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| Skottustelpa, The Continuing Saga Welcome to Skottustelpa's page of fun and games. Skottustelpa is amazing, beautiful and incredibly talented. Everyone loves Skottustelpa. Go, Skottustelpa, go! |
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Friday, February 24, 2006 Rugbrod, or Rye bread, is a big part of Danish culture.  Danes are feeding this bread to their kids as soon as they can handle solids. Foreigners don't always get this obsession with the heavy bread (famous in Iceland as the bread that makes you fart) and often get accused of being bad parents because there is no rye bread in their kids lunch box. Chances are I am goning to be one of those parents. The official reccommendation looks something like this:   This is what we know is best for kids (and grown ups). If you moved in from LA and put tons of fresh fruit and weggies in your kids lunch box the kindergarten teachers still can be caught shaking their heads and whispering between themselves: "His mother never gives him rye bread ... " in a tone that can't be misinterpreted. Rye bread is also a part of almost all of their national dishes. At least the ones you eat at lunch. You eat your bread with a knife and fork. No stuffing this in your face lifting it from the plate with your hands. And I remember telling you, way back, about all the rules on how to eat this. Certain things go together and that is that. Mayo and shrimp. Livermoose and beet root. Don't be messing with that shit, like putting shrimp and beet root together. Whatever. I am intigrated (intigrated being a favorite word in DK now, all foreigners are to be intigrated) and I eat rye if it is freshly baked. And there we get to the point of this blog. I am hungry. I bought pre-baked rye bread and am baking it now. In a moment I'll be eating yummy fresh baked rye bread with loads of butter. posted by Skotta | 12:40 PM | Got a life. We were invited to a summer house out in the country. The nice thing about Denmark is that it is small. Out in the country is only an hours drive. Out in the country is about the same in Iceland but that is not because Iceland is small. It is because Iceland is quite desserted. The place we visited is one of the loveliest places on earth. It reminded me of upstate New York. Except the houses were smaller than peoples pool houses in NY. And although it was in the woods, it was also by the beach. We ate good, slept good. Took a walk in the beautiful nature and then had a cup of tea. Drove home. Lovely, refreshing, relaxing and recharging, in just about our favorite company. Man, it is lovely to hang out with people who are relaxed and down to earth. No bullshit people. I am so blessed with having quite a few in my life today. Carpe diem people. One of the fun things of this trip was playing a lot of LP's. There was an old record player in the house and our hosts had been shopping old vinyl. Among the evenings repertoire were: Kenny Rogers Roger Whittaker Julio Inglesias Olivia Newton John And some excellent old Danish music dating mostly from the 80's and back to the 60's. AB surprised me with some in-depth knowledge on Roger Whitaker. He just dished out info on the guy, like: "Did you know about the accident his parents had?" "Why, did they die?" we asked. "Came close" AB answered. And some background info on songs and lyrics. Like on how one of Rogers biggest hits was written by a guy who worked as an accountant or something and had sent the song into a competition on TV. The guy couldn't sing and didn't have anyone to perform it so the TV called Roger and asked him if he'd do it. It ended up becoming Rogers biggest seller and the accountant hasn't worked a day since. It really blew me away that my man had so much detail about Roger. Like they were old friends. It's like suddenly discovering that your man has a secret life as a Roger Whitaker fan. Meanwhile, Roger is to me a man my mother had on LP's in the old days and I saw on Germany TV a decade later frequenting schlager shows as a special guest. Turns out that back in the days AB worked on a documentary on the guy.  This is what I love about AB's profession. He knows a little bit about everything under the sun. Or a lot. Not expertize but knowledge due to interest. Like aerodynamics. I catagorize his knowledge on his friend Roger with his Soda Stream machine. Both things I adore that he has. If you google Roger Whitaker you get quite a few pics of the guy. On the other hand, if you google Roger Whitaker Schlager then you get pics of quite a few German albums with his name spelled with two t's. (If you google the word schlager alone you get some fun stuff). I have to admit that now I am in doubt if the man I saw on German TV is the same as AB did the documentary about. The look the same. I remember that they sung the same. Maybe the guy got into numerology in his later years? I'll ask AB. posted by Skotta | 6:42 AM | Wednesday, February 22, 2006 I have to add this ... I checked the same message board today. It seems that my message from yesterday has sparked a discussion in a new post on the board. Very positive, it seems that most women embrace their differences. The general ruling is that we all seem to have different preferences. Meanwhile, I am returning to my attempts to refrain from posting on those boards. I actually don't think I will visit them anymore but try to cure my boredom by other means. This is only a world I am getting temporarily sucked into while pregnant. I never visited before and I doubt that these boards will interest me after giving birth. Nuff said on the topic. posted by Skotta | 2:28 PM | The Diary Of A Pregnant Housegirlfriend, Part One Thousand. Or, "Women