City of Angels to Charm City

moving

2009-11-14T11:10:00.002-05:00

I've never been a big fan of Blogspot, so I am packing up and moving over to tumblr.

New blog: http://netzach.tumblr.com

Also check out my music blog(s):

Here and here.

Feeling Fall - Photos

2009-10-26T20:48:00.006-04:00

Flickr is finally working here in Denmark, which means I can upload photos. Unfortunately, the last thing I want to do is sit here uploading photos, so I decided to try something new. I assembled and album of images that best represent the last two months here.

Granted, many of the images I continuously thumb through in my head were not photographed - or are rolled up, undeveloped, on one of the many 35mm rolls that now occupy the corner of my big desk. Film just does some scenes more justice. Waiting to see how those images develop also has its place. In the blogosphere, people rarely appreciate the art of slowing down. That is something I have learned here. Slowing down is important. I can thank several individuals (namely one) for teaching me how to slow down.

Regardless, here are some images. Let your imagination fill in the chronology and importance of my selection.

Milan, Morocco, and Estonia on the horizon. I am loving so much these days.

I love maps.

2009-10-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

Interactive travel map that I will update frequently:

View Junior Year Travels in a larger map

Yellow: Places of residence
Blue: Cross-country Amtrak train trip, summer 2009
Red: Personal travel
Green: Study tours

Video update!

2009-10-13T10:59:00.003-04:00

If a picture is worth one thousand words... how much is a five-minute video at 20 frames per second worth?

Busy busy busy?

2009-09-27T10:19:00.002-04:00

So I guess I should never make another promise on the internet. I have updated this thing only once since leaving home, and haven't even mentioned the beautiful city of Copenhagen yet.

I guess I really don't know what to say. I've been working on tons of music, which I will let you all know about soon enough. My classes and professors are pretty great. I've met loads of wonderful people.

I'll do a real post soon. I just don't really know how to sum it all up so far. I'm too busy "finding myself"... something that might take longer than a semester and hasn't really resulted in any conclusive findings as of today.

Like I said, I'll let you know.

Icelandic Sunburn

2009-09-06T12:17:00.011-04:00

Europe 2009-10 Update #1:
Reykjavík, Iceland

View Larger Map

After departing Los Angeles, I flew to Reykjavík via New York, and stayed with my wonderful CouchSurfing host Gaui Emilsson. I arrived at Keflavík airport on a Thursday (8.20) and took the beautiful hour-long bus ride into central Reykjavík, and dragged my bags to Gaui's apartment, where he set me up in his living room on a couch that folded out into a bed.

Other than the short time he lived in Copenhagen, Gaui has always lived in the Reykjavík area. He owns and runs a really tiny clothing store on one of the main shopping streets, and was busy preparing for the cultural festival on August 22nd.

Gaui's friends were wonderful, the Icelandic people are wonderful, Iceland is just wonderful. I have never been to a place so awesome - in the literal sense of the word. Every stereotype about Iceland and the Icelandic people is really true, and that is also wonderful:

Yes, the water is incredibly clean, and the hot water smells like sulphur (it is pumped up from hot springs or something).

Yes, the air is incredibly clean too, and on a clear day you can see to the very end of the horizon - it is spectacular.

Yes, there are not a lot of trees, which I actually thought was beautiful. When you drive outside the city, the environment is so bare. It really is so nice to just stare at the shapes of the mountains and hills.

Yes, alcohol (and pretty much everything) is expensive. You can only buy booze from the government-run liquor stores. That's a drag indeed, but I must admit the liquor store I went to was the most impeccably designed liquor store I've ever seen.

Yes, the national sport in Iceland (other than handball) is drinking. Of course now I realize the Danes probably drink more, but the Icelandic youth seem to have less shame about how drunk they get. It's supposedly normal to go for a round of shots with your buddies and then all go throw up together! What fun! I had to deal with one of these types personally when a local (and completely wasted) girl stole my jacket while I was watching some band play. I later had to practically argue with her in order to get it back later. That was fun.

One exception: Unlike most of Europe, there are babies EVERYWHERE in Reykjavík. Tons and tons of little towheaded beautiful viking children. It was a baby invasion.

But really, Reykjavík is such an amazing place. I have already come to the conclusion that Iceland draws a certain type of traveler. Of course some people want to go see the geysers, fjords, and the tourist trap that is the Blue Lagoon, and I understand that. But one Reykjavík resident told me that some people go to Iceland and end up getting "bitten." I know I've been bitten and now I'm hooked, and cant wait to go back.

I really could write about my time there forever, but I really haven't digested the mere three days I spent in the world's northernmost capital.

All I can say is GO. And bring sunscreen. I got the most painful sunburn across the bridge of my nose. The midnight sun is bright.

Here is a hurriedly edited video of my first afternoon in Reykjavík:

Reykjavík, Iceland from Nick Bourland on Vimeo.

