[TimovieMan]

6 hours ago, Salinger said:

It is so great that you and your wife are supportive and encouraging to your daughter.

I'd like to state that she's our daughter and that this goes without saying, but I realise that, while it should be the norm everywhere, it isn't.

 

6 hours ago, Salinger said:

Also, do you know of the Jolene cover by The White Stripes?? SO FUCKING GOOOD!!!!!

There was a studio version as well, and this became a staple of their live performances. So yeah, I'm aware of their version too. ?

 

14 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

And I still intend to do the DailyDare. It's a 30s Superman stretch hold, but I want to see how long I can manage in total. So I'll be playing John Williams while I do so. I'd be playing it in my head anyway - it's a Superman stretch hold, after all... ?

I got to 2m20s, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near that length without the soundtrack. ?

[Salinger]

13 minutes ago, TimovieMan said:

I'd like to state that she's our daugher and that this goes without saying, but I realise that, while it should be the norm everywhere, it isn't.

 

 

 

Totally agree, but yes.... i know a few friends whose parents deserted them when mental health struggles happened. 

 

My own parents are/were wonderful...but when i began to feel depression as a 15 year old, it was rough. I kept a lot from them because i was worried how they would react. I didnt want them to blame themselves etc. 

 

Anyway!!!! Love to you all xx

[TimovieMan]

1 minute ago, Salinger said:

My own parents are/were wonderful...but when i began to feel depression as a 15 year old, it was rough. I kept a lot from them because i was worried how they would react. I didnt want them to blame themselves etc. 

Do you think it would have helped if one of your parents had experienced depression too and been open about it?

 

I mainly ask because Mrs. Movieman struggles with this as well - and even moreso with work-related burn-out - but we try to keep most of that hidden from the kids... which might be a mistake? Especially now that they're old enough to start understanding? ?

[Salinger]

1 hour ago, TimovieMan said:

Do you think it would have helped if one of your parents had experienced depression too and been open about it?

 

I mainly ask because Mrs. Movieman struggles with this as well - and even moreso with work-related burn-out - but we try to keep most of that hidden from the kids... which might be a mistake? Especially now that they're old enough to start understanding? ?

 

100%

 

I knew my mum had some anxieties/depression but she never spoke about it and in turn it made me, as a child, think that mental health issues were things to be kept hidden away. Which screwed me up even more!!!

I think if mum had spoken to me about it, and normalised it...creating a safe space to communicate these things, it would have made a big positive difference to how i dealt with my own problems. 

 

Kids are smart, they know when things arent right. So open, honesty and stuff are so important i think. 

[TimovieMan]

15 minutes ago, Salinger said:

I knew my mum had some anxieties/depression but she never spoke about it and in turn it made me, as a child, think that mental health issues were things to be kept hidden away. Which screwed me up even more!!!

Definitely something we want to avoid...

 

15 minutes ago, Salinger said:

I think if mum had spoken to me about it, and normalised it...creating a safe space to communicate these things, it would have made a big positive difference to how i dealt with my own problems. 

This will probably take some convincing for the missus.

Whenever the kids ask her something about depression or burn-out, it's basically because of something *I* said, and then I usually get a "why did you say that?" remark.

 

Because I tend to give an honest answer to questions I get, even if they're about someone else. Because in that moment, I'm not thinking about the consequences of my words. Because autism??? 

 

15 minutes ago, Salinger said:

Kids are smart

[TimovieMan]

Weekly weigh-in

 

Weight: 92.35 kg (-1.15)

Body fat: 21.3 % (-1.1)

 

 

 

	Week 1
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	6h53
Steps
Avg. steps	12.5K
Distance	21.47 km
Workouts	0.8
Days with (mini-)workouts	4

 

Getting to bed isn't as perfect as I'd like, but at least it's an improvement over what it used to be, as evidenced by my average sleep this week.

Although a lot of that still has to do with the Monday napping. ?

 

 

 

In random news, I've been reminded about the date today.

?

 

 

 

Here's a Belgian heavy metal band that I frankly know very little about. I assume they were short-lived. This is the only song I know of them, and I only know this song because it was used in one of the most successful Flemish films of all time. And that's pretty much it.

The song's awesome, though. Wouldn't have been out of place in the discography of a band like Saxon, for instance.

No relation to the Canadian band called 'Mystery'... ?

 

Mystery - She Likes Double Trouble

[Scaly Freak]

On 9/6/2024 at 7:12 AM, Harriet said:

Oh wow I love this. Can we have an eldritch horror version of more songs please? 

 

 

[TimovieMan]

Eeek, I've been neglecting my thread again!

 

 

Friday:

Mrs. Movieman had dinner with a group of former colleagues, so I was alone with the kids. We held a movie night. With pop corn and everything. (This pushed a 'green' day into 'orange' territory.)

The kids had seen me post a gif from The Emperor's New Groove here, and were interested in seeing that film. Because this is indeed hilarious:

 

Afterwards, TimovieSon claimed he didn't like the film, but he was tired and had fallen asleep pretty early on. TimovieDaughter had more fun with it. Meanwhile I was in stitches yet again for most of it. Still one of the funniest films Disney's ever made. ?

 

Saturday:

Mrs. Movieman took TimovieSon to his football match so I could sleep in a little.

The afternoon was mainly spent clearing weed from our sidewalk - the rate at which it grows is insane.

In the evening we went to the local fair. The kids enjoyed a couple of fair attractions. And there was a 25-minute fireworks show right after.

Although we'd eaten lunch at home, and I was going to skip dinner, the kids wanted a burger and fries, so I joined in as well. The stand we got them from was out of bottled water, so drinks were limited to soda. Like the day before: this pushed a 'green' day into 'orange' territory.

The plan was to do a mini-workout (or at least the DailyDare), but the time it took me to shut down my laptop was apparently all the time I needed to fall asleep on the couch. So Saturday was the first day in two weeks without any exercises.

When I finally woke up and went to bed, Orion was visible on the night sky. Not used to seeing it this early in the year, but I won't complain. I enjoy watching Orion on the night sky - it's one of my favourite parts of clear winter nights. Or fall pre-dawn early mornings, apparently. ?

 

Sunday:

We had friends coming over in the afternoon for coffee and cake (and other assorted sugary / chocolaty / carby stuff).

I knew this was going to be a "red" day, and that I wasn't getting a lot of steps in, so... I did a workout in the morning!

Just a single circuit, but it was the first real "full" workout I'd done in quite a while...

 

Spoiler

- 25 jumping jacks

- 2x10 one-leg calf raises

- 1 full chin-up

- 10 leg-assisted chin-ups

- 20 jump squats

- 3 full dips

- 7 leg-assisted dips

- 2x10 one-leg Romanian deadlifts

- 10 scapular pull-ups

- 5 hanging knee raises

- 30s elbow plank hold

- 20 wall slides

- 15 reverse crunch sliders

- 10 leg-assisted pull-ups

 

On top of the left wrist issue, I may have a shoulder mobility problem as well. There is minor shoulder discomfort during jumping jacks, the scapular pull-ups were with a shorter range of motion as well, and I had to do them faster.

The form on my hanging knee raises was a disaster, but my abs weren't very co-operative. Hence why the elbow plank hold I did right after (which was essentially making up for only doing 5 hanging knee raises), collapsed after 30s instead of the planned 60s.

My upper abs are the only part I'm experiencing DOMS in, so I must have overdone *something* along the way.

