The Copenhagen Report

So episode #40 of MyDenmarkTV.com is up - and I'll let you in on a little secret...a couple of the segments were in fact the very first segments that I filmed when I joined the show, so it was all new for me (and really it still is!). I was also fighting off a case of the flu during some of the filming, which didn't help matters...so we didn't manage to get quite as much humour in this one...but we'll be working hard on that in the future.


Episode #40 – MyDenmarkTV.com from MyDenmarkTV on Vimeo.

Unlike the last episode, this one is in the more traditional '5 segment' format that those who have dug into the shows archives are more familiar with. We continue to intensely discuss the format the show should take in the future, but personally I am much more comfortable with a looser more flowing format (like episode #39) that is less tied to segments. Something that is more 'storylike' and tied to a theme. That said, there is also value in having some structure. In future, there will probably be more of a mix of episodes taking one or the other format.

If you're living in Copenhagen and looking for food and entertainment ideas, you'll probably be interested in the last 2 segments in particular Nørrebro segment and Julie's museum tip. I'm a big fan of Ranees, the fantastic Thai restaurant at Blågards Plads (which I have previously reviewed here). Which is not to say the other segments, about joining a car sharing program and Danish Højskole's might not be interesting and useful for you, as well.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

I always like to give a little shout-out whenever I come across pages linking here, and it recently came to my attention that National Geographic was kind enough to feature The Copenhagen Report right here on their 48 hours in Copenhagen page. Thanks a lot - it's fantastic to have a link from such a popular and reputable publication and website!

Incidently, National Geographic also featured my other project, MyDenmarkTV.com among the featured links on their Copenhagen page, as well.

I had a quick read-through what they had to say and recommend in Copenhagen, and by-in-large their suggestions are sturdy ones to get you started, in my humble opinion.

Episode #39 of My Denmark TV - our fashion episode - is now up. It turned out pretty well, though I think I was a little easy on my comments about Fisketorv Shopping Centre - it really isn't the best place to shop (shopping along Støget, the outdoor shopping street is much preferable)! But it served us well for this episode.

Enjoy!

Episode #39 – MyDenmarkTV.com from MyDenmarkTV on Vimeo.

The Denmark Sweden bridge, better known in Copenhagen as the 'Oresund Bridge' ('Øresundsbro', in Danish) is a seriously funky piece of engineering work. In fact, it's part bridge and part tunnel.

And now for a little Q&A about the bridge.

Question: Nice shot! But tell me, why does this bridge go to a tiny island? Are there houses on it?

Nope... no houses. It's a man-made island. The 7.8 km bridge ends there and a tunnel starts that take you the rest of the way to Copenhagen. There are train tracks on the bottom of the bridge, and a 4-lane road for cars and trucks on top.



Question: I spent a few days in Copenhagen, and learned the hard way that if you board the train at the wrong side of the track at Kastrup Copenhagen airport, you end up crossing the bridge, as the next stop Malmo, Sweden!! Does this happen often?

Ha, ha! Pretty hard to collect statistics on that particular subject, but I'm pretty sure it happens a lot!


Question: So where does the bridge start and end?

The bridge starts in Skåne, Sweden (in the bottom of the picture) just south of the city of Malmo. The bridge then ends on a man-made island in the middle of Øresund, where a tunnel starts that goes the rest of the way to Sealand, Denmark where it surfaces just outside the Copenhagen Airport (in the top of the picture).

Question: Wow, so it goes underground? Sweet! When was it built?

Indeed, it's a fantastic way to get Denmark from Sweden. Construction began in 1995 and was officially opened in July 2000.

Question: How does it cost to get across?

The price is about 275 danish kroner to drive ...much cheaper if you take the train...I believe around 100 kroner. :-)


Question: Can you see the Denmark Sweden bridge from Copenhagen?

In some places, yes. If you are by the water in Amager, for example, at the delightful Amager Standparken (beach park) in the summertime, you'll be able to get a good glimpse of it. You can also see it from Charlottelund and Hellerup, again if you go to one of the beaches there. Unfortunately, you can't see it from the centre of Copenhagen - unless you climb one of the tallest buildings, such as the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelsers Kirke, in Danish). The Denmark Sweden bridge is also a great sight when you are taking off or landing by plane from Kastrup Airport.

Question: Has it brought Denmark and Sweden closer together?

