Linking pieces

If I ever reach the level of thought of this 'revolutionary' thinker, then I'd be quite happy :)

Anyway... check out the weblog of Noah Chomsky, some serious food for thought!
He has some very interesting insights in the ways the US media and US government practices...
Definitely not making me towards positive towards either party...

read more here: Independent Media

Enjoy reading!

Off to watch something that will definitely not stimulate my mind... my heart rate on the other hand will be at its peak... Holland vs. Portugal... Adeus Portugal, lo siento! :)

Sun is shining, the weather is sweeeeeeet...

What a little sun can do...! Totally different country... :)

And tonight... Holland vs. Portugal!! Schwwwiinnnngggg....

Come on, join in:
"Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...

If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the right side of life...
(Come on guys, cheer up!)
Always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the bright side of life...
(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)
Always look on the bright side of life...
(I mean - what have you got to lose?)
(You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing!)
Always look on the right side of life..."

A wet & rich piece

This country seriously has too much money...
It has been crap weather for a long period now...This, combined with the fact that Denmark is out of the European Championships have made sales of travels soar like crazy...
Just heard on the radio that 3000 trips are booked per day!!!
All to warmer areas!!

Crazy country... hahahaha!

Music...the lyrics...

Here I am again... starting a new post...
Looking out of my window I (still) see destruction of our lovely park for a parking lot, and most of all... rain... lots of it!
So, the usual to get a melancholic mood...you know, our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts.

If you know me a bit or a lot, and if you've read some of the previous posts, you know how big the importance of music in my life is. Check the above link for some amazing lyrics...
So many songs just connect me to certain situations, moments, people, moods... just heard Pearl Jam's 'Yellow Ledbetter' being used in a scene in the last episode of 'Friends' (THE series to watch here)... ahhh... that guitar intro is just perfect. Probably one of the best b-sides ever... what a song... shivers...

In the future I am sure to write more about songs and such, try to explain somehow what they mean to me...
for now... just this...

"There is something very wonderful in music. Words are wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do; it speaks straight to our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls.
Music soothes us, stirs us up; it puts noble feelings in us; it melts us to tears; we know not how; - it is a language by itself, just as perfect, in its way, as speech, as words; just as divine, just as blessed." -- Unknown (could be me actually...)

Think I will listen to some summer music now, the perfect music to chase away the rain - ...Buena Vista Social Club

Without any specific piece...

Am starting to write this piece without any specific idea, and will probably not invite you too much to read it. Just felt like writing.

The last couple of days I haven't posted anything, for several reasons, the most 'obvious' one being: busy, busy, busy... actually I have been. Have tried to organise all well here, but when others don't cooportate it's hard to have all running smoothly. Well, that's how it is... earned some decent money again though. Which is always welcome of course, have been discussing some small trips this summer, as I need to get out of here for a bit, probably Spain or Italy. Let's see... I need some sun no matter what, and it can't be found here, that's for sure!

Yesterday morning I went to the airport, for the millionth time, with Guillaume and Sara, to see them off on their trip that (for now) will bring them to London, New York, Montreal, LA, Fiji, Brisbane, Perth, New Zealand, San Fransisco, London and back to CPH... nice one! See you on the 19th of December again, in that same airport. That airport is slowly driving me nuts, it's screwing with my head, have been there too many times. It's a place of too many farewells and good-byes...
Pff, guys, I'll miss you around here. 2,5 years flew by! Remember the Moose ;)

Odd day yesterday... started with deep sadness, some birthdays (Ana, Jose Antonio: cumpleaños feliz!!)and ended with some interesting episodes, one of them seeing France out of the Euro 2004 tournament, just as back then in Japan :)
Interesting country, Japan...

Then the agony of choice... I know of 4 good parties tonight, where o where shall I go, that's the question...
But first, Holland vs. Sweden! Yeah, warm nationalistic feelings are blossoming proudly these days in many European countries, all gathered inside the lines of the green football pitches of Portugal, celebrating and accepting defeat with a passion that is overwhelming. It's confirmed: in uncertain times, people need to be able to gather around possibilities for identification and group cohesion. Newspapers are having field days, commerce is making a good buck, and every male in his right mind is excited about the next upcoming game. I think I will go to the city square of Copenhagen tomorrow, to see the Denmark - Czech Republic game. I guess there's going to be around 30.000 people watching on big screens, with cheap beer. It will be an impressive show of pride, a small country being able to show itself in Europe. Everybody singing, like I wrote about in an earlier post.

Ok, have to do some serious work now...

You're welcome to post comments, questions, remarks etc... I love the feedback all of you have given so far!!

With and from a good heart... until the next post...