don't rule the world. Know why? Because women hate women!!!!!" ... says Chris Rock in one of his stand up shows. It didn't make me smile but today it gave me food for thought. Saying as I was so good going out on Monday I decided I could have a day in yesterday. As I am expecting, there are things to be done so my living room looks like a Chinese Laundry at the moment. The baby's things are all washed, so are all grown up clothes, towels and sheets in the house. Very good housegirlfriend. While waiting for the machines yesterday I entertained myself on the web. Yeah, I know, not really a surprise. There is a lot of entertainment on the internet and I have told you before that I have enjoyed visiting pregnant ladies message boards across the world. This I did yesterday. I have tried to refrain from putting messages on those boards or participating in discussions, mostly due to the fact that I very often find the cultures I visit on those web-pages not so stable. This might be depending on who is commenting on that page at the time, age group, education, need for control and power, love or fear, hormones ... yes, all those things that control your average society of any kind. What ever it is, the discussions are often on a very low intellectual level (can happen in all three countries I visit) and can get surprisingly vicious. As I said, there is also love on those message boards, and the support women give each other can be touching at times. I got amazing respons on the American message board I visit, when I asked if there was anyone out there who had fibroids like me. I got a lot of good experience shared that gave me some stuff to ask the doctor about. But lets go back to yesterday. I know I am venting here but all my readers know by now that I don't write what I think might interest them. I write about what I find interesting and things I need to get off my chest. Intellectual pages written by more litterary people can be visited elsewhere. Anyways, I "fell in" and posted a link I thought might interest some of the other women. I got this link sent from a friend in the US and in my heart I was sharing it with the same love it was shared with me. The link lead to a page that shows something that can help women during labour. In my message with the link, I wrote to the other prego ladies that I didn't know if it helped or not, knew that it had been a great help to those I knew of, and that I was thinking of getting a pair to take with me to the hospital while I didn't know if I'd use it or not when it came to action. I got the harshest response. I was so surprised. I assumed that other pregnant women would find this link interesting and maybe even useful info on what was out there in the world. As it was just a link, I wasn't really asking for an opinion, nor was it a suggestion. In my happy state of mind (probably the result of all the smiles I get from strangers on the street these days) I didn't expect my message to become something to chew on in a sarcastic way. Quite some anger could be detected. What surprized me the most was that the response was coming from birth experts, women who have as a profession being there for other women so they'll have positive experiences during pregnancy and giving birth. There was no gentelness in the responses. Those girls have apparently never heard my favorite slogan "Say what you mean without being mean." Whatever, I thought, get a life, little Skotta! Off the internet, and definetly off the prego ladies message boards. I decided to escape into the other world I love that can help me shut off my brain, namely: movies. By this time, my laundry was in full swing and it was time for ironing. (Don't think I iron my laundry, I'd love to be that kind of a woman, but I ain't. I'm the kind that stretches the laundry the way my mother taught me so that things would look a wee bit less wrinkled. It's a prego thing, I ironed like a mad woman yesterday because I got this strong feeling that my baby boy should have an ironed experience when sleeping in his own bed for the first time. Some might call me cute, I call it hormones.) Anyways. Every time I paused my film to attend to the washing maschine or dryer I rememberred the vicious ladies on the message board. I realized to my great surprise that I had been mobbed by other pregnant ladies! Oh, my goodness, could Chris Rock be right? I mean, where's the love, people, where's the love?! I just couldn't shake it. (While writing this I discover a new thing about myself. I pick out one of each color of the M&M's to eat last and eat what is extra of all the colors first. And that I have no milk in the house). Whell, although I know this tendency of my brain, to dwell on things I shouldn't dwell on, I decided (as I ususally do when I fear that I might be starting to obsess) that sharing cuts it in half. So I called a friend. I told her what happened and I told her I couldn't shake it. Now here's is the message she got to me that reconnected me to reality and normalized my brain (I'm quoting her but she might have used other words): "Isn't it great that there are women out there to help women like themselves? And don't worry Skotta, you probably just gave them stuff to feed the anger towards other ways of giving birth than they believe in. You have probably saved their evening and they have plenty to talk about now. It is fine that what works for them, works for them. Good that there is space for all of us in life." Now, this was said without any sarcasm and in the gentlest way possible. No judgement, not even in the "you probably saved their evening". No anger. Just the way I like it. And with that I went back to my movie and my ironing. Chris Rock is wrong. And my friend rocks. 
