On Friday mapon and I went to see Omnia in Nijmegen. The gig was great but totally unlike their usual shows. They normally play at large folk fairs, festivals and fantasy cons, but this show was at a normal theatre. The audience was a little... strange. Most of the people there were older than 65 and expected a show packed with Irish traditionals. The handful of fans that were there were also a little flabbergasted by that, as was the band. It's weird not being able to dance and jump around at an Omnia show, so sitting in a chair all the way through with just a mild applause after every song felt quite unnatural.

The setlist was also different. They mostly played the slow songs in their repertoire and skipped the up-tempo ones. A shame, especially because they didn't play Morrigan, my absolute favourite song by them. A song they did play, however, was this one.

It's called The Raven and it's rather a recital of Poe's famous poem than a true song, but it's beautiful and it gives me goose bumps (particularly the part after 6 minute 30). Go and give it a listen!



I spent the night at mapon's place and we had giggle fits all night long. My stomach is still slightly painful but it was so worth it! I'll write down one of the anecdotes of the night later on. It's probably not half as funny re-reading it, but still... ;-)

I also had one of my moments of absolute clumsiness on Thursday. I got off the bus at the bus stop and twisted my ankle. Gods know why. Walking around on high heels for the past three days obviously hasn't been the wisest decision ever and now my ankle is all swollen and rather painful. I am such a bloody klutz... *facepalm*

Without being spoilerish, I just need to express how much I adored Saturday's episode of Doctor Who. It was utter brilliance! And remember me saying that I don't really like Donna? Well, I was too quick to judge. SHE ROCKS! Totally!

Okay, so far my TV addictions for this week. ;-)

I've got a new mobile phone, and while I already love it lots and lots - it's a music phone with enough space for 2000 songs, a brilliant digital camera and all sorts of nifty technical things to play around with, so what is there not to love? - there's one problem: it doesn't recognise my old phone book entries.

So, if I had your phone number before, or if I didn't and you would like me to have it for whatever reason, please leave an entry with your number(s). I'll screen the comments, so nobody but me can read them.

Thanks a million in advance!

Edit: some of you have asked me for my number. If you leave your e-mailaddy as well as your number I'll mail it to you, since I don't want to reply to any messages now, for that would make your numbers show up. So, yeah, include an e-mail address if you want my number in return!

I wish you a wonderful, brilliant and happy birthday! I hope the coming year will be a little less stressful than the past one and much more healthy, too. Enjoy your day and I truly hope to meet you again some time in the near future!

Biggest hugs,
Wendy

Since it's Talk Like A Pirate Day, this here pirate has pilfered a lil' sumthin' to celebrate that fact. To all me fellow pirate admirers an' supporters, writers, fanartists and wannabe Capt'n Jacks: have a fanlassy, silly and, most of all, happy pirate day! Drinks all 'round!



( Lyrics to the song )

I'm probably being nitpicky here, but there's something I need to say regarding the leaking of the new Apocalyptica album.

As most of you have probably seen on either the Phorum or apo_daily, we can all download Worlds Collide from several peer-to-peer networks now. I know many will take this opportunity to give in to their curiosity and download it, but I want to please ask you NOT to.

If this were a case of "let's have a listen before buying" then I probably would understand it. However, the band is putting every single song on their Myspace for just that purpose. If you don't want to spend money on something you don't know, please go there and have a listen first.

If you say that it's all right to download it now because you intend to buy the album next week anyway, then that's your opinion and it's not my place to tell you off, but please keep in mind that the album is not even released just yet.

We know from first hand accounts that the guys have worked very hard on this album and they deserve a normal release date filled with fans' excitement and anticipation. If you download the album now, days before the release, you spoil that chance for them. It's like revealing an artist's painting before the official exhibition.

Of course I'm not a saint when it comes to downloading. You all know that. I'll gladly download TV shows and stand-up comedy performances (although I do have to admit that that's because there are often no official releases of most comedians), and I do participate in music swaps. However, for most of us Apocalyptica is one of our favourite bands and I'm sure that we can make an exception with that in mind. I think they deserve respect from at least their "die-hard fans", and in this case respect means not to download that CD now.

So please, for the band's sake, think twice before you download Worlds Collide.

*gets off soapbox*

Meme: Comment and I'll give you a letter. You have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. After, post this in your journal, and give out some letters of your own. (Note: please tell me if you want to receive a letter: if you don't ask for one, I won't give you one.)

Pirates of the Caribbean: My number one obsession (well, right now it is). What else is there to say? Well, a lot, actually, but I’ll try not to ramble. What I will say is that I remember seeing CotBP for the first time with Daphne back in 2003. We both had ulterior motives to see this movie (hers was Orlando, mine was Depp), and while I was slightly sceptical about the plot at first, I absolutely fell in love with it the moment Jack sailed into Port Royal. Pirates is what got me truly interested in the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy and everything maritime. It’s also a huge inspiration for everything creative in my life, for which I am thankful.

