Dutch In Denmark

2002-04-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Moving notice

Well I moved - so this is the last post here on Blog*Spot (snif). The story continues on Dutch in Denmark v2. Thanks for blog*spot to get me started in the first place.

I decided to leave my blog*spot version (DID v1) unchanged and started a new blog. I mean now I have been waiting for Google to index my pages for months, it finally did that and now I'm moving ! So not to upset Google to much, I let it be and continue in the new one. Let's see how long it takes to get that one indexed too !

Please update your bookmarks ! (as if anyone should have bookmarked this site - yeah right - ok, mom : you have to update your bookmark !)

You will be automatically transferred to
Dutch in Denmark v2 !

2002-04-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

Good old imdb.com (the internet movie database) also has launched a pay version. The end of free is near ...

2002-04-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Just received Sørens's webconnection answers today, and like to share this one already. If you think your website is bad, go to websitesthatsuck and learn how not to.

And In search of the perfect CMS is also ok to read. I'm still looking...

2002-04-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

The new domainname is working, I haven't dared to move my blogs to it yet. That will need some (mental) preparation. The new name is : www.iblog.dk

I will still use Blogger to maintain it, but I am seriously looking around to some alternatives - so I have more control myself. I currently can't run PHP on my server so GreyMatter and Moveable Type are kind of out of the question. I am following the development of BlogWorks with great interest. Seems like it's very close to what I want, and it is written in ASP, so I could change the things I don't like.

Well let's see how it turns out. At least Google is indexing my archives again, nothing was wrong, Google has just been googling with it's databases for a long time. Seems like it's getting better now.

2002-04-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

After Copenhagen, Århus (and other bigger cities in Denmark) has got their version of Metro X-press a free morning newspaper. The newspaper is distributed on train and busstations, and other points in the city where there is a lot of traffic in the morning. There really is a hard competition going on between the paid morningpapers and the new free morning papers. I like the fact that we have a free newspaper now, the quality of Metro X-press, and I got it in my hand, while biking past one of the delivery persons. I didn't even have to stop my bike ! Now that's service.

2002-04-08T04:03:00.000-07:00

Swan Picture
I'm quite satisfied with this picture of Denmark's national bird (though I have taken the picture in Holland)

2002-04-07T01:08:00.000-08:00

You can't say that Århus is a boring town. A new festivalguide has just been released, targeted at East Jutland. One good thing is that they have arranged shuttlebusses for most of the events, which means that you don't have to stay on a campingsite, if you want to visit one of the more-then-one-day events. I have tried it some times, but I think I have been getting to old to like to have my tent standing surrounded by noisy drunken people strumbling over other peoples tents at night. So - if tv-2 decides to play Skanderborg festival (one of the biggest festivals in Denmark) this year - count me in.

Biggest event in Århus is the Århus festival week - Aug. 30 - Sept. 8 2002. The final program has not been released yet.

2002-04-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

Friday Five

1. What are the first things that you do in the morning to start your day?
Bike to work, eat breakfast at work, check mail. (In the weekend I skip the bike to work part)

2. What are the last things that you do at night before going to bed?
I'll read (in bed) a bit - currently in LOTR - The two towers (which I find a bit slow..)

3. What daily routine have you recently added to your day?
Eating a bit of cornflakes before jumping on my bike to work. (very recently added)

4. What routine do you wish you get rid of?
Doing the dishes, all household routines actually.

5. What's the one thing that makes you feel like something is missing if you don't do it some point within your day?
Blogging - reading e-mail (nerded enough) - hearing music.

2002-04-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Say cheese
The European Union is very close to accepting an agreement which says that only Greece may use the name feta cheese for the typical white (cubed) cheese. Danmark is also a country that produces a lot of feta cheese, and is afraid that it will cost them a lot of effort to change to a new name, if they no longer may call there cheese feta.

If this case is going to be accepted by the European Commision, Holland is going to ask patent on the name Gouda cheese ...

2002-04-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

A nice one, we dutch people like cows :-) (via Winther)

2002-04-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

New domain is ordered
I have just ordered my new domain. I will move my Blogs away from Blog*spot as soon as I have it. The name will be published here as soon as everything is confirmed (just to be sure no one snaps it away just before my nose!).

Blog*Spot is a nice place if you start blogging, but I got a bit tired of it being down all the time.

Well I better start studying Phil Ringnalda's "Moving out of Blog*Spot"

2002-04-05T02:28:00.000-08:00

Football and Rejseholdet
Well Feijenoord (with the danish Jon Dahl Tomasson) did well against Inter Milan yesterday, or should I say Inter Milan did a good job helping Feijenoord (Feijenoord won with 1-0, but the the goal was made by Inter). It's is going to be exiting to see if Feijenoord kan make it to the next round. Dutch football definetely needs some success.

But because of this footballmatch, the last episode of Rejseholdet (my absolute favorite danish tv serie) was not send, so I still haven't seen it! It will be send on the 14th of april, at 22:45 pm. That was supposed to be the last episode, but there have been promised 2 extra episodes in 2003.

2002-04-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday : Webconnection part VI
A bit delayed, but here we are again with a new webconnection. Today it is Hayley Wakenshaw from www.bornsquishy.com She is, just like me, living in another country then her homecountry, she is english and lives in Holland.

Sit back and enjoy reading Hayley's story, it's an interesting one !

Name- birthday - Location
Hayley Wakenshaw. Plus a very boring middle name. I was born in 1974 in May in a run down town famous for its breed of dog, in Northumberland, England. Now I live in Hoorn in Holland which is a lovely town but a bit on the provincial side of boring.

Blog : bornsquishy.com

When did you start Blogging ? Why and/or how did you start Blogging ?
I started at the beginning of the year when I found myself stuck at home with a burnout. I had a fairly successful website until 1998 (http://www.kersbergen.com/flump/) and I missed doing it. I didn't really feel like doing the ascii again, but I love to write, and people seem to like reading what I manage to churn out, and Robbie my partner was always saying I should blog since I love to surf weird sites so much. So I thought I'd give it a go. I was never bothered about whether people were reading or not. I get my kicks from tinkering with words and trying to figure out HTML. Though to be honest, Robbie does most of the HTML and I just tell him where to put what and how clever he is.

What are you doing in Holland ? How did you end up there ? Do you like it ? Where in Holland ? Where do you come from ? Did you learn the language already ? What do you miss from your homecountry ? The good thing about Holland is ..?

I discovered the internet in 1996 at college, and in my first few days online, I met a Dutch guy called Robbie. He was an IRC Op then which made him very cool in my geeky eyes. I found him by chance in a channel about Amiga computers. Nope, I didn't have an amiga computer; I think I was just clicking on any old channel just to find someone to talk to. Anyway, Robbie helped me find my way around the net, and after two weeks he came over to see me in Birmingham. Without even knowing what I looked like!

After a year, when I'd finished college, it just seemed the obvious thing, that I'd move to The Netherlands and live with him, and I've been here pretty much ever since. We lived with his mum and her boyfriend for the first year, so I learned Dutch pretty quickly. I could manage on my own after the first few weeks because I was teaching myself Dutch from a book. Robbie's Mum was very sweet and helped me by speaking baby Dutch in a very loud voice to me. Actually she still does that......

I don't miss anything from England really apart from being able to order a proper cup of tea when I'm out! I love Holland - it's fabulously open minded and its laws are reasonable, it's clean, rich in all sorts of culture and the queen rides a bike. Yeah, the Dutch drive me nuts sometimes, but to be honest, after four years, I'm starting to feel more Dutch than English.

3 non-blog links that you are visiting regularly?
www.snopes.com
www.empireonline.co.uk
http://www.cruel.com/

Interests and hobbies?
I read a lot and that's about it. I'm incredibly lazy - it takes a whole lot of sitting on your bum to get this squishy.

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment? (Link?)
Lilac 6 by the Lilac Time. The Japanese special edition with a bonus disc featuring The Barenaked Ladies. My two favourite bands performing live together - CD's don't get any better than that.

