Copenhagen 1953

A wonderful short film that shows how bicycling has inherently been part of Danish culture since 1953 and until today!

kleejourneys on CBC Metro Morning

It has come to my attention how special Nørrebrogade is, a street located in Nørrebro, Copenhagen . Not only is this where kleejourneys is based, it is also where many significant events or activities take place.

For instance, both at the beginning and at the end of the summer, hundreds of motorbikes gather and meet on Nørrebrogade before heading off on a group ride to Bakken, an amusement park one hour north of the city. Even though I am a bicycle advocate, I admittedly have a personal fondness for motorbikes and was thrilled when over 300 of them arrived and parked outside my window. Many bicyclists were however less thrilled at the CO2 and noise pollution.

As Nørrebro is the only ethnically diverse area of Copenhagen, Nørrebrogade is also the street for immigrant protests. I blogged back in March about a funeral demonstration that took processed down this street: Ligtog på Nørrebro.

However, demonstrations and gatherings aside, Nørrebrogade is actually a main commuter thoroughfare for cyclists and in October 2008, a decision to restrict vehicle access onto the street for a 3 month trial period was instigated by Klaus Bondham, Copenhagen's Major of Traffic and Environment. Instead of widening roads in order to ease heavy street traffic which is often a solution in North America, the project proposed the closure of Nørrebrogade to vehicular traffic at 2 sections, thereby allowing for the increase of bicycle and bus access. More information can be found by reading about Agenda 21 Grøn Nørrebro (Agenda 21 Green Nørrebro).

September 22nd is World car free day and in conjunction with this event, CBC radio Toronto was eager to speak to an ex-torontonian currently living in Copenhagen. Thanks to Spacing magazine and editor Dylan Reid, it was my pleasure to be selected to speak live from Copenhagen and have the opportunity to be interviewed by Andy Barry on Metro Morning about the recent infrastructure changes on Nørrebrogade.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Roskilde Finale

Feeling Safe within Humanity

Photo source: Infinite Butterflies

Underlying the spirit
of
festival camaraderie,
colours and fun,

surfaces
the
unexpected,

black and white

If I had
turned around,
would you still have
pulled the trigger and shot me down?

Roskilde Festival part 5

They come, and they go

They come and they go, hungover, sunburnt, too exhausted to pack, and most, willing to leave all belongings behind.

For others, the last nights' traditional act of camp destruction continues into Monday morning. Eight days of emotional and physical energy can finally be released and a sense of victory and accomplishment felt to the utmost.

There are many who do pack up first thing on Sunday morning, fearing personal safety and theft of valuables. These groups depart the festival grounds by early evening, and so choosing to forfeit the final concert.

For others who stay until Monday, it's a much slower move out. The Environmentally Conscious stay behind to collect batteries or take tents to the donation area; the Scavengers take advantage of the massive hunt lying before them; and the remaining others, not wanting to face the real world, chill for a final drink in the sun .

Just like that in a week, Roskilde Festival comes and goes and all that remain are seagulls and 300 hectares of leftover trash and memories to clean up during the upcoming months, until the next year comes around.

Roskilde Festival 2010 takes place on 1 - 4 July. Warm-up from 27 June.

Roskilde Festival part 4

The Spirit of Roskilde

A fun time for most, but for some, it is not at all about music or a cozy time with friends. Instead, these people purchased the full week ticket for 1785dkr, approximately 375cdn$, to gain access to the festival grounds and 9 days of hard but profitable work collecting empty cans.

Roskilde Festival part 3

Roskilde goes green

In 1994, the environment at Roskilde Festival became the object of an environmental survey for the first time. In connection with this, an actual environmental policy containing four main strategies was defined: (source)

. Use of resources must be reduced as much as possible
. Environmental friendly products must be used when technically and financially
possible, and to the extent that they do not represent any health hazard
. The festival must aim at a maximum level of waste recycling
. Utmost consideration must be paid to security - and the audience’s and
volunteers’ health conditions

As the 2009 Climate Conference in Copenhagen draws closer, organized events or activities throughout Denmark have in tandem, developed stronger green conscious campaigns. At Roskilde, Green Footsteps ,a campaign with initiatives that focused upon transport, electricity, food and waste was successfully implemented this year. This included a green community camping area, Odeon, the sustainable stage, a refund collection project, and several activities around the festival grounds.

Read more about it here.

Lineup at one of the can refund stations only 4 days after the festival grounds opened.

Denmark is known for it's cycling culture. As part of green footsteps, you could cycle to charge your mobile phone battery.

Climate community at the west camping grounds where many non-profit environmental organizations such as NOAH, friends of the Earth were located.

Going green also extended in many other ways...

Roskilde Festival part 2

Bombetrussel (bomb threat) på Roskilde festival

”We’ve got front row seats to death here”

Our camp was set up at westcamping "C", located right by the festival train station where on day 2, Sunday June 28, a package of 3 tubes and wiring was found and a bomb threat thereby called in.

The train station was shut down and everybody located at camping "C" were quickly evacuated to the other side of the police line.

So with chairs in hand, we crossed over to the safe side and after 6 hours in the sun of close huddling, the threat was called off.

