Sometimes...

Sometimes you meet someone who stirs some vague feelings  and brings them back to the surface...
Yesterday was one of those days... Inititally just going for a drink with a friend who I hadn't seen for too long, we ended up talking to a very colourful group of people in a bar in the area of Nørrebro in Copenhagen (cool bar btw, they played all kinds of indie bands over the stereo that you mormally don't hear anywhere here anymore...)
One guy from Bari, Italy had been in DK for 4 years and spoke almost fluent Danish, living his life, having a boring job (Danish Railways...), but with a big grin on his face all the time... making me realise once again what a great city this is, anyone can enjoy themselves here, living a happy life... Make some effort and you'll be fine if you want to.
A Danish girl with Jewish roots, Christian father and with Buddhist tattoos... melting pot/mosaic/puzzle... in a lot of pieces!
Or one guy who had finally returned 'permanently' to DK after 18 years of travelling... an educated flight mecanic, he told stories of Maori tribes on New Zealand and the jungle of Sulawesi, or Hotel New York in Rotterdam. His stories were good... and though he was (getting) drunk, his vivid description of Rotterdam and the buildings that are on the pier leading down to Hotel New York (the old departure hall for the Holland-America ferry line, the gateway of many Dutch emigrants) were very spot-on... he was definitely not making up bullshit. It was funny to speak of one building that had the name *Celebes* on it, and finding out years later that he was actually on that island, only being called Sulawesi now...
We spoke for hours about the experiences we have that are a result of all this travelling, meeting new people and losing old friends, losing your 'base'... that permanent feeling of being uprooted... and he is at the 'end' of his travelling days.
Still, we came to the same conclusion, if anyone picks us up and wants to take off to somewhere, we're off... It was a restless night I had... and then a message came from Australia in the dead of night... speaking of driving down the Gold Coast to Sydney... WishI was there...

Go' tur, bon voyage, buen viaje, good trip, goede reis!

The End Of An Era

This is what is becoming of our home... somewhere something went completely wrong... 

The Return of Baloo

Alvaro shall return...  from Wednesday on I am 'worried' that we will take more of these kinds of pictures...
Well, even when just for some days... welcome home!

 

Where will this end?

About 10 years ago I had an interview with an officer at the draft board of the Dutch army. After all the 'tests' the last details had to be worked out, and that included a short talk with an officer of the board, mainly focussing in which area of the army, navy or airforce I'd like to work (nowhere actually, but...). I was considered (due to my amazing intelligence or something like that) to become an officer...
One question in particular I still remember and it still puzzles me somewhat.
He asked me how I would lead my men. In particular he asked me how I would convince people to do something dangerous. The example was that I was with some men, and at a river. We had to transport some goods across the river, and could draw fire in case we did.
The question was how to lead the men across... How would I convince them basically.
My answer was instinctively, and exactly the same as I would give it if I would be asked now, even after all these years of training and teachings on all kinds of management techniques...
They would be required to do so, but I would lead them and jump into the water first, leading by example.
The officer had a slight vague smile on his face, after my answer, and moved on until the next topic, never really reacting on what I said...
My wonder after all these years is why that smile, and why the change of topic...
Maybe an officer shouldn't do as I suggested, being more 'important'? Maybe they should just obey these orders without questioning (growing up in some inquisitive countries like DK and Holland I cannot imagine such a  scenario, but ok...)?
Why that smile? Was he surprised with the frankness of my answer? I mean, I remember I went into the dilemma in detail in my answer... I don't know, wish now I would have asked him...

But... as other things, sometimes the above question jumps up again, when I am in a situation where it is required that someone 'takes charge' or needs to take some sort of initiative. What course of action will you take?
Guess that question becomes more relevant with me slowly but surely reaching the end of my univeristy 'career'... 'Do you have a plan?' 'What do you want to do?'

Honestly? I have no idea. And, somewhat surprisingly, that doesn't bother me at all... I wonder why, but the world is at our feet in this day and age. Travels have become so much more easy... Guess I'll end up where my heart leads me... (and I hear many of you thinking now, that you know where my heart is!)

