The Big Blog of Nothingness

New York

As most of you know, I (we) have been to New York for a couple of weeks to visit my sister, who graduated from Rutgers College while we were there. Actually, that was the reason we went this time, as she held a big party in the backyard.

Here is a little rundown of things we did, things we saw and places we visited while in the States:

The Late Show

We went to see a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. I was prepared and brought an extra shirt, but the theatre wasn’t cold at all – for years Mr. Letterman has been telling jokes about the low temperatures inside the studio, but I guess they fixed the heating system 😉
The guests on the show were David Arquette whom I guess is only famous because he is married to Courtney Cox. Well, he is an actor, but can anyone name a good film he has starred in? I can’t. The other guest was British chef Gordon Ramsay who was there to promote his new show, which I can’t remember the name of, and it sounded like a typical reality-show: boring and mind-numbing.

New York City

We (Louise and I) spent a couple of days in the city. We stayed at a nice hotel on E24th Street called “The Marcel“, although we hardly spent any time there. It was merely used as a base, while we went and spent our time shopping, going out for lunch/dinner and just walking the streets of Manhattan. The picture shows a giant PSP, which is the biggest thing in the US right now.

Family

Obviously we spent a lot of time with the family, as we rarely get to see them. For those not in the know, the picture shows Joel, Katrine, Kirsten and Lucas in a hammock.
Next up is a silly picture of Kirsten…

And here is one of Lucas looking a bit spooked…

The Yedids
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I used to be an au-pair/nanny when I lived in the States, so Louise and I went out to visit my “family” in Long Island. It was quite scary, because the kids are growing pretty fast and the oldest (Alan) is looking at colleges! Anyways, it was great to see them all again, and here is a pic of some of them (Dave, Jake, Elyse and Alan):

Party time!
Katrine threw a big party in the backyard, and on my request there was a keg of beer 🙂 Nobody got drunk, but it was a good party, good food and lots of nice people.

Other stuff
While we were there Manchester United lost the FA Cup final on penalties to Arsenal, even though they dominated them in regular time. I have never seen an Arsenal team so anonymous, so it’s quite a shame that they got the trophy, but it just goes to show what kind of season, United have had. Malcolm Glazer has now taken full control of Man Utd, so I guess the club could be in dire straits within a few years… Join Shareholders United! NOW!

FCK also lost to Brøndby, but let’s not talk about that anymore…

I got back on thursday, and here I am on a saturday writing some lame excuse about not updating my blog. I have a lot of stuff to write about, but I’m just not in the mood right now, so be patient.. Maybe tomorrow… or monday… or tuesday…

I’m leaving tomorrow

Tomorrow I am going to New York to visit my sister, her husband and their two kids. I haven’t been to the States for a couple of years, so it will be great to go back. For those who don’t know, I lived in New York for a year back in 1996, where I worked as an au-pair – au-pair is just a fancy word for a nanny, isn’t it?

I am going with Louise, and a few days later my mother and her boyfriend are joining us as we are all going to celebrate that my sister is graduating college. I’ve asked her like a million times what she has been studying, but I keep forgetting the exact word, although I know it has something to do with social studies..? One thing I am sure of, is that she has had to endure some math tests along the way, and she hates math. With a vengeance. She passed though, so now it’s actually only the graduation party that is left 🙂

Our program is pretty tight, but among other things we will attend a taping of the David Letterman Show, which I think will be really cool (no pun intended – rumour has it that the theatre, where the taping takes place is freezing).

Louise and I will also spend a couple of days in a hotel in the city, where I predict there will be some pretty heavy power-shopping going on. I know I will be doing the usual rounds looking for rare sneakers and records.
We will also visit the family that I used to work for, and that will be a fun experience – it’s been 3 or 4 years since I last saw them, and the kids have changed a lot. They are four boys, and when I left in 96 they were 2, 4, 6 and 8 years old – imagine how much has gone on in their lives since then!

Other than that, we will spend a lot of time with Kirsten and Lucas, chill out in the house and just enjoy being away from home for some time.

I will try to keep the blog updated, but please be patient 🙂

More than a year ago, I described on my blog how television was addictive and how it had affected me. Well, a few days after that admission, my tv was sold and out the door. Instead I took my computer lcd-monitor and installed as a tv, which made the livingroom into a livingroom again, and gone was the days of the tv dominating the room – All of a sudden we had a livingroom where you noticed other things than the giant grey box in the corner.

Now, I need a new tv though. The lcd-monitor has done a great job although it is only 19″, but it makes a wierd noise when it’s turned on, and now that noise has driven me crazy (remember: I hate noise). At first I was certain I was getting a Sony – they always make nice designs, and I own so many other things Sony, that I quite trust the quality of their products. Unfortunately for Sony, they will not be getting my money this time, as they only have pc-inputs on the lcd-tv’s that are 32″ or bigger. And just because I am getting a tv again, doesn’t mean I want to give up my livingroom, so the maximum size of the new tv is set at 23″.

So now I have been studying the market and I have a shortlist of three tv’s:

1. Samsung LE23R51B
2. JVC LT-23c50B
3. Sharp LC-22 AD1

All that is missing is the final decision on which one to pick? Any recommendations? I really want to go to a store and see the tv “in person” – although I will probably end up buying it online – I just haven’t been able to find any of the three in any store in the Central Copenhagen area!

I will be leaving for Manchester tomorrow afternoon. I haven’t been there for 2½years, which is quite a long time, considering I have family there.

Hopefully my uncle will have gotten us tickets for the match against Newcastle on Sunday, which will be quite entertaining – on my last visit to Manchester we saw a Premier League match against Newcastle, and United ended up winning that 5-3! Not that I have any hopes of a repeat, because the way they are performing at the moment doesn’t exactly give me high expectations.

I don’t know what it is about Manchester that I like so much. The city centre is relatively small, but the atmosphere is great, and I would choose Manchester over London any day! My family (uncle + aunt) lives right outside Stockport, which is located outside Manchester, and the place has a nice country-side-feeling to it. It will be three days of pure relaxation, great food, lots of drinks and good old fashioned “hygge”.

Will be back Monday…