posted by Skotta |
9:24 AM
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Monday, February 20, 2006 You will not believe what we just got sent from America!!!  Yup, you are right, it's a Belgian Waffle Baker! We also got two packs of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Can you believe the love? I want to thank my girl in NY for this awesome gift, and thank her man even more because I know he's behind this. You guys rule. Man, I feel so spoiled! AB is going to LOVE this. I can't wait until he comes home. There were other surprises in the box. You know, the kind that move ones heart. I just stroked my belly real hard, kind of massage like, and now I have an episode of Alien going on. I have woken up my baby and he is totally on the move. Big ass baby, doing his thing. posted by Skotta | 9:05 PM | I do apologize. Here's me posting in a hurry. On a closer look, the 60 Minutes videos were indeed just video clips, a mere intro to the actual report. Damn. I thought I was linking you to the whole report on Denmark. I still reccommend the clips from the interview with Philip Seymour Hoffman (if you can deal with seeing the ad for dissolvable fiber three times). Here's the link to his IMDB profile. I don't want to get into the gory details of my attraction to this actor. I'll let you make up your own mind but I'll share this with you: I don't think I have seen him in a role yet where he hasn't ruled my world. His acting has so far been on a level not seen in years. There is no end to what this man is capable of. You can allmost not believe that it is the very same man playing Rusty in Flawless and Allen in Happiness. Anyways. I just came home from a lovely afternoon with my homegirl who showed me her stuff she is making to apply for school. She definetly rocks. My guess is that she'll lick this assignment which is going to get her straight into the admissions exam. There is no doubt in my mind that she has hit something good here. She is going to kick ass in her newly found profession. After saying goodbye to her I went to the post office. I had a package waiting. I knew that my girl in NY had sent me a book. Then the clerk came out with this big ass box!!! "Oh" I said, "I didn't think it was so big ... but I can see it isn't heavy ..." I muttered with my big belly sticking out of my jacket. Then, after trying to lift it, "oh, heavy, you just have good arms ... " I think I made his day right there. At least it was the first smile I got from him, he was clearly having a very busy day. I now imagine that he is having a good humored, very busy day. It takes so little to spread the joy. Try it. So now I am waiting for my girl in NY to finish her play-date (I called her and got her husband that said she was out on a play-date, I am assuming she brought her son with her) and call me when she gets home. I am not touching that box until I hear from her so we can open it together. posted by Skotta | 5:23 PM | Here is a link to CBS News Video, where you can find some episodes of the news program 60 Minutes. The two I want to point out to you today are the one called Rage in Denmark and the interview with Philip Seymour Hoffman. The former causing some hurt feelings over here in DK and the latter being one of my favorite actors. I just want to point out to the Danes that the Americans have been portrayed viciously all over the world, numerous times. Words like "white trash" and "cheerleader" alone get your brain going, stereotyping. Not such a long time ago, Ophra aired an interview with an Icelandic woman who now claims that everything she uttered was taken out of context. According to that Ophra show, Icelandic women were sluts and whores and nothing more. Just to remind you that bad rep can be survived. Now lets just hope that this doesn't give DF even more votes. posted by Skotta | 12:42 PM | Sunday, February 19, 2006 I took a nap and dreamt I gave birth to spiders and that dragon flies kept going after me. I felt I hosted enough insects so I kept trying to whisk the dragon flies away. Awoke and decided that it was time for strawberry ice cream. Yummy. posted by Skotta | 6:58 PM | Friday, February 17, 2006 I am trying to stay away from politics but am not succeeding. I can't help mentioning that two headlines struck me this week. (Yeah, I might not manage to stay away from politics but I am staying the hell away from the environmental issues - even though they probably count as politics - you just don't want to get me going there). Here goes: USA refuses to close Guatanamo after a demand from the UN. Five independent experts reccommend the prison be closed without further delay and that all inmates get a trial or go free. Here is an interesting article from the Independent on three British inmates who (I quote) "were granted leave to seek a court order by a High Court judge with the comment that the United States' view of what constitutes torture "is not the same as ours and doesn't appear to coincide with that of most civilised countries."" One of the Brits (I quote the article again) "was accused to have been in possession of "a homemade electronic device" at the time of his arrest. The device, the court was told, was in fact a battery charger bought from Argos and cleared by the British authorities before he went to Gambia." His battery charger got him to Guantanamo. The US has released nine Brits so far. The man's problem here (apart from travelling with a battery charger) is that he is not a British citizen but a resident. Translating this into Skotta language it means that if a little Skotta travels with her battery charger to Gambia at the wrong time, the US is allowed to hold her at Guantanamo without trial for years. In a prison that the United Nations declare should be closed without further delay. Little Skotta would expect no help from the Danish government