First anniversary of Goddess of Loki on Blogspot!

First anniversary of Goddess of Loki on Blogspot!

Blog created on February the 10th, a day after Tom's 38th birthday.

From February 10, 2019 to February 10, 2020 I wrote in total (this one included) 69 blogposts.

After I had watched War Horse last afternoon on Tom's birthday I realized that this blog's birthday was coming up soon too. One year has passed now, because I made this blog one day after Tom's birthday. It was one day too late when I decided I wanted to have my own blog, no actually one week too late because there were so many beautiful things to share in Tom's Spirit Week (so I just re-shared them a week later)! Because today it's my blog's first anniversary, I would like to look back on a few of this blog's posts, published in the first month! I think it's funny (and sometimes a bit embarrassed) to look back on your older writings, whether they are blogs or fanfiction writings. Not only do you improve your writing style in a year, but often you'll cross writings and you think: "Have I really written that? Was that my opinion?" I hope this sounds familiar, otherwise I'm the only one haha. 

I had a lot to write about in February 2019 because it had 16 posts! However, my first blogpost was a very short one, basically just a status where I shared that I had watched The Hollow Crown for the very first time the day before, on his birthday. My second one was named Favorite Tom Friday, dedicated to #TomsSpiritWeek. It was for the day you had to pick your favorite 9 of Tom from his 37th to his 38th birthday. It was a lot of text, here's a small part of it:

(Note: I'll add "2020:" in commentary I've added now.)

1. Favorite Tom Hiddleston Friday (<-- link to post)

4. Suddenly out of the blue, there was this picture of Tom Hiddleston & Josh Wilson posted by Wilson Worldwide Productions Something about a secret project. I‘m still very curious, because we still don‘t know what it is! I think it‘s something very spectacular! We got something to look forward to! He also posted a second photo (that‘s the one in the collage) in which he tagged me & a few other Tom Hiddleston/Loki fan accounts in. That totally made my day, so thank you Josh!

2020: Is it just me, or do we still NOT KNOW?

6. On the 30th October Tom and Josie Rourke talked at the Alan Howard / JW3 Speaker Series. It was a lovely and inspiring interview, I was able to watch later on Youtube. He talked about how he stepped out of his comfort zone, which has inspired me to do the same. When I hear this man talk about acting; whether it‘s in film, series or theatre; it‘s so so visible I‘m listening to a man who found his passion and as I said it before: He truly has put his heart and soul it. Perhaps I do not know how to properly bring this into words, but I hope you understand what I mean. I think many people can see him as an example, given the fact for example how he has grown in +/- 20 years. From liking to do voices as a kid to this passion and talent which goes much deeper than just the word ‘acting’. He does inspire people to go take their passion to the next level as well. 

2020: Still one of my favorite interviews of Tom!

7. Tom Hiddleston‘s first social media post in (what was it?) 2 years: Loki. More stories to tell. More mischief to make. More to come. That literally broke the internet! What Ralph Breaks the Internet? No, Tom Hiddleston breaks the internet! The #LokiSeries (#Disney+) confirmed by the man himself! I‘m so excited for this whole thing. Patient, patient.. But I‘m freaking out inside! Can‘t wait!

2020: Now we finally have a first look of the Loki Series! And I still can't wait!

9. This photo is taken by BBC Radio 2 during the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. It‘s truly one of my favorite pictures yet! There he spoke about ‘Betrayal’ which will be hitting the theatre in London next month. He also spoke a little about the Loki Series & about the Nightmanager season 2, but he wasn‘t allowed to say much about it yet. What better to start your Friday morning (it was a Friday) with then listening to Tom‘s voice on the radio! They also had some real good music in-between the talks. I heard ABBA, Journey (Don‘t stop Believing) & a live performance of a song of No Doubt. Also they spoke about the film 'Mary Queen of Scots' which premiered that week. I found it very impressive!

