It’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for looking back with one huge post with a lot of lists. This year, the format is different, but you’ll manage.
First up: books. This year, I started in 31 books, and finished 28 of them. I stole the idea of keeping track of when I read those books from Art Garfunkel.
- Stephen King — 11/22/63 (2011-11-12—2011-12-26)
- Joseph Campbell — The Hero with a Thousand Faces (2011-10-29—2011-12-24)
- Mary Haley Bell — Whistle Down the Wind (2011-10-27—2011-10-28)
- Monaldi & Sorti — Versluiering (2011-10-19—2011-10-24)
- J.R.R. Tolkien — The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (2011-10-05—2011-10-18)
- J.D. Salinger — The Cather in the Rye (2011-09-24—2011-10-04)
- Kevin J. Anderson — The Key to Creation (Book Three of Terra Incognita) (2011-09-09—2011-09-23)
- Jonathan Friesen — Rush (2011-09-05—2011-09-08)
- Mitchel Scanlon — Fifteen Hours 2011-08-29—2011-09-05)
- Penn Jillette — God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales (2011-08-25—2011-10-07)
- Gerard Reve — De avonden (2011-08-07—2011-08-29)
- Joe Hill — Horns (2011-08-01—2011-08-11)
- Jordan Sonnenblick — Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie (2011-07-30)
- Michael Scott — The Warlock (Book Five of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) (2011-07-25—201-07-29)
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón — The Prince of Mist (2011-07-13—2011-07-22)
- Neil Gaiman — Anansi Boys (2011-07-05—2011-07-11)
- Stories: All-New Tales Edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (2011-06-04—2011-07-05)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald — The Great Gatsby (2011-05-27—2011-06-03)
- Neil Gaiman — Neverwhere (2011-05-16—2011-05-26)
- Aldous Huxley — Brave New World (2011-04-17—2011-05-15)
- Jeffery Eugenides — The Virgin Suicides (2011-04-09—2011-04-17)
- Niels Aalbers — Doorbraak! Zero Budget Marketing op internet (2011-03-20)
- Justin Cronin — The Passage (2011-03-18—2011-04-09)
- Nescio — De uitvreter / Titaantjes / Dichtertje / Mene tekel (2011-02-28—2011-03-17)
- Terry Pratchett — The Witches Trilogy (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad) (2011-02-11—2011-08-07)
- Gibson, William — Neuromancer (2011-02-07—2011-02-28)
- John Green and David Levithan — Will Grayson, Will Grayson (2011-02-01—2011-02-11)
- H.P. Lovecraft — Against Religion: The Atheist Writings of H.P. Lovecraft (2010-12-29—2011-02-05)
Currently, I’m still reading two of the other three (Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance and Anne Frank’s Diary), and I’ll pick up Stephen King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes again when there isn’t a brick of book waiting to be read. Plus, I already read that one in Dutch, so I’m in no hurry.
The books I would recommend are Horns by Joe Hill, 22/11/63 by Stephen King, either of the Neil Gaiman novels. Feel free to skip the Monaldi & Sorti one.
On to music then. According to my Last.fm profile, these are the artists I played most:
- Meat Loaf (282)
- Bløf (255)
- Daniël Lohues (232)
- Dream Theater (216)
- Solo (175)
- Bruce Springsteen (168)
- Within Temptation (122)
- Boudewijn de Groot (119)
- Jim Steinman (109)
- Acda en de Munnik (108)
The top four all released new albums this year, and apart from the first one, they’re all quite good. In March I ‘discovered’ Michiel Flamman’s work, which explains Solo. In fact, if I would add the plays for Flamman’s solo record, he’d be in second place. Boudewijn de Groot probably should have been higher, ’cause apparently, I didn’t quite make it to the end of the box set with all his albums yet.
But speaking of new albums, my favorites:
- Bløf — Alles blijft anders One hell of a record. It’s loaded with songs with big, strong hooks. It’s hard to pick a best track, but I’d probably go for either Wachten op de dag or Hou vol hou vast.
- Daniël Lohues — Hout moet After doing four albums completely by himself, Lohues asked two friends to play along. The songs are as good as ever, but just a tad more uptempo, like the first single, Prachtig mooie dag.
- Dream Theater — A Dramatic Turn of Events The first album with Mike Mangini, after Mike Portnoy left the band. As a result, it’s less metal and more prog. There are no real stand-out songs, it’s all good, and I’m quite looking forward to their show in Zwolle.
- Eefje de Visser — De koek Singer-songwriter with electropoppy touches. Afdwaalt is fun.
- Within Temptation — The Unforgiving The two preceding albums didn’t really stick. This one does. Catchy pop songs with a heavy edge. Even some you can dance to.
Honourable mentions go to Symphony X (Iconoclast), Opeth (Herritage), Lorrainville (You May Never Know What Happiness Is) and Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony. If I would make a list of my favorite old albums that were new for me this year, I’d probably include James Taylor’s Greatest Hits, J Perkin’s Exhibit (especially part A is gorgeous) and all Solo albums.