23rd of June 2000

On June 23rd 1940 my Danish grandparents got married. A brave decision I think, after all the Second World War had just started, most of Europe was occupied...

60 years later...

Beat, Jacob and I were in a silly mood, and were running around playing James Bond... don't ask...

Then the door opened... I was lost, still am lost... Wondering whether it was all a dream... Don't want to wake up...

Pablo Neruda wrote this many years ago... but it is the best I could find... Danish, Dutch, German and English can't even get close to the beauty of this poetry...

para ti...

SI TÚ ME OLVIDAS

QUIERO que sepas
una cosa.

Tú sabes cómo es esto:
si miro
la luna de cristal, la rama roja
del lento otoño en mi ventana,
si toco
junto al fuego
la impalpable ceniza
o el arrugado cuerpo de la leña,
todo me lleva a ti,
como si todo lo que existe,
aromas, luz, metales,
fueran pequeños barcos que navegan
hacia las islas tuyas que me aguardan.

Ahora bien,
si poco a poco dejas de quererme
dejaré de quererte poco a poco.

Si de pronto
me olvidas
no me busques,
que ya te habré olvidado.

Si consideras largo y loco
el viento de banderas
que pasa por mi vida
y te decides
a dejarme a la orilla
del corazón en que tengo raíces,
piensa
que en ese día,
a esa hora
levantaré los brazos
y saldrán mis raíces
a buscar otra tierra.

Pero
si cada día,
cada hora
sientes que a mí estás destinada
con dulzura implacable.
Si cada día sube
una flor a tus labios a buscarme,
ay amor mío, ay mía,
en mí todo ese fuego se repite,
en mí nada se apaga ni se olvida,
mi amor se nutre de tu amor, amada,
y mientras vivas estará en tus brazos
sin salir de los míos.

A piece of the identity

One thing that does not to seize to amaze me and always brings a smile to my face is the passion and pride the Danes show for their country. Fortunately mostly not in a antagonistic nationalistic way (although some political parties try to, as they try everywhere), but in a very likeable and warm way.

One thing is for example the use of the flag. You can find it everywhere, in all sizes; on cakes, in every garden during summer, around Christmas trees, on dinner tables, everywhere you want. For Danes it's symbol of warmth, togetherness and (here it comes) 'hygge'. A word that is fairly difficult to translate and explain (although they love to say you can't, to keep the mystery), but one could get close by saying warmth & cosiness. They are 'obsessed' with this word though, every spare moment is used to create it, for example by lighting candles whenever - a custom that many look at with wonder when they first see it, but al bring it home to their respective countries.
I am happy to see the colors of the Danish flag, it gives a nicer feeling than the spastic use of the color orange in the Netherlands right now. My eyes hurt all the way over here. Why did the royal family have to choose that color!!!! :)

Another big difference between the Netherlands and Denmark is the knowledge and use of the national anthem. It impressed me last week again, when I was watching Denmark - Italy, how many people were singing on full volume (ok, the beer helped) and actually knew the lyrics. This is a biiiig difference with Holland, where people almost seem embarrased to sing it, which I don't blame anyone for, as we are singing that we have German blood and honor the Spanish king (the first pan-European national anthem!!). Funny though, that everybody is complaining that the players of the national team hardly sing along, when they themselves screw up the lyrics all the time :)
Well, it's the oldest national anthem still in use, that's quite a feat! It's around 400 years old... at that time we were actually part of the Spanish empire, even though we were working hard on trying to get rid of Felipe II... And now I am trying to reconquer Spain... :)

Ok, enough history for now, off for some studying and then to La Cable to see the Denmark - Sweden game, with a loooot of people. Ready for some shouting at the screen. All I hope is that the Italians won't make the next round (sorry to my Italian friends!!!)
I just read that the Italian TV will put a large number of extra cameras around the pitch in the Denmark game, because they want to register it if anything bad happens, just to have evidence that it's all a conspiracy! Talking about sore losers.... Just hope my Napolitan friend won't send his uncle :) hahahah!

Historical evidence

A while back this website - The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives - was started in order to publish millons of pictures, taken during World War II by aerial reconnaisance planes.

Some frightening impressive pictures were taken, of for example the burning ovens of Auschwitz or the carnage that was D-Day, just over 60 years ago.

You can actually order a picture of your area, where you currently live, if you want, but there are actually some free pictures to be found as well., if you click around. A 'funny' one is a picture of the centre of Copenhagen. Take a minute and compare it to the current map, you'll fnd some interesting differences.

Ok, I am going back to be annoyed by the large power shovel that have started at 6 am (!!!) right outside my window, to change the green park view I had into a desert landscape (aka parking lot).
Isn't it just great to open you curtain with a totally sleepy head and see some construction workers dig up the remaining roots of some 100-year old trees...
Knowing Danes, and the fact that tonight is the big game against Sweden, they are probably warming up with a beer in their hands...