 

 

Full log for the week:

	Week 1
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	7h17
Steps
Avg. steps	11.3K
Distance	29.54 km
Workouts	2.2
Days with (mini-)workouts	6

 

Apart from the red Sunday (where I did manage to get my workouts in the yellow), this is a pretty good week. This is definitely "good enough". And I got plenty of sleep in, which is an added bonus!

 

 

Walk to Mordor

 

Distance walked last week: 29.54 km (18.35 miles)
Road to Mordor: total 1357.8 miles - Rauros to Mount Doom - Feb. 28 - Day 3 since Rauros

Cliff begins to curve much more to the north. The Wetwang curves south. Another ravine. Wind around rough area, forced back, away from cliff. Continue in barren, rugged hills – not even grass. Stop to eat. Zig-zag into ravine. The south edge of the Dead Marshes appear east of the tumbled lands below. Get lost in ravine. Realize they are “going in circles.” Runoff from the ravine goes to the marshes.

 

 

 

 

I got a Michael Kiwanuka newsletter this weekend. He's got a new album coming up in November. The link to a video was included in the mail.

If this song is any indication of the quality of the album, then there's a chance that the new album is going to be even better than the last! Will keep an eye on his tour dates - if he's touring anywhere near here, I'm definitely going to see him again.

 

Michael Kiwanuka - Lowdown (Part I & II)

[Qnobi]

Red Sunday?  You mean "rest Sunday?" All good, my friend!

[TimovieMan]

Monday:

Slept terribly Sunday night. My best guess is: I drank too much coffee on Sunday.

This is becoming a pattern, so this will be added to the challenge: logging my caffeine intake. I'm not going to focus on lowering my intake, that can wait for a next challenge. Now I just want to get in the habit of logging my intake.

Had my first physio session for my left wrist. Walked there (20 minutes), but did an extended long walk on the way back (since the physiotherapist's is close to the park and lake I like walking around).

Conclusion of the session: it's not tendonitis or anything tendon-related. Basically my capitate carpal bone has lessened mobility compared to the rest, which is causing the pain when in dorsiflexion, and an inability to put pressure on it at that point. But: it's nothing that can't be fixed with stretching and mobility exercises. I've gotten 5 exercises, 3 of which can be done freely, and 2 that need a surface for pressure or tension. So 3 I can do *anywhere* and 2 that require a bit more effort. And since I have to try to do them twice a day, I'm adding them to the challenge.

 

So as of this day, this is part of this challenge (I'll update the first post as well with this):

	Bad	Poor	Ok	Good	Excellent	Frequency	Notes
Coffee consumption	4+ cups	3 cups	2 cups	1 cup	None	Daily
Wrist mobility	< 1x5	1x5	1x5 + 1x3	2x5	> 2x5	Daily	3 "free" exercises, 2 surface exercises

 

 

Eating yesterday was a tad more than I'd hoped, but we had a piece of leftover apple crumble pie that needed eating or it'd have to be tossed. And I hate tossing perfectly good food, so I approached 3K calories.

I did have a (rather long) nap to compensate for the lack of sleep during the night...

Did my wrist mobility exercises, the DailyDare, an elbow plank hold and a 2-minute breathing exercise before bed.

 

Tuesday:

Office day, so biking there, and biking back, a lunch break walk, and even a few shorter walks because of physical meetings.

Took TimovieSon to a try-out session at a rugby club.

The whole "not being allowed to play as a field player for a quarter of a match" in football has dented his motivation, so he's looking into other sports that seem interesting. Rugby could be a good fit: he's tall and strong, and while he may not be the quickest, his physicality makes him hard to stop for same-age players. Plus he's a football goalkeeper: he's not afraid to risk life and limb, and he knows how to handle a ball.

He enjoyed his first try-out session, so he'll join the next three as well. Chances are he'll be a rugby player from then on.

We'd like to keep him in football until the winter break, but his increasing reluctance for football training might make us decide to let him quit sooner. A shame for this season's registration fees - it would have been better if he'd known this back in May - but we won't keep him at a sport against his will either.

 

 

Here's my log so far:

	Week 2
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Coffee consumption
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	6h56
Steps
Avg. steps	13.1K
Distance	10.50 km
Wrist mobility
Workouts	1
Days with (mini-)workouts	0.2

 

 

 

And here's a band I got to know thanks to the Spotify algorithm. Sometimes it pays off to not hit "repeat" on a playlist... ?

 

Beyond the Black - Dancing in the Dark

[Sovalis]

As to the conversation about family mental health sharing, I'm with Sal on this. My family mix is complicated and leans heavily into Bipolar diagnoses, so there really was no way to hide what was going on for any of us. But I knew that we were all out of sorts in different ways and that made it a lot easier to be honest about where things were at for me, and really normalized that it was okay to not be okay as long as I kept striving for another day.

 

Do you talk to the kids about the Autistic tendencies you have? No need to answer that if you don't want to. 

[TimovieMan]

On 9/18/2024 at 3:04 AM, Sovalis said:

As to the conversation about family mental health sharing, I'm with Sal on this. My family mix is complicated and leans heavily into Bipolar diagnoses, so there really was no way to hide what was going on for any of us. But I knew that we were all out of sorts in different ways and that made it a lot easier to be honest about where things were at for me, and really normalized that it was okay to not be okay as long as I kept striving for another day.

I had a good talk with TimovieDaughter last week about things like this. Mainly to make sure she knows that it's okay to not be okay, and that she can always talk to us if something, *anything*, is up.

But also to try to get her to understand that, when she gets upset because of something that was said by someone else, that that person may not necessarily realise they said something wrong in the first place.

 

I want her to still come to us with everything, but I also want to foster a mindset that doesn't immediately assume malice.

 

On 9/18/2024 at 3:04 AM, Sovalis said:

Do you talk to the kids about the Autistic tendencies you have? No need to answer that if you don't want to. 

I'm pretty open about that.

 

Of course, not everything is clearly visible. I've stayed under the radar for so long in part because people weren't looking for ASD symptoms back in the '80s and '90s, but also because I could "hide" a lot of tendencies by mimicking "proper" behaviour.

I have conditioned myself to make eye contact, for instance. I still need to remind myself regularly to do so in a conversation, and when lost in thought it's bound to be forgotten, but I still make eye contact often enough that it's not too obvious. (Although chances are that I'm actually looking at your nose or mouth or that I'm looking without focusing my eyes)

 

I think one of the most visible aspects is me not realising when the other person is no longer listening to what I'm saying, and continuing to monologue "to an empty room". Conversely, when *I* tune out in a conversation, it's highly visible that I'm not paying attention.

Doesn't even need to be in a conversation: a previous employer noticed that there are regular moments where I get lost in thought and will appear to just "stare blankly at a screen" for some time before "snapping out of it" and continuing.

And there's my OCD tendencies that go with the autism. Even silly things like "sorting" M&Ms or other candy so I can eat them in order by colour (while "evening out" how many there are left per colour).

 

In recent years, I've also started to say whenever I don't have any useful input. Because "I don't know what to say to that" is probably better than being eerily silent. ?

 

Basically, anytime I notice that my neurodivergence is showing, I'll lampshade it, especially towards the kids.

On the other hand, Mrs. Movieman often accuses me of using ASD as an excuse. ?

But I assume that's going to come across better than having to admit that I really don't care... ?

[Chesire]

 

Made it!  following

[TimovieMan]

10 minutes ago, Chesire said:

Made it!  following

Welcome!?

 

 

 

 

I got into bed too late on Tuesday.

I blame Luca Brecel. There was no need for him to go to a deciding frame in his English Open match against Anthony Hamilton. He had plenty of opportunities to finish it sooner. And I wasn't exactly going to stop watching once it reached a final frame... ?