What's the best music concert you've ever been to?
Oh. I really hoped I'd be able to get through this with out seeming like an obsessed groupie. Obviously not. It's the BNL concert at the Royal Albert Hall last year. Where they recorded the Lilac 6 bonus CD. BNL are more a live band than a recording band and anyone who's ever caught themselves humming one of their tunes should really try to go and see them. I guarantee you'll laugh so hard you'll come out declaring Canada the birthplace of cool.

Happiness is... ? A tub of Strawberry Cheesecake Häagen Dazs. :-)

What's the worst job you've ever done?
I worked as an accounts payable accountant for Time Warner once. My job was to pay the bills that journalists ran up. Unfortunately this meant dealing with model agencies and mobile phone companies. So I spent most of my time being bitched at or put on hold. Or both. And the rest of my time I spent entering numbers on spreadsheets. And stamping stuff and filing it. And stamping more stuff and filing it. God, how people survive more than a month in an office environment without drugs is incomprehensible to me. I'd rather clean the toilets in a working mens club every day than go back to an office job.

What job do you have now?
I work in a really cool book store in Amsterdam.

Favourite food?
A poppy seed bagel with pesto, mayo, fresh mozarella, baby plum tomatoes and ruccola.

Favourite drink? Caffeine-free Coca Cola Light. Not that easy to get in Holland unless you
want to lug around a 1.5 litre bottle everywhere.

Favourite song?
Golden Brown by The Stranglers. I was 20 before someone finally told me it was about heroin.

Favourite film?
At the minute it's still Bridget Jones'Diary.
I love films. I watch two or three each week and our DVD collection is getting out of control. I love all sorts of films, but the films I watch over and over again are popcorn movies - easy romantic comedies with likeable characters. My other favourite movie is Drop Dead Fred. Oh I know, but Rick Mayall would still make me laugh if he did nothing but recite the ingredients on a packet of soup.

Favourite actor?
Phillip Seymour
Yummy Hoffman . Although Haley Joel Osment just amazes me every time I see him, too. Ooh, but I love Edward Norton and Tom Hanks too! And I'll watch anything with Harvey Keitel in it because he is the epitome of cool. Or Kevin Spacey.

Favourite person(s)?
My mate Sarah, from Manchester, who I don't write to often enough, don't see often enough, but who is the coolest person I know. She has loads of tattoos, reads lots of very heavy books about history, rides a motor scooter, wears Doc Martens, does embroidery, and doesn't give a bugger what anyone thinks of her. I wish I was more like her!

Favourite motto? I need chocolate!

Favourite snack food? Caramel Snack-A-Jacks. Because they have 97% less guilt.

Favourite place in the world? Pathe De Munt cinema in Amsterdam. Once I get into my seat and set out my cola and popcorn I'm in my happy place.

Thanks for participating Hayley !
Coming up : Søren (Looking forward to that one too, he works at the Copenhagen tourist office and he is going to give me some good (not typical tourist ones!) tips about things to see in Copenhagen)

2002-04-04T03:28:00.000-08:00

Spring
Doesn't this look like spring to you ?

An appletree in full glory

2002-04-04T03:24:00.000-08:00

Youthhostel Århus
The local politicians in Århus are discussing if they should close the youthhostel (vandrehjem) in Århus. It would be a very bad thing if they do that. It is one of the nicest youthhostels I have stayed in, and it is probably the one having the best location - in the middle of the forest on short walkingdistance to the sea.

The youthhostel is already fully booked for most of the summer, so I how can they even think of closing it ?

2002-04-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Well if you like to stay updated on the world behind Google, this webmasters Google forum might be a good place to go. It's always comforting to know that there are others out there wondering about Google's behaviour. By the way, to actually see how strange Google sometimes behaves you can have a look at this tool where you can search on the 4 different Google servers in one time.

And I always thought there was only one Google database ! I have noticed different content in those databases more then once ...

2002-04-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Google behaviour
If someone could give me a hint on why my blog archive files never get indexed in Google - I would be really happy ! Because it really annoys me that they don't get listed in Google.

2002-04-03T05:04:00.000-08:00

Windmills - it can't be more dutch then that !
In the centre of IJsselstein they have kept the big windmill, called "Windotter", and it is fully functional. It produces flour of which some is sold to the local bakeries. It's a nice site, and so typical dutch. Through the years lots of windmills have been broken down, but now people are more aware of it and try to preserve this typical dutch tradition. I took those pictures last weekend in IJsselstein.

Windmill "Windotter" in the centre of IJsselstein

2002-04-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

I have taken some pictures during my stay in IJsselstein, my hometown. The weather was very nice, sunny and around 18 degrees. This resulted in typical dutch pictures, like this one:

Sheeps (even though coloured like cows), young and old enjoying the grass and the nice weather

2002-04-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Rejseholdet
This immense popular tv serie has send it's last episode last monday. Does anybody out there know when this episode will be resend ? On Rejseholdet's homepage it says 4th of april 2002, at 22:45 pm, but my tv-guide shows that they will send football at that time !

2002-04-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

Online again
After some days in Holland (very nice !) I returned to work oday. And after having hanging around nearly all day, waiting for the moving people, I finally have got my desk and computer. I am sitting near the window, having a great view on a kind of park, and a very big tree just outside the window. We are having our office in an old hospital now, which it totally rebuild, and it is located in a park and close to the sea. I'll be back later with a longer update and some pictures I took in Holland.

2002-03-30T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hello from Holland II
The weather has really been perfect, 2 days with sunshine all day. This brought many people outside, and there have also been a lot of traffic jams, filled with people wanting to spent the easter weekend somewhere else then at home. I visitied Utrecht yesterday (one of the bigger cities in Holland) and it was filled with people enjoying the sunshine, sitting at one of the many cafe's located near the channels and enjoying a beer or an icecream. I had dinner together with my mother in one of the cosy restaurants situated in the old storage rooms located besides the water. In the old days those rooms were used to store all kind of things, that were freighted by the ships passing through the channels. The name of the restaurant is Balkan grill Borro, and if you ever get to Utrecht I recommend you to visit it !

2002-03-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

Oh, and just like Tinka I am also looking for a webhost that is cheap and can handle Moveable type. Does anybody has some good advice here ?

I know that wannafind.dk can handle it for 69 kr. per month (ex. VAT/Moms!) and incl. 100 MB webspace.

One thing I can't really find in their documentation is how they store everything. Do they use a database, if so which one ? Is there anybody out there having experience with Moveable type ?

2002-03-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hello from Holland

Tonight I finally spotted Ikeya-Zhang on the sky. If you live in West Europe (I do not know how it is on other place on earth) , the comet is visible until the beginning of april, and I can really really recommend you to go out and have a look, it's a wonderful sight. It is difficult to spot the comet without a pair of binoculairs (especially now when the full moon is giving a lot of light). But it is really amazing to see the comet and it's tail. To find it : look a bit left and down from Mars (the bright "red" planet , easy to spot right after sundown). The comet is only visible in an hour (right after sundown), then it disappears behind the horizon again.

I had an ok trip to Holland, but I prefer to fly from Billund. No matter how much time I have between the flight from Aarhus to Copenhagen and the connecting flight to Amsterdam, it always end in me running to reach it ! Changing flights just takes a lot of time. My mother picked me up from the airport which was very nice, and there was a warm welcome from our dog, who checked every outcoming passenger to see if I already had arrived. When I finally did, he went totally crazy. Very nice to get such a warm welcome !

2002-03-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

I did have to pack my bags, do the dish, vacuumclean my appartment and clean up - this night. Did I do any of that ? No.

What did I do in stead ? I have been tweeking my tv-2 audience investigation (tv-2 lytterundersøgelse) (danish only) . A project I have started to find out if there are more tv-2 lunatics around than just myself. Conclusion : there are (pfew what a relief) ! And a lot of them are nice people that actually wanted to participate in this silly project of mine.

So cleaning up is scheduled for tomorrow, and so is last minute packing (I'm a pro at it !)

2002-03-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

Peoples comments about the speech (Which one ? Halle Berry's one!) are to be found here.

I don't know what to think, it was definetely touchy !