Football...ok...

about our lovely sweet coach of the Dutch national team... the freak...

first one...

Wanted!!

As David Bowie sang: ch-ch-cha-changes!!

It hurts to write this post.. and afterwards I want to make it more serious again...

I promise ;)

Sonar or radar?

When I still lived in Holland, we were a couple of guys who went far and wide to visit all kinds of (music) festivals, for any kind of music basically. Very cool, as most of these festivals showed other sides as well. I remember seeing a Faithless-concert in The Hague, in the buildings were they used to have the North Sea Jazz Festival. It was the so-called Crossing Border Festival (now yearly in Amsterdam I think)... awesome, we saw some mid-western blues, Portuguese fado (a woman named Misia, chillingly good, bought the album after), weird Belgian stuff (a girl sitting on a skippy-ball playing piano), Dutch comedy, literature reading, the 'trip-hop' band Red Snapper accompanied by a string orchestra, and then... Faithless...
God is a DJ for sure... I've seen 'em a couple of times, brilliant!

Now a similar festival is happening in Barcelona...even more extensive it seems...Sónar 2004
Check it out:
Sonar
and some Dutch coverage: 3voor12

mmmm, wish I could be in Barcelona right now... With the Forum 2004 going on as well... awesome summer there! I am envious! I'd had to learn Catalán too though ;)

Still, just got a mail with a job offer for a native Dutch speaker, in Malaga... HEEEEEEELLPPPP!!

I just have to got to finish here!!! My 'work' is done here... I need to go... I want to go!

All over the world...!

So cool... I know I sound like a small kid in a candy store now. More seasoned webpage builders will laugh at me now, but I love to look at my statistics page, to see my 'hits'...

I can even see from where people are connecting, which makes it even more fun :) To actually see which friend is where...

Zimbabwe (hoi mark!!), Norway (no idea who it is...), London University College(hola M...), Spain (hola Dani!), Chinese University of Hongking (?????); Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (Japie en Michel) :)

And so forth... :)

this is my country hit list so far... : keep hitting!!

Land van herkomst (country of origin)
1. Spanje (Spain) 24.1 %
2. Denemarken (Denmark) 22.9 % (lot of them are my own, since I am checking if all works and how it looks)
3. Canada 9.6 %
4. Nederland (Netherlands) 9.6 %
5. Verenigde Staten (USA) 7.2 %
6. Italië (Italy) 4.8 %
7. Frankrijk (France) 4.8 %
8. Zimbabwe 3.6 %
9. Singapore 3.6 %
10. Noorwegen (Norway) 2.4 %
De rest 7.2 %
Totaal 100.0 %

Read, and learn...

A woman just sent this to me... just that you know - so you don't see me as a pig :)


The young King Arthur was caught by a trap, set by a ruler of a neighboring kingdom.

Captive, he could have been killed, but his life was to be spared, if he would come up with an answer to a very difficult question within one year.

The question was: What Do Women Really Want?

As the young King Arthur did not know the answer, he went back to his kingdom and started asking everyone: The princess, the whores, the priests, the wise counselor, even the court jester.

He asked almost everyone, but none knew the answer.

Many advised him to ask the old witch, but he knew that she would set a high price.

Finally, the year he had been given was over and he had no answer. Young King Arthur decided, on the last day, to go ask the witch.

The witch agreed to answer the question, but in return King Arthur had to accept her price: she would wed Gawaine, who was a knight of the round table and Arthur's best friend.

Arthur was disgusted. The witch was a hunch-back, had only one tooth and smelled like sewage-water. The king has never met an appalling creature, such as her. He refused the terms, saying no price is too high for causing his friend such anguish. But Gawaine insisted, saying he would do anything for King Arthur's life.

Finally, King Arthur agreed to the witch's term. The witch told Arthur that what women really want is to have full control over their lives.

Arthur's life was spared and Gawaine and the witch were to be married.

On the wedding night, Gawaine, who had prepared himself for the worst, came to his bedroom to discover a beautiful woman waiting for him. Indubitably, the most gorgeous woman he's ever seen.

Gawaine asked the witch about it and she told him that she has decided to be beautiful half the time and ugly the other half- and that it was up to Gawaine to decide whether she should be beautiful during day time (so he could show her off) or during night time (so he would have her to himself). What to do? What to do?

Gawaine, the noble knight, told the witch that he leaves her the choice. When the witch heard that she had decided to be beautiful all the time, because Gawaine had given her control over her life.

What is the lesson of this story?

It doesn’t matter if your wife is beautiful or ugly, stupid or smart. Before anything- she's a witch!

Pfffffffffffffff.........

