Top Christmas Songs

I compiled my Christmas playlist today (Don't worry, Mich. I still have Miami Boys Choir for when I'd like to get in touch with Judaism :)) My top 5, can't-live-without-them during the holidays:

1. Trans-Siberian Orchestra | Ukranian Bell Carol
(in fact, all versions of Ukranian Bell Carol/Carol of the Bells. This is my all-time favorite Christmas carol of all times and I have even been known to listen to it in, like, June)
2. Mariah Carey | All I Want for Christmas is You
3. Tchaikovsky | Nutcracker Suite
4. Christmas songs by Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra
5. Mannheim Steamroller | A Fresh Aire Christmas (album)

** Bonus: DJ John Mash Up | Lonely Siberian Winter (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Blackeyed Peas, The Beatles mashup)

My favorite gas station in Denmark...

Is definitely Q8. Now that I live in a new apartment, I bike by one everyday (I used to bike by a Statoil everyday). Q8, "under it's distinctive "Q8 sails" logo" amuses me everytime. It's like they know it wouldn't sell in Denmark or anywhere else in the world if it was actually named Kuwait Petroleum and they weren't clever enough to come up with some other snazzy name. Haha.

Inspektør Tingest...OR... if Inspector Gadget was Danish...

Inspector Gadget was one of my favorite shows as a kid. Today, over my normal Danish-to-the-max lunch of smørrebrød med pålæg (open faced sandwich with, um, stuff on it) and tomato soup, I got to talking with Libby about what kind of gadgets my favorite bumbling Inspector would have if he were Danish.

First, his name would translate to Inspektør Tingest, which goes nicely with the song:

Inspektør Tingest
Ooh ohh
Inspektør Tingest

Inspektør Tingest
Ooh ohh
Inspektør Tingest

Gå Tingest gå
Gå Tingest gå

Inspektør Tingest
Ooh ohh
Inspektør Tingest

... but I wouldn't be surprised if the Danes made it something like Inspektør Tingestsen either, to make it as Danish as possible.

Now, for the gadgets... Among his usual helicopter, umbrella, spring and stretch legs, etc., he would have some things suited specifically for living in Denmark. They would be stated in the usual "Go-go-Gadget" command style, but in Danish, of course:

1. "Gå-gå-Tingest-fyrfadslys!" (Go-go-Gadget-tealights!) - Perfect for creating hygge when badies come around to fight. Hygge is like weed. No one ever fights when they are stoned. Likewise, no one ever fights when they are hyggelig. Hygge and Hatred are antonyms.

2. "Gå-gå-Tingest-cykel!" (Go-go-Gadget-bike!) - Extremely necessary for Copenhagen. Everyone needs a bike, not least of all Inspektør Tingest. For night time he would also be able to utilize the command "Gå-gå-Tingest-cykel lygter!" (Go-go-Gadget-bike lights!) so he wouldn't get pulled over and given a ticket while he was chasing badies. Also, "Gå-gå-Tingest-regnbukser!" (Go-go-Gadget-rain pants!) for when it's raining. Handy and so Danish it hurts.

3. "Gå-gå-Tingest-saltlakrids!" (Go-go-Gadget-salt licorice!) - Best when used against non-Danish badies. One taste and they are down for the count, clutching their throats and crying for Mama.

4. "Gå-gå-Tingest-klippekort!" (Go-go-Gadget-clip card!) - The Inspektør uses this when he has to ride public transportation to catch a badie. Danes never cheat and ride for free, and neither would Tingest.

5. "Gå-gå-Tingest-vejkryds!" (Go-go-Gadget-crosswalk!) - Tingest uses this handy gadget for crossing streets to chase after badies in the middle of the night. He shoots out his own crosswalk whereever he wants so he doesn't have to wait for the light to change. It comes shooting out of his wrist, like Spiderman's webs. Spectacular.

More may follow as I continue to Dansk-ify my favorite childhood tv show.

Man, I would totally watch Inspektør Tingest.

Some thoughts on religion

I find religion and religious studies absolutely fascinating. Sometimes I wish I could have gotten an undergraduate minor in religion or theology but, alas, it was not offered at my university. No matter; religious meditations (I use the word meditation in the way Descartes used it, not in the way Indian religions) are more of a hobby for me anyway... I do it when I have the drive and motivation, which usually strikes me at the oddest of times.

For example, today I was biking home from work (well, technically I was biking home from Happy Hour irish coffee with Libby) and I started thinking about Pelagianism, which I was reading about last week. What is Pelagianism, you ask? From Wikipedia (though not a true scholarly source, I know, but I recently read an article, Nuclear Exaggeration: Is Radiation as Dangerous as We Thought?, in the English section of Spiegel Online that actually states, in the text!!, "According to Wikipedia," (see page two of the article, if you're reading it)... so...):

[Pelagianism] is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature (which, being created from God, was divine), and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without Divine aid. Thus, Adam's sin was "to set a bad example" for his progeny, but his actions did not have the other consequences imputed to Original Sin. Pelagianism views the role of Jesus "setting a good example" for the rest of humanity (thus counteracting Adam's bad example). In short, humanity has full control, and thus full responsibility, for its own salvation in addition to full responsibility for every sin (the latter insisted upon by both proponents and opponents of Pelagianism). According to Pelagian doctrine, because humanity does not require God's grace for salvation (beyond the creation of will), Jesus' execution is therefore devoid of the redemptive quality ascribed to it by orthodox Christian theology.

Hmmm... I think this is interesting because it seems to work with a number of interesting theories. First, it works with the theory of God as an absentee landlord. This theory essentially states that God created the Universe, simultaneously setting the laws of nature in motion, and has since let it and, subsequently, human evolution proceed in a calculated yet "natural" way, given the laws that were set in place at the time of creation. The absentee landlord theory is one I feel some agnostics, like myself, can't seem to let go without a fight. (See my argument for agnosticism: On Agnosticism and the Meaning of Life) Second, Pelagianism interestingly complements the concept of "will" and, subsequently, "determinism," "free will," and what I like to call "determined free will," though I'm sure the latter has a more philosophical, contemplative term I have somehow missed.

I will elaborate more on this later... I'm hungry now.

Well, Ad Do Declare!

* Cultural Differences in Advertising: Ikea - United States v. Denmark


* Ad Battle: Audi vs. BMW vs. Subaru vs. Bentley

The Last Brunch

The Last Brunch
Marithe & Francois Girbaud Ad Campaign

Note that there is hardly any actual food on the table. :)

Stop! Wikitime!

xkcd

* Wikitimesuck (n): The [often shocking, to the experiencee] period of time during which an individual spends surfing Wikipedia, following a linked term from one entry to another until they realize that a surprising and generally shocking amount of time has passed.

* Wikontinuum (n): The unique spacial and logical spectrum a wikitimesuck follows. Affected by factors such as motivation, boredom, interest, and need.


I am a Wikipedia abuser. I know enough not to cite Wikipedia for papers, etc, but I love reading about random things. Last night was particularly bad. I spent nearly four hours reading about:

Etiquette in the United States and Canada --> Etiquette in Europe --> The United States Flag --> The T-V distinction --> Pluralis majestatis --> Leibniz --> Game theory --> (distracted) --> Lily Allen --> Morcheeba.


There has got to be some sort of help group for this, slightly intellectualized, time wasting.