only 3 weeks left...

And then we'll be married :-)

Another nerve wrecking game by the Steelers last night but at least they won. So this week starts on a positive note!

Also watched "Bol" last night which is a pretty good movie from Pakistan and proves to be quite ballsy as well. To make a movie which doesn't shy away from criticizing social problems and religion in your own country deserves respect. A bit strange to see some Bollywood-ish songs in this movie but the small romantic side story makes the tougher parts a bit easier to swallow.
All in all recommended!

Finally, I was chatting with a friend yesterday who tried to persuade me to join facebook. So much peer pressure haha.
While talking to him about metal music I realized that I've been listening to metal for 20 years now. Ah, those early formative years were so much fun. I had a classmate who had started buying metal albums earlier than me so he gave me a list of everything he had. Then I frequently gave him some empty TDK 90 minute cassette tapes and requested 2 albums. He'd fill up the remaining space with some random songs by bands he thought I would like. There were a few more school mates who I also traded tapes with but this guy was the go-to guy for many years.
When I started buying the Aardschok Metal Hammer magazine back in 1992 I also started buying my own metal CDs. Every month I would check the reviews by Wim Baelus and choose the 2 albums that he gave the highest score (often a 8.5 or 9) and then would call Music Machine in Sittard. This was pretty much the only music store which had a decent supply of metal albums in the vicinity of my parents' hometown. I remember the first time I went there was with my mom haha.
When I turned 18 I got a OV card from the Dutch government so it became easier (read: cheaper!) to hop on the bus to Sittard to browse the CDs in Music Machine and hopefully find those 2 albums I had marked down. Sometimes they had to order CDs and it could take a few months before they got it in stock. Ah, the current instant-generation will never know the built-up anticipation caused by having to wait for so long.
For Christmas 1992 my parents let me buy 4 metal CDs at Music Machine and these were then put up in our Christmas tree. I vividly remember the excruciating waiting and my clever brain figuring out a way to get to listen to the 4 albums before Christmas. Basically I persuaded my parents to replace each CD with an envelop with 40 Guilders from my own pocket. Of course it helped that my birthday was just a few days prior to Christmas haha!
The 4 metal CDs in our tree are etched into my memory: Asphyx-Last one on earth, Bolt Thrower-The 4th crusade, Gorefest-False, Vader-The ultimate incantation.
Good memories!