Acda & De Munnik - Als Je Bij Me Weggaat


Ik ken je nu een dag of twee --- I know you now for a day or two
Wil je nu al nooit meer missen --- I already never want to miss you
Besef ineens dat het nu beginnen gaat --- Realise suddenly that it is starting now
En ik vraag me stiekem af --- and secrectly think of
Wat ik zou doen als jij zou sterven --- what I would do if you would die
Of een ander vindt of mij gewoon verlaat --- or find someone else or just leave me
En op slag ben ik jaloers --- and suddenly i am jealous
En denk aan vreselijke dingen --- and think of horrible things
Die nu komen gaan omdat ik zo van je hou --- that are going to come because I love you so much
Waarom kan ik niet gewoon hier zijn --- why can't I just be here
Zonder te verdwalen --- without getting lost
Waarom kan ik niet gewoon hier zijn bij jou --- why can't I just be here with you like this

En dan kan ik het niet laten --- and then I cant help it
Met geen leger te bedwingen --- no army can contain me
Stap ik zachtjes uit het bed en pak een bier --- I quietly slip out of bed and grab a beer
En terwijl ik naar je kijk --- and while I am looking at you
Hoe jij in ons bed ligt te slapen --- how you are sleeping in our bed
Schrijf ik huilend die twee regels op papier --- I write those two lines on paper (...the ones that start with 'waarom'... see above :) )

Als je bij me weggaat --- if you leave me
Mag ik dan met je mee? --- can I come with you?

Pieces of the soul

..."Have you got any soul?" a woman asks the next afternoon. That depends, I feel like saying; some days yes, some days no. A few days ago I was right out; now I've got loads, too much, more than I can handle. I wish I could spread it a bit more evenly, I want to tell her, get a better balance, but I can't seem to get it sorted. I can see she wouldn't be interested in my internal stock control problems though, so I simply point to where I keep the soul I have, right by the exit, just next to the blues.
- Nick Hornby, "High Fidelity"

Read the book... it's hilariously good. Good movie, for sure, but as always... book is better :)

Some lose ends...

I know, it's an old one by now, but...

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon.' Need I say more? "

- Chris Rock...

Maybe one? When an Australian guy plays a Spaniard in a movie about Roman gladiators...

Frankie says...Happy birthday!!

Happy birthday to you!!

Roco, and tomorrow, to Lulu! And to everyone I forgot along the way :)

Have a great day!! A por ellos!

New addition

This post somehow continues on the same path as the previous one... kind of...

Singer Thom Yorke of the English band Radiohead is a guy who creates his songs/lyrics out of a wide variety of influences. For example; when getting ready to and while recording their highly successful album 'OK Computer', he spoke in an interview about how he gets inspired by all these fragments to come to him while being in London, catching snippets of conversations and such, in a bus, underground, on the street, wherever. (The best result of this can be found in the song and the great video that accompanies it, The Tourist).
He recorded some with a memo recorder and used samples of it in the songs.

Yesterday this 'technique' went through my mind on my way home to see the Netherlands play (missed the 1st goal...). I wish I had taken my memo recorder.
In the same cabin of the train was a group of young girls, around max. 15-16 years old. The spoke with a volume that betrayed the emptiness of the bag with bottles of beer :)
Anyway, the conversation was about the things a teenager talks of...guys ;) Nothing out of the ordinary...but what made me actually listen was the way they spoke of their relationships, and the sheer number (probably exaggerated, but still)
Turns out 3 of the girls had been with the same guy, 'falling in love', sharing the guy, guys sharing the girls, for one thing only... Trying to justify themselves by being drunk or 'in the moment'. Or that guy 'a long time ago', when they were 13 (7th grade). It went on and on... One guy supposedly is a total player, with some girl, 'in love', but keeps calling one of the girls of this group for 'something', while another girl here seems to get stuck in between as the 2 girls are her 'best friends'... and This is just a fragment of what I remember.
Hmmm, this is Denmark as well...

It's too easy and it would make me sound like an old fart, so I won't say 'what is happening with the youth nowadays'.
On the other hand, it's quite 'interesting' to say the least, how children (they are still children, right?) at such an age use relationships as fast moving consumer goods - discarded and exchanged when not useful anymore, friendships as trade goods, just like we do... the 'adults'...
Disembodying emotions by electronic communication, demystifying that look in the eyes, that uncertain smile, a soft touch...

An interesting challenge seems to on our hands :) With an attitude such as the above I am not surprised at the high divorce rate of our society. It reminds me of a question I got from my parents concerning a Danish drama tv-series on relationship problems of a young married/divorced couple, 'are relationships really treated like this now?'. My unfortunate answer to their shock had to be yes...

To end with on a funny note: read this one!