Totally his fault, not mine. ?

 

Yesterday was good food-wise. Kept it under 2K calories. Had to do something as I'd broken fast early. Often unavoidable on a Wednesday. Dinner was late on Tuesdays due to TimovieSon's rugby practice, and the kids are home at noon on Wednesdays...

There hadn't been a lunch break walk, so I went on an evening walk to get my step count up for the day...

 

And then it all went to heck*.

I have no explanation and no excuse.

When my workout alarm rang, I had just started a Tennis Elbow 4 match. I alt-tabbed out of the game... and wound up doomscrolling until WAY past my bedtime...

Result: my curfew is red for two days in a row, my weekly sleep average is shot to heck*, I didn't get a workout in - although the DailyDare was a no-go with my wrist - and I even forgot to do a second set of wrist exercises. No. Just... no.

 

* "heck" is where people go who don't believe in "gosh" ?

 

	Week 2
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Coffee consumption
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	5h40
Steps
Avg. steps	12.7K
Distance	15.94 km
Wrist mobility
Workouts	2
Days with (mini-)workouts	0.4

 

On the plus side: I'll have a 23-hour fast today.

Could've been a 28-hour fast, but there's "ice cream for charity" at work, and there are treats. I'll probably go over my preferred calorie intake for the day, but hey, it's for charity, right? ?

 

 

 

Making some progress on my "top 2000" list. Halfway through 'E' at the moment.
And then it dawned on me that I've never posted a song by this excellent artist before: Elton John.

The man is a great singer and an even better pianist, and he's often hilarious in interviews (at least on "good days" as I think he can be a bit of a grump on "bad" ones).

And this is my favourite song of his: I'm Still Standing.
I lump it in the same category as Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" for being a song that has only gotten better over time...

 

Elton John - I'm Still Standing

[TimovieMan]

2 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

Could've been a 28-hour fast, but there's "ice cream for charity" at work, and there are treats. I'll probably go over my preferred calorie intake for the day, but hey, it's for charity, right? ?

The disadvantage of having your lunch break a tad later than most: the ice cream was sold out by the time I got there. No charity donations from me then.

The advantage of this: no additional ice cream calories on top of the office treats calories... ?

[AerynLee]

I love you open you are with the kids about mental health issues, theirs and your own. 

 

3 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

I think one of the most visible aspects is me not realising when the other person is no longer listening to what I'm saying, and continuing to monologue "to an empty room". Conversely, when *I* tune out in a conversation, it's highly visible that I'm not paying attention.

Doesn't even need to be in a conversation: a previous employer noticed that there are regular moments where I get lost in thought and will appear to just "stare blankly at a screen" for some time before "snapping out of it" and continuing.

And there's my OCD tendencies that go with the autism. Even silly things like "sorting" M&Ms or other candy so I can eat them in order by colour (while "evening out" how many there are left per colour).

Whenever I think maybe I'm not actually on the spectrum, someone comes along and describes ME when talking about classic ASD behaviors ?

[TimovieMan]

2 minutes ago, AerynLee said:

Whenever I think maybe I'm not actually on the spectrum, someone comes along and describes ME when talking about classic ASD behaviors ?

And now I'll be pedantic and say that *everyone* is on the spectrum. That's why it's a spectrum.

You mean far enough on the spectrum for it to be a disorder... ?

 

(Yes, I can derail entire conversations with semantics.) ?

[AerynLee]

1 minute ago, TimovieMan said:

And now I'll be pedantic and say that *everyone* is on the spectrum. That's why it's a spectrum.

You mean far enough on the spectrum for it to be a disorder... ?

 

(Yes, I can derail entire conversations with semantics.) ?

And there he goes again, describing me ?

[TimovieMan]

4 minutes ago, AerynLee said:

And there he goes again, describing me ?

[TimovieMan]

TimovieDaughter has started a "speech and diction workshop" at the local arts academy, in preparation for drama / theatre classes. Three of her classmates are doing the same.

I went to pick them all up after the workshop. It starts immediately after school, and since I work in the office on Thursdays, I'll never get to take her there. But I *can* bring her back home, so we've worked out a parenting carpool system. I'll get all 4 home from the workshop every two weeks. ?

I arrived fifteen minutes early to pick them up, so went for a little walk while waiting, to increase my step count for the day.

 

Did my wrist exercises in the evening, as well as the DailyDare and an elbow plank hold. I'm thinking of adding a couple of extra core exercises to get my daily 0.2 workout average up.

Got into bed a tad late, but still an acceptable hour.

 

Office day again today. Bike to work, lunch break walk, bike back home.

Brother-in-law is coming over this evening, so it'll probably be takeaway dinner and board game night.

 

Log so far:

	Week 2
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Coffee consumption
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	5h45
Steps
Avg. steps	12.9K
Distance	20.33 km
Wrist mobility
Workouts	3
Days with (mini-)workouts	0.6

 

 

 

Unto Others released a new album today. I've listened to it this morning. They're becoming a favourite since seeing them live at the Alcatraz festival. They're an excellent blend of Type O Negative and Sisters of Mercy.

The following song is not from their new album, but from a previous one.

The riff and chorus have no business being so catchy, given the dark child abuse themes of the song...

 

Unto Others - Hell Is for Children

 

And holy friggin' hell, I just found out that this is a Pat Benatar cover!!! ?

[TimovieMan]

In other news: the "Words of Wonders" time-waster app is a thing of the past. Haven't opened it since August 31st.

And since yesterday evening, chess is "done" as well.

 

The last match I had going is now finished, so chess will be put on hold for a while. Until I feel the urge to play chess again. Probably in a couple of years or so.

It's a pattern. ?

 

I finished with a "daily chess" ELO of 1503 (but had peaked at 1517 in mid-August). And my puzzle rating ended up at 2163. Although that peaked at 2255 just last week. Didn't do too well on puzzles these last couple of days. ?

[TimovieMan]

Brother-in-law came over on Friday evening. We ordered takeaway, I had spicy Japanese udon noodles with chicken and vegetables again, like two weeks ago.
While the kids were watching the new season of 'The Masked Singer' that started here, we played a game of Azul. I won.

 

Went to bed at a reasonable hour, because TimovieSon had an early away game in the morning and I basically had to get up earlier than on a workday. Slept poorly, though. Started developing a minor cough on Friday, which was evolving into a full-blown cold, complete with stuffed nose.

Mrs. Movieman has been a bit under the weather for an entire week. Guess she passed it on to me...

 

The football match was a really close affair. We were trailing 0-1 halfway, after a hard and high shot that TimovieSon managed to touch, but couldn't keep it out of his net.

In the third quarter, TimovieSon made an important save, and his quick punt forward became the assist for our equaliser. In the last quarter, we got 1-2 in front, and just before the end of the game TimovieSon gave another assist for the 1-3 final score.

 

Mrs. Movieman and the kids had stuffed baguettes for lunch, while I had their leftovers and some of Mrs. Movieman's leftover noodles from the night before. After lunch, we had to go to Mrs. Movieman's godchild's birthday party in the afternoon. That meant an afternoon with coffee, cake, chocolates and sweets, and then an evening with all manner of crisps and appetisers, with soft bread rolls and cold cuts for dinner. Suffice to say, this was a *very* red day calorie-wise.

 

The late evening turned into dazed TV watching after the football highlights, which was a pretty poor idea, as I not only got into bed late, but I slept atrociously, waking nearly every hour.

The cold's only gotten worse today. Fortunately the cough hasn't developed into something worse yet...

