On Staying Excited - Kirk Tuck (Wed 13 Nov 2013)

Rowers (Detail) - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Staying Interested (*):

I'm happy that I'm still excited about hitting the water on a cold day and pounding out the yards. You'd think that after over fifty years of swimming up and down various pools and watching the black line on the bottom one would get bored but every time in the pool is exciting and fun for me. It's active meditation (*), it's competition (*) and it's concentration (*). Lots of good stuff for your body and brain to do before that first cup of coffee...

via Packing up and getting on the road (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Rowers - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Den Lille havfrue - The Little Mermaid - Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Den lille Havfrue - The Little Mermaid - Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
From The Little Mermaid (*):

The sun rose out of the sea (*), its rays felt warm and soft on the deathly cold foam. But the little mermaid did not feel death, she saw the sun (*), and up above her floated hundreds of airy, transparent forms. [..]

She is then told:

We carry the smell of flowers that refresh and heal the sick.

The flowers placed on her lap were such a nice touch.

I did not see all of this in the photo I made as the sun rose on The Statue's 100th Birthday, but I do now.

Why Why? - Chantel Tattoli

Untilted - Barcelona / Spain (Tue 06 Aug 2013)
Expanding on an earlier post (*), Chantel Tattoli (*) writes on the importantance of understanding (*) Why:

Why? Why would someone do that?

Why is the slippery question cultural anthropologists are always trying to get at.

As a rule of thumb, if we do not get why, we probably don’t understand (*) the perspective (*).

The thing to do is try to see yourself in the other peoples’ shoes, because from the perspective of the Other’s shoes, their behavior should make more sense.

This is the golden rule. Even when it’s hard.

I paraphrase the late anthropologist Clifford Geertz To understand, isn’t to forgive (*).

via The Anthropology of the Little Mermaid (*) by Chantel Tattoli (*).

Thanks Chantel, some great thoughts in your words.

If you look, really look, you will always find something you weren't expecting. Even if you can't figure why, you might just be a bit more understanding.
Untilted (Detail) - Barcelona / Spain (Tue 06 Aug 2013)

On Anthropology, Understanding and Forgiveness Clifford Geertz - Chantel Tattoli / intellectum

Chantel - Osterport Railway Station / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
Clifford Geertz (*) writes On Anthropology (*), Forgiveness (*) and Understanding (*):

To understand (*), isn’t to forgive (*).

via The Anthropology of the Little Mermaid (*) by Chantel Tattoli (*).

Green - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Green - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Rowers Tribute - Den lille havfrue / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Rowers Tribute - Den lille havfrue / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Happy 100th Birthday - Den lille havfrue / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

Happy 100th Birthday - Den lille havfrue (*) / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
We are in Copenhagen for the last stop on our Europe 2013 (*) Adventure. I wanted to come here because of the numerous Danish TV Series, Unit One (Rejseholdet) (*), The Eagle: A Crime Odysse (Ørnen: En krimi-odyssé) (*) and more recently Borgen (*), that are so well crafted and are shown on SBS (*) with excellent subtitles.

For some reason, I love the Danish accent and it is a language I like for some reason. It is very easy to identify and they all seem to have deep voices and it almost appears that it is spoken from the middle/back of the mouth and tongue.

Australia now has a close connection with Denmark, through Mary, the Crown Princess of Denmark (*), or our Mary, as we Australian's fondly refer. And of course, there is the late Danish Architect, Jørn Utzon (*), who designed the Sydney Opera House (*).

We learnt in Amsterdam that today would be the Den lille havfrue (*) (The Little Mermaid) 100th Birthday. A visit was always planned, but it would be a special visit. Joanne had first seen her in 1984 with Jenny on their first European trip, and Joanne and I had seen her in Shanghai in the Danish Exhibition at the 2010 World Expo (*), following the 2010 Asian Dragon Championships in Wujin (*)

Today Joanne and I rose early to see the sunrise on Den lille havfrue (*). It was quiet when we arrived following a short walk from our Hotel, which through good fortune was only a 5 minute walk. There were the street cleaners making sure she would look her best, which is something I am sure is done everyday.

A couple of local TV Crews were in attendance and preparations were underway to interview a couple of people.


We made a few photos amongst ourselves and couple of others who were randomly passing and offered to photograph us. Little did they know they would end up in the photo with us.



We decided to spread some of Jenny's Ashes in the water near the Statue. It was nice to see that a little bit of Jenny would remain here and that we can think of her here and the wonderful moments she had with Jo in 1984 as well as the time that Jo and I had today.


Shortly afterwards we were asked if we would like to be interviewed by one of the TV crews. We more than happy to agree and we gave our little story as outlined above. On reflection, I feel I may have given them the impression that we travel the world to see the Mermaid wherever she maybe. While we don't explicitly do this, maybe there is a connection, as Jo and Jenny are of Swedish descent, I would like to think that maybe it is just good fortune and maybe a special implicit relationship that draws us together for small meetings every now and then.

Geoff, Maree Louise, Kristian and Joanne - Den lille havfrue / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
A couple of moments I will remember, and touched me, as they showed me the fondness that the Statue has to the people of Copenhagen.

The first was a local runner, a little older than myself, pulled up from his run, stepped down to the rocks we were standing on and then stepped across the watery gap to touch the Statue on her tail. As he passed us, he said with a smile on his face, "it is her 100th birthday". We smiled back and said, "yes, we know".

The second moment was a local rowing crew, who we had seen putting there boat on the water, on the our way to the Statue, passed her on the way out for their training session. They stopped and removed their oars form their rollicks and raised them to acknowledge her special day. They did same thing on their return.




I have another lovely story to tell in a later post, maybe tonight.

There are all kinds of celebrations today, including 100 Mermaids entering the water near the Statue at 4pm and fireworks this evening at 9pm.

Better get going. Last day here and for our trip (*).