Spent our last few days in Denmark with Peter, his wife Randi and their little boy Louie.

Randi is an artist too…she does these huge installation pieces that are pretty freaking mind-blowing, disturbing and kinda hilarious:

RANDI’S WEBSITE

Louie is the cutest thing ever…he’s already go the artist in him, you can tell. And he’s obsessed with ocean creatures…he’s got a bunch of toy sea creatures and he spends hours sitting in the shower and playing in the water with them.

Thomas and Louie Hang

They are an adorable family, and spending a few days with them was a great ending to our trip.

WE LOVE YOU PETER, RANDI AND LOUIE!

Spent the evening with the coolest people…Thomas’s old friends from back in the day.  Former rabble-rousing punks who still haven’t lost their edge, and are still fighting the good fight.

Jais manages a band, and we went to a street fair to see them perform.  Danish street fairs are tradition…and they’re pretty wild.

And there was some really interesting characters:

The band was great…of course, I have no idea what they were saying, but they sounded good.

From what I was told, they are pretty edgy…a lot of political commentary in their lyrics. All I know is that any lead singer who wears this kind of jewelry is OK in my book:

More public art:

And the craziest sign in a store window for body piercing. This would not go over well in America, you think?

Ah, Danmark.

Ina came to see us in Copenhagen!  I MISSED her!  We got to go sightseeing, and she’s the best guide.  First we saw one of the most famous cemeteries in Denmark, Assistema Cemetary, a really beautiful place where a lot of renowned Danes are buried.  The place is pretty lively. In fact, a lot of people just hang out there all day.  They take picnics.  Denmark has a really different view of death than America, I think.  I think it is refreshing, just hanging in a cemetery, walking those beautiful grounds in the sunshine, watching people play with their dogs and kids, ride their bikes, chill on the grass.

Every grave is distinct and unique…a world in itself.

H.C. Anderson's Grave

Kierkegaard's Grave

Grave of cult author Dan Turell...people leave him cigarettes (he loved to smoke)

We also saw the grave Thomas Koppel, a famous folk singer (part of the Danish band Savage Rose), whose daughter Naja is  friends with Thomas…I saw her perform at Arlene’s Grocery in NY, and she was pretty amazing (and a genuinely cool chick).  She’s got a new album out, and I saw her face all over Denmark while I was there:

Naja’s Website

Her father’s grave was especially touching.  Very understated, just a rock with a handwritten message.

Afterward the graveyard, we went to the Rosenborg Castle!  I’ve never been in a castle before…and it was over-the-top, garish fabulousness:

Let me explain the British flag purse...I found it on the street a few hours earlier.

Bowing for the Queen

This Guy was a Total Pervert...inbreeding, anyone?

The Queen's Vanity

And then my ultimate dream came true…of course Ina saved it for last.  I saw the CROWN JEWELS!!!!!!!!

Then we walked around the city and checked out the sights:

One of the trashiest bars in Copenhagen (of course, I’d already been there):

We hung in another bar known for the literary clientele…back in the day it was a Bordello, and it still has the wallpaper!

And Thomas bought us licorice pipes:

Then it rained.  When in stopped, there was a rainbow.  And it was the perfect end to a perfect day!

Got to go visit Thomas’s old studio, where he did his art for 15 years.  The studio is called Pinligt Selskab, which literally translates to Embarrassing Company.  There are some really gifted artists there, and they recently added a few women who work in publishing.  Check out the artists here:

The whole thing was awesome…as is tradition, we brought cake, and everyone took a break to sit around, drink coffee, eat and hang.

And I met the coolest chick, Louise Urth Olsen, who is a writer and editor…and she edited the Danish translation of Gossip Girls!  And I think she was pretty shocked at my excitement…I mean, I am a little older than the target audience….but seriously, the books are hilarious social satire (I swear, the New Yorker did an article about this very topic).  The TV show sucks, but the books are great.

Here is her website: Louise Urth Olsen.

And she gave me an autographed Danish Gossip Girls!  And we talked about how you translate pop culture references and slang, and how a translator grapples with keeping the author’s intent while making the book comprehensible and accessible to a another culture…once again, I was struck by how amazing and brilliant good translators are.

The place had a great, creative energy.  And a dinosaur made of toilet paper!

Later we got to go to Thomas’s old school, where he taught art for ten years.

The Headmaster, Franz, is an old friend…he gave us a tour.

Another thing to love about Denmark:  education is completely paid for, and the facilities are fabulous.  Every supply you could imagine needing, including millions of kroner in printing machinery….and the students are incredibly respectful of the space.  But they are art students, after all (meaning they are sometimes CRAZY)…I got to see the performance art wing, where a few years ago some students served a hashish cake at the reception of a show…unknown to the spectators, of course.  It was a pretty crazy scene…parents, friends, teachers all messed up…laughing hysterically, freaking out, thinking the world must be coming to an end.  And that, my friends, is true performance art.

And the school bought some of Thomas’s paintings!  Seeing them, luminous and larger than I ever imagined them in pictures, made me so incredibly proud of my skat.

And since I’m bragging on my man already, here is some more of his fine art I got to see in Denmark:

Spent the evening at Peter’s art studio, which was like Disneyland on Crack (and I mean that in a good way).  There was almost TOO much to look at…not to mention, Peter has 7,000 records.  I’m not kidding.  Throw Tao and Johan into the mix and…well…let’s just say things were set on fire. Literally.  Luckily, no one was harmed.

Scenes From The Studio:

And, of course, the night wouldn’t be complete without the creation of an experimental film (and by “experimental”, I mean black and white.  And that’s only because Thomas and I can’t figure out how to set the camera back to color):