Yeah, I know, I haven't posted in ages (no April fool's joke ). No particular reason, although I spend a lot less time on social network sites these days and enjoy my life offline to the fullest.

Life has indeed been good for the most part. I have really simplifed and streamlined all work and private related stuff and concentrate on just a few friends and family. Also, I've noticed that as I grow older, I really crave quiet and personal time for myself where I read a lot, go for long walks, listen to tons of music and watch my favorite TV shows.

Speaking of music, the amount of great new tuneage is just insane! As a result, I spend way too much money on CD's (yes, I still buy those...).

Ryan Star is amazing. This guy deserves to be huge!


Shinedown are probably my favorite band right now. With "Amraryllis" they delivered another masterpiece!




Emeli Sandé has got such an incredible voice!


Pop Evil are incredible as well.


And digging these guys.

On Friday night I had my first ever school reunion - well, at least the first one I was able to attend. I hadn't seen most of these people in like 25 years. Quite amazing. I went to a school in Switzerland where you go through grades 1-12 in the same class, so we became a very tight group. It was an awesome night and brought back lots of good and fun memories. It was also interesting to see how little people change: Yes, we're all quite a bit older and more mature now, but the sound of voices, gestures and most importantly the eyes don't change. A really special moment was reuniting with my first ever crush, a girl who transferred to another school in 6th grade. I hadn't seen her ever since! She still looks amazing and we had a long talk. But the best looking woman of the night was the one I ignored in school. She really blossomed into a beautiful lady. I remember her pursuing me for over a year, but I wasn't really interested back then. She came straight up to me when I entered and gave me a big hug. I didn't recognize her at first, which made for pretty comical moment...

Very excited that RayWilson's latest Stiltskin record is coming out next week. Just love the guy's voice.

I had a major event this week: my first Prince gig! I've been wanting to see him play live for decades. Every time it was either sold out within minutes or the tickets were too expensive. Well, on Monday our agency was given four tickets by a client for Wednesday's show - box seats no less! Worth about 300 grand a pop. It was amazing! He really is in a league of his own. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can touch this guy. He sings like a god, dances like a devil, is a freak on the the piano and a sick guitar player. Not to mention his stage presence. 2 1/2 hours of pure bliss! One less item on the bucket list!






And my favorite:

I must say Amy Winehouse's death hit me pretty hard. It's funny how music and the ones who create it touch me so much more than let's say movie or TV stars, favorite athletes etc. Another reason is because "Back To "Black" was my go-to record when I had a really difficult time in 2007. Music always gets me through the rough times and hers was no exception.

But what really pissed me off is that so many were angry at her death because, according to their logic, it took away from the tragic events in Norway and after all it was her own wrongdoing. People don't realize that drugs can be like a disease, something you can't just shake off, especially when you're under so much pressure as she was.

I'm paying tribute to her incredible talent by choosing one of her more upbeat songs and another favorite of mine. Take care, Amy, and thank you! Your music will live with me forever!

Summer's been going great. Went for a long walk last night and got absolutely drenched in a thunderstorm. I absolutely love that. Feeling the warm rain just pouring down on you like when you're taking a shower. Of course all the kids BBQing and smoking weed in the park weren't so happy, hahaha...

My uncle got remarried again. He's been a widower for the past 10 years and found the most incredible new wife. His first marriage wasn't exactly unhappy, but he always seemed under pressure from his first wife who was very demanding and very critical of almost everything he did, yet he always treated her with respect and loved her no matter what. His second wife is the exact opposite: very caring and very nice. It shows you that a) it is never too late for true love and b) treating others well will pay off eventually.They're both in their 70's...

Been to quite a few shows lately. First there was Rival Sons. They're my favorite new band. Their 70's retro sound, a mix of Led Zeppelin and The Doors, is incredible. And they absolutely smoke on stage.



Then there was Geezer Fest with Foreigner and Journey. Foreigner tore the roof off the place. One of my best shows ever.



Another band that gets a lot of airplay these days: Reamonn. Love their new tune:

So it's been a while since my last blog entry, huh? It's funny, I'm drawn to this place in waves. There are times when I feel the need to check and post something every day, then I don't feel the need to visit for weeks and months.

