Yesterday, as I was sitting in the bus on the way to Krefeld, I made the impulsive decision to buy an iPod. Actually the decision wasn’t all that impulsive. I had been using my cell phone to listen to music on the go, but lately it’s become really annoying: one set of ear buds broke, the contacts for the head phone cable were acting up…. I’d been checking out numerous mp3 players and then decided this:

my new 80GB Ipod Classic

Directly after getting home, I installed iTunes, imported my music and loaded up my new toy with 11,335 songs, some podcasts and videos. I was amazed at the speed with which iTunes synced with the iPod. It copied almost 70GB in under half-an-hour! The sound quality is also great!

I’m really loving my new toy! Go buy iPods, everyone!!!

Just finished the single-player campaign of Mass Effect. At first I hated the RPG aspect and the over-complicated controls and weapons upgrade system. But, once I had a couple hours of game-play under my belt, I really started enjoying it. Graphics are great and the size of some of the landscapes is unbelievable. An impressively beautiful RPG-shooter space-epic!

It’s that time of year again! Love Parade 2008 in Dortmund - “Highway of Love” I got up at 8:00 and around 10:00 I set off with Ramona and Dennis. Like last year, the train station in Krefeld was pretty crowded, but in the train we had enough room - not near as bad as last year. We arrived in Dortmund at 13:00, and minutes after leaving the train station a short, heavy downpour set a trend which would continue for the rest of the event.

We then set off on foot, through Dortmund, about 2-3 kilometers to where the parade and main stage was. We had made some new friends on the train, another trend which continued throughout the day - meeting cool, new people. Despite the frequent downpours, everyone was “gut gelaunt” (happy/joyful) and friendly. You’d find yourself talking to someone like you’ve known them for years and suddenly you’re thinking: “Wait, I don’t even know her name….” But that’s one of the coolest things about the Love Parade - that’s what sets it apart from other electronic music festivals. Maybe it’s because the event is free, maybe it’s the completely informal, ad-hoc planning, or the “love” theme, but the Love Parade has a unique character.

Some costumes were quite amusing, others were just strange, and of course there were also the sexy ones. The floats were also all unique.

Around 15:00 we arrived and minutes later, the heaviest downpour of the day struck. The whole area turned into a sea of mud and puddles. But, after a few minutes, the sun came out and the party went on. We spent the next few hours dancing, watching the parade, watching the parade from road-sign mountings over the highway, hanging out at the main stage and enjoying the numerous flavors of electronic music. It kept raining off and on, the mud got deeper, but no one seemed to care… the party went on going, the love kept flowing. Around 19:00 the sun came out to stay and, as the floats all slowly left, the big-name DJ’s started to appear on the main stage: Moby, Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, Carl Craig, Richie Hawtin, David Guetta, Underworld. The highlite for me was the set from Armin van Buuren, closely followed by those from Hawtin and van Dyk. We headed home around 23:00, which means we missed the Finale with the light show by Gert Hof. My twitter update from 11:45 captures that moment perfectly.

OK, the weather really sucked, logistics were a nightmare, most of the time no cell coverage, mud and water everywhere…. But all that gave the event character! Who cares if the conditions aren’t ideal for an outdoor event. The Love Parade is all about celebrating life, love and music - and that’s exactly what we did!

Pictures: here

Video: Moby and Armin van Buuren

Found this site in my RSS feeds this morning. I really liked the Steampunk walls presented, so I collected some of my favorites and uploaded them.

ENJOY!

When it’s ninety degrees outside:

Go visit a friend who has a garden. Grab some beers and put them in a bucket filled with ice-cold spring water pumped from the well:

Then mow the lawn….

After the work is done, grab some more buckets, fill them with ice-cold spring water pumped from the well and take off your socks and shoes. Put your feet in the bucket:

Grab the cooled beer and enjoy….