Proof

I know ya'll believe me that I was in the front row, but this picture is PROOF.



I love Norma's expression - she's having a "moment."

Check this link too, very cool review and more great photos.

Thanks Bodyguard Kevin for sending this along!

Transcendence

Some people liken the births of their children as the supreme transcendent moments in their life. Others, their wedding. For me, the milestones of my life are musical, and last night's Iron Maiden show is a 2 ton boulder which will, perhaps, never be supplanted.

I always fantasize and dream about how I want events to go. Normally, they never go as smoothly as I'd like. Something is always off or downright wrong. That's just the reality of life. Not yesterday, however. Every single minute of the day was perfect, exactly as I'd imagined and even better, to be quite honest.

We got to the venue hours early to maximize our chances of getting front row. We were about 10th in line. Amazing - I thought more people would be there. Like high-strung racehorses we waited at the gate, bursting through the turnstiles as soon as the doors were opened. There was no delaying pat-down, no ticket scanner malfunctions, no people pushing us aside. Years of fitness training came into use as we sprinted up the hill and around the venue to the entrance, passing many of our slower, less fit metal brethren. And then... we entered the pit...

And those gathered there had only filled up one side of the stage, leaving the front and center ready for us to take! We were right in front of Bruce's monitors, directly in front! I couldn't believe how easy it had been. A minor financial investment in pit tickets, a time investment in getting there early, and one full-out glycogen-burning dash and WE WERE THERE. IN THE FRONT.

Holy shit.

The show was amazing. I already knew what to expect, having seen Maiden's first show of the tour 5/21 in San Antonio. This time, however, was more than just watching the show; we were in it, feeding off the energy of the band just as much as they fed off of us. The most surreal moment was in the middle of Rime when the light rig comes down and the stage fills with smoke. Visibility was reduced to approx. 2 feet. All you could see was pink and purple smoke, then a hazy silhouette of a band member here and there. It's hard for me to describe. It was magical. It was otherworldly. I felt like I did when I was 13 and everything metal was fresh and new. I still feel that way this morning through my fatigue and bruises and blown-out voice.

The community, the joy, the crush, the lights, heat from the pyro, the music and most of all, the extreme close proximity to my metal heroes - a truly transcendant experience. There's nothing like being a metalhead. NOTHING.

Aside from Norma, I think I'm the happiest girl in the world today! :D

Norma has a great account of the evening on her blog so please go check that out, too.

UP THE FUCKING IRONS!

On the Way to Utrecht, I Saw...

Terrifying cold fish rolls in the breakfast buffet
Funny gray-black birds that looked like a cross between a robin and a crow
A black and white bunny lounging in the Breda city park
Shetland pony bebehs - many of them!
Omnipresent, cool-looking graffitti
and best of all...
A punker in full 12" tall flaming orange mohawk.

Wish I could have taken pictures of all but my iPhone sucks.

And... a quote from one of my European colleagues on the differences between American cities and European towns, particular the "Town Square" concept:

"In American cities you have town squares, too - except you put buildings in them."

How sadly, sadly true.

Weird stuff I have eaten

Some people have lists of the drugs they have taken. I have lists of unusual food I have consumed. Sushi in all its forms is readily available so I am not listing the various kinds I have tried, although I will say in Japan I encountered a few kinds that kicked my ass and made me spit into my napkin. Food is my fetish. Sorry, male readers. I told you I was boring.

1. Rocky Mountain oysters. Not impressive.
2. Durian. Impressive and foul and I long to try it a second time.
3. Raw octopus. An unwelcome surprise.
4. Pancreas. Interesting texture with a somewhat unsettling overtaste.
5. Tripe. Very good in pho.
6. Tendon. Very good as well if you don't look at what you're eating.
7. Rose milk (believe they called it ba-dung). Try drinking a bottle of Yardley's of London and you'll be very, very close.
8. Blood pudding. Don't see what all the hubub is about.
9. Duck's blood in curd form. That was a little hard to take.
10. Jellyfish. Strange crispy texture, kept going back for more.
11. Pickled chicken feet. The toenail made me give up.
12. Pastry with duck egg yolk in center. Greasy and grainy at the same time.
13. Foie gras. There's a reason people lose their shit over this stuff. It's heaven.
14. Kidneys. Bah, grainy and dry. Probably bad prep.
15. Horse. Gamey and rich. Ate more than I should to freak out the people I was with.
16. Snails. I guess these count. Fuck, they were good. All green and garlicky. Best thing I ate while in Paris.
17. Rabbit. Wonderfully tender. Sweet, too.
18. Kangaroo. Tender but was drowned in "special sauce". Totally masked any natural taste and you couldn't order it without the sauce. Feh.
19. Elk. Rich and lean.
20. Buffalo. Richer than elk and very good
21. Alligator. Unimpressive. Perhaps if I can find it not fried I will get a better idea.
22. Antelope. Not a big deal, was in a stew
23. Deer. Great or awful depending on the prep.
24. Goat. My least favorite meat. Greasy and tough. Much prefer them alive and nibbling at my hair.
25. Ostrich. One of the stranger meats, starts out tasting like beef and ends up like, well, ostrich, I guess.
26. Red bean ice cream. Did not satisfy.
27. Turtle. The more I thought about it, the sadder I felt. Turtles are too cute to eat.
28. Cuttlefish. Again, the more I thought about it, the sadder I felt. Eating little cthulhu was not pleasing.
29. Green tea ice cream. One of the nicer Asian desserts I have had.

