Heaven Nr. 7

I've got a new idol called Guus Meeuwis. No, he's not a substitute for Madonna, cause she will always be at least ten steps ahead of everybody else, but Guus does do a pretty good job. My readers from outside of Holland will most likely have no clue who I'm talking about, which is a shame really, cause he makes great music. At the moment, well actually for the last 5 years, he's been one of Holland's most popular singers. Starting out as a student band singer, he got his first #1 single even before graduating from college. Now, a couple of years later, he's selling out stadiums each year on his tours, and I'm so planning of attending one of his shows next year.

Anyway, the reason I'm plugging him is because he's got a new album out, called Hemel Nr. 7 (Heaven Number 7). I thought it would be nice if people from other countries would get to know him as well, so type his name in Google and listen to some of his songs. It doesn't matter if you don't speak Dutch, cause the songs are good enough without actually needing to understand the lyrics.

Enjoy listening!

Two weeks of non-smoking

Two weeks of non-smoking for me! I couldn't be more proud of myself!

A good time afterwards

It's a bit of a busy week at work, so I'm glad I've been making plans for every single night of this week, so that I know I'll always have something to look forward to.

Monday evening I went for drinks with Ziena and Rik. We met a couple of guys from the United States and Canada, which was great, cause I always really enjoy meeting people from foreign countries. Of course it was a school night, so I had to watch my time, but I had a great evening anyway.

Yesterday Ziena and I went swimming, which will reprise tonight. Usually we go swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays, but since we used up Monday night for drinks we had to go on Thuesday this week.

Tomorrow there's a concert by Rik's band called The Elisabeth Knowhow, so that's something to look forward to as well. They make kinda Chilli Peppers sorta music, although I guess there will be people thinking I'm crazy now. Anyway, I like them, which is quite surprising considering they're not in the Billboard Hot 100.

Friday night there's a Cleopatra party, so I'm sure that will round up the week just great! Being busy at the office is just fine, as long as you're certain of having a good time afterwards.

Kylie X

The Princess of Pop, Kylie Minogue is about to release her new album, dubbed X and the lead single 2 Hearts. I can't wait for this album to be in my hands, since it's the first new material since Kylie's fight against breast cancer.

As you may remember, I was front row at Kylie's ShowGirl concert in Rotterdam, so I'm extremely eager for this album. Can't wait!

Way too fast

I'm a bit ashamed of the enormous amounts of money I spend yesterday while shopping with Ziena. Then again, shopping can make me really happy and I only bought necessary stuff, like a new jacket and a new messenger bag. Also, we had lunch in town and went for a glass of wine and some nibbles, which was nice!

Then yesterday night we went out clubbing which was also pretty cool, although I felt tired quite early so I went home for a good night sleep. I suppose that was the good thing to do, since right now I'm not feeling tired at all so I can relax and go have a drink with some friends this afternoon.

And that about sums up the weekend, that went by way too fast...

Spoil myself day

I'm going to have a bit of a spoil myself day this lovely Saturday. Fisrt off, in a couple of minutes I'm going to get my hair cut, which is something that always makes me very happy. Nothing better than looking fresh and clean cut!

After that, Ziena and I are going shopping and have lunch in town, which is my favorite way of spending a Saturday afternoon. One of our department stores is having a big sale starting today, so of course we need to take advantage of that! I hope there will be somewhat of a scene, with people ripping clothes out of each others hands, like you see on television every once in a while.

Tonight I'm going out clubbing, so I can show of my new haircut and clothes to a willing test audience. Sounds like this is going to be a great day!

Just Theo

I'm pretty excited! This afternoon I got a call from a big television production company, asking me to come to the studio and do a screentest to beacome a contestant on big Dutch tv-show 1 Tegen 100 (1 Against 100).

The idea is that one contestant has to answer questions correctly to stay in the race, while an audience of 100 people can try to outrace this contestant and win the prizes instead. I remember entering to be a contestant some time ago, so when this woman called me I honestly had no idea what she was talking about, but it dawned on me pretty soon, so now I'm quite excited.

