Category Archives: My Life

Getting recognition

I can tell when a blog post has been popular, from the number of views and visitors in the stats page, but one other way to get to know how it’s doing is with the number of shares the blog post had on other social media sites such as Facebook.

The most satisfying thing about it however is when you come across people and pages (in my case bands) sharing your link. Even more fun is when you see others commenting on links to your blog made by strangers.

The review I did on Rock the South, had this kind of feedback:

The sun has set on… Rock the South Malta

So far it has 30 shares on Facebook, which I’d say is good traffic for me and the kind of blog I own:

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And I have come across one of the shares last night which made me smile 🙂

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Of HayFever and Fun

This weekend was not an eventful weekend, mostly cos I had a lot of my plans cancelled due to a losing battle against my nose aka hayfever.
I started off Friday feeling miserably sick  so decided I should stay in. I spent my Friday swallowing pills and gutted that I had to miss an event happening at Razzett l-ahmar. When I woke up Saturday morning I felt almost as good as new. The plan was to go to Valletta with my mum to pick up our passports. Turns out we got delayed and found the passport office closed. I would have never guessed that they’d close at 11am on Saturday! We arrived only a few minutes late and we were devastated. I guess I know what I will be doing next Saturday morning!!
In the evening me and two friends went out to Coconut/Remedy which is the only alternative and metal pub still standing in Paceville. There was a live event of Martyrium and afterwards a goth/ebm event.
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The gig itself was awesome. I was very impressed with their new material and some of their cover versions, mainly Dimmu Borgir. The party afterwards was a let down as no one would dance and most people vanished straight after the live music was over.
But our night was not over… We went downstairs and enjoyed 80s music and Rammstein music for the rest of the night. It’s my favourite music style anyway so I was not really gutted about the ebm party.
20150418 -  Where the light DIES (Martyrium Gig @Remedy)
On Sunday, my hayfever decided to take over again so I spent my day being lazy. I watched the most awaited first episode of the new season for Orphan Black and then straight after I watched ‘Secrets and LIes’ – a series which I recently discovered.

Appreciation is Key

What a fantastic feeling it is, when you are appreciated for what you do….. Be it your job, your hobby, or just doing something nice for a friend or random person.

After the reviews and coverage I have done during Rock the South Festival, I have  been contacted by a number of musicians who thanked me for this and for mentioning them on my page. Some have friend requested me, and one particular band has contacted me to forward me their album. It was such a nice gesture, and it certainly made my day, if not my week ❤

I won’t mention the name of the band for now; but I will, once I receive the album and I give it a listen… I can’t wait to share this with you, and hopefully it will open more doors and more possibilities for everyone involved.

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The sun has set on… Rock the South Malta

Attending a festival such as Rock the South, makes me realise how much talent there is in such a small island, and how unfortunate it is that most of these bands will not make it far because of lack of proper marketing and how difficult it is both money-wise as well as luck-wise to get recognised and heard by music labels; Let alone being chosen to tour within Europe and further away.

It’s very hard to chose and pick my favourite bands that participated within these 4 amazing days, but my favourite picks are:

1. For Strings Inn – My top favourites from the whole 45+ bands. I have followed these guys since 2009 or 2010 and they have come a long way. The vocals has improved so much and the music is not repetitive whatsoever. These guys rock my socks.

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2. Massacre House Party – Loved their music videos but never seen them live until this festival. Must say they do not disappoint and sure know how to party and get the crowd going! Won’t be the last time seeing these guys.

3. Brodu – Seen them live twice in a month; varied music, sometimes serious, sometimes almost funny. What about the jokes? All the guys are hilarious, especially the drummer!

4. Cosmic Erotic – Mentioned them once, but will mention them again. Just amazing, with the right promotion this band could make it far.

5. Sempliciment tat-Triq – A pleasant surprise for someone like me who’s not a big fan of hiphop and rap. That French guy did certainly give them the edge!

Honourable mention goes to… The Silent Disco! I have never experienced this before in my life, and I most certainly wish that events like this will happen again, possibly with a bigger spectrum of music genres.

One of my huge disappointments during this festival, apart from the fact that it had to end sometime, is that Cable 35 cancelled their participation pretty much at the last minute (on the day) and left their fans baffled. No words can be said when I looked at people’s faces… I am not their biggest fan but I can say that it also killed some of my buzz that night.

One other mistake I made from my end is taking my camera without an SD Card. Yes, I was really pissed at myself, but these things happen I guess…

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the organisers of this festival as well as Zion for hosting it. I look forward for a bigger and better one next year! For now we can only dream and hope… But the count down has already begun!

