It's all changing

Hey guys!
Hope your well.
as for me, well, its snowing! haha i think thats a good thing. at least for now. A lot has been happening the last few weeks. i finished school friday but that feels like forever ago. ive been hanging out with all my friends since then. A lot of the really good friends ive made here are semester students, and so now they are all leaving to go back to their home universities and some of them are even graduating. Im excited for them but i the same time im really sad about it. everytime i see one of em i have to wonder if thats the last time ill ever see them, or if we will stay in touch or what. Good people. Shout out to all you UVA, Wash U, and UC Boulder kids. You made my life better! thank you.

that said, let the good times roll. Ive gone ice skating with my american friends, had a christmas feast with my Danish friends, saw avatar in 3d, partied with myamerican friends (i love the meat packing district;) and so much more. But why read about it when you can see it..

The beautiful and frigid view from my window


This is a sad moment. Its Mark walking with all his stuff to the Metro to go to the airport. He spent the last night on my couch cuz he needed a place to stay. i feel slightly stockerish documenting this moment..but its a symbolic picture of everyone who is leaving.
This is my room yesterday afternoon. I have three peoples luggage. Marks plane left the next day but he had to be out of his room. Ryan's flight got cancelled so he had to being his stuff somewhere for a little bit to get things sorted out since he also had to be out of his room. And then there some of Andrea's stuff cuz she also need a place to put things while she moved to her new housing.
This is the Christmas feast i had with the people in my kichen. it was fantastic! it was a traditional Danish Christmas dinner, with roasted duck, pork, potatoes, caramelized potatoes, red cabbage and two types of gravy. and yes, cabbage is amazing! you havent good cabbage if you still think that is horrible. We also had a really good rice pudding desert covered with warm cherries and sauce. Wally says that Jeanie makes the best hes ever had, and he would know.
Some of the people from my floor. Ill post better pictures once i get them from people. From left: Rille, Kenneth, and Jeanie. They are the greatest.


Ice skating in Fredriksberg. From left: Andrea, Charyl, Ryan, Mark, Annie
They cleaned the AD studios...this is the result. facilities must hate us hahaha

Pecha Kucha

This was an art instalation that happened to be there. you had to walk by it to get to the event. its a whole bunch of large shards of glass suspended. its really cool and really trippy.
This was one of the presentations. this guy develped a cool music mixing device called Mixitui. i suggest you go look it up. its amazing.
This is a blurry photo of all the people there. mostly cool young danes as you can see. half the people were in chairs, and probably more than half lay or sat of large bean bags and pillows. i was a part of that group. good times.

About a week ago i went to Pecha Kucha night here in CPH. For those that dont know, its an event started by architects where people can get up and present anything. Usually they present recent projects, or research, or art projects, or whatever captures their imagination. Its kinda expanded tho, at least here in CPH, to other fields. web designers, spoken word, instalation artists, etc presented. The format is that you get 20 slides, and 20 seconds per slide. oh, and the entire thing was in Danish. Even if i didnt understand most of whats being said (i did try, and could pick out the occasional sentence) it was a lot of fun. This time it was located in a contemporary art museum downtown thats inside of an old church. What could be better than God and Design in the same place?

Co2 Cube

This is another one of the pavilions set up in copenhagen. Its a cube with the volume of 1 ton of co2 at room temperature. but it just looks cool. They projects images and videos on to the side. its also floating, located at the bottom end of the lakes, next to the observatory. OH! and im assuming there is sound to go with some of the clips, but i went to check it out sometime around midnight, so im assuming they turned the sound off. no sound pollution in this town baby.

*UPDATE* If you want to see more great images of the cube, check out my friend Mark's post. he saw it a night or two before me and took some amazing pictures. serious props!
http://whereismark.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/co2-cube/

Studio_2

Here are a few pictures from studio working on the final project. im not good about taking pictures of the whole process, or the whole class, so i have only two to show ya.

The Summit

Hey you.
This weekend ive been working on my final project for studio. Its not as a big as the last, and is worth less, but i had a fun time with this one. its just a small pavilion for the square round the corner from school. but rather talk about it, ill just post my board so you can see for your self. i already have it printed and pinned to the wall in studio. the physical model is pretty rad too. ill take pictures of it sometime.