as she is not a Danish citizen but just a mere resident. Anyone think skin color is an issue here, on top of all other ethical and human rights violations? Don't you dare think this wouldn't happen to Skotta because she is white and has an Icelandic citizenship. I have not at any time on this web-page given you any reason to make assumptions about my skin color. You might know that I am straight (unless I am a pregnant gay man with an Amazing Boyfriend) but you don't know if I am white, black or blue. Unless you've seen me. Besides, white or colored, the Danes wouldn't lift a finger for me and it wouldn't stop the US from throwing me in prison for my battery charger. I just want to make it clear that I am not having special issues with the US. I am having issues with the world in general. I write about these things because they interest me, mainly because I have lived in both countries. I have also lived in Germany but somehow the Germans seem to have learned a bit from the Holocaust ... so they don't enrage me to the same degree. What actually triggers me is the fact that the Americans I know and the Danes I know are some of the most loving people I have ever met in my life and would never hurt a fly. Those governments are just not representing the people I know. I don't know anyone who votes DF and I don't think I know anyone who voted for Bush. Forget that, I just rememberred, Bush didn't win the elections, nobody voted for Bush in New York. I don't know what is more sad, that democracy is non-exsitent in the US or that democracy is alive and kicking in Denmark. In one country your vote doesn't count, in the other, it counts but all vote for the Natzi party. Too me, it sums up to the people in one country being afraid of standing up for themselves, and in the other the people are afraid in general. Many Danes are surprised over the reaction to the cartoons and feel a bit hurt when they are called a Natzi country. It doesn't surprise me at all. Denmark has a recent history of quite massive human rights violations when it comes to their immigration laws and policies (according to UN rulings). I don't think your average Dane is reading the UN rulings, while DF (the National"istic" Party) is enraged over these them every time, stating that Denmark should not be in the European Union but make it's own laws! There is no doubt in my mind that the rage over these cartoons is in fact rage towards life in general. Rage is a reaction to powerlessness, and as in the case of Pakistan and so many other countries that have reacted so strongly to the cartoons, it is probably the case of rage over years of powerlessness and suppression. I remember reading something about it being easier to rage against something "safe" than something "unsafe". If you are angry at your dad who can potentially beat you up (put you in a life threatening situation) when you open your mouth, it is safer to rage against your, let just say, mother, who (in our hypothetical case here) will not beat you for sure. Yeah, object relations theories, you can't beat them. Another headline from this week: Iran, the country currently doubting the Holocaust and making atom bombs, is renaming Danish paistries. A Danish in Iran will be called Muhammed's Rose from now on. This is not an issue of boycutting as the pastries are baked in Iran every morning. Freedom Fries, anyone?  Clearly, the world is just nuts. posted by Skotta | 5:24 AM | Thursday, February 16, 2006 Here is a web-site I came across in the Blogger section called Blogs Of Note. It is the home page of one of my favorite guys (you all know I go for hary men) and he starts with hard criticism of those who make fun of the Paralympics. Here's Chewbacca's blog. posted by Skotta | 7:26 PM | Well well. It is indeed a boy. And he is not tap dancing on my bladder, he is head butting my bladder. This is what I get for providing him his first VIP pass at a rock concert while still in uterus. All is fine, he is beautiful. posted by Skotta | 2:51 PM | Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Tools  Okay, I am obviously in need of some further advice on cropping images in IrfanView. You get the idea though, don't you? You see, I was reminded today of a wonderful period of my life. My last six months in New York I made a friend. She is still my friend and I hope she still keeps the playful spark that connected me to her during those months. It completely changed my whole outlook upon life. That playful spark, in a coctail rich with unconditional love, is the essence of her. This girl told me, among other things, that I've got wise feel. Just see all the smart places my feet had taken me! My wise feet should be treated as such, hence a weekly pedicure was in order. Nail polish on toes was a must, preferrably blue. She taught me more feet tricks that would make me happy in life and I still use them and they still make me happy. She gave me so many other tools to use and I will never be able to thank her enough. Another dare. Draw a smile on your feet. It will make you happy every time you look down. Next best thing to belly rubbing. I'm doing both these days. posted by Skotta | 6:22 AM | Awake at 4 am so now you are going to get a "News of my pregnancy" post. Those of you not interested in my private life can skip this, now that I have given you a fair warning. I have not been very mobile for the past three weeks or so. Every step I take seems to induce contractions and my back is now feeling the 10 extra kilos it's supporting and protesting with a bit of pain after shorter walks. Yesterday the streets were clear of snow so I biked a bit. Oh, what freedom! I felt like a bird. I can bike for ages without my back hurting. After a couple of weeks of "saving myself", picking and choosing what I wanted to do that day as I knew I'd only be able to to so much, I suddenly