Childless couple told to try sex
A German couple who went to a fertility clinic after eight years of marriage have found out why they are still childless - they weren't having sex.

The University Clinic of Lubek said they had never heard of a case like it after examining the couple who went to see them last month for fertility tests.

Doctors subjected them to a series of examinations and found they were both apparently fertile, and should have had no trouble conceiving.

A clinic spokesman said: "When we asked them how often they had had sex, they looked blank, and said: "What do you mean?".

"We are not talking retarded people here, but a couple who were brought up in a religious environment who were simply unaware, after eight years of marriage, of the physical requirements necessary to procreate."

The 30-year-old wife and her 36-year-old husband are now being given sex therapy lessons while the university clinic undertakes a study to try to find out if there are more couples with a similar lack of sex education.

A big chunk to set your teeth in

This one can get personal... Had a discussion yesterday with some girls about the (im)possibilities of meeting someone from a foreign country, fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together... more specifically within the context of exchange students here in Copenhagen. They mentioned very little had 'happened' over the last couple of months, and asked if I could tell them something that had happened over time, since I have been here 'forever'.

Well, where do I start... yeah, I didn't have to lie or enhance on any of the stories I told them. Thinking of those who are still together, giving up all for that other person, moving halfway around the world to be with that significant other. Quite impressive, I am smiling just thinking of it. Right now, a friend is getting ready to move to Spain to live there with her boyfriend, starting new studies, a new life. Why not?

They obviously asked me as well if I knew some stories that didn't end well. Having just heard the bad news about some friends that I travelled with a year ago, that made me a lot less talkative, realising the crap most are using to rationalise the generally lame excuses for not wanting to be with the other (anymore).
I know I have fired off some crap, for sure... and have heard maybe even better ones... It's really a pity, why are we doing that? There's probably some psychologist who has written some book about it. The first girl who finds it, gets a date with me... hahahah!
Not trying to sound bitter here. I think... Hmmm, I'll stop here ;) I'll be expecting some interesting comments from your side... Shoot! You have enough to tell for sure :)

Still, am holding on to the cases that are still going strong, they will have a beautiful story to tell to their children. I know I heard a great one from my parents :)

Who's next? )

Lots of song lyrics, quotes, poems, and general thoughts are going through my head now... let's stick to this one. I have heard it a long time ago, and have used in the past. I have realised as well how hard it is to live by it, but it keeps coming back.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. "
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

have a nice evening!

The last missing piece...for now...

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... I love being in this country, this city, this place, but if there's one important missing, then it's some consistent decent weather.
I know I know I know... it's for lack of better (or not?) that people keep talking about the weather, but the whole of 2004 has been a total crap so far. Winter never seemed to set in for real, and summer ain't happin' either.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... In Holland a beautiful useful word describes the situation in all its glory: 'druilerig'... A mood-decreasing setting :)

We're almost at midsummers's eve and we've had 4-5 sunny days where one could actually sit outside and really enjoy oneself... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Seriously, these last days are rediculous: yesterday, pouring rain... that took the fun out of everything, and an evening that was lovely, warm and quiet. Then waking up this morning with even worse pouring rain didn't improve matters, keeping people away from a great day outside, and now... as it changes all the time: hot sun that suddenly makes temperatures drop some pieces of clothing (thank you, whoever you are, for thin white-cotton pants for the female population... :) )

It's crazy....the weather over the last days has changed more often than the nose of Wacko Jacko... and the coming week isn't supposed to be much better...

Come on... this country has everything: it's rich, safe, has a 'perfect' social system, amazing capital, not too many people (compare: 5,5 million on roughly the same size as the Netherlands that has 16,5 million people... you do the emotional math), a countryside to melt away for, history, fun, everything the post-modern atheistic rational person could ever want....
But... for some decent weather...

Imagine some more Mediterrenean weather for longer periods... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... paradise/heaven/valhalla/etc... And while we're at it: some less darkness in winter would not be rejected either. It would help keeping these world-leading suicide rates in Scandinavia down pretty well...

Well, I'm off for now. Saying goodbye to a new friend, and afterwards frustrate the hell out of myself by watching the Netherlands play against the Czech Republic... Once, I'd be quite confident and boasting 'we' would win, but now... In Dutch there's a expression that goes like this: 'Een kinderhand is gauw gevuld.' The translation is: 'a child's hand is filled quickly'... I guess you get the picture :)

More later, 73 for now ;)

A historical part...linked in time...

Tivoli... Anyone who has been for any period in Denmark knows it. Sprawling with life and happy faces in summer, bursting with wonder and excitement during the days until Christmas...

A magical place, without trying to sound like an advert. If it wasn't for that place, I wouldn't be in this world, I wouldn't be writing this, I wouldn't just have immersed myself in sweet memories.