2002-03-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

The whole day went with packing everything in boxes, we are moving to another office, just after easter. At 10:00 am my pc was disconnected and the rest of the day consisted of removal of curtains, pictures, lamps, etc. and putting labels on everything. Tomorrow they are going to move the servers, incl. our webhotel, so hopefully that goes without too many problems (that would be nice for our customers running their website at our servers at least!)

Tomorrow is only half a day at work, I am leaving for Holland around 14:00 pm. To be honest I don't really know what I can do at the office, without a computer, and everything being packed, but let's see. The weather boradcast in Hollands seems to be very unusual for Easter, they have NOT predicted rain this time (how lucky can you be! :-) So I will probably make some bikingtrips together with my mother.

The trip to Holland will probably result in less blogging the coming days, my fysiotherapist will like that, a few days without the pc is good for my neck and shoulder problems. I'm back in Danmark on the 1st of april very late in the evening.

Wishing Daryl a good trip to Holland too !

Oh - there won't be a Wednesday webconnection tomorrow. Because of my trip to Holland, I didn't really have the time to send interviews out ! It will be back again next week !

2002-03-25T13:10:00.000-08:00

Need your help : Come up with a good name!
I have decided to move away from Blogspot in the near future and buy a new domain for my 2 blogs. Now what should it be called ? Any good ideas are very welcome, I find it a bit difficult to decide. It is going to be a .dk domain, so the name should be something like :
www.:somethinghere:.dk

2002-03-25T06:49:00.000-08:00

The weather is really nice now in Denmark, it's sunny though still a bit fresh. Lots of people are sitting outside at the different cafe's and "the Spanish stairs" - den spanske trappe (the central place to sit in Århus, near the Århus river) - was filled with people enjoying the sun, eating sandwiches and icecream. I also spotted the first tourists, they are probably spending their easter holiday here.

I just got back from a trip to my fysiotherapist, I still have problems with my neck and shoulders, and computerwork doesn't really make that better. I now have installed a program on my computer that reminds me to have a break every once and a while, and it comes with a little exercise on a specifeid interval, it's very neat and you can download it here : Trygmedpc (sorry in danish only !)

But at least that gave me a ride on my bike in this nice weather. I'm looking forward to the first day where i don't have to use my gloves.

Oh, and I bought Michael Falch's book, simply have to have it !

2002-03-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

The Oscars - very surprising
The results of the Oscars :

Denzel Washington for Training Day ? Mmm, that was one of the worst movies I have seen this year. (I think Denzel Washington is a very talented actor, but this was just not a good movie) At least A Beautiful Mind is chosen as best film, that has my full support. And Shrek won for animated feature film, which is also a right choice. Well those were the Oscars for 2001. Iam kind of glad I didn't stay up all night, I am going to see the short version tonight.

2002-03-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for the Oscars ? I am - I will try to stay up tonight, but if I don't succeed I will see the short version on danish tv tomorrow.

Here is my choice:

Best picture : A beautiful Mind

Best Actor : Russel Crow (unfortunately we haven't been able to see neither "I am Sam" (Sean Penn) nor Ali (Will Smith) . From the clips I have seen of I am Sam, I think that Sean Penn would have been one of my favourites too.

Best actress : Judy Dench I guess, but also here : we haven't been able to see 3 of the nominated films.

I hope Lord of the Rings and Shrek will win some prices too.

2002-03-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Sniff - not again

My tissue use is on a level of one package per hour right now. I thought I already had my turn of being ill for 3 weeks ago ! Feels like I am getting the flu again. Bad timing because I am going to Holland on wednesday. So I'll try to take an overdose of vitamin C - hope it works.

I was out in the city to buy a book today - but got shocked because of the price (229 kr. for a paperback!), I know I want the book but I have to mentally prepare myself to buy it for this price. Books in Denmark are expensive, especially compared to bookprices in Holland. But since this is a danish book, there are no other possibilities then buying it in Denmark. Strangely enough the prices for CD's in Denmark are the same as in Holland. I have no idea why books are so expensive here.

(The book I am talking about is Michael Falchs new book)

2002-03-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

I say Lonely Planet yesterday on television, and I am convinced that I want to visit Moscow now. Maybe in maj or june, that is if I can find a weekendtrip for a reasonable price. Anyone want to join ?

2002-03-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

Lord Of The Rings part II preview

Fans of Lord of the Rings all over the world will get the chance to see 3½ minut of coming scenes in the new LOTR movie : The Two Towers. The 3½ minute will be added as a bonus to the "LOTR: The fellowship of the ring" movie that still runs in the different cinemas all over the world, also in Denmark. This addition will be added as a natural part of the film, before the actual subtitling begins.

The actual film "LOTR : The Two towers" is having premiere in Danmark in november 2002.

I just started reading in The Two Towers, so time enough until november !

2002-03-22T01:10:00.000-08:00

The comet Comet Ikeya-Zhang is giving me quite some hits via Google. I still haven't been able to spot it though.

I am considering taking a summercourse on the European Filmschool in Ebeltoft. They have different one-week courses during the summer, an excellent way of spending your time, if you are a filmfreak like I am. Ebeltoft is located on a very nice spot in Denmark.

2002-03-22T00:49:00.000-08:00

Friday Five

1. What is your favorite time of year? I like them all, when missing one of them you would not appreciate the others !

2. What is it about your favorite season that, well, makes it your favorite season?
A winter needs to be cold with lots of snow, and the summer warm with lots of sunlight.

3. What is your least favorite time of year? February, here the winter can't really make up it's mind resulting in lots of snow and/or rain.

4. Do you do anything to celebrate or recognize the changing of seasons? Here the celabrate the longest day (the 24th of june this year) on a celabration the call St. Hans. There are lit lots of fires around the country. I believe they have similar procedures in Sweden and Norway.

5. What's your favorite thing to do outside? I like biking, walking, swimming, canoeiing, camping - well there is not much I don't like about the outdoors.

2002-03-21T03:40:00.000-08:00

I you like photography (as much as I do) visit the International pictures of the year site, and find winning pictures in all possible categories.

2002-03-21T03:33:00.000-08:00

Geeknews
A fully functional keyboard which can be projected on any surface! See it here

2002-03-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

On the rocks

An iceblock of the size of the danish island Fyn desintegrated in less then a month. Now the discussion is going on : Is it because of global warming ? On the other side there are scientist who say that it is getting colder on the southpole. I wonder who is right ?

Read more about this particular iceberg here.
You can slao find lots of interesting information on the National Snow & Ice Data centre

2002-03-21T02:50:00.000-08:00

Jævndøgn
It was jævndøgn yesterday, and that means that the we had exactly 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, all around the globe. Sometimes this "event" takes place on the 20th of march, sometimes it's on the 21nd, depending on how february (28 or 29 days) is.

It is still cold in Denmark (around 6-7 degrees) and windy but the sun is shining on a deep blue sky. If you find a place in the windshadow you can feel that the sun gets stronger. I really need the sunlight, and it will only get more the coming time. The weather in Holland is on average a few degrees warmer, I have just checked, it's 13,3 degrees in De Bilt (which is located approx. 15 km. from my hometown.)

Yesterday the employees of SAS striked, let's hope they don't do that again next wednesday, because I am flying with them to Amsterdam there.

2002-03-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

Wednesday Webconnection part V
Today's webconnection is Mark. Mark is from Canada, but he has roots in Holland. He also has one of the coolest tatoos I have seen. Mark works among other things with speech recognition applications. Something that is not too far from my job's world. We are starting to work a bit more with speech recognisition and screen reader software. The reason I picked Mark is his background and interest in Holland :-)

Name Mark Something

Birthday April 19, 1971

Location ? I live in the heart of the Northwest Rainforest in Vancouver, BC, Canada. This is a very cool website about the city. The webcams are especially cool.

Your Homepage and or Blog URL ? http://derelict.blogspot.com

When did you start Blogging ? Why and/or how did you start Blogging ?
I started blogging last August when a friend of mine started her blog. It looked like fun and I was looking for some kind of forum for my ranting and raving. I'm a bit of an exhibitionist and this is the perfect venue for me. Just means I don't have to emberass myself in public so much.

