Snow! and Fuck Police Brutality

It's snowing huge clumps right now. Today got off to a kind of hectic start. I spent the majority of the day working on my term paper about Søren Kierkegaard at the Kierkegaard Center and at the Royal Library. Just as I was leaving the Kierkegaard center out of frustration, I happened to see my professor walking down the street and he helped me out a little bit.

Last night, I was in Christiania with my friend Alex and a full on riot broke out in which 200 people were arrested. Rioters set fire to the street and threw Molotov cocktails at the police. In response, the whole island of Christianshavn was occupied by no fewer than 4 police trucks at each intersection. Trying to flee the riot, we raced 30 minutes through the woods in northern Christiania and then came back to the streets. On the way out of Christianshavn to the Centrum, both of us were searched by police waiting on Knippelsbro. Afterwards, we walked to our friend Julie's crib and decompressed from the hectic evening. On my way home, I had to get my bike from the Christianshavn metro station and watched the police action, still in full effect.

Tomorrow is my last day in Øresundskollegiet as well as my last before Barcelona and I am not even packed in the slightest, so that will probably occupy the rest of my evening. I was supposed to see Gogol Bordello tonight at a free concert outside at Rådhuspladsen, but the current weather might put a damper on that. Also, tonight will be the final gathering at Floss, pretty much the only bar I go to in Copenhagen. Realizing that this semester and the abroad experience is coming to an end has finally set in and it is with a bittersweet acknowledgment that I do everything "for the last time." Over the weekend, I marched in the 100,000-person climate rally, which was also packed with police.

Playlist:

Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Of
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Mos Def - The Easy Spell, New World Water, Life is Real

Should've never put my rhymes with Dre...

"I snort that cocaine, it cleans out my sinuses." - Ol' Dirty Bastard


Yo guys whats up it's currently 4:14 AM so you can imagine how this one is gonna go. Basically, I just got back from some days in Amsterdam chillin out, a few diaspora Thanksgiving dinners here in CPH and some random occurences. So what is the world really? Is there any such thing as objective truth? Who cares man. I spent yet another weekend night socializing with some shit ass ignorant Danish people at some non-descript random bar in Copenhagen. Fuck it man. I don't even know why I'm writing this shit right now. I am drowning in school work and freezing my ass off. Not really a happy camper now. Also I have to go back to real school soon. Anywho, I hate pop music. It is really the pimple on the steaming turd that is the music industry. I guess I better go find a new career because legitimate musicianship is officially dead. Bach is not rolling in his grave, he is buying space in cemetery plots on Mars right now. Again my suspicion has been confirmed that I should just go live in the fucking woods or something. Fuck it man, this blog is not even worth finishing. I'm out.

Playlist:

Mos Def - Speed Law
Crown City Rockers - Soul
AntiSerum - Rambo Style
Cookies N Cream - all of their songs. Fucking genius band!
Tupac - You Can't C Me

Conefeshshuns

Well here we are in the infamous Prague. After a cheap bus ride from Vienna, the team and I plopped down at our hostel in the 2nd district, or Prague's new town. The morning I was checking out from the hostel in Vienna, I ran into another Angeleno in my room who recommended that I go check out a bar in Prague called Confessions started by a Nigerian roots/reggae singer where we could find cheap bear, rub a dub, and some fiyah.

As luck would have it, the place ended up being a few blocks away from the hostel and we spent the better part of the night there sitting and conversing with MC Jah Koko (the proprietor) and talking some life philosophies. I told him that I would be interested in collaborating on some dubstep tracks and he seemed to be game on the idea as well.

After treating us to a few rounds of Czech pilsner, we had to take a quick break from Confessions and go get some dinner. We did end up back in the bar where we played table football with a Dutch guy and got to meet some other Africans (it was the DJ's birthday). So, if you are ever travelling in Prague, hit this place up. (Safarikova 370/11, Praha 2 - Vinohrady by the IP Pavlova metro stop)

Until then....RUB A DUB! BRRRAAAPPP!!!!! BIGGAP BIGGAP BIGGAP!!!

