Now I can say happy birthday. So here's your happy birthday. Treasure it.

Have a great birthday Claire!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOjAzI5zALo

oh ha ha yours as well dude
happy birthday, and here’s to it being a blast

Hey happy belated birthday Claire. I hope you have some chocolate today.

Happy birthday Claire!

you have succinctly explained why I hate Radiohead and have always found them dull as fuck.

Much love back

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, guys! Great to know I'm in the group. :)

Should've gone with this one: https://youtu.be/GXNdVpoD9KM

I expect you hate the Beatles too, then. https://youtu.be/nIR6AAjEg5U

Oi! Happy birthday, Claire and h8kurdt. Though in Chocky's case, happy belated birthday. Have a great one.

Okay, I think I'll be alright on the Maths test. So long as I'm not asked about sets.

The Swiss exchange student made a joke about the French exchange student and how they always strike. :D

This place is pretty quiet on a Saturday night.

EDIT: *Friday* night, my stupid sick ass forgot how timezones work

and you really believe that I am awake at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning? ;)


if you want to know more about how Europeans think about the Swiss, read Asterix in Switzerland
(this was written in 1973, so yes it's outdated, but the stereotypical jokes are still pretty much accurate, the orgies would more refer to the Italians nowadays though)


about French music:

I'm Francophonic because in my teens we always went to France on holiday, always in the same area where there were hardly any other foreign tourists, so you just had to speak French. And this is a local band that I first saw live when I was like 15:
Elmer Food Beat - 30cm
I learned French by listening to their lyrics, and learned to like the language by doing so. Teachers of French language in high school should have their students analyse their lyrics. Only problem is that they will be fired as soon as it was noticed :D Google translate them, do it for the first two songs, you'll get an idea of what the rest is about ...

LES RITA MITSOUKO - The No Comprendo
My favourite French band and back in my teens one of my favourite bands in the entire world. Especially this album. I was a big Cure fan as well (and only learned about SY years later). This album is so cool, it was released in 1986. Their most famous song comes from their previous album: Marcia Baila
Most of their songs are in French, but some in English. And some albums they would release in a French and in English version. They even made a song with Iggy Pop but it's so bad that I don't even share the link.

Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
Released in 1971, one of the best concept albums ever made. Heavily influential to many bands, like Radiohead, Nick Cave. Here is also a playlist with moving images, but some songs are banned and quality is poorer. The woman is Jane Birkin, his muse at that time.
If you like to listen to his music with English lyrics, check out the four albums full of covers that Mick Harvey did (former Bad Seed, and currently I think he's still in PJ Harvey's band, they are not related though as you should already know because he's from Oz too). I hope he one day will release a cover of this full album.


I don't know much about currently popular French artists though, especially not French singing ones, except for Philippe Katerine. But he's a genius, and weird as fuck: some songs are about nothing at all, some songs are about very heavy-weight subjects that he manages to completely ridiculise. Some random examples:
- his first name
- bananas
- chicken (but also the meat industry, food consumption whatever)
- plastic bag (and it sounds like it's Thurston on guitar)
- Marine Le Pen (if you never heard of that name, google it)
- jews vs arabs(my favourite)
- Bla-Bla-Bla This is actually two songs, the first one says Je M'Eloigne D'Autant Que Je M'Approche, which translates to something like "I go further away as I'm approaching"
- Windows startup sound
and there's many more, some are crap, some are excellent, some are still good because they are funny even though they are crap.


Last one:
Oiseaux Tempete. I bet your exchange student has never heard of them. Check them out if you haven't yet and you like post-rock. The musicians are French (with guest musicians from I believe Beirut), the singer on some songs is Dutch. MUST BE PLAYED LOUD!

oh and the French do always strike! And they especially love to block the entire motorway, and especially during days where there's heavy traffic prognosed such as the days that everybody goes on holiday.

Belgians too btw.


we the Dutch? no never. We eat tulip bolls, live in windmills and smoke a lot of weed. And we live in Denmark

Sound sdope.

Guess who just sailed through her Specialist Maths test? :D

Distracts me from the fact I forgot my tie too :o

I learned about the the Wug test in English Language today, and I found this adorable little drawing:


I love them so much

Another slow day in Vienna

Translation: Vienna: "Agitated" swan got lost atop Floridsdorf Bridge.

A swan got lost and somehow wound up at a traffic lane atop Floridsdorf Bridge in Vienna. The police directed the "agitated and aggressive" animal towards the next exit, eventually leading it back to Danube Island. After letting out a hiss, the swan then swam away.

Hahaha!

My favourite Austrian animal story was a few months ago when there was a kangaroo hopping around and nobody had any idea where it had come from. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45407767