2020: Okay still nothing on the Night Manager Season 2, but wow Betrayal London is almost a year ago now! Last December in my Top 2000 Music blogpost, I also addressed this radio interview when sharing the main reason why I gave Journey's Don't Stop Believing a vote: --> "Ever since my teen years the song Don't Stop Believing came to me on moments when I was about to stop believing.. It's like it's the Universe's way to send me a reminder, a confirmation and it's so beautiful. It's something that gets me emotional too. You know one of my dreams is meeting Tom Hiddleston one day and when he was on the English Radio 2 (betrayal interview) the song Don't Stop Believing was played during that show or after it. And here it comes: Two hours later I switch back to the Dutch Radio 2 and on the very same moment there it is: Don't Stop Believing from Journey!" <-- It was such a magical moment! And the ABBA song was 'Waterloo', one that now also makes me think of Tom every time I hear it!

In a top 9 of 2019-2020 probably Loki in Endgame, Tom Hiddleston on SDCC, Tom's posts about the Loki Series, Betrayal London & Betrayal Broadway won't be missing!

My other two edits I made for Favorite Tom Friday were 9 of my favorite Tom Hiddleston photo's/moments/my fave roles of Tom other than Loki + 9 favorite photo's of Tom as Loki:

2. Loki's Birthday (Chapter of my Loki Novel)

To stay in the spirit of Tom's birthday, I shared a scene of when it was Loki's birthday in my Loki fanfiction. Click the link if you want to read it. I'm currently editing my story, what I had posted here is obviously not edited yet. 

3. Thor The Dark World 

Still one of my favorite posts. I talked Thor the Dark World, one or maybe my favorite Marvel movies all time! 😊 Again, here's a small part:

Favorite Introduction: In the Avengers we see Loki looking as a mess at first sight, (Of course he made all women worldwide faint a few scenes later, with him staring in their souls while the guards guide him away. Even Bruce Banner got distracted by that look!) here we see the opposite. I can‘t help but saying that he just looks extremely attractive in those chains! I don‘t know how many time was meant to be passed, but he surely doesn't look like he just got Hulk Smashed! The way we get to see him walking towards -there‘s the minor point..- Odin. In between he asked his mother if he made her proud. Also I like the scenes with Frigga and Loki very much. If you ask me I think, despite that he wasn't her real son, she favored Loki over Thor. Yes, I love this introduction. I have played this DVD like a thousand of times, so I usually just skip the prologue part and my movie starts with this scene. :) 

Favorite quote: 

"If it were easy, everyone would do it." 

And of course, off-screen at the end of the scene: "Ta-daa!"

2020: And somewhere in this post I wrote: "Is it an idea to rerelease this film, with nothing but Loki commentary during the whole film?" I still would sign for this haha! 

Favorite Illusion:

In my opinion, too much Loki scenes got cut in Thor the Dark World. (Perhaps because otherwise they could have better named the movie: Loki the Dark World..) But if I should name one they should not had cut out, I‘m not naming this one. I‘m naming the scene in which you see Loki scream loudly after he just heard about his mother‘s death. In the movie we only get to see him moving his furniture, while this extended scene showed much more of his emotions! It showed that he cared deeply, that also the God of Mischief is a man with real feelings. Of course for us it‘s obvious Loki isn't heartless, even though his actions and words have not always shown that. We read it off his face (right?). But when I‘m talking to someone who doesn't understand his character, they describe him as a selfish, heartless dirty bull. Unfortunately for some, Loki still is a misunderstood character. But luckily, the deleted scenes are out there for us to see. And this is one of my favorite because it‘s full of fun! Loki dressed as a King, raising Mjolnir and getting a lot of glory from the folks. An illusion created by Loki. The scene in Thor: Ragnarok (Hela demanding the folks to kneel before her), reminds me of this scene. Loki really has developed himself in Ragnarok, but sometimes I think it‘s funny to wonder: Is Loki really the adopted one? ;)

Favorite ending: Once you have seen the after credits scenes, you don‘t have to see them again. At least, that‘s what I thought. For me the movie starts with Loki and ends with him + the lovely Thor the Dark World music which comes after. Once I said: "Marvel shall never outdo the strong vibe this ending had.", and several movies further I still agree with myself. The best fatherly advise Thor ever got, didn't even came from his father. As if Loki just knew Thor would have turned around while walking away (imagine if he did..), he transformed (looking just as attractive like in the introduction) back to himself and softly said: 'No, thank you..' Gold!

