For your mp3 collection, part 8

It's my GO-card wall.

I'm back in Trekroner, buying time as I put together my recollections of Brussels. Patience, guys!

Asobi Seksu:"Walk On The Moon"-clear vocals on fuzz

The Brindley Brothers:"Rise Above"-the pounding beat

David & the Citizens:"Let's Not Fall Apart"-Swedish pop

Deastro the Dawntreader:"Green Harbor"-in a word: thick

Die Romantik:"Narcissist's Waltz"-don't listen to him

Elk City:"Cherries in the Snow"-Ooh la la

Georgie James:"Cake Parade"Jewel crossed with Feist?

Jesse Harris:"I Don't Mind"-as bare as tell-alls go

Matt Pond PA:"If You Live"-love the strings

Savath & Savalas: "Era Tu"-through ethereal mists

Swati:"Blackjack"-interesting story

Deadline day!

Pardon me, I have a deadline! Here's all I can tell you: it's all Greek (and Latvian) to us. This is me with my roommate Santa (yes, as in Claus) with our European Parliament shirts, which read: "My ideas don't shrink in the wash." Woozy from lack of sleep, haha!

Bienvenue à Bruxelles!

Blogging outside the Press Room of the European Commission in Brussels, thinking about how curious this situation is.

Since I arrived the other day, it's been exhilarating for me to be seeing as much as I could for the first 24 hours, then joining the participants of the European Youth Media Days yesterday.

I'll save the touristic blabber for next week. For now, I'll be working. Join us at blogger@youthmediadays.

When Asian Americans burst into song

Taking place in the suburban town of Colma, where the dead outnumber the living 1500 to 1, Colma: The Musical weaves the music of H.P. Mendoza into a fresh and personal look at the ups and downs of early adulthood.

Looks like a little film that could. Hope I get to see it.

[via The Nepales Report]

European Youth Media in focus

Brussels, here I come!

The 270 participants for the European Youth Media Days have been selected. Among more than 2.500 applications, the most creative and qualified are being rewarded and will join the event. The people chosen will have the chance to go to Brussels to meet the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, the chairmen of the political groups in the European Parliament and other top politicians, journalists and experts. Together they will create media products supported by experts in TV, radio, newspapers and online media. The European Youth Media Days are an event hosted and organised by the European Parliament together with the European Youth Press.

By virtue of residence, I was considered eligible to attend the European Youth Media Days in the European capital. With a little luck, much persistence and a good deal of creative thinking, I passed the application process.

Flying off to the capital of Belgium (and of Europe) tomorrow. More on EYMD in the coming days.

The wisdom of the suitcase

Obviously somebody was inspired by the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Royal Caribbean asks, what is your vacation personality? Check the Vacation Fun-a-lyser. Sammy the Hungry Suitcase says Europe is for me. I'm in the right place, then.

[via Adverblog]

Will be doing a lot of traveling in the coming month. Finalizing arrangements for the Eurotrip with Indi. Stay tuned!

Midsummer fest, part 2

Click to start slide show

There were no buses to Lejre Research Center, so it was a good thing Selin was with us, as she was familiar with the area. We walked through four kilometers of slugs and baby frogs before we got there an hour later.

The longest day of the year has already come and gone but summer solstice was celebrated just yesterday. The other night was Sankt Hans aften or Saint John's Eve. From Wikipedia, in Denmark:

It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.

It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings, by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.). In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witchburnings from 1540 to 1693 (but unofficially a witch was lynched as late as 1897). This burning sends the witch to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day.

Holger Drachmann and P.E. Lange-Müller wrote a beautiful midsommervise (Midsummer hymn) in 1885 called "Vi elsker vort land..." ("We Love Our Land") that is sung at every bonfire on this evening.

The festivities were in Danish, so I could not understand what the woman performing was saying (something about an apple?). For an old tradition, you would think they would have already mastered the art of lighting huge bonfires, but no. It took a while for the wood to go ablaze.

As it was 1030pm and getting dark, we did what would have been unthinkable had Flora not been around: we hitchhiked to the station. We went into separate cars. It was a bit scary, but as there were four of us together, we were ok.

I slipped out of the train almost 1130pm (the rest went to Copenhagen) to catch up with Hao, who prepared dinner. We went singing aided largely by YouTube. Hung out outside the Blue Tower for a little chat before finally calling it a day.

Midsummer fest, part 1

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An early, muddy start: walking to the post office in the drizzle. The last time I went there, it was still winter and I had to maneuver the sidewalks thick with snow carefully.

By 1pm, the sky had cleared, and we made our way to Valby for the tour of Carlsberg Brewery.

Being no beer fan, I only had half a glass of honey ale (enough to make my face and neck red already) and a glass of cola, some chips, a piece of bread and a bite off a banana. For the student price of 25 kr (~P209), the tour (though not authentic) includes two beers--good value for money. There were even a number of repeat visitors among us.

It rained again when I headed with Mark and Simon S. for Frederiksberg while thinking of showtunes. We had spaghetti at Irene's place before taking the train to Lejre.

Backtrack: Dyrehaven

Click on the image to start slide show.

Irene entrusted me with her camera (an IXUS 50), so that kept me occupied in Klampenborg.

We who survived Danish class

Since most of us don't really need the credits, the drop-out rate was very high. For Module 1, I'd say more than 70% of those who attended at least thrice didn't finish the course. But we made it through and got our certificates. Now what do I do with an A1 level in Danish?

Heroes from a small planet

Click to view Frontline World on PBS

Social entrepreneurs are people like you and me who are living their dream of a better world.
[via How to Change the World]

The past 48 hours

A look at the last couple of days, with Flickr photos to make up for the lack of images.

