The Copenhagen Report

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As a city sheds its identity…
2009-05-15 00:29:00
Today is a rare day where I will make a radical departure from the normal theme of this blog, which is basically ‘life in Copenhagen’. I’m not sure why, but what the hell, I’m going to write a bit about the city where I come from, which in many ways is the polar opposite of Copenhagen. Oshawa. If you think you’ve heard that name before, I know why. Oshawa, you see, has the dubious identity one of the renowned Canadian home-bases of General Motors. And with the pending bankruptcy of General Motors, Oshawa is the international news again, that is, if you are looking out for it.To give you an idea of the impact General Motors has had on the political psyche of the city, just consider that Oshawa (population 150,000) used to have a slogan, “the city that moto-vates Canada� written on the ‘Welcome to Oshawa’ signboards as you entered the city. I’m not making that up.Oshawa does make a momentarily interesting parallel with Copenhagen. You could say the bicycle in Copen...
More About: City

Copenhagen biker gangs...
2009-04-15 23:54:00
They can't all be hells angels or rockers...this group parked their high-octane bikes...well, choppers, to be precise (yes, pictured) then proceeded to engage in a ferocious round of...Easter Monday window shopping in Nørrebro.
More About: Copenhagen , Biker , Gangs

Maybe it's time to start sending more mail...
2009-03-15 21:49:00
Trying to conjure up an image of just how it is to live in Copenhagen for someone who has never been here is never an easy task. It's the nuances that can be so tricky. Case in point: beautiful blond postwomen on bicycles? An outsider could be forgiven for visualising something akin to what could be described as 'precisely the polar opposite of Planet of the Apes' (with more bikes). I not sure if this would be an entirely accurate image, although on a good number of sunny summer days I would probably be inclined to agree it could be.Anyway, if you feel you could be characterised as something of a bicycle fetishist, or, more modestly, were simply curious to get a better handle on just what this Copenhagen bicycle culture is all about, gazing at a lousy phone camera picture of a couple of bicycling postwomen on this blog won't get you that far (though you'd be surprised at the effort capturing this little moment actually took). Rather, I suggest clicking straight over to ever-imp...
More About: Mail , Time , Start , Sending

And now your moment of zen...
2009-03-14 17:00:00
I would suggest that if you only had 22 minutes to watch TV each weekday, and perhaps even listen to the news, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart might be about the best way to spend that time. Living in Copenhagen, one never has available quite the full range of American TV shows available to watch (which doesn't mean you're necessarily missing much), luckily The Daily Show is one that happens to be broadcast twice daily in Denmark, on DR2 (or you can just click over to www.thedailyshow.com to see a streamed version of every episode).This past week has been one of the most memorable weeks in the shows history, as Jon Stewart has unflinchingly targeted his satirical guns at CNBC, the cheerleading and often mindless 24-hour American financial network, for 'missing' the fact that the market had become wildly overinflated, which included the stock valuation of countless companies. This attack by Jon Stewart in turn prompted Jim Cramer, host of one of CNBC's popular shows, to lamely f...
More About: Moment

Deluded nationalists unite! The Copenhagen Post wants you!
2009-02-23 22:15:00
Each week, The Copenhagen Post passes across my desk at work. For those with a limited knowledge of Danish with an interest in Copenhagen, it's a often the starting point for picking up a bit of Danish news (though a better one is probably the handful of English article published at www.politiken.dk). As I can pretty much follow along with the normal Danish press, my need for the Copenhagen Post is limited - a good thing as it is hardly a comprehensive news source. But they do gamely (and oftentimes lamely) try.The Copenhagen Post has been making effort to resemble a more traditional newspaper over the years, for example, by adding an editorial section, where newspaper takes a stand on one issue of the other. Which is what motivated me to sit down a write this little piece.Now, trying to gracefully convey my feelings after reading the pile of smelly tripe they attempted to pass off for the reasoned opinion of the editor in the Feb. 20-26, 2009 edition will not be easy. But I shall ...

How f*&king hard can it be to buy a bottle of contact lens solution in
2009-02-19 22:13:00
Actually, the answer is 'quite bloody difficult!' In fact, really f%#king difficult!You see, for some reason only opticians in Copenhagen sell contact lens solution. Now, why Matas, for example, purveyors of a wide range of shampoos, body lotions, perfumes, and plenty of other more or less useful personal items, doesn't also sell contact lens solution has always been beyond me.Okay then. Fine. Need contact lens solution, head for the optical shop.Oops! Turns out the all friendly neighbourhood eye glass shops close at 17.30 on weekdays in my neighbourhood!! 17.30!! Is it too much to ask for just 1 lousy hour between 17.00-18.00 to shop every day??!! What the f&%k!?! It's like these shops are doing everything possible to avoid customers! Outside of the center of Copenhagen they close at 14.00 on Saturday. And of course, try not to run out Saturday night since on Sundays shops in Copenhagen are annoyingly closed.How can something so simple be so complicated? I've been trying a...
More About: Contact , Hard , Lens , King , Contact Lens

Snowy søerne in Copenhagen...
2009-02-16 22:49:00
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The snowy lakes in Copenhagen ...but watch out for frozen ducks...