2020: ^^ Still saying AMEN to this!

4. Who is 'Goddess of Loki' ? 

I had found a website with all kinds of questions to introduce yourself to your readers. Funny to read it back tho, let's see if I still agree with my 'one year ago' self:

"By start the people who know me don‘t call me 'Goddess of Loki', most of them don‘t even know I got social media accounts named after that, let along if they even know who Loki is. No, people call me Nicole because well.. that‘s my name. And at the moment I‘m still 27 years old. I do live in a very small town in a country shaped like a hand glove. Do you know what country I mean? (The Netherlands.)"

2020: ^^ That's not right, I'm 28 now lol.


"1. What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend? Watching tv (shows, films with or without Tom in them), writing, reading, in general relaxing and sometimes I like to go out with friends.

2. What type of music are you into? Rock music mainly! I really like 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s."

2020: Nothing changed there.


"3. What was the best vacation you ever took and why? London 2017, it‘s just an amazing city! 

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? Ah, I thought this question would come.. Scotland! I would really like to go to Scotland! I think it‘s a really beautiful country with stunning nature. And I‘d like to see Lake Lochness!"

2020: Well, I'm going to Glastonbury this year, so perhaps question 3 would change. And question 4 would not be right, even though Scotland stands very high on my bucket list!

"9. What are you most proud of in the last year? How much I have grown in my English writing. You should see something I wrote like two years ago, I‘m still working on some adjustments in my older work."

2020: That answer is still correct! I think it's amazing how much you can learn in one year!

"12. Who do you admire most in the world? Do I seriously need to answer this question?? The answer is the person I dedicates this blog to! But besides him I also really admire my family members and some people who had to deal with a lot of difficulty."

2020: 💓

"21. If you could invite 3 people, dead or alive, to a dinner party, who would they be, and why? Tom Hiddleston, Kurt Cobain & Chris Hemsworth. This would be the weirdest party ever.."

2020: Why hadn't I invited Robert Downey Jr? He's definitely invited, so I've got to un-invite someone. Obviously that'll be Kurt Cobain or Chris Hemsworth..

"24. What fictional place / movie universe would you most like to go? Asgard! Dreaming away with Loki below the beautiful Asgard sky.."

2020: Who wouldn't?


(Then came a Valentine post, a post about the Raffle for meeting Tom Hiddleston, first news about the Loki Series and news about Betrayal)


5. Stuttgart Loki Funko Pop Custom

In February 2019 I also received my Stuttgart Loki custom I had requested. I still love him, he's so adorable! More pictures in the blogpost of February 23rd.

6. Throwback to Tom‘s Spirit Week: Good Will Thursday

My last post from February 2019 was dedicated to a charity for animals, my subject for Thursday's theme of 2019's Tom's Spirit Week:

Small part:

#TomsSpiritWeek: For today‘s theme #GoodWillThursday I chose to support charities. Since I already have donated for both of the Tom Hiddleston birthday Fundraisers for Unicef, I chose Animals Syria - CatConnect. I chose to donate the exact amount I had paid for an event which got canceled (and so was refunded to me). 

#CatConnect is on my list for charities I wanted to support since I saw the episode of husky Zeus on Dogs (Netflix documentary). As I got a big heart for animals and I want them to live a happy and safe life, the episode touched me very much. The episode is about a Syrian refugee. His dog Zeus remained in Syria for several years before enlisting the help of Animals Syria to make the reunion possible.

2020: ^^ I don't know if it's still on Netflix, but 'Dogs' is really worth the watch!


💚💙💜💛


Compared to last year and seen how busy I am lately, I know I won't make it to 16 posts for February this year! But since I watched War Horse last night and because I like to write film blogs/reviews, I think my next blog will be about War Horse!

I want to thank everyone who has followed me & has been reading my blogs this year. Up to another year of fun, lots of Hiddleslove & lots of Loki's mischief!

See you soon!

💓

Love,

xx

Nicole

💓

Tom Hiddleston at Fallon Tonight + The Avengers Theme Song in the City Hall's building..

