Wednesday night - the locals are on Ratinger Strasse

On a Wednesday night in Düsseldorf all the locals are on Ratinger Strasse, in Altstadt. Only the tourists go to Bolker strasse. At least on a Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday.

Düsseldorfers and the like gather on Ratinger Strasse (check Google Maps), especially if the weather is nice. The street gets completely packed at least, as I said, if the weather is good, everybody is outside chatting, having a drink. Later on people move inside, to the bars. But Wednesday's in Düsseldorf is in general very good, also when the weather is less favourable, that just means meeting inside instead of outside on the street.

But you need to know where to go, if you go to Bolkerstrasse, which is one of the streets where a lot happens, you will not find many Düsseldorfers, at least not on a Wednesday, and there will also be, especially summertime, a lot of stag- and hen nights (bachelor/bachelorette parties, for the American or American influenced readers...) . And you need to know when, people normally start showing up around 20:00 (8-ish). And then you can leave at 22, or at Midnight, or you continue to party all night long, as I have learned some people do. I can't tell how many times I have received a phone call between 22 and 22:30, asking where we are, and all I say is "at home, having a cup of tea". It took me quite some time to understand how the Düsseldorf crew functions. Now I know and I always know whom to tell people to call if they are coming out that late. (Yes, it IS late to come out at 22-22:30 or even later when the next day is a working day, at least if you ask me, but I guess some people go home from work, sleep a few hours, and THEN heads out. Not my thing. But when my parents visit I will make it a point to take them to Ratinger Strasse for a beer - just to see what it is all about. Because unlike in Sweden, the Düsseldorf scene is very mixed, all ages go out. Ratinger strasse has everything from the 20-year olds to the 50+ year-olds. And that is what makes it so great! At least as long as I have stayed out it also isn't a "party until you drop" kind of location but more a "let's talk and chat and just enjoy life" kind of spot. Great in other words!

That's the great thing about Düsseldorf, there is always something happening!

Evert Lundquist again

Now do you see what I mean by thick layers of paint when I write about Lundquist? This is from his later days as an artist as I understand it, where he would work with the layers and then add something like a leg, an axe or so to the picture to finish it - as I mentioned before he had problems finishing the paintings. Even later in his career he lost his eyesight and was partially blind so then he had to finish in one sitting but prior to that he would work on paintings for a long time.

I know we weren't supposed to take flash photos but I couldn't figure out if normal were allowed and I couldn't find anyone to ask, so I discreetly took a picture without plash, just wanted to show the essence of the paintings.

Taken in Stockholm, Sweden, at Moderna Museet.

Happy Birthday daddy! Grattis på födelsedagen pappa

Do you remember when we sat up until the early morning hours, daddy, you with a drink and me with a glass of juice, mainly listening to music - this one being one of them - and talking. I was not very old then, but it is one of my most valued memories, how I woke up after having slept just a little, and I heard you in the living room. I went out and found you sitting there, in your own thoughts, and I joined you.

Or do you remember when you taught me all about Formula 1? I used to watch every race. I was really crazy about motor sports as a little girl, at least cars (forget Speedway though, I didn't like speedway, still don't understand the concept. Standing at the side while the bikes throw rocks and sand on you, when sliding around on the tracks...)

Another memory was when you released the crabs on the floor, remember that? I had been told from when I was very little to stay away from the claws as they can easily cut of your finger - especially a child's little finger - and I was very very careful - and then you came home with fresh crabs that you wanted to cook, and you put them on the floor, as a joke, and they started to move around. I SCREAMED and ran into my room, slammed the door and jumped up onto the bed. OK, I realise now that I was much quicker than the crabs and also that they hardly could open the door so standing on the bed didn't make much sense, but I didn't get that THEN ;-) I was so angry at you that time - but looking back at it I just laugh.Then it was terrifying thouch - but of course that was not the idea, the idea was to joke around a little.

Do you remember all the fun times we had out on the sailing boat, dad? When we were out in the wonderful archipelago of Bohuslän (Gothenburg), and anchored and spent the night out in the "wild". Remember the time when your friend who was with us injured his foot and me and my brother helped him and made sure he held his food high etc., he had to sit still and couldn't really move around at all. And then later that evening we grilled and lit candles — the mosquito repellant candle that we stuck in the sand so it looked like a little volcano. Later the same evening we found the glow worms, you know, the ones that shine with a green light? Little catepillars. I thought they were more a fairlytale creature but that night I saw them myself for the first time, and held them.

Dad, thanks for all the great times we have had, thinking about you!

Happy birthday!

(PS! The clip is a link from Youtube.com)

When I thought I had found my favourite

 The picture below  is of an art book that I bought when I was up in Stockholm. That in itself says something, I normally never buy art books, as looking at art through a book is never the same as seeing the art live. But in this case I had to... 

I am in no way an art expert and I have little clue about art history and even less about techniques. But I know what I like. I may change my mind depending on mood and depending on what I learn as that may make me see things in another light but I certainly have certain things that I feel very strongly about. I went to Stockholm to see the exhibitions at Moderna in Stockholm. Lee Lozano I didn't know anything about before I read about her on the website of the museum but when I saw her pictures I immediately reacted on them, and for that I really liked her art. Photos of the art fails to show the strong impression it actually makes. But anyhow, Lee Lozano I already wrote about. Now I wanted to write about Evert Lundquist.

I had almost forgotten the second artist that I came for, Evert Lundquist, his exhibition one floor down and not quite so obvious. Lozano's exhibition hypnotised me, and afterwards I went to the museum of Architecture, which is next door. I was almost on the way to leave and go towards Liljevahls when I spotted the exhibition I had planned to see but forgotten... So I decided to go down and have a look.

