I’m not very positive about Post Danmark usually (slower than pigeons!), but I have to say that they have something really cool now: døgnposten.

Because I have a normal job, I’m at work every weekday between 9 and 5 (yawn). Of course this is also the time frame in which the postman delivers any packages, causing the packages to return to the post office where I need to collect them on Saturday (closes at 2pm.. so even that is sometimes hard to manage).

With døgnposten I can send my packages to:

Rico Tijsen
ID 51372521
Døgnposten 623
2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

And they will send an sms (containing a pincode) when I receive a new package after which I can pick it up at whatever time! Just brilliant!

I love to get packages btw.. so keep them coming

Right… so my bike (11 y/o) is really falling apart right now. The chain is skipping on the gears, so I can’t really put any pressure on it, which leads to annoying situations at traffic lights, and even more dangerously in front of cars.

As I can’t afford a new bike right now (mostly because of half-year-under-the-table-part-of-rent) I am looking for ways of transforming a KitchenAid mixer into a way of transport. Any ideas?

Gebyr is the Danish word for money-making-scheme-in-the-cultural-sector, aka service/adminstration fee. I can perfectly understand when you buy a ticket in advance through a third party with your credit card that you have to pay a bit for that service. But, when you’re buying a ticket psyically at the cinema, with a voucher, how can they charge you 5 dkk extra? Is it for printing that ticket? Why wouldn’t that be included in the total amount? Another example was a dance performance. I went in, did not reserve in advance (because I knew there would be enough tickets), paid in cash, and still got charged 15 dkk in gebyr. Seriously this must be a price fixing of the cultural sector cartel. Neelie Smit-Kroes, I call on you to look into this mafia!

Life is all about getting your priorities straight.

Last week I put myself in the choice of either getting a new bike, or a kitchen appliance. The choice between my main means of transportation, and something I don’t REALLY need, but is very welcome anyway.

So, 2 ty-raps, new break pads (189 DKK!), some oil, and a tube later, I ordered the KitchenAid mixer.. Fire-engine red, of course.

Random observation: brilliant minimalism can be played anywhere between 33 and 45 rpm depending on your mood.

For anyone who can concur to this I recommend Mike Sheridan’s new album I Syv Sind which is intended to be at 33 rpm (there’s a female voice on some tracks), but suddenly becomes remarkably danceable at 45!

For a while I’ve been supporting several businesses over the world through kiva.org. Sometimes you get some feedback, and I thought it would be funny to share this one:

“…As you know, your generosity helped Selina obtain a loan of $275 in February. Selina used to run a phone accessories store in the Ubungo bus terminal area of Dar es Salaam. However due to her business not making expected levels of profit and embezzlement of money by a former employee, Selina is no longer in the phone accessories business. She now runs two businesses in parallel. She is a seller of traditional African cloth in her neighborhood and also sells chicks and hens for a profit….”

So for all you web 2.0 mobile companies on the fringe of bankruptcy, you can always switch to selling chickens! I wonder if Morten Lund ever considered going into chickens..

Today I experimented a bit with a neutral density filter. Check out the results here.

Let’s get this straight once and forever. There are Vikings and Wikings, and you should not mix them up. Vikings are the fellows with the funny helms that went about raping and pillaging. You know, the hardcore kind of guys. These folks in general came from Norway.

Then, there’s Wikings. Those are the Danish wannabe-vikings. These people were just farmers and fishers who liked to dress up.

And then, the Swedes.. They talk funny and brought you IKEA.

Yes, I did do extensive field studies to support this theory.

I returned from a 5 day visit to the wonderful country of Lithuania yesterday where I was visiting Vilnius, and more interestingly, the alternative post-folk and contemporary heathen culture festival Menuo Juodaragis (Black Horned Moon) in Zarasai.

First of all, Vilnius is a lovely little town with a ridiculous amount of churches. Religion is rather prominent in the city I would say. Having switched from Pagan to Catholicism, back to Pagan, to Russian Orthodox, with some more steps in between, they built a lot of churches.

Lithuanians are a nice bunch of people, they’re very friendly and helpful. Most young people speak English, but it was still a bit of a culture shock to be in a country where you don’t understand a single word (last time I had that was in Ghana). Lithuanian girls a very pretty: tall, long hair, deep blue or green eyes. Lithuanian women (35+) kind of lose that, how does that work?

Zarasai is about 150 km northeast of Vilnius, though it took 3,5 hours to get there. Somehow roads in eastern Europe are always under construction. The countryside consists mainly of forest, moors, and lakes. Very serene. The festival itself took place on an island in a big lake.

But enough babbling, just take a look at my pictures!

Ačhū!

Sorry, dutch only.

Sommige spam is best leuk. Ik houd persoonlijk erg van de Nigeriaanse 419 scams hoewel die niet zoveel meer langskomen. De laatste tijd zijn het ‘eenzame oost-europese meisjes’. Vandaag kreeg ik deze bijvoorbeeld:

“Hoi. Mijn naam is Natalia. Ik eenzame meisje zonder schadelijke gewoonten. ik 29 jaar. Ik zoek een man van 32 jaar voor ernstige relaties. mijn e-mail het gemakkelijker voor mij. Ik kan sturen brief en de foto elkaar. Natalia”