Tom Hiddleston at Fallon Tonight

On the 25th of November Tom Hiddleston was a guest of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. It was a delighted, funny interview. Jimmy showed some of Marvel's exclusive footage of when Tom Hiddleston auditioned for the role of Thor in 2009. I had never seen footage of his audition with audio before. Really worth the watch!

Also Jimmy asked Tom to perform a good cry-act live and while the audience in the back were laughing, Tom managed to do so. I mean, I first came across of some screenshots of this on Instagram and I thought Jimmy shot him a question that resulted in him being emotional. Luckily it was an act.

They also mentioned the following, when Tom ran into Avengers cos-players at the Time Square: A adorkable (as one of my Tumblr followers stated) event!

Here's a clip of Tom's visit at the show of Jimmy Fallon:

I love this interview and I hope they'll release more footage of it!

The Avengers Theme Song in the City Hall's building

I've got to share this:

Also an accident/action 'totally me' occurred me today. Let me quote Tony Stark for that: "Guys, I'm bringing the party to you..", because when I accidentally played the Avengers Theme song loudly in the canteen, I brought the party to the colleagues (having lunch) of our City Hall.

I was testing the music, random music I had with me, in the area next to it (It's possible to link the hardware in both the areas) and apparently while testing it a wrong button got pressed (read, Thor: "I'm pressing every button on this thing!") and then... it was like Iron Man, Loki and Thor & Co just flew in because at that very moment I had the Avengers Theme Song playing. I heard no music, but the people in the canteen did. They heard the Avengers VERY LOUD, during lunch..

I'm often talking about that I do not always know how to make myself heard, but apparently I can.. when it accidentally happens.. Now tell me, what's better to be played in a local government building full of officials and people active in politics than the Avengers theme song? I call it: the perfect accident.. 😏

May I end November 26th's blogpost with a photo of my two new Funko members? With his claimy pose that Loki pop just asked for that particular line! Coincidence doesn't exist, these brothers just had to come in together (different orders)!

Love,

Nicole

Tom & Charlie change character for Halloween

Tom as Daredevil, Charlie as Loki

Picture: Bruce Glikas (Gettyimages)

A few days for Halloween it got announced: A Halloween surprise at Betrayal's Stage door. Zawe Ashton, holding a camera, asked the two men what they would wear. It was a surprise. Then the speculation begun: "What will Tom wear for Halloween?"

In the comments I saw a lot passing by with two on the lead:
- Loki
- Anything Shakespeare related

But...

He came out as Daredevil and Charlie was wearing a Loki costume! Which means Tom & Charlie basically switched characters, a lovely gesture if you ask me! Zawe was dressed as Captain Marvel & Eddie Arnold was Captain America

Photos by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images

Photos by Bruce Glikas/Getty Images

> Go here for footage behind the scenes at People <

Photo by Jenny Anderson

My Loki funkopop had a original costume too..

Thank you 3000!

Thank you 3000!

'Starting with ‘Thor’ you took me on a journey. A journey that opened lots of doors to other worlds for me (and I‘m not just talking about Asgard). I‘d just hopped on the ‘Tom Hiddleston train’ a few years ago and let you guide me towards stations that gave me dreams, believe, more self-confidence & hope. And as the cherry on top: inspiration for writing about Loki myself, which truly feels like a desire from my heart.'

"Love you 3000!"

Front of the card (A4) I send to Tom in May

Now that Spider-Man: Far from Home (don‘t worry no spoilers, JUST FOR ENDGAME!) has ended MCU Phase 3, I would like to dwell on that for a minute, if I may. I had wanted to write about Avengers: Endgame earlier, but each time something came in between. It‘s too late for writing a review about Endgame and there‘s enough discussion about it on the internet too, so I‘m just going to leave it like that. I do want to say that I thought Endgame was worthy, a good closure. I liked Endgame much better than Infinity War, I‘m sure you know why.. In fact, I never felt the need of re-watching Infinity War and I wouldn't mind seeing Endgame again.. There‘s always criticism, but in my opinion, For both Tony Stark and Captain America Endgame did very well. To be honest, about Thor I‘m still balancing in the middle. It really relies on what they‘ll do to him in the future. We haven‘t seen the last of him yet, no doubt! And what about Loki? By letting Loki escape with the Tesseract in 2012, Endgame created an opening for The Loki Series. I think that means that everything still is possible. All doors are open. It‘s up to Disney and Marvel to use those doors and what they‘ll do with it. And I‘m seeing this positive. I trust them, but more importantly: I have faith in Tom Hiddleston! Always!