When I first started blogging I had one called Bedroom & Squalor which built up some readership, but around January of this year I got sick of the whole blog thing and I was also very disturbed by the hits I was getting from Search Engines requesting all manner of sick shit and stopped altogether. Then, about a month or so later I started to miss it and started up Derelict, slowly at first, but I'm back into it a little bit more now.

Tell me about your tattoo ? How did you came up with the idea to have this dutch(fries!) flag on your arm ?
This tattoo is my favourite because I think it means the most to me. It's the flag of Friesland which is now a province of Holland but has been it's own distinct society for 2000 years. My family on my father's side is from there.

Do you feel very connected to Holland ?
Extremely. From the time I was small it was beaten into me that, "If ya ain't Dutch, ya ain't much". heh. My entire family is very proud of our heritage. Though my parents were both born in Canada they were born in Neerlandia, Alberta and Edam, Saskatchewan, so they were very, very Dutch communities. Dutch was spoken around the house, but not so much that I learned to speak it. I had relatives that would visit from Holland, South Africa, Dutch East Indies, anywhere there was a Dutch presence in the world there seemed to be a member of our family. I loved talking to these people and learning more about the culture that I felt so seperated from, felt a bit cheated, really. And although I've still not been to Holland, I will go someday soon and who knows, maybe I'll stay.

Derelict - what's behind this name ?
When I was a kid I hung out with a group of guys, maybe five or six of us and people either called us the 'brat pack' or 'that buncha derelicts'. When I was trying to come up with a name for the new blog it was a word that just kind of came into my head and I guess I just like all the connotations of that word, negative and positive

3 blog links that you visit regulary ?
In no particular order:
Things Fall Apart
asecretsmile
Daily Sardonicism

3 non-blog links that you visit regulary ?
cnn.com
cbc.ca
bbc.co.uk

Interests and hobbies ?
Wow? Hobbies? I don't know. I work a lot. Is that a hobby? As far as interests are concerned, I like to read, I like cinema and if I lived in a place that had any worth seeing I would be into theatre more. I like to see live music, but there's not much here lately either.

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment? Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits

What's the best music concert you've ever been to?
The answer, without hesitation is Fishbone. I've seen them a few times and they are without a doubt, the best live band ever.

Happiness is... ? ...a warm gun, momma.

What's the worst job you've ever done? I threw garbage into trucks for two days once. Good lord that sucked.

What job do you have now ? Product Engineer for a company that develops vision and voice guided assistive robotics and speech recognition applications.

Favourite food? Fried breaded cheese at the Bistro Praha on Rice Howard Way in Edmonton.

Favourite drink? Crown and Coke.

Favourite song? "My Friend" by Groove Armada (today...that would change tomorrow, most likely)

Favourite film? Patton.

Favourite actor? Christopher Walken, Lawrence Fishburne or Kevin Spacey, depending on the day.

Favourite person (s)? My daughter. She's the funniest chick I know.

Favourite motto ? If at first you don't succeed, go back to bed.

Favourite snack food? Pickled herring.

Favourite place in the world? My bed.

Thanks for participating Mark !

2002-03-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

Adam Curry, the american dutchman (or is it the other way around) has started a European eqivalent of weblogs.com called euro.weblogs.com

2002-03-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

Dr. John Nash (who's life is featured in "A beatiful Mind" (oscarnominated)) is giving a tv-interview for the first time. It can be seen on CBS, read more here. This is the first time Nash has spoken out since the movie was released.

2002-03-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

In the category : Unlucky
Last saturday, an unlucky man in Århus got hit on his own weddingparty. This man was celebrating his wedding in Hotel Royal (the most expensive hotel in Århus) and some of the guests visiting his party hit him down with a metal flowerpot, he was seriously injured. Now that's a sad story, but it didn't stop here.

Today the newspaper writes that he is arrested for being a kind of a bandit : He owns 54 firms, of which 40 of them has gone bankrupt. He has to pay back 16 million danish kroner. It might be that the people hitting him on his weddingparty, are some of the people he owes money.

2002-03-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

Skynews
It is possible to see a comet at the moment, it will stay visible until around easter.

Summary: Comet Ikeya-Zhang is brightening as it approaches the Sun. On March 18th the comet will make its closest approach to our star at a distance of 0.5 AU. At the moment Ikeya-Zhang appears to be a 4th-magnitude fuzzy blob slowly gliding through the constellation Pisces. Small telescopes and binoculars will reveal a lovely tail stretching 6 degrees.

Read more here : Comet Ikeya-Zhang

And here is a map of where to find it on the sky.

2002-03-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Blogging made easy
W.Bloggar has launched it's new beta version. I have been betatester for a for a while, and it works very well. This new beta version has the great facility of automatically pinging weblogs.com. To be honest : I never ever use www.blogger.com anymore to edit my posts. It is so much easier with W.Bloggar. Another nice thing : You can preview your post before posting it. You can download the newest version of w.bloggar here. (And no I don't get paid to write all this, it's just a good product - and it is free !!)

2002-03-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Not so much blogging lately. Reasons, uhh, busy on work, we are both trying to finish a new website for braindamaged people (url comes later) and we are going to move to another office, the 1st of april, and this is not a joke ! So I can just manage to get to my desk, the room I work in is filled with boxes filled with things we probably should have thrown out anyway. Last "normal" (a day were we can be productive) working day is going to be on friday, the week after we have to pack.
2,5 day that is going to be, because on wednesday the 27th of marts I am going to Holland for a few days. I have ordered the plainticket via internet and still haven't received it, so let's hope it will come in time.

Be back on the 1st of april, and on the 2nd of april we can start unpacking boxes at our new office. The new office is located around 3 km. from her, much closer to the sea and the forest. It is located in an old hospital, which is rebuild.

2002-03-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

Shaky!
Did you know that there already have been 4 earthquakes today ? And yesterday there were 11 ! This an lots of other information about Earthquakes can be found here.

2002-03-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

The shipping news
I was very positively surprised about the shipping news! I think it is a fantastic film, with great nature scenes and a very human approach, I like that. I was a bit disappointed about "Chocolate", after a good "The Ciderhouse rules", but this Lasse Halström film was definetely worth seeing. I would give it a 8.5 out of 10. I really like Kevin Spacey, he can play all different kind of roles, from the unbelievable creepy lunatic in Se7en to this somewhat hesitating person in The Shipping News.

There was a preview from K-Pax where Spacey is playing a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations. I have to see that one too.

I also saw a preview of a new Steven Spielberg film called Minority report, interesting because it is a Spielberg film, and also because Tom Cruise is in it.

2002-03-17T04:32:00.000-08:00

Friday five on sunday - why not ?

1. What's your favorite animal? I have more then one, dogs, dolphins and whales.

2. What pets have you had in your lifetime? We have always had dogs at home, one mixed race called Sjonnie, one cocker spaniel called (Sgt.) Pepper and a mix called Boomer (he's still there!) I also have had goldfish, a hamster, a rabbit and a bird.

3. Is there any specific pet that you've wanted but never had? Why? No not really.

4. Are you allergic to any animals? No

5. Do you have any 'pet' pet peeves (your pets or others')? I don't understand this question !

Update : Desiree explained to me what a pet peeve is :
"Pet Peeves" would be little issues on any subject that drive you nuts, annoy you. So "pet" pet peeves would be annoyances to you resulting somehow from pets.
Thanks Desiree !

So - I can answer that I don't really have any pet peeves, I generally like pets. But I am more a dog person then a cat person. But a fun thing about our dog is that he likes to be interesting and wants to drink water from a glass. If you start brushing your teeth in the bathroom he looks at you, and then you know it's time to find a glass and give him some water. Yes he is very sofisticated our dog !

2002-03-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

Jamie
I am absolute not a star in the kitchen, but one of the tv-programs I simply can't zap away from is Jamie Oliver - The Naked chef (his website is not really running yet). He has a way of making food that makes everybody think - wow that looks easy, even I can do that ! And his enthusiasm is really the thing that keeps you from zapping away.