( The other nine answers behind the cut )

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so Daphne and I decided to visit "that other" EITC ship: the Batavia.

The Batavia is probably one of the most well-known Dutch ships, mainly because her maiden voyage was marked by a vicious mutiny. It's also a really beautiful ship with her high, colourful stern.

She's totally different than the Amsterdam, though, and I really wish they had not changed the height of the wardroom to make it a more suitable place for weddings. Because of this commercial POV, the orlop deck was almost too low to visit and we had to crawl, which was SO not fun for claustrophobic me. *giggles*

Anyway, a few pics.

( Pics right here )

Friday was rather eventful. It seemed like it was going to be a normal day at first, but some time in the afternoon Pippin went really quiet and just sat in a corner for the rest of the day, not eating, not drinking, no insane running around or jumping up and down. Even when I picked him up and held him for a while he seemed totally catatonic. Gave me quite a fright to be honest, so I took him to one of those 24-hour animal clinics. Turned out Pip had a hairball.

A rabbit. With a hairball.

Call me stupid, but I’ve never heard of that before. Can it be that he’s slightly mental and has a personality disorder? Or did he watch Shrek 2 while I was out and got inspired by Puss In Boots? We shall never know.

Fact is that the vet gave him some anti-hairball medication (or whatever the proper word is for such a thing) and now Pippin is being his insane, happy self again. This hairball episode also cost me 50 Euros, which almost resulted in my eyeballs dropping out of my skull when the vet told me. Most important thing is that Pip’s fine again, though.

I still don't entirely get why he had a hairball, though. He eats lots of hay and I groom him every day, so I can't really see how he got it. Must be that Puss theory after all. As long as Pip won't start wearing tiny boots and a miniature cloak, all shall be okay.

Life is never boring, eh? ;-)

And a bunch of belowdecks picture of the Amsterdam. Copyright for most of these goes to Daphne, who gave me permission to post these here. Thanks, dearest. *hugs*

( Belowdecks on the EITC ship )

Last week Daphne and I went to Amsterdam to visit the Dutch East India Company ship Amsterdam. What a great trip that was! The weather was pretty bleak, as you can see below, but the good side of all of this was that there was nobody else around, and we had the ship all to ourselves. During the summer months re-enactors are living aboard to show and talk about the life aboard an 18th century merchant ship, and the skipper was kind enough to give us a brilliant private tour of his ship.

The Amsterdam is a replica of a 1749, 54-gun Spiegelretourschip: a typical Dutch EITC type of vessel. If translated it would mean as much as “mirror return ship”. The mirror is the name of the flat stern, return because everyone hoped that’s what the ship would do once it had picked up its cargo in India, and ship is logical. ;-)

( Pretty ship behind the cut! )

For our next trip we will visit the Batavia, another 18th century ship. I can’t wait!

... but I hope it’s also for another kind of devil’s spawn: plagiarists.

It’s the bloody second time in less than a month that someone stole some of my artwork and either made an almost exact copy of it, or got rid of my signature and pretended it to be theirs. Argh!

We all need inspiration and we all find it somewhere else. My muse prefers deceased painters, photographs and music, but I can understand that different artists have different means of getting new ideas. No problem, but don’t bloody claim it’s your art when it’s not! I don’t get why it’s so terribly hard for them to ask my permission first. And no, I don't consider making a downright copy to be flattering: that's stealing.

I’m really pissed off now. I spend lots of time on my art and my stories, and to see them somewhere else under a false name makes me want to scream and/or cry. Preferably both at the same time.

I'm not too sure what to do now. I know this probably took place to teach me a lesson, namely not to put my creations online any longer, but I admit that I love enjoy sharing ideas, I love discussions with other artists, and yes, I also love the praise and critique. Isn't that why we all create stuff to begin with? We want feedback, period. I don't really want to do without that, but situations like this make me weary of posting stuff ever again.

Buggering buggery.

Wendy

And look what was in there!

( Picture of The Pretty! )

*grabs Dina and snoogles her senseless*

Thank you SO much, babe! I love the shirt! Of course, being the five year old that I am, I had to put it on right away, and it fits perfectly. Wow, I still fit into children’s sizes. That’s enough reason for a celebration all by itself.

And no, I don’t mind walking around with a shirt saying "I love Jack", because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the Captain? ;-)

Lollipops always make me happy and the soundtracks are very, very welcome. I didn’t have any of them yet, so that’s brilliant. *big grin*

Thank you so much once again! I don’t know why I deserve such a sudden present, but it’s making me insanely happy nonetheless. Huge hugs and you can be sure to find something in your mailbox in the very near future!

