Month: February 2007

Mockba : Underworld

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

The title sounds more sinister than it is meant to be. I am very fine! I found a map which has both the Russian and the touristy names on it, and it makes live so much easier in Moscow. It is absolutely necessary to have with you if you want to find your way without having to annoy people all the time. Moscow and I are good friends now, all the fears of getting lost are gone, the weather is still absolutely amazing, cold, a deep blue sky, snow, sunshine and even the moon is there to pop up on some of my pictures.

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To the Gate of Intense Happiness

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I’m nearly ready, I need to iron one (can’t watch Bill in a t-shirt) shirt, than I am going to try to catch some sleep. How does one spend a last day before departing (I had the day off), well I did it like this. You would probably have spend it a lot cleverer.

(Sorry no time for a picture on this post! And no time for rewriting and spellchecking either)
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Train foreplay

thegirlinthecafe 6 Comments

In my Caterham train to work this morning, while standing still at Clapham Junction :

“Good morning ladies and gentleman. We apologize for the delay, the train doesn’t seem to know where it is, and will therefor not open it’s doors”.

I could completely understand the train. I don’t always know where I am either.

(We stayed in Clapham for a few minutes more. The voice told us they would “reboot the cabins” in order to get the doors opened and that helped. Too bad – I had my book and could have read on for a few hours more)

Happy New Year and a lot of loose ends

thegirlinthecafe

Chinese New Year
China in London

The nice thing about living in London is it’s diversity in cultures. There is a rather big Chinese community in London, and yesterday was the celebration of the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Pig has now officially started. The streets look beautiful with the red lanterns and there are a lot of activities going on the coming days. A good way to get an introduction to China before actually going there.

One downside of this is if you happened to have booked a trip to China quite a short while ago. Normal people would prepare that some time in advance so there is time to get all the visa’s in place. Other people, people who don’t think that much about things, don’t prepare at all. And then it can happen that you find out that it’s the Chinese New Year, which is an important celebration for the Chinese, so important that the Chinese Embassy decided to close for a few days.

The same Chinese embassy that was supposed to take care of my visa?
Yes them exactly.
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Bob in London

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Bob Dylan

It’s one of Steffen Brandts favourite songwriters.
Richard Curtis likes him too.
And Bill Nighy is obsessed with him.

I like and respect all of the above 3 men, so there must be something about him.

He is a legend.
I really started to like him when one of his songs was featured in a play.
Yes that play.
My heart melts when I hear that song.
He is the musical discovery of 2007 for me. (Better late than never).
I like his older albums better than his new ones. (that’s because I have a weakness for a harmonica)
He has a weird way of singing.
He is steadily climbing towards the top of my Overal Top Artists list.
His lyrics seem to make more sense than I sometimes like them to make.
I wanted to see the brand new Wembley Arena.

And so it was simple. I bought a ticket.
Bob Dylan – Wembley Stadium, London, the 16th of April 2007.

Cool.

I should have been in bed 2 hours ago.
Not so cool. The Science of Sleep.

Parade’s End

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Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford

I made a list of things I need to buy before taking off. My calender tells me that one week from now I will be in Moscow, and I now realize how time is running very fast.

On my to buy list were (among other things) Lonely Planet’s Trans-Siberian Railway and a haircut. And a book called Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford. Let’s leave the reason why I wanted this particular book in the middle, I just want to take it with me on that long train ride.

Now I realize I am a foreigner and my English is not Oxfords. I realized that even more in New York where people didn’t understand me at all, and where they were plain rude to me. Which makes me wonder why I want to go back to New York in the first place. Oh. Yes. I remember now. Right. Don’t get distracted now, you can do it, you can write a post where you don’t mention his name. Go on. Back to the bookshop, which was Foyles on Charing Cross Road by the way. I asked the bookshop assistant for Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford. And yes, foreigner, but I can say Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford and most of my colleagues will understand what I say when I do.
Not this British bookshop lady.
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Hot Fuzz – a review (8/10)

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Hot Fuzz (IMDB) is probably one of the most anticipated British films this year, and if you liked Shaun of the Dead (the one and only Rom-com-zom), you can just buy your ticket for this one. Satisfaction guaranteed.

The makers of this film have very cleverly used the internet to promote this film. They have been posting videologs while they were filming it last year, and build a community site for all the Fuzz fans waiting for the film to come out. Shaun of the Dead somehow turned into a cult film, and they have a lot to live up to with this one.
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Live your life with passion and your heart will sing

thegirlinthecafe 9 Comments

Bill Nighy - Lawrence - straightening his tie
This is so true.
Despite the fact that it is Valentine’s day, a day single people tend to hate, and I am no exception.

And you can keep your cards with “I LOVE YOU”, your Sainsbury’s Taste the difference spring milk chocolates in a heart shaped box, your Marks and Spencers Organza Heart with Heart Truffles, your romantic spa weekend for two and your shared bank account. And you think yeah, that’s what any pathetic single girl would say. I hear you, but I actually mean it. Not only because I still don’t understand the concept – why do we need a specially assigned day to say “I love you”? Say it as often as you can. All year around.

And apart from all that – I would really rather fall off my chair.
Lucky, as that was exactly what happened.

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MoRomCom

thegirlinthecafe 13 Comments

They really are my favourite genre in film and I never get tired of them, but there are very few good ones. I am still doing Screen writing on Uni, my script is nearly finished, and is currently in rewrite state. Which means reading it a million times, and polishing it by changing words and dialogue. Remember, Love Actually – 34 rewrites.

A short list of Rom coms which I think are excellent (= can see indefinitely):

Love Actually
Notting Hill
Pretty Woman
The Girl In The Cafe
4 Weddings and a funeral
Sliding doors
You’ve got mail
Runaway Bride
Bridget Jones

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I’ll do my looking back with my eyes closed

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No Dancing in the aisles
Ed’s Diner – London

It has been nearly a year since I moved to London. One year ago today I was in London for a week, to check things out, to have some first job interviews and to look for a more permanent place to live. After that week I shortly went back to Denmark and from there I took the one way ticket to London. I am glad I wrote it all down, I wouldn’t have remembered half of it otherwise. And looking back, even with my eyes closed, a lot has happened.
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