Christmas!

Enjoyed the holidays?

I had a fab time with good company, yammie food and some fine wine <3!!

The good times started off at the first christmasday, cuz I had to work on christmas eve.

I woke up around 14.30 and recieved a call from my dad......

He wanted to know what my plans were! I don't have that much contact with my parents......long story! But it was nice to recieve that call!

We talked about my work, my travels and I noticed that he was very interested in me (believe me....that's not normal behavior) I told him that I liked this conversation and that we should talk more often! He agreed and finally found the nerve to tell me how proud he was of me.....he was crying!

He couldn't give me a better christmas present than this.......

I don't want expensive stuff, I just wanna feel love and comfort!

Bless him for giving me that, I know how hard it is for him to speak from the heart <3

After that lovely call I drove to Misha to spend our day with good food and fine wine!

She really spoiled me with her cooking......

We started with champagne and an amuse (paté with cranberries and fresh baked bread)

After that we had Madeira soup with red wine (obviously hahaha)
We listen to christmas songs, talked, laughed and made new travelplans for next year.....
(London and 2 Pink gigs in Switzerland for sure)

It's not christmas for me without Spoom (champagne with vanille icecream)

We drank some more wine and prepared our main dish......roasted paprika filled with a cheese mousse, grilled potato and steak with red wine sauce! It was delicious.

Damn, I was so full after all that food, but we didn't had dessert yet.
How can I refuse that cremé brulee and that warm chocolate cake with white chocolate???

Holy jesus, that was HEAVEN!!!!

We settled ourselves on the sofa after that lovely meal and watched the Pink DVD and she really liked it!

We went to bed around 2.30 am and Misha woke me up with the smell of fresh baked bread and coffee! As I walked down stairs I saw she already fixed our breakfast.......Can it be like this every morning???

She's such a sweetheart <3

Thanks to Misha.....I really don't like Christmas, but you really made me feel special during these days.

Love you for that <3

Video Tuschinski premiere party!

Every year we have a tradition.....a christmas present for all the Dutch Live fans!
This year we made a 1 Gb Live usb stick with some special footage on it.
We made more than 1000 packages and sended it before christmas to all our members!
It has been a hell of a Live year, as you all know......so we made a compilation from all the highlights.

This is one of the video's I like to share with you......

Merry christmas!

Zalig kerstfeest lieve vrienden.......

Finally I'm home! I worked 32 hours in 2 days and I'm exhausted......

The shifts were busy and chaotic and I nearly slept for 48 hours, but before I go to bed I wanna wish my dear friends and readers a merry christmas!

Enjoy the time with your loved ones, eat yammie food and drink fine wine.

I'm there with you in spirit.....

Working is dangerous!

It is.....sometimes!
My office is right next to the emergency terminal and I see a lot of trauma's and people in bad conditions brought in by the paramedicals.
Nothing dangerous you think huh?

Well today I got strict orders from the police to stay inside, keep my distance from the windows, cuz they would bring a pretty heavy criminal in! He was seriously injured and needed medical help!
The police told me about an escape plan and that they would use guns and violence if his mates showed up.....because they are some nasty motherfuckers.

Everything worked out fine, he got his medical help and will be thrown in jail afterwards!

Right on! Another day at the office pfff!

Erase the past!

One of my favorite metalbands Sevendust made a song with Chris Daughtry and I'm in love with it!
Lyrics, voices, music, the emotion......it all fits perfectly.

Music is such a powerfull tool!

More time to relax.....

I woke up this morning at 11 am! My whole system is in the relax mode and I actually like this state of mind. I took a step back in my working schedule, cuz it's time to relax a bit after this crazy year of running and working too damn hard!

I didn't plan anything this day, but surprisely enough it took another turn......

My phone went off around 11.30 am. It was Bas (my guitar teacher)

He asked about my plans, cuz he didn't had plans either.

I knew he had to perform this evening with his band, but we could hang out for a few hours.

So, we decided to go to the christmas market......

As macho is he is he picked me up with one of his toys, took off the roof and I was freezing like hell hahaha! Nevermind......he wanted to show off!

I can't blame him.....men are like little boys sometimes!

The christmas market in Dordrecht is huge and last three days! The whole centre is full with stands where they selling glühwein, hot chocolate, an open-air ice skating track, music, bonfires and christmas decorations!

Soon as we arrived we settled ourselves at the terras for some hot chocolate and poffertjes! I wanted to rent ice skates, but it was too crowded on the track......so this old cookie decided to stay on the safe side of the track and watch the kids having fun....

The weather was great! Blue air, sunny but freezing cold! I like that kind of weather.
I don't mind if it's cold, as long if it's dry and not too windy......