Lots of love,
Wendy

I'm back home again after my vacation in London. I had lots fun (as usual)! It was different to go England with my parents: usually I stay mostly at Terrë's place, relax a lot and only rarely visit the West End, but this time around the visit was filled with sight-seeing. Here are a few pics to give you peeps in impression. I'll skip the famous London sights, because everyone probably knows what Tower Bridge and the likes look like. If not, Google is your friend. ;-)

( Pictures behind the cut )

So, how's everyone doing? I missed tons of Apocalyptica related stuff while I was away, or so it seems, although I did hear about the new tour. Yay! Finally. So, who else is coming to Holland in December? People are more than welcome to stay at my place, if they feel like it.

Right, more from me later. I need my beauty sleep now. ;-)

Lots of love,
Wendy

The latest batch of Pirates 3 pics came out today and I fell in love with this photograph right away, so I just had to make a super-fast sketch of it. Perhaps I'll do another, proper version in pencils in the future. There are some mistakes in it and I fucked up his right foot (for us left), but like I said, 'tis just a sketch.





Title: A sparrow with broken wings (sketch)
Date: April 12th 2007
Time: 5-10 minutes
Used: black marker

First of all a Happy Easter to all of you guys! I know it’s almost over again, but I wasn’t around to say anything any sooner. And to all Pagans around here, a happy Monday off of work and obligations. ;-)

I had a brilliant Friday and rest of the weekend at Daphne’s place. First we were off on Friday to see The 69 Eyes in Amsterdam. We’ve seen them live before back in 2005 at a festival but, as you guys all know, festival gigs are always different, so we were looking forward to the “real deal”. The Eyes shared the bill with Wednesday 13, which is not really my cup of tea at all, and an unknown band called Maryslim. I’m usually not a huge fan of support acts (they usually only make you wait for the good things coming up), but these guys turned out to be something worth watching and listening to!

Maryslim gave a brilliant show with some great music (the best cover of a Sisters of Mercy song I’ve ever heard, as you can see in my previous post, and complex guitar solos) and some yummy boy-on-boy action when the very cute guitarist gave the lead-singer an utterly sexy French kiss. Needless to say, Daphne and I rather liked that part. ;-)
We bought their latest album after the gig and the guys of the band, who happened to just leave the backstage area at that point, were sweet enough to sign our copy, which was nice. Very kind blokes, too. I really hope they will come back to the Netherlands at some point. I’ll definitely be there in that case!

The 69 Eyes were as great as I remembered them to be. They basically played all their greatest hits and only one or two new songs, but that was fine with me. At least we were able to sing along, hehe. The crowd obviously enjoyed the gig as well, which was great. I’m still a firm believer of the fact that Dutch concerts are the best ones around. We are laid-back enough not to cause trouble but we do know how to party when the time is right! I’m quite sure The Eyes liked it here as well. Hopefully that will influence them to come back again in the near future. Anyway, it was a great night with brilliant music, so what else could I ask for?

On Saturday we decided to go shopping. I bought myself a beautiful ring. See piccie behind the cut.
( Piccie )
It’s a poison ring: an old-fashioned piece of jewellery that could hold a small amount of poison inside, which could be dumped into an unfortunate victim’s glass of wine. Rather useful, though I won’t use it for stuff like that... I think. ;-)

After that we were off to the cinema to see Hot Fuzz, then had a lovely dinner (Quiche! huzzah!) and watched the latest Doctor Who episode, got a little tipsy on beer and had a giggle watching the Lama’s, a Dutch stand-up comedy show. So basically we had a great time! One of the best weekends I’ve had in a long, long time. Now I’m knackered, though. Good thing tomorrow will be another lazy day filled with nothing but watching old Hornblower episodes on DVD and drinking tea.

Love,
Wendy

Dedicated to you, my darling. I hope you like it. ;-)

Thanks again for the brilliant weekend! *huge hugs*

Lots of love,
Wendy

And once again I remember why I love Children of Bodom so much.



One of my favourite pieces of classical music played on electric guitar. With a pedal, of course, but that's obvious - how else could a guitar sound like a violin... or a string instrument like a guitar, hehe. ;-)

Now, this is damn cool if you ask me!

Some new artwork I made in the past couple of weeks. I'm still not anywhere near the challenge of 30 I set myself, but at least it's something.


Title: Jack
Info: drawing made with pencils. I used a filter in Photoshop to get the old, stained effect. The original picture is behind the cut, but I love this one with the effect, so that's why it's here. :-)

( More drawing behind the cut! )