The big deal about the little mermaid

Imagine that you have become a national symbol. You're almost 92 years old, but still look healthy and youthful. However, nobody seems to like you very much. Your fellow Danes think it's strange that you're the symbol of their country and that people come all the way to Copenhagen to see you. Crowds of people come to take your picture...and then go home and tell everyone how disappointing you were, so small. You might be consoled by the fact that you live on prime waterfront property...but the view from your backyard is decidedly industrial.

What's more, periodically, people hurt you. You've had your head chopped off...twice. You've had your arm cut off. You've been covered in paint. You've been knocked off of your granite perch into the water. It's enough to make you cry statuesque bronze tears.

When I first came to Copenhagen, the one tourist place I had heard of was the little mermaid. And what I had heard was not good - the representative comment was 'Copenhagen is a nice town. The little mermaid is rubbish.' So, I was expecting very little. Which perhaps is why I came away from my first visit quite enchanted. Of course she is small - or as my boyfriend puts it, 'It's the little mermaid - what do they expect?' But, she's sweet and accessible, and brings out my protective instinct. And, I hope I look half that good naked when I'm her age.

She's also draws people to her. The second time I came to Copenhagen, the mermaid had just been blown into the water, and then taken away to be restored. Instead of the real mermaid, tourists were greeted with a giant sign, in Danish and English, with a big picture of the mermaid, explaining what had happened, including detailed descriptions of her injuries - she had some gouges, but no missing limbs or head, if I remember correctly. I also remember a couple of tourists there with me...taking photographs of the sign. She's a must see mermaid. What's more, she's a marketing dream, gracing postcards, imitation mini-statues, even Little Mermaid perfume.

So, to make a long rant short, when you come to Denmark, to see all of the things I outlined in my last post, do not forget the mermaid. And do not forget to buy me a drink to thank me for the inspiration.

Top 5 tourist things seen recently in Denmark

As is obvious by the information given about me at the top of this blog, I live in Denmark. Which means that I haven't taken the time to really see the country as well as I might, because, well, it will still be here next week, and so will I (Danish immigration permitting, of course), so what's the rush? However, a visit this past week from friend and blogging inspiration James gave me just the push into tourism I needed. Here are the top 5 things we saw/did. I recommend them all and many, many more - Denmark is a small but tourist-interesting place.

1) Hillerød. As the tourist brochure says, "A trip to Copenhagen is a must for many visitors to Hillerød". So make sure your priorities are correct - Hillerød comes first. The Christian the 4th-built Frederiksborg Castle is a must, and will certainly give you many decorating ideas for your own house or apartment, from elaborate plaster ceilings to enormous fireplaces and life-size paintings of all your ancestors, friends, and dinner guests.

2) Hven. O.K., this small (5 km. across) island is actually part of Sweden, but was last of historic interest when all of that part of Sweden was Denmark, so I'm annexing it back for this post. It's a good day trip for Danes wanting to bike or walk round the island, buy crafts, eat lunch and visit famous Dane Tycho Brahe (a good description of whom is on James's site) Brahe's observatory is impressive, as is the museum. The palace where Brahe lived and worked looks like it would have been really impressive, if only Christian the 4th hadn't torn it down. At this point, I can bring in the hero of our trip, Christian the 4th - he builds things, he destroys things, he's the all-round king!

3) Roskilde. Go see the Viking Ship Museum. Go see it now. Ooh, pretty, pretty ships. Ooh, bloody, bloody history. Ooh, nice crafts! Go see Roskilde Cathedral. Go see it now. Ooh, pretty columns and arches. Ooh, cross-Christian (first Catholic, now Lutheran) history. Ooh, Christian the 4th's tomb. Ooh, UNESCO World Heritage.

4) Food. I must be brutally honest...Denmark is not reknowned for its food. However, the pub 'Den Glade Gris' ('the happy pig') on Lille Kannikestræde has a 'grisfest' ('pigfest') every Friday and Saturday in the summer months. Simply put, they roast a pig and then carve it and serve it up. And it is good. 115kr including a beer, so pretty reasonably priced as well. Christian the 4th certainly never ate here, as it only opened this past May, but I'm sure he enjoyed a good roast pig. And a good tankard of beer.