Well, you could argue that it has - at least it has brought the Skåne region of Sweden closer. Now it takes about 20 minutes to get across the Oresund, whereas before this crossing took an hour by ferry. And more and more Danes are choosing to live in Malmø and the surrounding area - while still working in Copenhagen - for tax reasons and because the real estate is cheaper. This probably wouldn't be happening to the same extent without the bridge. If you look on both sides of the bridge, you're talking about a population of some 3.5 million inhabitants.

I've complained on more than a few instances about the calibre of Danish news. Yes, the subject matter on a daily basis is limited, but that doesn't excuse the formulaic approach to reporting DR and other Danish channels insist on taking. So, have you ever wondered how to create your own professional-sounding news program, ala, DR (Danish Radio) or BBC news, and countless others. It's not all that hard. Charlie Booker, columnist at The Guardian and sometimes BBC journalist shows you how its done in this step-by-step video.

After several months of inactivity, The Copenhagen Report is returning back to life. I've been contemplating how to develop the blog further for quite some time, and the answer came rather out of the sky, as it tends to, owing to an opportunity I was met with a short time ago.

The first taste of it will come next week. Stay tuned.

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.

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-impressive Copenhagen Cycle Chic, run by a small group possessing an admirable dedication to the task, and feasting your eyes on some of the timeless pics there.

Enough said.

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 fight back, which lead to an invitation to appear on The Daily Show on Thursday.

For anyone with a passing interest in journalism, have a look as Jon Stewart pulls off his comedian facade to give a little lesson in how to give a hard-hitting, uncompromising interview. It's quite a piece of work - a true moment of zen.

And if you did happen to catch the show and see Thursdays episode, it's worth taking a second view of the full, unedited version of the Jim Cramer interview (embedded below), which The Daily Show posted on their website.

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 attempt to. Fortunately, they did not pollute the cyberworld with this editorial - it can only be found in the print edition. What a shame. I shall therefore allow myself to quote at length from the article, so the nature of it's content can be understood well enough.

The subject was dual citizenship. That is, the ability for citizens to hold 2 passports. In Denmark, this is not permitted (there are a few exceptions, for example, children with parents of 2 nationalities). This in itself has always annoyed me, as it represents a very small-minded way of thinking.

However, reading this editorial left me seeing red by the end of the first paragraph. It only got worse from there.

"It is a fundamental principle of democracy that members of a community should have a say in making decisions about their community. But just as it is impossible to serve two masters, so too is it impossible to live in two countries - by belonging to both, one never fully becomes a member of either," intoned The Copenhagen Post to kick-off the editorial.

Oh, my. Are you fu*king kidding me?!? Um, what is this sh*t about not being able to serve two masters? Are we living in the times of slavery? And then to artificially equate this to serving two countries?

Elequent it may be, but nonetheless idiotic rubbish.

Personally, I don't think I could count how many entities I 'serve'. Is 'the country' really such an important one, amongst the many? And is it the 'ultimate' one (we'll return to this term shortly)?

Let's see.

I'm Canadian and my parents, sister and extended family live in Canada (and some in the U.S.A). They are pretty important to me. I live in Denmark and have for quite some time (which incidently is also a member of the European Union, which is a pretty important entity in itself). I like Denmark, in general. My girlfriend is Danish, as is her family. Would I chose country over her...hmmm, let me think about that for a while... And I have close friends all over the world, obviously some closer than others. They are also important. My employer is a Danish company, situated here in Denmark, but is actually owned jointly by a German company and a Norwegian company (oh no, two masters again!), but on a daily basis I'm working with people situated in 8 different countries (all working for this same company). Impossible to serve 2 masters?!? Impossible to serve 2 countries?!? What century was this editorial written in?

But let's allow ourselves to plow on further, even if we must hold our noses.

"Citizenship is bestowed upon us at birth, and giving it up is the ultimate sign of commitment to one's new country. But before one can make that commitment, one must be permitted to do so: to become a new citizen, one must not only be permitted to enter a country, one must be allowed to live there, and then one must demonstrate a knowledge of the country's history, language and culture by passing immigration tests," continues The Copenhagen Post.

