Deliberateness

I have been commenting in my journal and to some friends by email that it feels like I have been travelling for a very long time. Today I think I figured out why I have that feeling.

In LA I live a life somewhat similar day after day. To get food I go to the kitchen. To entertain myself there is the tv, internet, friends. To go somewhere I get in my car and go. When tired I go to bed. I can experience 20 days in the blink of an eye.

But out here, travelling, I have to live a lot more deliberately. None of the things I do or take for granted are easy here. I have to figure out where to find groceries every few days because i am in a new city. I have to find internet for free if I can. Whether that means going to the library 2 klicks away or finding an internet cafe because the hostel might not have internet access. I have to figure out how to get around on the subway, buses or trams. Everyday is new, and I have to think a lot more than I do when my life is normal and easier.

Things take more time and I need to put more thought into all of it. At the end of the day I am a lot more tired than I am from a normal LA day.

Soon I will have the months flying by as I forget how to be deliberate...

Stockholm

I like this city much more than I did Copenhagen. The hostel is much nicer. The city is much cleaner. It's a different vibe. Tough to explain. There's a lot to do here, but I'm here during Midsummer's eve and day. So 3/4 of the museums are closed. It was a shock with the first one then I noticed a trend...

Because of the holiday there are a few things that will have to wait until tomorrow or Sunday. The intriguing one is the Vampire Bar. Is this one of those goth places that has a bunch of pale vampire wannabes? I'm curious. I played a vampire on the internet in Dark Commandos. So I have a fondness for the creatures. But is the bar for vampires or human tourists sucked in by the name?

I leave for home early Monday morning. I am ready to go home. The trip will be long. The flight is at 6 am, so I am gonna go to the airport the night before and hang out. I'll check in and cat nap on a couch or something until my flight. The flight goes to Paris first, then from Paris to Salt Lake City, then to LA. Why 3 flights? That's how it worked out. 15.5 hours flying time, 18.5 hours travel time total. Plus 6-7 sacked out at the airport. It didn't make sense to get a room for the final night. I'm sure I'll figure out if that was a mistake...

We need transporters like in Star Trek. And jetpacks, just because.

Hot Blonds on Bikes

In Scandinavia one major way to get around is on bicycles. So all over the city there are hot blond women on bicycles zooming by you. And it takes a while to dawn on you, there really aren't any fat people. No really morbidly obese people like you find in the USA. Now I think the reason for this is, well, bicycling places, walking places and not sitting around eating bad food. The diet here is rich in fish. Lots of fish.

So, Hooray! for the hot blonds on bikes.

And something I find funny, though the inverse is true in America, there are a number of brunettes in Scandinavia that have blond roots. I guess in a world of hot blonds, the way to stand out is to be a hot brunette.

Job?

I only reluctantly tell people I'm an actor while I travel. It sounds pretentious and whatnot. Also when you say you are an actor, you usually get one of 3 responses.

1. "I've always wanted to try that." Well, it's not like trying snowboarding to see if you like it. It ain't a damn hobby. "Do or do not, there is no try." To quote Yoda. You have to be passionate about it. Because it's a hard business, and talent and training sometimes don't get you as far as dumb luck and connections.

2. "How do you remember all those lines?" Repetition. Like hearing a song a thousand times.

3. "What have I seen you in?" Probably not much. I'll send you my reel.

Hamlet's House

Okay, It's actually Kronberg Castle in Helsgnore, or in English, Elsinore.

Being the actory type I am I thought it would be cool to see the House of Hamlet. I got off the train in Elsinore, and there it was to the right of the exit. It was still 1/4 mile away or so, but it's a castles, so therefore, BIG. It is obviously a castle, but different from the English style of castle. It has copper spires. I have lots of pictures.

As I walked up to it I noticed, and I saw them other places too, purple wild flowers that had been bundled in a small bundle and left around. Like a mad Ophelia figure wandering around with flowers strewing them here and there. Like in the play. It was a little weird, and I might be the only one who noticed. These flowers were not growing in the area, at least not that I saw.

The castle is impressive. I was thinking of lines in the play as I wandered the grounds; how Polonius was under the stairs and you would nose him soon enough. In the chapel, the fair Ophelia... On the battlements, Who goes there? And of course the ghost walking them the past 3 nights...

I went under the castle into the Casemates. It was lit solely by oil lamps. I took pictures with a flash, just so that I had an idea where I was going. It was dark, and I could see my breath. It had to be about 40 degrees down there. But very cool. And in my head theré were monsters in the dark. Thanks horror movies...

There was the story of Ahmled, and his father the king was killed by his brother who then married the queen. He had to act mad to escape being killed, there was an Ophelia in the story. An English playwright named Kyd wrote the original Hamlet, and old Bill took it and made it unforgetable. The Kyd version is lost to antiquity...

Snoring

Okay, I'm sorry, but if you snore, you should not be allowed to stay in a multi-person room at a hostel. For fuck sake. You know you snore, someone had to have told you at some point in your life. But to have you shaking the fucking walls in a room of 4-16 people, you are the only one getting a decent sleep. And why is it you always fall asleep first? Can you explain that?

No wonder I'm tired after a nights sleep at some of these places.