See you around...

Would you like to see my postcard collection?

A postcard has arrived today... a lovely new one, this time from Fiji! Didn't have that one yet!

I quote: "there's no other place like that on earth"

Guess I cannot add anything to that... "and now on to Australia" People just keep travelling... in search of paradise?

Enjoy the trip!! Bon voyage, mon ami!

A travel to do...

In my very first post I wrote about trying to make this log about all the pieces that are important to me in my life: my friends that are scattered around the world (a true child of this age...)

Well, soon I will have some of these pieces in my hands again... I have been invited (although date is not set yet) to a 'moving-in-together party' in Madrid.
Two very good friends love each other so much, still... after almost 4 years) that they have decided to move in together.
He was living here with me for two years, someone who I made a lot of damage with here in CPH, teaching me to make gin & lemon (and drink a lot of it), and I was her buddy, the one picking her up in the airport when she arrived to Copenhagen. What a shock that must have been.. me talking way too much English and dressed in the 'traje de San Fermin'.  I'll never forget the look on the face of her and her companion, as they arrived. An, lest we forget, dragging her to the Little Mermaid on one of the first days. I have a lot of sunshine in my memories, so there might have been some, in DK.
Hmmm... still, I must have done something right though... they are still going strong... and even though we haven't seen each other for some years now, I still think fondly of all the good times we had. I have to admit I am looking forward more and more to go there, as if I am not mistaken, many people I have met over the years will be there... (am sitting here with the biggest smile on my face now, just thinking of it)

I hope to met some others as well while I am there... it's been 3 years since I was in Madrid, but I just have to close my eyes and I am back...
Some experiences are just etched in my mind... some places are just part of me...

Madrid, hasta pronto!!!!!

Que pasa, tio!!

Nice one... my page has had 333 hits as of today...

Glad to know people keep reading! Guess I am saying something interesting then ;)

cheers!

Human 'Development'...or so they say...

Human Development Reports

For all the complaining about the weather we have to be lucky to be living in such countries as we do... we are the fortunate ones... Guess that our lives are so well, that all we can get upset or excited about is the weather and a couple of guys kicjking each other and sometimes a ball...

A 'blast' from the past...

Over the last few days, an old friend dropped by, from France... with some lovely, amazing and well-tasting (I think) wine, as a gift in exchange for some work I did for him and his company. If anyone is interested, I have some quite exquisite Elzas/Alsace wines now...

It was lovely to talk someone who I have known basically since the 1st day that I arrived here in Copenhagen, one of the original Emdrup Vikings. Old soldiers never die, they say...
Great to realise you still know each other quite well... I mean, he brought some wine, so I am happy!

We even have new topics to cover, like the development of his new-born son... life goes on, huh??

Great to see you again Luc!
Au revoir!

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief - Center for American Progress

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief - Center for American Progress

No words... my concerns are time and time confirmed... Just before the war in Iraq started there was an email-discussion started by a dutch guy and all in his list, one of them American, who considered him superior to anyone else that replied... felt he was so incredibly right... well, turns out everybody else is right anyway...
Even the American Congress agrees with the largest part of the world community now... The war was started on false grounds...
What a surprise... what a waste...

A piece went missing

Many times you wish to be closer to friends, to support them, to soothe them, to console them...
Today is one of those days... A good friend lost his father yesterday, and is obviously deeply hurt by it. Being far away from friends doesn't comfort much, so, just to know that we are thinking of him today...

All the best wishes from Copenhagen! Please take care of your loved ones while you still have them!

"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good."

W. H. Auden

A piece of my heart...

Not there again this year... maybe next!!

In heart and mind I am with you there!! Roco, Irene, Miyagi, Maite, Aritz, Iratxe, see you next time!

"Uno de enero, dos de febrero,
tres de marzo, cuatro de abril,
cinco de mayo, seis de junio
siete de julio, ¡SAN FERMÍN!
"Uno de enero, dos de febrero,
tres de marzo, cuatro de abril,
cinco de mayo, seis de junio
siete de julio, ¡SAN FERMÍN!
A Pamplona hemos de ir,
con una media, con una media,
a Pamplona hemos de ir
con una media y un calcetín."