Uneaten but on the wanted list:
1. Any other warm blooded thing or part thereof not mentioned in the above list.
2. Beating heart of the cobra
3. Angler fish
4. Rattlesnake
5. Anything made with brains
6. Guinea pig (cuy!)
7. Stinky tofu
8. Kimchee
9. Banana grubs. Yes, those huge awful things. I would eat them.

Two things I have no desire to eat:
1. Fugu. My co worker had it and described how his face went numb and tingly. Not with my health luck. I'd get the bad batch.
2. Live octopus. Or really, live anything. It really does need to be dead before it goes down the hatch.

Fully recovered

I now consider myself fully recovered from all my broken-hip related health adventures in 2006.

I went hiking in Colorado last week and suffered no ill effects. Where the muscles were cut from my pelvis to access my right hip joint was sore, but no more so than after a hard night onstage with Drifter. Those muscle attachments are almost always painful to some degree now, regardless of what I do. My hip joint didn't hurt or lock up. It took the beating of stepping up and down over rocks and through heavy snow quite well. In fact, I moved that leg more forcefully in directions it hasn't gone since before the injury and all was fine. It quite surprised me - I expected to be at least a little crippled after the fact and I wasn't.

Also got on and off a horse and rode for 2 hrs with no problems.

Pissy left knee and big toe did fine, too.

Skeletally, I am a go. Anxiety wise, just passed that hurdle Tuesday 6/10 by taking my first international trip alone. Last summer, the idea of getting on a plane and flying alone to Europe made me about want to vomit. In fact, I was less worried about this trip than any other preceding it. I didn't even flip out when I got on the wrong train at the airport. Normally that would have had me dry mouthed and shaking. Perhaps I am finally no longer irrationally afraid of getting lost... man, that would be nice.

Small victories you may think, but they are big for me. For a while I was feeling quite the prisoner of my own health (physical and mental) issues, and now I am officially back 100% and maybe even a little better than before the injury!

Okay then! Who wants to go climb Mt. Washington in New Hampshire with me?

A Note to the Dutch

Some thoughts I had whilst eating my chicken curry sandwich (yes I know, you're all saying WTF? Curry sandwich?) today.

1. Curry is supposed to be spicy, not a profound absence of flavor.
2. Curry is not made with mayonnaise.
3. Just because you colored something yellow with tumeric does not make it a curry.
4. If you advertise that the curry is chicken, put some chicken in it then!
5. And last but not least, curry is supposed to have CURRY POWDER in it so it tastes like FUCKING CURRY!

My mission this weekend is to find a real Indian restaurant here in Breda and have me a nice hot vindaloo or roganjosh!

Europe - The Good, The Bad

It's been almost three years since I've been to Europe and daily I'm reminded why I find it is both cool and annoying at the same time.

Annoying:
Low water usage flush toilets. Can you say skids?
The omnipresent hand held showerhead.
Turning on said hand held shower.
No alarm clocks in hotel rooms.
Single beds. Do they even allow these in the fat and sloppy US anymore? Glad I'm not fat or I wouldn't fit.
Smoking in restaurants. Marlboros + my curry, yum yum NOT.
Expensive soda pop. For a non drinker, this hurts the ol' wallet.
Hard water - also known as "how a shower can make you feel DIRTIER."
Soccer hooligans
Painfully bland food


Cool:
The Old Town in the center of any city. So pretty and full of life and history.
Holland has farms full of flowers. So much better than boring corn.
Sheep and hedgerows. Eternally charming.
Paving stones instead of concrete and asphalt
Buildings no more than 6 stories tall
Horrible fashion combos (yesterday's was brown short shorts and black polka dot open toe chunky 5 inch heels) that somehow still manage to look funky in a good way
Public transportation: reasonably priced, dependable, safe and clean
Duvets only on beds - no top sheets. So comfy. Love it!