Iceland quick facts

Name: Republic of Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland)
Language: Icelandic
Area and population: Iceland is approximately the same size as Pennsylvania, but has only 2% of its population: that is 300,000 people. (The population density is extremely low, about the same as that of Australia.)

The People

The first permanent settlers of this distant and hostile land had been Irishmen and Vikings, who became the ancestors of today’s Icelanders. According to the guidebook Icelanders have a strong national identity, which stems from the fact that it’s a small and isolated country, often overlooked by larger nations. (During World War II Britain occupied the whole country with only 700 marines, as the country has no full-time army). Still, being able to stand a winter of permanent (semi-)darkness is rather impressive, and the country is (or at least had been before the banking system collapsed in 2008) one of the richest in the world.

The language is Icelandic (a country of 300,000 people has its own language), which is similar to Norwegian, Danish and Swedish, but, similarly to the rest of Scandinavia, most people also speak English. One of the language’s peculiarities is the lettern Thorn, named after Scandinavian god Thor, which looks like this: þ. This letter was part of English for a long time — until it was replaced by the th sound in the 15th century (which is the sound it corresponds to). (If you had been alive five centuries ago, you could now be saying “What’s þat?.”.

Society seems to be quite informal (probably due to the number of people in the country — many medium-sized towns elsewhere have larger populations than the whole of Iceland), apparently anyone can meet the prime minister to discuss ideas with him/her (the position is currently held by the openly lesbian Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir — her last name literally means “daughter of Sigurðar”, as Icelanders don’t have family names in the Western sense). We wanted to meet her and suggest the following touristic slogan for the country: “Iceland — where trains are never late.” Note that there aren’t any trains in the country, but still, it does sound good. (The folowing is from a blog entry teaching various Icelandic expressions to the prospective traveller: “Where is the train station? There isn’t a train station either, forget about it.”).

Icelanders have had a parliament (for more than 1070(!) years — the parliament had its first session in 930 AD on the fault line between the North American and Eurasian Plates — in the picture below yo ucan see Europe on the left, and America on the right:

Most people live in the capital, Reykjavík, in not particularly pretty concrete houses. Apart from this there are a few smaller towns and many small, godforsaken settlements scattered around the country:

And a bit of suburbia in the middle of nowhere:

Geology and Fauna

Volcanic activity has created incredible landscapes with mountains, glaciers, endless plains and plateaus, waterfalls plunging off cliffs and rivers winding into infinity.

Iceland is one of the few places left in the world where the land is still “forming” — occasional volcano eruptions cover places with lava, new islands are born (the world’s youngest island, Surtsey, can be found here — it came into being in the 1960s) — this is the same process that formed the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago, only much slower now.

Dirt track across the lava fields of the Reykjanes Peninsula (south of Reykjavík):

Volcanic activity means that the country has access to a huge amount of geotermic energy, and hot water is often directly sourced from underground hot springs (this is easy to tell as the high sulphur content makes it smell like rotten eggs) — roadside geotermic power plants are a common sight:

The landscape often changes so quickly that things in the background look surreal, as if they were put there with Photoshop:

Weather

Iceland’s weather is extremely fickle, but mostly cold and windy (the daily high is 14 degrees Celsius in the summer), so a day, for example, can be sunny, cold and windy in the morning, rainy, cold and windy in the afternoon, and foggy, cold and windy in the evening. It also tends to hail. If it wasn’t windy though, summers would be quite easy to tolerate.

Though lies mostly south of the arctic circle, summertime is marked by an almost unbroken several-month spell of sunlight (the sun does dip below the horizon, but only just), while winters are long, dark and cold. The midnight sun in May:

The extra sunlight is confusing at first, 10pm often feels like it’s just late afternoon. This picture was taken at 11pm:

Due to the cold and windy weather not many plants manage to cling on to the loose soil, so Iceland is mostly covered by tundra — trees are a rare sight, but even bushes are hard to come by.

The weather is perfect for kite-flying, but be careful, you might never have encountered winds of such strength before:

The wind blowing two waterfalls into thin air as soon as they leave the hillside:

Infrastructure

Icelandic infrastructure owes much to American forces occupying the island during WWII (Iceland conveniently lies halfway between Europe and the US), as they built many of today’s roads. Still, roads can still turn into a muddy dirt track with alarming suddenness. However, what’s bad for drivers is great for the land — Icelanders do seem to respect the incredible nature that surrounds them and don’t over-develop anything, leaving vast swathes of land nearly intact. If you choose to access more remote areas, don’t leave without a 4WD though — getting stuck in the middle of a lava plain is not that fun.

Most of the interior of the country is untouched, barren landscape — there are a few dirt tracks, but that’s it. This sign (very subtly) warns the driver that this road will become nonexistent after a few miles, after which you’ll find yourself even more in the middle of nowhere:

The almost completely deserted Route 365:

Vík

Vík is a rundown and seemingly deserted settlement on the south coast, and is famous for the black volcanic sand of its beaches:

It was a great day for a walk on the beach (only got half-drenched under bigger waves):

The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is a (mostly) open-air spa heated by an adjacent geothermic power plant — its turquoise waters look completely surreal in the middle of the black lava field:

To see and to read

Halldór Laxness: Independent People
101 Reykjavík (like a Pedro Almodóvar movie, but with Icelanders)

Tips

• Take a kite.
• Rent a 4WD.
• Eat a puffin.
• Don’t ask Björk about Icelandic eskimos.

“People are always asking me about eskimos, but there are no eskimos in Iceland.” (Björk)

This chick is so cool i want to smack her ass, like we had just played football together or something. Too bad i’m not THAT cool. Also, my football skills are a joke. A not really funny one.

amisexy

supah dupah

Owl Creek Chase
Honor Roll of Champions

1985 – Bjorn Sateroy (NOR), Jill Anderson (USA)/Patty Doyle(USA)

1986 – Raoul Wille(USA), Anne Farris(USA)

1987 – Franz Froelicher(USA), Lynda Walters(USA)

1988 – Ben Dodge(USA), Terri Wischoeser(USA)

1989 – Pierre Harvey(CAN), Ruth Baxter(USA)

1990 – Ben Dodge(USA), Ruth Baxter(USA)

1991 – Pierre Wille(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)

1992 – Steve Poulin(USA), Sue Long(USA)

1993 – Thomas Landon-Smith(AUS), Ruth Baxter(USA)

1994 – Travis Moore(USA), Cheryl Chipman(USA)

1995 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)

1996 – Travis Moore(USA), Julianne Southwell(USA)