Prize money is pretty big on this show, about a 100000 if I remember correctly (I have to admit I don't watch the show very often). Anyway, it's been a couple of years since the last time I was on a tv show, so it's about time. The magic will start next week Saturday, on September 29, so be sure to check back around then (and sooner, of course).

Cold turkey

I couldn't be more proud of myself: I've been an ex-smoker for 8 days already! Withdrawal sympthons were not nearly as horrendous as I expected them to be, and as I'm writing this, I'm actually not experiencing any withdrawal signs at all. Who would have thought it would be so easy?

Of course, there's a certain danger in thinking it's too easy. It's a lot easier to fall back in the habit when you're under the impression you can quit at any time again. The most important thing to realise for me, at this moment, is that all it takes to going back to being an addict, is just one puff. As an ex-smoker you need to realise you will never lose the urge to start smoking again, so you should never let yourself fall into any temptation.

Good thing is that all restaurants, bars, clubs and cafe's will enforce a smoking ban starting june 2008. The most difficult place not to smoke, to me, is anywhere where you can have a drink with your friends. Although I don't aprove of a government-enforced smoking ban (personally I'd like to be my own judge if I want to smoke or not), I do have to say right now it will probably come in real handy for me.

So, tonight I'm going swimming with Ziena again (we're doing this two nights a week faithfully) so I can feel even more healthy!

Seasons 3

Because I already saved 20 Euro's on not smoking in the past 4 days, I decided I'm going to spoil myself and buy myself a new Will and Grace DVD box, Seasons 3!

Life's great

4 Days ago, I took my second chance of quitting smoking, and so far, I'm doing very well! I've been out for drinks and dinner, usually the most difficult occasions for a recent ex-smoker, but I handled it pretty well. It's not like I didn't have any problems quitting, but it's not as hard as it was the last time. Besides that, I'm over the critical 72 hours line, so it can only get easier from now on. I've read that after 72 hours, most of the addictive nicotine has exit your body, so that means you will have less withdrawal signs.

Also, as we're talking good news: Ziena got her new job. Of course I didn't expect anything else, but still it's great to have it official. Of course we went to celebrate, with dinner at the Cantina Mexicana, one of my favourite restaurants in Groningen.

Tomorrow my parents are coming over, so that's another nice thing to look forward to. Life's great!

Lifelist, part one

After watching Ellen DeGeneres going on and on about lifelists, I decided to make one for myself. For those of you not in the know: a lifelist is a list with things you want to do and/or achieve in the near future or in your life in general. As this list will probably change over the course of time, I named this topic Part 1, so that I can alter stuff when necessary. Okay, so here we go (in no particular order):

1. Succeed in quitting smoking
2. Getting fatastic relationship with gorgeous guy
3. Actually meet Madonna
4. Eventually move out of Groningen
5. Visiting the United States
6. Go cage-diving with Great White Sharks
7. Learning how to play an instrument
8. Stop worrying about futile things
9. Visit London every year
10.Get on television

Me and Sara

Comeback from hell

Oh my God, did anyone watch last night's MTV Video Music Awards ceremony? As you probably know, Britney Spears was opening act, performing (not how I call it performing, instead of singing) her new single Gimme More.

What could have been a fantastic restart, launching her back into stardom, was actually a pretty pathetic attempt of trying to bring back some of the old magic. Britney looked uninspired and skyrocket high, she danced like... well like nothing I can think of, and she even forgot to lip-synch a couple of times. What was she, and her team, thinking?

It's bad enough her image currently is based only on scandals, but if she could at least have given us a fantastic performance, I really think the public would have forgiven her, but I don't see any chance of that now. I actually feel kind of sorry for her. How has this girl become this complete idiot, throwing her career away like it's nothing?

She better come up with a killer album, otherwise I suspect she won't have any career left...

Me and my best friend

Because this is my 500th post on Totally Theo, I'd like to share this recent picture of me and my best friend in the whole world, Ziena! Taken just a couple of weeks ago, I think it's a lovely pic!