1. JFK International Airport, New York City
2. Keflavík International Airport, Keflavík, Iceland
3. Bus ride from Keflavík to Reykjavík
4. Walking around my host's neighborhood in Reykjavík

I will post the photos I took in Reykjavík after they are done uploading. They are pretty disappointing. I was too distracted to take photos.

Here are the photos from the end of August in Los Angeles.

Next update:
- First impressions of Copenhagen
- Ethan and I go to Malmö, Sweden
- My new bike / Kollegium (dorm)

3 Days

2009-08-16T18:22:00.003-04:00

I figured I'd do one more photo update before I go. A clean slate.

These are the photos from my Baltimore to LA train ride.

This is the first 35mm roll taken with my (1976) Canon At-1.

Ready to go

2009-07-18T20:13:00.009-04:00

Well, in just a few weeks, I will depart for my year-long adventure that will take me (in order) to Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Morocco, and hopefully Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

I will be spending my fall semester in Copenhagen, and (if all goes according to plan) my spring semester in Berlin.

I am at a point now where I am between feeling unavoidably high expectations and total bewilderment. While I have spent quite a bit of time in Europe in the last few years, I have never really lived there.

When I look back at what has inspired me the most in recent years, the common thread that binds my most memorable experiences is the concept of wandering. My work on my new album with Flora (holy holy vine) helped me realize how important wandering is. I love wandering physically and mentally. I have always loved visiting markets in foreign cities because they are a wanderer's Mecca. The same goes for the music Flora and I recently recorded in a rural farmhouse in Maryland. In a small dimly lit room situated between a small river in a cornfield, our minds were able to wander fully and create such intricate music.

While I am most excited about living in Denmark, my three-day stay in Iceland is this first step, and I approach my time there with great interest. An island of 300,000 people where, according to what someone told me, there is the highest concentration of published writers, musicians, and artist relative to the total population. I suppose when the sun hardly rises in the winter, one must turn to creativity to make it through the winter. It's all very intriguing.

So. This will inevitably be some sort depository for my travel thoughts throughout the coming year. I'm not going to make promises of weekly updates, or of any kind of uniformity between my updates, as this is not a diary or journal. It's the Internet.

I finally uploaded some more photos. I'm getting there. I'll be all caught up by the time I leave.

Photos from October 2008 can be found here.

Photos from November 2008 can be found here.

Photos from December and January (Berlin, Paris) can be found here.

Rather ridiculous photos from February 2009 can be found here.

I'm excited. I'll keep y'all looped.

Hello 2009

2009-06-18T18:15:00.003-04:00

Hello blog. I will be updating this site regularly again. I just purchased another year pro subscription to Flickr, after not having one for nearly ten months.

Here are the latest photos:

Photos from July 2008 here.

Photos from August 2008 here.

Photos from September 2008 here.

I'll post more soon as I update more.

Back in L.A.

2008-05-23T01:52:00.002-04:00

I'm back in Los Angeles. It feels good to be home, but I honestly miss certain specific things in Baltimore already.

Either way, I love L.A.

The first day I was back in town I went to La Mirada with Ethan and my mom for Ethan's swim meet. He is turning into quite the athlete. It was 100º. Welcome back to Southern California!

The photos from the swim meet are here.

I went to Chinatown yesterday and had lunch at Cafe Via - a great little Vietnamese place. Vasco and I know the owner somehow, he has another Vietnamese restaurant downtown on Main (?) and 5th street. I ended up seeing "A Chorus Line" with Tudor. Sherwin and Craig (from temple) had extra tickets and invited us to join them. The cast was great, but the musical was too much for me. A bit dated.

The photos from Chinatown are here.

I start work officially (at Gracie's Market on Mission St.) next week, but I've been training already.

Finals!

2008-05-13T19:32:00.007-04:00

Well I haven't updated in a week or so, as I have been swamped with performances, finals, rehearsals, and a bunch of other stuff.

Last Monday Man Man (from Philadelphia) played at Goucher, which was phenomenal. Honestly the best show I've seen since I've left Los Angeles. Greg and his brother's band, The Sparta Philharmonic opened, as well as the mostly-Goucher Wham City band, Teeth Mountain -which is going on a full U.S./European tour this next year.

The Sparta Philharmonic:

Man Man:

The following photos were taken by Ben Droz. Can you find me?

You can see them play here (in Amsterdam):

Since then, I played with Jonathan, Greg, and Baltimore vocal percussionist Shodekeh in a dance piece at Goucher. Photos from our rehearsals (without Shodekeh) can be seen on my last post. Both of the performances went really well. It was outside and it rained like a monsoon on Friday, but the dancers danced in the rain anyway. Saturday was beautiful.

This week I've had finals. Spencer left on Monday, and he is presumably happily eating an In-n-Out burger in L.A. right now. I'm jealous.