1997 – Toralf Heimdal(NOR), Natalie Ward(USA)

1998 – Dawes Wilson(USA), Natalie Ward(USA)

1999 – Charles Bieler(USA), Ruth Wade(USA)

2000 – Charles Bieler(USA), Kate Furze(USA)

2001 – Stephen White(USA), Cathy Frank(USA)

2002 – NOT HELD

2003 – NOT HELD

2004 – Nathan Schultz(USA), Chantal Knapp(USA)

2005 – Ivan Babikov(RUS), Irene Eder(AUT)

2006 – Zack Simons(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)

2007 – Josh Smullin(USA), Kristina Strandberg(SWE)

2008 – Noah Hoffman(USA), Evelyn Dong(USA)

2009 – Matt Gelso(USA), Rebecca Dussault(USA)

Multiple  victories

Women: 4 wins – Ruth Wade, 2 wins – Julianne Southwell, Natalie Ward, Kristina Strandberg, Cathy Frank 

Men: 2 wins – Ben Dodge, Travis Moore, Charles Bieler, Nathan Schultz

This cute little sweater by, “Free People,”  retails for $148.00.  It came home with me for $24.99 courtesy of T.J Maxx.  Joy!

There’s only one thing I love more than beautiful jewellery, and that’s being able to get creative and make up my own creations.  So, I went to the Swarovski Crystallized press day to check out which new pieces I’d be lusting after when the sun comes out again.

The Azzaro collection, designed by Vanessa Sewell, is full of bold, simple and sparkly pieces in silver and gold.  One of the main pieces is a vintage-style black and silver shell locket necklace with a chain tassel.  It reminds me of something from Titanic and it would look amazing with a silk, drop-waist evening dress.

My personal favourites from the Azzaro collection are a blingtastic crystal encrusted wave cuff and slim bangles with rows of tiny crystals.

I was blown away by the new collection by French jewellery designer Philippe Ferrandis and would put every single piece on my wish list (mysterious benefactor, take note please).

I’m not sure what most of the stones are, to be honest, so I’ll let you judge the pictures for yourself….

I love the contrast between the iridescent white flower and the spiky crystals on the ring and earrings.  They look quite Japanese and futuristic – perfect for the winter snow queen look.

The pearl and emerald necklace and earrings have a vintage, Jazz Age feel and are priced between around £250 and £500.

The new ready-to-wear collection is inspired by the fresh, clear light of a Scandinavian summer.  Pieces incorporate oval spheres and interchangeable pendants in subtle, neutral colours.  The silk cord necklaces reflect the beach element and they will go perfectly with next season’s nudes.

The mainline collection featured some pretty affordable pearls for under £20 and everyone was fawning over the stretchy crystal bracelets that you can stack up, costing just £10!

We were also treated to a sneak peak at the exclusive Daisy Lowe collection that she designed with the Creative Director.  The pieces are typical Daisy with black, green and silver stars and moons – flirty but a little bit dark and mystical.

All collections are available from January at the Swarovski Crystallized store.

Swarovski Crystallized 25 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7HU.

Most of the companies, either online or offline are fighting with same customers. On my street there are 4 bars and 3 restaurants competing with same customers. This means that most of the nights they are empty or semi empty. Same rule goes for most of the businesses. If you are online, but only serving your local customers, there is and will be intense competition. Usually only companies who can afford reduced prices might win.

How about to expand your business to abroad? It might be scary thing. But not any more. I have solution for you.

Let’s say you run a online electronic shop. You already sell to abroad, but everything is in English or some other most common language. But you would like to serve your foreign customers in the language they use. For this reason I propose following deal:

• I will set up your affiliate shop for dedicated Nordic countries
• I will run your store
• I will be responsible for all the marketing and administration cost for you
• I will be responsible for all customer inquires
• You will provide me  products to sell
• We share profit

If you are interested in, let me know and plan together how with no or low investment you can get more customers.

Call me +32 494 40 82 92 or write antti.larvala@cal360d.com

children in single parent families in the US

(source)

Almost 30 percent of children [in the U.S.] now live in single-parent families, up from 12 percent in 1968. Since poverty rates in single-parent households are roughly five times as high as in two-parent households, this shift has helped keep the poverty rate up; it climbed to 13.2 percent last year [see here, FS]. If we had the same fraction of single-parent families today as we had in 1970, the child poverty rate would probably be about 30 percent lower than it is today. Isabel V. Sawhill and Ron Haskins (source, source)

These numbers seem to correspond to intuition. It’s harder for one person to raise children than it is for two. And the risks of ending up in poverty are therefore higher. However, I noted here that some caution is needed when linking poverty to family structure. Also, perhaps family structure isn’t so much the cause of poverty as its effect. And then there’s the fact that some countries, such as the Nordic European ones, have low marriage rates and high out-of-wedlock birthrates, yet they are much more egalitarian and have lower poverty rates than the U.S. (source). Part of the reason for this are the more generous public services (and higher taxes ) in Nordic countries. Another part is the fact that

in the Nordic countries it’s quite common for committed couples raising children to just not be married. In the US a child whose mother isn’t married is typically growing up without his or her father being present, which isn’t the case in Sweden or Norway. (source)

“Born out of wedlock” doesn’t necessarily imply “single parent”. It’s family structure, and the presence of two parents – not necessarily “biological parents” or parents of a different sex – that helps families and children avoid or escape poverty, not formal or legal marriage status.

Unmarried biological parents in northern Europe are more likely to stay together to raise the kid than married parents in the US. (source)

This quote isn’t intended to imply that unmarried couples are better than married ones. Again, what matters isn’t marriage as such but family structure. And the focus on family structure isn’t intended to imply that all single parents are bad. Even if there’s only one parent, descent into poverty isn’t destiny. It also depends on the parent. Poverty isn’t a mechanical result of a certain family structure, but family structure does count in many cases (a poor single mother, even with the best intentions and efforts, will perhaps do worse than a celebrity divorcee). Having two parents is extremely helpful.

Yet we shouldn’t forget that poverty has many causes and family structure is just one of them, and most likely not the most important one. Hence it’s very well possible that a society with extremely high rates of single parents and births out of wedlock experiences less poverty (including child poverty) than another society where the large majority of children are raised by two biological parents and the large majority of marriages doesn’t break down.

More on poverty as a human rights issue here and here. More on poverty and family structure here.

Tuesday November 17th will see the release of more than half a million private messages recorded on the day of the September 11 attacks upon World Trade Center and Pentagon in the USA.