You shook me all night long...well, for a few seconds anyway
2008-12-16 08:50:00
The walls were was shaking, the earth was quaking....last night in Copenhagen. Quite a few woke up wondering just what the neighbours were up to. In fact, the shaking woke me up too. And indeed it was an earthquake 4.7 richter scale at 6.20AM - the biggest earthquake in Denmark in 23 years. Hmmm, how about that. Earthquakes are extremely rare in this area - not surprising given how flat the regions is. The epicenter was in Sweden, some 65 km away from Copenhagen.Click here to read about it on the USGS Earthquake Warning Center site.
More About: Night , Long

Euro dreams...
2008-12-12 22:19:00
I have to admit that I was something of a rare species, in my surroundings, back in 2000 during the last Danish referendum on whether to replace the kroner with the euro. At the time I was attending Copenhagen Business School, where support for the Euro was about as close to unanimous as one can get. Business types, you know. Myself, I was quietly something of a skeptic. Actually, it wasn't really because I was against joining. My position was that Denmark was in the enviable position of being able to afford to wait. Denmark had stability and a solid economy, after all. Which is to say, it was the 'Euro Club' that had to prove itself to Denmark, not the other way around. So why rush it? Why should Denmark rush into the scheme before the euro had proven itself as a functional currency?So to be clear, this was by no means true opposition to the euro, more of a strategic 'what's the harm in waiting a couple years?'. A type of passive opposition. In case you didn't figure it out,...
More About: Dreams

Cycling along the lakes...and the smell of summer
2008-12-10 14:48:00
Not that long ago, anyone going for a little bicycle ride along the lakes ('Søerne') in Copenhagen, which stretch from Vesterbro, past Nørrebro and all the way over to Osterbro, was greeted by very unfriendly gates and 'no cycling' signs. It looked exactly like this:...obviously, not everyone agreed with the messageIt was one of the most nonsensical cycling restriction in Copenhagen. Not only is are the lakes a great place to cycle, but with two enormously wide paths, one running right alongside the water, the other set about a meter higher set in from the water, there is more than ample enough space for both bicycles and pedestrians. But at long last, the restrictions are being lifted and finally the path along the lakes looks as it should. There are still a couple of fences up towards Osterbro, which I assume will disappear soon (or are being left to 'slow' bicycle traffic).no more barriers or bicycle restrictions!An amusing thing about this (above) picture is it is preci...
More About: Summer , Cycling , Smell , Lakes

Time to end it...
2008-11-27 19:22:00
Opening the door the other morning, there they were. Yes, it is absolutely unbelievable that these huge think phone books which go straight into the recycling bin still make there way to the door of every house and apartment in Copenhagen...whether you like it or not! Seriously, does anyway actually use these things anymore? Stop! Stop! Stop!And apparently Politiken's readers agree too.
More About: Time

Take me to that Samsø island wonderland!
2008-11-16 08:00:00
The Danish island of Samsø was subject of a recent highly complementary profile in The Guardian, focusing on the incredible 'green' approach being taken by the inhabitants of the Danish island, who are now living 'off-the-grid'. Yep, no mainland electricity, the island is self-sufficient thanks largely to wind and solar power.I've visited the island a couple of times, both visits occurred a few years ago, and I've been planning to get back every since. Samsø is an island whose reality more-or-less matches the romantic images phrases such as 'island life' can conjure up (assuming those romantic images involve Northern-Scandinavian type islands, of course). I mean, Copenhagen is also on an island, and I sometime jokingly refer to the idea of 'island-life' when talking about Life in Copenhagen because frankly this is not the sort of 'island life' people typically think about when using a phrase like 'island life'.On Samsø, there's basically one small town of note, wit...
More About: Island