Prayrist:

MC Jah Koko - Whatever You Do
Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso
Mos Def - True Magic, The New Danger
The Pharcyde - On the DL
Weezer - Keep Fishin
Tupac - Hit Em Up
Notorious B.I.G. vs Frank Sinatra - Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuy
Claude von Stroke - The Beats of San Frandisco
Bob Marley - Exodus
Tahiti 80 - Chinatown, Fosbury
The Isley Brothers - That Lady

Rooster Dykes in Österreich

Yesterday, we all got on a bus to Vienna and checked into the hostel no problem. We headed to the national opera where we got tickets to see Macbeth for only three euros, which was a pretty sweet deal. The tram cars are fun to ride and there is a pizza/falafel stand at nearly every stop.

I was the only one in my hostel room when I checked in, but 5 minutes later a street punk named Gregor comes in. He explains that he usually lives on the street but has the hostel because it is too cold outside. Upon returning from the opera, I run into him in the elevator where he is plainly propositioning every female hostel guest for sex. I do not intervene, it's far too funny.

I go back down to the hostel's bar to plan out tickets to Prague and discuss travel plans with the group for the next day. There are two skinny white girls dancing with each other and soon they start making out for a solid chunk of time. The bar tender is walking by our table when he shatters a huge beer glass over everyone. In the morning, I run into a gaggle of Australians in the elevator, who were actually quite entertaining.

Playlist:

The Who - Summertime Blues
Reel Big Fish - Somebody Hates Me
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication

Buddha Pest

I got to Budapest today after a short and painless flight and a quick train ride. The local surroundings were pretty picturesque and I walked along the Danube crossing two of Budapest's bridges from Pest to Buda and back. Later in the night, I went to the planetarium in Népliget and saw a light show set to the music of Pink Floyd, needless to say I was quite blown. Other than dealing with a fucked up currency (180 forint = $1, so a beer costs 300 forint!), Hungary has been pretty cool so far and the architecture is amazing. It's also fucking freezing here, but not too much different than the rest of Europe. Peace peace and word word.

and now, I shall leave you with a playlist

Say Anything - ...Is a Real Boy
AntiSerum - Rambo Style
Pink Floyd - Money
Wes Montgomery - Summertime
Booker T. and the MGs - Hip Hug-Her
Souls of Mischief - Cab Fare
The Pharcyde - Devil Music

Bout to smack a bitch

Totally fucked up. Someone stole all of my ice cream cones from the freezer on my floor. I only got to eat one out of half a dozen waffle cones that took a lot of deliberation whether to spend the money on. : (. In other news, after a verbal tiff with a fellow American student, I was very incensed for a while, and have been very pissy the last day or two.

I showed up late for my Danish class's tour of Christiania and ended up biking around the whole place twice from top to bottom only to find them very near the entrance. The tour guide was a character (aren't they all) and let me roll a Bali (which I didn't even smoke).

Other than rotting my brain with electro music and going to dubstep shows, things have been pretty quiet. I am working on my music a lot more despite limited equipment and at least entertaining my friends.

Thursday - Went to a Danish birthday party (Mexican theme) and then everyone from the party went out at around 1. We went to a few bars before I finally call it a night at around 5. Somewhere around there I decided I will probably not be making my 8:30 class. A girl at the party brought a big bag of fake mustaches which entertained us for the whole night. Some people wore theirs to the bar.

Friday - Went to a dubstep show at Vega. Pretty chill. It lasted until around 5, at which point I went home and listened to some more dubstep and chilled out. Good sets by the Joker and local band Ohoi!. I guess it is getting big here. I used my leftover muffin from Amsterdam at the show which made for a fun night culminating in a 4:30 falaf (typical) by Enghave Plads.

Saturday - Woke up at 4 PM. Chilled with my Danish friends again and ended up at the bar til 7 partying with the bartenders and my friend who works there. Everyone wants to go to a Chinese bar at 7, but later all decide to go home. The sunrise over Kongens Nytorv/Nyhavn was actually quite spectacular.

Sunday - Wake up at 5 PM. Decide to go to Christiania and watch the sunset. Find some random Canadian girls and talk to the cute one of the group for a bit. Canadian accents were pretty thick.

Tuesday - Checked out the Statens Museet for Kunst. Pretty cool. Good collection of modern stuff too. Went to the bar later that night and some drunk Dane came to our corner and started yelling, screaming, sitting on laps, and causing a general ruckus. He introduces me to 7 of his friends, all regulars.