 

Met up with brother-in-law around noon to go to mother-in-law's for lunch. There's the local fair where she lives and she's treating us to, well, a glorified friterie. It's become a yearly tradition. Nobody was really looking forward to it, though. Relationship between mother-in-law and both Mrs. Movieman and brother-in-law is pretty strained to say the least. It's more a mandatory formality.

We were back home sooner than other years. Mother-in-law's wheelchair had a flat tire. We inflated it before heading out, but it was probably punctured, as it deflated again once we were at the friterie. So we used that as a good excuse to go straight back afterwards, and not visit the town square where there's cover bands playing... ?

 

Didn't get a lot of steps in this weekend. Didn't get a workout in on Saturday. Didn't even do a full wrist mobility set. So the log is looking pretty bad at the end of the week, but especially on Saturday.

 

	Week 2
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Coffee consumption
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	5h30
Steps
Avg. steps	10.2K
Distance	23.22 km
Wrist mobility
Workouts	5
Days with (mini-)workouts	1.5

 

 

A bit pre-emptive with the curfew for this evening, but I'm tired, so I'll make sure to respect it.

 

 

Here's a song that was covered in Friday's "Masked Singer" episode - by someone with a great singing voice.

As soon as it started, I went "Alanis Morissette!". And then I informed the kids that it was a song that will definitely make my list.

It was her first single after the success of 'Jagged Little Pill' which was one of the most iconic albums of the 90s. I thought it was confirmation that she was here to stay, but she never quite approached her earlier success. Odd, because this song is brilliant, and that four-note piano is simply haunting. So yeah, lump me in the crowd that goes "Alanis Morissette is underrated", despite her breakthrough album selling over 33 million copies... ?

 

Alanis Morissette - Uninvited

[Snarkyfishguts]

thank heavens for flat tires!

 

i hope you feel better soon!

[TimovieMan]

Right, this may well be the longest post I've ever made here, so I'll put most of it behind spoilers.

 

It's a month overdue, but here's my finished review of the 3-day Alcatraz Festival... ?

 

Well, actually, there's a fourth day (day "zero") as well, but that's just tribute bands.
Although calling them "just" tribute bands does them a disservice. Headliner that Thursday was "Bulls on Parade", which is a Rage Against the Machine tribute band with great musicians and a singer that is a FAR better singer than Zack de la Rocha (but who has a more traditional gravelly metal voice which gives a different vibe than de la Rocha).
Anyway, I didn't go on Thursday. ?

Friday:

Spoiler

I decided to attend the festival with just a t-shirt on (no sweater / hoodie). So naturally it started drizzling as soon as I left the house with my bike... ?

 

The opening band on the main stage were locals: Dyscordia.
Being early meant that I had a nice spot on the front row. Solid opening act. Funnily enough, it started raining more heavily just as they started playing "Toxic Rain". ?
It wasn't cold, though.

 

Second band was Massive Wagons. They were fun. The singer was wearing (Tim Curry's) Pennywise socks. ?

Got a reaction out of the singer when he mentioned that - likely because of the rain - the crowd wasn't exactly overly enthusiastic. It made me chuckle and we immediately got an "alright, at least I see some smiles on the front row now" from him. ?
The rain stopped and the sun came out during a guitar solo, which netted the guitar player some extra applause.
Sang my heart out during "Nails".
I like the band's "immature punk"-ish style. "I try not to swear in my songs. Fuck the haters." ?

 

After Massive Wagons I had a choice to make: go see Mantah or go see Eclipse. I opted for Eclipse because I'll likely have less opportunities to see a Swedish band than a local band. A local band that I'd already seen last year, mind, even if it was in the tent with the less-than-ideal sound.
During the sound checks, I visited the metal market to find an interesting hoodie to buy. Sadly, there were almost none of bands that I *really* like, and the NIN sweater I found was two sizes too large, so not an option. I decided to postpone the purchase and maybe not buy one at all, hoping it would stay warm enough until the night. Spoiler alert: it didn't.

 

Eclipse was great. I love their 80s vibe, and they delivered a superb gig. My brief visit to the metal market had relegated me to the second row, and that would be the closest I'd get for the entire weekend from that point on. ?

 

After Eclipse, I hurried to the middle tent to catch the final two songs of Mantah (which were the exact two I had prepared).

 

Next I checked the Belgian stoner rock band The Killbots for a bit until it was time to return to the main stage for Orden Ogan. They were decent enough, but I was mostly looking forward to Orden Ogan... ?

 

Orden Ogan, brilliant power metal band. I enjoyed their performance very much! Kinda sad that they only had 50 minutes, though, they deserved more, same as Eclipse.

 

Ran back to the small tent to catch the beginning of the Belgian stoner rock band Fire Down Below afterwards. Same situation as with The Killbots: decent enough, but I was mainly biding my time until Feuerschwanz hit the main stage...

 

Well, Feuerschwanz was a party! Incredibly fun band. They threw me for a loop a bit with "Death on the Dragonship" as I had actually prepared the original "Untot im Drachenboot".
Hearing it in English just felt off. ?
Highly enjoyable band, wouldn't mind seeing them again in the future.

After Feuerschwanz, Beast in Black were performing on the main stage.

 

While they were sound checking, I walked around the festival ground a bit, having a few "drive-by conversations" with random strangers. Even simple stuff like going "Cool band!" at someone's shirt, or checking out someone's battle vest, seeing patches for Avatar, Powerwolf and Alestorm and simply listing them with a "Your vest is approved!" remark and being on my merry way again... ?

 

Beast in Black was another excellent gig. Yannis is such a good singer. Still not sure if he's just that good at falsetto, or if he actually has soprano in his vocal range. It's *that* clean...

 

Next was Belgian post-metal band Hippotraktor in the small tent. They had just started (I missed half the first song) and already the tent was jam-packed. I started *outside* the tent, but by the end I'd worked my way up to just behind the PA system. Good band, I hope they'll break through just like compatriots Amenra and Brutus did.

 

After that I checked out part of Sylosis' gig in the middle tent, but mainly to abide my time while awaiting the next concert there: The Ocean.

 

The Ocean Collective - WOW! One of the best performances I've seen at the festival! Heavier than I thought they'd be, but the musicianship was excellent.
It reminded me somewhat of last year's Russian Circles, who also gave an exceptional performance that relied on atmosphere more than audience interaction. Main difference is that The Ocean DOES have singing, and Russian Circles does not. In fact, Russian Circles don't speak with the audience *at all*.
The Ocean was definitely the biggest surprise of the weekend!

 

I had very much liked to have seen Monkey3 in the small tent, but Paradise Lost was starting in the largest tent, and I was wearing a Paradise Lost t-shirt at the time, so I was NOT going to miss them.

It was getting dark at this point and also started to get colder. Enough to know that I was going to need a sweater.
Used the 15 minutes I had before Paradise Lost to go and buy one. The "backup option" I had seen earlier: a Dio - Holy Diver hoodie.

 

Whitechapel (that played before Paradise Lost) had arrived late due to circumstances and had to cut their set a bit short. It gave Paradise Lost less time for sound checking, so they started a bit late as well.

But they were on form! They gave a show that was as good as the one I'd seen in Sint-Niklaas two years prior. Excellent rendition of "Small Town Boy" as well.
Had a good chuckle at Nick Holmes' remark that, after the "cheery" combo of "As I Die" and "Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us", they were going to double down on the "happy" vibe. With "No Hope in Sight". ?
And then they dedicated "The Last Time" to the old people in the crowd... and on the stage. ?

