What a month! It was half very good and half very bad.
The good parts were meeting my friends, playing Pathfinder Rusthenge and visting a beautiful, small wedding of two friends. The best part was my visit to Manchester where I saw Liam Gallagher live. It was a special occasion because he played the whole Oasis album „Definetely Maybe“, plus some other songs from that era. I wanted to see the show in Manchester because that is were Oasis (and many other cool bands) are from. It was not my first time in Manchester, but my last visit was long ago. Still I had the same thought as at my last visit: „Woah, a lot of Cosplayers, Emos and Goths here“. Upon my arrival I went to the city, I got some jollof rice and fried plantain from an Afro-Carribean food stall, then I went to Afflecks which is a three-story house full with small vendors who sell „alternative“ stuff like dark batsy goth things, colorful lgtb stuff or shiny stones and jewellery. Then I went to a mall and had a very contrasting program there. I visited the Manchester City fan shop and got me a scarf. Not a real fan of that club but I like the colors and the logo. (Not my first time buying sports merch because of the colors). Afterwards I crashed in my hotel room and the went to the concert. It was so awesome, I cannot describe it in words. Probably the best concert I saw. I loved the crowd who went nuts when „A Town Called Malice“ by The Jam was played beforehand and then continued being crazy energetic throughout the whole concert. What a day.
The next day I had to leave the hotel at around 10 but my flight was in the late evening. Since it was raining, I did a little museum tour. There are two free buses in Manchester that stop at all the important sights, so I went by bus. The museums (Science/Industry Museum, Art Gallery) where so much better than I expected. The Science Museum made even looms sound interesting, and the Art Gallery had such interesting exhibitions. One was focused on art from the 18/19th century that appropriated other cultures like Iranian or Yoruba. Every piece of art had annotations by people of color. Then there was an exhibition relating art to the climate disaster. There were also annotations and personal views to the pieces of art. I really liked this mixture of old(er) art and new thoughts.
Well, afterwards I strolled around the city and then drove to the airport early. Way too early. My flight was delayed about an hour. I arrived so late at Düsseldorf Airport, at about 10pm and then had trouble getting a train to Cologne. I paid way to much money for an ICE because I didn’t want to wait any longer. What a horror trip back home.
Coming to the rest of the month: I got my second round of Corona. Well, it had to happend someday, some friends of mine also got it a couple of weeks before me. I think I had about 5 corona shots over the last years but still I got pretty ill, lots of headaches, very very tired and a stubborn cough. I wonder how bad it would have been without the vaccines (I am absolutely pro vaccine in any cases). In addition to Corona, my work was so stressful and annoying.
At least I could end the month with a good thing, having a snack and play with my friends. So, June has been a rollercoaster.
Gaming:
I can repeat what I wrote last month: „Still playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. I still like the storyline and the basic gameplay but oh boy, why are there so many repetitive sidequests and stupid mini games?“
I didn’t play that many boardgames but we finally tried Nemo’s War, it’s a solo game but of course you can play it as a coop. And I got Bonsai from the librabry, which is very nice and cute. I’m afraid I want to have that game.
Books:
I finished 8 books this month. Best one was Assassin’s Apprentice, a re-read. It was still as beautiful and lovely as I remembered it. But 20 years ago I thought of Burrich and Verity so very old and now my thoughts were how young they are just being in their 30s.
What I also enjoyed very much was I hope This FindsYou Well by Natalie Sue, a mix of drama and cozy novel in an office setting.
Films:
6 movies. I liked The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes but I think it would have been better as two or three movies. I also liked Gozilla Minus One, Sea Fog (Korean drama) and Babylon 5: The Road Home (so sad that many actors of the original series are dead already).
TV Shows:
I fininished You. Didn’t like the fourth season with the setting in England that much, but I liked the twist. Next I finished Fuller House. I don’t really like the humour of that show but it was nice seeing their faces again and having the storyline focues on the girls, now women. Then I had an intense binge on Hacks. I love the show about two women, one an old diva comedian, the other one a young gen z comedian, having to work for the older woman. We also finished Bridgerton. I think Penny is my fav character, I like her love for writing and gossip. I also watched the first season of The Alienist, it was okay but 19th century is not my fav time. Another binge on Beef, brilliant show with awesome actors. And as last show I started Kaulitz & Kaulitz. It’s a reality show about two twin brothers who are in a band called Tokio Hotel. I didn’t know that the band still existed, back when I was a teen they (who were also teens back then) were huge. I wasn’t a fan but it’s fun to revisit them and see how they changed.