Spinning Words

Swedish Open 2016

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Diana

And it was time for Båstad again. Famous for its parties, Båstad has a totally different meaning for me: tennis, tennis, more tennis and everything included in it like almost three weeks of hard work with amazing people, both in the team and on court, the beach, the sea and the beautiful sunsets.
After a short flight from one coast of Sweden to the other, it was time to put a lot of energy in making things great for the second summer in a row. The excitement of two tennis weeks is an amazing feeling to have. I can probably follow the road to the tennis arena with my eyes closed, I already knew and eagerly expected to hear the intro music to every match (“Sommartider” and “Sun Is Shining”) and I missed watching tennis and seeing the beautiful sea in front of my eyes in between the points.

Unfortunately in the men’s week there were no Romanians in the draw, all the boys were busy with the Davis Cup, so I focused on supporting the Swedes.
It’s always fun to watch them play because their matches at home have a great atmosphere and people cheer for them, and it’s always a pleasure to see Robert Lindstedt play, for old times sake. Too bad his partner (Andre Sa) got injured and they had to pull out. I had my eyes on David Ferrer too but, just as the 2016 season so far, his Båstad performance wasn’t as I would have expected. His game is going through a crisis that I sincerely hope he will overcome soon. My perfect Ferrer-Verdasco final was shattered when David was ousted in the semifinals by another spaniard: Alberto Ramos-Vinolas, who ended up winning the tournament after facing Verdasco. In the men’s doubles Marcel Granollers and David Marrero defeated Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner.

The women’s week brought some Romanian girls to Båstad and I felt so happy and proud to see Romania’s flag high above the arena. In singles the girls didn’t do so good, Andreea got ousted in the quailes and Sorana in the first round match against Annika Beck. The favourite in singles, Angelique Kerber, pulled out because of injury after the first round. My interest switched to the doubles where Raluca Olaru (played with Katerina Siniakova) and Andreea Mitu (teamed up with Alicja Rosolska) were in action. Andreea’s and Alicja’s match against last year’s winners Bertens/Larsson was super fun to watch, a little bit tight, nerve-wracking, because everybody was cheering for the other team, but it was probably their most difficult match as well. They had no trouble getting through the semifinal and the final. At the end of the week Båstad had another Romanian champion in doubles, after Horia Tecau lifted the trophy three years in a row next to Robert Lindstedt, in the men’s tournament. The singles was won by Laura Siegemund from Germany.

Other than that, I am not a party person but in exchange I had the pleasure to spend some really nice time with amazing people, to laugh and have fun, to go for walks, picnics on the beach and watch beautiful sunsets. Somewhere in between… ok, almost always, there were a lot of sandwiches involved, coffee, laughter and once even an Otto Knows concert. I also had two afternoons off that I spent at the beach. Sweden has great beach weather, if you ask me, it’s not as hot as other places and you can just stay there all day without getting a blackout because of the strong sun. And the water was warm too, warm enough to go splashing around. It was super fun to go there, a bit sad to leave, but at the end of 20 days it feels good to be back home. See you next Summer Båstad!

Posted in Away, Day to Day, English, Tennis | Tagged Andreea Mitu, Båstad, David Ferrer, Robert Lindstedt, tennis | 1 Comment

Coldplay @Friends Arena, Stockholm

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Diana

Life is full of unexpected events and this was one of them. I found out I was going to see Coldplay live a week ago. One of the advantages of living in Stockholm is getting to see all these great bands but that comes with the risk of not getting a ticket on time or starving for a week, metaphorically, to be able to afford buying one. But it’s worth it, music is always worth it. And tennis. I want to send a big “thank you” to my friends who thought of me when realising they have an extra ticket.

Birdy

After standing in a long and civilised queue for a couple of minutes, there I was on Friends Arena, a place that I visited once before for a football match. The concert started as scheduled at 7 pm with the first opening act: Alessia Cara. Never heard of her but I have to say I was impressed by her strong beautiful voice and joy of playing such a large event. The second opening act was Birdy who pretty much deserves being seen at least once as a headliner because her music is amazing. Check her out here if you want.

Then after a break that seemed so loooong, and after the excitement increased, Coldplay began playing, starting with a short review of every city they visited during the tour so far, and I’ve been blown away instantly. I am pretty sure this was also because of the large venue, the 57.000 of us in the audience (which by the way, didn’t sit anymore even if they had seated tickets), and the amazing light show. Coldplay started with “A Head Full of Dreams” which was pretty much me when I moved to Sweden and in a way, still is. Then they played “Yellow”. Oh my, did I hate the video (especially that annoying guy in it – Chris Martin) when I was in high school. Well that changed when I actually listened to the song, but again this was when I was 15, pretty much the time when no song was good at first till it hit me.