The 'ultimate' commitment to one's new country? Well, I suppose for some it could be, but since when should making the 'ultimate' commitment, whatever it is, be the grounds for gaining something so practical as a passport? Is there not a much lower and more practical threshold that is somewhat more meaningful, or at least 'sufficient'. Does one really have to give up their first passport to make this commitment? Is there not simply, say, any number of actions that would do, such as living and working in a given country for some time (and thereby paying significant taxes), maybe raising a family there, with no additional conditions really necessary? And certainly no arbitrary judgment about which is the 'ultimate' among them.

Although The Copenhagen Post, and sadly the Danish government, supports this antiquated law, the 'ultimate' problem, if I dare suggest it, seems to be an insistence upon viewing the passport as something that is rather romantic in its nature.

Newsflash: it is not.

A passport is a practical and unfortunately necessary document. Something that enables people to move around from place to place. To cross borders. To live their lives as they see fit to. To be together with the ones they love. To make a living as they choose to, and to utilise the abilities they have chosen to develop in themselves. While there may be plenty of romance within these ideas, a passport is merely a facilitator and a cold bureaucratic reality - and those have always had the unfortunate trait of never ever being in any way romantic in nature.

Being able to acquire an additional passport simply makes it easier for those living in a given country to become productive members of society there. Being a productive and deserving member of society can happen in many, many ways. It also so happens that it can be done without the demonstration of knowledge of a given countries language, history, and so-called culture. Or to put it another way, one can 'integrate' into society in countless ways. There is no single correct way to integrate - for example, by giving up one's former passport or passing some sort of 'immigration test'. Of course, especially with regards to language, everything should be done to encourage those who make a country their home to learn it's language.

As for reading history books?!? Give me a break! Will they tell you everything you need to know to be a good little citizen of your new country? Give you a balanced picture of society? Yeah, sure.

Which brings us to 'immigration tests'. Oh, geez. There are certainly some worthwhile practical questions potential citizens could be asked: about laws specific to Danish society, maybe some basics about government that are of practical importance. But it's pretty limited, quite frankly.

That may be tough for those who believe everything can be measured and then converted into some numerical value to understand, a group which apparently includes the editors of The Copenhagen Post. But here's the truth: sorry boys (there are no female editors of the newspaper listed), the real world ain't quite so.

Okay, let's push further into the editorial, into the Disneyland-like make-believe world of The Copenhagen Post editors. There is more still.

"Citizenship carries with it certain rights, but those rights are paid for by living up to the obligation of national service, national pride and national unity. Dual citizenship is divided citzenship, and will always prevent a 'citizen' from fully living up to those obligations."

Yes, at this point we have moved fully into fantasy land that I would never want to be a part of. In fact, it's somewhat scary. What kind of deluded nonsense is this about being 'paid for by living up to the obligation of...national pride'?

Is the implication that if someone does not demonstrate enough, ahem, 'live up to the obligation' of national pride, then they are unworthy of citizenship? What exactly is 'enough national pride'? Maybe singing the national anthem in a loud voice whenever it is demanded? Perhaps when stopped by the police? Or perhaps simply cheering wildly whenever the Danish national handball team scores a point would be enough? Whatever. What a complete joke.

This is the point when the writers have completely lost the plot. And where I have lost my respect for The Copenhagen Post's ability to write a meaningful editorial opinion.

So boys, do enjoy your freedom to express your opinion - but please, show the 'ultimate' respect for this freedom by not forgetting to engage in a bit of critical thinking while doing so. It serves us all so well.

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 and failing to get a a simple bottle of contact lens solution all week, but it seems my schedule is not quite aligned with that of the sellers of contact lens solution in Copenhagen!!!

But I believe in myself. I believe anything is possible. So I'm sure tomorrow I'll succeed...well, I'm pretty sure...


Thanks for dropping by, but as it's 17.45 we'd rather not have your business.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The snowy lakes in Copenhagen...but watch out for frozen ducks...

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.

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, the euro was voted down in Denmark.

Those couple of years have long since passed and as it turns out the euro has long since proven itself. There is really no need for Denmark to hold out any longer, and plenty of reasons to go for it. And probably it won't be long before the question is put to the public. These days, the financial crisis has brought a significant softening of public opinion in Denmark, with the majority now shifting towards a position in favour of the euro.