After Endgame, I've been creative by creating 'Thank you' cards for my three favorites. Besides Tom, Robert and Chris Hemsworth received one. Before today (8th of July), I hadn't shared them online yet. Tom‘s card is above. It includes 5 edits on which I edited my favorite Loki quotes in. To get them all in one card, I decided to do IW and Endgame in one edit. I will share all 5 edits in this blog. 

I‘m not going to share the text I wrote in the cards. They have a personal touch here and there, when I‘m writing about what the films and their characters have meant for me. Tom‘s card also has a Funko Fun edit inside, that I can share with you:

>Some more pictures of the Loki Stuttgart Funko Custom can be found here<

All though I made this for the fun, it‘s no lie that I would love to see Tom again in his Loki Stuttgart suit. It‘s one of my favorite outfits of Loki. I feel very thankful to have this Loki Stuttgart Custom.


Tony Stark has so many memorable quotes in the MCU. It seems that the line "I Love you 3000" has a deeper meaning. I read that Robert Downey Jr. said it to his own kids, and if that isn‘t beautiful enough: It seems like the total run-time of all 23 films is similar to the number as well: 3000 minutes!


See this tweet for more about that:

Look at the total run time for all the MCU movies. “I love you 3000”. Can’t cope... #AvengersEndgame pic.twitter.com/A6nj6bGaNd

— Ash (@AshBoio) 2 mei 2019

I took my Tony Pop‘s and chose my favorite Tony Stark Quotes. Of course Reindeer Games, Point Break and Shakespeare in the Park can‘t miss. His line "Sorry, Earth is closed today" cheered me up after the beginning of IW broke me, ah yes Tony totally is the God of Marvel. I love his choice of nicknames and of course Lebowski for Thor in Endgame resulted in breaking my laugh again.. Tony is an important character in my Loki stories as well and I can‘t resist on using some of his known nicknames again, but also it inspired me for other ones for example: Shakespeare-sisters for Thor and Loki or Planet Squirrel as a guess for the name of the planet Rocket comes from. Tony, Loki, Thor & Rocket: a golden quartet in stories, gives you lots of writing fun!

Front of the card I've send to Chris Hemsworth

Close up quotes I chose for Thor. (The Get Help Funko-Fun is one I made last year) 

I totally ruined my own Get Help Funko-Fun by adding my favorite Thor quotes, but also Thor has lots of memorable quotes we shouldn't forget!

A small part of what I wrote in Thor‘s card:

When I first watched a Thor movie all those years ago, I never knew it would open a whole new world for me. Besides making me develop a love for the Norse Mythology, you also gave me The Avengers as a present. You know, the reason I chose to watch 'Thor' at the first place was because I liked fantasy films with guys with long hair in it. But Thor, (especially) Loki and the stunning world of Asgard helped me through a rough period and inspired me to write about them. 

I would like to thank you for all you gave and shared with us. Thor‘s journey, who I felt so sorry for after he kept losing more and more. You went for the head, yes! For the better I don‘t have a Thanos Funkopop otherwise I would have a made a Thor VS Thanos movie moment 2.0! Once you said: 'No Thor without Loki', and now we saw in what condition he is without him: I truly hope he‘ll get his brother back eventually. But I really liked Thor‘s viking look at the end, his braided beard. It gave me that real Norse Gods/Immigrant song feeling. Hope to see more Thor in the future! 

Loki

Continue with Loki.💗

Creating his card took me the most time. Obviously because I wanted to do a little extra for Tom. Hopefully he can see through the fact that I‘m absolutely no Photoshop pro.. The idea was for all edit to be a bit in the same style. In each edit I used at least one black and white photo of Loki and a color one. Also I used the same layers and fonts to make them have a bit of the same look (as far as I managed) and of course Loki quotes! 💟💓 Actually Loki has too many memorable quotes to add them all haha.

