G aka Graz

The City of Angels

2008-08-04T07:55:00.005+02:00

After a lovely and intense weekend in San Fran, I headed down to Los Angeles. The huge highways never seize to amaze as does the general feel of industrialization and just overall feeling of the U.S. as one mega mechanism. The ride didn't result in a single picture, but was spent listening to Hindi music, Portuguese and Danish rap along with the English language popular music of today.

During the first days in the city, I have to admit I felt completely overwhelmed and a little lost. As trying to do my Portuguese homework on national identity while the sun is shining outside is not a feasible task, I went out to explore the area and found a bus taking my directly to no other than Venice beach!

In contrast to all the movies and scary stories you might hear from people who have never used the public transportation system in L.A., the people on them seem generally quite normal. The buses are fairly inefficient due to traffic and the size of the city. The trains, however, are great.

I had my first surfing lesson on Friday. It's a harder than I thought, but heaps of fun! Going back again Monday to practice on my own and hoping to beat my record of 0.5 seconds standing up =) Keep your fingers crossed!

During the week, I've also been as far as Pasadena and Claremont to meet up with a close friend and had a wonderful time exploring the areas and enjoying her lovely company, delicious food, wine and chocolate fondue. This weekend has taken me to Hollywood (haven't seen the sign yet though) and Santa Monica to do the things this city is best known for - watch pilots of two new potential shows, eat junk food and shop. As far as the shopping and eating didn't bring about much of a surprise, the irony of the titles of the shows chosen to air at the same time was comic - the first one being called Jesus People and the second... nothing other but... Quitters!

San Fran

2008-07-28T22:24:00.004+02:00

This weekend, I revisited the city I fell in love with last year. The trip included visits to the good old favourite spots - Specialty's cookies, Kara's cupcakes, the Mission and the Golden Gate Bridge. On top of the pictures, the trip resulted in a spontaneous flamenco shoes purchase and even more love than the first time around...

As you know, I'm crazy about the Murals, so they get their own slideshow :o):

Peak back

2008-07-28T21:32:00.004+02:00

at the three weeks in NY!

Miranda

2008-07-22T03:37:00.003+02:00

I've been in Astoria since three weeks and discovered the Euro Delights creperie on my second weekend in town. That'll be... what... 10 days ago? I have been there on a number of occasions since having both savory and sweet pancakes. I had dinner from there yesterday seated on the sofa in front of the TV watching Gilmore Girls. Today, my sweet tooth got the best of me and I went over to pick up an Evita. The lady recognizes me now. She was friendly, as always. She knew I take my crepes to go. I somehow felt a pinch of a flash back to the Sex and the City episode where Miranda goes off on a waitress at the Chinese place she always orders the same dish from. That's me in a year from now. Maybe less. Ordering the same food. Being emotionally freaked out by a relationship. Living as a single mom in Brooklyn...

Surfing

2008-07-16T19:54:00.002+02:00

The project this year is a lot more fun in the sense that I'm doing market research and it's for a purpose (as opposed to last year's pointless contact info calls to Z-grade companies). However, it's a lot of just surfing the net. From morning till night. And since there's no end to this, I can't say I'm highly stimulated by the task.

While online, I've come across a number of interesting sites, the latest female hygine articles included, but what I'm getting at here is that according to a website, this blog is worth 80 151 SEK. I'm really curious how they came up with that and... anybody wants to buy?

Another World

2008-07-15T17:10:00.004+02:00

I just finished reading Stephenie Meyer's novel - The Host. "The sci-fi for people who don't like sci-fi" as is stated on the webpage is just spot on. I can't remember having swallowed a book this long this fast apart from Shanataram and having even been remotely interested in any sci-fi what-so-ever. So, yeah, it's cheesy at times, but the plot pulls you in very quickly and has elements of pretty much everything you could imagine. It also bares a freakish resemblance to my current situation of an alien in another culture. Really enjoyed it!

Speaking of Shantaram - I can't believe that there's a movie coming out next year! And with no other than Johnny Depp... can it get any better?

Fridge

2008-07-08T23:13:00.002+02:00

I take it back. The thing I said about locking myself in an AC vacuume all day long. I take it back. My room is the coldest in the entire office and I'm freezing! Changing tomorrow.