Coldplay

Coldplay didn’t exactly “hit” me but I’ve been having memories of watching them or listening to their songs for 16 years now. And the third song brought me back into my master’s thesis again: “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall”. I love the lyrics to this song, I felt my heart beating to so many favourite songs so many times and found inspiration in music in so many situations that I, in a way, identify with the “generation” that this song is speaking to. So for my thesis I analysed this song from quite a political perspective. What came after a few songs reinforced my belief that Coldplay want to make a statement or at least an attempt to make people think. Patience, I am getting there. But right after that we all listened to “The Scientist” which is my favourite Coldplay song and probably the one that made me pay more attention to them. Oh, sweet high school years and 2002, a year with particularly great music.

“Paradise” was on the soundtrack of my first visit to Roland Garros during the tournament. That’s pretty much because that place is a little part of Heaven for me. For the end of the song they totally trashed it and made it explode with energy and joy and light.

Coldplay

Then the band moved on the second stage, in the middle of the audience. And during their performance of 3 songs on this stage this happened: Chris Martin reminded everybody that with all of these bad things that happen in the World these days a concert brings people together in love (we all got Love buttons by the way, when we entered the venue, together with our wristbands that lit up in pretty colours), and then he paid his respects to people in Turkey and Iraq that suffered terror attacks last week. And let’s not forget Bangladesh as well. And everybody felt the moment and clapped loudly. And then they play “Everglow” which is such a beautiful ballad and its lyrics remind me of a quote that appears at the beginning of a-ha’s video, “Lifelines” which is “But it is the afterglow/Inside of you/Of all those you met/Who meant something in your life” (Olav Rex). Then there was a Muhammad Ali tribute.

I will not go through all of their setlist, though I am tempted to write a few words about every song. When performing “Clocks” I really felt I was inside their video because of all the laser lights. “Fix You” sounds amazing, especially the end of the song when the guitar kicks in and everybody sings along and claps and jumps. “Heroes” was a beautiful David Bowie tribute, and again one of my favourite songs ever. That intro to the (original) song and the fact that now I associate it with tennis too made the moment even more special. Why with tennis? Read the story here. “Viva la Vida” and “Adventure of a Lifetime” made everybody dance.

Then the band moved to the third stage, further in the back, to take a request from Instagram, to make fun of the guitar player, to thank their families and friends and to share with all of us that “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” was written in Stockholm. And of course to play more music.

Happy audience & balloons

The concert ended with three more songs on the main stage: “Amazing Day”, “A Sky full of Stars” and “Up&Up”. And I am pretty sure everybody wanted more, I know I did but the show was over. And what a show it was. And leaving aside the lights, the big balloons, the paper birds and stars falling out of the ceiling or the fireworks, that music was amazingly beautiful.

Posted in Day to Day, English, Music Stuff | Tagged Coldplay, Friends Arena | Leave a comment

The Dancer

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Diana

When all the love songs have been written, there’s nothing left to write,
And all I have are my own words to lead me through the fight,
I put them all next to the other but speaking seems so tough
When all I say and how I say it just never seems enough.

So I bring me into the battle with all I am and I
Instead of hiding in the shadow I stay there in plain sight,
Cause all I am and all I say is what you see and hear,
I stay before you whole and honest and fight on without fear.

But there’s no music to my words and you just want to dance,
You let me finish what I’m saying then turn and seek a chance
To go and dance with one that’s singing songs that you want to hear,
That weren’t written by my words on how I am and feel.

Posted in English, Mood | 1 Comment

A Magic Night – Sânzienele

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Diana

I thought I wrote about this before but apparently I didn’t, not on this blog at least. But I did write about it here, in Romanian though. I think this is one of my favourite holidays alongside St. Andrew’s Night. And that is simply because it’s magic. It’s again one of those days when religion meets tradition, when Romanians celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist but also a mystical night belonging to fairies, a celebration called in my part of the country Sânzienele. The name is taken after some beautiful yellow flowers called Sânziene, that I so desperately scatter the fields for every year. Back home they are yellow and in full bloom around this time of the year. Here the ones that are in bloom now are white, the yellow ones are still hiding… but not from me.

So, what is so special about tonight: everything. First and foremost, you dream of your soulmate. This has been the best part about this celebration for more than 15 years for me: I never remember who I dream of and I am pretty sure there has been a different person every year. Leaving the joke aside, it is said to be the night when the skies open for the most faithful and you can see into Heaven. It is also the night when magic fairies dance in the forest and then head off to the villages to bring love and fertility to young wives, give magic and healing power to plants and punish the ones that do not believe in them and don’t celebrate their day. One of the greatest Romanian authors, Mircea Eliade, wrote a novel about this night, “Noaptea de Sânziene” (“The Forbidden Forest”), which is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I am not going to say what it is about, but in a way it all starts and ends in a forest on this night.