Your favourite shaving cream, monsieur...
2008-11-15 17:21:00
Most weeks, the Tjek section of Politiken makes for an interesting read. One focus of the section is on comparing a number of similar products sold in various shops around Denmark, and assessing which one represents the best value. 'Value' in the check section is typically a fairly holistic measure, encompassing price - but quality is really at the heart of it. The range of products that have been put to the Tjek test is quite broad – recent examples range from the mundane - like table salt (who would have known there was much of a taste difference between different types of sale, but Tjek made a convincing argument that there indeed is), the distinctly Danish, like packaged fish (mackeral, for the most part I believe) in tomato sauce, to this weeks featured produce - shaving cream.Tjek really is a pretty useful endeavour, because frankly without investing a lot of time, effort and energy, it's pretty hard to assess most products in any detail, especially when it comes down to ...
More About: Shaving , Cream

The Storm at Vega
2008-11-01 13:46:00
ngThe impossibly seductive Pernille Rosendahl (and Co.), live at Vega on Thursday evening, concluding a month long tour around Denmark. There's always a risk of having to listen to a lot of not so great-filler whenever a band with only one album is headlining a show, but The Storm didn't waste anytime moving firmly from one solid track to the next from their excellent debut album during their high-energy show on Thursday. I certainly wouldn't hestitate to plunk down my cash to see them again in the future.The Storm features a bit heavier sound than the now-defunct Swan Lee, but there's no denying Pernill Rosendahl is one hell of a talented singer - and they are a pretty decent songwriting duo as well, with the promise of more to come. Let's hope so.

With Transglobal Underground coming to Copenhagen...
2008-10-30 19:08:00
by: Timothy Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)Upon discovering that Transglobal Underground , one of the (many, many) favourite bands of The Copenhagen Report, was coming to Copenhagen for a show on Nov. 13, we got in touch with Tim Whelan, the band's leader, keyboard and guitar player, to find out in advance of the show about what they've been up to lately. But if you've never heard Transglobal Underground, it's a chance to check out their full-throttle live performance, which never disappoints...It's great to see the band showing up in Denmark (and Sweden) for a few shows. You could say the shows from the current tour have been pretty scattered around - how does the band decide where to tour these days?Most of the time we've been playing where the album has been released.....and it hasn't been released in Scandinavia so we haven't played there for 2 years up till the current invitation to play with Valravn.TGU has been persistent over the years - a good things for fa...

Two exhibitions worth your precious time...
2008-10-20 00:17:00
The exhibition u-turn is notable for its scope, and for the fact that its simply not the kind of exhibition that makes it's way to Copenhagen often enough. It's really more of a typically London or Berlin kind of exhibition. It's by no means mind-blowingly original or anything like that, but it's amusing - and it would be great to see more exhibitions closer to this scale in Copenhagen. Personally, I haven't had a chance to fully explore many of the associated events, of which there are many throughout the month, but I did get out to one of the main parts of it, that being the one out at Carlsberg in Vesterbro/Valby, which was quite amusing and perfectly located in an big old (and now unused) warehouse/manufacturing room. A great way to spend an hour or two on a Sunday.And of course the ever-reliable Louisiana has done it again with a fantastic retrospective of Danish artist Per Kirkeby's work. Watch the video in which the curator of the exhibitions talks to Per Kirkeby about ...
More About: Time , Exhibitions , Worth , Precious

...we scrub harder
2008-10-19 21:45:00
I know this blog is desperately in need of more loving, and I will work on it. In the meantime, a possibly helpful note: if you need someone to clean your toilets, consider poaching one of the staff from the cleaning service of Copenhagen airport. Apparently, they do scrub harder (or so their sign claimed...), which I suppose is what you would want. Enough said.

Is this where the best falafel in Copenhagen is found?
2008-09-14 17:56:00
The unpretentious falafel stand in Christiania. A fine falafel, they certainly sell. The best in the city...it just might be, if you ask me.
More About: Copenhagen

Farewell Nyhedsavisen...we won't miss ya'!
2008-09-01 23:56:00
Out came the announcement a short while ago that one of Copenhagen's 4 free daily newspapers, Nyhedsavisen, had (at last) run aground, apparently after bleeding some 1 million kroner per day (!!). It officially closed its doors for good yesterday.Here's a couple of comments I can offer:Firstly, this is hardly a surprise. In the last apartment we lived, Nyhedsavisen used to get delivered to the door most mornings, for some reason or other. We certainly never ordered it. Interestingly, it was generally there on the doorstep in the late evening, the day before. That is to say, the news was about as fresh as a loaf of stale bread - and an extremely low quality one, with not much taste to begin with, at that.Secondly, bike anywhere around the center of Copenhagen and one cannot avoid the free newspapers. MetroXpress and Urban are arguably at the absolute bare minimum level of acceptability of the lot - lest you misunderstand what I'm mean, let me define 'minimum level of acceptabilit...
More About: Miss , Farewell

