Pop! & Circumstance » EuroMarnie

Well I’m gonna get a job cuz I need the bread but somehow I know its gonna affect my head

Dr. Marnie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:27:47 +0000

Belle Epoque: Miss Broadway

Right about now I’m feeling like the dude wearing the sandwich board.

Hey Russian policelady: how much work do you actually get done in that outfit?

Dr. Marnie — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:38:15 +0000

Hall and Oates: Private Eyes

He’s on, like popcorn

Dr. Marnie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:04:30 +0000

Morcheeba ft. Biz Markie: In the Hands of the Gods

Let this groove set in your shoes

Dr. Marnie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:35:09 +0000

Rio En Medio: Let’s Groove

Street

Dr. Marnie — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:58:59 +0000

Ratatat: Ferraro 11/18

Check out the video for song Mirando off their upcoming album here. Its kinda good…

Today’s a day for some Mint Humbugs

Dr. Marnie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:50:33 +0000

Margo Guryan: The Hum

Aw crap, I wanna go back…

Dr. Marnie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:56:59 +0000

Pinback: Fortress

Reverse culture shock finally hit yesterday (all it took was one trip to Costco). I also just watched a show about St. Petersburg on the travel channel when the feeling hit: I wanna go back. ::sigh:: Its true what they say, you don’t truly appreciate something until its taken away from you. And with all of its idiosyncrasies – of which there were many – I’d be happy to fly right back to Russia & co. right now. Ah well, at least I have a goal on the horizon and after I learn some more languages of which French is one, I’ll make my way back to Europe sooner than later. Damn you travel channel!!

The return

Dr. Marnie — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:43:39 +0000

White Williams: Route to Palm

I’m on solid ground, my friends; back in sunny Cali recuperating from the flight and a month’s worth of adventures and life changing experiences. Its nice to be back and I feel engulfed by a radiating glow of inspiration and energy that is a most awesome result of this whole journey. I can’t wait to get started on my new projects and ideas and feel like I can’t waste a moment’s time to start on them all. I saw 3 interesting films on the flight back; The Kite Runner (I was pleasantly surprised by this one and enjoyed it. It was a little bit overproduced and shmaltzy at parts but all in all it was a nice film) Cloverfield (Ok I really liked this one. Its a movie without a plot, story and the usual character developments but its meant to be that way. A great new spin on the monster movie genre, totally recommended) and We Own the Night (this one was okay and while watching it I kept thinking of The Departed, Scorcese’s last film which was similarly themed and also had Mark Whalberg playing a cop in it. Just replace the Irish mafia with the Russian mafia, replace Martin Sheen with Robert Duvall and add Joaquin Phoenix to the mix. It was okay but The Departed was way better). Decent netflix recommendations for all. I think in the coming days I’ll post selections from my trip in usual P&C style and put the rest up on Flickr. Once I sort that part out I’ll post the link for everyone. This photo was taken in Helsinki. I found all bicycle and walking signs in Europe to be so friendly and inviting. I mean just look at it; father and daughter walking together, holding hands? Love it.