A Pamplona desde Copenhague...

Hygge with friends...with a twist

An important part of Danish culture is just to organise (it has to be organised!!) a get-together with friends and enjoy a meal and/or evening for example (don't forget 233412452624 candles). We have improved on that concept...

It all started with David and Scotty bringing back a lovely small water pipe from Istanbul, Turkey, to Copenhagen. This water pipe is now to be found in a French appartement in Paris... nice travel!
We enjoyed the water pipe to the fullest, trying and testing different ways, while being taught by some who knew somethign already... maybe we should have read some more!

Anyway... just want to say I love it, have spent great evenings and nights with friends like this. It's the perfect addition to a relaxed evening with some friends... no pressure, no competitiveness (as sometimes with drinking), just talking about everything and nothing, just contemplating life, to put it in nice words...

So, supposedly the water pipe/hookah/nargileis getting more and more popular. In the US several hundred water pipe cafe's have opened (close to college campusses) and even in Copenhagen over the last 2 years mostly a number of bars and cafe's (ali baba and the 40 water pipes/beduin bar etc) have opened that offer the possibility of smoking a realxing water pipe. Even clubs like Bombay and Park now offer it in the 'lounge' areas...

Interesting...

I found the following text in favour of the water pipes, because unfortunately most people directly think of various drugs use related to it. These connections are notorious, and real, but the origins are more pure... I hope :)

"Water pipes are made in many different sizes and design. On top of each pipe you'll find a bowl in which you can place your favourite smoking blend. When lit, the smoke is drawn through water before reaching your mouth and lungs. The water has an important filter effect. A large part of carcinogens like tar are filtered by the water. In addition, the water cools the hot smoke and the protecting mucous membrane of the lungs will be less harmed.

Water pipes find their origin in the Ottoman Empire: once a world power with a high level of civilisation. Water pipes where called `Narquile' then. Turkey is all that remained of this impressive empire. Water pipes are still very popular in the Middle East. Water pipes in these regions are used to smoke special kinds of tobacco, like honey and apple tobacco. Smoking and sharing a water pipe amongst friends can be seen as a sign of friendship and trust.

When smoking your favourite smoking blend with a water pipe you don't use tobacco. Just the pure herb will do. By not using tobacco you will only get pure herbal elements in your lungs creating a feeling that is more intensive and clear. Tobacco has a contrary effect. A combination of these two makes you dull and tired sooner. You need to smoke more to feel good. This is sheer an effect of the addition of tobacco. The water in the pipe filter's a great deal of the tar and other carcinogens from the herbs, making the smoke even more pure."

Still it isn't as healthy as we all want to believe... so much for that illusion!

Hmmmm...

Never being boring...

"It takes courage to enjoy it..." Bjork - Big Time Sensuality

Over time, when you immerse yourself in music, certain songs seem to come back all the time, whether to haunt or to soothe... somehow they end up being a part of the collage that you create for yourself.
One of these songs for me is the song 'Being Boring' by the Pet Shop Boys, a favorite among critics, musicians and fans, but never a hit single... oh well...
These last couple of days the song keeps popping up on me... I know, I know, it's not the obvious song, and many will scoff at this choice, but whatever... it's one of my all-time favorites... the melancholic mood, the lyrics and the awesome video seem to craft the perfect 5 min of pop music for me...
Check it out, give it a chance, it's good... And if you don't like it, that's fine as well! Just remember I grew up in the eighties :)


"Being Boring" by Pet Shop Boys

I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
"Dress in white" one said, with quotations
From someone's wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you're young you find inspiration
In anyone who's ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said: "We were never feeling bored

'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end"

When I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said: "If you're not careful
You'll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies"
But I sat back and looking forward
My shoes were high and I had scored
I'd bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself feeling bored

'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend

Now I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and foreign places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought in spite of dreams
You'd be sitting somewhere here with me

'Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friend

And we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends"
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored
'Cause we were never being boring
We were never being bored...