 

With Paradise Lost starting 10 minutes later than they should have, I skipped Amon Amarth entirely. I did hear "Guardians of Asgaard" in passing, though.

 

I went to the small tent instead, to check out Brant Bjork Trio. Not the most popular gig of the day, plenty of room to stand and/or get close to the stage even in the smallest tent at the festival.
The calmer stoner rock was a welcome change to the heavy onslaught of most of the rest of the day, though. And while I had initially feared their gig might contain a lot of jamming, they kept everything pretty tight. Not bad at all!

 

I left a tad early, though, to check the full concert in the middle tent of closing act Life of Agony.
Glad I did, since that was a decent show as well.

 

After Life of Agony, it was time to go home. As I was joining the masses towards the exit, my joke that "I thought 'Exodus' was only performing on Sunday" fell completely flat...

Oh well...

 

My conclusion of the first day of the festival was pretty much "the more I wanted to see a band, the better their gig was", which is awesome.
The only exception to that was The Ocean, who were even better!

 

Saturday:

Spoiler

In theory the weakest day of the weekend. Or rather: the one with the most gaps in my schedule.

 

I had noticed on the first day that Lord of the Lost was going to hold a signing session in the afternoon.
The session was at 16h, just 10 minutes after the end of the Night Flight Orchestra's gig, and during one of the gaps in my schedule.

 

Now, joining a signing session is not something that's in my nature to do, but Lord of the Lost might be the one exception to that. Not that I want any of their signatures per se, but I'd like the opportunity to tell Chris Harms just how much the album 'Judas' meant to me. How I didn't think they'd be able to top 'Thornstar' as that was a brilliant album, but that they responded by releasing what I consider to be the best album of all time. In a time when I no longer label *anything* "best of all time" anymore...
So, the plan was to join the line after watching Night Flight Orchestra.

 

The opening act was Dutch 80s band Vengeance. Just the type of classic hair metal that provided a proper kick-off for the day. Solid performance.

 

Next was young Belgian band Secondhand Saints, who aren't afraid of using lots of electronics in their music. Really good gig as well, especially for the small tent. These guys will probably rise to prominence in the coming years.

 

After Secondhand Saints, I went back to the main stage to catch the last half of Raven's concert.
As I was passing the middle tent, Ankor sounded pretty good.

 

Raven, on the other hand, wasn't all that. In hindsight, I felt that I had actually made a mistake by preparing for their concert, and wished I had prepared for / gone to see Ankor instead. Oh well, they can't all be winners...

 

After Raven, Finntroll was up at the main stage. They're not always to my liking, but sounded decent enough. I did leave a tad early to be in time for Arson in the small tent.

 

Ran into brother-in-law while going to the small tent, and caught up with him about the first day a bit. We were both there the entire time on Friday, but never once encountered each other. We commiserated a little about the vocals not being loud enough in the tents. While it was an improvement over last year for the small tent, the other tents suffered a little. Main stage was solid soundwise, though.

 

Arson, another Belgian band, had a bar set up on stage where one of the band was busy pouring out shots during the first couple of songs... and then the audience was invited up on stage for the remainder of the gig. It even seemed to energise the band members, to be able to play while surrounded by fans. Cool performance!

 

Was a bit miffed to leave early - I hate leaving when the band is good - but I was looking forward to Night Flight Orchestra too much.

NFO was probably the "softest" band playing all weekend, but man, are they good live!
Had a good laugh at the front man mentioning the sunny weather. "I hope *you* guys aren't feeling too hot out there. It's 30°C and I'm wearing a fucking cape!!!" ?

 

For their last song, they wanted everybody in the crowd to form a conga line (they called it a 'polka train'). Hundreds of people - including me - joined in, marching through the crowd in a line, and high-fiving other lines (or other locations of the same line) whenever our paths crossed. The vibe was right...

 

When Night Flight Orchestra finished, I immediately rushed to the signing stand. I had 10 minutes to spare even!
As I approached, I saw that Chris Harms was already there, but... why was he leaving? Why was there only a line for Epica?
A look at the screen next to the stand gave the answer: the signing session was at 15.30h, not 16h as first advertised.

 

So while I was enjoying myself in the NFO conga line, I missed my window of opportunity. I was just in time to see Chris Harms leave...

I found out later on in the day that it was a miscommunication between the band and the festival. They were *always* supposed to have the signing session at 15.30h and had posted it as such on their Instagram... which I don't follow. The festival updated the screen when they found out, but that was after 14h, when I last checked...

Spent half an hour being disappointed, until Spiritbox provided some much-needed distraction.
Solid performance. From where I was standing, near the PA system, they created quite the vortex where the mosh pit was. Definitely got the crowd riled up.

 

After Spiritbox, I stayed at the main stage to await the next group, Dio Disciples.
I had the option of going to see 'Bizkit Park' as well, but then again, I had a 'Dio' hoodie around my waist at the time, so...

Dio Disciples are Dio's former band members that are still touring with guest singers to perform well-known Ronnie James Dio songs (from Dio, Rainbow or Black Sabbath). But above all: they honoured Ronnie James Dio. The mere mention of his name had most of us hold up our raised horns in respect.
The band made it come across as a tribute to Ronnie James, and it felt like that as well.
Without Ronnie James, this was essentially a cover band, but they oozed respect for the late, great Dio, and it was perhaps the most heartwarming concert of the weekend. A band and hundreds of fans coming together to honour one of the greatest singers the genre has ever seen.

 

Went to see Pothamus right after, in the small tent. A Belgian band that's also on the verge of breaking through. Like with Hippotraktor the day before, I had missed the first song and started outside the tent because it was too crowded. Another solid performance. We really have a number of good post-metal bands at the moment!

 

After Pothamus, I could have gone to see Testament on the main stage, but Lord of the Lost was playing in the big tent, and I wanted to be early to get as close to the front row as possible.
I got to the second row.
Still, third time I've seen Lord of the Lost live, and it's the closest I've gotten by far. When Chris Harms hopped off the stage and positioned himself on the step by the security barrier, standing just above the crowd but close enough to feel part of them as he sang, I could practically touch him.
Once again an absolutely brilliant performance. These guys are *so* good live!
And then the crowd-surfers came...
Right as the band was starting 'Blood for Blood', which involves us jumping. ?
Remark from Chris Harms: "Wow, you guys are crazy, jumping AND crowd-surfing at the same time!".
A poorly timed crowd-surfer passing over me - and needing a lot of hands to not come crashing down - right at the end of 'Blood & Glitter', caused me to miss the ending salutation from the band and their picture with the crowd. The *one* band where I actually care about being an extra pair of horns in the picture... ?

 

It did lead to me having a conversation with the guy standing next to me - who missed the photo as well. Spent at least half an hour talking to him after the concert.
I don't often get to have live conversations with other Lord of the Lost fans, so this was quite fun. And it makes it all the more apparent just how loyal LotL's fans are...

 

Of course, this conversation made me miss most of Epica's gig. I only caught the last 15 minutes of their performance...
I missed 'Rivers', but was luckily in time to catch 'Beyond the Matrix'. Very solid band, wouldn't mind seeing them again in the future. Especially because they really are more "old Nightwish" than current Nightwish... ?
 

When Epica finished, I did some back-and-forth between the main stage and the small tent. While Europe were setting up on the main stage, I went to see stoner rockers Truckfighters in the small tent. They were decent enough - I can appreciate the more laid-back genre and vibe along. When they were done, I went in search of a good spot to watch Europe.

 

Once Europe started, it became apparent immediately that their sound quality was among the best I'd heard all weekend. And their performance was spot-on from the very first note. Excellent gig.