According to the museum Evert Lundquist is an artist who has inspired many, a key painter of Sweden. I knew very little about him, even though I had heard his name. But now I wanted to find out more. The museum had a very interesting video about Lundquist and I watched it before I entered the exhibition and hence I knew a little bit what to expect - but not like this.

OH My!!! This was strong, one of the strongest experiences I have had when it comes to art. Lundquist manages to make the paint itself interesting also when the motif is nothing. He uses thick layers of paint and in later paintings you can see how he sometimes mixed the paint on the canvas itself. Thick strokes and Lundquist does something I always fount interesting, he blocks the view for the viewer, by letting you feel that there is something behind that you want to see, something they also mentioned about in the film. It plays with your mind, it engages in a way I am not used to. To me, Lundquist paintings are a bit like the closet that leads into Narnia, at first glance it's nothing special bit then it turns out to be a secret door there, but not into another land but into your own imagination.

It's also said that Lundquist had problems finishing his art and I can see why, it must have made him wanting to continue to sink into it. The thick layers of paint indicates that this is the case.

I want to see more of Lundquist. Much more!

Strange smell

There is something unidentifiable that smells rather bad in the stairs in the building. Can't feel any of it in my flat and it seems to start on the way to the next floor. First I thought someone had stepped in dog excrements but there is no trace of it and the cleaning man has been cleaning since it started.

And then this evening I realised that the old man who isn't very good at washing himself hasn't been seen for a while. Now I am worried. Hope he didn't die? I will have to try and get hold of the landlord tomorrow if the smell doesn't go away or I see the old man.
I am probably just silly and there is nothing to worry about, but I can anyhow not get the though out of my head. Thing is the man is a sort of hermit so I  not sure if anyone else would recognize if he went missing.

Hmmm... But then again, I believe death would smell a lot worse? But one never knows. I am most likely just paranoid though, and I have been away a lot which could easily explain why I haven't seen the old man. I mainly see him weekends anyhow, when he walks outside, and I have been away weekends. That's the reason, right?

(I thought he possibly passed away before but every time he showed up again)

Building work

They are renovating the building I live in. Adding insulation, new paint, new balconies. Started in October, it went well for about three weeks. Then they were almost finished so they stopped. And stopped. And stopped. And then they came on a Saturday when all I wanted was peace and quiet and sit in my kitchen.And then they stopped. And stopped again. And stopped again. And came and spent half a day. And then stopped again. Well, you get it. The work is still not finished and when I speak to the reps for the landlord I hear excuses. It's the cold. It's b***s**t I say. They have been doing some work when it was cold and more important they haven't done anything when it was warm. My trust in builders has dropped dramatically.

I don't think they will finish?

Annoying thing is that the only thing missing from my balcony is a part of the railing and then it will be done. But they don't seem capable of fixing that last bit.

All while the builders further down the street have torn down a house and are on the way to erect a new one in the spot.

The other builders are the most flirty you can imagine (hey, they are builders after all), I am almost tempted to flirt back with them only to get them to come and fix the last bits, although I understand one can't do that... It IS tempting though. I just want to be able to use my balcony and it is so little missing!

(blogged via mail)

Big meeting - what a boost!

Had a big meeting yesterday, for an organisation I am a member of. I did much of the presentation, also filled in for a person. And wow, what a boost for the self esteem that was! I love speaking in front of people. I don't like sitting down when I do it, but I really love being on stage. And I am not even ironic.

I always THINK I hate it, before getting up there, but then, up there, I feel totally relaxed, and feed from the energy.

Maybe I shouldn't have stopped taking those acting classes once upon a time. I think I could have been really good. (Although yes, that IS a life I don't envy, it's one thing when you are really good but there is too much of a struggle to get there, especially since I prefer stage, when it comes to film you don't get that immediate feedback. And I would be lousy at waiting tables... At least in California that seems to be what all actors do.)

Well, I will be walking on clouds for days now!

Fotball fans

Fortuna Düsseldorf has a lot of fans. They are loud. And many. But I have never seen any bad ones. Fortuna is not even in the top league, actually not even in the second to best. But I am pretty certain we have some of the best fans. Today I have seen a bunch of guys using their beer bottles as microphones when singing one of the fancy songs that goes something like this:
Fortuuuna, fortuuuuna, fortuuuuuna Düüüsseldoooorf, fortuuuuuna, fortuuuuuna, fortuuuuuna Düsseldorf.

Well, you get it. Not the highest class music but everybody seems super happy, they compensate what they lack in musicality with good mood. And that's even before the game gas started :-)

(mailblogged, linebreaks etc later)

Lee Lozano at Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Even though I am late, I am coming to Stockholm one day later than expected due to a cancelled plane,  I manage to do what I want to do in Stockholm, it just requires that I am a bit more coordinated and skip the walks between. I head to Moderna Museet, with my suitcase but with a good mood, I am assuming that I'll be able to store my suitcase there, in the cloak roam. I have travelled the world and there is a cloack room everywhere, at museums. Except here I find put that there is an unmanned cloak room only, and there I don't want to leave my suitcase, of course.

The boxes are too small, or my suitcase is too big - had to bring a bigger one to fit the winter clothes. Luckily the staff takes pity on me and takes it behind the counter while I lock the backpack and the coat away, thank you Moderna Museet for saving my day.

