Thursday, 2011-12-15: Two essays due and a weekend in London with my friend Tüftl to look forward to. Apparently, I’m fairly efficient after 2am in the night before a deadline but not in the weeks before that. Start today and all that stuff… I almost didn’t make it to my train in time!

On my way to London, I saw a rainbow, failed to get some sleep and enjoyed the music and the cover art of Dividers. After three hours of waiting for Tüftl to arrive and a lengthy walk to our hostel, my sleep deprivation didn’t stop me (doubts almost did) from impressing no-one with our karaoke version of What’s My Age Again (blink-182) and – not sure about impressing them but at least – motivating people to dance to our Hey Ya cover (OutKast; we stuck to the Blanks melodies though)…

The night was noisy (the other six dormmates farted, yawned, moaned, and typed a lot), but we made it.

Friday, 2011-12-16: We paid a visit to Hyde Park (and the swans there), posed with a ‘statue’ of the Socially Awkward Penguin, went on a free city tour and had excellent food at Beatroot Cafe in Soho. Many thanks to Fabi who informed us about cool places to get vegan food! We wanted to get up early the next morning, hence we spent the evening walking around the streets around our hostel and exchanging stories with one of our roommates (Rachel from Atlanta, USA).

Saturday, 2011-12-17: British Museum, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge where we ended up in increasingly weird what-if scenarios; The Monument where I got a certificate because I paid £2 and went up the stairs to enjoy the view; St Paul’s Cathedral and the adjacent #Occupy! camp where we were given hot spicy apple juice and had a conversation with two Christian activists who promoted their network of self-sufficient communities; The Loving Hut in Camden where we had veggie wraps, burgers and cake; All Ages Records where I didn’t buy a Minor Threat sheep shirt; a camera shop where the owner wanted to shake hands because I admitted that I could have wrong information on the 85mm, f/1,4 M42 lens I was looking for (only f/1,8 exist!); the hostel where we had lots of jelly, a discussion about why we should but were too tired to go out, and an evening-long conversation about a certain wreck-theory. If you are one of Tüftl’s friends, you may count yourself lucky!

Sunday, 2011-12-18: We got up early, had our traditional hummus-jam-toast breakfast and spent the rest of the day getting to Stansted Airport and eventually home. We met weird people at the train-station in Neu-Ulm, Germany, who stared at us for several minutes and then informed us about the speed of trains when they pass through the station (without being asked). At some point later that evening, I was back in Regensburg again where I was being welcomed by my beloved parents to give me the keys to my flat and finally got to sleep.

2011-12-19 till 2011-12-28: Relaxing times in Regensburg, a band photo shoot with Irish Handcuffs, a fun dinner with friends at the vegetarian/vegan kAffé dAdA, amazing holidays with my brother and parents at home in $village_in_Bavarian_forest, and a reluctant departure to Swansea again (last photo).

The photos (some were taken with my mobile phone camera):

Dividers – Me. You. Len. On A Boat. Faliraki ’09 + If Monday Morning Was A Person… (live)

Your Neighbour The Liar – Guilt (live)

Football, etc. – Incomplete (live)

Many thanks to the four Hangmen – Al, Iwan, Rob, and Tom – as well as to Dawn, Kat, Lisa, Mary-Eve, Mika, and Natasha!

Recorded with a Canon EOS 600d, a Sigma 17-70mm, f/2.8-4.5, and a Porst Color Reflex 55mm f1.4 Auto. Edited with Final Cut Express 4.

The records I strongly associate with 2011 are

• Continents. – rivers we walk (2011)
• Leatherface – The Stormy Petrel (2010)
• tigeryouth – Alles Geht Kaputt (2011)

Other cool records of 2011 are

• Atlas Losing Grip – State of Unrest
• Bridges Left Burning – Disappointment, Disillusion, Disbelief
• Das Defekt – Reloaded
• Landmines – Commerce and Marx
• One Win Choice – Conveyor
• Red Tape Parade – The Third Rail of Life
• Sport – Demo 2011
• The list wouldn’t be endless, but it could be much longer…

The songs I associate with 2011 are

• Continents. – Intro / Fragments
• Jaakko & Jay – Equalizer
• Lagwagon – Violins
• Leatherface – Never Say Goodbye
• Magrudergrind – Bridge Burner
• Mike Hale – Lives Like Mine
• Peter Gabriel – The Book of Love
• Saetia – The Burden of Reflecting
• Static Radio NJ – Last Year
• tigeryouth – Auf Halbem Weg
• The Arteries – Divergence
• The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
• The Get Up Kids – Out of Reach

According to LastFM, the most played albums in 2011 are

• Magrudergrind – Magrudergrind
• The Arteries - Blood, Sweat and Beers
• After The Fall – Eradication
• Face To Face – Face to Face
• Jaakko & Jay – War is Noise
• The Arteries – Dead Sea

Who said that lists are impersonal?

[tl;dr?]

Thanks to everyone involved!

Hangmen are:
Alastair Jenkins, Iwan Meaker, Rob Crowley, and Tom Frayne.

The dancers are:
Dawn Roberts, Kat Jennings, Lisa Starbuck, Mary Eve Nelson, Mika Ireste, and Natasha Fenn.

Recorded with a Canon EOS 600d, a Sigma 17-70mm, f/2.8-4.5, and Porst Color Reflex 55mm f1.4 Auto. Edited with Final Cut Express 4.