Singing santa's, happy faces and the christmas spirit!
The only thing we needed was snow......that would've made it perfect!

We had a great time and before we headed back to my place Bas bought me a huge bag of candy.....because he thinks I'm sweet hahaha! Too cute.

Bas left around 17 pm and I wanted to go to the grocery shop, cuz my fridge was pretty empty!
I went to the garage to pick up my car and when I turned the key, that damn thing didn't start!

What the fuck?

I went back to my house and called for help! I'm a member of a traffic help company, so they are going to fix it in no time!
It took an hour and in the mean time Cheryl came to visit me.....
The car mechanic fixed the problem (the battery was broken)
A bit later.....but I could finally get myself some supplies.

We returned back to my place and settled ourselves in front of the tv to watch a movie, drink wine and eat yammie food!

The actual plan was to go out, but we were both too lazy and tired that we decided to stay in.....
I'm hooked to my house at the moment! Lit the candles, make it nice and cosy inside. So I really didn't mind!

Cheryl left around 11.00 pm


I'm finishing my tea at the moment!
Next stop will be the shower and straight to my lovely bed!

Good night ya'll.....

Interview!

Look what I found in my mailbox today......

They finished the magazine with the special about the DVD recording for Live in Paradiso!

It looks awesome.....

The magazine is full of pictures, inside information, behind the scenes, interviews with the crew, director, editor, promoter and me, myself and I.

My star is rising haha!!!

What a perfect day......

Sometimes the small and simple things in life can make you really happy!
You wanna smile all day.....the warm and fuzzy feeling inside is priceless.

I had my moment today!

Me and Cheryl did some Christmas shopping......Cheryl needed some decoration stuff for her house. So we were on a mission.....
Holy Maria, that shop was HUGE. It's normally a gardener shop, but during the holiday season it's all in the Christmas theme. Moving santa's, singing christmas trees....FUN!

I'm not much of a Christmas lover normally..... I have my reasons for that! But I think I felt the Christmas spirit today!

After our shopping we went to the centre of Rotterdam to get ourselves some good Japanese food! We came across an open-air ice skating track surrounded by all these cute little wooden cabins where they were selling hot chocolate, waffles and crepes.
The smell was delicious.......

As we walked further I spotted The Subway in the corner of my right eye......damn, those Macadamia cookies are too hard to resist. I have to go inside!

The taste of that cookie reminded me of my trip through California, a few months ago and those memories are so fricking precious.
I ate half of the cookie, cuz we were on our way to eat SUSHI.

It's actually funny, cuz everytime me and Cheryl get together we end up eating sushi......
We're both Japanese food lovers and the atmoshere in that restaurant is lovely.

The ordering concept is brilliant!
You pay 20 euro a person for 4 rounds. Per round you can order 5 different dishes from the card. Sushi or other Japanese food....

Believe me, that's A LOT of food! Normally I'm pretty full after 3 rounds, but today I finish all 4 rounds and we even ate desert (vanilla icecream)

HOLY COW!!!

I really can't believe I ate that much.....unbelievable hahaha!

With our loaded tummies we drove back to Cheryl's place!
We lit up the candles, put on the fire and Dennis (Cheryl's boyfriend) made us coffee.

It was so cosy to sit around the fire place with our coffee and talk about all kinds of things.
I really felt the love of friendship......

What a perfect day!!

Stereo!

Normally I don't like shows where musicians have to compete against each other to play in a band. But I was pretty hooked to this show called "Rocknation"
A few talent scouts searched for the perfect combination to form a rockband!
Raw voices, rock star attitudes and passion........

I'm actually a bit sad that it's over, but the end result is fabulous!
The band is called "Stereo" and I really dig their first single.

I see a lot of potential, they're talented and I predict a huge music career (and not only here in Holland)

Mind my words!

Sinterklaas!

Sinterklaas is a real Dutch tradition and a very excited time for childeren!

Every year Sinterklaas arrive by boat from Spain to give all the kids candy and presents.....

He celebrate his birthday (on the 5th of December) here in Holland and share his goodness with all the little ones.

He puts candy and presents in their shoes at night.

Ofcourse it's a myth! Cuz the grown ups buy all the stuff and dress up as Sinterklaas......but it's so much fun to see all the excitement in the eyes of the kids.

On 5 december it's "pakjesavond" which means an evening full of presents.

It's a tradition to celebrate it with family and friends.......make little poems, open presents, eat candy, drink hot chocolate and enjoy each others company!

Tonight we had our "pakjes avond" at my sisters house!

My niece and nephew are not believers anymore, since they are 10 and 13 years old.