I headed to the museum for two reasons, one being Lee Lozano, a kind of pop painter, active partly at the same time as Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe and others. Pop painter, by the way? What IS a pop painter? Well, Lozano is using a language in her paintings that reminds me of the language used in the pop industry, and I think of Jeff Koonz and Warhol when I see it, so the term might not be right, but it is what I use.

Born 1930 and dead too early, having been active in USA, and later retiring from painting as she didn't like the scene. I'll get back to the second reason later but I want to start with Lozano. Now, remember I don't really know anything about art, so if you want to really know facts, check with someone else, I can only describe what I feel when I look at the art.

The art is gripping, it stings. It's very strong, powerful, and some of it has a sexual undertone, she is using a power language that has been used to surpress especially women for many many years. Lozano uses these symbols to provoke.

Now I don't know Lozano and I am no art expert, I can only say what I feel, but... This is strong. I want to take a picture but I don't see the staff and I am not sure if the  photo ban is for flash only, out of risk of hurting the paintings, or  if it's photo in general, and I want to ask. The photo I get is from the brochure.

Lozano's art is quite frankly a kick in the guts. It is frustration or expresses frustration, and I sense in her art a form of rootlessness that I can in a way identify with. I get engaged, it's powerful. Lozano uses expressions that are not allowed to use if you are a woman, you sense how she has tried to fit in but without success - but again, it may well be me reading my feelings into Lozano's art.

I feel stragely impacted, angry and frustrated when I look at it, when I see what she expresses. And while I like it I also hate it, there is some simplicity and I feel that Lee Lozano in a way takes the easy way out, makes it too simple, it is not technically advanced painting, much of what she did reminds me of more simple doodling, but I guess it is what they say; it is when you know the rules that you can chose to break them, and Lozano did study art, so I assume that's why she gets away with it. But I still feel strangely upset that she doesn't use her tallent more - and yet at the same time I know that it is my layman knowledge that speaks, the old learning that painting must mimic reality as much as possible or it isn't good. That's a well known fact that is horribly untrue...

Good art doesn't automatically mean that it's mimicing reality, for that one can use a photo, but that it touches and engages, regardless if it's a symbolic language (of painting), a language enlarging or imitating reality, or something else. Art engages. And art can be many things;  painting, drawing/sketching, photo, text or whatever expression it takes. But it is engaging, that's the most important. And Lee Lozanos  art does just that, it engages!

So if you are in Stockholm or if you have a chance to see her elsewhere, go. She is slowly starting to be rediscovered. I am going to read more and find out more about Lozano, for sure. 

Yes, she might shock you, yes, she might provoke you, and no, if you are after beautiful sceneries, this is not the artist to get to know better, but otherwise, find out more!

The language school

The lift at the hotel I am staying at when visiting a city where I meet my old friends is a language school. In a loud clear voice it explains which floor we are on. "Andra våningen". Utterly well articulated. I can't help but smile.

Cash is (not) king

I always tell people that when they go to Sweden, they don't need to worry about cash, you can pay everything with card. And that is true. Most of the time.

As late as today, when getting off the plane and trying to decide if I was going to take the Arlanda express, the train into the city, or the bus. The bus takes longer, 40 minutes, vs the train, 20 minutes, but the buses leave more often - and the price difference is huge, 119 SEK for the bus and 240 for the train, but anyhow. Next to me stood two Americans trying to find out the price for taxi to where they were going, in order to get enough cash for the ride. I told them not to, taxis you can always pay with card and most drivers even prefers that so they don't need to deal with change and large amounts - increases the risk of getting robbed. So Swedish taxis you can pay with card. Fine.

On the bus you can't pay with cash even if you want, there it's cards only. Everywhere you use card.

Except if you want to leave your luggage at the central station in Stockholm.... Super fancy machines, no manual check in as before, but pick a locker and pay in the fancy machine in the middle, get a code and use the code to unlock later. Great. Except the lockers are very expensive and there is a limited amount of lockers - and try only accept coins! Pathetic! Put in a fancy system - and at least give us the option to pay like we pay everywhere else, with card!

So I ended up dragging my suitcase around town...

Another try

OK, let's try again. I am going to Stockholm.

Hopefully this time my plane will actually be there.

I could go to my hotel and have breakfast when I arrive. After all I have (no, SAS have) to pay for the room anyhow due to late cancellation...

No, going to head straight to the museums.

When one travels

It is far easier to get to where you are supposed to be when the airline doesn't decide to cancel your flight without any into about why...

So instead being half way to Stockholm I am home again in my own bed... Nice with my own bed but really, I could have done without it, and instead I could have slept in as planned up in Stockholm, had an nice breakfast and then headed out to the museums I want to see tomorrow. Instead I am looking at an early early wakeup call and getting to the airport... *Sigh*. I wanted to sleep in...

Popular

Wow, I must be an extremely popular person. Now someone I have never met or heard of died and left me money. Again... Can't understand why this ends up in my junk mail. It is nice of them to tell me that I am not going to inherrit a lot of money, isn't it?

Seriously... I have said it before, if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is... Do people really FALL for these things? If you are going to fake it, fake it good, or at least leave name that would be a possibility.

St Patrick's day

There is a lot of talk about St Patrick's day today, obviously - it IS today. I know about it. I have heard about it. But I have never celebrated it. I thought it was just a reason to drink beer but I understand that there is a lot more to it?

I am Swedish so it is not our day which may explain why we know about it but not about the background.