5) The Glyptotek. This is the one Copenhagen sight on the list because both James and I had 'done' the city pretty well previously, so I hope it doesn't seem like I'm slighting Tivoli or the Little Mermaid or anything. Right now the Glyptotek is being renovated, so visitors get to see 'the compact Glyptotek' instead - basically, you can see a few rooms with some representative art in, and can peer over barriers into a few more, but most of the place is closed. However, the indoor entry garden, which is in my opinion the best part, is untouched and ready to receive guests. Once again, this one is too modern for Christian the 4th...but he must have enjoyed good art, as he had so much of it himself.

So, any ideas for your next holiday? Let me know when you'll be here, and you can buy me a drink to thank me for the inspiration!

The joys of being an old(er) woman

Yes, I have just a few short hours ago passed that major milestone of every woman's life, the first mammogram. I must say up front (so to speak) that I had not heard anything good about the mammography experience (except the obvious fact that it can enable cancer to be spotted at earlier, more preventable stages), and expected something uncomfortable or even painful. I was ready to compare the mammogram to learning to use a microscope in primary school biology classes, where you learn that to examine anything you must first separate it into really tiny slices, so that you can see all the cells.

But, the truth is...it was easy. I can't say it wasn't painful, but I suspect the pain was primarily my fault - when the technician tells you to say 'Stop' when the plate is pressing against your breast, that apparently does not mean that you should space out and think to yourself 'Hmmm, that's beginning to hurt, I wonder when she's going to stop the plate'. In fact, I recommend saying 'Stop' quite early. Other than that, it was quick and utterly uncomplicated. I recommend it to everyone, of any age, men or women. And it gave me the opportunity to see ultrasound readings without having to get pregnant.

And, best of all, here in Denmark, you get the results right away, so that I was able to come away from the x-ray place with an officially given mammographic clean bill of health. Very exciting. Stay tuned tomorrow, when I continue my 'major women's milestones' week with my first ever salon given facial. Gee it's nice to be a woman!

Phew! I feel safer now...don't you?

The big news around here is the threat, heard after last Thursday's horrible events in London, that Denmark could be next. But, according to Søndagsavisen (literally translated as 'the Sunday newspaper', a free paper delivered to homes, presumably Denmark-wide, on Saturday, along with loads of supermarket adverts) 'We are prepared for terror'. Actually, the full headline is 'Police, amusement parks and shopping centers: we are prepared for terror.'

I am glad to know that Denmark is prepared for terror. And I understand why people in any number of places in the world might be nervous for their safety at the moment. But how much security preparedeness do we really need to know intimately about? Should someone in Copenhagen feel safer knowing (as I now know, after reading the Søndagsavisen article) that BonBon-Land can be emptied in a half an hour in case of emergency? Do you out there in the blogosphere feel safer knowing that Rosengårdscentret in Odense and Bruuns Galleri in Århus (both shopping centers) have emergency plans? The director of the Aalborg Zoo (which apparently has a very detailed and thorough emergency procedure) said it best: 'We haven't increased our preparedness after the 11th of September, because we don't think it is necessary for us. Cynically speaking, in my opinion it is totally unrealistic that a terror organization like Al Qaeda would have the desire to plant a bomb in the Aalborg Zoo. For terrorists, it's of course a decisive factor that they get full attention for their terrorist actions, and it would take hours for CNN to get in place in Aalborg.'

This could also explain why the one place in the article that seemed sensible to question about security was Tivoli. But even here, is Tivoli a more logical target because it's a relatively famous amusement park, or because it is in the center of a capital city, and just steps away from downtown, city hall, and the main train station? Of course, my views may well be colored by that fact that I live in Copenhagen. Someone from Odense for example, might find it more logical to think about security at Rosengårdscentret than at Tivoli.

But what do you think? Is anywhere a target for terror, or are there some places (places with large numbers of tourists, places of symbolic importance, governmental places, mass transportation, etc.) which are intrinsically more attractive to those looking to make a violent statement?

Hanging out with Lady Liberty

Well, as you can see, I was able to get my camera to work...for about twenty minutes. So, instead of taking pictures of my favorite signs (the signs are the best part of any demonstration, in my opinion), I restricted myself to writing down the various messages. There was, as one would expect at an anti-Bush rally, a preponderance of anti-Bush slogans, such as 'BUll SHit', 'Bush! Hands off our continent', 'Bush - how do you sleep at night?, and 'Free US from Bush.' Best of show for this category goes to 'Trim that nasty Bush', a nicely handmade sign with a nifty drawing of a pair of scissors.