Copenhagen

Well, the hostel I am in is a bit of a dump. They have no internet, the rooms are small and the beds vary in size a bit. I don't fit in some of the beds... The showers are a bit of a horror. I don't recall how I ended up here, but I was thinking of how I could get out almost as soon as I looked the place over. I think all the others were booked.

Now Copenhagen itself is also a bit of a disappointment. I tried to figure out what it was. There's graffiti all over the place, and there's trash in the streets. The other Scandinavian cities were free of trash. And the graffiti was minimal and quickly painted over.

I am headed to Elsinore at some point. I wonder if I will find out Hamlet wasn't a real guy, and the play is not a documentary...

In Norway...

They will skin anything. At the fish market in Bergen, there was reindeer, wolf, 4 types of fox, seal and coyote. I can only assume the coyote was really lost. Don,t get caught in the woods, they will shoot you and skin you.

Interesting

My apartment builidng is being sold. I could have new landlords next week. They aren,t going to tear down. Supposedly they are going to do some major renovation. What you can do to a 50 year old building is beyond me. But to have construction on my place as well as next door. Sleeping in is a dim memory...

Fjords

Fjords are really big. Not just the size above the boat we were in, but below as well. Like about 300 meters deep. At first I took a lot of pictures. It's really beautiful and green, but after about 30 minutes you begin to slow down. I guess I got a little jaded.

Wow. Beautiful. Wow. Still beautiful. Look, another waterfall. I started taking picutes of only the really impressive waterfalls. Which is unfair to the multitude of trickling waterfalls, but I only have so much memory on my card, and I've only been here a week. (feels like I have been out forever.)

I think the slower pace is maybe better than the rush to get all of New Zealand in, but it's odd to have time to think...

Whale Sashimi

Norway is one of the few (2 or 3) countries that still has whaling. The Japanese do it for "Scientific Research" which is bullshit. So I was walking at the seaside in Oslo and there was a sign that said Sashimi. I like sushi and sashimi, so I tried some. It was a very red color. I asked what it was, "whale". Okay. When in Rome... It tasted not that much different from other sashimi, but it just was a mammal with a brain the size of, well, me.

Oops. A vegatarian ex of mine would be very disappointed.
hee, hee, hee.

Oslo

Holy crap, 21 hours of sunlight is alot. Its dark only from midnight until 3 am. I sleep with a eye mask, just to keep things dark.

The city is really beautiful. The women are too. Very blond. Remember the Star Trek episode when Kirk goes to a planet where theres a God called Vaal? How the primitive inhabitants were naive, and very blonde? So blonde their eyelashes were blonde? Thats the kind of blonde I am talking about. Then Kirk kills the God machine and sets them free from being slaves to Vaal. Hello? Prime Directive?

Anyway, I went and saw the Scream By Munch. Probably the definitive one. It was amazing to see in person. He did about 100 of them. Thats a lot of screaming. A lot of Angst and Pertubation. The colors you see in the pictures are not as vivid as in person, also you can see what was used to create it. Paint and pastels as well. Theres also a dripping or 3 of candle wax on the painting. Apparently he would leave the paintings out in the elements and snow. He didn,t consider them to be fragile or masterpieces.

I also went to the very large impressive Vigeland park. I has sculptures from Gustave Vigeland. Large sculptures, bronze, cement, etc. I,ll have picture to show. It is impossible to describe without pictures.

More later.

Odd Coincidence

Whenver I leave the country, some famous actor dies. Last year it was Heath Ledger, this year it is David Carradine. Now both died under mysterious or rather stupid circumstances. Heath ledger from a pharmacy of drugs, and Carradine from, most likely, Auto Erotic Asphyxiation. Which is not just a stupid way to die, but really embarassing. Honestly. You are found dead, hanging naked. Thats never a good thing.

I liked David. He was Kwai Chang Caine. It was fun to watch as a kid. And though he later became a raging alcoholic, it didnt... No wait, it did screw up his career.

RIP Kwai Chang Caine.

Stockholm

I just flew into Stockholm, and boy am I tired.
Planes were not meant to be slept on by someone my height. I should have claimed a middle row for myself so I could stretch out. Didn,t think of it until they were all gone.
So far... everyone looks like all the Scandinavian people I know. Bo, Kari, Gus, and others of viking decent. Kinda funny. I see what could be their cousins.
The automatic door at the Coop grocery has a motor that sounds like a Wookie when it opens and closes. I,m a geek, what can I say?
Keyboards in other countries are weird. Which is why this is going to be oddly punctuated. And I,m leaving it that way.
I get on a train to Oslo tomorrow. And I need more than 4 hours sleep...

Hmmmm... Things are going to get...

Interesting.

My apartment building is being looked at by some real estate agents while I am out of the country. So this might be a precursor my building being sold and me being homeless... It kinda sucks that I don't have any control or say over this. In my neighborhood, apartments are sold, and then torn down to make way for ugly cheaply built condos. So, wahoo.

I'm gone for 20 days. Will I have a place to come home to? Or will I come home and have to find a new place to live immediately? Lame.

Or the deal could fall thru. I'm kinda hoping for that. Or maybe I need this kind of shake up.

Don't know. It's gonna be interesting.