"He looks like a rockstar, talks like a streetkid and makes food like an angel" - says danish TV, and I agree. The recipes from the ones send on danish tv are to be found here (in danish!)

2002-03-15T00:20:00.000-08:00

If one of the questions in Microsofts big VS.Net promotion quiz is :

7. Jeopardy: Svaret er: VS.NET
Hvad hedder det nye politiske parti?
Hvad er det mest produktive udviklingsmiljø til dato?
Hvor kan man købe vandrør på nettet?

Why do I get the following answer when I try to post the question ? (MAJOR BOMMER!)

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e14'
There are more columns in the INSERT statement than values specified in the VALUES clause. The number of values in the VALUES clause must match the number of columns specified in the INSERT statement.
/vsdotnet/collectAnswers.asp, line 248

2002-03-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

The master in Horsens
Great performance from a man who can just as easily entertain around 200 people in a little theatre in Horsens, solo with his guitar, as 35.000 people on an outdoor concert with his band tv-2.

Steffen Brandt - A man with his guitar - Horsens

2002-03-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

I am currently taking a course in Microsofts .NET (or DOT NET) and I have to say that it looks like it makes the life of us programmers a bit easier, that's nice. I am also beta testing w.Bloggar, a very nice free Blogger client. It has just come out in a new version, with some nice new features. I don't really now when it is going to be released yet. But give it a try.

Tonight I am going to see and hear Steffen Brandt (wow this picture is probably 10 years old!), he is going to hold a solo show in Horsens. I'm looking forward to it.

2002-03-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

And as a last post for today, I like to complain a bit : about my 2 bikes again having a flat tire, about Google for not indexing my blogs, about Blogspot for being out of order nearly all day today, and for Microsoft ME for being the worst windows version ever ! Pfff that feels good !

2002-03-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

I was in the cinema and saw The Contender, a film about american politics with the so true tagline : Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot. Before the movie we got a presentation of Frank Esmann, a journalist and correspondent of Danmarks Radio (which is the danish public tv, yeah I know, why the hack do they call it radio then ...) But he gave very interesting backgroundinformation from his experiences with american politics (he has been stationed in USA a lot due to his work).

It's a good film, very well played. The story is about USA having to choose a new vice president. A woman got chosen, some people do not agree with this choice, and the digging in her past is beginning. I won't tell much more about the story, but just imagine the Clinton files. On my way back home (my 2 bikes both have a flat tire (again, and again one day after another!), so I walked home this time) I passed one of the eveningkiosks, and they have the newspaper headlines displayed on big billboards. One of them was "Girl from EyeQ involved in porn scandal". This girl is a member of the currently very popular girl band EyeQ. But what I wanted to say is : tabloid is tabloid, wether it is Århus or Washington ...

2002-03-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the downtime today, but Blogspot (the server on which my Blog is hosted) has been down all day !

2002-03-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

Wednesday -Webconnection part IV

I found Daryl (or did he found me?) because of his interest for Holland. Coincidently we are going to visit Holland in the same period at the end of march April (Around Easter), and Darryl is staying (in Utrecht) around 15 km. from the place I was born (IJsselstein). What a small world! So here's Daryl (aka TPOH.org), the man with a record number of cd-players !

Name Daryl
Date of Birth : 11 January
Location:
Nashville, Tennessee (well, close enough)
(Nashville - closest major city)
(White House - the town I live in)
Blog : TPOH.org

When did you start Blogging ? Why and/or how did you start Blogging ?
I started blogging (technically) on 24 November, 2000 - while on my first wedding anniversary. I have had six previous websites spanning back to 1995, but incarnation seven was the first one to include semi-regular journal-like updates. I guess it was a blog before I knew what a 'blog' was.

TPOH.. . What does it mean ?
'The Pursuit Of Happiness', the name of a Canadian power-pop band that I am particularly fond of. (More information here) Also, my blog chronicles - or at least I hope that it does - my own personal 'pursuit of happiness'.

I know you want to move to Holland ? Why is that ? (Asks a dutchie who has left Holland) Do you think it's better there ?
I don't know. I can't really explain it. I will actually be visiting NL in March 2002. I can probably answer this better once I've returned.

3 non-blog links that you are visiting regulary ?
http://www.filepile.org/
http://www.witchvox.com/xwrensnest.html
http://www.indymedia.org/

Interests and hobbies ?
Writing (short stories, attempting a novel), composing electronic music (I've released two full-length CDs and four EPs), blogging (of course), language study, films (usually international and independent releases), coffee-drinking.

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment?
Home stereo: Violent Femmes - "Debacle: The First Decade"
Car Stereo : Siouxie And The Banshees - "The Rapture"
Walkman : Earth Wind and Fire - "Gratitude"
CD-ROM : The Sugarcubes - "Life's Too Good"

What's the best musicconcert you've ever been to?
The Smiths, "Queen Is Dead Tour", Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa, Arizona, USA.

Happiness is... ?
The freedom to be yourself, at all times.

What's the worst job you've ever done?
Cleaning toilets in the women's room of a department store.

What job do you have now ?
Insurance-related contract-work for the government.

Favourite food? Curry stir-fry.

Favourite drink? Coffee, extra strong. I like to put the beans in the grinder until they're almost powder.

Favourite song? "I'm An Adult Now" - The Pursuit Of Happiness

Favourite film? "Hard Core Logo"

Favourite actor? Can't think of one. Favourite director would be a tie between Alfred Hitchcock and Ed Wood.

Favourite person (s)? My wife, my daughter, my friend Kris in Canada.

Favourite motto ? "I hate mottos." ;)

Favourite snack food? Ferrero Rocher. Nutella. Anything with hazelnuts in it.

Favourite place in the world? In the front seat, looking in the rear view mirror, waving goodbye to the hellish town that I live in as it fades away into the distance.

Thanks for participating Daryl !

Coming up next week : Mark !

2002-03-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

In the category unbelievable : Skyscraper hijack in Holland
A mentally-ill gunman apparently unhappy with widescreen televisions has shot himself dead in an Amsterdam office building after a seven-hour siege.

The 59-year-old psychiatric patient, armed with two guns and possibly explosives, had stormed into the Rembrandt Tower (Amsterdam) just as the working day began on Monday. At one stage he had as many as 18 people hostage on the fourth floor of the 32-storey tower, which houses several large financial firms, while 200 others remained trapped as police sought to negotiate with the man. The ordeal ended at about 1630 (1530 GMT), when the man shot himself in the head after asking police for a break in negotiations. Nobody else is reported to have been hurt.

Workers inside the building said they were initially worried when they realised it was the six-month anniversary of the 11 September attacks, given that there were a number of US companies and banks inside.

Read the whole story at BBC

2002-03-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me for a good campingsite in Århus, might as well post the answer here too. Maybe it can be of some use for others too.

The best campingsite (to my opinion) in Århus is Camping Blommehaven. It is located in the middle of the forrest, directly at the beach. And you can also rent a bikes there. The camping is located around 5 km. from the centre of Århus, and there are great bikingtracks in the area.

2002-03-11T04:09:00.000-08:00

Festivalfever in Denmark
I don't know of any other country that has so many music festivals in the summerperiod as Denmark has. If you like you can visit a festival every weekend. The most famous ones (internationally) are Roskilde festival, Midtfyns in Ringe and Skanderborg festival. Those festivals also have non-danish performers on their program. But there are a lot more festivals to visit, they mostly feature danish bands. This year I am going to visit Horsens Open Air and Rockshow in Århus.

You can find a pretty complete list of danish festivals here.

2002-03-11T04:02:00.000-08:00

Monday Five!
Due to the downtime of google, I wasn't able to post my FridayFive on friday. You get the delayed version here.

1. What makes you homesick?
Not so much, I am not really homesick that often. Maybe when you are ill and are far away from home. But I do miss "kroketten" and the real dutch "patat met" !

2. Where is "home" for you? Is it where you are living now, or somewhere else (ie: Mom & Dad's house, particular state/city)?
Home is where my computer is :-) No I have 2 homes, one in Denmark and one in Holland.