Polar Bears and Brad Pitt....this is COP15

As you've probably heard, COP 15 is this week here in Copenhagen. actually, its the next two weeks. There are a bunch of cool things around the city now, most of which i have yet to see, but here are a few in the square close to school:

First, this is a melting ice sculpture of a polar bear...complete with creepy bronze skeleton inside.



This is my friend Yvonne next to the skeleton bear. the thing is huge..well life size i guess. also notice the lil film crew in the background.
This is also there..but i dont know why. it didnt look like there was really anything inside, but ill keep checking. His name is written even larger on the otherside of the trailer. oh, and website bradpitt.dk is written on it aswell. i had no idea such a site existed...im afraid to visit it..you do it.

Street Art

I think this place sold drugs... but the mural is great!
Pilzn (city where the first pilsner beer was made, about an hour from this spot)

Overlooking the city from on of the highest points. There used to be a giant statue of Stalin above this but it was destroyed with a few well placed explosives. Now the park at the top has been commandeered by skaters.

Images From Pargue

Ive got lots of cool pictures to show. In later posts ill be showing Christmas stuff, and awesome street art. but here are some other cool pics:

View from a bridge at sunset, looking toward the charles bridge.


The central station in Pargue. The dark, low ceilinged soviet era passages ways, ticket areas and stores below were much more busy than the platforms.
Mark, Annie, and Ryan on the metro. (this is not anywhere near the same type of train as pictured above, just to clarify)

The Czech countryside. View from the bus to Pilzn.

This is cool, but its not intentional

Another story from Pargue.
there is a playground by the charles bridge.its right on the river. And you know me. I have a weakness for swing sets and other manners of play equipment. So we went and played. Somewhere ein the process of playing on an unfamiliar contraption my camera slipped from my hand and hit the ground. *thud* and then it acted a little funky. The lens periscopes out and it one part got miss aligned so it wouldn’t close. I realigned it *read small amount of force* and now the camera works just fine again! so thank God for that. The only thing is that some of my photos taken after have a small black shadow curving in one corner. Just look at my new nifty profile picture to the side. But I think that the lens just needs to be cleaned.

Anyhow, in the process of fixing it I took this test picture. And I know this isn’t the way its supposed to look, but it does look pretty good. And you can kinda see the odd contraption that is the source of this whole debacle. They should really make playgrounds less interesting.

Digital Design Videos

Since ive been back ive spent a lot of time working on two videos that i needed to complete for my digital design course. I really dont want to post school work, esspecially since its not my best, but ive spent about 4 hours or so on each over the last two day. I want to share the experience with you.
The first video is of Gronjords kolligiet (which is where i live). The purpose was just to demonstrate movement and animation of things which aren't really moving. i think i did 90% of this today. I left studio early to take pictures while the sun was still out. The second video is more of an animated story board for chapter 9 of the Neuromancer. I had already made the images for another assignment, so i just had to go back and edit them some, then animate them. Both videos are created in adobe premiere, a program that i dont really know. most of what you see here is what i got out of an hour and a half tutorial on the program. I think they could be better. A few parts move too slow, and they could respond better to the music. In the second video (which i actually made first) i added the music later, which was a mistake. But since they are due tomorrow and im just learning the program, i think they are pretty good. Hope you enjoy!

Prague

Im Back!

Most of you don’t know that I left for Prague over the thanksgiving break. Why we get the holiday off at all I have no idea. Seems silly to me. But I took the chance to travel with some friends. We were gone 5 days. I had an amazing time. And now im back to work. Finals are coming up in the next two weeks and I have a lot of deadlines. Traveling set me slightly behind, but I think that I may be able to pull it off. Ive got two videos to film and or edit, and a full set of plans due in the next 12-36 hours. And beyond that I have no idea what else. But rather than blather on about this ima point out a few things I learned on the trip then head back to work. Pictures will be online in the coming week.

- The UK edition of Wired is great. and the content isnt all the same. (sidenote: they had the gorilaz on the cover of the last issue)

- 100 Czech Kroner = $6. Math was hard.