Of course the helmet may keep its colors!

My favorite!

I found some of the edits too crowded because of the Loki quotes, so for the Thor the Dark World edit I decided to not make them dominate the edit. My favorite Loki scenes are the Ta-da scene and everything involved Thor and Loki escaping Asgard, so they had to be in! And of the scenes I think Loki looks absolutely stunning is the opening scene of this film, yes where he wears chains.. Also I kind of cheated with this edit. In my opinion, Thor the Dark World also had the strongest last few seconds that ended a Marvel. Therefore a bit in the back, this smiling mischief-looking Loki is added. 😊 

Ragnarok! In a Ragnarok Loki themed edit, the picture I use as profile photo definitely can‘t miss! 

Darker movies, darker edits..

Endgame and Infinity War in one. To keep the focus more on Loki, I also narrowed down at one quote. I chose the quote that meant the most to me. The sun will always shine on them! 🌞

'I‘m happy Loki‘s journey hasn't reached its End 'game' yet. I‘m super excited for the Loki Series! A whole wide road open for Loki. Wherever he goes, I will follow!'

#ThankYouAvengers

Love you 3000 is a quote I will continue on using in the future!

Pinkpop/Music

Music (I attended Pinkpop Festival last Monday)

This time the blog post is all about music. A subject that lies close to many people‘s hearts. Therefore I don‘t think many of you will bother to read a post like this here. For me personally music does a lot. My taste in music is big. When in a certain mood, I only need to listen to the music that fits my mood or brightens my day. Sometimes that‘s Nirvana, other times INXS, Muse, Fleetwood Mac or anything else. Music inspires many people too, including Tom for the role of Loki (In this Only Artist fragment he mentioned that he listened to the song Mind Heist by Zack Hemsey for the role of Loki, and we know he got a lot of inspiration from listening to the Prodigy too.) He also shared 'Song of the Day' tweets now and then back in the days.

One of Tom‘s old 'Song of the Day' tweets.

Last weekend was a busy, but fun weekend. While in London the last performance of Betrayal happened on Saturday, here in Holland we approached an holiday (Pentecost) weekend. (Sunday and Monday) All three days I had fun things to do. On Saturday I visited an event that was all about healthy food/ healthy lifestyle, on Sunday I had a private event and on Monday I traveled to Landgraaf, where the yearly Pinkpop festival was held. This music festival had names like Slash ft Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators, Fleetwood Mac, Bastille & the Pretenders this last day. 

My Betrayal card I send to the theatre last April

A little background talk

Pinkpop is one of the largest Dutch music festivals. It‘s held in Landgraaf, an hour driving from where I live. Pinkpop is founded by Jan Smeets. He‘s known as a true Dutch hero, this year he even had his own statue on the festival. The festival had it‘s 50th anniversary this year. Can you believe my first visit was in 2013? Back then Green Day was the headliner. Awesome experience by the way, they were great!  That day I discovered their song 99 Revolutions, happy memories every time I hear the 2013 live on Pinkpop version. A amazing 50 year old festival this close to my home and I've only visited it 3 (Actually 4 times if Pinkpop Classic counts too) times.. I should go out more.. According to WikiPedia Pinkpop is the oldest and longest running annual dedicated pop and rock music festival in the world. Wow! The name Pinkpop actually comes from Pinksteren (Dutch name for Pentecost), because the festival is usually held on the Pentecost weekend. When on the Pentecost weekend, it‘s held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But when the Pentecost weekend falls on a date in May (the next two years), the festival is held in June from Friday through Sunday. Pinkpop‘s logo/mascot is a black haired doll wearing a pink dress. Also that‘s to be referred in the name since 'Pop' is the dutch designation for 'Doll'.

Green Day - 99 Revolutions live at Pinkpop 2013

In 2007 Pinkpop gained a little sister, a spin off called Pinkpop Classic. Held in August with more classic bands, most who stood on Pinkpop many years ago. I've went to Pinkpop Classic with my father in 2013, the last edition because it was very hard for the organisation to book bands for this one. My father said if I came across of Jan I had to tell him to give Pinkpop Classic a comeback, but I only saw him standing on the stage in the distance.