But we like the tradition and buy each other presents and share some quality time together!

Those two childeren are so damn important in my life and I didn't saw them for almost 2 months. I had too much going on in my life and I didn't expect they would miss their aunt.

Wrong thinking......

I recieved so much love, hugs and kisses from them this evening!

Words can't describe how much I needed that.

We def. have to spend more time together.....

After we opened our presents, we watched the Live dvd....
My sister bought it and wanted to watch it together with me for the first time.
They were all so proud and impressed...
We talked about how it all started, years ago and how life takes it's turn!

I really enjoyed this evening and I went home with a huge smile on my face!
Precious moments....

Tomorrow I'm going to use my present......
I recieved special coffee and chocolate!!

It seems like Sinterklaas knows exactly what I like......

Update.....

Howdy fooks!

I'm sitting here with my coffee and painkillers, cuz I have a huge hangover uhum!
Last night my friend Mirella came by to catch up, drink wine and watch the Live dvd.
We didn't saw each other for weeks, since I was too busy with Live activities and work.
It was fun! Drank too much wine, made a complete fool out of myself by singing "Sober" while I was drunk (and record it....oops)
I'm such a retard when I'm drunk......

Anyways, my days this week were filled with work and guitar practicing!
I have this huge drive to play the guitar.
Patience, practicing, learning the chords and painfull fingers.
I finally found myself a guitar teacher and we make progress.
Yesterday I figured out the chords for "Enter Sandman" from Metallica and it's so much fun to play them myself.
Bas (my teacher) is a kick ass bassplayer and he builds extreme looking guitars for fun!

Check his site: http://www.bas-extravaganza.nl/?page=home

Tonight he's going to show off his skills on stage.
He's playing with his band in a Irish pub in Rotterdam and I'm excited to hear his work.
Rock music and Irish beer! Sounds like a good deal to me......

Winter in Holland!

Yesterday I recieved a text from Hanka! She lives in The Czech Republic and she told me it was snowing outside!
When I drove home today from Rotterdam, this was my view of the road.......

The winter arrived!

Night Of The Proms

For those who doesn't know this project......

It's a collaboration between classical artists and pop/rock musicians.

Every year the organisation puts an new group of artists on stage to work together in a very unique setting!

This year they had a gospel choir from New York, a 70 piece orchestra, a ballarina and a few big rock musicans!

Sinead O' Connor, Live and The Simple Minds.

I went to see the show this Thursday and I was thrilled to see Live playing together with a 70 piece orchestra. I already knew that the classical arrangement would be one big ear orgasm.

And I couldn't wait to hear it.....

Sinead O'Connor was the first big artist to kick off! She started with a killing version of "Troy"

She pierced it right into my heart! What a power and dedication.

"Nothing Compares To You" was awesome......10.000 people were singing along!

Goosebumps!!!!...... The perfect warming up!

Live was next! My heart was pounding in my chest........

I can't count the amount of gigs I saw during my life, so far.

But this was special and I was nervous.

The orchestra started, Ed began to sing "The Dolphin's Cry"

It kicked in right away......

The arrangement was so fricking beautiful and Ed was very good by voice.

The screens on stage showed stuff from the early days and my own life past before my eyes.....

What a journey!

They played "They Stood Up For Love" and my personal favorite "I Alone" what a kick ass version was that.......

Chad Taylor was stomping as a mad man and Adam was glowing and smiling all the time!

The respons from the crowd was overwhelming......

After that experience we had a short break! Because it's too heavy for the orchestra to play 3,5 hours in a row.

Ed come back to perform "Overcome" together with Sinead O'Connor and a guy from the gospel choir, after the break.

Although it's not one of my favorite songs (understatement) I liked this version!

How can I not? If you play it like that, you can make the most horrible songs beautiful.

The Simple Minds was the last band to perform!

It reminded me of my youth.

The sing-a-long with "Don't You Forget About Me" was fun!

The performance was okay, but not that special......

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don't like Jim Kerr, hmmm.

The grand finale was hilarious! All the artists came on stage and I laughed so hard.....

Chad Gracey and Patrick Dahlheimer stood there with tamborines and they didn't seem to like it. Chad Taylor was watching at me, with the look......"please come and rescue me"

So they made fun of the situation.....good choice guys hahaha!!!

They sang "Imagine" together with all the other artists.......Adam played guitar, Ed had some lines in the song and the rest was joking around!

What a great evening!!!

Igudesman and Joo Diary: Adam Kowalczyk

Igudesman and Joo are comedians and brilliant musicians!
They mix classical music with sketches and funny parts......
Adam Kowalczyk was asked to do a sketch for their diary!

