Five deadly venoms

This will be a returning feature on this blog: every fifth day of the month five top fives will be posted. I know today isn't the fifth, but this is the fifth post on here so here goes...

1. Five cities that I want to visit:

1. Rome

2. Moscow

3. New York City

4. Athens

5. Boston

2. Five best books by Herman Brusselmans:

1. De Man Die Werk Vond

2. De Terugkeer Van Bonanza

3. Nog Drie Keer Slapen En Ik Word Wakker

4. Guggenheimer Wast Witter

5. Uitgeverij Guggenheimer

3. Five most played songs on my iPod, according to iTunes:

1. 'out on the weekend' - Neil Young - Harvest - 76 times (At home I never go to sleep with music on, but ever since september 2006 'harvest' has been my favourite album to fall asleep to on tour or on weekend-trips. I guess this means I must've spent close to 76 nights on the road for the last two years? Unsurprisingly the next 9 most played songs are all of this album, so I'll cheat and skip those for now... Don't worry though, I'm confident there will be frequent mention of Harvest on this blog.)

2. 'strength through pain' - Dead And Dying - Demo 2007 - 61 times (This is a great demo by this band out of New York state and I definitely listened to its three songs a LOT during several months in 2008, and still do on a regular basis. However I must've accidentally left this song on repeat in my car for a couple of hours, 'cause there's no way I listened to it that much. This is my favourite song of this demo though and some of its lyrics have definitely helped me cope with a rough time in my life. Dead And Dying's debut full-length should come out any day now, so keep an eye out for that. A while ago when I asked singer Dave how the album was coming along, he told me "well everyone is out of jail at the same time for now, so we got plans on finishing the album as fast as possible". No wonder their T-shirts say "inmate" all across the back...)

3. 'hate' - Cat Power - The Greatest - 54 times (It is no surprise to me this came up among the most played songs... This album was my introduction to Cat Power and it has since remained my favourite one. I think it's safe to say I've never been blown away like this by a song this soft. It's just the combination of Chan Marshall's beautiful voice and her brutal lyrics to this song... I mean when I heard Kurt Cobain prophetically sing "I hate myself and I want to die" I didn't think much of it, but when I hear Marshall sing these exact same words in her sweet yet unpolished voice over a soft guitar, it just grabs me by the throat and I just get uncomfortable... Touching song.)

4. 'all-star me' - Saves The Day - Through Being Cool - 39 plays (I had no idea I listened to this record that often, but it's a fact that every spring during the first few days of real nice weather, I often feel the urge to listen to this album. To me this record has always been synonymous to driving to the lake to go for a swim, windows down and sunglasses on. This record is 10 years old but still sounds as refreshing to me as it did upon first listen.)

5. 'I'm a dog' - Lil Boosie - Superbad - 30 times (I told you I listened to this album for ten days straight, didn't I? Although it would be too hard to compile a top five of my favourite songs onSuperbad, this one would definitely make it. Check the music video for this song, the sound at 1:10 when Boosie cracks my fuckin' head with a ball bat trips me out every time.)

4. Five best George W. Bush quotes:

1. "I've been in the Bible every day since I've been the president."

2. "So long as I'm the president, my measure of success is victory - and success."

3. "They misunderestimated me."

4. "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe -- I believe what I believe is right."

5. "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." in parting words to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at his final G-8 Summit, punching the air and grinning widely as the two leaders looked on in shock

(thanks to Immortal Technique, Henry Rollins and www.politicalhumor.com)

5. Five things that bum me out right now:

1. having stomach flu. Not only am I ill, now I'm sick too (just had to be mentioned)

2. not being able to join True Colors on their next U.S. tour

3. not having tickets for the sold-out Slayer show at the AB in Brussels

4. the possible prolongation of the wait for Tha Carter IV due to Lil Wayne's most probable upcoming jail time

5. not finding 80 euros on the street today, to buy a Slayer ticket on eBay