Month: March 2006

Please don’t run

thegirlinthecafe 1 Comment


Please don’t run

Stay with me
I feel sad
When you run

Sands of time
Are lying
On my chest

Stay in bed
I feel sad
When you run

Notes:
the lyrics are from Air – Run – a weird but beautiful song, and lyrics that couldn’t be more perfect for this picture.

if you are wondering what a “dangerous” place this really is – it is the path down to the trains on Croydon station. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw it. As the whole slope is filled with these yellow warning signs (the other one being “please take care on this slope”. British Rail really wants to protect us from dangerous liasons on their stations.
Train and tube stations are heaven if you like signs like this. And I have more of them in stock, I love them.

4 weeks in London – a wrapup

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

London Cityhall
London Cityhall

Excuse me, I just need to clean my hands after having indulged my Chicken Teriyaki sandwich for lunch. Life is definetely not bad in London.

Well this is your weekly (long and boring) update about how things are going in London. 4 weeks, goodness, time surely flies when you are having fun. And if you want the whole long boring story, go on, and continue reading. If you couldn’t care less – I understand you completely, no offence taken.
Read More

Sigur Ros in Hammersmith Apollo

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Just a short review of yesterdays Sigur Ros concert.

The good:
The Hammersmith Apollo hall is a fantastic concert place. Like Shepherds Bush Empire this is a concerthall with style, beautifully decorated and build like a kind of half circle around the stage. Excellent sound too.

Sigur Ros has one of the most beautiful visual appearances I have seen on stage.

They have a very faithful and enthusiastic audience in the UK.

Yes playing your guitar with a bow is very cool.

There were a lot of people on stage, a string quartet (playing on an electrical saw too), a 5 person section with trumpets and such, and the band itself, which, if I have counted correctly, has 4 (5?) members.

Some songs where shiveringly beautiful

The bad
They didn’t play Staralfur, which of course was a bad thing. How could they leave it out. It didn’t come completely unexpected though, as it hasn’t been on their setlists the last months.

Even though there were some highlights, the concert as a whole didn’t really have any surprises and did not impress me too much.

But all in all, it wasn’t bad for a first concert in London.

Sigur Ros in Hammersmith Apollo

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

I am off to this long awaited concert in 2 minutes from now. I bought the ticket for this concert on the birthday of the man who is the reason I discovered them in the first place. And at that time the concert was very far away, and so was my move to London. But now months later, the day of the concert has arrived, and I am very much looking forward to it. It is sold out. And it feels so good to be able to say : I’ll hop on the tube and I’ll be there 15 minutes from now.

If they are going to play Staralfur (The song from The Girl In The Cafe film) live I am going to cry.

Tsotsi (8.5/10)

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

Tsotsi (2005)

Tagline : Six days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader (Tsotsi).

Now here is a beautiful movie : Tsotsi. This movie won the Oscar for best foreign film, and even though that isn’t a guarantee for anything, in this case it is well deserved. The story might be on the edge of being sentimental, but the talented young actors are doing a great job in this film. There are beautiful shots from the slum areas in Johannesburg, and life definetely isn’t easy down there.

The film has some very violent and shocking scenes, but that is how Tsotsi’s life has been. There isn’t a real happy ending, happily I would say, and even though Tsotsi takes a drastic decision at the end of this film, you’ll leave the cinema with hopes for a better life for him.

See this film, it is beautiful, and a welcome alternative for the other overrated Oscar winning movies currently running in the cinema (Brokeback Mountain is an exception here).

Directed by Gavin Hood

Cast Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Israel Makoe

Lawless Heart

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

Love is the answer

You can pass her every day
on the street
or in The Cafe
drinking tea
’cause coffee – no
a bite to eat
a meal to go
you can’t really
take them apart
the girl’s a girl
she owns the heart
the question is
and here’s the mess
does it obey
or is it
law
less

(Notes: Picture taken passing an anti war demonstration in front of the Houses of Parliament. Lawless Heart is also a film with Bill Nighy, and a really good one too.
And to answer the question : it is Lawless).