Spring's been incredible over here. Since the beginning of April we hardly had any rain, just lots of sunshine and warm temperatures, so I spend a lot of time outside at the lake and going for long walks. Also, I just came back from a few days in London and had so much fun! It's just the greatest city with so much to see and to do.

I'm also planning my trip to Canada in September. For some reason I feel like I need to visit. Not sure why, just some intuitive thing. I've been practicing my intuition skills a lot lately and it's just the most incredible thing. It's a feeling like somebody takes you by his/her hand and and shows you the way. Back to Canada, I fly to Toronto and then take the train or rent a car all the way across the country to Vancouver.

Big year for music so far. I already spent a fortune on CD's. I've been absolutely hooked on Sara Bareilles. She has got the most amzing voice and writes amazing lyrics. Usually I'm not that big on piano pop as most of the stuff by the likes of Vanessa Carlton puts me to sleep after the second song. Sara's approach reminds me of early Billy Joel. It's more upbeat and really kicks.



Then is one of the most incredible love songs ever! Her vocal delivery is out of this world.



I've also been listening to Jude Cole a lot lately, one of my all time favorite artists. Can't believe it's been almost 20 years when this came out.

I capped off an incredibly busy couple of weeks with a relaxing weekend at home. We had three pitches since mid Janaury, so the work load at the agency was brutal. To top things off, my boss was away, which left me preparing and presenting two of those pitches as well. One of them we won, so hopefully we'll ge the other two as well. I'm really happy with the way things are going at work, especially since the beginning of the year as I take on more and more responsibility. So 2011 looks even better than 2010 - very excited about that!

My non-relationship is developing nicely as well. It's great not having to worry about someone getting pissed off because you spend so much time at work or because you have other interests as well. I really think this is key to having any sort of happy relationship. Leave each other lots of room, don't neglect your own friends and passions and most importantly, trust each other.

So I'm planning a trip to Canada this spring or early summer. I definitely plan on visiting, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. I'm considering taking the train from either Montreal or Toronto to Vancouver instead of flying. Good idea or not? Also, if anybody has other recommendations, I'd be happy to hear them! I'm really keen on seeing Vancouver as this is a place I could imagine myself living for a few years.

I'm totally in love with this voice and song. Adele is just incredible!

So for the past few weeks I've been in this thing called a "non-relationship". It's more than a booty call and less than a regular relationship. It all started when I hooked up with an ex co-worker. Initially, we both wanted to leave it at that because we're both not really interested in a relationship. Then we realized, this could actually be good! She's a very social person, has tons of friends and goes out almost every night. Her ex-boyfriends always had jealousy issues and became very controlling. I'm a very independent person and prefer to do things spontaneously, not to mention that my busy job makes it very difficult to plan my social life ahead of times. So far it's been incredible, we meet about once a week and do whatever we feel like doing. I should also mention she's only 23 years old. Okay, given her age I do feel a bit like a dirty old man, at the same time I think we both give each other exactly what we need right now: plenty of space and no drama.

I've been reconnecting with one of my favorite bands ever: The Birthday Massacre. I love how they mix several genres into highly infectious and addictive tunes.

I'm still recovering from our agency weekend in Barcelona. It was a lot of fun and I just loved seeing/being in the sun and smelling the ocean after all the fog and snow I see here every day. This Catalan city was just bustling with people and traffic - loved it! We walked around, ate tons of food, drunk way too much and I think I slept about four hours in three days.

As at the beginning of almost every new year, I look ahead in anticipation and excitement of what lies ahead of me. For many years I felt like the last of the Mohicans because most of my friends have started a family and live life accordingly. These days, I really treasure my scot free existence (not that I'm trying to avoid the responsibilities of running a family or being in a relationship) and get great pleasure out of the fact that at any time I could pack up my few belongins and move to wherever I want and do whatever I please. In fact, one of my plans for this year is to go to Zurich's main train station and just hop on any train and see where it takes me.

This is one of my favorite songs and clips ever. And yes, a roadtrip from the East to the West coast in the US is planned as well!