Julian Assange who has obtained this material from unspecified sources, feels the material sheds more light on the governments reaction – or lack thereof, on 9/11:
“I have only read a few messages, but what I have read, demonstrates how delayed and unprepared the government was at dealing with the situation at hand.”

Julian Assange of Wikileaks has already shown some of the messages to the Danish paper Berlingske Tidende:
“2:20:30 PM A ALPHA. Honey wanted to tell you how much i love you. I was alittle worried.I Don’t want to lose you now that I got you back. You mean everything to me. You have my whole heart and life. Ilove you so much”

It’s almost time for the second annual NICE Festival in Liverpool, UK.

The NICE Festival – ‘Nordic Intercultural Creative Events’ – is a two week long music, arts and film festival starting on the 19^th of November until 3^rd of December 2009.

The countries involved in the programme are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Faroe Islands.

The aim of the festival is to “present the best in collaborative works between the UK and Nordic countries”

‘NICE aims to establish itself as a unique and inspirational highlight of the North West’s cultural calendar.’

The main Finnish events in this year’s programme are:

• Film: Helsinki Forever (12A)

Directed by: Peter Von Bagh

1hr 15 long

Finnish with English Subtitles

Thursday 19^th November 6:30pm

FACT, Liverpool

Tickets: Adult: £7 / FACT Member: £5 / Concessions: £5.50 / Under 15: £4.50

Book on www.fact.co.uk, Tel: 0871 704 2063

‘In a faraway land called Finland, all roads lead to Helsinki’… and so starts award winning director and film historian Peter von Bagh’s new portrait of Finland’s capital. Helsinki, Forever is a beautiful mosaic of the city’s history as captured by leading Finnish feature filmmakers over a period of a hundred years. Like Terence Davies’ love letter to Liverpool, Of Time and the City, Bagh’s city symphony reads as a homage to his home town, and is every bit as captivating.’

• Film: Hanasaari A (12A)

Directed by: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen,

15 minutes

No Dialogue

Thursday 19^th November 2009

(This film is screened prior to Helsinki Forever)

“Hanasaari  A is an experimental documentary about the changing cityscape of Helsinki and the final moments of a coal-fired power plant. The old industrial milieu is being destroyed to make space for modern housing units. The film is a combination of animation, live action cinematography, and graphic elements. It is based on 500 000 photographs taken during the final two years of the existence of the power plant.”

• Film: Moomins and the Midsummer Madness (U)

Directed by: Maria Lindberg

88 minutes

In English

Saturday 28th November 2009 12pm

Tickets: Adult: £5 / FACT Member: £3 / Concessions: £3

Book on www.fact.co.uk, Tel: 0871 704 2063

“A tranquil summer day is interrupted by a volcanic eruption, causing a flood in the Moominvalley. The water rises higher and higher in Moominhouse, forcing the family to take refuge in a strange house that floats by. The unusual lifeboat turns out to be a theatre which has been set adrift. Moominpappa begins to write a play for the others to put on… The Finnish felt animated family are back for a new magical adventure based on Tove Jansson’s well-loved books, for young children and big kids alike.”

Nekaj zapisov nazaj sem pisal o obisku letošnjega Beneškega bienala in o tem, kako me je navdušil nordijski paviljon. Zakaj? Koncept prikazuje hudo veliko in drzno moderno stanovanje očitno premožnega pisca pornografskega čtiva, njegovo delovno mizo oz. kotiček z vsemi pripomočki in, glej ga zlomka, s pisalnim strojem – kje je že to? Vendar tip, če sem si sceno prav interpretiral, leži zunaj mrtev v svojem bazenu. Zakaj je umrl? Lahko le špekuliram, ker je v bazenu oblečen, ima pa vzorno sezute in na rob bazena postavljene čevlje. Morda samomor? Osamljenost? Umor? Ga je zastrupila ljubica, nemara konkurenca? Kdo ve. In še je tega. Vsekakor postavitev, polna zgodbe in ideje, tudi izveda ne šepa.

Rachael Ray Victim, originally uploaded by arahbahn.

I didn’t even intend to, but the crust decoration on my meat pie on Sunday ended up looking a lot like the lovely and fantastic Sun Valley sun logo that I remember from my childhood. I’m so pleased to see that the resort still uses it.

So, I’m excited for winter sports season to arrive. In a bizarre twist, I’m considering taking a cross-country ski training/technique course. A good friend from elsewhere in the country is coming to our time zone to do the Birkebeiner race in February, so hubbie and I have vowed to join him and do one of the races that weekend, maybe even the full Birkie. We’ll see. If this is going to be an icy-sidewalk winter, I might as well choose a cardio activity that’s less risky on winter terrain, than running shoes. Not that I don’t plan to go snowshoeing, again!

My gear budget may not be ready for all this.

Le Womex 2009, la grande foire pour les musiques du monde, a eu lieu comme chaque année fin octobre. Après Séville, c’est la capitale danoise, Copenhague, qui a accueilli pendant cinq jours les délégués du monde entier représentant labels de disques,  artistes, salles de concert… de divers pays. Il y avait sans doute moins de participants cette année mais je n’ai pas l’impression qu’il y ait eu moins d’échanges et d’accords pour des concerts. Le marché du disque est peut-être morose mais celui de la musique live l’est beaucoup moins.

Ce fut pour moi l’occasion de rencontrer un grand nombre de personnes, de Belgique mais aussi de l’étranger et de revoir de nombreuses connaissances avec qui il est toujours agréable de parler et d’apprendre de nombreuses choses sur la manière dont sont gérées les labels, les salles de concerts ou qui sont les artistes importants du moment… Networking, voilà le grand mot du Womex !