TGITC – on tour – now in the USA

thegirlinthecafe 1 Comment

The Girl In The CafeAfter a short visit to my ex hometown (Aarhus), the Girl actually crossed the ocean, and she is currently staying with Jason in the USA, who is taking good care of her.

Jane saw the film, and wrote the following review:

Hugh Grant meets Bob Geldof

In what starts out as yet another romantic comedy vis-?-vis shy, slightly awkward man meets young girl, falls in love, overcomes various obstacles and all ends well, the viewer is mercifully and happily surprised when this film turns out to be highly political with a strong message that every voice counts in the fight against poverty in the world. According to the film it is a battle that can be won if the Western world sets its mind to it.

The message is delivered in an often fun and easy manner, which makes it less dogmatic and more agreeable, nevertheless, the subject matter is never taken lightly and it is clear that the problems of the world ought to be taken more seriously.

Having been pleasantly surprised by the quality and substance of this film I strongly recommend other ignorants to watch it ? sooner rather than later!

Having somewhat questioned Ingrid?s taste in films in the past; I will no longer treat her recommendations with a pinch of salt. Thank you Ingrid for giving us the opportunity to watch this great film.

Well what can I say, another person that seems to love the film, so I can’t be anything else than very pleased about that. A big Thank You to Jane for participating in this humble project.

If you would like to participate in The Girl In The Cafe on tour project, you can read about it here, and join. (It doesn’t matter where you live).

All it will cost you is a stamp to send the film to the next person, 2 hours to watch this beautiful film, and 15 minutes to write a review about it.

If you want to know where The Girl is, has been or will be going – check here.

Love can’t change
what’s wrong in the world.
But it’s a start.

Love thou underground

thegirlinthecafe 5 Comments

Going Underground

14 reasons to love the London Underground:

  • If you just missed a train, the next one won’t be far away.
  • You never really know for sure how the world looks like when you popup above ground again. Life is an adventure.
  • Yes sure there are delays sometimes. But I have never seen delays being notified so clearly. And why make a big fuss about them – when did 10 minutes extra suddenly make that big a difference in your life.
  • How can you ever get enough of “Mind the gap” and “mind the doors”
  • The new Oyster card is a genious idea, and many international cities could learn from it. Yes I am a proud Oystercard owner, and London is my oyster.
  • You can style your hair in the wind that is pushed forward by a train when it arrives. If you don’t need to style your hair, just let the wind touch your face. It is nice.
  • It is never cold, underground.
  • There is always funky live music on Piccadilly and Leicester Square station. It sounds good, underground, and sometimes it is more than funky.
  • The signing is so easy to follow that it is hard to get lost, or to get on the wrong train.
  • Take a closer look at the interior of the trains, and see how f.ex. Piccadilly Line (blue line) trains have blue frames, and Central Line trains (red line) have red frames. Someone has been thinking about things here.
  • No mobile phone noise in the underground trains.
  • Most tube stations are beautifully designed and decorated.
  • And the most important thing : it brings you around in London in a fast and convenient way

In other words : the tube is your friend in London.

Number of empty mountains

thegirlinthecafe 10 Comments

And now I am suddenly busy. I started my job which is nice, as it gets me into a more normal daily rhythm. Not that normal is good, normally it tends to be boring, but in this case it is good.

A few more days until I have my internetconnection at home, and then I will try to post some of the stuff and pictures I have been saving throughout the last week and a half. It is much.

In the mean time : I am currently working (at work that is) on a report called “Number of Empty Mountains”.

A big prize for the person who can guess what on earth that could be used for …

Bill’s are cool

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

Maybe it has something to do with the name. But this Bill is definetely one of the most funny Brits I have seen so far.

And yes he has a blog too. And no of course it isn’t updated.

But imagine having been hanging on your bed for 2 days eating apples and drinking applejuice, zapping around on the five channels my cheap low budget TV has (BBC1 + BBC2 though – hurrah !) and suddenly endup in the middle of his “Part Troll” show. Even though I felt like a sick dog, I couldn’t stop laughing. Absolutely Recommended English humour this is !

Oh and talking about English humour : The Armstrongs. Newspapers here in the UK have written that it is even more hilarious than the Office. Which is true, but the thing is that while the Office was acted, The Armstrongs are as real as it can get. Hilarious. Recommended too, and it doesn’t hurt at all that the other (or should I say The) Bill is narrating it. See it and laugh.