can do everything I want as long as I bike from point A to B. AB: "Honey, I'll just go get the car and come pick you up." Skotta: "I'm ready, I'll come with you." AB: "But you walk so slooooowly!" Yeah, I still walk slowly. But I bike fast! So today I got plenty of fresh air and exercise. I did take a slow walk in the woods with my friend, then I biked downtown and met another friend! More action than I have seen in weeks. Okay, I have been awake for an hour and a half now and am starting to get a bit hungry. Woke up feeling hot, hot, hot (like in the song, olei olei olei olei) and with a baby tap dancing on my bladder. The little guy would not perform for his dad last night but there is no lack of action now. We have an u/s scanning tomorrow morning (in about 4 hours) and I am hoping to get the sex confirmed. I don't trust the first peak at his willy as I have been told that even the best can mistake the navel cord for the babies privates. I am looking forward to the scanning. Afterwards we are going out to buy the travel system we chose. The set fits into the trunk of our little bitte sportscar, even with the roof down. AB is estatic. I told you that already, didn't I? Sorry I'm repeating myself. That happens when you only sleep 4 hours at a time. Anyways. We are planning to make an offer on the apartment this week. I am stuck in limbo until we find out where we are going to be living. I can't really start making place for the baby (buying the bed etc.) but I can't start packing either (they might not take our offer). I all of a sudden have massive amounts of baby clothes because I borrowed from two girlfriends! So the baby won't be naked and if all else fails it can sleep in the baby carriage ... I am going to miss my big belly even though I feel it's in my way most of the time. I am just getting used to looking so deformed, not being able to bend down and tie my shoe laces, and so on. I can't believe that in only a couple of months it is not going to be there. Isn't it going to look silly to stroke once belly when it is empty? I totally reccommend belly stroaking. It's a very loving gesture towards oneself. Try it, I dare you. The guys too. One of the things that happens when you are pregnant is that you get lost in pages like these. This always works. Now I am tired enough to grab an hour more. posted by Skotta | 5:18 AM | Tuesday, February 14, 2006 It's Valentines Day. Valentines Day is a corny American tradition. At least, that is what I always thought when growing up. It didn't exist in Iceland, neither did Halloween. We had other days we celebrated, and plenty of them. I have told you before, about Oskudagur, Sprengidagur, and Bolludagur. Not to forget Thorri month with the Thorrablot gatherings, where we eat sheeps balls and sheeps heads and shark and other yummy stuff, and drink lots of Brennivin. I came to appreciate Valentines Day after living in America (don't love it, but gained an understanding). I don't celebrate it myself. I am more of a Thanksgiving person and actually celebrate Thanksgiving every year with my closest friends here in Denmark. That's how Americanized I got. (I also jaywalk ... You can take the girl out of New York but you can't take New York out of the girl). What got me appreciating Valentines Day was one day overhearing my classmates in school planning what they were going to do for their boyfriends/girlfriends for Valentines Day. The creativity was endless and the lengths they were willing to go to make the day the most romantic were admirable. I had never ever made an effort for a loved one in that manner nor did I recall anyone having made that effort for me (come to think of it, probably someone did and I just didn't appreciate the gesture at the time). One of the girls hid fortune cookies all over her apartment for her boyfriend to find. She had taken all the fortunes out and made little stickers with little riddles and love notes which she put into the fortune cookies instead. The last fortune cookie contained the address of the hotel where she had booked a weekend for them. There were more things planned but this is what I remember. Wow. All I could think of was her sitting for hours putting the little stickers back into the fortune coockies. Funny how you get an image like that in your head. I guess the key word here was effort. All of a sudden, to me, Valentines Day was not just a day where businesses went amok selling heartshaped chockolate boxes and flowers. Or a day where women sat (in America) at home feeling bad because it was Valentines Day and they didn't have a date. You see, I once experienced that. For a split second. Before I rememberred "Hey, you're not American, you have never even dated, it is not a part of your culture at all!". Whoa, nothing like being reminded of the fact that the Icelandic version of "romance" is getting plastered, going to bed with a stranger (or an old friend), and then estimating the morning after if you want to continue this and maybe go to the movies together. I hate to admit it but I have stayed true to my culture since, apart from the drinking bit. My first date with AB started Saturday night, January 10th 2004, and we are still on it. And since I am taking you two years back ... my only romantic Valentines Day was in 2004. It was accidental (the date, not the romantic bit). AB took me to Rome that weekend and I rememberred during the trip that "hey, it's the 14th!". It's not a part of his culture either so he didn't connect the two (trip to Rome and Valentines Day). Of course, in Rome, every day is Valentines Day. I can't say we make an effort to be romantic, me and AB. It seems to come effortlessly. It's just there, every day. Not very difficult. Today, just because I am up at 6 am, I am going to surprise him with some hearts on his path from the bedroom to the bathroom when he wakes up. Big ones, cut out of paper, colored with crayons. You like? And for the rest of you (those who have a printer and crayons), for ultimate corniness, I have this picture you can color in and give to someone.  