I will write more when I remember.

Playlist:

Natasja - Ildebrand i Byen (2000F remix)
The Joker - pretty much everything by the Joker
Ohoi! - Morder Dem
Danny Byrd - Red Mist
Prodigy - Out of Space
Dubstep remixes of Daft Punk, Rick Ross and Jay-Z
Deadmau5

and as always, some illdøøm in the mornings (check the new songs www.myspace.com/doominati)

Thank You Please (pyungyang)

Wercome to my blog, it delicate flower.

What a week! I am unpacking and re-settling back in warm and sunny København. Things are going pretty smoothly and the past week of school trips was pretty cool. It involved a tour (via bus) of Brussels (one week) and the Hague/Amsterdam (for a day each). Obviously, there was far too much blog worthy shit to type in here (and I forgot a lot) so I will just give you some highlights.

Sunday

Depart by bus at 9:00 for Brussels, kill a whole bottle of gin with homeboy Alex on the way there. Walk around Brussel's red light district where we are staying at a Chinese-themed hotel.

Monday

Tour a chocolate place. Meet up with the other section at the hotel. Arab guys try to sell me a piece of hash for 50 euros on the street. I had to politely decline. Go to the bars and spleef it in Grand Place.

Tuesday

Toured a brewery. The class left without us so we asked the Chinese concierge to give us directions, then took the metro and arrived 10 minutes before the rest of the class. Drink with Tom later in the night. Homesickness hits me and I break down and buy a Carlsberg at a kiosk. Tom, Alex and I see a Belgian college initiation in the Grand Place. A girl from said hazing comes over to us dressed like Luigi from Super Mario Bros. and tries to sell us a lighter for 2 euro. I talk German to some hot German girls also touring the EU like us. They are 17.

Wednesday

You know how Chinese people sometimes use please the wrong way, just to be polite. For example: thank you please. I guess it's because in Chinese you can just use please like that. The hotel we were at was serving lo mein for breakfast. I was lagging in the breakfast line and a short little Chinese lady comes up to me and starts hurrying me along. Thinking that I speak French, the woman says to me "merci sil vous plait,merci sil vous plait." Translation: thank you please.

Thursday

Both sections go to NATO to check it out. Pretty drab building and dull atmosphere. One funny thing about the place, there are signs everywhere that say "No Classified Conversations in This Area." We drive to the Hague which takes only 2 hours. Later in the night, I ate dinner with my class sitting next to our professor, Jacob. We drink some beers and after dinner I hit the coffeeshop with Alex. We went to a local Hague bar then smoked another doob at a canal.

Friday

Our class goes to see a trial at the ICTY, then we spend the rest of the day in Amsterdam. I hit up a canal-side bar and a coffeeshop. I eat a spacecake and drink two Heinekens before the bus ride back to Copenhagen. Alex and I cruise the alleys of the red light district scoping out the sexiest whores.

Saturday

Arrive at 8:00, bike home in the rain carrying my luggage. Sleep until noon then go grocery shopping. Drop 200 kr on only a few items (Denmark prices) and return my cans at the machine. Go out with Tom and Ellen to the Denmark vs. Sweden game and drink heavily. After a week in Brussels, alcohol has no effect on me. Denmark wins the game and the streets get flooded by thousands of people. Hop a train back to the center (still no metro pass) and then head to Christiania. Chill for a bit then come home, make a pita in the kitchen, then lock my keys in the kitchen only to be rescued by my next-door neighbor.

Sunday

Making dubstep tracks... http://www.myspace.com/doominati
also read up for my Kierkegaard class.



Playlist for the week

Rusko - Pro Nails remix, Jahova
DJ Antoine - Work That Pussy
Bob Marley - Riding High & Trenchtown Rock
DJ JS-1
DJ JSL
Mos Def - pretty much everything

and of course,
ILLDØØMINATI!!!

Birthday party/independence day

Good evening (good morning in the US),

time to debrief from last night/this morning. another all night rager. yesterday afternoon, aaron and I were taking a stroll down Vermlandsgade (big ups to Amager) and passed an anti-coal protest march going from the center to the power plant nearby. There were a lot of people and plenty of police escorts moving the protest along. Traffic was severely backed up and many people got creative with how to wiggle out of the gridlock, usually by driving on the sidewalk or bike lane.