Other political agendas were as usual also drawn into the fold, my favorite being a very well put together cloth banner reading 'Sustainable energy stops war for oil' on the flip side of 'Shared wealth stops terrorism.' Some of the give away signs also addressed important issues. In the second photo above, you can see the corner of 'Indvandrere er ikke problemet - det er Bush og Fogh' (Immigrants are not the problem - the problem is Bush and Fogh), which is a very right-on take on a very polemic issue at the moment here.

Beyond the signage, it was a lovely day and a very successful protest, from what I could see. The media puts the attendance at 20,000, which means that it may have been a bit more than that. I have had problems finding a good link (though here is a not so good one) to events with pictures in English--even the official site appears not to have been updated yet.

So...when's the next one...and can someone lend me a nice digital camera?

In honor of Bush's visit to Denmark

You Are 39% American

America: You don't love it or want to leave it. But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over. On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead... And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

How American Are You?

Yes, in fact, Bush has already arrived. At the moment, he may be actually sharing his birthday breakfast with the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Or perhaps they have already moved on to the bilateral talks....

As for me, out of sheer ignorant laziness, I missed both seeing the arrival last night on television (though my boyfriend's mom called to see if we were watching it) and the concert at Fælledparken. I plan to make up for my laziness by marching in protest today, though interestingly, the whole demonstration starts 15 minutes after Bush leaves Denmark to go to Gleneagles. We all (hopefully thousands and thousands and tens of thousands of us) will converge in front of the US Embassy at 2pm, and then march to Christiansborg, where there will be nifty speeches. I will wander around upset that I can't take up-loadable photos, unless a friend lends me a digital camera, or I find one on the street, which are both equally unlikely. Watch this space for all the protest news that's fit to print.

In the meantime, I offer you a quiz in honor of Bush's birthday. As you can see, I scored alarmingly high--it must be for saying 'zee' instead of 'zed'. I dare you to do better, and feel free to post your results as a comment.

Warning! Social science research is bad for your health!

A few days ago, a study was posted on this very blog by this very researcher. Following the conventions of such things, I restricted myself to a professional rendering of facts and statistics. However, now, the truth can be told. Be warned - this is not appropriate light reading for any of the more squeamishly inclined dwellers of the blogosphere!

As you probably know, research is geared towards increasing the greater knowledge of humankind, a focus which on occasion requires sacrifice on the part of the individual researcher. For example, both I and my fellow rice pudding tester were each required to eat 4 cartons of rice pudding snack in one go, in the interests of science of course.* To say that we were not feeling very well afterwards would be something of an understatement - in fact, despite having carried out the experiment at lunchtime, we were forced to forego a previously arranged dinner out because of mildly upset stomachs. However, by the next day, we had both fully recovered, and felt that the momentary inconvenience had been more than justified by the potential gains given to all those toiling away in the Dessert Studies field, jokingly but lovingly known by some of us as 'Desert Studies' because of the long wait between breakthrough experiments that one finds in this area.

But it was only yesterday, yes two whole days after the original experimental research had been completed, that the full extent of the damage was revealed. I went shopping, as one must do in order to eat and thus, to maintain the stamina necessary to continue working. A normal part of my shopping routine is to buy a rice pudding dessert or two. However, on this occasion, I not only could not bring myself to buy any, I could barely bring myself to look at the area in which the rice puddings were housed. Clearly something of the very nature of the shopping section of my cortex has been altered by my research. When I arrived home, I told my fellow researcher that I had seen something at the store...'Risifrutti. Any comments'? He looked vaguely shocked, and responded 'Eewwww!', thereby showing that the effect I had experienced is in fact generalizable.

It may be that we both had a previously latent anti-pudding tendency, which our research unintentionally triggered. It could also be a form of avoidance therapy. Maybe we have been in the Dessert Studies field for too long, and the novelty of constant interaction with sugar and fat is wearing off. However, I think it is something more insidious than this, and I would like to issue a warning to any who might follow in our footsteps. Think twice! My colleague and I still feel that the sacrifice has been worth it, but we would not want anyone else hurt who might not be ready to suffer for science.