Le Womex ne serait pas le Womex s’il n’y avait pas les concerts, du showcase sur un stand à la “Great Nordic Night” spécialement organisée pour l’occasion. Le programme est toujours très chargé, se déroulant dans cinq salles (une de plus que l’année passée). Cette année, c’est le tout nouveau complexe de la radio danoise qui nous recevait. Exemple d’architecture contemporaine, le bâtiment n’a ouvert ses portes que récemment mais la grande salle de concert est déjà considérée comme une des meilleures du monde au point de vue acoustique. Je rajouterais que l’architecture est magnifique, tout en bois, tout en asymétries. Une scène était située dans le foyer, deux autres dans des salles au sous-sol (c’était juste dommage qu’il n’y avait qu’une seule entrée, ce qui provoquait de nombreux embouteillages) et une dernière salle était improvisée dans le bâtiment attenant. Comme chaque année, les styles sont mélangés, des concerts de musique traditionnelle côtoyant des DJ’s. Mais comme toujours, la tendance est aux musiques plus rythmées, festives, surtout en soirée. Le Balkan Beat, les musiques latino et l’électronique vivent encore de beaux jours ! Dommage que l”ambiance soit plus au shopping qu’à une écoute attentive…

Commençons donc par le shopping: Chet Nuneta, groupe de femmes jouant avec la voix et les percussions, ce n’est vraiment pas ma tasse de thé, je laisse ce genre de musique à un autre public. Idem pour Les Yeux Noirs, groupe tsigane, Yilila d’Australie, le Ale Möller Band dont le concert mélangeait trop de cultures et de traditions différentes…

Comme nous étions au Danemark, une attention toute particulière a été donnée à la musique scandinave. Le concert d’ouverture était nommé “The Great Nordic Night” et rassemblait une vingtaine d’artistes du Danemark, des Iles Féroé, du Groenland, de Suède, de Norvège, de Finlande et d’Islande. Placé sous la direction artistique du violoniste danois Harald Haugaard cette soirée se voulait assez grand public, présentant des styles traditionnels des différents pays mais aussi des chansons plus contemporaines, parfois à la limite de la variété. N’empêche, une bonne polska jouée à plusieurs violons et toute la salle avait envie de danser.

Les musiciens scandinaves avaient également tout le long du Womex une scène qui leur était exclusivement réservée. Malheureusement, la salle était fort petite, l’entrée souvent encombrée et les musiques que j’ai entrevues plutôt calmes. J’aurais très certainement beaucoup plus profité du duo finlandais Lepistö et Lehti et du groupe suédois Nordic dans d’autres circonstances. Valravn par contre se démarquait par des instruments traditionnels mêlés à des beats électroniques qui allaient quant à eux un peu fort (juste un problème de mixage à mon avis) !

Deux belles découvertes dans les showcases de l’après-midi: tout d’abord Mamane Barka, nigérien, et son luth biram en forme de bateau. Là aussi, le son n’était pas parfait, les percussions étaient un peu fortes mais la magie a opéré, le son de l’instrument est vraiment magnifique.

San Chuan est composé de trois chinoises jouant du zheng, une longue cithare sur table (proche du koto japonais). Elles n’ont pas encore d’album à leur actif (c’est pour février) mais ont fait l’aller-retour depuis leur pays pour avoir l’avis du public par rapport à leur jeu. Elles ont d’ailleurs une manière bien différente de jouer la musique classique chinoise, loin de la virtuosité un peu empruntée (et fortement mâtinée d’influences européennes) des musiciens des années 80-90 et fort éloignée aussi du jeu un peu kitsch du Twelve Girls Band et consorts, qu’elles se sont amusées à singer ! Leur son est très doux, les notes se mêlent, les mélodies flottent dans l’air. Un très beau concert d’un groupe dont j’attends beaucoup et qui joue en Belgique dans le cadre d’Europalia.

L’Addis Acoustic Project semblait prometteur: un groupe actuel qui rejouait les standards de l’éthio-jazz et de la musique populaire des orchestres des années 50-60, avec dans le groupe un musicien de l’époque, Ayele Mamo Belayneh qui joue la mandoline et qui était touchant par moments avec ses allures de star de rock’n'roll. Quelques moments d’intense plaisir, de retour aux sources (me faisant penser aux musiques pop cambodgiennes de la même époque) mais dans l’ensemble un concert / concept raté: les solos de guitare et de batterie sonnaient trop jazz (un jazz grand public).

J’espérais voir une belle performance de mento (style jamaïcain pré-reggae, proche du calypso) mais Gilzene and The Blue Light Mento Band a intérêt à apprendre à chanter ! La musique était bonne mais le chant complètement faux ! J’ai rarement entendu de si mauvais chanteurs !

L’Indienne Kiran Ahluwalia quant à elle chante très bien mais je n’ai pas pris le temps d’écouter longtemps ses ghazals, préférant aller écouter d’autres choses moins connues.

L’Orquesta Chekara Flamenca rassemble des musiciens marocains et des chanteuses de flamenco. Fusion qui pourrait fonctionner mais qui était plutôt juxtaposition. Rien de mauvais à cela mais rien de transcendant non plus.

Une petite tranche de musique festive avec le groupe colombien Chocquibtown qui ne m’a pas vraiment intéressé et avec Jaune Toujours qu’il se fallait de soutenir, groupe belge/bruxellois oblige ! Ils ont joué deux fois, une première fois dans un showcase lors du drink des stands belges et une deuxième fois en soirée devant un public bien plus important.

J’avais déjà vu le groupe sino-mongol Hanggai deux fois à Bruxelles mais c’est avec plaisir que je suis retournée à leur concert de Copenhague. Ils étaient au complet cette fois-ci, ce qui a laissé plus de place aux voix (différents styles de chant de gorge) et à la guitare électrique. J’aime beaucoup leur musique (et les musiques de Mongolie et de Tuva en général) mais je suis assez d’accord avec cette personne qui me disait qu’elle aimerait les voir aller plus loin dans le côté rock, dans l’expérimentation à partir des traditions. J’espère toujours qu’apparaîtra un jour un groupe du même niveau que Yat-Kha !

Pour finir ce long billet, parlons de ma découverte du Womex (en général, il y en a une par an) ! Je ne suis pas une grande amatrice de fado et de musiques portugaises que je trouve en général trop larmoyantes mais j’ai été subjuguée par Deolinda. Le cd m’avait paru plus intéressant que la moyenne mais j’écoute tant de disques que je l’ai assez vite oublié (j’aurais dû en parler ici). La chanteuse Ana Bacalhau (pas un nom facile à porter !) essaie de casser tous les préjugés du fado, s’en moque même ! Elle a une présence exceptionnelle et sa présentation de chaque morceau en anglais apporte une bien meilleure compréhension des thèmes et ambiances qui ne se limitent d’ailleurs pas au fado. La musique du groupe s’inspire aussi bien des traditions portugaises que de celles du Cap Vert ou du Brésil. Rafraîchissant ! (Et j’ai adoré sa robe !)

Une galerie de photos complète se trouve ici.