3. What makes it home for you? People? Things?
People and pets!

4. Where is the furthest you've been from home, miles-wise?
Senegal that must be, I don't now the exact number of km.

5. What are your plans for this weekend?
On saturday Bowling, and eating out in this restaurant. On sunday : no plans yet, cinema maybe ?

2002-03-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

A bit low profile Blogging
But that has several reasons. On friday Blogger was down most of the day, so not really a possibility to get something written there.
Let's have some techtalk first. On friday I also had a course in Managing MS SQL Server, always good to learn something new. I am actually considering going for MCSD (Microsoft certified Software developer) I have started reading in the examine books, but have to say that the question they are asking are a bit silly. But I will try anyway.

On Saturday I have been together with some people of my bikingclub, we went out for bowling and eating. The food was delicious, but the restaurant was too noisy. There were 2 bachelors and a wedding party going on in the restaurant (must be a popular place!) while we were eating there.I didn't participate in bowling, I have been having problems with my shoulder and neck the last few days, which is also one of the reasons why my blogging is keeping low profile right now. It's not complety ok yet, but getting better.

I was in the cinema today and saw Hearts in Atlantis, based on one Stephen King book. That probably explains the somewhat unexplained role of Anthony Hopkins, why is he disappearing at the end ? And where is he disappearing to ? There are some questions left after the film, but it as ok, a 7.5 out of 10 I would give it.

Now that was my weekend, it flies. Things to look forward to next week : percussion class tomorrow, a lecture about american politics and the movie the Contender on wednesday, and a solo show of Steffen Brandt on thursday. So a busy week, apart from work. I don't have to say that I am really looking forward to hear Steffen B. on thursday.

2002-03-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Tobias Trier pictures - now online!
I have published the rest of the Tobias Trier pictures now. I am quite satisfied with most of them. It is a bit difficult to take pictures without flash (I don't like to annoy the performer, and secondly flash takes all the coloured lighteffects away). The trick is trying not to move and hold your breath when taking the pictures. Let me know if you like them !

2002-03-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Tobias Trier in Århus
The first picture of Tobias Trier, the concert was again fantastic, lots of good music ! They are fantastic live !

2002-03-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

I better get ready for the Tobias Trier concert, it starts 45 minutes from now, but it is just around the corner. Luckily because I had a flat tire on my bike again today. I am going to take my camera, so you might get an inside report when I am back.

2002-03-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in learning more about El NIno (El Niño is a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific having important consequences for weather around the globe.) here is a good El Nino site. Did you for example know that there also is something called El Nina ?

2002-03-07T00:23:00.000-08:00

Mondrian
The Google logo lookes a bit familiair today! It is the birthday of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) the famous dutch painter who painted the famous square paintings, I think they are known al over the world. You can see a lots of his paintings here The paintings are still very popular and they fit well in a modern house these days, think about that some of them already have been painted in the 1920's!

Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray

2002-03-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

TV-2's concertlist...
is finally published. They are not going to play very many outdoor concerts this summer, that's maybe because they are working on a new album. But find the complete concertlist here

I am going to visit at least 2 of them :
Horsens Open Air - 10-11 may 2002
A 2-days festival where tv-2 plays on friday, after (among others) Saybia and Safri Duo.

Rockshow Århus - 15-june 2002
NIce with a concert in their and my hometown, it gives some extra. Also this day Saybia is one of the other bands playing.

Definetely something to look forward to (for me at least) !

2002-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Wednesday - Webconnection part III

Time for a new Webconnection. This time it is Linda from the Candle in the Window weblog. A Greymatter blog this time. Linda also comes from Canada (just like Desiree), but this is just a coincidence.

Name- birthday - Location
My name is Linda Ann Peters, my maiden name was Brink. I was born on March 24, 1963 in a very small town on Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island. Now I live with my husband and daughter in a slightly larger town not far from Calgary, Alberta. Calgary's official website is http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/

Your Homepage and or Blog URL ?
After several false starts that will remain nameless, I began "A Candle in the Window" which can be found at http://candleinthewindow.greylogs.com

When did you start Blogging ? Why and/or how did you start Blogging ?
I started blogging around October of last year. I had read an article about blogging and was intrigued by the concept. So I hunted around a bit, worked with Blogger for a while and then decided to give GreyMatter a shot.

Candle in the window - nice name. Where does it come from ?
When I was deciding on making the move to GreyMatter I was pondering various names. One day I was driving into the city, listening to the radio, and the lyrics to one of the songs contained the words "a candle in the window". It rather caught my fancy and I decided to go with it.

What is Calgary like ? I only know there have been winterolympics some time (isn't that right)?
Calgary's a really great place. It's a large city with a small town atmosphere. Located in the southwest portion of Alberta, it was indeed
home to the 1988 Winter Olympics and annually hosts the greatest outdoor show on earth, aka the Calgary Stampede (a huge rodeo and fair). About an hour's drive to the west are the Rocky Mountains. I can, in fact, see the mountains from the front step of my house.
Alberta is lucky enough to have tremendous oil and natural gas resources and as such is probably the wealthiest province in Canada.
Much of the oil & gas business is centered in Calgary itself. It's a busy city and a rapidly growing one.

3 non-blog links that you are visiting regulary?
There are non-blog links??? I'll have to check those out some time!

Interests and hobbies? Genealogy, a variety of handicrafts (knitting & crocheting in particular), and, of course, goofing off on the computer.

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment? Trisha Yearwood's "Inside Out"

What's the best musicconcert you've ever been to? Probaby Elton John in 1984.

Happiness is... ? A hot bath, a cold drink and a good book.

What's the worst job you've ever done? I was a strawberry picker at the ripe old age of 8 (after badgering my mother incessantly). I lasted a morning and turned in less than a pint of picked berries. I think I ate close to a gallon.

What job do you have now? I manage the finance department of a public agency. The pay is better but there is a decided lack of strawberries.

Favourite food? Scallops

Favourite drink? Diet Pepsi

Favourite song? Current favourite is "Not a Day Goes By" by Lonestar.

Favourite film? There are so many, and for so many reasons. But my sentimental favourite is "Gone With the Wind".

Favourite actor? I just can't stay away from Mel Gibson.

Favourite person(s)? My Uncle John. He's a bear of a man in physical size but is really just a big ole softy. He's kind and decent and I always feel better about everything and anything after I spend time with him.

Favourite motto? "The key to success is sincerity. Learn to fake that and you've got it made."

Favourite snack food? Licorice.

Favourite place in the world? Prince Edward Island.

Thanks for participating Linda ! Next wednesday : Daryl from tpoh.org

2002-03-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

Techtalk
I have been experimenting with the Blogger Api. i have succeeded in making a small asp program that reads the last 3 posts of this blog. You can see the result here. It's maybe not exactly the purpose of the Blogger Api, but it is a nice feature. The Blogger Api uses XMLRPC.

2002-03-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

This is a message for dutch speaking people only (sorry!) - but you simply have to read the new Wim de Bie weblog. It is really fun to read !

2002-03-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

When is a Blog having a birthday ? You can find it out here, and you can add your own Blog's birthday too.

2002-03-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

Now when did you last play airguitar ?

I did for a moment ago, on Saybia's The Day after tomorrow.

Tomorrow
I'll say it all tomorrow
or the day after tomorrow
I'm sure I'll tell you then

Now you are not going to believe this, but there's actually a website about how to play airguitar (it's a bit slow to load though). But what about the last time you played airguitar ? What song - what artist ?

2002-03-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

Visible Earth a searchable directory of images, visualizations and animations of the earth. Search on "Denmark" for Denmark, and netherlands for some pictures of Holland. There are some really nice pictures among them. (Thanks to my mom for the tip !)

2002-03-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Russell ...
I am still recovering from A beautiful mind, what a breathtaking movie that is !! It has been a long time since I have seen such a fantastic movie, I will give it a 10 out of 10. Russell Crow is simply fantastic, and if he doesn't win an Oscar there is something wrong. The website is definetely worth a visit too.The film is based on the true story of John Nash, he won a nobelprize in economics in 1995.

I can only say one thing : GO SEE THIS MOVIE ! And tell me if you liked it just as much.