The last chapter

Dr. Marnie — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:30:57 +0000

France: check. Germany: check. London, Edinburgh, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki: check. Its all finished folks; the European whirlwind tour has come to an end I’m a much better person for it, I can already tell. I heartily recommend a big kick-your-ass trip to everyone out there, especially if you find you’ve gotten too comfortable doing whatever it is you do and you need to rediscover what life’s all about. Paris was really awesome and since I felt like such a retard not being able to speak french with the locals I am determined to take some classes and tame that beast. Plus; I heard that French spoken with an American accent is considered sexy. Woohoo! In 2 days (note to self: watch 2 Days In Paris when you get home) my mom and I went up the Eiffel tower, saw Napoleon’s sarcophagus, strolled down the Champs Elysees, rocked the Arc d’Triomph, kicked it at Notre Dame Cathedral, went to the Natural History Museum (note to self: watch La Jetee when you get home) and the Louvre. The next day we all went to Montmarte and ate baguette sandwiches at the bottom of the cathedral hill (note to self: watch Amelie when you get home). We rode the metro tons of times and it was very easy to get from point A to point B in Paris. All in all, Paris was quite lovely and I’m looking forward to going back. Germany was a quick although lovely little expedition; just 2 and half days spent with one of my best friends from high school who lives with her husband in a small, lush, green village close to Bonn and Cologne. I did most of my tourist shopping here and came away with a cute jacket and a fake license plate with my name on it (because NOTHING in America EVER has my name on it. I have to go all the way to Europe to get my ‘Marina’ toothbrushes and fake mini license plates. Psshh..). Spent a day in Bonn and spent the next day in Cologne. I found it absolutely amazing that there were no old buildings there outside of the Cologne Cathedral (which was quite a monumental sight) because something like 95% of Cologne was annihilated during WW2. Sheesh… It was hot and humid in Germany and I made sure to eat sausages and REAL weiner shnitzel during my stay. Both were quite tasty. I also ate lots of ice cream which comes very soft, gooey and yummy in Germany. Mmmmm! Came back to London last night and flying back home tomorrow morning. In a few hours I’ll be on a 11 hour transatlantic flight back to America. It was an amazing experience and I feel totally refreshed and ready for action once I’m back in the states. Looking back, its hard to believe I actually went to all these places. For so long I was the one that only listened to everyone’s travel stories and said "oh man, that sounds so cool.. I’d love to do that one day" and finally now I got the chance to give it a go, Marnie style. Being away from the states made me appreciate a number of things like customer service, smoking laws, cheap gas and free water at your dinner tables (I was seriously thirsty 75% of the time I was in Europe, maybe 95% in Germany). It also made me appreciate a lot of European things we don’t have like metros, sophisticated fashion, Marks & Spencers, the Autobahn, saunas and er, culture. Do I wanna go back and maybe live there? You bet. But first I’ll come home, get started on some projects and spend a lot of money on things that cost twice as much in Europe ("Go worthless dollar! woo!") cuz I can. If you see a tiny red Virgin Atlantic plane in the sky tomorrow wave cuz I’ll probably be in it. Farewell! -Marnie

Pat Boone: I’ll Be Home

Napoleon is inside here.

One very triumphant arch.

Not so much a picture of the Eiffel Tower; more a picture of me.

Okay, that’s more like it.

Natural History Museum. Probably my favorite destination in Paris.

Seriously, the Mona Lisa was a) so ridiculously small b) very far away c) surrounded by crazies with cameras. Er, me being one of them…

The Louvre at night.

Montmarte Cathedral (lots of steps to get to the top but I made it).

Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

I basically paid one Euro for this photo. I think it was worth it, though.

In Bonn. Beethoven was born here. Crazy, eh? I totally went inside too.

Just having a small cappuccino in Germany. What..?

My friend Erika and I took lots of pictures of the clothes we tried on in shops. A pretty normal thing to do, no? Also, this is the jacket I bought. Love it!!

Enjoying a locally brewed Kölsch beer and great company in Cologne.

It just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t eat this in Germany.