Fog rises from the subway grill, rolls across the face of the icebound midnight moon. Smells of old socks, mildew and burnt chestnuts from the lone vendor a few blocks away on the corner singe his nose hairs as he traverses the lonely streets of the old financial district near Gold and Liberty streets. Spotty lights shoot forth from the silhouettes of the sordid emblems of capitalistic endeavor where the legal crimes take place: the Nordic pillaging of villages unseen, the trades of people’s livelihoods, the desire for more continually unsated. He tips his fedora back, lifts his head upwards towards that chilled night sky and watches through the windows of the first few floors as the immigrant workers clean the cubicles and conference rooms, hallways and offices of those that have much. He shakes his head, looks down at the soiled concrete sidewalks below, the gum and trash, the homeless people bundled up and sleeping in the recesses of the wealthy’s playground, the layer after layer of dirt and grime in the shadows of the pristine corporate headquarters, lifts his head back up to see the workers still toiling away and walks away slowly, subdued by the numbing indifference of it all.

A dusty yellow cab pulls up, “On Duty” shines golden through the mossy air. “You need a lift, mister?” The cabbie looks at him with a sideways grin, pulls his hat back towards his neck to open us his face. He shakes his head, tells the cabbie there’s no time for joy rides. “There’s too much work to be done,” he adds and continues traversing the bowels of New York City.

Right on Liberty and up to William street, he turns left, heads towards Pine and Wall Street, Exchange Place, the belly of the beast. All is quiet. He can hear the scuffle of rats in the black bags of garbage left out for collection in the morning, smells the always-pervasive smell of shit that seeps through the darkened cracks of the city and settles down for a good, long stay. Sees the security guards sleeping at the New York Stock Exchange, the ghostly figure of Washington lit up like a Christmas tree watching over the center of capital trading. The wind rips through the cobblestone streets, lifts the giant American flag on the face of the Exchange and yanks at its ropes, bends it to its will, threatens to snap it off and send it flying into the dirtied Hudson. He pauses for a second, takes in the filtered light of the lampposts, the recognizable hums of vacuum cleaners, the violent whispers of the icy wind. Looks down and sees that here at the junction of Wall street and William street that the sidewalks are spotless, knows that the filth here has moved fully inwards to the weaknesses of man encased in stony structures. A couple approaches, the man in a navy blue suit, slicked back hair, a silk pink tie and a clean, pressed white shirt. His loafers click in step with his companion’s six-inch stilettos, shiny ebony lost in the shadows of the capital-rich calluses. Her flowing watermelon dress, her white sash, her soft blond hair and thick, catty carvings of makeup on her baby blue eyes. They move in sync, robotic marching at a midnight hour, pay no attention to him and walks right past, pauses at the door of the latest luxury apartments around the corner. With a twist of the key, the woman enters. The man pauses, looks back at him and scowls. “You are trash,” he transmits and enters. And they are gone.

The light from the nearest lamppost begins to flicker. He turns to face it, looks upwards. Smoke curls upwards from the subways in droves. The light expands, blinding rays shoot outwards to the murky intricacies of that baleful junction. A high-pitched emission and the light explodes. Shadowed curtains fall, he hears the menacing whispers of those all around him, sits on the soiled corner and pulls his coat in tight around his shoulders, flips up the collar to protect his neck from the increasing winds.

The dimly-lit carcass of the American flag on the Exchange looks on, bemused.

For fear of competance and qualified workers, the Norwegian tax office illegally refuse external publication of their own vancancies. Turns out all this time, vacancies have only been displayed witin their own offices!

Sounds too humorous to bee true? No it’s true alright.
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I began this post a few days back – Even the most insignificant thought does not escape my cerbral cortex. I love generalising as I believe most people are self-infatuated, write only for themselves and do not refrain from advising others. Conformance is a virtue drilled by people whose sole purpose in life is to show a certain degree of authority which they seek to maintain by any means.

Hey this sounds like Mein Kampf, except that I do not agree with Hitler’s misappropriation of a Hindu/Buddhist symbol for a Nordic army. The intellect of the Jew has contributed significantly to humanity, positively and negatively.

Relative Morals
History cannot be rewitten – we cannot wish away the fact that a supposedly pacifist Jewish scientist Einstein came up with the ideas used to split up the atom that led to the most destructive force in human history.

Indian intellectuals also love to gloat over Oppenheimer quoting the Vaishnavite magnum opus – “The Bhagavad Gita” when the first nuclear explosion occurred. This is a dual-edged sword – the Gita may be intrepreted by different sources as a religious text, a supreme revalation or a philosophical search.

Cogito,Ergo Sum
I blog because I think. Reality seems to trick you, a million eyes staring at you in the dark reality of cyberspace. Mind-boggling and philosophical may be dull adjectives used for self-flagellation or people reading things superficially.

Travelling in a train is the best way to observe people – so I thought. Feb 2005- a local train in Mumbai. Or nearly nine months of the London tube – with an international melange. Merci, obrigado, dasvadanya and Shukriya!

Tight writing means a single-minded focus – but I want the freedom to steer off-course. Quoting philosophers is not gravity, but troubling mental images. Nation-states says Jiddu Krishnamurti are binding ideas- opponents of peace and global integration.

The genius of the Indian intellect is inherently divisive – while the country does have many significant intellectual achievements, communal violence, internal discontent and the war within make the task harder.

Words seem to vindicate a void – a vicarious attempt at self-aggrandisement. What a waste.

Photographed by katutaide

Helsinki.

– License

Modern Europe re-defines Christianity; (Nov. 5, 2009)

            A few years ago, the European Parliament was considering attaching a clause in the Constitution that Christianity is the foundation of Europe’s civilization. It didn’t pass and Europe saved its modern identity as promoter of human rights and human dignity. How could a religion (one of the many in Europe), one of the various attributes in the vast matrix of a civilization be the exclusive characteristics of Europe?  Europe is a heterogynous society of Nordic, Slavic, and Mediterranean climate and cultures and was dominated intermittently by several Empires.

            Modern Europe has extended to its citizens a minimum of human rights.  This respect to human dignity was not the case until late in the 20^th century.  Respect of man did not evolve historically as a continuum but in bounds. Retrospective historical studies tend to discover just the illusion of human respect for rights and dignity.

            Europeans claiming Christianity to be the foundation for Europe’s new trend for “mercy, forgiveness, and kindness” (trying to attach these attribute to Europeans) forget that for many centuries the strongest faith in Europe was the taste for violence such as in the Inquisition, the chasing out of the Moslems and Jews from Spain, the Crusading campaigns, the conquest of overseas lands with the benediction of Papal Rome, the division of the conquered lands among the European monarchs by Papal decrees, the religious mass massacres among the Christian sects and factions with Papal consent, the so many wars in Europe where the Catholic Church was an integral party, and the worst of all the Dark Age in Europe that lasted from 400 to the 15^th century because the central religious power in Rome was apprehensive of rational thinking and forbade the influx of scientific works that might rob it of its temporal power.