The Web Revisited

2008-07-08T22:43:00.006+02:00

Dim lights. Kinda shady. I've walked down those stairs once before - in January - and was nearly refused the entrance before H walked down behind me. That night the place was packed, as it usually is on weekends. Packed and fun. This time it's practically empty since most people have left off for the long weekend. I was expecting it to be packed despite it being a Thursday.

The drink is nothing like the daiquiri Marty and I had at Tvärsöver a week or so before I left. It'll do though. I'm tired and I quite honestly don't really feel like being there anymore - the dancefloor is closed, the dancers are so many that the customers are at a 2-1 ratio and the place is just a drag. One drunk and completely unrhytmical beer-bellied and shirtless middleaged man is trying to hook up. It looks pathetic and comical. I can't decide which. Maybe both?

An older Chinese guy in a cap standing next to H asks him if I'm his boyfriend. I can't believe I heard that and "play dead" for a while not to blow up or laugh histerically. That's speaking of drag for ya. H goes speachless, picks up his chin from when it dropped upon the question, then chuckles and just shakes his head. A while later, a young guy asks me if I saw his friend from Canada and we start to chat. H comes back and retells the brief conversation. The three of us laugh. Oh my God! Where'd he get tha'from?! I was just thinkin' she hot and I dunno what the hell she doin' here? Haha

Thank you. That's better.

Philly

2008-07-08T16:09:00.002+02:00

Philly was:
BBQing Vietnamese style
Learning to make summer rolls
Vicious mosquitos
Mosaics and murals
Shoe shopping (more on that later)
Late night sightseeing
Loving Love park
South Street
Penn's landing
Suburbs

Royalty

2008-07-08T15:37:00.007+02:00

On one of the evenings last week, Bumble and I took a walk around the area where I currently live. We saw the ever-so-NY-typical ladders...

ID4 decorations...Other decorations (?!??)...
And realized the ethnic diversity of the area:

Haven't tried it yet, but I'm curious how good their dishes are. For now I can tell you that the Indian place down the street from my place has aweful food, whilst the Italian Sac's is 2die4 and I haven't tried their highly recommended pizzas yet.

What I however noticed in the Churasqueira picture above is the Fan Club... Will have to investigate!

Popular Demand

2008-07-08T15:31:00.004+02:00

By popular demand... here comes the first picture from this US trip.

Manhattan at Sunset

Hot Stuff

2008-07-08T14:39:00.005+02:00

Before the week was over, I revisited the Broadway Dance Center and attended one more jazz class - this time for Rhapsody where we danced to:

The choreo was great and the music grovs on you. In other words - loved it!

Hostel in Rome

2008-07-03T15:14:00.001+02:00

Looking for a hostel in Rome? Read the reviews... I wonder who wrote the fifth one ;-)

Manhattan 0720

2008-07-03T14:34:00.010+02:00

I sit on the subway next to a homie listening to his iPod. I stopped listening to mine to read up on Angolas road to independence during my train ride. Luckily the train isn't packed at this time and the AC actually works (unlike on the Stockholm PT). Once above groud, I notice the streets filled with early morning sun. It's warm, but the humidity hasn't kicked in yet making it a pleasant walk to the office.

The sidewalks are empty by Manhattan standards - there were more people out last night at 9 p.m. than now. Then again, this isn't Wall Street or Downtown. Tourists with huge suitcases, smaller suitcases, lots of suitcases, businessmen in suits, New Yorkers in casual clothing, New Yorkers in shorts jogging to the sounds coming out of their earphones... All passing the closed stores and open cafés and delis, construction sites and the steaming orange&white cones.

Broadways

2008-07-02T15:48:00.006+02:00

"Where is she? Is Debbie here yet?" the murmur went throught the room briefly after the 40 or so people entered Studio 1. And there she was - the woman from the picture I saw online, only much shorter than I had had imagined and a couple of years older. I don't think it's only my imagination - standing behind two rows of people I couldn't even see her enter the room.

"How's everybody doin'?
Greeeeeeeaaaaaat!
Everybody doin' alright?
Yeeeaaah!"