Later on, we went down to Christiania with a bottle of gin and seven cones to chill out and go to the big birthday party. The whole city was very full of people and there was loud electro playing from a massive stage erected in the field. We ran into some of our friends around the area and on Pusher St. people were lighting flying lanterns (crazy!) and almost burnt down a tree and a building.Some kid tripping out on some drugs came over and started talking to me. He was pretty entertaining but made no sense.

We chilled at the party and got down to the jams until hunger got the best of us and we went on a falafel run to a place I shall never return to (later in the night I returned for another falafel and they were out of falafel and hummus and pretty much everything. They should have been more on top of their game.). On the way back, we met up with our friend Tobias (you remember him from August 30th's post). Tobias is the self-proclaimed best rapper in Svendborg (and a very entertaining drunk). I battle rapped him 3 times and completely demolished him. In fact, he personally bestowed me with the title of DK's best rapper.

We were all sitting at the tables at Nemoland when a dancer jumped up on the table, fed beers to people, wet her bra repeatedly, and proceeded to give a strip show in front of us. Pretty crazy shit. We ran into our friend Cecilie randomly but soon lost her and went back to the electro concert. While Aaron and I were on a beer run, our friend Ellen had to help some girl who was ODing on molly. She ended up in an ambulance and I hope all is well with her.

So long story short, we chilled at the electro show all night (it also had a great lightshow!) and then went to the water to watch the sunrise. After hustling through to cold to get home, we finally fell asleep at 8.

Woke up at 2, went to see the Royal Copenhagen showroom at 3, came back and ate some pizza and am going to go to bed very early tonight to recover.

He actually thought he was the King of Kebab

Good morning readers. It is finally the weekend again, and that can only mean one thing, new blog! Homeboy Aaron is to my left sleeping on the floor and I am barely awake, but at my tiredest can't seem to sleep. Random tidbit: I found a place that gives away Vice magazine (which is always good for a laugh or two) right across from my school. This makes me very happy because I rarely stumble upon a Vice, but when I do, most of the shit in there is hilarious. I especially love DOs and DON'Ts. Maybe I am just a big enough of an asshole to appreciate the humor in there.

Anywho....

Last night, I took my friends out to a party in Nørrebro in a little courtyard behind King of Kebab. There was a ragin DJ (yes, he dropped some dubstep on us) and a lot of drunk people. Needless to say, good time by all. This last week I have been working on getting my new band ILLDØØMINATI on the track and have been downloading soft synths galore while being really confused at computer stuff.

While taking a piss/restocking on beer, some other people told us about some party at the other end of the block. Didn't sound too bangin from the outside so we didn't go. We all checked out King of Kebab for the first time, and they do make a tasty falafel indeed. I was waiting outside with my beer and I met some cool Jamaican guy who had to turn away from our conversation every 5 seconds to holler at girls (most of whom were walking with a guy already).

My Danish floormate Cecilie came and joined is later in the night and we went down to Christiania. There was a big stage on the field there and people were testing the lights for today's big birthday party (Christiania is 38 today). This ended in a massive light show creeping through the fog and was very trippy.

After walking back home, Aaron and I noshed out in the kitchen and then passed out. Relatively tame night I suppose. Tomorrow's post will probably be a little more entertaining.

Peace out and take care, or as the Danes would say: flimflømmeåføøffåæføåøæfåøåæø*


*just kidding, Danish is a little more complicated.

The Return to Nørrebronx

Yesterday, my visiting friend and I went to go see a football match at the field near where I live. The match was a Christiania team versus the police. It was quite funny to watch and everyone sitting on the Christiania side was smoking much hash despite the police. In the end, the game was a draw but it was still very competitive nonetheless.

Later in the night, we headed towards a dubstep show at the Folket Hus in Nørrebro. When we went to the local metro station, there was an emergency evacuation and two firetrucks were racing down the street. We walked to Christianshavn to get the metro but there it was the same situation. We ended up just walking to Nørreport to meet our friends.