            There are Europeans claiming that it was Christianity that set the foundation of the individualistic character in Europe, a non-conformist attitude to the collective norms, rituals, and traditions, the will for self-realization rather than clinging to the behavior of rank and file; they are also relying on entrenched illusions.  The Christian Church was the personification of harassing free thinkers and burning who defied the Christian central dogma for many centuries. Once baptized as a Christian at birth you had no other alternatives but to obey the Christian laws.  Christianity was the most exclusive religion of all and the religion that coerced colonized people by force into Christianity. As “Saint” Augustine wrote “It does not matter the faith of a new convert; what counts is what time and rituals will produce in the long run on him and his descendents.”  This is exactly the tactics of western globalization “Promote the consumerism of technological gadgets and the world will acquire faith in the superiority of western civilization”

            It is paganism that disseminated liberal thinking of individuality.  A pagan could worship any other idol in foreign lands (with different name but with the same potency in his mind) and he was never persecuted. A pagan could switch idols that suited his interest of the period and his community would not persecute him or ex-communicate him on his God’s preferences.

            The modern principle of universality which means that individuals of all genders, races, colors, and origins have the same mental potentials and capabilities as human; the differences should be discovered in societies. Christianity never had this meaning of universality in its dictionary of laws; a slave was a slave by birth and should accept his condition and offers his miseries and plights as sacrifices to God Jesus who suffered for the entire humanity and forgiveness of the “original sin” that never existed. The discovery by the Europeans of the universality of mankind was due to the de-colonization process, an implicit discourse on the role of society during the 20^th century.

            How could equality and fraternity have emerged from Christianity in order to claim that Europe’s roots are Christian? Lactance in 314 wrote “People are born equal. In societies where people are not considered equal then justice is not served.  Yes, within the Christian communities there are rich and poor, masters and slaves by the flesh but they are equal in the spirit.”  How sweet! Lactance was repeating St. Paul’s ejaculation that added oil to the machinery of the cast system. Gregory “the Great” considered charity what was offered to nobles reduced to poverty because of the huge suffering they felt of being considered within the rank of the poor classes; thus, the true poor people by birth were so used to their way of life that they didn’t need much charity to survive.

            The Western Christian Churches (Catholic and Protestants) supported and maintained the caste system of nobility and the “others” non-noble classes.  The feudal lord had the right to crush his vassals with all the might he possessed as a father had the rights over his kids.

            There are many Europeans who claim that it was Christianity that promoted the separation of the spiritual off the temporal power on the basis of Jesus saying “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar and to God was is due to God”;  this is total nonsense.  Most of the wars in Europe were launched by monarchs against the temporal influence of Papal Rome in state matters.  Neither the Catholic Church not the various Protestant sects relinquished their temporal “rights”.  Protestantism had this indirect advantage that it weakened the central power of Papal Rome; thus, Islam scientific manuscripts were permitted to enter Europe; this new openness to rational discovery was the main catalyst for the Renaissance period and the qualitative jump into modernity.  It does not mean that the previous sentence of Jesus had no influence in the mind of modern Europe; it does not mean also that Christianity willingly relinquished its temporal influence based on that sentence.  The Prophet Mohammad also urged Moslems to acquire knowledge even from China; it worked for four centuries; it does not mean that Moslems remembered that encouragement most of the time.

            There are Europeans when pressed to give an identity (other than their State) they might opt for their religious denomination (with utmost reluctance in Europe) and thus, when a European says that he is Christian it is sort of a family name, the latest in heritage, as cathedrals, old churches, and the paintings, sculptures, and music of the Renaissance period. Christianity cannot be used as identification because it won’t do: most of the US citizens also claim to be Christians, as is the case with Latin Americans; does this means that they could also be considered Europeans or European civilization roots?

            Modern Europe is democratic, secular, with laws guaranteeing free religious beliefs, free speech, gathering, and opinions, human rights, sexual liberty, welfare states, open borders and travel.  Modern Europe is anathema to the principles and practices of Christian Churches.  Christianity must be glad that the modern European civilization is giving it not just a mere face lift but a totally different identity.

Note 1: This topic was inspired by the last chapter in French book “When the world became Christian” by late Paul Veyne.

Note 2:  Ten years a go, Europe was the scene of large genocide; not just between “Christians and Moslems” but among Christians of Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox on the basis of “ethnic cleansing”.

Trisez cand vine vorba despre confort, recunosc. Imi place sa merg oriunde, sa fac orice dar sa stiu ca, la un moment dat, ma intorc intr-un loc care sa-mi mangaie fiecare colt de minte si de piele. Ma bag in orice cacat cu mintea si corpul pregatite dar trebuie sa stiu ca ma intorc in confort. Nu ma grabesc, nu fug repede inapoi, imi fac treaba in ale chinuirii propriei persoane, imi fortez limitele poate mai mult decat cei care nu au un loc ca lumea in care sa se intoarca.

In Berlin am stat in ultima vreme in Charlottenburg. Am stat multa vreme in Mitte, centrul Berlinului dar serviciile erau mediocre, in Charlottenburg sunt excelente. Mitte-ul era plin de snobi si de turisti, in Charlottenburg e aristocratia berlineza si asta se simte pana si-n mirosul aerului. Mi-am ales cartierul asta pentru ca am vrut sa scriu in liniste, nu sunt genul de scriitor care trebuie sa stea in mijlocul pulsarii vietii ca sa scrie. Eu plec, imi strang intamplari si ma intorc sa le pun pe hartie in liniste perfecta. Nu pot sa traiesc si sa scriu in acelasi timp. In ultima luna insa mi-am simtit mintea usor amortita. Autosuficienta, linistea, bunastarea cartierului m-au amortit. Am incercat cu drumuri de seara in Lichtenberg sau Neukölln dar nu mi-a fost de ajuns. Lichtenberg este cartierul nazist al Berlinului, cartier din care, in weekend, e o traditie sa plece grupuri de neo-nazisti catre Friedrichshain, cartierul declarat alternativ din Berlin si, din pacate, invecinat cu Lichtenberg-ul. Neo-nazistii agreseaza verbal si, atunci cand pot trece de vigilenta politiei, si fizic oamenii care par “altfel”. Neukölln-ul este cartierul arabesc al Berlinului, cartier in care nu se vorbeste nici o boaba de germana. Nemtii se refera la el ca la “cartierul unilateral in care se gasesc legume bune”. Ma duc in ambele cartiere atunci cand amortesc, asa cum am spus, intr-o bunastare fizica si mentala care nu imi este, de fapt, proprie. Inteleg acum foarte bine ce mi-a raspuns unul din cei mai buni prieteni ai mei la intrebarea mea: “In Berlin sunt multi arabi si rusi?”. L-am simtit usor iritat atunci, el neiritandu-se usor. Eu ma pregateam sa ma mut la Berlin, el era medic in Berlin de foarte multi ani. Mi-a raspuns: “Draga mea, sa stii ca in Berlin sunt si foarte multi nemti.” Mi-a dat atunci o palma discreta pentru intrebarea mea stupida care denota intoleranta si un orizont marunt in ale vietii pe termen lung in Occident. Cateodata, intr-adevar, nemtii, cu tot ce au ei mai bun, te fac sa te simti amortit. Le imprumuti starea contagioasa si te trezesti deodata ca nu iti este proprie si ca vrei sa iesi din ea pana cand nu sfarsesti prin a fi zidit in ceva ce nu iti este deloc familiar.

