchwhisky.net/malt/auchentoshan.htm)

Another favorite is the very peaty whisky from Islay (see http://www.scotchwhisky.net/malt/laphroaig.htm)

A nice website on whisky is For Peat Sake and scotchwhisky.net.