Nope? If you were me, the act of asking someone to be my Valentine is so off. It's just not doable at all. Just the idea gets me all wrinkled inside. I believe the word is cringe. At the same time I think fondly of this day as it reminds me of my favorite Americans who taught me about unconditional love and that making an effort to be romantic actually takes no effort at all. Happy Valentines Day! posted by Skotta | 6:29 AM | Sunday, February 12, 2006 I got this link from another page (Maggabest) and found it interesting. I am always attracted to wit so on that basis I reccomend this man's blog. I am otherwise, like most others, tired of the Cartoon Case. On the other hand ... An interesting discussion came up last night as we were watching the runners up for the Danish song chosen for the Eurovision Song Contest. It was a kind of a "What would the world think?" discussion. We also wondered if the same people who woted for the Danish Nationalistic Party (DF) were the same ones that voted last night. Here you have Poppe og Lene:  . Among other things we wondered how Lene (the woman) felt about being a part of a mixed colored duo coming from Denmark right now. She probably had no feelings about that before Denmark became seen as a Natzi country (and might not have any feelings about that at all, we were just guessing). And here you have Neighbours:  . The band Neighbours were unlucky enough to bring a song titled "Je Ne Regrette Rien". Their main stage stunt was fire. We all were reminded of the Danish flag burning. We all agreed last night that it would not bee a good thing if these guys were sent to the European Song Contest. There were more but these two were the ones that got us thinking about it. We kind of felt sorry for the solists because probably none of them had political/racial/religious thoughts in mind when they wrote the songs many months ago and sent them into the competition. All the numbers were love songs in one way or another. Most of them were the typical "how many European countries can I please with this number" type of songs, with French/Italian/English sentences in the text, oriental instruments (or an Irish drum), etc. Anyways. Here is the song that won. Yes, those are white cowboy hats. It is a country/rockabilly number with the chorus going "He didn't know how to twist".  It just reminded me of the Dukes of Hazard. The girl especially.  I am not analysing. Just telling. posted by Skotta | 9:19 AM | Saturday, February 11, 2006 I'm a hunter.  I just caught my prey. There is a party upstairs. It was just a question of time. AB has been working non-stop for 24 hours straigth so when he came home he put the ear plugs to good use and went unconcious. I tried. Then I realized that this was just too good to let it pass. I went and got another neighbour who witnessed that you could totally hear the noise from upstairs in our apartment and it is way past 11 pm. Now we have the witness. The third floor neighbour, the one above our pray, has also got another neighbour to witness the noise in her apartment tonight. Finally, the case can move forward. Now the guy will get a letter telling him he has a week to leave the apartment. He will probably put up a fight but according to our lawyer we should now have a bulletproof case. Now we just have to beat the Brewery that opened an outdoor restaurant with 16 tables 6 meeters from our bedroom window. That one might be left for other neighbours to battle if we move. We really want to be out before the summer season starts. Now it is 2:15 pm and the party is over upstairs. They went out. Victory! Oh, sweet sleep. posted by Skotta | 12:50 AM | Friday, February 10, 2006 Since I suspect that at least my American friends are not going to be following the 2006 Eurovision Song contest (although I think this song has not won yet), I am sharing this video with you all. I don't think we care if she wins the actual Eurovision. We are just so proud to have her represent our country. 
posted by Skotta |
9:26 AM
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Thursday, February 09, 2006 My birthday was on Monday. I got a present from my AB, a gift certificate from my favorite CD store. I came home with 5 CD's today. So we have yet again reached the all time favorite colum called Now Listening: Jack Johnson and Friends: Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George  This is one of the nicest CD's I have heard for a long time. I can't wait to see the movie. For those who don't know Curious George, he's the little monkey the man with the yellow hat found in the jungle and brought to America. The books about Curious George are from the 1890's and some of them were banned later on due to the language. A little bit about that here. I am always interested in the psychology of childrens litterature and Curious George has been no exeption to that. You see, the little thing was too curious and always got into trouble ... and out of it again! And if I remember correctly he never ceised to be loved. The Danes might know him as Peter Pedal. I don't know if the Icelanders know him at all, I don't recall these books from my childhood but they might have been translated later on. Anyways, if anything interests me more than childrens litterature it is movie soundtracks. I'd classify this one as laid back easy listening, reminding of summer music. More chill than sweet. Yet sweet but not corny. You know what I mean. What else did I buy? Oh, yes. I discovered the other day that my otherwise impressive music collection is missing both Elvis and Bob Dylan. I decided today that it was time for my first Dylan CD. Elvis will have to wait as Guf (the music store) didn't have anything I found jucy enough by The King. So I picked Bob Dylan: Time Out Of Mind.  