Summer days on Bornholm
2008-08-28 00:00:00
Rønne, Bornholm from the air...Ending up on the Danish island of Bornhorm during the summer months, and a mere 3 hours from Copenhagen - assuming no bad weather has caused the catamarans to be cancelled (more on that later) - is never a bad option, in spite of the unreliable Danish weather. So, a few simple pictures...Rønne from the sea...Deep blue waters straight off the rocks waters makes for a great place for a quick jump into the water at Allinge (just in front of the røgeri)the view from Hasle...fishermen in the Rønne harbour...wood...and watera visit just woudn't be complete without a bit of smoked herring...in this case from Svanekeyep, smoked herring...smoked fish! Now this is a moment in Danish time. A classic and tasty Bornholm tourist dish from the Svaneke Røgeri - smoked herring, rugbrød, and some butter (and in this case a mussel on the side...)Homemade at Svaneke: The Flødebolle (a distinctly Danish, well, Scandinavian, chocolate treat...)Hammershus...taking yo...
More About: Summer , Days

The joys of media-whoring
2008-08-23 15:03:00
I am not typically a reader of the Danish (tabloid-style) newspaper BT. But yesterday, I felt obligated to purchase a copy for the first (and probably only) time.You see, my girlfriend's parents happen to be BT subscribers, which proved lucky for me, as it was they who discovered what I otherwise I would never have known - which was that in yesterday's BT issue I had been quoted extensively, though rather cryptically, in an article in BT's travel section.Yes, it seems the good folks at BT (or at least one of their journalists, KÃ¥re Welinder) was trolling around CNN's website and came across the interview I recently contributed about life in Copenhagen. KÃ¥re was kind enough to write a very positive article based on a few of quotes and comments from that interview, translated into Danish - attributing them to 'den canadiske journalist Tim' ('the Canadian journalist Tim'). Nice.A shame KÃ¥re didn't bother to actually give my full name, or directly mention The Copenhagen Repo...
More About: Media

Friday night at Tivoli (with The Flaming Lips)
2008-08-12 07:44:00
One of the best deals out there for a night of entertainment happens on a Friday night at Tivoli Gardens - the amusement park in the center of Copenhagen. Well, not just any Friday, but some of them. In case you live in Copenhagen, but under a rock, every week Tivoli hosts a Friday concert ("Fridagsrock") series, where for the price of admission you get a 'free' open air concert. And every now and then a major international act turns up - such as this past week - along with plenty of worthwhile Scandinavian names the rest of the weeks. Admittedly, not every one of them is exactly worth the price of admission, and there are times when Tivoli's lousy sound system can be problematic. But if you get yourself into the right position, and the band has decent sound guys, it can be pretty damn good.This past Friday The Flaming Lips rolled into town and played a Friday concert at Tivoli. It was an impressive performance, to say the least, as The Flaming Lips take their stage show pretty s...
More About: Night

Hmmm, what's that beer...?
2008-08-12 07:06:00
Every now and then, some little and seemingly meaningless event or incident reminds you that things are always developing, and in the case of Copenhagen, generally for the better, I would say.A recent addition at the exit gates at Copenhagen Airport is a case in point. The orange facade and clean lines of the relatively new 'Nørrebro Bryghus' bar is the first thing passengers see as they exit the airport. And this really is something notable - notable for what it isn't.See, in years past, dear old Carlsberg would never have let such an opportunity to blast their green logo in front of a few million people, many stepping onto Danish soil for the first time, get by them. But somehow the little Nørrebro Bryhus-microbrewery outfoxed the giant, grabbing onto this prime spot. And it's more than a symbolic victory, since this really is the first 'visual of Denmark' as passengers exit customs and effectively enter Denmark.It's also a nice allegory to the state of the beer market in...
More About: Beer

SÃ¥ crooner vi igen!
2008-08-10 12:44:00
By: Tim Anderson (timothyanderson2005@gmail.com)"Så crooner vi igen" ('So we crooner again') announced the sign above the bar as we sauntered into Kassen on Nørrebrogade one Wednesday night not all that long ago. As the band set up the Rhodes kyeboard, double base and drum set, we had a hunch we just might have stumbled on to something. Casting our eyes over the classic bar menu, and the classically decked out bartenders, we decided we had to pull up a bar stool and find out.Indeed we had.There's almost nothing better than discovering a new mid-week diversion, even if it's actually not all that new and has (presumably) been there right in front of your blissfully ignorant eyes for some time. Precisely this was what happened Wednesday night about 3 weeks ago when, rambling around Nørrebro looking for just the right place to fit our mood that evening, 'Kassen' came up as a suggestion. It was a place we had been ignoring for some years.And what do you know, turns out Wednesda...