 

Sadly, this was one of those cases where "overlap" caused me to leave a good performance early. I don't like doing that, but Crippled Black Phoenix were playing in the small tent, and despite really liking Europe, they had priority for me - even though I don't like leaving good concerts...

If the festival's time table was going to be respected, then Europe had such an immensely longer set, that I could catch the entire concert by Crippled Black Phoenix, and still be back in time for 'The Final Countdown'!

So, I left Europe after their fourth song, and went to the small tent.

Crippled Black Phoenix were just finishing their sound check, and they did so by playing (part of) one of their songs. A good way to get us excited for their upcoming performance - I wish more bands did this.

Their gig itself was excellent. They even played several of the soundbytes that are used on their albums, which I didn't expect. Makes the band quirky, and I quite like that.
Sadly, they didn't play their (imo) best song, which is usually their set closer, but it's a 10-minute song and they only had 1 hour, so I do understand...

 

I didn't have to hurry back to the main stage to catch 'The Final Countdown' afterwards. The crowds that were coming from the main stage were indication enough that Europe's concert had finished already.

Instead I got to decide whether I wanted to catch Satyricon in the big tent, or Hatebreed in the middle tent. I wasn't opposed to either band, but wasn't exactly jumping at the occasion either.

 

I opted for Hatebreed...

...and I'm glad I did! These guys were playing to a jam-packed tent - I stood *just* outside of it for most of the show - and boy, did they get the audience riled up! It looked like mosh heaven for those that are into that kind of thing.
Had a good chuckle when they didn't do a "wall of death" but instead did a "ball of death" - a giant inflatable ball that they pushed into the crowd and that got tossed around for the rest of the concert.

 

I found out the day after that my brother-in-law and me were probably standing only 3 meters apart during this... and never spotted each other. ?

 

Sunday:

Spoiler

Last year, Belgian band 'Iron Mask' opened on Saturday. I ran into the singer multiple times that weekend, and had a chat with him on Sunday while we were both waiting in line for drinks. Good singer, nice guy.

 

The opening band on Sunday this year was Bruges-based speed/thrash band After All. As soon as they came onstage, I went "that's the singer of Iron Mask!!!". I was immediately hoping I'd run into him later on in the day to ask if he combines both projects or if he'd switched bands since last year. And to congratulate him on essentially opening the festival two years in a row. ?

Spoiler alert: I did run into him during Cirith Ungol's gig. He's indeed the vocalist for *both* bands. And I made him think for a second before he realised that yeah, cool, he did open the festival two years in a row. ?

Anyway, After All were good. Although I think the singer's voice is a better fit for Iron Mask's power metal than After All's speed/thrash, I thought he sang even better this year.

 

The second band on the main stage was one I'd greatly anticipated: Audrey Horne.
And they delivered! Good energy from the band, and the singer even climbed off-stage and over the security gates to sing from smack in the middle of the crowd. He then started fistbumping anyone near him - including me!

 

Soil was the next band. Similar experience: good energy, excellent concert. Singer Ryan McCombs also climbed off-stage, mostly to sing from the security barrier during "Halo", and letting the crowd scream in his mic. Although, shoving a microphone in *my* face during the chorus may not have been the best idea given that I can't sing at all. ?
The stage was pretty high, and since Ryan McCombs isn't exactly the tallest, the roadies had put out steps during the sound check. "Little steps for the little guy" as McCombs called them. ?

 

After their gig I went to the small tent for Thorium's gig. As I was passing the middle tent, Eternal Champion sounded pretty good, but I only caught one song.

 

Thorium were okay, nothing spectacular. I left a tad early so I could catch Armored Saint on the main stage. And to put on sunscreen for the third time of the day. Saturday had excellent festival weather, but Sunday was scorching.

 

For Armored Saint, I positioned myself around the 15th row or so. Should've gotten a tad closer, as I was just outside the range of the security people's water guns. They were spraying the front rows of the audience consistently - they did the same on the previous days, but on Sunday it was far more of a necessity.
The band was solid, but little more.

 

When they were done, I went to the middle tent in preparation for the Unto Others gig. I went to buy two glasses of water first, only to hear that from that point on - up until 6 pm - water was free. There'd been plenty of messages on the screens reminding us to hydrate and wear sunscreen (which was also available for free) all day...

 

Unto Others was one of the bands I wanted to be right up front for. I made it to the second row. The band appeared younger than I thought they'd be, and wow, they're really good! They made me look forward to their new album that's coming in September.
Halfway through the gig, the guy in front of me left. I waited 10 seconds to see if the two next to him would take up the newly created space, but they didn't. So I took the spot. First time I'd been on the front row since Massive Wagons on Friday.

 

After Unto Others, I stayed in the tent, but went closer to the PA system for the next band: Green Lung.
Another good concert, and a nice "70s heavy rock" vibe from them. The singer's nasal voice has a distinct Ozzy Osbourne-like tone.

 

After Green Lung, I hurried to the small tent for one of the "farewell" concerts by Cirith Ungol, who've been around since the early '70s. Despite that, both original members didn't seem as old as I thought they'd be.
A decent gig, and the one where the singer from After All was standing just two meters to my left (together with the rest of the After All band).

 

I didn't see the full concert, because there was a party waiting for me on the main stage: Korpiklaani.
My kind of fun folk metal. It didn't have to be good, it primarily needed to be lively and a great time for the crowd. And it was!
Most of the time, at least. Unlike Feuerschwanz (or Alestorm last year), they didn't quite keep the party going throughout their entire performance. There were a couple of lulls.
But they did manage to get us dancing a few times. I even used this as an opportunity to get a tad closer to the front.
Things got especially crazy during their set-closing 'Vodka'. During that, I pretty much ended up about 20 meters from where I had started. FUN! ?

 

It had made me a tad hungry, so I went to get something to eat. I returned to the stand with Vietnamese food. They had rice noodles with spicy chicken and vegetables that were actually *really* nice for a festival. Easily the best thing I ate all weekend - which is why I was a repeat customer after already having tried it on Saturday. ?

 

To avoid skipping Dark Tranquillity entirely, I ate my noodle dish on one of the benches closest to the big tent. That way I could still hear the band really well.
Spent some time talking with a couple who were wearing Audrey Horne t-shirts. Gushing about the Audrey Horne concert, of course.
Not everything Dark Tranquillity played was entirely up my alley, but they did play my favourite song of theirs: "Atoma". That song gives me Paradise Lost / Amorphis vibes...

 

After having eaten, it was time to return to the middle tent for Baroness. I hadn't really been disappointed by any of the bands I went to see all festival, and Baroness was no exception - another good gig. Despite a spot next to the PA, the singer's voice could've been a tad louder, though, but not enough to hurt the concert experience.

 

When Baroness was done I had some time before Danko Jones would play in the same tent, so I decided to check a bit of Gene Simmons Band at the main stage.
The song I heard was okay - typical Kiss but without the make-up. But then Gene Simmons thought it necessary to call some good-looking young women from the front row on stage. Being the geriatric with an ear-piece that he was, he needed 3-4 attempts to simply get their names right. But he made a couple of comments that disgusted me. "Just do everything I say, we'll get along better" and "don't worry, I'll pull out" might've flown in the 70s and 80s, but now it was just creepy as fuck. Hard pass. I immediately had my fill and left.

 

Ran into brother-in-law at the Vietnamese eating stand next to the middle tent - he'd also found the delight of their noodles. We commiserated yet again about the vocals volume, discussed the large poster they'd put up with the bands that were announced already for next year's edition, and I complained a bit about Gene Simmons... at which point I heard another Kiss song starting. That meant that Gene Simmons had halted his own gig for well over ten minutes with those women. You were hired to play music, you sad old fart!