I'll tell you what I think about that one later. It is my favorite girls favorite, reccommended by Pez Pondus, so I am counting on it being good. I also bought Belle and Sebastian: The Life Pursuit  And a best of CD with Vera Lynn (whom ended up getting the title Dame)  A long time ago I got a tape with Vera Lynn as a gift from an old Irish man I respected very much. The tape was meant to be a gift to my parents and it was given with love. They got it, don't get me wrong, but I loved it. It was time to have Vera on CD so I got her on special offer. Meeting again ... And finally a CD called June 1, 1974  with Kevin Ayers/John Cale/Eno/Nico The CD also features special guests Robert Wyatt and Mike Oldfield, the tour band Soporifics, and (as describes on the cover) three nice lady singers. This is probably my coolest buy in a long time. It features tracks like Heartbreak Hotel (probably the only version cooler than Elvis') and The End. The CD is a concert recording from the Rainbow, guess what date? Very, very cool CD. I reccommend it, of course, even though I'll tell you that the guy at the CD store looked at me seriously and asked if I didn't want to listen to it first as it was "quite avant guard". I don't know why, maybe my belly had something to do with it. Weird, cause I thought the guy remberred me, I come in there all the time to buy cool stuff. But I guess he's got a point. Not all are big fans of Nico singing The End. "... this is the end, beautiful friend ... this is the end, my only friend the end ... it hurts to set you free but you never follow me ..." It's a wee bit dark. The rest of the CD is lighter, promise. Anyways, I am always waiting for that period to have a strong comeback. I know it is just a question of time. Maybe it has and I am just not aware of it. I'm sure Dr. Gunni (IS) has a few names up his sleve I am not aware of. Popular music has yet to grab onto the period again. Okay, enough with the music. Want news? Of course you do! We went to the bank and guess what?! They are dying to lend us money to buy an apartment. I was quite impressed with AB's improvising skills during the "financial analysis". So we are making an offer a.s.a.p. If they take our offer I am probably moving! Aaaaarrrggghhh! Would probably be the sound I'd be making if I didn't have amazing friends. You see, if we get it, the date will be April 1st and my due date is April 13th. April 1st I'll be very, very big and heavy. My amazing friends have already offered to help in more bigger ways than I had imagined. Can you believe the love? posted by Skotta | 6:57 PM | Wednesday, February 08, 2006 This article caught my attention today. It's about the discovery of an environment in New Guinea previously untouched by man. The ones who found it claim it is as close to the Garden of Eden as you are going to find on Earth. I hope they leave it be even though they tell that they have only scratched the surface of what is there. I really would love it if they just left it be. What else? Oh, yes, the Eurovision Song Contest (or the Melodi Grand Prix, as the Danes call it) has played a big part in Icelandic culture. I have mentioned this before. This year, great controversy has stirred up the competition for the Icelandic entry. In fact, one song has probably won already, even though the competition isn't over. The song leaked to the internet and has proved to be a hit. Here is what Fotis Konstantopoulos reporting from Athens had to say about it. I'll tell you this much: If this song wins I am throwing a Eurovision party to follow the event on TV. I haven't done that in years. Last year I saw a couple of songs in my hotel room in Verona before going out and eating one of the most unforgettable meals of my life. Mmmm, Italy. This year I will definetly not be travelling since predictions say I will be attending to a one month old, and my prayers say that it will be in an apartment close to Dyrehaven. posted by Skotta | 12:53 AM | Monday, February 06, 2006 Me and AB didn't like today's headlines. We decided to make our own: Amazing Boyfriend wins prize at Danish Film Academy Awards: Fabulous pregnant girlfriend beams with pride. Well, AB's suggestion was Amazing Boyfriend wins prize: Loves girlfriend very much. I had to have Fabulous in there somewhere. We were so happy when we came home that not even the screams from upstairs got to us. Well, at one point I wondered if he was killing the poor girl. Let's just say she put the scream in the nickname "Screamer". We were indeed happy. This was a very good night for both of us. There were a couple of other prego ladies in the room but their belly became invisible as soon as Her Hugeness entered the room. Let's just say that the comment "we are boiling water over here in case you go into labour during dinner" tells it all. The comment came from the famous actors sitting at the table next to ours. No matter, all taken with good cheer as I looked amazing. All 80 kilos of me. For those who haven't seen me in person, I am not a very tall woman and I still have almost 3 months to go. If I had been up there on the stage my speech would go something like this: I want to thank my stylist for travelling across country and spending his birthday weekend to make me look amazingly beautiful. I want to thank those chicks in London who made my fabulous yet ridiculously expensive maternety dress. Finally I want to thank God for sending me matching shoes. And another headline for today, if I was writing them: Fabulous Skottustelpa celebrates birthday: Yes, we are having fiskefrikadeller for dinner! You see, we went and looked at this apartment yesterday. All of a sudden we don't feel like going out to dinner anymore. AB is contacting the bank today. Such is the life of the not so rich and not so famous. Just wee bit famous and not too badly off.  