2002-03-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

The danish music awards

It was Safri Duo that ran with 6 prices in the danish music awards 2002. Here are the main prices :

Danish album of the year : Episode II (Safri Duo)
Danish group of the year: Safri Duo
Danish female singer: Marie Frank
Danish male singerr: Thomas Helmig
New danish name of the year: Christian (his site is powered by Blogger!)
Best foreign album : Reveal (R.E.M.)
Best foreign hit : 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' (Kylie Minogue) (uhh sorry for that !)
New foreign name : Dido
Best Danish rockalbum: Saybia - Saybia (EP)
Best danish songwriter : Thomas Helmig (for 'Isityouisitme')
Best danish musicvideo: 'Vent på mig' (Peter Frödin/Jimmy Jørgensen (Angel Productions)
Danish Music Export Award: Safri Duo (for 'Episode II')

ooo

You can reread the very funny interview that the dutch Wendy van Dijk made with Safri Duo here.

PS Thomas Helmig and Marie Frank are both from Århus :-)

2002-03-02T03:50:00.000-08:00

My pictures of the pig monument in Århus have now been published on Mark's russian website. There is a new special section about Pigs monuments and the Århus pigs pictures can be seen here.

No I can't read any of the russian text either, but I really like the idea of having helped someone that I don't know at all. The internet is a great thing !

2002-03-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is no longer possible to ignore (thanks to P3 who just played it in the radio again), I have to buy Saybia - The Second you sleep today ! So I'm off to the recordstore ...

2002-03-01T00:55:00.000-08:00

Fridayfive

Everytime I write those FridayFive I think - wow is it friday again ? Time is flying fast, before you now it march. The last snow is melting away in Århus, and februari has been the most wet month in a long time. The rivers have become wider because of all the melting snow and the rain, and in the north of Denmark this has resolved in rivers floading over. I wonder what march will bring, right now the sun is shining, so that's a good start.

Here are the 5:

1. What's your favorite vacation spot? Wow, that's difficult. I have been to the north of Europe most of the times, Iceland is really really beautiful.

2. Where do you consider to be the biggest hell-hole on earth? Haven't been there yet, though Cairo city comes close.

3. What would be your dream vacation? It has to be a combination of seeing something and the possibility to relax. After spending many holidays in the north of Europe, I appreciate some sunshine and a bit higher temperature. The beach in Banjul (Gambia) wasn't that bad to start with ! But on my to-see list are Australia, New Zealand but also Greenland.

4. If you could go on a road-trip with anyone, who would it be and why? I have no idea. I have to meet that person first.

5. What are your plans for this weekend? Not so much plans this time. I am going to see "A beautiful mind" (with Russel Crowe) for sure though.

2002-02-28T12:51:00.000-08:00

Webconnection part II

After Part I it is time for the second webconnection. Maybe it should be a fixed item on thursdays. The second Webconnection is Desiree. She is one of the persons who is writing the most comments on my website, and that's nice. And it is amazing how she has time for writing her own blog, raising her children, have a job and commenting other peoples blogs. Now you have the possibility to get to know here a bit more.

Name : Desiree Shaw
Birthday : April 9, 1964
Location : Northern Alberta, Canada, Fort McMurray
Desiree has an homepage and is writing her Talkwithme blog

When did you start Blogging ? Why and/or how did you start Blogging ?
Sept 19, 2001 - so I am a newbie yet, but feel like I am finding my "niche"... wish I had more time for it!! I started when a friend introduced me to the blogging world... she had recently been introduced and figured due to the webpage interest I'd probably like an easy way to gab and publish my thoughts... or whatever!

How can you find the time to maintain your Blog while raising your children (how many do you have) ?
I have 3 children and I do my bulk of blog reading and blogging in the evenings after they are in bed, I take peeks sometimes during the day if I can, but I mostly reserve it for my evening entertainment while husband is watching tv. I have pretty much quit watching tv in favor of the web... it fascinates me! I guess I like the interactive aspect.

I saw that you are a runner, and training for another ½ marathon. Respect ! Are you training for a whole marathon in the end, and how many of those half marathons have you already run ?
I am indeed a runner... finally something athletic, later in life than it should have been, but it has happened! I am training for a half only this year (oh... I may do one, two or three) but I have no intentions of a full, I did one last year and it is brutally hard on ones bod. (with a pre-existing cardiac problem it really is inadvisable for me to run full marathons... the cardiologist did not support my decision to do it last year, so I will not push my luck again.) I have to date completed 4 half marathons and one full marathon. I am not a fast runner... I don't want to lead anyone to believe that, but I try to be a distance runner.

Interests and hobbies
You have already covered these Ingrid... they are web-logging and reading weblogs (oh and some chat, some gamesite activity, and surfing on the web), and running. Aside from that my "job" of house manager and mom and wife keeps me busy!

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment?
Currently I have nothing playing, I love music, but after the noise of the kids all day it is often music to my ears to hear nothing but the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard, the hum of the fan in the pc and the intermittant sound of the furnace kicking in. I did have a cd in the cd player (not placed there by me!) and it is "Sharon Lois & Bram - Skinnamarink TV"

What's the best musicconcert you've ever been to?
Hmm... Dr Hook... back when I was a teen in Lethbridge, Alberta I saw them perform... Loved the music and still do.
Happiness is... ? Having spontaneous good times with the hubby and kids.

What's the worst job you've ever done? oh... for sure that is Chambermaid-ing in a hotel in Lethbridge back when I was a teen... Ugh... it is no fun to change sheets, clean tubs and toilets.... especially of strangers!! -- it can be VERY disgusting at times!!

What job do you have now ?
I am technically still employed by the local hospital as an RN... though not available to work. My actual current job is Stay at home mom, or house-manager, Mom & Wife (a multi-faceted role)

Favourite food? oh... good one, I love many foods... coming to mind now is Perogies (Peroghy) with Bacon and onion and sour cream!! Oh... and pass the cabbage rolls too!

Favourite drink? Water, truly it is, and I must thank Weight Watchers for that positive change in me!

Favourite song? So many to pick from... Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers... that was our first dance song at our wedding.

Favourite film? Beaches... with Bette Midler , Barbara Hershy and John Heard

Favourite actor? Hmmm... Michael J Fox

Favourite person? oh... I have several... narrowing to one... my hubby. (you know my kids are very up there too!!)... and some other close friends... but you only want one.

Favourite motto ? I have never put much thought into that, but I like this: "He who laughs last, thinks slowest."

Favourite snack food? LOL... ALL! Guess I go for Carbs mostly. *ewwww.... bad girl!*

Favourite place in the world?
Wherever I am not! LOL... want to travel and see more, of the world, England, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Africa... Japan, Denmark... most of the places foreign to me seem intriguing! (I am not keen on Afghanistan... go figure?!) ----------but of all the places I have been I like Maui, oh what a dreamy place to be in Late January (that is the time of year we went when we did go.)!

Thanks to Desiree for participating !

2002-02-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

Århus citymuseum
It was the weather that forced me in to this small cosy museum in Århus : Århus Citymuseum. After taking pictures of the pigs, it started snowing on my way home, so I decided to hide in this museum in stead. The entrance to museum is free, and you can learn about the history of Århus all the way back to the viking times : Århus was founded over 1,000 years ago as a Viking settlement at the mouth of the river. The town first began developing in approximately 1900, when industrial growth attracted rural populations into the town. The population of Århus has almost doubled since 1935 and is still growing, although rather more slowly than in recent decades.

2002-02-27T06:37:00.000-08:00

It's a man's world

I was attending this Microsoft seminar today in Århus. I think there were around a few hundred people, and I guess that the percentage of women was around 2 ! It's strange, it doesn't seem to change, it has been like this since I started working with computers for 15 years (shocking!) ago. Why are women not interested in those kind of jobs ? Or don't they get the chance maybe ? I don't know, it doesn't bother me, but it's strange.

The seminar was actually interesting. [Techtalk] It was the official launch of Microsoft .Net in Denmark, and there was a lot of interesting information to get. I don't know how soon we are going to implement it, but it is always good to learn something new.