Rock the South MALTA – 9th-12th April

rdsFinally, the day is upon us! Tomorrow is the first day of a four day festival which happens in the South of Malta. The location is Marsascala and this happens in the limits of Zion, right opposite Thomas Bay.

Although this will be the first time I will be attending, I have heard good things about it and it is why I am looking so much forward to it. There will be two stages, merchandise area, indoor and outdoor bar, food stalls as what is known as a silent disco area. During the weekend before the weekend starts,, there’s the chillout area open for those attending!

This looks like it’s going to be the ‘place to  be’ in the next days.

Have a look at the line-up and further below you can have a listen to a couple of bands which will be rocking the stages in the coming days. Do say hi if you make it to this fest 😉

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My very favourite: Massacre House Party

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For Strings Inn

Crux (Teaser of Upcoming Video)

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Sempliciment tat-Triq

Bass Culture

Easter Meal Success

The Easter meal was quite a success. But I ate so much that I did not even have any lunch today as I still felt bloated.

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Luckily I still have another portion of the gateau so I know how I will be finishing off a very busy, stressful Monday!

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Easter Eatery Plans

So tomorrow is Easter and because we decided to eat at home, I tried to come up with a menu to make for my family:

Garlic Bread with Mozzarella
Tuna Dip & Crackers

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Caprese Salad

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Roasted Rack of Lamb
accompanied with roasted potatoes

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Coffee & Marie Gateau

Wish me luck!

Why use TripAdvisor?

Some of us do not see the purpose in Trip Advisor and think that saying your thoughts about the service you have received in a restaurant is like you are attacking them personally, or attacking the employees. The way I usually end up rating a restaurant is with regards to various aspects:

  • The food
  • The atmosphere
  • The service
  • The value of money considering all the above

Most often than not, before making a complaint on Trip Advisor,  I try to talk to one of the employees; let them know I am disappointed or that something was not as expected. If they choose to not do anything about it, then it is no longer my problem. I have tried, and I got nothing out of it. And I feel like it is about time to share this with the Trip Advisor society, to warn them on things they can expect. When something goes wrong, I would still when possible mention the good sides of the place I have visited. And just because I see something as wrong, it does not mean that everyone should agree with me. It is only my point of view.

At this point I have given almost 200 contributions to this site, and I have received over 40 helpful votes; I think I am doing something right. I’d say, that even if in Malta it is not yet as popular as it is in any other country, the tourists are looking at it to decide on the best locations and services

So before you complain about a negative rating, learn from it and fix things… Reply with concern to negative rating.. That way a customer feels like his review was read and dealt with.. Especially if the negative comment is ‘voted up’.

Then, move on.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members-reviews/SteffiGrimm

Siggiewi World War Shelters

So, I have been slightly quiet the last few days, but I guess I needed some me time, as I have been very busy with work. I have made two new friends over the weekend, which was great too.

On Sunday, the Siggiewi World War Shelters opened for the very first time. There were a lot of people so it was difficult to get a lot of pictures. But this will give you a brief idea. For those who have been to Siggiewi, these shelters are right under the main piazza, so they are pretty massive. I used to think that the ones in Qormi are quite big, but it’s nothing compared to these shelters; corridors upon corridors, with small rooms which the families themselves dug to have their own private space.

Great work done by the Siggiewi Local Council who opened this for the public.

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Pretty Little Liars – Charles

Hold and behold, what amazing season finale we had on Tuesday night (or in my case, since I’m in Europe… yesterday!).

I am still quite speechless about what I have seen, and I will most definitely have to rewatch the episode once more in the days to come. The episode was intense, I felt breathless a couple of times. I was so worried that one of the girls or one of their boyfriends is A!

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So, you can imagine my relief when I figured out the anagram…. Charles! And not just Charles… He’s a DiLaurentis! At one point while I was watching one of the earliest seasons of Pretty Little Liars, I was quite convinced that Alison had a twin; but it never gone through my mind that Jason could have a twin. The story was all the time about Alison, and Jason was never really the focus of the plot.

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So…. my thoughts on the episode itself and the future epsiodes:

  • If Jason has a twin… Spencer has another brother…
  • We have met Charles before… but where?
  • A’s doll house… what’s up with that?
  • How long have the girls been stuck there? It looks like they new their way around the house by end of the episode… Does that suggest that within that 45 minutes, days have gone by?
  • Mona is blonde (yuck!) and alive
  • Andrew Campbell, is he in favour of the girls or against?
  • Emily and Alison… will there still be sparks between them?

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