After drinking some wine and chilling at the lakes for a bit (Tom pissed 6 or 7 times while we were there), we decided to head over to the show. On the way, we encountered a musician trying to get 5 kr for cigarettes and he gave us each a puff of the spliff dangling from his mouth (no sooner than we were done, a cop car parked behind us).

After journeying to the 7-11 to get some tallcans, we came back to the people's park next to the show. Some people were attempting to start a fire which got to be quite warm and large. We ran into our friend Jacob from the night before and started talking to him, he hadn't made it into the show yet either.

(Quick aside: Friday night, the gang and I were hanging out at Nørreport, our usual meeting spot, when this guy asked for a lighter. After talking to him for a bit, he almost convinced us to get on a train to Roskilde at 11:15 PM and crash a 5,000-person university party there. Being low on cash and that Roskilde is fucking far, we politely declined. Not without taking down his number though.)

After going through the tallcan cycle a few more times, and chiefing a splifferooney, we made our way back to the growing fire. Now there was a fire in the street too. The road was just burning in a triumphant blaze and a group of Danish kids started breaking apart a chair to throw in the fire. Around 4:30 or 5, we all went to my falafel guy and got some killer falafel.

After getting some more beer at 7-11, we walked down Nørrebrogade back towards the metro and two guys sitting down tried to sell me some pot. I declined, but my friend bummed a cigarette from them. Somehow, we convinced them to blaze us up and we all smoked a spliff together sitting on the sidewalk in front of King of Kebab. As we crossed back over the lake towards the metro, the first signs of sun were beginning to appear.

While we were waiting for the train (which was thankfully running again), a girl approached me in Danish and I talked to her for a bit doing introductions and so forth. After exhausting my whole three sentences of Danish knowledge, we talked some more in English and got on the train. Let it be stated that she was a little younger and not great looking (she had a friend with her too but the friend was not much better). With that said, I have no objection to Danish girls trying to pick me up at the metro station. Løl.

So anywho, around 6 I finally made it to bed and got to enjoy the opening scenes of Super Troopers and a gorgeous sunrise before finally passing out for a few measly hours before now, when I am writing this long-ass shit. So the moral of the story is follow the shitshow. I bid you farewell my loyal fanbase, and a happy new year to my yids out there.

Peace.

Big Update

Wow, I have not written in this thing in almost two weeks. They have been a very busy two weeks though.

I just got back from a trip through Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, and Hamburg in Germany as well as seeing western Denmark. A memorable experience of the trip was going to a small bar in Sønderborg and seeing the place overrun with 16-year-olds dancing on tables and 2-liter pitchers of Carlsberg. Outside, on my quest to find a lighter, I ended up meeting dozens of young Danes, all of whom I forgot their name as soon as I met them.

Also, my best friend from 10 years ago is here visiting from Brazil. I picked him up from the Metro with tallcans in hand and it has been a party ever since. We only see each other rarely, but every time we visit the shitshow ensues. Our last encounter was a fateful roadtrip to Boulder at the end of last year.

I have been getting very little sleep lately but finally got a full 8 hrs last night after some much needed catching up on Entourage. I have decided to show my friend around the neighborhood and most days we end up drinking on the canals of Christianshavn. Sunday, we caught the first night of RubADubSundays in the new spot, a humble little dive in the meatpacking district called Kødboderne 18. I don't know if I mentioned it either but I also went to Malmö in Sweden. It was a pretty sweet experience and I got to see plenty of my friend, the umlaut. Also, I gorged myself on ultra-Swedish foods and saw old castles. The weather, unfortunately, was shit but the air looked very spooky and gothic which was cool.

Yesterday, the crew and I went on our first church crawl, which was a great success. We went around to historic old churches in central Copenhagen and drank fancy (read 20-30 kr.) bottles of wine. It was very fun and we all snapped plenty of pictures with buddy Jeebus.

On the reflective note (come on guys, this is a blog) it has been feeling more like home being here in København. If it weren't for the language barrier, I could even think about living here permanently. Watching shots of LA on Entourage didn't really make me nostalgic but rather reminded me how far away I am from the usual.