The frequent teacher-studnets conversation during the 1.5 hour jazz class at the Broadway Dance Center for Debbie Wilson. The school is HUGE! I don't think I've ever seen so many dance enthusiasts in one place. The choreo itself was fun and not particularily difficult. However, the teacher stressed expression and playing with the steps and music a lot more than in any other class I've attended before, which was my challenge for the evening. I'm looking forward to attending another class today or tomorrow and to next week with Debbie.

There's quite a lot of dancing going on on that street - musicals, musicals, musicals, the occasional dance school and the gentlemen's club next door. They're even showing a Monty Python muscial which... as you may know... sounds... like a G thing to see!!! At a theatre, not at the club that is =)

From 44th, I walked down Broadway on Manhattan to catch the subway to Broadway in Queens, where I met my roomie, cooked dinner and watched two Gilmore Girls episodes.

Dry Humidity

2008-07-01T21:39:00.007+02:00

I'm having a photography dry spell. I landed over 27 hrs ago and still haven't taken a single picture! A dry spell despite the humidity.

What I did do is sit up till 1 a.m. with my current roomie eating, talking and watching TV. He doesn't make pakoras, but it might turn out that his mom's cooking makes up for that =P.

I looked up a dance school I'll be going to tonight and a yoga place I'll try out in the upcoming days, looked up fares to see if I can go off for a weekend somewhere and I added a clock on the right-hand side of the blog to keep you updated on my local time. All this, but no pictures.

AC

2008-07-01T21:36:00.002+02:00

AC is the thing to have in NY in the summer. I'd lock myself in an AC all day if I could. I can't even begin to tell you how much you sweat when you walk around outside and when there is no AC indoors. It's ridiculous.

Brief

2008-07-01T00:05:00.006+02:00

In NY for the second time this year and on a project in the US for the second time at my company. Since I only got in after lunch today, I cannot yet tell you much about what I'm supposed to be doing workwise - other than that it sounded great over the phone.

What I can tell you, however, is that the trip over is soooooooo long, that the guy I sat next to was sooooo boring that I constantly had a set of earphones (either the entertainment system or iPod), that I love being called honey by a uniform clad airport employee, that I saw a baby catapulted out of it's seat when the dad rode onto something on the floor, that I was pulled over to the side to have my luggage scanned (AGAIN) and that I'm so tired now that my balance is off. Loving NYC and really looking forward to spending the upcoming weeks here!

Rome Revisited

2008-06-16T22:37:00.002+02:00

Back on the Horse

2008-06-16T22:01:00.003+02:00

I got the idea of biking to work for a while a little over 2 weeks ago and purchased the bike last week. I tested it for the first time yesterday on the way from my dad's to my place and today was the big day when the bike was supposed to take me to and from the office for the first time. If I hadn't overslept. If I didn't have to be at the office before 8 a.m.

The emergency was solved and the bike used on the way back. The ride was fun, slightly confusing since I hadn't biked around town before and offered a crash course in fixing the chain which decided to slip off half way through the Tranebergsbron. Tomorrow is a bike-free day, but Wednesday is back on track with my 7km there and 7km back. Looking forward to it!

Good old Bossa....

2008-05-30T00:19:00.003+02:00

A late evening in a semi-rundown house in central Lisbon. Some friends have gathered in his room and sit at their convenience - resting their backs against the walls, lying on the floor, or just somewhere in the middle of the room. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed. A bottle of wine is finishing, but another one is already on the way. They chat about the... what did we talk about? Parties, the beach, the city...? Definitely not uni, since most, despite being there as exchange students, rarely attended any classes. There is the sweet smell of mint in the air, a painting and a poster on the wall, the friends, the wine, bossanova and the youthful belief in all of these things lasting forever...

Biafra

2008-05-25T12:07:00.003+02:00

I just finished reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, which I purchased at Mumbai International on my way back from India. Strangely enough, this was way before my new found interest for Africa for those of you that believe in deja-vus and premonitions. It's a grasping story portraying the war for Biafran independence in the 60s through the lives of two sisters, their families and friends. A beautiful story which will touch you, make you cry and make you wonder. For those who don't know much about history of the African countries - it'll provide insight into the history of Nigeria. I can't wait till I get onto reading Purple Hibiscus.