Past and present...

For all Spanish-speakers... check out this link to a very thorough log on world matters (and gives me an example of which direction could go...)
Brilliant site...

I came by it while reading a post by Noah Chomsky

My mind wanders...

Just to clearify...

Mmmm.... before anyone asks...

I need to explain this picture... and I have witnesses!!

Yesterday... I was only drinking water the whole evening (for reason why see previous post abt Dakota), but only for this picture I was asked to hold a beer (Michael's). For the simple reason that otherwise people wouldn't believe it was me... so much for a reputation...

Cheers to you all!

At least there's a discussion...

Hmm, even in a country where all social, political and cultural discussion is hypersensitive, superfluous, dogmatic, and so-called patriotic they are able to discuss things on a 'normal' basis...
Still, one has to 'pick a side', otherwise you are stigmatised for life... greeaaaaatttt...

Make up your own opinion as much as possible please... ...please???

We are in a same situation as Søren Kierkegaard in the mid 19th century: "The social structure of society changed... meaning it became increasingly difficult to "become who you are" for two reasons: (i) social identities were unusually fluid; and (ii) there was a proliferation of normalizing institutions which produced pseudo-individuals..." (recognise anything here??)
Everything is connected, can be associated with everything, flowing into one... there's only a fine line between the Terminator, Star Wars, and all that is going on around us...

"No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a cloud be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee."
-- John Donne


Even dear old Bon Jovi used the above in the song 'Santa Fe' for the movie Young Guns II... song, music, poetry, a tribute to the old John Wayne movies, the old West, the unruly, the undiscovered... the original 'Captain America', believed in his own myth... all flows into one....
All is related, all is important... the islands drifted apart from Pangea, the mother of all continents... now they crash again... with only few original and smart things that are saidabout it...

Well, to go on and on... I keep drifting...
A Republican... Interesting though...

Something else... I love this one...

An oldie, but a goodie... after more than 150 years of texts... still good...

Times were much easier in the 'good old days'... where we just lived in trees and stole from the rich to give to the poor (ourselves)... some fun reading...

And one more about all Iberian matters... 'om het af te leren' as we say in Holland :)

Until next the thought!

A piece of everyone's heart...

What do the songs Enjoy The Silence, Dub Be Good To Me, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Jump Around, Kom Tilbage Til Mig, Losing My Religion, Mr. Jones, Like A Prayer, Just Can't Get Enough etc etc etc have in common?
Apart from that I love all of them, with the first one as a all-time favorite, they were all played yesterday in the perfect party place Dakota in CPH...
How I love that place! Yesterday was one of thos nights were everybody went full-speed ahead, so great... (and yet I missed so many there... Sara, Leanne, Vicky, Marta, Elena and all of you: I sang for you on Like A Prayer)

It's not the most classy place, not the most sophisticated place... It's cheesy, dodgy, and scruffy... but it's so cool... Everybody in a good mood, partying all night...

Met lots of new people and old friends, and danced all night... Just one of those nights, where my smile doesnt disappear... Sweating on the stage that we had once again invaded...never stop dancing...
Somehow I ended up with a beer in my hand all the time, as people kept giving me... so now I understand my headache!'
Even had some guys hitting on me... ehhhhhhh...

Alvaro: like we said: there was a guy who looked like you, almost jumped on his neck, because I thought it was you... Rikke, Mia, Lola, Michael and the others had the same! We need you there! Sean, Gullaume, Alvarito... did the 'Sean' for you guys...

Too many people were not there, everytime I come back I think of all of you... we have had some good times there! Too many crazy pictures exist from that place... also thanks to Michael

Ohhh.. it's 5 pm... already... am listening to soothing music, and figuring out my weekend. The Copenhagen Jazz Festival starts today, so there's a lot to see and hear over the next 10 days! And to study of course ;)

I like this summer so far...!!

Newsflash... update: Michael, I hate you :) the pictures from yesterday are up already... so if you want to see me in action...