I recently read that the celebration’s name, just as the flower’s name, comes from Santa Diana, the goddess of the forest in Roman mythology. The traditions linked to this holiday are just as varied as the regions of Romania. In some parts of the country the celebration is called Dragaica, in other parts great fires are used all night to keep away evil. All in all, almost everywhere it’s a celebration of love and a reason for joy. It is warm and colourful, mystic, magic and sacred in the same time.

And for a personal touch, I found myself today in the middle of the field gathering these beautiful flowers, just as I used to do when I was a kid back home. I went for the yellow ones this year, the ones I so desperately looked for in the countryside a few days ago. I also got a lot of white ones and played around with combinations of other flowers. I might not put them up in a crown and throw it on the roof to gather magic dew tomorrow morning, nor will I put them under my pillow to dream of my soulmate, but I think it is fair and beautiful to have them in the house. Because I grew up with this holiday, because I believe in it, and because one night, a long time ago, I went out on this night to see if the skies opened and if I can see into Heaven, and I saw the most beautiful sky one could ever see: the dark sky of a night at home in the countryside, lit by a shooting star. It made me feel tiny, afraid but for a moment it made me feel like I am looking into infinity. Gonna leave you now with a beautiful song from the Romanian folklore.

Posted in Away, Day to Day, English | 1 Comment

Muse @ Stockholm

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Diana

As a kid who grew up with her nose stuck to the TV screen I remember well when Muse popped up on MTV in 2001. I remember it so well that I even know that I wrote to my brother to find and bring me from abroad some of their songs. I got the whole “Origin of Symmetry” album. I was absolutely fascinated by their song “Bliss” and the video for it. Somehow, when they visited Romania years ago, I skipped their concert, probably because I was still living on pretzels and yogurt for my student lunch break. Well, 15 years later, and after the band became one of the most successful and interesting rock bands you can find in the mainstream, I finally ended up seeing them live.

The ticket was bought months ago. The administrative parts of the concert worked smoothly. And then they started playing. One thing I like about them is their energy and something that I’d dare to call their trademark: they have a specific sound that makes you know from the first sound that it is Muse you are listening to.

The concert started with “Drones” when on the big screen above the stage one could read the lyrics of the song. Which are not exactly easy to take in: “My mother, my father / My sister and my brother / My son and my daughter / Killed by drones”. Then the energy broke loose with “Psycho” which is a quite rhythmic song, good for jumping up and down, feel the rock vibes and enjoy some good music. Add to that a light show and the thrill of a rock concert and you have a perfect setting. With a small exception: I’ve never seen a more passive audience in my life. I know the rules are: sitting means we can’t stand but it’s a rock concert!!! In an over-civilized country. How can you watch Muse while sitting, people? Get up and jump. I wonder if they would interrupt the concert if people were actually standing up? I saw some shy attempts here and there but they calmed down fast. And the people in front of the stage weren’t too active either. But still, it’s cruel to have to sit at such an event.

Going back to enjoying the music, the concert went on with “Reapers”. “Plug in Baby” was the first old song (from 2001) that the band played, making the audience be a bit more cheerful. By that time I actually gave up being disappointed by the audience’s reaction and I just tried to enjoy the music and take in as many good vibes as possible. “Dead Inside” is a song from their latest album (“Drones”, out 2015) that I like a lot. So I was super happy to hear it. It sounds really good live and it makes me want to dance.

I won’t go through all the songs but here are some highlights and things I liked. Good light show, the spinning stage made it even more fun to watch, super nice interaction with the audience, the guys are professional and talented. They did a very nice shift in between new and old songs, running through almost all their hits. Matthew Bellamy showed everybody that he can sing, play the guitar and thrill the audience by playing the piano (especially with the cover of “Feeling Good”).

“Time is Running Out” was probably my favourite song of the evening. I wanted them to play “Resistance” but they didn’t. I had a flashback to one year ago and I woke up in the middle of my master’s thesis all over again when they played “Uprising”, which I so nicely sampled for my narrative analysis. Too bad the giant teddybears weren’t there too to freak out the audience a bit. However they did have a big inflatable plane… Which kinda brought a shiver down my spine. Add to that some really post-apocalyptic sounds every now and then and you get a perfect war-scenery, kinda like the one you see on TV these days when they report about Syria. So here I am again linking what I like with what I work with. But Muse, just like other artists, give me a very good reason to do that, if you do not believe me just listen to “The Globalist”, they included it in the setlist yesterday as well. The concert ended with “Knights of Cydonia”, a very subtle way (or not) to tell the audience to go get a life as no one else will do that for them.

On the whole, this was not a rock concert where you go and listen to power ballads and how you should take life as a rollercoaster ride, get drunk and have fun. Besides the energy that I already mentioned, the rock sound given by the riffs, Muse is another band that seems to want to make its audience think, not just enjoy. Or at least this is what it seemed like to me.

Posted in Day to Day, English, Music Stuff | Tagged Globen, Muse | Leave a comment