Fortunately there were no explosives to be found. I am otherwise not sure what the outcome could have been considering we were evacuated only a mere few meters away (our camp was setup just behind the tents in the photo) and beer, rather than sunblock was the item we grabbed to take along with us on this very sunny and hot afternoon.

Read more about the bomb threat here.

On the other hand, it was nice that the festive mood was not affected due to the relaxed nature in which the situation was handled by the police and event security.

Krudt and Ole 'bombe' camp friends

This day hanging out with ''bombe'' friends listening to 'Bam Bam', a 1982 reggae classic song by Sister Nancy also turned out to be one of my better memories of the festival.

After many hours of sunshine and alcohol, delirium set in and the lyrics of the chorus for us developed into:

'bomb bomb...waiting for the bomb bomb..'

Click play on the video above and sing along with the new lyrics yourself. It works!

Roskilde Festival part 1

Roskilde Festival

Attendance: Saturday June 27, 18:00 to Monday July 6, 15:00

10 camping days
12 films screenings, 30 hours work
17 concerts
3 showers
+ 25 degrees celsius and sun
1 over heated 7am tent
3 sets of earplugs
1 hindering blister

and non tallyable Tuborg beer.

Inspired by other festivals such as Woodstock or Thy, Roskilde Festival began in 1971 and is now the largest North European culture and music event. The Festival is also a non profit organization consisting of about 25 full-time employees and thousands of volunteers. Each year, any profits are donated directly to the Roskilde Festival Charity Society which in turn, donates the money to humanitarian or cultural purposes benefiting people all over the world.

Orange stage

The first 1971 festival took place over 2 days, with one only stage located just outside of the city of Roskilde (31 km west of Copenhagen) featuring approximately 20 bands. Today, there are 7 stages, 175 bands, and this year's 2009 festival brought in a total attendance of 67,413 all-week guests and 12,931 one-day guests.

Arena Stage

Partaking in Roskilde Festival in its entirety means than one could be there over an 8 day period, although live concerts only take place during the last 4 days. For many, the camp atmosphere and surrounding activities during the days before the music starts, can contribute as much or sometimes more to the festival experience than the actual time spent listening to the concerts.

Loading in the weeks supply of necessities

In fact this year, impatient festival goers waiting to be let in on Sunday at 08:00 broke down the barricading fence by 20:58 on Saturday evening, and ran in to get to their favorite camp spot before the next came along. In less than 2 hours, there were thousands of colourful tent peaks, white pavilions and camp flags setup and backlit by the glow of the setting sun.

Due to the unexpected breaking down of the fence, I had to fend off festival vultures to save this 12 tent camp area (photo above and below). Meanwhile I waited 3 hours for backup friends to finally arrive from Copenhagen after receiving my emergency call to packup and rush in 8hours before our arranged meeting time.

I was offered a choice of 2 volunteer positions at Roskilde this year: first for NOAH, friends of the Earth, a non-profit environmental organization and second, for the Roskilde festival cinema. Since 10 days was bound to lead to some form of debotchery, I opted against the green friendly position. Instead, as a media volunteer, I knew that I would receive in exchange, not only a free entrance pass, but access to warm showers, cleaner toilets, and a quieter place to retreat on the secure grounds of the cinema. These are all elements that were essential for my survival during those days.

Roskilde cinema tent (capacity of 1000)

Notice the interior metal vertical beam in the closest peak was removed and instead supported by 3 other external beams and cabling.

Shade and shelter is what I found on this piece of grass and
I kept coming here frequently despite the walk ...

from westcamping ...


past the hungover morning lineup at the stinkies ...


up the bridge ....


down the bridge ...

past the dustiest tents...


along the very very long gravel path....

beside the enormous gravel pit right in the center of the campgrounds ...


and finally, through the mess at east camping.
(west camping was clean in comparison)

And so this was my daily excursion, from my camp located at westcamping to the cinema at eastcamping, that took 30 mins each way or 45mins with the fresh new foot blister that resulted.

Sommerferie 2009

July and August are the months when many Danes take time off from work for ''sommerferier'' or summer holidays. So after a reminder from a friend, that I too have been working hard all year establishing myself in Copenhagen, I realized that I also deserved a break.

So on June 28, my ''sommerferie'' began at Roskilde Music Festival.

West camping grounds at Roskilde Festival

My blue tent

9 days later, sunburnt, exhausted and deafened from camping, 17 concerts, and 67,412 other festival goers, there came an offer to decompress on the Baltic Sea. It was the best kind of music to my ears.

I gladly accepted and was soon on the overnight ferry from Køge to the island of Bornholm, and what I initially thought would be a short 4 day trip became the most important days of my summer filled with the five fundamental 'R's of life: rest, relaxation, relation, rejuvenation and re-inspiration. While on Bornholm, time stood still, but while sitting on the bus 10 days later journeying back across Sweden, I knew it had passed too quickly.

Crossing the Öresund Bridge from Sweden to Denmark

With commitments successfully accomplished after 2 days back in Copenhagen, I had no need nor desire to stay put in the big city. Thus when I was asked to join a semi-work weekend in Aalborg, a part of Denmark I had not yet visited, I did not hesitate to accept despite the city's poor reputation.