A 'åndehul' as we say in Denmark, a 'breathing hole', a place to relax, get yourself together in the centre of a big city. Gardens/amusement park/ultimate romantic place, over 160 years old. It's just the perfect place to fall in love with, or in :)

Have been there again tonight, as always I walk around with a smile on my face. A smug that just won't fade. We were with a couple of people (me trying to improve my Spanish basically), enjoying a nice quiet evening (after a desastrous day with loads of rain... typical Danish summer weather, changes every 5 min.), seeing the lights everywhere, and finished with a incredible water and light show. Impressive!!

How they manage to stuff some many lovely corners, edges, spots, hide-outs, cafe's, restaurants, fountains, parks, attractions, ice cream vendors, hot dog stands, and everything-else-between-heaven-and-earth is beyond me, but it's all there.
Kind of like a positive version of Pandora's box, or a woman's hand bag, you are able to get a boatload out of it... but never manage to put it back :)

I will sleep very well... I am sure H.C. Andersens fairytales will float into and weave themselves into it all... sweet dreams!

The puzzle seems to get together...

It's great to wake up to see that my ramblings actually find some resonance all around (Mexico, US; Canada, Italy, France, Netherlands, Colombia/Ryparken :), Denmark and... Spain of course).
So far most of those who have reacted by mail or comment are the ones that I was kind of expecting to and obviously was hoping for. So my feelings where not entirely wrong there! (jumping with joy!)

Thanks for you feedback, it's good to know I am making some sense... The start of this blog is based on the desire to re-)affirm and try to put into words what my friendships, past and present, mean to me... wondering for how long sweet memories will resound into personal human history.

This leads me to a fragment that I came across in my research, written by Søren Kierkegaard, the great Danish ironist/philosopher, in 1844.

"Can a historical point of departure be given for eternal consciousness; how can such a point of departure be of more than historical interest; can an eternal happiness be built on historical knowledge?
The question is asked by one who in his ignorance does not even know what provided the occasion for his questioning anyway..."

Keep as asking questions, never stop, but don't question everything. You'd have nothing to go from. Right?

Brand new pieces

hmmmmm... think this should be the last post for today, but I couldn't resist.

A number of friends and family around me have recently become parents or are (well) on their way. (CONGRATS!!!!) If they only will be as cute and great as those 2 little rascals in Holland I miss so much, they'll be alright.
New pieces to the puzzle have been created, girls, and boys, on different parts of the globe, somehow always connected by that weird, great, awesome, unclean, disgusting, emotionally draining, not-to-be missed hotspot in Copenhagen...

Makes me feel kind of proud and glad, as mortality, even though I have encountered it before - in all its bitterness, has recently become much more of a possible reality to me and my loved ones. It's a cruel and beautiful contradiction. Guess Tolkien had a point with trying to show in lovely prose the bitterness of mortality to those who think they are immortal (us...).'
I had a distant aunt who became 106 (!!), my impressive Danish grandmother has just turned 91, guess I have something of a challenge on my hands here! heheheh...

Hmmm, and of course others will use this as an opportunity to tell me to do the same as my friends... not just yet! Still have some things to do, clean up and get out of my way first, I think.

What can I say? The posted link gives some interesting insights in various names and their backgrounds. Lulu: I am sorry, 'Aymeric' is not there...

Maybe some inspiration? Here's about the best of them all ;)
"PETER m
Usage: English, German, Scandinavian, Slovene, Biblical
Pronounced: PEE-tur
Derived from Greek petros meaning "stone". In the New Testament Jesus gave the apostle Simon the name Cephas (meaning "stone" in Aramaic) which was translated Peter in many versions of the Bible (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most prominent of the apostles during Jesus's ministry and he is considered by some to be the first pope. This name was also borne by Peter the Great, the czar of Russia who defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War in the 18th century."


Kinderpindakaaaass?? :)

Adding to the puzzle...

Hmmm, have been trying to figure how to enhance on this weblog. Damn, there's a loooot of options, things to add and change... even more pieces... more fragments of the same thing: humans reaching out for others, letting their voice be heard in a great big empty.
Am sometimes wondering how much of these written piles of verbal diarrhoea (thanks to Blackadder for the words) will be kept for future generations. Are we actually making a soft footprint in the moss, or are we stepping into a swamp? I mean, it's awesome that we have been able to decipher the various laws in the tablets of the Babylonians(beer brewers were drowned in their own beer, if the batch wasn't good... they should do that more often!), but how much wisdom is added to the information overload we are experiencing? It's obvious that wisdom and true knowledge more and more is blended and confused with information...
Have a look at the degeneration of the word 'professional'. Compare the dictionary from let's say a 100 years ago and weep...