Do you celebrate St Patrick's day? What traditions do you have? Have a feeling it is a bit like Swedish midsummer, crazy, mad, fun, with a lot of traditions that no one really understands but are happy to follow anyhow - in our case eating pickled herring, drinking alcohol (snaps, i e aquavit etc, and beer), dancing around the midsummer pole etc.
Except midsummer eve is always a Friday evening, so you have the whole weekend to recover (by the way, don't go to Sweden to celebrate Midsummer unless you know some Swedes whom you can celebrate with, because the cities are empty midsummer, and to a lonely tourist it is REALLY lonely.)

In the dark

Hmmm... Never have I experienced a place where the light bulbs break more often than here, in my flat. Now one of the light bulbs in my bathroom is broken, the one I need the most, the one helping me wiht the light for my make-up. To reach it I have to climb a ladder. Not going to happen today, I am a little bit too dizzy for that. Climbing ladders when dizzy is just about the most stupid idea one can have, especially with plenty of stone around, and other sharp edges. So if you see me the next coming days looking funny it is not because I think it is fashionable with make up outside the lines etc, it's just that I still haven't fixed the light (although I have two other bulbs, I guess I can manage with that in the meantime)

More than anything I wonder why the light bulbs break so often. Cabling?

Swoooosch

WHAT was that? Oh, it must have been the weekend passing...

What can you do to be more safe?

Everybody is doing things that aren't 100% safe, things we can improve.
Often it is car related. That's not mine; I rarely drive nowadays, I sold my car, instead I go by train (and I am not walking too close to the edge of the platform either, this winter a person slipped on the ice in Sweden and fell in front of the incoming train - I always take care but especially when it is icy and that freak accident showed the importance). Not driving so often means I am on extra alert when I do though, as I know I haven't driven in a while.

But one thing I can certainly do better is looking around when I walk on the pavement/sidewalk and pass garage exits etc. I just don't expect there to be a car coming - silly, I know, as garages/parking spaces are normally used for cars, right? The other day I had had way too much caffeine and I was walking fast past an exit where a car was coming out. I was a bit wobbly because of all the coffee, so I just didn't react as quickly as I should have, it was actually a bit scary. Yes, the car is supposed to take care and look out for pedestrians, but that hardly helps me if I am hit by the car, does it. I am not very interested in being in the hospital saying "I was right". I'd much rather not get hit in the first place. It could have been a close call last week.

Nope, I don't listen to my iPod or any other MP3 player when I am out in the traffic, regardless if it is on foot, for the same reason. I do like to hear what is going on around me - I use all my senses when I am out and about. In Düsseldorf one otherwise sees many different strange and dangerous traffic situations; Not just the triple parking which blocks the views of the rest of the traffic, but people on bikes listening to MP3-players, texting while driving - also on the bike (as well as using an umbrella on the bike - I rather use a rain coat, take the train or tram, or walk with an umbrella, I don't understand how they can balance AND steer while also trying to make sure they are dry using an umbrella)...

Not there, here

I find it very frustrating to return home after having been on the way
longer than it normally takes to go to work and not having made it
further than hauptbahnhof...

German hairdressers. What's with the nudity?

With short hair you need to go to the hairdresser often. Suits me, I love going to the hairdresser, totally relaxing. So I keep my hair short. Took some time to find someone I was comfortable with in Germany, the first one I tried to turn me in to a boring school teacher and was a coward but now I have a place with a group of people that foes my hair, and they dare a bit more. Lovely. It's only hair, it will grow back again. I love hairdressers that doesn't need instructions but who trusts me when I say "do whatever you want".

Trying to find a hairdresser I walked around and peaked into many salons looking at how they cut and how they worked with the customers, as well as what kind of customers they had - I mean, if they are specialised on old ladies they are probably great at cutting old ladies, if they are focused on the thick Mediterranean hair, that's what they are experts on, I needed someone who could understand my wimpy Swedish hair — super fine. So I wanted a place where they services a good mix of hairtypes.

I found my hairdresser. At the hairdresser I often sit and read, especially when letting them dye my hair, which happens, gives it a deeper tone (no, not all Swedes are blond, I'm not.). So. I read. And while I am now getting used to it, can anyone explain why they have Playboy and Penthouse in the shelf with Reading material at the hairdresser? Odd. While we Swedes are open about some things we are certainly not open when it comes to this. Nude magazines. I blushed from my toes up to my hairline when I first saw it. Not because Playboy and the like are are very extreme, they are kind of soft, at least compared to some of the stuff you can see both in Germany and in Sweden, but still, in Sweden looking at naked women is something you do at home, privately, not at the hairdresser. Here you see them everywhere, at some cafés/bars, at the hairdresser, and a friend of mine even had them on a domestic flight? What? And it's not like they are just lying there, I have seen men pick them up and sit and read them, openly. Makes me blush even more. That I am certainly not used to! If I could pull it off without blushing I would have done it myself though, just to see how others would react, but as I said, I can't, I AM too sensitive...

But then again Germans also prefer their saunas "textile free" and mixed. There is a reason why I haven't ever used a sauna in Germany, if I put it like that...

I could of course change hairdresser but if I'd continue doing that every time I saw something I didn't like I could find it difficult to find a hair dresser at all. I guess I just have to get used to nudity. But I will always find it a bit odd. I hope.

(The only naked people I have seen on beaches in Europe where you aren't supposed to be naked were Germans. It might not be representative and it may be a coincidence but that's my experience of how it is. Germans are just relaxed when it comes to nudity. Or I am just overly sensitive).

I just decided that it's spring

Just so that everybody knows: It is now officially spring. I undressed my bicycle minutes ago.
(My bicycle lives on the terrace and has a little protective tent that it sleeps under. Now the tent has been removed. Now it is spring).