It was recorded backstage during The Night of The Proms in Ahoy, Rotterdam.
They let him wear a pink wig and he wasn't even drunk......

HILARIOUS!!!

The perfect evening!

Finally! Phone off, no appointments.....just me and my sofa yeahhh!

The Holiday season is on it's way and that means OLIEBOLLEN (that's typical Dutch, It's a sort of donut with sugar....absolutely delicious)

The best Oliebollen bakery is here in Dordrecht, so I bought myself a few, made some hot chocolate and settled myself in front of the telly to watch 3 new episodes of Grey's Anatomy!

What a perfect evening!!!

Kings Of Leon

Let me introduce you to Kings Of Leon. My new addiction.......
I already saw the band in 2007 on the Lowlands festival here in Holland.
But they didn't caught my attention....at least not with their music (The singer Caleb Followill for that matter did......I think he's one of the hottest man alive uhum....)
But a few weeks ago I heard the song "Sex on fire" on the radio and since then I'm hooked....
Damn, what a sexy voice!

Check out their latest album "Only by the night"

Radio recording at BNN That's Live!!

It's Sunday night around 23.45 pm and I'm exhausted!

Holy jesus, what a weekend.

It was loaded, but I loved every minute of it....

Yesterday I drove together with my girlies Bianca and Cheryl to Hilversum.

More promo stuff!

Ed Kowalczyk was the guest in a radioshow called "That's Live" for a short talk and a few acoustic songs.

It was such a fun afternoon! I think there were around 40 contest winners. All packed in a tiny little bar/studio thingie......

The fans went wild when sir Kowalczyk entered the room! They all wanted a picture with him, autographs....you know the deal.
But what a lot of people don't know is that Ed's really shy.....so he looked around like a haunted animal. I actually thought he was going to run in the other direction haha! Hilarious!!!

After a while he chilled a bit and saw that they were actually really nice! He's such a pussy sometimes! Bless him haha!

I missed the other guys, but I can imagine why they only invited Ed to play, cuz the drum kit wouldn't even fit on that tiny stage (you couldn't even call it a stage)
The show started off with a short talk about the Night of The Proms, Paradiso and the Dutch fans.

Ed took the stage after that and sang "Forever" and "Dance with You"

I didn't like it......I'm too critical, I guess! You can do so much better stuff with an acoustic performance. Use a Djembe for example!!!

Besides that, Ed did a good job. I had a perfect afternoon in the studio.....with friends and too much beer, but who cares haha!

We left the studio around 17 pm to grab something to eat at Bianca's place!
Cheryl didn't had much time, cuz she had a birthday party later on. So we decited to buy some junkfood and crash in front of the telly!

Cheryl left after an hour and I stayed 'till 1am! Bianca showed me her roadtrip movie from California when she visit Beth Hart, last year!
They became close friends and Bianca is doing what I'm doing for Live! So we understand each other perfectly ;-)
She's a Livefan and I'm a Beth Hart fan, so we cover each others asses, which is really nice!

Today I talked and talked and talked some more.......with the boardmembers.
Evaluated the premiere party and discussed our future plans at my place.
After that we had a very nice dinner in a restaurant.
No Japanese! Such a shame, but one of them had to travel 3 hours back home.

Tomorrow nightshift, so I can sleep long......and that's basically all I need right now

SLEEP......LOT'S OF SLEEP!!!

Weekend!

Yeah! My weekend officially started this morning........

I worked my ass off the last couple of days, so I really deserve some free time!

My nightshift sucked. I don't know what it is, but lately I seem to attrack all these nasty trauma cases and it involves usually young persons or new born babies in trouble!

What's up with that?

Anyways, I woke up an hour ago and I needed coffee.......loads of coffee!

I bought this huge coffee cup during my trip in The States and I love it!

I can make a three-double cappucino in it! Wicked.....

(God, I miss Starbucks boooohoo!!!!)

After I finish my coffee I need to write my interview for a Live magazine! They're making a DVD special and they wanna know my experiences during the whole recording process.
I'm late, as usual cuz the deadline was yesterday......oops!!
Well, it's always like that to be honest! I'm at my best when I feel pressure......

My weekend is packed with all Live related stuff again!
On Saturday I have to go to Hilversum for a radiorecording in a show called "That's Life"
Ed will be the guest for 2 hours and he's going to perform acoustic!
It's an intimate setting with a small audience. Almost a private show.......FUN!
Live is all over here in Holland......the promotion goes really well.
The DVD is officially out here for 2 days now and it's took the #5 spot in the DVD charts.
That's pretty awesome!
On Sunday I'll meet my fellow boardmembers here at my place to discuss our future plans and goals. We did a hell of a good job this year, so we're going to celebrate that after our meeting with a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant!