I'm telling you, it's gourmet food! And on a last note, thank you all for the happy birthday wishes! posted by Skotta | 12:23 PM | Sunday, February 05, 2006 Now there are embassys being burned. I wonder if this will result in war? It just seems too ridiculous. Funny enough, and I don't know where the hell this comes from, Nostradamus keeps popping to mind. I have never been the one to believe in psychics or predictions but I guess the myth has managed to trickle into a hidden place in my brain. Can't call it fear really. Yip. Not all is bad in life. Martha Wainwright is good. I totally reccommend her CD. The more I listen to it, the better I find it. Go buy it now. posted by Skotta | 1:09 PM | Friday, February 03, 2006 Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Saudi-Araba, Qatar, North Afrika, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Oman are pissed off at Denmark right now. I wonder how many million people that is? Enough to get 12 cartoonists some police protection. posted by Skotta | 3:54 PM | Finally! I am supposed to be cleaning. I decided myself. Better wash the kitchen floor before the sun goes down! I was thoroughly motivated this morning but somehow it has melted off. Well. I have lots to blog about. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark! Some might call them cartoons, others might call it racism. I'm not calling it anything but "all hell broke loose". For those who don't know what I am talking about, here is the story: A newspaper, Jyllands Posten, got the smart idea to provoke discussions about "The Freedom of Speech". This they decided to do by getting twelve cartoonists to draw cariactures of the profet Muhammed. As all know, according to Islam, this is not kosher. You just don't make pictures of the guy, it's blasphemy. In short, what happened was that many muslims got insulted. Then comes the big fuck up: The Danish prime minister was asked to have a meeting with a few ambassadors so the matter could be explained. He said no. The Middle East took offence and are now boycutting Denmark. On top of that, there are quite a few extremists that have threatened to bomb Denmark. The prime minister decided to try to explain. He did so with little success. The muslims got even more offended. He was just not speaking their language. This is a common problem in Denmark. The Danish government, you see, is of the opinion that life just would be so much easier if everybody else spoke their language. Danish. To the ones who don't know this language - the Danes might as well be speaking in tounges. To me it is clear. If you don't get your racism across clearly enough verbally (or written in Danish), hell, what do you do? Draw. Ask the Art Therapist and he'll tell you that everybody can read drawings. Now the Danish goverment asks Danish muslims to help them explain Danish culture to the angry muslims of the Middle East. Anyone who doesn't is up for being thrown out of Denmark. So much for freedom of speech. And so much for "clean up your own mess ... ". I know that I'd not feel like explaining/excusing Danish cultural fuck ups to my fellow Icelanders if the Danes had insulted our culture. And the navie of us, those who assume we are on the politically correct side ... we thought to ourselves: "Yes! Finally! Maybe this will be the thing that trows this evil government!" But no. The latest polls show that Danish Nationalistic party would get more votes than ever if there were elections now. Same people who have induced ridiculously hard restrictions on immigration with numerous human rights violations. Same people who responded to the boycut of Danish products in the Middle East by sending out an sms ... incouraging Danes to boycut their local muslim butcher as a revenge. Which leaves me with wondering if the average Dane is now thinking: "This shows that the bloody foreigners are nothing but trouble. Lets get them out of here. We never should have let them in in the first place, better not let in any more." Serously considering now if I moved from New York to Hell. I can't believe this is a country that takes pride in having a university devoted solely to the upbringing of children! And the fact that I have a half-breed in my belly and am planning to raise it in this country is starting to scare me. Should I reconsider? Better take this one up with AB - one of the few left in this country who is brave enough to talk to foreigners. Am I ready to do my kitchen floor now? NO! You ain't heard nothing yet. Just kidding. Apart from needing to vent about the Americans now being able to execute inmates at Guantanamo ... which I am going to leave for now .. I just wanted to tell you why I have been away so long. I have been an AB's mothers house while she was in India. She ended up in hospital with a stomach thing. AB and his Doc Sister have decided that I am not to come near their mother for the time being. Doc Sister called the Serum Institute (where the scientists play with bacteria and viruses) and spoke to an expert that told her that a prego lady should definetly not come near a former stomach patient of an Indian hospital. They can't keep me from the phone though so I will call her. I had been looking so much forward to having her home. Other maniac news: We have been looking at houses. The mad description of us driving between "open house" arrangements last Sunday is a blog in itself. AB has been flirting with the idea of threatening to kill a certain pub owner's pet. He actually went so far as to check if he could do this legally. My stylist is taking the train in to make me look beautiful for Sunday. And my kitchen floor needs washing! posted by Skotta | 1:29 PM | |
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