- The Czech Republic is beautiful. And the people are nice, even if they only half know english. And the public transit is great.

- I was once again reminded by security to take my hat off inside of a cathedral. This does not apply in synagogues.

- Czech food is now some of my favorite. A week of hardy meals with goulash in bread bowls, and pork neck with dumplings.

- Cameras do funny things when you drop them. Don’t drop them. I don’t care how cool that playground by the Charles Bridge is.

- British accents are fun.

- I walk fast.

- Christmas markets are neat. I saw more kids on their parents shoulders at once than I have in my entire life.

- We got caught in the middle of a choir rehearsal in a public square. There were 2000 people from all over the world singing together for the first time. It was…definitely rehearsal. Then we were asked by an old lady why we “not sing.”

- Ukrainian girls are fun to talk to.

The Living Room (Cafe)

He speaks Danish

DAC

More Firenze

Hey! Luis posted these on facebook and now im sharing with you if you havent seen them yet.Taken from the plaza di Michelangelo at night. In the group photo its me, Liz, Brittany(one of Liz's cool roomies), and Luis.

Sonday Afternoon Walks, Slow Times and Introspection

I have to say that I love being back in Copenhagen. The last few days Ive been able to just take it slow and relax. I went for a nice bike ride in Vesterbro, found some rad galleries in the meatpacking district, watched movies, and have gone out with some of my Danish friends (i dont think most of my American friends are back in Denmark yet).

But bassically its been a good time. Im listening to some airy music. Lots of time for introspection.

The picture (or pictures if i decide to post more) are from a walk i took today just cuz i needed to get out. taken at about 4 pm.

Milan and Firenze!

Hey y'all!

I just got back from my week in Italy. It was pretty bomb. I have to say, i Milan was okay, but i had an amazing time in Florance. I got to hang out with all my friends from home. Liz did an amazing job hosting me and Luis, and the rest of the crew made us feel well at home.

So I know you want pictures. And I have posted them! on my flickr account. You dont have the link to my account. But now you do! I have uploaded a whole bunch of pictures in to two sets. and ive added great descriptions for most of them. so have at em :) comment here or there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/letteropener/

Its raining, im leaving

Hey all,

tomorrow (that would be wednesday) im leaving for Italy!!! yay. haha so this trip is finally real. Im spending the frist two or three days alone in Milan, then hoping on the train to Florance where I will meet up with Luis and all the CPP Italy kids! It should be a great time. Im really looking forward to it. im all packed and everything. well mostly packed. flight leaves tomorrow at 3. i'll be back the follow wednesday.

Muldvarpen!

haha so i was talking to the girl who lives next door to me about my Danish class, then all of a sudden she got really excited ran to her room and came back with this. Its a popular danish childrens books she wanted me to read. And before you ask, yes, that is poo on his head. the title translates roughly to "the mole who would find out who pooped on his head". the translation for poop may be a little less pg. but its a really funny book. And i thought you would enjoy seeing it. Thank you Jeanie for letting me borrow this!

J-dag and Ticket to Italy

Its been a while. But that’s cuz its been busy! Last week we had review for our studio project, and after that I think I was just kinda worn out. Since then Ive basically just taken naps and gone on bike rides. But I have done two important things!

First: I helped celebrate J-dag. This year it was Friday Oct. 30. It’s a weird holiday. I actually don’t think its really a holiday, but a cultural phenomenon. Its the day that the new Christmas beer is released. People flood the streets. There are release parties at every bar club and café. But since its so close to Halloween, some people are dressed up in their costumes. So one the one hand you have people passing out beer branded flannel shirts and santa hats (yes I have my own now) and on the other you have people dressed as slutty Vikings or sailors. All in all it was a good night. And the city is small enough that even after my friends left I ran into other friends of mine. It’s a very close nit city.

Second: I booked my ticket to Italy! Haha. Okay so I am officially on a 2 week break. Most people had tickets and plans long ago, and even now almost all my friends have left the country and are off on busy itineraries. Probably shoulda done that. But Im taking it easy for a few days, then Wednesday I fly to Italy, and ill be there a week or so before coming back. Yes, I will go visit the Florence kids. They may or may not know that. I should probably research stuff to do once im there.