Actually the Pinkpop first performance I saw was from Tom Odell. A beautiful performance. Pinkpop also is a stage for newer musicians, which he then was. Back then Tom Odell said: "I think this is the largest audience I've played for so far. Thank you for being here so early." Another great performance from 2013 was Kensington, a Dutch band. I even had seen them here in a local town that same year. Nowadays, if you want to see a Kensington concert, you have to book early since their shows in the Ziggo Dome are known to be sold out in a few hours. Even though Pinkpop wasn't sold out last Monday, I remember back in 2013 it felt far less crowded.

Kensington sparkled the sky at Pinkpop 2013

Spoken of sky shots. I took another one this year. One with a very grey looking sky. Not long after it gave us the first rain shower! Well, that‘s where the grounds got colored with all different colors of disposable raincoats (also by the people who indeed disposed them by flinging them off on the ground afterwards).

When Fleetwood Mac got announced, a voice inside me already got enthusiastic in wanting to attend the festival this year, and later when Slash got announced I knew that I needed to go! Why? In 2015 I saw a few songs of their Pinkpop performance that year, filmed by 3FM. Among others they aired You Could me Mine (Guns n‘ Roses cover) and World on Fire, one of their own songs. They were so great, with that (and especially because of World on Fire) I had found another music love, found out that Slash was much more than the guitarist of Guns n‘ Roses. Outcome: I so regretted my decision of not attending the event for 2 days that year. Slash and his band were there on Friday and I went on Saturday, mainly because of (my friends and I wanted to see) The Script (also they were great too). So I said to myself: Next time Slash is coming, I‘m definitely going! (Last minute I found three people to come with me, phew!) I had to wait 4 years, but hey nothing compared to the 6 years I‘m already waiting for 30 Seconds to Mars, another band I regretted not have seen live after seeing the performance (Plus point: Their whole performance was live to follow!) on the TV.

30 Seconds to Mars at Pinkpop in 2013. Photo by: Bart Notermans.

Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators

My highlight of the day: The rocking sounds of Slash, Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators. I only saw a few songs of the Pretenders because they played on another stage before, and you have to make choices when you want to stand in front at Slash‘s performance. (Light point: I could watch The Pretenders a day later at home, because it got aired and Slash‘s wasn't.) That‘s something I don‘t choose to do often, or like ever. You shouldn't do that at a performance of Rammstein or Rage Against the Machine for example, if you don‘t want to end up in the raging crowds or if you don‘t feel like you‘re standing so secure in your shoes, like me. Fun fact: In 1994, the Pinkpop crowds had caused a small earthquake at the performance of Rage Against the Machine. Since last year I‘m developing myself by stopping to see my legs-condition as an obstacle. It‘s like they are less a burden now, but of course there are some limits. But standing in front at Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators is not something I regret. Except for a moment when the camera‘s were in front of my face, however it‘s not aired anyway.. 

The performance was awesome, a great experience to live from up close-by. I was able to take some photo‘s as well. I've got no professional camera, you weren‘t allowed to bring them anyway, but the photo‘s are good enough for Facebook and Instagram. (Next year I think I need a new phone, perhaps I should deepen myself in it a bit more.) Unfortunately the sky had mistaken Slash for Splash because it gave us lots of Splash the entire performance. But I‘m definitely not made from sugar. I wore the raincoat again, only my shoes were dripping wet. 

But yes, they totally were my highlight. And of course they didn't skip my favorite song, World on Fire! For those who don‘t know the song or like the song, I would like to share the song. The band probably didn't gave permission for 2019‘s performance, but because they had given permission to air the song in 2015, I can share 2015‘s version. I like Myles interaction with the public in the middle of the song, he‘s such a great singer. Yeah, they definitely know how to entertain the public! Their new album and tour name is named Living the Dream ♥. Dream, one of my favorite words. Following my Dreams is something I‘m working on hard, so me standing in front of a performance of a music hero who‘s music I grew up with, (I babbled with the music of Guns n‘ Roses since I was a 2 year old toddler!) definitely is no coincidence! 