Grabbing just a tiny ray of Connie Neilsen's limelight...
2008-08-06 18:04:00
It's a bit frustrating that I just haven't had time these last few weeks for this blog, but as I promised, that will change soon.In the meantime, perhaps this interview I did with CNN International about life in Copenhagen in connection with one of their shows, My City_My life could be of interest. It's not often that you get to share the stage with Connie Neilsen, somewhat metaphorically in this case, and I certainly couldn't ask for anymore publicity for this blog than this!
More About: Tiny , Limelight

The last Distortion Festival post for 2008...
2008-06-07 11:43:00
The scene at Enghave Plads in Vesterbro last night as the Distortion Festival roared on. Blue skies and warm music. Priceless.www.cphdistortion.dk
More About: Post , 2008

The Copenhagen Distortion Festival 2008 in Norrebro...a few pics
2008-06-06 19:14:00
Like there was a choice whether to join or not. When your flat lies just around the corner from the heart of the action, as does the flat of yours truly, you may as well embace the action and join in. So last night the Distortion Festival was as loud and rowdy and amusing as was to be expected.From the 'Obama' Party bus to Christiania Cycle (with build in sound system) that kept the music playing even after it had 'officially' stopped, to the guys with a draft beer tap set up in their ground floor apartment serving beer directly through their window onto the street (now that's entrepreneurial spirit - especially given the outrageous queues at the local kiosks selling beer!) it was an entertaining evening.As the Distortion Festival proves, when the sun shines so does Copenhagen ...and when the sun sets, the fun really begins (even on a Thursday night). Thank goodness for the weekend...and the Distortion Festival in Vesterbro.www.cphdistortion.dkahhhhh, Sankt Hans Torv...the offic...
More About: 2008

The Copenhagen Distortion Festival Hits Norrebro...
2008-06-04 22:16:00
On Thursday, the annual Copenhagen Distortion Festival hits Nørrebro. Last year it was a great evening, with the police even cooperating and closing down some streets to traffic until extremely late in the evening (as the music played on...). Tomorrow threatens to be even better - the weather looks to be just perfect, and the Festival gets more and more word of mouth and media attention every year. And it's good. Always. If you're into this sort of thing, at least occasionally.On Friday the festival hits Vesterbro, and then on Saturday is the Final party. But there's something about a mid-week party that can be a welcome relief, even if only once in a while. And the area around Sankt Hans Torv is just the right size to have an intimately massive little happening.www.cphdistortion.dkHopefully more to report shortly.
More About: Hits

Somebody PLEASE teach these nurses some math!! (or at least give them a cal
2008-06-03 23:18:00
23,000 kroner x 0,0075% pay increase this year x 60,0% after tax= 100 kroner per month (approximately)or23,000 kroner/160 hours x 0.0075% pay increase this year x 60,0% after tax= 0.675 kr/hour (approximately)Yes, a little bit of math to start this blog entry - please forgive my occasionally rational thought process. The outcome of these little calculations is essentially the reason why nurses in Copenhagen went on strike, and remain on strike several futile weeks later.It's all about 100 kroner per month in salary (after tax) or .675 kroner an hour. To put this another way: if you were offered 149.33 kroner per hour for a job, but demanded 150 kroner, would you turn the job down!!???I'm not trying to be clever here, just a bit sensible!Of course, the nurses union possesses, how shall we phrase this delicately, a questionable level of competence. This opinion, admittedly, stems from the fact that the author's girlfriend was once a nurse, though she gave up that profession some ye...
More About: Math , Give , Nurses

Jeg er (ikke) dansker...
2008-05-26 22:38:00
The Danish daily newspaper Politiken is currently running an outstanding - and much needed - campaign entitled 'Jeg er dansker' ('I am Danish'). It features daily photos of 'typical' and 'less-typical' Danes. These less-typical Danes have all to often, in recent years, been cast as something - anything - but truly Danish by a minority of Danish politicians (and their supporters). Sadly, these politicians at this point have all but managed to hijack not only the issues and agenda, but also much of the language of the ongoing 'discussion'.Nowadays, when one hears talk in the Danish media of what (and who) is traditionally Danish and so forth, it is almost left assumed and unsaid that what this means is precisely as it has been defined - in a frustratingly monopolistic way - by this small xenophobic minority.Of course, it didn't help that the one political party that tried to stand up against this issue with their heart and soul quickly fell flat and rather hard on their fac...