Wake up and smell the flowers

What a beautiful day, perhaps spring is finally on it's way? It's wonderful to wake up in the morning and it is already light - we are soon going to summertime (daylight saving time) and then we will have really bright evenings too - looking forward to it. But you can already see an incredible difference compared to January, the changes between summer and winter up here is so clear, and up in Sweden, where I come from, of course even more so. OK, in Gothenburg it's not so different from the north of Germany but the higher up you get, the more you see it, in the very top of Sweden, as far away from Gothenburg (Göteborg) as Rome, the sun never really sets in the summer (but on the other hand you never see it diluting the winder when that part of Tellus, earth, is leaning away from the sun.

Days like this one should take care of. Think about good things, go outside (I took a walk to get some lunch), smell the air, listen to the birds going crazy - you can tell it's their mating period soon - look at the flowerbeds, there will soon be little buds starting to stick up their heads, and yes, just enjoy life.

Because life is great! Life is grand!

Life is what you make of it! Make sure you make the most of it. Switch of that TV and go out and smell the flowers or write the book you always wanted to write or paint the painting or whatever it may be.

What I am longing for the most is the smell of the warm asphalt - and soon we will have that too.
But I better catch the moment, because winter moves into summer so quickly here, if you aren't careful you will miss the spring.

Zakk - excellent venue with great variation

I truly enjoy living in Düsseldorf, there is always a lot going on here (Check Prinz for event calendar, for example... Germany's What's On - also as a monthly magazine). Concerts, wine tasting, museum tours, breakfasts, brunches, and so forth. But you do need to play an active role, things don't just come and land in your lap, at least not to start with.

When it comes to concerts, Düsseldorf has a lot to offer, all kind of styles. Yes, Köln, which is the bigger of the two, gets more of the big ones and Köln also has more jazz concerts but Düsseldorf has them as well, and we have a lot of other things too. And besides the distance between Köln and Düsseldorf is short, 50 km or so and only 20 minutes if you take the Intercity up to one hour if you take the S-bahn that stops everywhere - but you can find more using Deutsche Bahn website.

Anyhow, regarding concerts and night life in general: One of my favourites is Zakk, a relatively big club in Flingern, other end of the city looking from Altstadt, where most of the tourists go. It's not big compared to clubs in other cities but for Düsseldorf it is relatively big. Zakk has a lot of different things going on, it's a bit an alternative place, if you are looking for mainstream this is the wrong place. But if you want to be surprised, Zakk has a good mix - poetry evenings, industrial rock, jazzier, brass band, performances, art pop - it's well worth it, to check out their schedule. Literature is important too - you have to love a place who has a vending machine for books, don't you?

Zakk is good, for it's variation - bigger bands, smaller band, poetry readings and so forth. Smaller bands playing? Then they use only one part of the club, and when they have bigger events they use more rooms. Clever layout and planning, that is.

But also has one other huge advantage. Zakk is one of the few places in Düsseldorf which is actually still smoke free. After the ban kicked in it took 6 moths before Nordrhein Westfalia - NRW - started to enforce the law, and after starting to enforce it took another two months until more or less everywhere was an exception. But not Zakk. At Zakk they have a smoking ban, there people are asked to go outside. Great! You don't just have to come home smelling like an ashtray - horrible for non smokers but (most) smokers doesn't feel it, I have noticed -but you so feel safer on the dance floor due to drunk people with cigarettes that they aren't in full control of. There are a few not so bright people that are too lazy to go out but in general it works well. Excellent. I love this, especially when there are so few placed to chose from if you don't want to get your lungs full of tar - yes, Germany and their "smoking ban" is a big pet peeve, while I love Germany and the Germans I know, I despise their cowardliness regarding smoking bans but I am not going to go further into that now - but all I can say is; I LOVE Zakk for being one of the few smoke free venues in Düsseldorf. THANKS ZAKK!!!

There is only one disadvantage with Zakk. The sound is LOUD - so one should/must bring earplugs. Sometimes they have some but bring your own just to be on the safe side - you only have on set if ears... I am going to get the special musician earplugs but so far I only use old time standard earplugs - but earplugs I use, it is as natural to me as using protective glasses around chemicals...

Most clubs are on the other hand very loud and carrying a pair of earplugs is easy, it's not like they are big and heavy (but avoid white ones if you can, when you have the florescent light that gives everything white a special glow it looks funny when it starts to shine from your ears ;-) On the other hand; Better radiating from the ears than harming your hearing.)

Don't you dare tricking me...

Don't you dare tricking me into laughing today - I have discovered forgotten muscles; 1.5 hours of yoga Sunday followed by a proper power walk, and then stopping by the gym on the way home"as I had my training gear on anyhow". And then the gym yesterday again, and then I happened to join a yoga class there too. It wasn't very good yoga, fact is it wasn't yoga at all even though the exercises required energy and resembled some real yoga, but it doesn't matter. It was hard work.  I can feel muscles that I had forgotten I had...
But what a great feeling at the same time, and my brain is far more alert. Exercise really does work miracles. Lets see how long I can keep this regime up. Should we guess two weeks? Or do you think I can keep it up a whole month (also, when it gets nice and warm I tend to be outside on my bike so then I use that as a reason to not go to the gym. Everybody wants to see the sun, right?)

Bla bla bla bla - what doesn't make sense

About Computer safety and viruses etc.

When I get an email from "Facebook" to an address I don't even have registered on Facebook, there is obviously something wrong. No, I am not going to click on the link, or run the attachment received.