Had this posted on my Instagram a day before, my Slash pop was ready too!

(I also used my Slash pop last Halloween, to pretend Loki had dressed himself up as Slash for Halloween.)

Festival food

Mainly when spoken of festival food, you‘ll think of fastfood, the unhealthiest of the unhealthiest.. But a few years ago Pinkpop has introduced the Kalm aan Laan (Stay calm avenue), where lots of food trucks with healthy, organic and vegan were located. A very good initiative if you ask me. They had Pink (made from beet juice) vegetarian burgers, Banana bread, yoghurt, sweet potato fries, salades', name it. I took me a falafel burger (also pink), a piece of Banana bread (Too bad I didn't took a photo of the Banana bread counter, because they had more kinds and it looked and tasted delicious! But I‘m not the best at taking food pictures as you can see on the photo below..) and some frozen yoghurt (I guess the yoghurt thing is a tradition for me). So I managed to stay on the healthy course quite good. Only I took some fries before going home, to clear out my consumption's. (also bought a few souvenirs) You know at the healthy food event I visited last Saturday, they said it‘s okay to eat/snack unhealthy for 20% as long if you make sure to keep the healthy meter at 80%. And I stayed off the meat!

Festival outfit

Besides the famous pink Pinkpop hat (You can buy them on Pinkpop, also to support Amnesty International): What‘s the perfect festival outfit? Ideal is if the weather is good, so you can walk around in a top + short. Then you see people in bikini too. Not me, no definitely not! But when it‘s below 24 degrees, I can recommend bringing a little coat for when it‘s cooled down later in the evening. And don‘t forget to bring a small bottle of sun cream! (I also took bug spray with me, but didn't needed to use it.) Actually I would say: just wear what you feel comfortable in. (Once someone even made a pants from all the old pink Pinkpop hats, but I‘m not that creative!)

My dog with the 2013 hat (photo is a few years old) and this year‘s Pinkpop hat

I like to wear something that shows my love for music. I wore a Guns n‘ Roses t-shirt with the Use Your Illusion albums images on it. As a kid I always noticed the Red/Yellow and Blue/Purple colors of the images from these Guns n‘ Roses albums my father had in his CD collection.

Photo: Large.nl

Last summer I decorated an denim jacket with patches and pins from Nirvana and Guns n‘ Roses. I even got a patch from Thor on it. (Unfortunately no Loki patch to be found in the Netherlands!) Also I have added two Pinkpop pins and a pin I bought at the Top 2000 café on it. There‘s a big Guns n‘ Roses logo on the back. Actually I meant to buy a small one, but when I bought it, I forgot to look what the size was. This jacket I also wore last Monday, however during most of the day it was covered by a transparent plastic disposable raincoat and before 14:30 it was too hot, so I took it off.

Stands out right?

Fleetwood Mac & the Fireworks

I felt enjoyed by the performance of Fleetwood Mac, but it wasn't I didn't feel the spectacular vibe (like with Slash or Green Day) a headliner should bring over to the public. Now and then singer Stevie Nicks went out of tone and for my feeling, she talked a little too much. But the fun and pleasure was well present and goosebumps during Go Your Own Way, one of my all time favorite songs. The title of the song is one of my favorite motto‘s. I you are going your own way, you are following your dreams! ♥

Because this was Pinkpop‘s 50th anniversary the organisation showed past highlights in video‘s after the performance of Fleetwood Mac. (Was watching a take In The End by Linkin Park from 2012, wow yeah goosebumps again!) Also there was fireworks while All You Need is Love from the Beatles was to be heard. If it was Bohemian Rhapsody it would have given me an New Years Eve feeling (Nr. 1 of the annual Top 2000, which ends a few seconds before the year ends). Beautiful and worthy ending of a successful edition! 

To end this post, two foto‘s of me being in my element at Pinkpop festival. The first one is from 2016, during the performance of The Script and the second one is a selfie I took last Monday.

Left: 2016 / Right: 2019

Keep on rocking in the free world!