 

Anyway, as Danko Jones was getting ready to start, I looked for a spot near the PA system.
The complaints about the sound quality in the tents were unfounded where Danko Jones was concerned. As soon as the first song started, it was obvious that their concert had by far the best sound of the entire weekend. Being right next to the PA, I couldn't restrain myself and had to tell this to the sound technicians, of course. I assume they like being told they did a good job.
Danko Jones himself was fun. The music was great, and there was this really entertaining ambiance in his talks with the crowd. When he presented his drummer (Rich Knox) and his bass player (JC), the crowd started chanting "JC! JC! JC!". This turned into a running gag throughout the concert. Apparently the drummer's luggage was lost at the airport, and he had the band's "Danko Jones" backdrop with him... so they were playing without the band name visible on-stage. "You do realise that this is a 'Danko Jones' concert, no? If we had our backdrop, you would KNOW who was playing!"
This only fuelled the "JC!" chanting, and JC himself was almost losing it. This type of interaction kept coming up throughout the set. ?
It was top-notch catchy rock, with hilarious crowd interaction, which made the entire thing into one of the most memorable concerts of the festival. A+

 

After Danko Jones I went to the main stage to catch the last hour of Architects' set. They had massive screens set up on stage that were constantly used to enhance the effect of their songs. The music was good, but there's something really aesthetically pleasing about watching a band (and especially a drummer) performing in silhouette because of the bright backdrop.
They killed it with their final songs 'Nihilist' and particularly 'Animals'.

 

After 'Animals', I went to the middle tent again for Clutch. I'd missed their first couple of songs but, well, choices had to be made. Clutch were solid, and I was really looking forward to their set closer 'Electric Worry'.When they announced they had one song left, I prepared myself. And that's when they said 'Spacegrass' would be their last song. Precisely one of their songs I like least. A quick question to some concert goers in front of me explained it: they had opened with 'Electric Worry' this time. Oh well, I'd have had to miss 'Animals' for it, so it evens out in the end... ?

 

This concluded the festival, and as I was going home all I could think about was how boss this edition had been, and that I would be returning next year as well... ?

 

 

And because this post wouldn't be complete without yet another wall of text, here's what I've been up to in the TE4 game:

 

Full career so far.

Spoiler

After the junior Wimbledon tournament, it was time to try my hand at the Challenger tour. In week 29 - just before my 16th birthday - I joined the Tampere Challenger in Finland. On clay, of course. I had a direct entry into the main draw, no qualifiers necessary.

 

In the first round, I drew Nicolas Escudé (the future #17 in singles and #35 in doubles). Reasonably fast, good serve, consistent strokes. Stamina could be better, and his serve-and-volley style of play wasn't optimal for clay. This meant I had some difficulty on his serve, but once I got him tired, I had the upper hand. This was reflected in the result: 6-4 6-1

 

In the second round I faced the same unknown I had beaten in the final of the week 15 future in Spain. It was an immensely difficult marathon match then, because he was very consistent (few unforced errors), had great stamina, and his defender style is a good fit for clay. This was going to be a tough match again.
He overpowered me early on, and got 0-4 ahead. I could mitigate to 2-6, but the set was lost. The second set was the inverse: I got 4-1 in front and was starting to look good for the win... but he clawed back. A couple of hard-fought games went his way, and suddenly he was leading 4-5. I wasn't exactly going to roll over and let him take it, so I fought back hard. Got to 6-5 and even had 2 set points but he still won the game. The tiebreak then was an even affair where I only made the difference at 5-5 to win.
In the final set, I had the advantage early on, and went 5-2 in front. He cleared 2 match points in the following game to stay alive in the match, and even got back into it to 5-4. In that game, I had two more match points, and the second one clinched it for me.
I won 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in a 3 hour 34 minute slog (2 hours and 4 minutes real-time!) to advance to the quarter final.

 

At that point, my opponents looked less intimidating than this guy, so I started dreaming of winning my first challenger. Met Olivier Mutis in the quarter final. I had beaten him in the Spain future as well, so I definitely was the favourite here. I beat him 6-3 6-2 then. I did better now: 6-3 6-0.

 

In the semis, I was up against an unknown Fin playing in front of his home crowd. He was a solid and consistent counter-puncher, so might have been an issue, if it weren't for his weaker stamina. He got 0-2 in front, but by then I'd gotten him tired already, and won the first set 6-2. I should have won the second set 6-0, but I had a lapse of concentration at 5-0 and he nabbed a game back: 6-2 6-1.

 

In my first Challenger final, I had to play against South African doubles specialist David Adams. He peaked at #131 in singles and #9 in doubles IRL. Solid stats, but nothing I couldn't handle... or so I thought.
I won the first set easily enough, 6-1, only having trouble on his service game. In the second set, however, he'd found an answer to my serve. He quickly got 0-3 ahead, and every game became a battle. I had to clear 2 set points at 2-5 and 3 more at 4-5. That fifth one was the one too many.
I lost the second set, but had started to overcome Adams' tactical adjustments near the end of it. I fared a lot better in the final set. 6-1 4-6 6-1

 

My first Challenger tournament and I win it! 90 pro tour points to put me on the world #240 spot! And a 7.428$ prize just before my 16th birthday!
Oh, wait, I'm still a junior. That means that I don't get any prize money... ?
Only 6 more months before going pro...

In week 31, I started in the Cordenons Challenger in Italy, my first tournament as a 16-year-old.
My opponent in the first round was an unknown Finnish defender who was incredibly fast. While I could play my usual stamina game against him, I wasn't going to make many winners in this match. Not with his speed.
He proved a difficult customer, but not unbeatable: 6-3 6-2

 

In the second round I faced doubles specialist Martín García (who got to #21 in doubles IRL). Just as fast as my opponent in the first round, but with better stamina, and far better consistency.
I got nowhere in this match. Sure, I could play long rallies, but with his speed, he remained in the game, and with his consistency, he wasn't going to make many errors. But he hit hard, and eventually could pull most of the points his way.
I was trailing fast, and while I got more and more points in as the match progressed, I never posed any real problems for him. The first set was a cool 0-6, and I have to admit that I was glad to win a single game in the second set to not get a double-bagel. 0-6 1-6

 

Oh well, at least I still got 8 points out of this to get to #227.

Next up: the Challenger tournament in Prague, Czech Republic, in week 32. My last tournament before the junior US Open, and one I started as the #3 seed.

 

I drew an unknown Czech qualifier in the first round, who only made three points. No golden set, but an easy double bagel: 6-0 6-0

 

My second round opponent was stronger: a fast and hard-hitting puncher whose only weakness was going to be my stamina game.
I got 2-5 in front in the first game, but my South Korean adversary was resilient and managed to equalise to 5-5. Fortunately, I'd tired him out enough to take the set anyway: 7-5
The second set started with him recovering and getting 0-2 in front, but his revival was short-lived and that's all she wrote. 7-5 6-2

 

My quarter-final was against Czech wildcard Leoš Friedl. I had double-bageled him earlier in the season, in the Austria satellite. I did the same here: 6-0 6-0, and my place in the semi-final was secure.