Ready for a night at the town

So far the weekend has been a pretty boring event, although boring in a good way. Yesterday, after work, I went for a drink with a friend, which was nice. Yesterday evening I was supposed to go to a birthday party, but when I got home to have dinner, I found myself being pretty worn up, so I decided not to go and spend the evening on the couch watching dvd's. Not the best way to spent your Friday night, but nonetheless I was actually pretty content with it.

Today I continued with my lazy weekend, by fucking about in and around the house and not really doing anything special, which was just fine. You know how when you've got a fulltime job, sometimes you can feel like you're obligated to do all kinds of active things during the weekend? I usually feel that way, so it was kind of refreshing to actually not doing anything.

Of course, a weekend cannot excist entirely of doing nothing and eating out of your nose, so tonight Leendert is coming over, after which we will hit the town. Some nice people I know from Madonna.nl are going out as well, which is kinda cool. Usually we as Madonna fans only see each other while waiting in line in front of a stadium, so it's nice seeing them in a different way. The next tour won't be until next year, so it's nice seeing some of them.

I do have to worry about not getting too hungover tomorrow morning, cause I'm planning on going to Leeuwarden to visit my parents. I usually do that on Sunday afternoons, cause it's such a pleasant way of ending the weekend.

By the way, this is my 499th post on Totally Theo, so the next one is going to be a milestone!

Gimme more

Tomorrow evening, Britney Speras will be the opening act for the annual MTV Video Music Awards, performing Gimme More. It will mark the first official public appearance she gave since all of her personal problems started.

Although it's a lot of fun bashing Britney, I do personally hope she'll give a smashing performance and get back on top where she belongs. Although I don't believe anymore she will one day be the new Madonna, I still think she has a lot of potential in becoming on of the biggest stars of our days, but she does really need to get her act together and started focusing on being what the public wants.

I've been to her Onyx Hotel Tour in Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, and even though she lip-synched her way through it, I do have to say the show was great. I also very much enjoyed her much hyped liplock with Madonna on the 2003 MTV Awards. Now it's time for her to take one step away from all the controversy and focus on releasing a great album. The public has a tendency to forgive and forget if you come up with good material, so let's hope that's what she will do.

By the way, I need to watch the awards show anymore, since there are some rumours floating around on the internet Madonna will give a surprise performance. Let's see if it's true!

An addiction to remember

As you know I've tried quitting smoking last week, and then again this week. It didn't work out.... I desperately try to find the motivation to actually go through with it, but I just can't find it. I know there are a thousand reasons to quit smoking, but I just can't seem to plant them in my head firmly enough to actually follow them and stop.

There's this guy I really like who really wants me to quit smoking, but not even because of this I can get myself to follow through. He's angry with me now for not quitting, but then again, is there any way you can quit for someone else? No matter how much you like a person, the only good reason to stop smoking is because you want it for yourself. It doesn't matter if someone else is pleased by you quitting, it just doesn't hold up to reasons you can actually live up to.

I still feel it's stupid to smoke, and I still want to quit, but I do really need to find my own motivation, otherwise it's just useless.

Da bomb

Today the German bombing plots were making headlines, as you all probably know. 3 Muslim men were planning on bombing Frankfurt International Airport and Ramstein, a U.S. military base. Thankfully authorities were able to arrest them before they could go on with their plans.

News like this really scares me. I've been to London, just a couple of days after the Underground bombings a couple of years ago, which was pretty frightening. Of course chances are very slim of a similiar thing happening so soon afterwards in the same city, but still I have to admit every time I got of the Tube safely, I felt quite relieved.

The eerie thing about terrorist threads, is that it can happen everywhere. It's not like you're living in a warzone where you have to be on your guards every moment of the day, which is why it's so easy not to think about the very real thread there is in our everyday lives. The Netherlands are participating in missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which means we could be a possible target for evildoers. If it can happen in New York, London, Madrid and almost in Frankfurt, there's no reason to believe something like that could never happen in , say, Amsterdam or Rotterdam. After all, Rotterdam is a major hub in freight traffic, through it's large harbour. A bombing could seriously disrupt Europe's economy.