Other things you should know

-right now im drying my towels and sheets on the radiator.

-went for a nice long bike ride today.. to probably the coldest place I could possibley go. It’s a cold overcast day, and I biked to the upper part of Amager, and to the beach. Did I mention the intense wind? the picture is from the beach. sorry, i didnt take j-dag pics. ill get them from someone.

-I know this post has a lot of text. I don’t blame you for not reading it all! :)

Seasons Change

Today it finally felt like the seasons had changed. The whole time ive been here my teachers have been saying that it will get very dark and depressing, but instead we would have some overcast days, then a sunny day, then a lightly sprinkling day.

but today was all different. Daylights savings was on Sunday for us. Dont ask me why we get it a week or so earlier than you. But i spent the whole day locked up in studio, so i didnt really notice when it got dark.

Today i was in class, occasionally staring out the window. and then i realized...it was dark outside..and it was only 5 pm. To top it off its also a rainy day.

Now, i dont think this rain has been bad. it doesnt rain all the time. its more than a spinkle, but less than pelts. at least when i was out. so this is very tolerable. but i know the light will get worse. i think eventually it will be dark by 3 or so.

Luckily im heading south for a few weeks, come the weekend. i can chase the sun. i look forward to that. tho i have no final plans yet... so pray for that haha.

okay. i have to go back to working on my studio project. (im working in my room now)

Site Plan

wow. okay. yea. this is my site plan. i just made this drawing from scratch using revit and illustrator. So i went from still working out my concept for a site layout, to finished plan in...9 hours...wow. okay. this does not look like it should take that long. but it did. and i didnt have too many distractions. a healthy number of distractions. and yes, i drew every line. couldnt copy the surrounding site from anyone.

now i have to make a site section from scratch. i cant wait for tomorrow when i just have to touch up plans and sections, and make a few pretty diagrams...assuming i can finish that section tonight.

Scale full size is 1:500. Thats right son, its in metric.

A post with no real content.

So i just woke up from a nap. Im still really tired. Got work to do but its okay cuz i know i can get some done tonight, plus i dont have class tomorrow. I do have not one, but TWO danish tests on friday. okay, so one is a 'quiz' and one is a 'test' but its in the same period. so i should study. Plus studio project is due next week.

Dont know what else to say. i was ganna start commenting on cultural observations. But i think maybe instead ill start doing work again, then make dinner, then study, waste some time, then make a post about animal poo. (trust me, that will make much more sense later, but i want to taunt you with it ;)

picture is taken 200 paces from my building. okay maybe 400. i have no idea what a pace is, or at the least i havent counted my steps.

Tivoli, updates, and apologies

Hey!

i know its been along time since ive written. almost a week. im sorry. i really am. Things have just been so busy here. Ive had a lot of projects to work on. We have a big studio project due next week too. but i know thats no excuse.

Im still ganna post the rest of the study trip sometime, but i have more great stuff to share. I went on a beautiful walk (probably one of the last sunny days for some time). Ive gone out with the Danes from my floor. Made burritos. And...

This past weekend i got to go to Tivoli for the first time. For those not in the know, its one of the oldest theme parks in the world, and its right in the middle of city. its a special place for Danes. When the germans wanted to make Denmark mad during WWII they destroyed a few buildings in Tivoli (which the danes finished rebuilding less than 6 months later).

Its a cool place. filled with lights. it was decorated for holloween when i went, dispite the fact its not open on holloween haha.

The top pic is of the swings. I went on it. (you know i love swings!)
the second pic is from an awesome light show they had just before closing.

one of the best parts of tivoli was teh playground. went there as the park was closing and played till the park was probably closed. So much fun. Some one has a pic. ill post it later when i get hold of it ;)

Happy Birthday!!!!

Just wanna wish my sis a massive happy birthday!!! Now you've got ur pic on the coolest blog in the world :) Can't wait to see you again.

Picture from Bethany's version of Heaven. My version of a little bit of home missing. Planet earths version of Pismo Beach last December.