When my mother all of a sudden sends me emails in other languages than Swedish, my mother tongue, yes, that is fishy too.

When my friend is travels and sends pictures in an email, or at least that's what it seems like, but the attachments are zipped files and .exe:s (executable files), and my friend doesn't write the headline and message in English, although he is English, there is clearly something going on.

"Lawyers" with odd names, and a lot of money coming my way? Yeah, right...

Common sense takes you far when it comes to avoiding getting viruses and other malware on your PC...

But sometimes one wonders... My friend with a virus? Some contacted him and said something like:
"There is something wrong with the attachments you sent, the virus protection window popped up and I couldn't open the attachments, so I pressed ignore for the virus protection software but it still wouldn't open the files you sent".

I have said it before; If it seems too good to be true, it probably is...
And if it seems strange, it probably is as well...

Life on internet would be so much easier if we all tried to use some more common sense out there. Obviously some of the tricks must work since they - spammers, virus makers and so on - keep doing it.

*Sigh*

By the way, did anyone ever try one of the recipes I have posted?

Curious, did anyone here ever try any of the recipes I have posted here on the blog? I know someone who did, and loved it, but that is not a regular blog visitor, and she told me face to face rather than as a comment. You can do that, or email me at ann-katrins_blogg (and the at sign) hotmail dot de for Germany (I don't write it as an email, totally on purpose, watch out for spam robots... But you can figure it out).

I am curious, yes.

BTW; I will continue to post even if no one comments because it may inspire some anyhow, but it would be fun to hear from you.

Vasaloppet tomorrow

Vasaloppet, which I will be up watching the start of in the morning, can be viewed via SVT (Sveriges Television - Swedish TV).

But I also already found the link to the live one:


http://svtplay.se/v/1911694/vasaloppet/huvudsandningen

So that is what I will be viewing in the morning!

Premiere!!!

Sunglasses today! Freezing cold - but SUNNY, what a beautiful , fantastic, perfect Saturday it has been so far!

Vasaloppet - the tradition

For the first time in a very long while I have to get up on Sunday and watch the start of "Vasaloppet" alone. It doesn't feel good to break the tradition, the start of Vasaloppet, a huge long distance cross country skiing competition should be watched with special company, in a comfortable chair, with all the things you need - pyjamas, blanket, blueberry or rosehip soup in a Thermos flask, and sandwiches.

I can do all of it except the company - Vasaloppet can be viewed over internet. But the company made it extra special.

It's just the start that I watch though, and I will do this year too. Well, the start and the finishing if I happen to switch the TV on again when it is time for it, it goes on for hours. This time it will only be the start though, because later i have other plans.

By the way; Vasaloppet is (one of the) biggest competitions, when it comes to Cross Country Skiing. It is certainly the oldest race, as far as I know - but you can read more about it on Wikipedia, under Vasaloppet. It is a traditional game, every Swede I think knows about it, and it takes place in a very beautiful part of Sweden, Dalarna, a bit further up north, at least compared to Gothenburg. The history is actually quite interesting too, so I do recommend you check it out and read more about it, actually.

!!!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Men and women can actually be friends without having a hidden agenda.

Really, we can!

At least I can. Always had a lot or male friends. and I will continue to. That means nothing else than them being nice people.

Just so that there aren't ANY doubts...

(And feel free to ASK if you have questions. I will respond. Not on the blog though, I don't like to discuss private matters on the blog. But it is far better to just ask. It's OK and I prefer it)

Update: Dear Düsseldorf, if you are going to make up stories, and give me boyfriends, can you at least give me at least one really gorgeous one with a nice Ferrari and a studio that he just wants me to use freely, preferrably a few minutes walking way from where I live?
PS! The Ferrari should of course be his second car that he doesn't need but he wants me to drive it "just so that the engine gets to run now and then". And yes, it must come with a parking spot or even better, someone who can pick up the car when I don't need it and then deliver it when I am going out for a drive. Parking in Düsseldorf is a nightmare.

(Anyone who knows me knows I am joking. Fancy cars doesn't really impress me. Although it would be fun to be allowed to test one once. Or a really nice Lotus. Ronnie Petersson used to compete with a Lotus...)

Not true

Heard a funny funny rumour today. And can hereby tell you: it's false. I don't have a relationship with someone in Düsseldorf. Hey, where does such amusing rumours come from? Hihi!!!

Update: It was actually the laugh of the day. And interestingly enough the person had even been named? Wow.
Watch it, this was just a boyfriend but you may have been assigned something else - dog, cat, kids, Santa. One never knows...

Is it allowed? Köln vs Düsseldorf

I see this ad and my first reaction is: Can they do that? This is an advert for Kölch, the Köln - Cologne - beer, and as I have mentioned before, Köln and Bonn has a long history of conflict and competition. I am not sure what it's about but Düsseldorf is the capital of this state while Köln is the bigger city, I assume that's part of the problem, but I have the feeling that it's much deeper than so.

Personally I love both cities, they both have a great selection of things to do and concerts, restaurants and so forth. But I seem to only get away with it because I am a foreigner...

Both cities have their special local beer as well, in Köln (Cologne) it is Kölch and in Düsseldorf, some 50 km away it is Altbier, a darker one. You don't find Alt in Cologne and you don't Kölch in Düsseldorf - except for one place, the only exception I know of, a Cologne bar down in Medienhafen, Düsseldorf, Eigelstein. But that really is the exception - I once asked for Kölch in the Düsseldorf airport, long before I lived here, and that truly upset the guy at the counter. Ouch! Won't do that again...

