Ever since I was on MASH I learned the value of research – especially to nice places I can write off.
If you tune into my podcast later this week I’ve got a humorous take on my Scandinavian adventures and I’ll introduce you to a couple of interesting people I met along the way.
So thanks for your patience in the lag time between writing and then seeing your comments posted. There was a nine hour time difference and the Baltic Sea is not an internet hot spot.
I love to travel – well, let me amend that – I love to BE there, I HATE to travel. But then, who doesn’t these days? If they could beam me to Copenhagen I’d go back this weekend.
But I’m not a very adventurous traveler. I’ve been to China and now Russia and am constantly paranoid behind the Iron Curtain. Men and women in starched uniforms with stars on their epaulets scare the crap out of me. There’s always that fear that something will be amiss with my passport or visa or their intel has told them I did MANNEQUIN 2 and I wind up in Siberia. All of sudden, being seen a whole bunch of times on CNN was not a good thing.
I think I make it worse because I try to appear casual and insouciant. So I probably come off looking like an idiot. And one thing I’ve noticed about both Russian and Chinese border patrols – they never smile. So I know not to joke with them. I’m not going to make Stalin laugh. Any authority figure who checks my passport could be the one to say, “Come with me please” and I’m never found again. Hey, MANNEQUIN 2 was a group effort.
But I managed to stay out of any gulags and had a fun and productive trip. More details when my new podcast episode drops mid-week. (And by the way, this week’s episode with Jamie Farr is pretty cool. Check it out.)
In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few photos. Many more will appear this week and next on my Instagram page. Follow me at Hollywood and Levine.
Happy Labor Day Weekend.
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| Why I love Copenhagen |
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| The Little Mermaid statue -- big whoop |
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| Everybody rides bikes in Copenhagen |
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| This is how you drink vodka. That's lard on the piece of bread. |
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| I guess in Stockholm a father is not allowed to hold a child's hand |
Many of the people I have met from the former USSR have a "rock'n'roll moment" tale to tell of buying black market lp's and tapes, and how much the music meant to them in their quest for some type of freedom.
ReplyDeleteBy any chance, did you meet anyone with a similiar experience?
Looking forward to your posts on the trip. First time in Sweden? Hope you tried some aquavit. Yeah, the Danes weren't kidding with the "Little Mermaid" statue.
ReplyDeleteJust what exactly does that last sign actually mean? "This Is A No-kidnap Zone"? Wouldn't you presume that applies anywhere?
ReplyDeleteOne sidenote: In Sweden, fathers are allowed to take paid paternal leave as much as mothers are.
Maybe that's a "No Pedophilia" sign. It is Europe after all. Although, you probably don't see those signs in France.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this new play. I'm not blonde enough to play a Swede or a Dane, but you know I can do a Russian accent. My Estonian is a little weak, however.
Speaking of Russia, if these socialists keep getting elected that's when I'll start being paranoid.
Did anybody stop to think that maybe Trump wasn't Putin's end game? Rather, the resulting backlash of the country moving to the left? One of the advantages our enemies have over us is that they think LONG TERM.
M.B.
Hope you explained to the Danes that the Donald did not send you there to make a deal for Greenland.
ReplyDeleteBTW, here's a new piece in Los Angeles magazine about Trump's failed attempts to become a player in Hollywood (his apparent dream job was running MGM in the '30s!). It's at https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/donald-trump-hollywood-hustle/, along with a timeline sidebar on things like his attempt to purchase the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard (site of the legendary Cocoanut Grove) and build a 125-story skyscraper (presumably not with his own money, of course), https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/trump-failure-timeline/.
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ReplyDeleteBloodworth:”Speaking of Russia, if these socialists keep getting elected that's when I'll start being paranoid.”
ReplyDeleteA “socialist” is anyone who defends earned benefits - e.g. Social Security, Medicare- that don’t primarily favor wealthy donors like J R Ewing. Valerie Harper’s final health care was partly paid by crowd-funding.
A “socialist” is someone who believes the rich should pay estate taxes and higher income taxes- as they did, around 90%, under the Communist Eisenhower.
A “socialist” thinks planet-killing air/water pollution-outsourced, whenever possible, to poorer neighborhoods- should be curtailed, and that the costs of the pollution- which include health bills- should be paid by such polluters as the Kochs, who funded 1. the takeover of gerrymandering, deregulating, state governments and 2. the denial of climate science.
A “socialist” dislikes- sometimes to the point of war (e.g.1776,1861) - vote suppression or rights denials.
Anonymous
DeleteThat's not what socialists believe. At least, in practice. Venezuela, North Korea, Soviet Union, China. Happy times all round.
I was curious about that "no walking and hand-holding" street sign in Stockholm, so I Googled the meaning. Someone provided the answer in an old comment on another blog: "The sign means that the street just for pedestrians has ended, and that cars are now allowed on the street."
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to hear your podcast, and hopefully catch up in person....
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOh please. There is an incredible amount of Trump bashing on this page. I enjoy Mike’s comments.
DeleteDid you bring me anything?
ReplyDeleteB Smith
DeleteThe comments rarely make me laugh but yours really did make me lol!
It must have been nice to be in some countries where you didn't have to worry about a mass shooting...
ReplyDeleteDenmark has always been a place I've wanted to visit, going back to a report I did on the country in sixth grade.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when you were there, did you find any reasons for why we now hate them more than Russia, China et al.?
This trend of using the name of someone who commented and repeating your own with that person's name to make him look bad, is pathetic.
ReplyDeleteI made the first comment, not the second one.
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DeleteOkay, guys. It's starting to get snippy and personal attacks. Knock it off please. When you start going after each other I shut it down. I'm also deleting some comments.
ReplyDeleteI just figured there hadn't been enough controversy on the blog lately. Sometimes you just have to throw rocks at the hornets nest.
DeleteM.B.
Actually, Anonymous put "Socialist" in quotes to underline that a lot of what is being derided as unholy collectivism these days was not controversial even to Republicans back in the fabled 1950s when everything was supposedly perfect.
ReplyDeleteCollusion? Find any?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you missed Albania.
ReplyDeleteIt borders on the Adriatic......
Who needs collusion? Trump's spineless fawning over Putin has made him a national joke in Russia, and he looks even worse if he thought up such pandering entirely on his own. Here's a recent clip from Russian State TV:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOg5e9Uojo
In re the comments:
ReplyDeleteOn the final day of this month, I will mark my 69th birthday.
For most of that span, I have managed to avoid becoming an -ist, an -ite, an -ian, an -er, or even a lowly -ie.
I believe I owe this to growing up with a one-year-older brother who spent most of his own life looking for just such an identification, to little avail.
It is a little lonesome here, being such a hard sell, but I'm used to disappointment, so there too.
In my dotage (the Age of Dote?), I'm finding a curious comfort in bewilderment - and my guess is, so do you.
Onward, into the future …
When we went to Cuba in 2017, the first time we went through immigration (we were on a cruise ship so we would be coming and going from the ship several times), we were met with unsmiling men who fit your description. They scrutinized our visas line by line (they cost and apparently if you crossed something out you had to buy a new one and hope you didn't do anything wrong there either) and finally let us through.
ReplyDeleteEach subsequent time through the immigration station was staffed by gorgeous smiling women whose message seemed to be "glad you're back to spend more money."
Ken, who are some writers you think are funny who aren't known as funny writers? Do you think Stephen King's funny (he's made me laugh)? Quentin Tarantino? Vince Gilligan? Any others you can think of?
ReplyDelete