Midnight Sunset

Joensuu, Finland. July 13, 2014.

See that thing in the background?

That's right - it's a sunset. There's nothing special about it, if you overlook the date and location of this picture.

But we don't overlook anything in here.

So, when do you get to see a sunset in Finland at this time of the year? Somewhere around 12.15 am, probably - right after you've finished your 75 minute headlining set at Ilosaari Rock festival.

If you excuse me, I'm gonna cuddle up in bed and cry.

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Guess someone's still bitter about the 40 minute set Sabbath squeezed their 'special guests' into? Well, you're guessing it right. 

...or you would, if I had taken the time to sit and write down about my adventures in Essen - which I still haven't done, mostly because I'm a lazy piece of shit.

But here's one little spoiler I just gave you.

The European summer festival tour is almost (if not already) over for Alice, and, after another Canadian leg they have left, touring for this album should be over as well. It seems like I won't be able to catch them at a proper show on this tour, after all (guess it's too late for a rushed-up trip to Canada? LMAO), so the only thing I've got left is hoping that the next album they release will be every bit just as awesome as Dinosaurs (which is rather probable)... and that they'll still play Phantom Limb, Hollow, Stone and Voices on their next tour (which is not so probable).

It can't take more than two or three years anyway (don't think they'll be staying off the road all that time, though - they'll probably keep coming back for the festival season, like all bands do)... not a big deal LOL

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Anyway, Essen was still worth the trip - I won't deny that.

In a curious plot twist of fortune, I happened to stumble upon this on my Facebook timeline precisely this morning:

'Danke Schön Essen'

'Danke schön Essen'... how sweet is that?

It totally melted my heart away, and even made me forget about my Sabbath-related bitterness... for a couple of minutes.

I know it's obviously not the actual band doing it, but it's still a nice gesture in their name, and I really appreciate that :)

It's also nice to see that the arena looked much less empty from stage than it did from where I was sitting - takes one demoralizing factor off LOL

Unfortunately, my section got cropped off the picture. If it hadn't, you'd probably be seeing my huge red cowboy hat from here LMAO

You can still see the cheerful weather, though... :'D

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Thank you, guys.

I really hope to see you again sometime... in more favourable circumstances :)

Stone

What. The. Fuck.

This might seem some sort of weird internet hoax, but it actually happened. Today. And you can read the full story here.

Apparently, the guy wanted to get a funny picture, and I guess he finally got one.

Germany - 1

USA - 0

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Somewhere in Deutschland, Till Lindemann and his Rammstein buddies are laughing their asses off and thanking this guy in advance for provding them with a concept for their next album: a crossover between their 2009 Pussy and Alice In Chains' 2013 Stone, very much in the line of Madonna's upcoming single Unapologetic Bitch [sic].

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Anyway, I'm glad I saw this on time. Now I know I have to be especially careful with these next week... just in case they have more of them around the country LOL

Wouldn't like to end up trapped in a piece of 'cold, dry Stone' ;)

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"Detach the rock of shame!"

"Attach the rock of TRIUMPH!"

I'm going to Germany :D

PS. While writing this post, I accidentally stumbled upon this in my pictures folder and it totally creeped me out.

I'll make sure to leave those at home... just in case.

Ode To The Man Boob pt.II

Because... RAMMSTEIN :'D

Kalter Winter / Goldener Herbst

I found this picture on Instagram today, and I just realized that, if someone asked me to sum up all the things I love about Berlin in one picture, this would probably be it.

Six years ago, I was sitting in one of those trains, watching the autumn leaves quickly passing before me, still in disbelief. It was the autumn – the first thing I loved about Germany. As soon as our plane came out from behind a thick layer of clouds, right before landing in the Berlin Tegel Airport, the first thing I saw were the cooling towers of a nuclear power plant, a few lakes, and the trees covered in autumn leaves – red, brown, orange and yellow trees everywhere.

“They have AUTUMN!!!” I screamed. “This is TOO hardcore!!!!”

Visiting Berlin on the last days of October was definitely the best idea we could have ever had; despite the cold, despite the short days… This is what Berlin feels like for me, and I couldn’t possibly love it any more.

There is something about the Mediterranean climate that feels asphyxiating after a while: the merciless heat, the ever-present sun, the almost imperceptible shift from too hot to too cold and back, and the never-changing vegetation. That’s probably why, seeing an autumn landscape looking exactly the way I felt it was meant to look caused such an impact on me.

There’s something about the German autumn that reminds me of home – my Russian home, the one I left when I was still too young to remember –, but I don’t love Russia the way I love Germany. Not even close. Despite the fact that I’ve been living in the not-so-free capitalistic world for twenty years already, I think somewhere deep inside I’m still afraid of the Iron Curtain. I still have the fear that, if I ever step on that country again, I will get locked and never allowed to go back.

That doesn’t happen with Germany. Germany is similar enough to Russia to make me feel at home, but different enough to not make me feel imprisoned by my origins. It’s free from memories. It’s free from family ties.

Aside from that, my love for Germany is a mystery, just like my love for Japan. All I know (and I learned that thanks to that one and only trip to Berlin I made in 2007) is that it was there before I was conditioned by my love for a certain German band we won’t be discussing here.

Berlin is an endless city. It extends beyond the horizon, and you can’t even imagine how far you are from reaching its end. It makes you feel so tiny, when you realize you can’t even walk from one landmark to another without catching the U-Bahn, or the tram, or the bus… And the day is over before you’ve even had a chance to explore a thousandth part of the things you wanted to explore. It swallows you whole, and you don’t mind. And you feel happy about it. And you know that, no matter what you do, there is always going to be a million things you will never be able to explore.

Berlin is so huge; it has so many worlds inside it: the cleanest parks and avenues, and the dirtiest streets; the extremely crowded landmarks, and the loneliest and quietest places you'll ever see; the ultra-modern buildings of the corporate age, and the shabby ruins of the DDR, still standing; the bullet holes in the walls, the pieces of the Berlin wall, the decrepit squat houses with half their roofs ripped away by the bombs; the most civilised people, and the drunkest hooligans; the agents of order, politely reminding you of what you can and you cannot do; the disgusting doner kebab restaurants, the pretzels, the currywurst kiosks, and the delicious China-Box take-aways; the McDonald’s at the train station, open at 5am, where you can eat and take a nap while you wait for the morning bus… And all the things I will never be able to know or see, because the city is so big…

That is what Berlin means to me.

I look at this picture now and I realise that, somewhere in Berlin, the leaves are still golden, and the U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains still roll from end to end of the endless city, transporting thousands of Germans (and not only Germans) every day. And it makes me feel that maybe the world is not too small for me, after all.

Despite all the bastards, the awful tabloids and the horrible reality and talent shows on TV; despite Heidi Klum and Dieter Bohlen, Germany is still a place worth dreaming of.

Or that’s what I need to believe.