It seems unlikely that Danish Prime Minister and EU-superfan Anders Fogh Rasmussen will be able to resist holding a vote on the matter much longer. Now dear Anders admittedly does his best to temper his displays of excessively-overt EU enthusiasm, lest he talk himself out of his position of leader of his own party by overtly coveting a 'higher' position elsewhere in Europe, or provoke disquiet among his not-so-silent coalition partners, the embarrassingly racist Dansk Folkeparti, should they sense he is becoming a bit too overzealous about something that simply doesn't fit into their bellicosely juvenile vision of 'Danmark for Danskerne'.

Ironically, it is the very issues that the government didn't dare to address during the last referendum that are now fueling euro support. Those being any arguments grounded in economic logic - such as the point that simply adopting a currency that the Danish kroner is already tied to anyway isn't such a risk, when it comes down to it.

The fact that in the recent weeks, the National Bank was obliged to increase the interest rate spread between the euro and the kroner during the financial crisis was the real kicker that really shifted opinion. When people in Denmark, with homes and apartments already deflating in value by the day, realised that they were now also paying as much as 1.5% extra for the privilege of holding their loans in kroner instead of euro, finally a certainly logic which was previously drowned in nationalist sentiment snapped with a nearly audible 'cracking' sound (of course, that may actually have been the sound of shareholders jaws dropping open and hitting the ground when Roskilde Bank was suddenly nationalised and their stocks become instantly worthless), and almost overnight the shift the brought supporters of the euro in Denmark into a majority position.

So bring on the euro referendum. It might just be the occasion the government needs to shake the moth-balls off of those EU flags - flags which the Danish government seems to have a morbid fear of flying for even an hour longer than necessary each year, lest they be interpreted as some sort of anti-Denmark sentiment by the more rabid elements of the Danish population.

More about it here in a recent article from The Guardian.

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.

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, with a couple other smaller ones not so much of note. The best bet is to bring a bike (or rent one) to get around - but leave yourself plenty of time as it will take more than a day trip to get the most out of the island. Beaches are everywhere, there are some fantastic camping spots, it's as idyllic as anywhere in Denmark, and, the real icing on the cake, the island produces some of Denmark's most outstanding fruit and vegetables. Bring a pocketful of coins and be sure to stop at the farm produce stands dotting the roads of the island during the summer months to grab some mouth-watering produce. For example, I will always remember the eye-opening experience that a fresh Samsø onion (yes, an onion...) once provided me. Since that fateful day, I have found myself only able to cast a condescending eye upon mere supermarket onions, such a fresh onion snob I have since become. Okay, I may be over-dramatising just bit, but really, they are damn tasty onions.

So anyway, check out the article and the stunning accompanying pics. It's the kind of piece - particularly the photos - that's so compelling that if you're in right frame of mind, you mind find yourself fighting the urge to book plane tickets to Denmark (and ferry tickets to Samsø).

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 examining what sorts of additives they contain, and so forth. Which is where this weeks assessment of shaving cream was pretty revealing.

So let’s talk about shaving cream.

Now personally, I'm a big fan of 'Brig' shaving cream, which can be bought in Netto for a whopping 8 kroner (or approximately 1 Euro). This has always struck me as a far better value than the widely available alternative, Gilette (at about 5 times the cost). Comparing the two, Brig to me has an equally pleasant scent, does what it is supposed to do (ie. foam) - and a can of it seems to last forever. And really, who can quibble with the price?

So it was revealing to read Tjek to see how Brig rated, and how the alternatives stacked up. Brig was among the cheapest, but points were awarded for organic contents, no perfume, and non-harmful additives. I should also add at this point that I’m a huge fan of organic and non-perfumed products – soaps, etc. As more and more of these relatively natural products enter our apartment, the alternatives seem to become progressively less appealing - in many cases, at least. Especially when it comes to unnaturally flowery smelling perfumed soaps and detergents, and such.

So, Brig shaving cream it turns out, received a score 3 out of 6, handily outscoring Gilette (which managed a pitiful 1 out of 6 and was red-flagged in all categories).

But the clear winner was Anglamark Shaving Cream, available at the supermarket SuperBrugsen for 26 kroner - the only shaving cream to score 6 out of 6 – as it was the only shaving cream to contain absolutely no offending additives. As for Gilette, well, don't believe the advertising hype. There you have it.

Oh, be warned, the assessment did not get into niche categories such as 'best shaving cream pie' - should you be looking for just the right way to celebrate the winning goal in a future football victory, or such.

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The 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.