View of Aalborg from Hotel Hvide Hus

How could I say no to the job or rather, the opportunity to photograph the Aalborg Museum of Modern Art, knowing the images will be used as creative inspiration for an upcoming film and lighting project. This was yet again a perfect way to continue the summer holiday.

Aalborg Museum of Modern Art

Finally, having managed travel all month by ferries, trains and buses, there had to unfortunately be a carbon emitting flight to Scandinavia's volcanic country on the North Atlantic Ocean. After all, what is a ''sommerferie'' without a journey to the glaciers of Iceland?

Next time however, I will take the ferry...

Other life priorities have had to be put forward and Kleejourneys apologizes to her readers for the lack of blog postings recently. However, if you can be patient, an extremely large stock of new ''sommerferie''photos will be shared in the upcoming weeks. So please stay tuned...

Bird Feeding

The bate

The distraction

The sudden stop

The landing

The temptation

The interruption

"Hey buddy, I ate one of those and now, look at hairs on my head!"

The second thought

The decision

The escape

The next victim

Moral of the story:

To maintain a beautiful natural self and avoid the ruffling of feathers, beware of humans disguised in spikey dead animal fur with dry biscuits in hand.

Help I am alive

"Help, I'm Alive" Interview, Emily Haines

Sometimes when you feel you are dying, you are actually just scared and more alive than ever

Love Story meets Viva La Vida

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt

This arrangement makes me want to see Coldplay live at Roskilde Festival.

It also makes me want to play the piano again.

Young Rider

Elephant Gates at the Carlsberg Brewery, Copenhagen

Young Bride

Self Portrait V - Intersection

March 26 today, exactly one year since I boarded a KLM flight in Toronto headed for new adventures in Europe. At that time, there was only one runway to choose from for takeoff, with all lines of perspective converging at one point far in the distance.

Today, after one year following arrows and climbing slowly up a ramp, there is bend and the lines no longer converge but instead, intersect in every direction.

Although no longer running a marathon, I have hit a midway marker but cannot see where there is a finishing line.

Ligtog på Nørrebro

Gun violence due to the drug war between Hells Angels and immigrant groups in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen has been increasing rapidly in the last year. On February 27, 25 year old Mustafa Shakir Hsownay was innocently killed while sitting in his car in a parking lot at the Mjølnerparken Estate.

In commemoration of his death and in protest of the violence, a powerful and dignified demonstration was held on Saturday, March 14. It took place in the form of a funeral procession march from Nørrebro Station to Dronning Louises bridge on Nørrebrogade.

On arrival at the end point, the backhatch of the car was opened to reveal the coffin one last time. A hush of quietness filled the street as friends, family and loved ones rushed forward for one more goodbye. Bystanders stood still on the sidewalk and in the open windows above.

The faces around me blurred in grief. My hands fell to my side, my camera no longer in ready position. I could only hear cries of pain and grief.

The complete set of photos from "Faces, Nørrebro Funeral Procession'' can be viewed by clicking here.

Financial Crisis

Global Finance has released a list of the worlds 50 safest banks. Click here if you're curious. Nordea has been ranked as 22nd in the world and first in the Nordic region, maybe still not good enough for some....

No, I don't bank at Nordea. I keep my danish kroner under my bed.

Jante's Law

After 7 months in Copenhagen trying to understand the complexity of living in Denmark, it is time to bring up Jante's law, an unspoken code of ethics in Scandinavian-American culture. This law was created by Norwegian/Danish author Aksel Sandemose in 1933 when he wrote "En flygtning krysser sitt spor", a novel about Jante, a fictitious little village in Denmark where people live by 10 commandments to preserve social stability and uniformity.

Here are the ten rules to the law:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

To summarize, the Law of Jante was the very core of the speech of the people and the result of breaking this social code meant that your neighbors would despise you for your individuality, uniqueness, or an excess show of wealth. Furthermore, according to this website,

"Equality is an important part of Danish culture, so much so that, ‘success’ or what may be seen as a deliberate attempt to distinguish oneself from others may be viewed with hostility. This characteristic is called Janteloven or Jante’s Law by Danes.

Relocating alone to a country with a new culture and language, one experiences looking in the mirror daily, questioning values, prejudices and self definition. With Jante's 10 commandments,living in Denmark comes with a whole set of additional challenges.

Balance and Stability

If only muscles, bones and tendons could be stacked like concrete blocks to not fall down.

Sadly, after 5 weeks of running and achieving 10.5 km in one hour last Sunday, I must report a setback. The muscles in my left leg are not able to withstand the training regime thus weakening my physical balance and stability. Some careful reconsideration is now necessary with regards my participation in the half marathon.

Leephotostudio

The time has come to launch a website just for my photography in hopes that a professional career may unravel and spiral to the top. Thank you to all who have been dedicated readers of kleejourneys. I hope that you will also visit leephotostudio as often and invite many of your friends as well.

visit

Katrina Lee Photography

www.leephotostudio.blogspot.com