I still have the nagging feeling that I need to seriously pick up my musical work and I have made an overall resolution to get more serious about everything once my friend departs after this weekend. Being isolated from my home country has given me plenty of time to think and along with it plenty of new musical ideas. It is just funny working in a style in a place where that style doesn't really exist. I am getting a lot of good electro influences though by being in Europe. And as a plus, everyone is really impressed when I freestyle, even if it is not that good.

Well, back to life in busy Copenhagen. Peace out faithful reader.

Fear and Loathing in Copenhagen

I had a crazy two days just now. I went out to a big block party in Nørrebro which consisted of drinking on top of freighter containers, lots of Tuborg Guld and of course plenty of pissing in the street. We met some interesting characters: 16-year-old Danish rappers, some party people who invited us to an apartment party at 5 that morning. We stayed until 6, I got a falafel and we went to have a little morning spliff. I got home at 9, slept until 2, picked up some tall cans and biked to Parken for the FCK football match. Good shit no doubt. I will spare the boring details, but it has been interesting carousing the streets of Copenhagen.

Bicycle Tour

Today, I showed up to the bicycle scavenger hunt where only one other student was present. We were led by Anders, a flamboyant, über-fab DIS employee around the various spots in København. We started with a sex shop in the red light district, passed the Carlsberg brewery, toured the harbor and found fruit-bearing trees throughout the city. He was an informative guide as well as a good time. It was nice to explore what was before distant territory. Pretty much the shit. Random adventures are the best.

Intentionally Lost

Yesterday I went to the grave of Søren Kierkegaard. Very cool. I took a spin on my bike through the deeper reaches of Frederiksberg and Nørrebro that I hadn't seen before. There was some cool stuff. The other girl from Whittier met up with me yesterday and we watched the sunset in Christiania and then got a falafel pizza. I am enjoying my neighborhood and just kickin it. I will be doing plenty of biking today too. The weather has continued to be warm and sunny with just a little rain here and there. Now that I know my hard drive accepts European current, I have few excuses left to not be recording already so I will try to bust out some songs the next time I get a chance. I have been bumpin some old school and also re-addicted to the Pharcyde. Until next time, farvel.

Sountrack:

Geto Boyz - Mind Playing Tricks on Me
The Pharcyde - She Said
Grouch & Eligh - Everafter
Tupac - Smile

First Self-Made Danish Dinner

I went shopping for the first time today, which is always an adventure, especially in a foreign language. I made smørrebrød for dinner -- herring on rye bread -- with a side of baked beans. Must admit, my current living situation is the epitome of ghetto fabulous, but don't forget the fabulous part. The neighborhood is like Danish Brooklyn. The dryer machines are expensive ($2/4 min!!) so I am doing it up old school and air drying out my window. So for now, I am just kicking it with my curry herring and Italian red wine. Time to kick back and see where the night takes me. I have yet to find anyone here (of the Americans) who would make a good addition to the shitshow crew. It is still early, so I will try to be optimistic. Peace.

New Crib

What can I say? Life is pretty much perfect right now. Moved into the student apts. today (gorgeous of course). Got the studio set up and gave all the newcomers a guided tour of Christiania. Lollers. Anywho, I am about to head out for an epic dub night in Christiania. Just pimpin it big (as always) and enjoying the adventure. Gotta retrieve my bike sometime, it's locked up at Nørreport. Anywho...rock on my (few) loyal readers. Shout outs to the whole crew. Peace.

Beach Weather

The past two days have been flawlessly sunny and warm, I have spent them just chilling at the beach all day. Denmark and California perhaps share similar customs: riding a fixed-gear cruiser to the beach, lounging about, and soaking up the sun rays. I played my guitar for a few hours while staring at the coast of Sweden and having a puff of spiced up Bali Shag. I am getting ready to move into the student apts. on Sunday. I have a loose agenda for the weekend consisting of parties Friday and Saturday and hopefully catching Rub'A'Dub Sundays and gettin irie to some riddims...løl. In all seriousness though, should be a fun time. I am also picking up my new trusty black steed from the bike repair shop tomorrow. Even though it is a damercykel (women's bike) I will still ride it ferociously. (It has actually come into style for young men to ride women's bikes, don't ask me why.)

