Triggerfinger by Triggerfinger

Triggerfinger is on board to be one of my favorite bands of 2013. They’ve been around since 1998, but this album, their debut album was only released in 2004. Apparently they weren’t picked up on and enjoyed in Belgium… I just got hooked on them from this song, which also was their first song to hit the Dutch charts:

However, they’re not really an acoustic band, though some of their top tracks on YouTube may convince you differently, being that they seem to all be acoustic performaces. In fact, they’re dubbed as Antwerp’s loudest band. Read their bio on their website, that’ll get the hairs raised on the back of your neck.

Triggerfinger’s self titled album, Triggerfinger, is fairly raw. Raw as in awesome. Raw as in fat guitar with sizzling lines that jump out of the speakers at you being pushed forth with that solid bass rock solid drum kit.

The band is three members from Belgium, Ruben Block plays guitar and sings, Paul Van Bruystegem who plays bass, and
Mario Goossens on the drums.

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Brussels, Belgium

The de-facto capital of the European Union, and the capital of Belgium is a city that goes by the name of Brussels  (French: Bruxelles, [bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Brussel, [ˈbrʏsəl]). Before traveling here, one hears of garbage and an un-kept, rundown city.

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

This may be what one immediately notices with piles of garbage and graffiti everywhere, but this is not all that the city has.

Yes, it does have a thriving red light district, but there are also castles and museums and men playing cello sitting in the plaza.

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

The city has a way of giving you the feeling that you’re about to open doors, or peer around a corner, and a whole new world will open up. It’s a mysterious city, one that feels like it’s had it’s fair share of madness roaming the streets. For some of us, this is a bit of excitement; for others, this is not the safe haven of our familiar places.

Brussels was founded in the 10th century by a descendent of Charlemagne as a fortress, and today has a population of just over one million people.

Photo credit: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

Within the city, there are three major languages: French (mostly), Dutch, and English, but like most countries (especially with French speaking countries) if you don’t try and speak their language, you will find some cold shoulders. But, like all cities, this just depends on the area of the city you find yourself.

The culture in Brussels is very creative. There are various clubs to have fun in [I found myself one night at a lindy hop club, and a pub that boasts the largest selection of beers in the world the next],  and the city streets crawl with creativity. There are painted “crashed” cars/art projects distributed around the city, there is a pissing dog statues and also a pissing boy statue, park benches that have slanted backs, a sculpture park, and a museum of musical instruments. The feeling is a really gothic/creative feeling that spews forth from this city.

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

The core of the city is all located within a relatively small area that it’s very easy to become extremely familiar with it. If you start walking with nowhere in particular to head, you find yourself walking in a circle. It seems that all roads just take you back to the center of the city, or so my path seemed to always lead.

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

Photo source: Ned Tobin | www.nedtobin.com

 

If you’re heading to Brussels [or Bruges, Antwerp, Gent, Leuven, Mechelen] for the first time, I suggest checking out a really interesting organization called Use It. As I was heading into Brussels I met an interesting traveler who had just finished working for them, and when I arrived at the office, it was exactly what I was looking for: a map with all the cool spots to check out, friendly people behind the counter wanting to help me, free internet service, and free tea!

Have you ever been?

Flash Mobs

So, many of you may not know what a Flash Mob is. According to Wikipedia, they are “a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then disperse.”

Sounds kind of fun doesn’t it? I think so too. Although I’m sure it would take a considerable amount of time to prepare one of these things.

A friend of mine, Liser, just brought the light of these flash mobs back into my eyes when she told me about how riveting such a thing is. She said that the idea of so many people in one place, dancing and happy puts her “at peace with the world.”  I agreed with her when she mentioned that the energy is so positive, how can a gathering like that not be? Seems fun to me.

So, as a result, I have been watching a few videos on some examples. The first one Liser showed me was one where they all met in Central Station in Antwerp, Belgium and suddenly started dancing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k&feature=fvw]

To me, it was pretty cool. The way that they just are all acting casual, going about their business, and then just like that, they’re all dancing. Kind of really rules!

The next one I watched was a supermarket one where they all froze.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4GMXavfKPY&feature=related]

So I read on the Wikipedia page about them further, since my interest was clearly in it, and it turns out that the originator of recent day flash mobs is a man called Wasik who started doing them to be as a kind of joke to the conformers of the world, showing them the absurdity of things, as well as have some fun. The first one I guess failed since they owner of the store they had planned on infiltrating was alerted about it. But, they did the next one only a short month later.

One funny event that I wish I would have been able to see is when there was 200 of them that all went to the 8th floor of a department store and surrounded a rug. They were all told that if they were asked by anybody working there what they were doing, they were to tell them that they were all part of a community living space, and they were looking for a love rug. That they only made this decision when all of them were there together. Tell me that wouldn’t be totally funny to see!

So I ask you, what type of inspiration do you find from this? Does it intrigue you or does it make you roll your eyes at the stupidity idle men brainstorm to disrupt the normal way of life..?

I think its refreshing, creative, and fun. What better way to celebrate life than a (seemingly) spontaneous DANCE PARTY!