(Update: I just heard today that both Bill Nighy and Bill Bailey are casted for the new film from the makers of Shaun Of The Dead (talking about hilarious) called Hot Fuzz (expected release date – start of 2007) – how cool – or should I say – how Hot !).

No is no

thegirlinthecafe 5 Comments

I didn’t believe that getting a bankaccount here in the UK would be the most difficult thing to get. But I do believe it now. I applied for a bankaccount sending them a recommendation letter from my current Danish bank, and a contact person over there they were welcome to call. But that letter probably didn’t even make it beyond the borders of bureaucraticy.
Read More

Sniff

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

I had 3 free days left before starting working on Monday. And I finally could explore London in a relaxed way, without the stress of jobhunting and looking for a place to live.
But no, my body thought it was time to respond to the 2 weeks of stress and running around, so I have been in bed the last 2 days, and am still very tired, have a headache, have a cold, my stomach isn’t really as it should be and – well I hope I am topfit again on Monday.

What am I doing in the internetcafe then ? I needed to find out when my train is leaving on Monday, as I am training to work. Can’t wait to get internet at home, as you can understand.

Hatchooo – sorry about that.

The Prince Charles Cinema

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

Yes, the cinemas on Leicester Square are incredibly expensive. But there is a way around that. Just 50 meters from Leicester Square there is The Prince Charles Cinema. This is an independent cinema and they are showing a lot of independent films, but they also show a lot of blockbusters after they have been running in the other cinemas for a few weeks. They are current running films like Harry Potter, King Kong but also pearls like Broken Flowers and Mrs. Henderson Presents. I saw Proof today with Anthony Hopkins, Gwenneth Palthrow and Jake Gyldenhaal (a bit weirdish film – but well acted).

Now let me tell you why you have to support this cinema : ticketprice ?3,= (ca. Euro 4.50) for evenings, and if you are as crazy as me being there in the daytime, tickets are ?1.50. On friday all tickets are ?1,= which is about 1.40 Euro. That’s completely amazing. The chairs are good, and so it the sound. So go visit it if you are ever in London, wanting to see a movie.

(Internet will be installed at home 1.5 weeks from now – until then – answers on emails will be a bit delayed – and postings will be chaotic as I can’t really write well under pressure (= the clock ticking in the internet cafe)).

Hello from Westminster, sort of

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

As I am actually sitting in the internetcafe on Piccadilly Circus, close to the Cafe. I will try to order a wireless broadband connection as soon as possible this week, I have no idea how long it will take, hopefully not long. The room in Westminster is great, but without a tv and without internet, I become a bit crazy.

I have a very very very important 2nd interview tomorrow, so if you are boring yourself at 3.00 pm (dutch time) beam some positive vibes over to London, as I really really need them.

Posting here will be irregular the coming week, but as soon as I am online from home I will catch up on that, as I have loads of things to write about.

Bye bye, Wood Green

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

I’m packed and ready to move to my new room in Westminster. This should be a rather easy thing to do if it wasn’t for Bill the Cat. I already brought most of my stuff to Westminster, but my last small suitcase is still here, and so is my laptop.

It’s nearly like he knows what is going on, as he has been sitting on my suitcase all the time, and he is looking at me like “OK so you are leaving, but you didn’t think about leaving without me this time now did you ?”

I have done the hard say-goodbye-talk already, trying to explain to him that I need to move on. That it has been so cold and depressing in Wood Green. And that if he hadn’t been there, that it would have been a pretty crappy experience. And that he is always welcome to visit me on Page Street, always. I could take him for a walk to Buckingham Palace or the London Eye, whatever he wanted. But he just doesn’t want me to go. It’s heartbreaking. But I have to be tough.

There isn’t any wireless internetconnection in my room in Page Street yet. Maybe there are some unprotected wireless networks in the area I can hook up on. If not there is an internetcafe close by, and there is always the old fashioned telephone line. So hopefully I can get connected somehow, as it is a neccesity when looking for a job.

Bye to Wood Green. And hopefully soon a hello from Westminster.