In other news I have read almost 150 pages today, finishing Malcolm Gladwell's social science book Outliers and have cleared the first 100 pages of another book of his, The Tipping Point. I am glad to be reading voraciously again; it never hurts to give the mind a good workout. I have still been writing for my usual publications, but perhaps not as prosaic usual. I am trying to become a better writer, and tons of reading is part of the curriculum. I am not too worried about the DIS classes -- I have heard that they are easier than normal Whittier upper-divisions. With that being said, though, I plan on getting straight A's this semester as I continue to make my way towards Berkeley's journalism school. Hopefully Michael Pollan has not retired by the time I get there (Fall 2013).

Anywho, that's about it for now!

Recent soundtrack:

Art Tatum - Art Tatum: Piano Starts Here
Tupac - "Smoke Weed All Day"
Greatful Dead - American Beauty and The Closing of Winterland
Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century
Ghostly International (Adult Swim) - Ghostly Swim

First Christiania Trip

Yesterday I ventured down to the island of Christianshavn and took a little stroll through Christiania, a hippie community built from old army barracks. This is probably my favorite place I've seen in the city and is bustling with all sorts of interesting activity. Despite thick clouds of pot smoke drifting through the wind, many a mother is to be seen pushing her infant in a stroller. Later, I met Valdemar for a beer in the park and then Stephanie, an old exchange student to my high school. I hadn't seen her in 5 years, but she didn't look too much different. I left the city at almost 1 in the morning and biked through the pitch black night arriving home at 2. I will be moving into the kollegium on Sunday but might just stay in the city for the day or two before then as my train pass is running out. I have been here a week and it already feels longer. It will be strange when the other exchange students arrived. They missed out on some good summer weather.

Thæ Mørning Åfter

After working on the road today with the neighborhood crew, I went into the city for night of cavorting and carousing. Chaos ensues.

General overview of the night:

8:30 - Arrive at Nørreport station, walk around the block, follow the music.

9:00 - Follow the drunk people and the music along Nansensgade, find my friend's bar.

9:05 - First beer.

9:30 - Found the dubstep booth out of the dozen or so DJs playing on the street. Bob my head a little and enjoy the smell of dank permeating the air.

9:35 - Gin & tonic. Mmmmmm. Return to the dubstep tent and bob my head some more.

9:45 - Get sick of dubstep, re-up on the beer and go to the house booth. Watch people dance and get shitty. This is dope. I'm starting to love København even more.

10:00 - 12:00 - Steady flow of beer and house music. Go to take a piss in mouth-shaped urinals in the basement of Bankeråt. Good shit.

12:15 - The most hellacious urge to pee encompasses my whole body and my bladder feels like it will burst any minute. I walk down to the lake and pretend to make a phone call while I piss on the grass. Most people are just doing it in the lake.

12:30 - A boy pedaling a bike with a speaker system tries (unsuccessfully) to plow through the crowd on the street. He is pumping house music from a PA and we won't let him leave. Buy two mini pizza dealios from a street kiosk and indulge my drunk munchies. Puff on the communal spliff making its way through the crowd.

1:30 - My friend's shift ends, we go back inside the bar and have a few beers/meet his coworkers (who all happen to be gorgeous women, he is the only guy working at the bar; go figure).

2:00 - 3:00 Drink on the street some more, go to a basement jam session right after it closes, go to the corner store and get a sixer of Tuborg.

3:30 - Go to get a rental ShittyBike (they are really called City Bikes but they are designed for people like 4 feet tall. Ironic in a country where everyone is tall. The hilarity, sadly, does little for my aching legs. I'm drunk and it's free, so I'm not complaining.

3:45 - Return to Nansensgade to find a riot scene going on with the party now moving up to practically every apartment above. Somehow even more people than before. Down to the last two beers which we decide to drink as we bike.

4:30 - Biking drunk through København, no traffic, the sun is rising as we cross the bridge into Christianshavn.

5:00 - Arrive at the apartment, carry the heavy rental bike up 6 floors and park it in the kitchen. Pass out on the couch.

Noon - Wake up, feel like death, chug some water and go back to sleep.

2:30 - Gain enough strength to leave the apartment. Go back to Nansensgade to return the bike. Street looks like a bomb went off. Walk to Nørrebro and get some fucking tasty ass falafel. Walk around, drink some coffee (medicine), go back to Nørreport.