Live and sushi......what a perfect combination for the weekend!

Getting rid of the bad habit......

That's right! I quit smoking a week ago and it goes pretty good actually!
It thought it was the perfect moment after that energy boost from last week.....
I'm proud of myself that I didn't smoke for a week, although I had a huge breakingpoint last night! I was weak and I almost jumped in my car to buy ciggies, but thank god I didn't......

I was so mad when I saw Adam at the premiere party with a cigarette......
He used to hate smoking and now he starts smoking himself????
Unbelievable!!
He showed me a mirror and made me realize that smoking is bad, disgusting and a goldmine!

I'm going to kick this habit to the ground, believe me!!!!

Wish me luck!!

Gala Premiere Tuschinski, Amsterdam

It's been a week since I walked on that red carpet, all dressed up!
What an experience!

Time to tell you more about it huh?

Here we go!

The day started at 8am....
I packed my stuff and drove to Bianca's house to dress up.

Cheryl was there also and we were determed to kick some serious ass on that red carpet!

After we finished our job we took off to Amsterdam.

I had a very tight time schedule, so we decided to park the car near The Dam in the centre of Amsterdam!

I was so excited to see the Bonnie, Kerrie and Jimmy again after months!

They came all the way from London and The States to party with us......wicked!!!

I hooked up with Misha at the hotel and left Bianca and Cheryl with the others......

I had a limo to catch.....HA!

Misha and I were expected at 14pm in The Grand, a very luxe hotel and we had to walk for 10 minutes......with high heels on very tiny little motherfucking stones pffff!!!

That was a challenge haha!

Anyway.....we survived and arrived on time to join our fellow boardmembers and Sony people.

In The Grand with Nicole!

We were right on schedule and we took off at 14.15pm in the limo......on our way to The Tuschinski Theatre! How exciting......

Inside the stretched limo!

FUN!!!

We arrived around 14.30pm at The Tuschinski Theatre and it was a complete madhouse!!!

So many people, paparazzi.......FUN!!

I made my entrance in style and the people were yelling and clapping, I felt like a real celeb haha!!



We walked inside over the red carpet and waited for the band to arrive! It was so nice to see all my friends dressed up and happy......made me all fuzzy inside!

Mike and Sylvie

The partysquad!

After 30 minutes (it took ages pfff....) the band arrived!

Live's arrival.....

A happy and excited Ed!

Hunted by the paparazzi....

Live's in the house, so put the DVD in the player.....will ya???

We had reservated seatings on the balkony together with all the Sony people, band, management, promotors, etc....

And it was a very nice view to see all the fans below us......excited as hell!

After a short intro the band came up on stage to give a short speech......damn, Ed you're a better singer than a speaker!! What a crap......hahaha!!!

Speech before the viewing

After the speech the lights went out......finally!

You can't imagine how fricking excited I was to see the end result!

My camera debut......

It felt like it was my DVD viewing......my pride......my baby!
The guys were rockin' during the viewing and I was overwhelmed......

Overwhelmed by my own footage, the emotions in the crowd, the passion on stage!

The Entertainment Group did such an awesome job with the recording, un-fucking-believable!!!!

The combination of the bandshootings and the emotions from the crowd is mindblowing!

It's exactly how you experience a Live concert......and that's the whole deal!

To capture that feeling!!! BRILLIANT!!!

And there it was......my name during the credits! I can not express in words what I felt at that moment! The yellings from the fanbase.....the warm and fuzzy feeling.....the emotions!

You know that your name is going to show up, cuz you worked on this project, but to know it or to feel it are two different things......goosebumps all over

This moment goes straight to my "top 10 of best moments ever"

After the viewing the "normal" crowd left the theatre and we went straight to the viplounge!

To celebrate and party......

Taking a picture of eachother....

Chitchat with Bonnie.....

Everyone in the room was ecstatic, happy and releaved!!! We did a really good job together and the premiere was a succes. So all the pressure was gone and you could feel it.....

Ed was joking around, Patrick was the paparazzi, Chad G. was charming as ever and Chad T. God, I love that man (clean and shaved please haha)......it's a damn shame he's married! Oops, did I say that out loud????

Misha and Chris (Live's manager)

Joking around!

I had a blast!!! I felt so special that day and this is absolutely the cherry on the cake, the crown on our work and I'm still glowing!
This has been one hell of a Live year and it's not over yet......the boys are staying in Holland 'till the end of November to do promotion and the "Night of The Proms" project together with Sinead O' Connor, The Simple Minds and a huge orchestra!

More time to hang out and no goodbye's......yet!!!