Of course, this is not something you want to be thinking of every day, cause when you do that, you can't enjoy a normal life. Still, news like today does really start me thinking, and I pray to God this will never happen in the Netherlands.

1 Year ago: Amsterdam

Tonight it's exactly one year ago Madonna took her Confessions Tour to the Amsterdam ArenA. Of course, I was there, front row, and again for the second show, which is tomorrow one year ago. These two final nights of my Madonna summer bring back great memories, so therefor, for the last time, we're gonna travel back in time with the review I posted on MadonnaTribe last year.

Thanks to M-Tribe contributor Theo for his review of both Madonna's "Confessions" show in Amsterdam. "Saturday afternoon we arrived at about 3-ish, to start waiting in line for the first of two Amsterdam ArenA Confessions Tour shows, which was to take place on Sunday. This time, it wasn't just me and Annelies, but also Sjeed, Bo and Mariska. My boyfriend drove me to the ArenA, and we were happy to find out that the adjacent bar was open, so we could get some beers and get the fun started." "The night went by pretty easy, so when we woke up, we found there was already quite a line waiting behind us. Fortunately enough, most of them were fun people, so it was a good day, especially when the SGP and Schreeuw om Leven people came on the scene, who we tried to boo off (no such luck I suppose, these are pretty persistant people)." "At 6-ish the doors opened, and we ran as fast as we can to get up front. As it happened, I turned out to be the very first person to enter the Golden Circle, so I had a perfect choice on what position at the catwalk I wanted to have. I ended up at the left side, about four meters from the central stage, which is by now already my favourite place to watch the show." "The show itself, as always, was absolutely perfect. I was seen on the big screens (and broadcasted on television as it appears), I took a picture with Madonna's manager Guy Oseary (a lovely guy), and cought a balloon once again. Madonna was in a very good mood so the show was one big happy party!" "After the show, we were so tired and worn up, that Annelies and I decided not to go back in line right away. We made a bed in the car, only to find out that we weren't allowed to sleep in the parking garage, so we had to find an alternative place to sleep. Luckily enough we found one, so we had, as far as sleeping in a car goes, a good night sleep. When we woke up, we decided we didn't want to be in line at all this day, since we've seen the show from front row three times already, so we went to the city center of Amsterdam to have lunch and do some shopping. When we got back, there was already a huge line, so we went to the bar and had some beers." "When we entered the ArenA at about 8, we managed to get some pretty good spots in the middle of the stadium, which meant that we finally had some room to dance. When you're front row, you can watch the show at its very best, but the crowd is pushing so hard that there isn't any room to dance, so it was kind of refreshing to finally see the stadium as a big dance floor, the way Madonna wants it." Madonna was in a good mood again, so we had a fantastic final night of Confessions. The tour is off to Prague, Moscow, Osaka and finally Tokyo now, so it's over for me. I can only say that these past three weeks have been the best ever, even better than Re-Invention. I will always cherish my memories of this fantastic show, and I've got my two balloons, my t-shirt and my tour jacket to account for that. Annelies, Bo, Sjeed, Mariska, Nathalie, Ellen, David, Izzy, Robert and Shirley (and whoever I might have left out in the rush): Thanks for a fantastic time, but above all: Madonna, thank you for yet another wonderfull tour. I can't wait for the next!"

Shop til you drop

The weekend is going by way too fast... Had a great day yesterday. Ziena and I went shopping for clothes. I bought myself a new pair of pants and new sunglasses and I'm very happy with my purchases. Afterwards, we had some lunch in town and went for a drink with Dirk, Anneke, Remco and David at De Pintelier, which is a great bar here in Groningen.

Yesterday evening Leendert came over to my house so I had a fun evening. We were supposed to go clubbing afterwards, but we were bothg tired so we decided not to go. Good thing, cause now it's Sunday morning and I'm all fresh and happy, which I suppose wouldn't have been the case if I had gone out.

So, now I'm gonna do some shopping and then have lunch with Martijn in my favourite restaurant. Too bad the weekend ends after today already...