Bartolomy’s Diary

I only went the Sunday to Sonisphere, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Ronnie James Dio and Co. a.k.a. Heaven and Hell but other than that no other band really interested me to actually go there a day earlier.
On Sunday I saw Lamb Of God (mwah), Mastodon (great; but bad sound due to wind), Machine Head (I thought they were ok, I still have to see a great Machine Head show to be honest), NIN (wtf is all that about……..left after three songs), Alice In Chains (to me the best band that day, soundwise amazing and their new singer is a great replacement, and the new songs sounded promising) amd then there’s Metallica.
I have not seen them for a few years, I think it was Big Day Out in Milton Keyns Bowl in 1999,Death Magnetic is back to form, not GREAT but GOOD. Kirk Hammett left a most positive impression on me, his playing was excellent, truelly a great guitarist. I have trouble with James Hetfield not swearing on stage and be this calm……. The sound was great but after about ten songs I thought it was time to bail. And low and behold 45 mins later I was back home due to the great bus service back to the station and getting the fast train back to Finsbury Park, unreal.

Other than that Festivals have become cash cows, but even with all the stuff, stands and activity on display I sensed a form of Metallica fatigue, simply as I reckon there were not more than 35.000 people there, I mean Tallica should have had 50 plus, BUT they have just been playing arround a lot the past few years. Anyways, I had a good time and it was just fun being a punter for a change. I hooked up with some old friends at Metal Morphosis’ stand to have a few beers and chats in between bands. Most pleasant.

Straight after coming back from Holland the next day I am of on a three day trip to Sintra, near Lisbon in Portugal.
I was there in early July for one day but now had some more time to look around and check out the beautiful architecture of the village.
Simply stunning. On the last night there I manage to snag a couple of snoggers in a great position and in a fine sunny setting, a really nice pic.

The village has very little night life, GREAT!!!!!!, so it is very quiet there in the evening, a few people strolling, a bar or two and that’s it. I stayed in a so called 4 star hotel, dated by at least 20 years. The staff were all friendly but some new toys, such as a proper inet connection, and beds (the ones they have are rock hard) wouldn’t go amiss in this place.
We enjoy the sunsets and I take some cool snaps…
Here’s a few:

I was in Holland for six days and had a good time, the weather was pretty good, a few torrential showers but a lot of sun as well, on my mother’s birthday the 25th we celebrated as usual on the camping, where all her sisters and brother pop up and say hi, I see way too many people to yack with, I am with my brother’s kids kids mostly as they demand their share of attention. The last few days was total bliss weather wise, I thought time to lie down and do some…….lazin’
Other than that just cycling around and eating way too much food.

A lot has happened and if I have neglected something then it’s this diary…..

So first of all here’s Doll and the Kicks at The Brixton Academy supporting Morrissey, feels like ages ago already.