La pranz am iesit in temporarul meu Charlottenburg si am privit seninatatea bogatiei cartierului. Veneau multi copii costumati de Halloween sa isi ceara dulciurile. Parintii ii aduceau cu masina si ii urmareau cu timiditatea si daruirea tipice germane, copiii se intristau foarte tare cand cineva nu le raspundea iar atunci parintii ieseau din masina si sunau din nou la cei care nu raspunsesera. Daca acestia raspundeau, parintii le explicau cat de tare se intristasera copiii si atunci usa se deschidea de cele mai multe ori. Italienii de la parter iesisera cu biscotti proaspat facuti si dadeau parintilor care isi asteptau copiii, un domn a scos din masina o sticla de vin rosu, cineva de la etajul doi, privind scena, a coborat cu pahare. Ca intotdeauna, s-a pornit o discutie. Halloween-ul e ceva imprumutat, intr-adevar, dar copiii se bucura si, in fond, “orice prilej care ne aduce impreuna, ca sa mancam biscotti si sa bem vin rosu e bun, nu?”. Ce puteam sa zic? Asa e. Chiar daca eu nu beau vin.

Am plecat apoi spre o zona salbatica in cel mai frumos sens cu putinta, am plecat intr-o padure, pe marginea unul lac si voi sta in zona asta cel putin doua saptamani. Mi-a fost putin teama ca aceasta salbaticie imi va accentua deruta pe care o resimt in ultimele zile, deruta care a pornit dupa ce am citit post-ul unei fete care s-a dus la bunica ei la tara si s-a simtit acasa. Eu nu ma simt nicaieri acasa in clipa asta. Sase zile din sapte treaba asta mi se pare senzationala, o zi mi se pare ceva dezastruos. Am plecat in aceasta relativa salbaticie din doua motive, doua motive care, de fapt, se imbina intr-unul: viata din Charlottenburg m-a facut sa simt foarte dureros faptul ca nu ma simt nicaieri acasa in clipa de fata si ca ceea ce traiesc este doar o buna calatorie in casa altora. Mi-am spus sa ma rup oficial de tot, ca macar sa am o explicatie pentru cumplitul gol care se resimte in registrul ideii de “acasa”. As vrea sa ma pot intoarce undeva, la niste radacini cu care sa fiu impacata, si sa-mi trag ceva seva de-acolo. Dar nu am un astfel de loc. Asa cum stiti, nu am pe nimeni la tara. Asta o scriu si putin ironic pentru ca nu pot sa cred ca nu mai exista radacini romanesti care nu sunt la tara, nu pot sa cred ca nu mai exista oameni ca mine, oameni care nu au pe nimeni la tara si care nu si-au petrecut nici macar o vacanta la tara. Nu am nici un loc care sa-mi trezeasca amintiri vechi si bune, trecutul meu romanesc este o lupta continua de a pastra ceva delicat in mijlocul unui morman de laturi. Laturile stiute. In rest, am amintiri superbe, la fel ca si cele care s-au strans in acest an petrecut la Berlin, care nu au legatura cu radacinile mele ci cu ceea ce ma straduiesc sa devin. “Sunt acasa!” spunea fata in post. Eu nu pot spune asta in legatura cu nici un loc din lume in clipa de fata. Asa ca m-am simtit foarte in elementul meu cautand noaptea o casa in padure. Nu ma simteam, de fapt, rupta de nimic, nu ma simteam decat extrem de autentica. Eram in bezna, in padure, in frig naprasnic, cautand o casa care era luminata vag. Nu cunosteam pe nimeni, nu stiam nimic despre zona, nu stiam decat ca Polonia este foarte aproape. Ma rog, Polonia este aproape de Berlin dar este si mai aproape de locul in care voi locui in urmatoarea perioada. Cu toate ca nu am spus nimanui explicit, voiam sa simt aer de Est dar fara macabra degenerare a Estului experimentata in Romania. Dorinta de Est nu mi-a fost satisfacuta, interiorul caselor era decorat scandinav, la intrarea in fiecare casa erau dovleci cu lumanari in ei, lumea mergea pe biciclete si arata occidental, era o curatenie impecabila, tipic nordica, o cochetarie cu suflet tipic nordica.

Am ajuns la domnul de la care trebuia sa imi iau cheia casei, m-a auzit cainele lui si a inceput sa latre, domnul a iesit, m-a invitat inauntru. Mi-a spus de unde pot sa imi iau oua proaspete, de unde pot sa imi iau peste proaspat, mi-a spus de unde sa imi iau paine calda si mi-a spus ca doamna care face paine da si lectii de gatit mancare vegetariana. Farmacistei ii pui in cutia postala un biletel cu ce medicament vrei, ti-l aduce ea la usa ziua urmatoare, mi-a dat si numarul doctorului, daca apare vreo urgenta. I-am spus ca eu lucrez noaptea si ca ma trezesc tarziu, mi-a spus ca e perfect, ca nu ma va deranja nimic. Designul locului in care discutam batea detasat un designhotel din Florenta, de exemplu. La fel s-a dovedit a fi si design-ul casei in care locuiesc. Domnul mi-a facut cadou un borcan cu gem de pere culese din livada lui. Este cel mai bun gem pe care l-am mancat in viata mea.