So when I saw the sign below I was really surprised. It's brave to advertise Kölch here. And then I remembered that I'm not in Düsseldorf... :-)

Mad

I have gone mad. It's official...

I never try something on unless I am prepared to buy it, unless it's ugly hats or weird sunglasses. I simply don't like to try things on, you know, the whole getting undressed, looking at yourself in a horrible mirror with horrible light where you either look too skinny or too fat (and sometimes both at the same time repending if you look in the left mirror or the right...) so when I do I better buy whatever fits. I am not going to try something on, find out that it fits and then return it, especially since it would mean I'd have to do the boring trying on part and shopping in general part again. So: I also only try on what I can see myself buying. If it fits, that is. 

Yesterday I did a mistake I never normally do: I tried on a pair of fancy blue shoes with really high heels and open toe. Just my luck - they fitted perfectly and were really comfortable - despite the VERY high heels. And I can walk in them.

So now I have the most expensive shoes I ever had. I don't even have a suit for that amount. Actually this is the single most expensive piece of cloth I have ever had, I believe...

Tell me there is no maximum amount for the outfit you can wear because if there is, I'll have to walk around almost naked because of the price of these blue ones...

(yes, I can afford it. It just doesn't make sense. Tell me I can keep them though, I don't need to return them, do I? I promise to be good the rest of the year, and I was good last year too)

(mailblogged)

Stockholm on my mind

Stockholm, the city on my mind right now. On the 19:th I'll be there. Hope to see some spring in the wonderful capital of Sweden!

I haven't been to Stockholm for years but since I am going to Sweden for a reunion with one of my university groups I decided to spend an extra day in Stockholm. And since the 19:th is on a Friday when people are working I will have the day to myself before going to visit a friend and his family in the afternoon/evening. Splendid! Can hardly remember when I did that last time, when I was last in Stockholm it was on business - Not bad, not bad at all, but nit the same as just strollig around deciding about your own time.

I did spend a few days in Stockholm after coming home from China a few years ago, Beijing and Shanghai (before the blog, so nothing here about it I'm afraid), and Stockholm was the last leg of a very nice holiday, but this time I am going to stroll around on my own, which is a different story. You experience cities in different ways, potentially, if you travel alone vs if you travel with company. Both are good but I live to travel alone from time to time, as that generally mean you interact more with other people, at least if you are open to it. Some find it lonely - I am never lonely. I may be alone from time to time, but never lonely.

Anyhow, Stockholm: Last time I was up there as a tourist I went for long walks on Djurgården, had sorbet ib the sun, went to tha Vasa museum - very interesting museum about obe if Swedens biggest embarrassements, the magnificent royal ship Vasa who managed 300 meters and then sank... 300 years later we found her back and pulled her up - and she is unique, as the semisalt water in the archipelago of Stockholm saved and protected her from breaking apart. Very fascinating the way they present her in the museum (boats in Swedish are always a "she", so I will alway call her a her, not it, and certainly not he).

We also saw the East Asia museum (Östasiatiska) in Stockholm, fascinating since we just came from China.This time my schedule looks somewhat different. I am going to head to the art museums. Lijevalchs and Moderna (modern art museum) are on the agenda.

Liljevalchs has their annual spring exhibition, "vårsalong", which runs until the end of March, so part of the day I will be at Djurgårdsvägen 60 (yes, a street address to the museum), and the other part at Moderna on Skeppsholmen. Very much looking forward to it!

Moderna museet (Museum of Modern Art) is having an exhibition with Evert Lundqvist and another one with the american Lee Lozano. Should be very interesting! I don't know that much about art but Evert Lundqvist I know a little bit about and Lee Lozano I have to read up on. She is a pop artist, and, if I am not mistaken, she was active in the 60:ies, the decade before many of the other artists that I know of, like Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith and so forth, but others, like Andy Warhol, were active both in the 60:ies, 70:ies and 80:ies.

OH, I just realise how much I have to read up on... (Or maybe not, it is not like I HAVE to know these things, and who was active at the same time as who, even though I think it is interesting to see how some work is inspired by other work from the same time period).

(mailblogged)

Sad

Found out today that yet another old school friend has died. Not a friend, a school friend. We were never close, but I know who he was, and I knew his brother a bit once upon a time (plus I was friends with his friends). It hits me in several ways -  but it also underlines again how important it is to enjoy life NOW, HERE, not to postpone until tomorrow or next week or next year - you have no idea where you will be next hear, you may not even be around next week, or you may live until you are 105. We just don't know. And therefore, make sure you think about the good things around you, make sure you tell those who matters to you that they do, and smile at a stranger now and  then - and don't forget to give compliments. We are so good at telling people what is bad but not very good at telling people what is good...

And take care of yourself!!!

Cheeze pleaze....

I was back in UK recently. Good idea in many ways, not least for the cheese. In April I am expecting visitors from Sweden, and yes, they have cheese on the list of things to buy too.

Sweden is one of the countries in the world where we eat most cheese per person. That isn't necessary good, we are also the biggest ketchup consumer, next to US, and ketchup is not tasty because of that, but with the cheese it is different. I dare say that we have among the best cheese in the world, and if you haven't heard about it it is just because we consume most of it ourselves, up in Sweden. We are not stupid...


In Germany, cheese is, well, not so interesting, to put it nicely. I know I have said it before but I say it again. Interestingly enough I have been in social context where German cheese was served and afterwards Germans said to me "see, we CAN make cheese". It's obvious that taste is different, and of course Germany makes cheese to suit the German taste buds. That is perfectly OK! But I don't need to like it. And luckily I have my sources for getting my need for cheese fulfilled...