This year, I saw 36 shows on stage. I think that’s a new record. First, the musical acts I saw:
- 2011-12-21 — BLØF + Ed Struijlaart, Paradiso, Amsterdam
- 2011-12-18 — Charlie Dée, Stadsschouwburg (kleine zaal), Almere
- 2011-12-12 — Lorrainville, Hedon, Zwolle
- 2011-11-18 — Hanson + Meiko, Paradiso, Amsterdam
- 2011-10-28/29 — “Vampyyrien Tanssi”, Seinäjoki Kaupungingteatteri, Seinäjoki, Finland
- 2011-10-21 — Dotan + Anneke van Giersbergen, Tom Pintens & Krause, De Kelder, Amersfoort
- 2011-10-09 — Eefje de Visser + Laura Arkana, Hedon, Zwolle
- 2011-10-01 — mr. a balladeer, “Save Your Drama for Your Mama”, Stadstheater, Zoetermeer
- 2011-09-30 — Brooke Fraser + Cary Brothers, People’s Place, Amsterdam
- 2011-07-21 — De Parade: Het Monica da Silva Trio + Hade, “Part One”, Moreelsepark, Utrecht
- 2011-07-19 — Orkest van het Oosten, Consensus Vocalis, Jan Willem de Vriend (conductor), Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano), Annemarie Kremer (soprano), Wilke te Brummelstroete (alto), Marcel Reijans (tenor) and Geert Smits (bass), Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, KV. 453
- Ludwig Van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
- 2011-06-11 — Torenpop: Memphis Maniacs + Dazzled Kid + Handsome Poets, Eemplein, Amersfoort
- 2011-06-05 — Singer/Songwriter Sunday: Rachel Louise + Yori Swart, Podium-cafe De Vorstin, Hilversum
- 2011-06-02 — Neal Morse, Hedon, Zwolle
- 2011-05-27 — Rush, Ahoy’, Rotterdam
- 2011-04-24 — mr. a balladeer (lunchconcert), Stadsschouwburg, Utrecht
- 2011-04-16 — Cortez, Velvet Amersfoort (instore Record Store Day)
- 2011-04-13 — Acda en De Munnik, “Ode II”, Carré, Amsterdam
- 2011-03-31 — Het Monica da Silva Trio, De Lieve Vrouw, Amersfoort
- 2011-03-28 — Solo, “This is Solo”, Theater Kikker, Utrecht
- 2011-03-26 — Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “Beethoven’s Last Night”, Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam
- 2011-03-16 — Devin Townsend Project, Tivoli Oudegracht, Utrecht
- 2011-03-12 — The Steel Breeze (Pink Floyd tribute), De Schuur, Hoogmade
- 2011-03-09 — “We Will Rock You” De originele musical van Queen en Ben Elton, Beatrix Theater, Utrecht
- 2011-03-05 — Daniël Lohues, “Hout moet”, Kleine Komedie, Amsterdam
- 2011-02-28 — BLØF + Handsome Poets, Paradiso, Amsterdam
- 2011-01-26 — Charlie Dée, “A Tribute To Joni Mitchell”, De Vorstin, Hilversum
Not a bad show between them. The most memorable were Hanson (pure entertainment and joy), Solo (I went in completely blank, and halfway through the show I wondered why I hadn’t listened to them before), Beethoven’s Ninth (the melody of the choral part wouldn’t exit my mind for a month), Charlie Dée in Almere (very, very intimate) and the Finnish Dance of the Vampires.
The other half of the list contains the comedy and plays.
- 2011-12-30 — Dolf Jansen, “Als ik het niet do doet niemand het”, De Kleine Komedie, Amsterdam
- 2011-12-19 — Het Nationaal Toneel, “Midzomernachtsdroom”, Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam
- 2011-11-22 — Lebbis, “Branding”, De Kleine Komedie, Amsterdam
- 2011-11-05 — Brigitte Kaandorp, “Cabaret voor beginners”, De Flint, Amersfoort
- 2011-08-16 — Orkater, “Richard III”, Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam
- 2011-07-21 — De Parade: De Elite, “Once Upon a Time in La Mancha” + Rob en Emiel, “Close Up!”, Moreelsepark, Utrecht
- 2011-05-14 — Claudia de Breij, “Hete vrede”, De Flint, Amersfoort
- 2011-02-10 — Brigitte Kaandorp, “Cabaret voor beginners” (try-out), Theater Harderwijk
- 2011-01-03 — Zuidpool, “Lucifer”, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam
For the first time I kept a list of museums I’ve visited, and I’ve seen quite a lot of great art, including Wim T. Schippers’ Pindakaasvloer.
- Kunsthal, Rotterdam (2011-01-28, exhibits on Edvard Munch, Wim Oepts and a photoseries on Voodoo by Gaël Turine)
- Palacio Real de Madrid, Madrid, Spain (2011-04-07)
- Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, Madrid, Spain (2011-04-07)
- Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain (2011-04-08, temporary exhibits: Chardin, The Young Ribera, Nero and Seneca)
- El Museo de arte Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (2011-04-08, temporary exhibit: Heroines)
- Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, Spain (2011-04-09)
- Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2011-05-15)
- Kunsthal KadE, Amersfoort (2011-12-01, Märklinworld exhibit)
Despite a week in Spain, short trips to Germany and Finland and a week of doing nothing at home, I still managed not to spend all my vacation time. Oh, well, there’s always next year. In 2011, I spend at least one night in the following places, and on multiple occasions in those marked with a *.
- Amersfoort *
- Noorden *
- Barcelona, Spain
- Madrid, Spain
- Berg en Terblijt
- Emmerich am Rhein, Germany
- Den Haag
- Helsinki, Finland *
- Seinäjoki, Finland
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you know of my List of 100 Things. Here’s a roundup of the items I crossed of this year:
- #6: Climb the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren in Amersfoort.
- #15. I did not shave at all for at least a month.
- #67. Books I’ve read from my list of 40 booksto read before my 40th birthday: Neuromancer, De uitvreter / Titaantjes, Brave New World, The Great Gatsby, De avonden, The Catcher in the Rye, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
- #73: See a play by Shakespeare (Richard III, Midsummernight’s Dream)
- #74: See Beethoven’s Ninth in concert.
- #88: Museums visited in Amersfoort: Kunsthal KadE
- #94: Visit the Prado in Madrid, Spain.
So, uhm, anything else? Oh, yes: mind your fingers and see you on the other side.