* To those who might somehow dare to suggest that we might have eaten not the whole carton of each pudding, but just enough to evaluate it for taste and texture, putting the remainder back in the refrigerator to be enjoyed later: We are experienced researchers, and we know what we are doing. To suggest otherwise is to deny the very existence of sacrifice for the greater good. And you wouldn't want to do that, would you? If you would, then you are clearly not able to appreciate non-profit research (and trust me, this research was totally non-profit!).

Rice pudding desserts: A small-scale attitudinal study

Reason for Study: Rice pudding consumption in a particular household in the greater Copenhagen (Denmark) area is a growing trend, which is complicated by the presence of two competing brands, Risifrutti (RF) and Mini Meal Vaniljris (MM), at a local Fakta supermarket. This study sets out to measure household attitudes towards these two brands, in hopes of adding both qualitatively and quantitatively to a broader scientific understanding of dessert attitude. This study was financially supported by a grant from the Thor Institute for Grocery Enabling Research (TIGER), which funded the experimental material, and the Virum Fakta, which had the Risifrutti on sale (4 units for 20 DKK).

Hypotheses: According to the 'you get what you pay for' principle, it would be expected that RF (7.45 DKK/unit) would score somewhat higher than MM (6.50 DKK/unit).

Method: Four flavours, two of each brand, were tested: RF strawberry, RF cherry, MM strawberry, and MM raspberry/blackcurrant. Because of space limitations, the following statistics are based solely on the two strawberry varieties. Each brand/flavour combination was tested by 2 experienced rice pudding researchers, conveniently located in the same household, and each combination was rated (using a standard 5-point Likert scale, 1=really bad, 2=bad, 3=o.k., 4=good, 5=really good) on the following characteristics: Rice Taste, Rice Texture, Fruit Taste, Overall Taste, Overall Texture.



Results: The results can be seen below. In each case, separate numbers are given for each researcher, as this yielded more meaningful data than averaging.

Rice Taste, RF 4 / 3, MM 2.5 / 3.

Rice Texture, RF 4 / 3, MM 3 / 5.

Fruit Taste, RF 3 / 4, MM 2 / 3.

Overall Taste, RF 4 / 3, MM 3.5 / 4.

Overall Texture, RF 4 / 4, MM 3.5 / 5.

Conclusions: The results clearly show that for both RF and MM, the blend of fruit and rice was perceived as better than the fruit by itself, especially for MM, which was viewed as synthetic tasting. Great individual difference can also be seen for the texture ratings, with a split between those who prefer thinner more 'pudding-like' pudding (such as RF), and those who prefer a thicker, chunkier pudding (such as MM). The original hypothesis, that RF would receive higher ratings, could not be proved with this sample.

Suggestions for further research: This research opens up tantalizing possibilities for expansion, and the field is open for those who have the resources to carry out a larger scale study. With a larger sample, differences based on gender, age, or other factors could also be statistically analyzed. A long-term longitudinal study, following rice pudding preference as related to personal development, could also prove useful.

Yes Men. Or should that be, yes! Men....*

I recently went to see the docu-movie 'The Yes Men', a film about two radical dudes and their radical friends who impersonate WTO spokesmodels to righteous (or should that be 'lefteous'?) and often hilarious effect. I enjoyed the film, found myself laughing at the appropriate places (unlike quite a few of my fellow audience), and overall quite recommend it. In fact, if you haven't already, then go see it. Now. And yet..and yet...there is a part of my political self that is sent vaguely akilter by the Yes Men experience. Here is why.

But before I do anything else, let me justify my political position. I am aware of the evils (real or imagined) of the WTO. I am aware of global poverty, and the plight of workers in the world (both developing and developed). I see myself, in short, as a liberal right-thinking individual. And that I feel I need to state this before I can be critical of this film is quite probably the main critique I have against it.

What the Yes Men say and do during the film, to several audiences worldwide, is clever and subversive. I am sold on their message. However, I was sold before I went in to the film. I cannot imagine that I would have 'gotten' what the film was about had I not bought into it beforehand. For this reason, I am perturbed. I want a film that right-wing globalization embracers can go to and be enlightened. But that seems frankly impossible, any more than I could read an Ann Coulter book and come away 'enlightened' (admittedly I haven't tried it, but her blog is quite enough to scare me off, thank you.)

So is asking for a funny righteously radical film which could both amuse and inform unrighteous reactionaries asking for too, too much?


*This works better for Danish speakers...'men' in Danish is 'but' in English.