 

There I played a Chilean unknown with a moderately strong and very consistent backhand, and a very strong but error-prone forehand. So I made sure to hit to his forehand only when he wouldn't have a lot of time to prepare his stroke. That way I got the most unforced errors out of him.
It would have been a double bagel, but he found an immense fighting spirit when facing two set points at 5-0 in the first set. He pummelled me over the next four points to nab the game. I needed another two set points in the next game to win it. My first match point in the second set was an immediate winner: 6-1 6-0

 

Yet another unknown in the final, this time a *very* hard-hitting server with powerbomb strokes. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm facing so many opponents in the 200-400 range of the world rankings in this game that never got anywhere near that high IRL. The "real" realism is really going to be in the top 200 (and even more so in the top 100)...
Anyway, it became clear right away that my ability to break his serve was going to determine the match. He was strong on his own service game, but he was not unbeatable. If I got a rally going - if he didn't ace me or hit a winning serve - then I could hold my own. On *my* service game, however, my advantage was bigger and he was easier to handle.
I got to break his serve in his second service game to go 3-1 in front, and that was it for the first set: we exchanged games until I won 6-4. In the second set a similar story played out: he won his first service game, I won mine, but then I broke his serve two times in a row to go 5-1 in front. So naturally that's when he broke me right back. He had exactly one break point, and he won it. I had needed at least 2 each time...
At 5-2 I got 40-0 in front and had 3 championship points. The second one was the clincher.

 

A second Challenger title, another 90 pro tour points, and my first entry into the world top 200, at #147. 18-year-old Mariano Puerta at #118 is the only player under 19 that's ranked higher than me, and there are no other players under 18 in the top 500...

I'm starting to really look forward to turning pro. But first the junior tour again - the US Open is next!

 

The US Open was clear sailing up until the final. An unknown American wildcard in the first round - 6-1 6-0; Argentinian Diego Hartfield (#73 in 2007) in the second round - 6-0 6-0; Brit James Auckland (future #282 in singles, #57 in doubles) in the last 16 - 6-0 6-0; the unknown Kenyan I had beaten at Wimbledon in the quarter final - 6-0 6-1; and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic who I'd double-bageled at Roland Garros in the semis - 6-0 6-0. The game I lost in the quarter final was mainly because I was overzealous and made two unforced errors in a row trying to end points quickly...

The final was something else.

 

I faced Czech Michal Tabara again. He'd given me solid opposition at Roland Garros and a tough first set at Wimbledon. He was on fire in this game, though.
Before I knew it, he was leading 1-4. At 2-5 he had no less than FOUR set points. But I'm persistent, and fought my way back: 3-5 and eventually even 6-5. I had a single set point of my own then, but couldn't avoid a tie-break.
I lead 4-1 in the tie-break, but that was when he got persistent. He equalised to 5-5 and 6-6, but then I made the difference with a good return and a winning serve. 7-6(6)
The second set started in my favour: quickly 0-2 in front. But he wasn't going to let me run off, and nabbed 3 games in a row. We switched games back and forth until 5-5 at which point he managed to break me and then confirm to take the set: 5-7
In the final set, it started equal with 1 game each, but then I got in front to 3-1. We kept exchanging games from that point on, but I didn't get in real trouble any more: 6-4
7-6(6) 5-7 6-4 in 2 hours and 50 minutes (1:04 real time), and a third consecutive junior grand slam.
I do have to concede that Michal Tabara proved a *very* worthy opponent in this final...

According to the junior grand slam achievements on Wikipedia I'm now joining a list of 7 players that won 3 junior grand slams. There are 5 others that won more than 3, but I'm the youngest of the lot to win 3.
I'm also joining Mark Kratzmann, Nicolas Pereira and Gaël Monfils in winning 3 titles in one season, leaving only Stefan Edberg ahead of me with 4. But again: I'm younger than they were. I won my third junior grand slam at 16 years, 1 month and 2 weeks. They were all 17 or 18.

 

So, my records are:
- tied in 6th place for most junior grand slam titles
- tied in 2nd place for most junior grand slam titles in a single season
- Youngest player to win 3 junior grand slam titles
- Youngest player to win 3+ titles in a single season
- Youngest player to win a Surface Slam (clay, grass and hard court grand slam in one season)
- Youngest player to win a Channel Slam (the Roland Garros and Wimbledon double)

 

I said earlier that I would remain a junior for a couple of weeks in 1998 to win the Australian Open as well, but I'll go pro immediately. Why participate in the junior Australian Open if I can participate in the actual Australian Open? ?
I got 5 more points for the junior tournament, which cemented my #147 spot. And I have 4 tournaments left in the season, including one challenger, and 3 challenger or ATP tournaments in preparation of the Australian Open. I probably won't even have to qualify... ?

 

[TimovieMan]

Worked from home yesterday, had my second physio for my wrist, walked to the physio's to get some steps in (and made a detour around the lake on the way back). Got a couple of naps in, because energy levels are extremely low.

It's been brewing all weekend, and while I don't feel sick per se, I'm definitely not 100%.

Did a mini-workout before bed. Only managed 40s of Superman stretch hold and 40s of elbow plank hold.
Office day today, biked to work and was noticeably slower as well.

 

Wrist exercises have changed. Physio may have found the root cause of my wrist issue: there's an imbalance in my left hand strength. Basically, I'm doing way too much with thumb and index finger, and not enough with pinky and ring finger. Will need to work on grip strength, focusing on the otherwise "unused" fingers.

The issue is far less pronounced on my right hand, because I'm right-handed. The left wrist issue is partially due to it being my off hand... ?

 

Anyway, I've gotten different exercises to do, so I'm changing the log again for the wrist-related stuff:

	Bad	Poor	Ok	Good	Excellent	Frequency	Notes
Wrist exercises	< 1 full set	1 full set	> 1 full set	2 full sets	> 2 full sets	Daily	Physio exercises

 

It's now more strength-related, rather than mobility, so I'm just calling them "exercises", and I'll be a bit more vague about how many there are. ?

Since I've got 4x10 wrist curls (10 in each direction, so basically 'wrist curls', 'reverse wrist curls', 'sideways wrist curls (ulnar deviation)' and 'sideways wrist curls (radial deviation)') to do in this set of exercises, I *will* count them towards my mini-workouts (just 0.1 for all 4, though). I *won't* count them towards my days with mini-workouts, as that's still reserved for other workouts...

 

Start of this week:

	Week 3
	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
Intermittent fasting
Calorie intake
Calories spent
Calories in/out deficit
Coffee consumption
Curfew
Sleep
Avg. sleep	7h10
Steps
Avg. steps	14.7K
Distance	7.89 km
Wrist exercises
Workouts	1
Days with (mini-)workouts	0.5

 

 

In other news: I've started playing Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - Remastered again.
I'd already attempted this in the past, but I *loathe* the combat system in it - it's clunky, often reliant on reflexes, and there's just too much of it. In typical JRPG fashion, it requires grinding, grinding and more grinding. With sucky combat.

But it's Studio Ghibli, meaning that the story is intriguing, and it all looks so beautiful that I often want to lick the screen. So I'm giving it another try...

...with a trainer that gives me infinite health, infinite mana, infinite stamina for my familiars, stealth so I don't have to go into combat every other second, and one-hit-kills so every combat situation is solved immediately. I'm basically playing the story and skipping the game. ?

It's working: I'm already twice as far into it as I got last time, and I haven't felt like tossing it aside yet with a "Fuck this game!" exclamation... ?

 

 

 

Here's my favourite song from Evanescence's excellent debut album Fallen. And no, it's not "Bring Me to Life" or "My Immortal".

I'm assuming that Ben Moody (who left during their tour for the album Fallen) was the better song writer, because I never liked their later works as much as this album, despite Amy Lee obviously being an incredible singer...

 

Evanescence - Tourniquet