Co2penhagen - battling it out for a green world

This stage will be present on the Co2penhagen festival. It is brightened by energy provided on the exercise bikes.

COPENHAGEN: Well, it's week four in my bachelor thesis/project/paper. Jeppe and I have mainly spend the last weeks waiting for people to call us back.

The first two weeks we spend looking for a story to write. The choice came down to two different articles. One idea was to do a series of analytical articles on how Turkey uses Istanbul and its half western half eastern culture as a spearhead in their strive for a membership in the EU.

The second idea was to write a feature book about the festival Co2penhagen, the first carbon neutral festival in the world.

After counsiling with our supervisor we settled with the Co2 festival story. The festival is a showcase in Danish innovation on sustainable energy. The entire festival is run by solar power, wind mills and so on.

Furthermore a lot of well known Danish artists like Dune, Camille Jones and Shzirley is playing. The main act on the festival is the Buffalo based band Mercury Rev who I was told plays some airy fairy experimental rock.

During the festival Jeppe and I will follow three of the project managers and co-ordinators and hopefully get a lot of hectic, action packed and colourful reportage from the event.

I dont really have a base in Copenhagen, so for one and a half week I will work as a journalist during the day and live like a vagabond at night time sleeping on couches at my friends.

After the festival we will write some background articles on how Denmark promote it self as a responsible environmental nation and how the festival fits into that image.

Hopefully it will be fun and rock'n'roll :)


Peace n love from DK


Niels

Denmark - the danger capital of the world

To most people Denmark doesn't excactly bring the word "Danger" to mind. But you guys listen up closely to this story.

It all begins this morning. A beautiful sunny morning in late August. There have been thunderstorms all night, and the air seems fresh and cleansed by the lightnings. I was on my father's black bike riding up the long and steep hill that is my way to school.

I get to the top of the hill. I'm sweaty but triumphant due to the fact that I have just conquered a climb the size of Mount Ventoux. The last bit of way to the school goes through a viaduct. However, the police has cordoned it off with tape. A policeofficer is standing on a quiet surburban street. He waves and signals that I should drive a detour around the closed area to get to my school.

As the good citizen I am, I follow the police man's instructions. When I get to my second alternative way to school, the police has closed that street as well. I ask one of the officers what happened and he says: "There has been a robbery and everything..."

At this point I think it's just some investigation going on, maybe the aftermath of something that happened during the night.

I haven't heard anything about the robbery that took place just 30 minutes before. 3 lithuanian mobsters have robbed a bank just 1 kilometer from where I'm now on my bike. They have fired about twenty shots at two police officers but "luckily" only a police dog is shot dead.

Rather annoyed I turn around again to try my third alternative route. However, I discover a short cut. I lift my bike down some stairs and cross a huge parking area. Without knowing it I drive directly into the area where the police has cornered the Lithuanian robbers.

I'm on my bike crossing the parking area just next to a skating rink, when I see another officer standing behind a car. I keep on riding towards him. But on a split second I realize what's going on:

The police officer holds his gun and stands behind the car using it as a shield. I block my breaks and look at the officer. He sees me and waves like "get out of the way, get behind me". Chocked over the situation I've landed in the middle of I ride as fast as Í can pass the officer. Another officer is standing further up the parking lot also with his gun and shielded by a car.

My journalist side of the brain says, hey pull over, take cover and see what happens. But my survival side says "get the f**k out of here." At this point I still don't know what is going on; I think first thing that came to mind was some hostage situation. Later I find out that the police were about to arrest one of the robbers, and didn't know whether he was going to fire more shots or not.

Anyways, I ride up the street and see tv-camera's and a billion journalist students trying to get a piece of the action (remember I'm in the school of journalism, and it all happened just next to it).

All students are told to go inside shortly after I get there. And the next hour we follow the updates in the Danish web media about how all three gangsters were cornered in the areas around the school. And were arrested without further shots fired.

pheew.

"peace" and love fro DK

Undslip livsfarlige revlehuller

Læs alt om, hvordan man spotter, undgår og undslipper et revlehul her

Det er såre simpelt; man skal bare lade sig flyde med strømmen ud til den aftager. Derefter svømmer man til siden langs kysten og uden om revlehullet ind til stranden igen.

Det råd kunne formentligt have reddet tre tyskere, der de seneste 14 dage er druknet ved Vesterhavet. Ifølge de danske medier blev de tyske turister fanget i revlehuller (også kendt som hestehuller), hvorefter de tabte kampen mod kraftige udadgående strømme.

Tyske turister har efterfølgende efterlyst information om farlige badeforhold, og hvordan man tackler dem. Med rette. For det er nemlig langt fra kun uansvarlige badeturister, der bliver fanget i strømmene.

Revlehullerne er kraftige udadgående strømme, der danner sig rundt om revler. Strømmene er så kraftige, at de kan trække en voksen mand omkuld og væk fra stranden, selvom han kun sopper i knæ- eller hoftedybt vand. Mange går i panik og drukner efter at have forsøgt at svømmer ind til land mod revlehullets stærke strømninger.

Jeg er vokset op med et sommerhus i Vesterhavsbyen Klitmøller. Alligevel var jeg rystet over at læse om revlehullerne, og hvor mange drukne-ulykker de har på samvittigheden. Jeg vidste ikke, hvordan jeg skulle tackle det, hvis jeg blev fanget i et. Egentligt skal jeg vel prise mig lykkelig for, at der aldrig er sket noget.

Sagen er den, at der på strandene ikke er synlig information, der advarer om revlehullerne eller fortæller, hvordan man tackler dem. Vi har som vært for turister et ansvar for at skabe sikre badeforhold, selvom vi har en tendens til at affærdige sådanne ulykker som noget, der kun sker for uansvarlige tyskere.

Det er vores opgave at informere badegæster med skilte, de ikke kan overse. Det er det af den simple grund, at det er ikke er almen viden, at det kan være farligt at bade i stille vand, eller når man kun går ud til navlen. Og selvom vi kan sidde med korslagte arme og synes, at det er for dårligt, at turisterne ikke selv har undersøgt det ordentligt inden de går i vandet, så koster det badegæsters liv, hver gang vi gør det.

Læs alt om, hvordan man spotter, undgår og overlever et revlehul her