I had my math final today, which went better than I expected. I need to get a 78% to pass the class. I'm crossing my fingers.

I just got back from a piano performance by Goucher faculty member Jeffery Chappell, who played Brahms 2nd piano concerto and some short piece by Ravel. He was outstanding. His website can be found here.

Tomorrow I have my international relations final and German final. Both shouldn't be too hard.

As always, all of the photos can be found here.

I'll be home Saturday. Can't wait.

Maryland Film Festival, etc.

2008-05-04T19:35:00.007-04:00

So it's Sunday, which means it's laundry/homework/music rehearsal day. I'm in the library right now waiting for some fellow students to arrive so we can work on our project for German class. We have to memorize a skit about ordering in a restaurant. How fun!

Friday & Saturday: The Maryland Film Festival

This weekend was the 10th annual Maryland Film Festival, which took place at the Charles Theater, MICA, and the Univeristy of Baltimore downtown. The festival completely surpassed my expectations, and I had a great time.

Friday:

Friday night, Spencer and I went to see "John Water's Pick," Claude Chabrol's 1988 film: Une Affaire De Femmes. In the film, Isabelle Huppert plays an abortionist in Nazi-occupied France. The film was really amazing - a terrible tragedy.

John Waters was there, and he introduced the film in a twisted tone, joking about having an "abortion film festival" next year. What a character.

After the film, Spencer and I watched The Yellow Submarine projected outside, which is great. It reminded me how much I love the Beatles. Later on we went to the Metro Gallery and saw The Protomen - who played "rock n roll for the apocalypse."

John Waters

"Waking up Spencer" - A photographic sequence.

These are two archetypal Baltimore brands. The one on the left is from National Bohemian Beer, a.k.a. Natty Boh. The girl on the right is from Utz potato chips.

This woman was the subject of a documentary at the festival. She was singing ABBA hits to a MIDI track.

The Charles Theater, The Yellow Submarine poster.

The Charm City Scooter Rally was going on across the street. John Waters went to hang out with them after the movie.

There was a fire down the street. Five fire trucks!

The Protomen.

Saturday:

Saturday I woke up at 10 AM, video chatted with Anne, which was so nice, and then went back to sleep until 5 PM. Later on, Ben, Spencer, and I went back to the film festival to see I Think We're Alone Now - a documentary about two obsessive fans (stalkers) of the 80's pop star, Tiffany.

The documentary is about two people, one who has Asberger and the other who is a a hermaphrodite, and their obsession with Tiffany. They follow the two on a journey that leads up to a Tiffany concert in Las Vegas, which they both attend. They end up staying in a hotel room together and compete over who is a bigger fan. It was pretty disturbing. There was a Q&A with the director after.

The two main characters of I Think We're Alone Now

Spencer and Ben on the bus.

Sunday:

Today I woke up at 12:30, and talked to Anne for a while. At 1:30 I went to brunch and then caught up with Jonathan and Greg (from our quasi-band, "Antler") for a rehearsal with the dance group we are doing a performance with this Friday/Saturday. Jonathan is a professor at St. John's College in Annapolis - a "great books" school.

Jonathan and his amazing machine.

Jonathan's pedals.

My violin. Greg.

Greg's beautifully battered cello.

PROMO SHOTS:

Jonathan, Greg, and I.

Should be a busy week this week. I think I'm going to start packing my stuff soon.

First Post

2008-05-01T21:26:00.005-04:00

So, here we go. I've kept countless other journals on the web - so I figured I'd try out a proper blog. As most of you most likely know, I live in Baltimore now. I don't actually live in Baltimore City, but will be next year. I'm sure I'll bring that subject up quite a bit in the near future.

I figure a good inaugural post would be an update of what I've been up to recently.

_ _ _
My girlfriend, Anne, visited me from Berlin in February through early March, which was really fun. We went down to Washington D.C. and stayed with my cousin in Alexandria.

Baltimore

Washington D.C.

_ _ _

I've been working as an after-school tutor in Baltimore City at Yorkwood Elementary School. I work with 5th graders.

_ _ _

At Goucher we had "Get into Goucher Day" - aka GIG, which is the one day Goucher actually lets loose. Bands (Ted Leo + Pharmacists), partying out on the quad, and the one really good time on campus at Goucher.

_ _ _
In April I went to visit Anne in Berlin and went to her sister's wedding in Potsdam. I really didn't want to leave.

En route to Berlin, via Newark, NJ.

Anne's neighborhood.

Traveling around Berlin.

The Hamburger Bahnhof (modern art museum).

Lunch. Döner kebab.

Me, Anne, and her friends.

Anne dressed up for the wedding.

Back in the US.

And I'm still here!

I go back to LA on May 17th.

As always, all of my photos can be seen HERE.