Without being a gloomy cynic spitting out his venom (I am right now listening to a beautiful live Jeff Buckley-rendition of Leonard Cohens' 'Hallelujah'), I have to say that when I saw some other logs, they actually look pretty good. The additions actually add to the content, adding some 'wisdom' to the information. hmmm, so I don't just look at the packaging :)

Definitely will post pictures, links and more. My mind is like the www, it works by association, I jump from one thing to the next (according to one professor)... So more things will appear randomly...
For me that's fine, but wonder whether others will always agree :)

More pieces...

On my walls... postcards, pictures, maps, (concert) tickets etc...from Oxford, Playa Del Carmen (Mexico), Cannes, Venice, Sicily, Sevilla, London, Granada, St. Croix, Lisboa, Cordoba, Rotterdam, Oregon, U2 concert in Turin, Pamplona (San Fermin!!!), Monaco, Copenhagen, Ronda, Kolding, Oslo, Madrid, Antibes, Andalucía, Rhodos, the Paris bridges, Svogerslev (a small town outside Roskilde), Vienna, Hamburg, Stockholm, the beaches of Carole, Benalmadena and the Costa Calida...

Lots of pieces... lots of fragments... very me... very us!

Hmmm... a thought came to mind... remembered something Plato once wrote...
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something..."

Which one applies to me? :)

An important piece of...Maná...

Datos de Ravolucion de Amor

1 year and 2 weeks ago I drove with 3 very very good friends (1 pretty Dane, 1 Sevillano, 1 French et moi... talking abt pieces...)to Hamburg , Germany, to see the concert of the Mexican band Maná. And what a concert it was... I won't forget it for a very long time, that's for sure! (they just didn't play 'Vivir Sin Aire')
This band has become my favorite over the last couple of years, for various reasons, and I am glad to say I have 'infected' others with it as well. People are listening to it from Copenhagen to Toronto to Singapore now!! Great!

Anyway, my point of this little piece is to show/prove that they truly put their 'corazón' into their music. Sorry Ángel! This is not (just) written like this to sell more records!

Read the descriptions of their songs of the last album... wow...
(If I find an English translation I'll post it, it used to be on their homepage, but...)

"¿Por qué te vas?: hace dos años, alguien muy querido murió en un accidente. Su esposa recibió la noticia como un tajo que la partió en dos: una parte quedó sumida en la interrogación ¿por qué te vas? y la otra comenzó a morirse. Al poco tiempo, los espacios y los recuerdos familiares se volvieron sufrimiento constante, íntimo, para una soledad abrupta y no elegida. Su vida perdió sentido y la respuesta al ¿por qué te vas? no llegó...así, un día, sin más, decidió seguir a su esposo, la luz que su amor irradiaba en este mundo, se apagó y desde entonces ilumina en otro lado."

Goosebumps, gåsehud, koude rillingen...

Solo un cachito...

Or in english: just a little piece...

Looking out of my window I see another change happening again. Anybody who has lived here, in this building, knows we have a lovely view over a nice park with old trees and well-kept bushes (no pun intended). Yesterday morning I woke up (at 6 am!!!!!!) to the very loud sound of trees being chopped down. They had come to take down everything! It looks horrible now. We managed to keep some trees as we called the police and our lawyer, since they were working on our area.
As it is, the university here is going to spend the whole summer constructing a new corridor between the buildings (which means a shitload of noise and dirt), they are using the whole lawn for all their machines etc, so they need space... It happens that the chairman (woman) of our board is playing all kinds of nice political games (too much to get into now, I just wish I could prove she's being bribed; I'd throw her in a lake with a very heavy iron ball chained around her), so she gave permission for all the destruction of our property by email (!!!), without telling (in public) anyone who lives here about it. Great, isn't it?
It would be nice to know, in advance at least, that when you open your curtains, you find a whole bunch of construction workers in front of you... with the usual display of beer cleavage... :)

It doesn't stop there, for months, for some reason, the board was pushing us to have a shed built for our bikes (DK: bike country nr. 1!!). We spent a lot of money on it, on something that hardly can be called a shed, some iron with some kind of roof. But ok, some idiot has probably approved it... Ergo, we have a shed for some 6-7 months now, and guess what... right now some guy is tearing it down. They need the space...

I can't believe it... such stupidity and waste... That shed cost us more than 200.000 kr (26.666,66 Euros). And it won't come back, since they are going to build a huge parking spot out here!! So much for the lovely view...

I definitely had the impression that Denmark was mostly devoid of such practices, that the country was doing pretty well what that was concerned, but oh my goooodd... I think Transparency International needs to review their ratings on corruption. This just stinks to high heaven...