Cheese to try in Sweden - and then I don't talk about the cheese you buy pre-packed in supermarket, although that may do if you are desperate (it is anyhow better than the German - sorry guys) - and remember to take the matured ones:

Prästost
Greve
Herrgård
Västerbotten

Swedish Cheddar


There are more, of course, but these are the most common and easy to find ones, and they are delicious. By the way, if you are in US you can buy some good Swedish cheese online. Don't remember the name of the company right now but  cheese loving friend of mine tried it and was very happy - and they ship all over US too...

Try the cheese on some Swedish hardbread - "Knäckebröd"... Or just as it is...

It's interesting as well, the few times I have bought cheese in the supermarket they have wanted to slice it for me? I know it happens in some other countries too, but the cheese really dries out and loses more taste when doing so. But when I ask to get it in a block they stare at me as if I was from another planet... Highly entertaining! And then they ask again in case something was lost in translation. Sweet :-)

Pre sliced cheese has only been available in Sweden for a short while, as far as I know - or possibly it has been available longer but only in areas frequented by tourists, like camping sites and their shops? Which by the way reminds me, if you are in Sweden, do as in all other countries, don't get stuck in the tourist traps, but go to the proper shops.

Mac

I love my Mac (switched my private computer a year and a half ago), but sometimes it really DOES get frustrating when I have worked a whole day on PC and come home to my Mac and the shortcuts that normally are in my fingers more than in my head disappears - I forget the key combination. Today I suspect I managed to change the settings too but since I have it in the "muscle memory" and not in the head I can't really say, it may be my fingers that are still set on PC. Hmmm.. I'll have to sleep on it.

Men who stares at goats... Yes, in English

I don't mind films with a German sound track, as long as it is the original - dubbed films I just don't get, I come from a country of subtitles. In the beginning when I moved here I would watch known films with a know dialog in German just to practice but That would be on TV so I could take a break when I got tired - I am not very good at watching TV, I must admit, it bores me.

Anyhow, in Germany all films and TV is generally dubbed (with a few exceptions) but here in Düsseldorf we have a big cinema out in Lörrick, on Hansaallee, which aways shows the original language. OV and OmU i believe the abbrevations to look out for are, original version and original mit Untertitel - original with subtitles. I am so happy that we have Cinestar, it's nice to be able to see films now and then even if I rarely go.

Problem with Cinestar at Hansaallee is however - and I understand that they have to do that for business reasons - that what they show are always the big Hollywood movies, that's basically how they can survive - that and the fact that they also have German films of course, only Original version would not work (although when it's subtitled it's always in German so you can have German speakers who doesnt speak such good english too). But smaller independant films we don't really get to see here in Germany - unless, and that's very good to know, you go to the pre premiere - because one day before the film is released "for real" the independent cinemas around town tend to have a day of original version. Yesterday I went with friends - and saw this one - Men Who Stares At Goats, with among others Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Ewan Mcgregor.

Seriously, if you want to be entertained, this is it! There is a disturbing lack of female characters, as often in Hollywood films the women has a little side role if they are shown at all, and they don't really say anything, but in this film about the army that is less disturbing. The dialogue it good,, provokes a lot of laughes (but at the same time there is an undertone of something slightly more serious) the interaction between the actors excellent and the plot is weird. This is a comedy, but no slapstick - and it is well made and, well, very entertaining indeed.

Well worth seeing, at least in English. But then again I guess there is no more chance to do so, at least not in Düsseldorf? Althogh the film WAS sold out so maybe if one Is lucky and enough people ask about it?

Anyhow - let yourself be entertained by Clooney and the rest :-)

Männer Die Auf Ziegen starren... The picture is from the foyer at the Cinema, it's a photo - my photo - of the poster itself.

(mailblogged, I'll be back later for line breaks etc.)

Dave Matthews Band

I did manage to get to the concert yesterday, Dave Matthews Band in Köln (Cologne), the concert I said yesterday I was going to. But it was a close call! Xynthia, the storm, came in over Germany yesterday. Our train to Cologne was seriously delayed, but eventually we managed to get there, and then we took a taxi to the concert hall itself. There is NO way that I would spend more than necessary time outside in weather like what we saw yesterday, I certainly don't want to have things falling on me... And then I haven't even mentioned the cold... But when we got to the concert hall we could walk straight in, which was nice.

And the concert!!! OH THE CONCERT!!! I have said it before and I say it again, this is probably one of the best live bands in the world, at least when it comes to this kind of music. I loved Soil and Pimp Sessions too, when I saw them, that was pure energy, but that is a different kind of music and a different kind of venue, much smaller (even though Dave Matthews Band played in a small arena this time, compared to what they do in US - but still a lot bigger than what Soil and Pimp Sessions had in Germany).

I was full of energy when the concert was over - this is a band that can get their audience to dance. Even the wall of stiff guys in front of us started  to move after a while, and towards the end even they were dancing. Wow!

And yes, it was a good thing that we were full of energy because getting home we needed it - turned out that all trains were cancelled due to the storm. We eventually found a taxi to take us to where we wanted to go though, but the GPS he had didn't work and there we were, three people - two that doesn't even have a drivers licence for Europe and one - me - who has sold the car and never really drove that stretch anyhow, and who also sat behind the driver where I basically couldn't see anything of the road. Our task was to try and give directions to the driver... But eventually we succeeded and we got to where we had to go, at least for those of us in Düsseldorf. The people that were going somewhere else had to stay overnight. Good to have a big enough flat...