The Scotland Chronicles

Dr. Marnie — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:22:10 +0000

Hey peeps! I’m back from Scotland, writing this post from London HQ. Though I was only there for 3 days, Edinburgh made a really good impression on me. Its green green green, laid back and the people are really friendly. The accents are super rad and I couldn’t get enough of listening to locals saying pretty much anything. I think you all would love visiting Scotland so make it out there one day. The further you go into the Highlands the more magical it gets as I’m sure unicorns and leprechauns often get together for tea parties on the lochs. At least this is how I see it in my head. We started our Scotland adventure with Whisky drinks and fish & chips at a very old Inn in Edinburgh (Hawes Inn) which was featured in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped. He came up with the idea for the book while staying here! I had 2 Whiskys, as did pretty much everyone else in my party and we definitely got our jollies on as a result. The famous cantilever Forth Rail Bridge was just across the way and it was quite an impressive sight. (ps: Scottish whisky is spelled with a "y". American whiskey is spelled with an "ey") While in Edinburgh we stayed at a Holiday Inn which was evacuated the next morning because of a tripped fire alarm. I was in the bathroom at the time and heard the alarm but for some reason didnt register that it might be something important and worth evacuating for. After 5 minutes I opened the door and saw people running down the hall with their suitcases and only then did I think, "oh shit, I gotta get outta here" so I did. Everyone was lined up in the parking lot and after about 10 minutes we went back inside after the fire truck came and made a quick inspection. It was all very random and funny. Downtown Edinburgh is seriously picturesque with soot-stained, stone gothic cathedrals and castles dotting the landscape alongside green hills, craggs and the sea in the background. My dad and I went up to Edinburgh Castle which was quite a treat. It sits on the top of a tall hill and overlooks all of Edinburgh. Lots of decorated guards in Kilts stood watch at specific posts and every few minutes performed a sentry patrol/changing of the guards maneuver; I couldn’t get enough of it. My biggest achievement was eating Haggis. I had it twice and the 2nd time it was fried. Friends, I have to say I really enjoyed it. Its got such a bad reputation but all it really is is an oatmealy sausage. Sure its made of liver, hearts, lungs and wheat but all you really taste is wheaty, salty spiceyness. Frankly, I think one should be more afraid of regular American hot dogs. Yeah, its really heavy and it doesnt look so pretty but do yourself a favor, have a haggis! (T-shirt slogan alert…) All in all I really enjoyed Scotland and its probably owed to our Edinburgh friends who graciously took us round and showed us the sights. We had a wonderfully gigantic fish and chips dinner at their seaside flat and I even got asked out by lovely Scotch lad who wanted me to stay the night. Unfortunately he was only 4 and I told him I forgot my toothbrush and had to go back home. He’s expecting me next Friday to play with cars but I’m afraid I won’t be able to show up. Ahh, C’est la vie… Tomorrow the M&D and I are heading for Paris on the Eurostar train. Good news is that there will be a labor strike in Paris in the next few days and rail travel is expected to be disrupted as a result, agh! Hopefully we’ll miss the action on our particular routes but I suppose only tomorrow will tell. At any rate, it’ll make for an interesting post when (if) we get back. Slanj! -Marnie (Slanj = cheers in Scotland’ish)

Edinburgh

Fire alarm fun at the Holiday Inn

Helllllooo…

One for me.

Just the slightest bit of nice weather caused everyone to scurry out for some sun.

Kebabs, pizzas, burgers, pasta, chicken, fish n’ chips, sit in, takeaway, seriously; what can’t you get here? ps: tons of these multi-purpose food joints in Edinburgh.

Lollies. Seriously one of my favorite words.

Camera Obscura! Perhaps where they got their name? Next to Edinburgh Castle was this optical illusions museum that I think is from ye olde times. The one thing I kept thinking about before getting to Scotland was, "Maybe I’ll run into Camera Obscura or Belle & Sebastian!" 1 out of 2 ain’t bad.

Hey! My cafe! In Edinburgh of all places!

Fish and chips and….

Fried Haggis! Hooray! How appealing you look, Mr. Fried Haggis.

Damn, you are one hot tattie.

Me at the National Monument on top of a hill in Edinburgh.

One last thing:
Today i walked around the neighborhoods where my uncle lives (Hampstead and Golders Green) and bough a Phoenix cd for one pound fifty (read: $3) at a thrift shop. I’m really digging this song right now and it definitely feels like this afternoon in London, so maybe if you listen to it you’ll be able to feel it too. Farewell for now! -Marnie

Phoenix: If I Ever Feel Better