Ok, got rid of my frustrations here... "and now, for something completely different..."

Pieces of the puzzle...

Just to clearify the title of the blog...

My plan is to 'find' all these pieces again, and put them together again somehow.

We'll see how it works out! I need money for all that travelling or someone who can develop some sort of teleportation device within a couple of years? ... so you can donate if you want, hehehe!

Wish me luck...

Incredible...

In that looong rambling I didnt even mention football (or 'soccer' as some people need to call it)!!!

And that while the European Championships are going on... heheheh

Good to have different backgrounds, I can support more teams! :) well, guess we'll be done with Holland soon... no comment on that match... I mean, if we can't even beat the Germans, how bad can it get????

Pffff... think I'll support Latviaor something, just for the fun of it!

anyway, good to see too much football again! 2 matches per day... dangerous!!

ok, I'm off! Got to translate some menus for the cafe I am working for (no, no plugging here yet... I am keeping you curiuous...)

cheers,

Peter

So it begins... my ramblings all over the net!

Thinking about the title of the Blog (how on earth are we supposed to pronounce that?) I was having a look at my ridiculously long MSN contact list, and figured that hardly anyone is actually is in the country where I currently reside (Denmark: lovely, beautitul, sweet, tiny, safe, 'hyggelig' little Denmark)
So, where is my heart? Spread around the globe, all continents basically, the true post-modern (sorry, had to use the word) global citizen...pfff, sorry for all the big words, but unfortunately it's true. You know what; as great it is to be able to give someone a ring, or contact 'em somehow, and meet up, they (you) still aren't around when you want to, need it, or just want to hang out.

Whenever I send out some mass-mail, to people I think might have a slight interest in what goes on in my head :) , one of the most common replies is that I should become a writer: Thank you, thank you (deep bow!). Hmmm, maybe... A good American friend, who published his first book already, rekindled something I had been doing for a while anyway: keeping old (email) conversations in order to use in the future for (maybe) a book.
So here I go, with some ramblings that are supposed to get me going in that direction?

Friends... the other day I actually went through some of these old mails I've got in my mailboxes, and bumped into some huge failures in my past (auuuuwww), had to laugh 'till it hurt, remembered fondly some people I haven't seen forever and saw especially how bloody hard it is to maintain the amazing friendships I have managed to build up over the years.
Yeah, there might be some interesting stories to use as a basis for something more. But then again, who is interested in stories about 5 years of meeting the greatest friends, the most beautiful and sweetest women in the world (literally from everywhere), awesome parties, crazy (night time) activities or general 'mayhem' in various European cities, villages, hotspots, or just cheesy karaoke bars on a Tuesday night... we'll see :)

Friends... Brings me to the Polish thinker Zygmunt Bauman
Heard this eminiment man speak at a otherwise boring conference, he spoke of 'liquid modernity' and how this is related to how we all are masters in the language of cooperation ('mutual consent', 'team work','knowledge sharing' etc etc, you know: all the usual KPMG-Deloitte-Ernst&Young-bullshit), but are unable to create lasting friendship that go into depth and create the 'synergy' (bwaaaaaahhh) that our (corporate) language claims can be reached with teams that are torn apart after every assignment, every couple of months, managing to learn the lingo but not being able to truly build up something...
This is very simplified what he spoke of, and mentioned at the same time the irony of his words, how students consider him (an old wise man, he really looks it) a conservative, where he has been a revolutonary visionary and philsopher for many years now... Hmmm, got to read more of this guy, he has published quite a lot. The funny thing is that since he is considered as a philosopher with a 'human touch', most of it is translated to Danish, they like that kind of thinking here ;) We are after all in a country based on socialist thought, or as a Spanish friend once said: a communist country... hmmmmm... guess we can have a long talk on that.
Anyway, his train of thought that went from the consequences of globalisation and modernity to the (in his eyes) extremely important notion of friendship as the basis for future international development within corporations, to be understood as basis for improvement of work and human relationships.
I woke up on the word friendshipof course, anyone who knows me, knows I value that more than anything, although I am not always able to do anything about it. Missed some good weddings and other good parties around the globe already... Well, yeah, I think that's my point.. I started writing this log for friends...

And the circle is round, now even more people can read my babbling into space. Sorry!! :) I need it, my mind (and heart) needs to wander aimlessly sometimes, as I am supposed to be struggling with my Master thesis. Let's say it this way, the summer will be long, so this is good I guess, to just write... :)

So, to finish this stream of words I quote the one who is currently 'spamming' everyone with the fact taht he's got a blog (just kidding...), a great guy from the awesome city of Seville, the city that taught me the feeling of 'duende', before I even knew what it was...

Or... "Por una amistad sincera"

...until the next rambling!

Greetings

Peter