Contributions

2008-05-25T10:07:00.006+02:00

I don't normally give into the Eurovision song contest madness and just simply ignore the entire craze. However, this year since my favourite instrutor mentioned some contributions I figured I'd check them out on Youtube.

Erghmmm....
Russia's Enrique-Iglesias-wanna-be with a pronounciation making it difficult to understand that he's attempting to sing in English has a dancer rollerblading around him and the choreo is basically him turning and throwing his arms open over and over and over again...

Azerbeijan's Axel Rose meets R.E.M. meets Meatloaf is interesting to say the least.

The Swedish contribution is obviously another ABBA/Carola song.

I'm very sad to see that Greece's song is nothing but a re-take on Christina Aguilera, Britney and Rihanna with Mediterranean beats. Even the title is almost is almost a Ginnie in a Bottle plagiarism.

Ireland makes me almost speachless. Seriously. It's a turkey with an entourage of cabaret dancers with a song resembling the We are the Winners Lithuanian contribution two years ago. It must have been a sad day for the Irish when they found out this was the song representing them internationally.

Germany has an enjoyable song performed by blond German Spice, hat-wearing German Spice, Beyoncé German Spice and the afro-and-big-hoops German Spice.

Iceland is still stuck in the 90s and the 2Unlimited era of No Limits. You have to understand them though - they're cut off from the world and it's cold up there.

Latvia mixed up the tracks and sent in the contribution for a new Disney soundtrack to Eurovision. I wonder what they sent to Disney?

The positive surprise with the Polish Eurovision song this year was soon explained by the fact that the singer is American - thus the lack of a strong accent and ridiculos outfits that were the norm in the past years.

Spain has a new Gasolina song they decided to market before the Beach 2008 season.

Bosnia has a Coldplay song sung with kids voices. And a rooster in the performance.

Serbia's represented by an over-dramatising singer, but the song is touching and has a feel of ethnicity. Peruvian ethnicity.

The Czech republic has realized the ingredients for success - cheesy lyrics, girls in short-short outfits and a chubby guy pretending to be a DJ.

I'm happy for Vânia, the Portuguese Idol contestant, who got to represent Portugal. Very melodramatic and nostalgic, i.e. just as if should be in the country of Fado and suadades. I'm curious however how the rest of Europe perceives it.

France was represented by a Bee Gee. I guess the barbers are on strike.

I finished off my Eurovision 2008 escapade with Madonna Piaf representation of Cyprus and the Israeli contribution that for some reason felt he needed to break into English. Enjoyed both.

Matar Saudades

2008-05-05T21:24:00.003+02:00

It's been so long since the last time I logged on here, that the address no longer appears automatically when I start typing...

The recent BIG event that's taken place is my trip to Portugal - first time for purely touristic reasons. My Aussie friend Kate arrived the day before we were set to go; her bags 2 hours before our departure from my place. Once in Porto, the car rental representative was late (the traditional Portuguese 5 minutes) and then offered two pieces of advice that particularly stuck in my mind - in part he made Porto sound like São Paulo (attempting to sell in an additional insurance) and in part he made me feel right at home.
1. empty the car yourself and make sure it's visibly empty by leaving the windows open and the luggage on display - "the kids will break in even if they just see one EURO"
2. if you park in a prohibited place and you get hit by another car, re-park your car and then call the police... home, sweet home =)

The following two hours were spent, as a result of the guy's instructions, circling in the wrong part of town looking for the youth hostel, getting lost, finding each other and then our accommodation. Although the rest of the trip went quite smoothly, the highlights would include drinking wine, a weird guide in the Casa de Mateus, more wine, three of my Barcelos roosters coming to a premature death, strawberry juice in Aveiro, grilled cuttlefish at DolceVita in Castro Daire, port, the car randomly starting to roll down the road, the sightseeing, shopping a tacky tablecloth as well as clothes... and many more.

The pictures are going to have to wait until a more thorough selection has been made, but there are plenty =) as usual...

Apart from Kate's awesome company throughout the whole trip, it was great to see Ms Keys, Bela and PP again - a real feast for the soul!

The New Generation

2008-05-05T21:20:00.002+02:00