Nu am vrut sa recunosc ca m-a preocupat ce am citit pe un profil de Facebook al unui baiat care sta in Paris. El a postat ce scrie pe un biletel fixat cu o candela pe mormantul lui Cioran din cimitirul Montparnasse. “Unui roman trait printre straini, ca si mine.” Biletul este scris de sotia lui Emil Cioran, Claudia. Nu exprimarea m-a miscat, nu am trait cine stie ce revelatie citind-o. Nu imi place sa ma gandesc nici la “un roman printre straini” si nici la un titlu ca cel al romanului Gabrielei Melinescu, “Acasa printre straini”. Straini imi sunt si imi vor ramane cei cu care nu am impartasit aceleasi valori, straini imi sunt cei care m-au umilit, care m-au redus la ce au putut ei digera, straini imi sunt cei care m-au iritat, infuriat, plictisit cu marlania, marsavia sau mediocritatea lor.

Nu sunt acasa dar nu sunt nici printre straini. Pentru ca eu nu am niste apropiati in raport cu care cei de-aici sau din alte tari sa-mi fie straini, mi-am dat seama cat se poate de clar de acest lucru. Problema mea ramane: nu am un “acasa”. Dar nu sunt printre straini. Sunt printre oameni care ma emotioneaza zilnic prin umanitatea lor. Astfel de oameni nu imi pot fi straini. Straini imi sunt cei care ma ingrozesc prin lipsa lor de umanitate. Si prin lipsa lor de concentrare.

Adevarul oribil si greu de suportat deocamdata este ca abia acum incep sa traiesc iar deruta vine din faptul ca nu am nimic, lucru care se justifica in cazul unui copil dar care nu se justifica in cazul unui adult.

Sweden’s largest selling daily newspaper, Stockholm’s Dagens Nyheter, has published a debate article by Gunnar Wetterberg in which he argues for the five Nordic countries uniting to form a federal state.

Wetterberg argues that together Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland would have a combined population of over 25 million and a GNP that would make the new nation the world’s tenth biggest economy, coming before both Brazil and Russia. With such might, a new ‘Kalmar Union’ could find itself included in the top tier of international decision making.

At the start, decisions would be made in a European Council style manner, i.e. unanimity  or at least no objections between the national governments would be required. However, eventually there would be a bicameral parliament with a lower house elected proportionally (from pan-Nordic party lists) and a senate in which a constituent country’s size would not be as determining for the distribution of seats (i.e. in the style of the USA’s Senate where each state, regardless of population, has 2 members).

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II would be the Queen of the federal state, the obvious choice for symbolic reasons according to Wetterberg. (Margrethe I reigned over the Kalmar Union and thus ensures that the contemporary Danish queen really would be the second Margrethe in all of the new state). Wetterberg suggests if this is too problematic, the head of state could rotate between the five lands in the style Malaysia’s seven sultans. I wonder what we Finns and the Icelanders would think to the reinstitution of a monarchy? Hardly democratic.

Wetterberg envisages that cooperation and common laws would be increased over time, but each state would continue to have considerable autonomy, along the model of the present Nordic autonomous territories (such as Åland and Greenland).

On the linguistic front, all school children would learn another language of the federal state from the first year of school. Official documents would all be published in two languages: Finnish and one of the Scandinavian languages. Wetterberg states that the Scandinavian languages would include Icelandic as an option, even if this would be difficult to understand for many from the beginning. This seems, at best, optimistic if not down right insane. As a Swedish-speaker, I certainly can not read Icelandic.

It is perhaps fair to comment that only a Swede could write such an article. Sweden has not had its existence called into question for centuries. The Swedes have not fought a war in 200 years (since they lost what is now Finland to Russia). They can therefore perhaps not understand that the Norwegians, the Icelanders and the Finns value our nationhood as something more special. It is something new. Something that has within living memory not been an automatic right. Finland fought for her survival in 1918 and the 1940s and spent most of the second half of the twentieth century under the constant shadow of the Soviet Union. One might say that Finland only achieved real and full freedom with the fall of the USSR, for only then could Finland truly control its entire destiny itself. To suggest that the Finns, Norwegians and Icelanders would give this up so soon is something I doubt would be sellable to the populations. Although, at least in a Nordic superstate, the Finnish-speaking Finns might see the value of the Swedish language and Swedish-speaking Finns might have it easier to maintain their rights.

We are currently planning the SPOT 2010 festival, and it is now that orchestras and artists, for who it would have national and international interest, can apply to participate in the festival. Booking agencies, management agencies, record companies, concerts arrangers, the media and so on, are also welcome to suggest Danish or Nordic acts for the SPOT Festival.

Application procedure
All application to the SPOT 2010 Festival is electronic, and you can already now at www.spotfestival.dk/application apply to participate in the festival – follow the given instructions for how information regarding a band, contacts, booking-contract, pr-material and listening material is uploaded to our server.

Application deadline
Tuesday the 1st of December 2009 at 12.00 P.M
www.spotfestival.dk/application

The programme for the SPOT Festival is created, in basis of the received material, sent in by the bands and business associations. The programme is created, choosing groups/soloists, which are currently fore fronting the immediate Danish and Nordic music scene. ROSA’s interests lie mostly within the current new music movements, but also creates the program from a point of view, that focuses on the international music communities interest and demand, which is why previous performances at SPOT doesn’t necessarily disqualify any applicant.

The final program is determined by
ROSA – The Danish Rock Council

It is the SPOT Festivals main purpose to support the qualitative rhythmic music on the national and international market, through showcases-concerts, and by strengthening international knowledge and cultural networks.

More info at: www.spotfestival.dk

http://www.spotfestival.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=541&sid=5&catid=14

Igår, den 20 oktober, fikade  nästan 290 000 personer runt om i norden rättvisemärkt! Och det land som samlade ihop flest fikasugna var Sverige med det förkrossande deltagarantalet 133 017 st. Bra jobbat alla härliga fikare där ute!

På vår fika i Kårhuset i Malmö, blev vi 24 stycken. Vi njöt av rättvisemärkt kaffe, te, choklad, kakor, morotskaka och hjärtemums.

Läs mer om Nordic Fair Trade Challenge här.

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Tomoko sounds like a cool person, eh!

This is so incredibly catchy!

Hafdis Huld – Tomoko

kompact has a limited appeal, mostly it has to get cold in ur country otherwise this shit wouldnt fly. its cold now. and damn if i dont want to listen to nordic minimal pop. kompact fits the bill. more of their stuff here.

Matias Aguayo-Rollerskate

Add This Song (Klovn Mix) – GusGus

No Turning Back (Wighnomy’s Likkalize Love Rekksmi) – Gui Boratto

Bo Jack (Vocal) Feat. Ladybumbox – Matias Aguayo