5:30 - Catch the train back to Humlebæk and have a nice stroll through the countryside.

Great night. Hope it happens every weekend.

First Day Busking

Never underestimate the power of jet lag. Yesterday I slept until almost 2 in the afternoon. Knowing how everything closes a little early here in Denmark, I tried to make it into the city as early as possible to try and get a busker's permit (so the police do not come bother me). However, after going from one gov't building to the next and talking to the many street musicians that were out on such a nice day, I soon decided to abandon the idea and take my chances.

I posted up on one of København's many walking streets and played the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" and some jazz tunes just long enough to make 12 kr which I gave to the self-described vagabond sitting next to me. I walked in circles for a few hours until I could meet Valdemar, a 24-year-old barkeep with whom I would give the pleasure of answering all of my questions about the young side of life in Denmark and all of the good stuff that entails.

Valdemar and I then caught the train back to Humlebæk at just kicked it for a minute. He invited/informed me a block party going on Saturday at which I could meet his fun loving friends and drink for free at his bar (I could not ask for anything more on my first weekend here). Today, I just need to get a few things worked out with my school program and then I should be golden.

My Danish friend shared with me a quote which I find especially appropriate by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, "Life is lived forward and understood backwards."

Electrocution

I just almost fried myself stupidly trying to plug in an American power strip to my size converter (which lacks a more inportant VOLTAGE converter). My hard drive / pro-tools box arrived in my lost suitcase today, albeit a little smashed. I will wait to get a proper converter before frying my life's musical work. Trying to get a cell phone today so I can get in touch with all my Danish peoples. Glad that my other clothes arrived so I can stop dressing like I am going to work every day. Last night, I got extremely paranoid about my recently-pulled wisdom teeth. I was rinsing in the sink and out popped a little chunk of "something." Thought it might be a blood clot but turned out to be little more than a mushroom. Still didn't keep me from frantically phoning the dental office over Skype and asking them a laundry list of questions.

I am going to test the musical waters today and bike up to Helsingør to try and busk for some money. All goes well I shall buy some nice beer/liquor for my friends I am staying with. Until then, here's to hoping I don't get fried by the double voltage here in Europe.

Peace.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I awake to the sound of rain outside my window and the taste of vomit in my mouth. My first full night of sleep in three days. Inevitably, during one of the 4 flights over here the airlines lost my bag with clothing, gifts, toiletries and the hard drive containing my life's musical work. My first day, yesterday, left me bewildered, confused, exhausted and somewhat depressed. Not just being in a far away place, but just feeling far removed from humanity in general. Now, I wait. Wait for school to start in two weeks. Wait to restore my body to a normal sleep pattern. Wait for my fucking suitcase with over half my shit in it. Wait for re-engagement into society, albeit not my usual one. I guess none of it really matters..that's the point. I'm alive, and really nothing else matters too much. But life itself is inherently devoid of meaning. Rather a white linen which picks up the colors and tints and threads of everything it comes into contact with. On the upside, my mouth has regained almost a whole third of its function after having 4 wisdom teeth pulled last week. I have completely rejected the notion of luck, as that is all a matter of opinion; a scapegoat for when we try to inject to much meaning into things. Is it that we give meaning to the things around us as humans, or that they do that to us. Or both; or neither. I am stationary for the first time in nearly 2 days and my head spins like none other. So now, I will wait...and wait...and wait...

Officemax

A few days ago I was making a copy of my passport and debit card at Officemax in preparation for the trip and accidentally left both in the copier. I did not realize this until nearly 24 hours later. After calling the store, I retrieved my passport and debit card. I didn't even have to say anything, the girl working recognized me from the picture. It is with this that I realize that the slightest hang-up could destroy the whole trip before it even begins. I am crossing my fingers that the next 8 days go off without a hitch.

Three weeks to go

Hi Everyone,

I am setting up this blog so that my friends and family stateside (and worldwide) can keep up can contact me (and vice-versa) while I am in Denmark for the next semester. Also, I hope to get some pictures up and explore street art while in CPH. I have only three weeks left at home before departure and I can't wait to be in Copenhagen. Hopefully my visa will arrive shortly and I can start packing. I'll put more stuff on here when I get there and start snapping some pictures. Until then, peace out.

Neal