Doctor's office: Something involving the doctor fishing out something from my back with a needle. A long and funny (eww-spiring) story

Roskilde Bibliotek: Of all the things I could borrow, it had to be books on London. Raket! Their "English for all" campaign is a riot! Funny signs putting together famous sayings. "If all else fails, read the manual."
photo by engelskforalle

Netto: But of course! A girl has to eat.

Amalienborg: The home of Danish monarch. On display at "The Chronological Collections of the Danish Kings" were the rooms as the king had left them and the dresses of female royalty.
photo by Morten Mitchell Larød

Marmorkirken: If that dome looks too much like St. Peter's, it's true-that's the inspiration. The Frederikskirke, aka the Marble Church, looks out of place in Copenhagen.

Kunstindustrimuseet: The Danish Museum of Art and Design has a lot of porcelain and chairs. I wanted to protest when I saw that a bag made of Big 250 and Plus! King Size wrappers were marked as coming from Africa. Noooooooooooo!
photo by ines_na_dinamarca

Den Grønne Kælder: Celebration dinner with my groupmates at a vegetarian restaurant near Kongens Nytorv. We had been planning to go for a long time now, but we were politely turned away last time because they had run out of food. My most expensive meal so far in Denmark, but very filling.

Tivoli: With a few hours to spare, I explored the corners of the park that I didn't see last time and rested my feet while waiting for musicians who never came. (No Friday shows.)
photo by me (taken in March)



Stats
Post offices visited for various errands: three (four if you include this morning)

Friendly Filipinos met at Tivoli: eight, all between the ages of 50 and 90. A group of US-based siblings and their spouses account for seven; a woman married to a Dane and here since '61 is the other.

Ice cream flavors tasted: four - two at Tivoli (nocciola, cafe latte), two at Paradis (fløde karamel, hazelnut) Brown tastebuds, eh?

Kids at heart

Kids for all of three hours. That's how I would describe myself, Jörg, Jiří and Viktorija last Wednesday, when we went to the Eksperimentarum in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen, also by S-train.

We competed with schoolkids, but, as Indi would say, what the hey. We had fun.

Funny-scary-embarrassing moment: me screaming in the balance shell because I was unable to make the chair stop spinning me around. Got so, so dizzy. Viktorija, I owe you my life. Priceless moment: Jörg and Jiří climbing up a wooden ramp like overgrown little boys. If I ever have twin boys, you know who I'm naming them after (even if the accents on the letters are tricky, ahahaha!).

We walked along the waterfront until we found a small sailing ship and two giant Tuborg bottles off the shore. Back along Tuborg Boulevard, we pondered on the new developments in the area: posh flats and sleek office buildings. Think gated communities without the gates.

Afterwards, it was only a bus ride to Rådhuspladsen, where models of the imagined Copenhagen of the future were on display. It's helpful to see visions and possibilities for built-up old cities. There's always room for improvement, even in crowded areas. *Cough*Metro Manila*Cough*

Breezed through Thorvaldsens Museum. On my own, I passed by Christiansborg Palace and the old stock exchange, walked through the Det Kongelige Biblioteks Have (The Royal Library Garden) before having a sandwich at Den Sorte Diamant (The Black Diamond). At that point, fatigue crept over me, so I made my way out of Copenhagen as fast as I could.

Taming the sea snail

From Forbes.com

Poison Pill
Dennis Posadas

Venom from sea snails is used to treat chronic pain and may soon yield new drugs for Parkinson's and other brain disorders.

As a boy in his native Philippines, Baldomero Olivera spent countless hours scouring for seashells on the beach. Once he'd made his finds, he'd rush home and pore over marine-life books to identify his treasures. He was particularly intrigued with cone snails, beautiful but deadly sea snails that kill their prey with venom. Thirty years later Olivera's fascination with cone snails would open a new pipeline of drugs for discovery.

Read more

After the exam

To celebrate a successful exam, I went with Irene and Mike (talk about third wheel!) to Dyrehaven in Klampenborg by S-train from Copenhagen.

We made a pit stop at Statoil to buy some food, passed by Bakken and took a long route to the Eremitageslot, named so because it is all alone like a hermit. Plenty of deer with majestic antlers roaming freely in the plain.

A 300-year-old tree. A group of seniors running. A man walking his baby while running. A man walking his dog while running. A man biking while walking his dog. Multi-tasking men. Hmm.

We played frisbee near the beach but never walked on the sand. A great way to catch some sun and stretch some muscles.

Our path in red:

Homesick for Pinoy radio

Nope, not your regular radio stations. (Them you can find here.)
OPM Radio is indie, philradio.com is not. Take your pick.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Borrowed Flora's DVD of the 2003 movie about Vermeer (though fictional). It's simple, with lovely lighting and an opening worthy of Babette's Feast.

I can't ask for more from Scarlett Johansson's performance. I've always liked her as an actress. (Her Danish father accounts for that last name.) Colin Firth is his usual brooding self. Cillian Murphy's wig makes me laugh. Regardless of how covered-up in fake facial hair Tom Wilkinson is, I will always remember him in The Full Monty.

What has the media done to us?

Are we all just producers and spectators now? In a way, yes. Let's not forget to act!

[via Media@LSE Group Weblog]

Did I just almost forget to blog? No! I dated the post below incorrectly. Long stor(ies) to come.

Women in IT

These GO-CARDs (free postcard) caught my eye. The second image is what I first saw on the postcard, which I find more eye-catching. Looks like RUC IT is targeting women for the PhD program.

What is interesting is that all four women are not from pure IT backgrounds. Somewhere along the way, they've been studying another discipline. I think this is an important point. Education reflects the need for multiple skills in an increasingly interdisciplinary world. (Ooh, I'm repeating my exam here.)

Good Copy Bad Copy

A recent Danish documentary on copyright and culture.

[via BoingBoing]