2002-02-26T10:04:00.000-08:00

After readings lots of Blogs from Copenhagen Bloggers I finally found another Blogger in Århus ! PeterWrites writes from Århus, and where there is one (or better two) there have to be more. A funny coincedence is that he does nearly the same work as I do, and the company he's working for (Danish center for accessability ) is a former sister department of the company I work for (Netjob). At the 1st of april we are actually going to be neighbours because our company is moving to a new office in the same area as where his work is located. Both companies are focussing on the handicap world.
Anyway, are there any other Århus Bloggers ? Let me know !

2002-02-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

So how well do you think you know me ? Prove it here (via Tinka)

This is actually a nice twist, because with my little project "Webconnections" I am coming after you ! I already interviewed Mark, and Desiree is coming up. Webconnections are people who are connected to my websites in one way or the other. And hey - I'll find you !

2002-02-26T03:06:00.000-08:00

I am currently working on a project developing software that is going to be used by deaf and or blind people. That's really a whole new world for me, and you have to change your way of developing a bit. Programs have to be even more easily structured and consequent all the way (use the same function keys all over etc.)

There are some helping programs supporting deaf/blind people. There is screenreader software (fx. jaws) that you can install on your pc so it will speak up the things that are shown on your sceen and telling you were you are. There are also braille readers available, these are connected to a pc, and translate a line from your screen to a line of braille so it can be read that way. In that way it is no problem to use programs like Outlook or Internet Explorer (though not all websites are suitable to be read that way).

If you like to know more, here are some links:
More about braille
Jaws screen reader for windows
Braille displays

And if you like quizzing, guess what's standing here :

2002-02-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

More great CSS layouts (via Tinka) - I really need to learn more about CSS soon ! The same goes for XML by the way.

2002-02-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Both Saybia and JupiterDay's video were featured in MTV Europe's program Up North Danish music is having blast, you can see and hear both the musicvideo's here.

2002-02-25T05:03:00.000-08:00

I started a danish Blog too. I felt the need to write in danish sometimes, to practise my danish, but also to write about things that maybe are not that interesting when you are not in Denmark. So tv2blog is born, ofcourse inspired by tv-2. It won't be all tv-2 there though, and it will not be updated as often as this blog either. But now it's there, let's see if it survives.

2002-02-25T04:36:00.000-08:00

Under "nyheder" (news) on Tina Dickow's homepage you can find a link to the pictures I took of her concert in Train in december 2001. That's quite cool that they link to me! At this Tina Dickow concert there was a guestappearance of Steffen Brandt.

Tina Dickow is a quite succesfull singer from Århus, she sings in english, and you can hear some of here songs on her homepage.

Links:
Steffen Brandt & Tina Dickow pictures
Tina Dickow's homepage (in danish)

2002-02-25T02:17:00.000-08:00

What's in a name
Denmark statistics has publishes information about names in Denmark. Here is some info:

Top 10 names for men (in Denmark in 2001):
Jens (59417 persons), Peter, Hans, Lars, Niels, Jørgen, Michael, Søren, Henrik, Thomas (41655 persons)

Top 10 names for women:
Kirsten (51219 persons), Anne, Hanne, Anna, Mette, Karen, Helle, Inge, Inger, Susanne (33106 persons)

For last names, Jensen is the absolute number 1. 312396 do have Jensen as a lastname in Denmark. Number 2 is Nielsen with 304509, and 3rd is Hansen with 255892. As you can see many lastnames in Denmark end on -sen, which is short for "son of".

A last one : 12162 women in Denmark are called Ingrid, so that's not so original either ...

2002-02-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

So - who is going to give me the next photo assignment ? I'm ready !

2002-02-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Pigs mission accompished ...
The weather was nice today so I went out to take the promised pictures of the pigs statue in Århus for Mark in Moscow. Even though the statue is marked Ceres brønden (Ceres well) the statue is normally called Grisebrønden (Pig well). It is made of bronze in 1941 by the danish artist Mogens Bøggild (1901-1987).
You can see the rest of the Pig pictures I took here. I hope Mark is satisfied !

It's actually a very nice and funny statue seeing the small pigs crawling up and down their mother pig.

Funny fact : In the summertime this little pig is actually peeing :-) But I think they have close the waterpipe to it, because of the wintertime.

2002-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Guestbook and comment section have got the same look and feel as the rest of the site now. Time for bed !

2002-02-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

Webconnection Part I
Here is part I of Webconnection, a new feature that will return more often in this blog. A Webconnection is someone that connected to me via the web, it can either be via an email, or just by linking to my blog. As written before I got contacted by Mark from Russia about the Pigs statue in Århus. I will send him this picture as soon as I have taken it, but I took the possibility to ask him some questions. I also asked Mark why he was so interested in pigs. His answer : I'm working in weekly newspaper. But my job and my life have no connections with pigs :-)) It is like hobby. I like pork very much and decided to collect information about pigs and pork.

So here is Mark :

Name : Mark Sartan
Birthday : 24 Oct 1960
Location : Moscow, Russia (www.moscowcity.com, www.moscow-guide.ru)
The pigs Homepage: http://posidelkino.ru/pigsty/entry.htm

Interests and hobbies :Books, travelling

What's in your CD player(s) at the moment?
Australian aboriginal music
Les Ogres de Barback (France)
Boris Kovac. The Last Balkan Tango (Yugoslavia)
I like classic rock: Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Jethro
Tull and so on

What's the best musicconcert you've ever been to? Pink Floyd in Moscow

Happiness is... ? ... to be understood

What's the worst job you've ever done? to wash the dishes

What job do you have now ? newapaper's editor

Favourite food? pork :-)))

Favourite drink? beer

Favourite song? Since I've been loving you (Led Zeppelin)

Favourite film? It is difficult. A lot of them.

Favourite actor? The same difficulties.

Favourite person? My daughters

Favourite motto ? Noli me tangere

Favourite snack food? Royal cheesburger

Favourite place in the world?My home and Paris

2002-02-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

He is as cool as the ice he is skating on, Jochem Uytdehaage wins gold medal on the 10.000 meter skating, that makes 2 gold and 1 silver for him. Gianni Romme ended number 2, winning a silver medal on this distance. I don't know how they do it, but the dutch seems to be able to open a new can of skatingtalents for every new olympics.

THE DUTCHMAN BECAME the first man ever to break the 13-minute barrier, skating 12 minutes, 58.92 in the grueling 25-lap race. Uytdehaage lowered the mark of 13:03.40 set by countryman Gianni Romme in November 2000 in the Netherlands. Uytdehaage has already won two medals in the Salt Lake City Games. He set a world record in winning the 5,000 on Feb. 9. He earned silver in the 1,500 on Feb. 19.
(Source MSNBC)

2002-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Tvind scandal is filling most of the news in Denmark at the moment, you can read a lot about TVIND, who they are and what they do on the website TvindAlert.

2002-02-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

OK, after my desk top you can also see my desktop ! Desiree has started a project showing desktops, mine is here. Does anybody recognize this man on the picture ?

2002-02-22T00:44:00.000-08:00

Friday Five
Not a good subject because I am not so much into birthdays (at least not in my own).

1. Hey, baby, what's your sign? Do you think it fits you pretty well?
Virgo, and I have no idea if it fits me. Does it ?

2. What's the worst birthday gift you've ever received?
I don't know. I know myself how difficult it is to buy something original to a birthday, so I assume people tried when buying something for me. Respect for that, and that means no bad birthday gifts.

3. What's the best birthday gift you've ever received?
A ticket to unlimited ice-eating.

4. What's the best way you've celebrated your birthday thus far?
That still has to come ... maybe I give a party this year ?

5. What are your plans for this weekend?
I am going to see Oceans 11 tomorrow together with a friend, and I am going to play pool on sunday, together with some other friends.

2002-02-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Some germans do have humour! Check out this
ihr seid nicht dabei (You are not going to there) website (in german only). This german website is about Holland not going to the worldchampionships (football that is) and Germany is of course going. I really had a laugh ! Try the Shoot-a-dutchman game where you have to shoot players of the dutch team with haring, wooden shoes and eggs!

Dutch In Denmark

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