I was wrong...

... it wasn't summer yesterday. It was summer today, so I might as well post the same picture again. However, 26°C is too hot for crossfit.

... det var ikke sommer i går. Det var sommer i dag, så jeg kan lige så godt poste samme billede som i går. Men, 26°C er for varmt til crossfit.

Summer

We have had really nice weather today, around 20°C. This is another place on campus that I drive past on the way home from the gym. I have found a route where I almost use every path on campus.

Vi har haft rigtig dejligt vejr i dag, omkring 20°C. Dette her er et andet sted på campus som jeg kører forbi på vej hjem fra træning. Jeg har fundet en rute hvor jeg nærmest udnytter alle sti-systemer på campus.

Cards against humanity

I was at a game night yesterday with the guys I have had dinner with before. We played a game called cards against humanity. It was very fun, you should check it out.

Jeg var til en sil aften i går sammen med den gruppe jeg har spist middag med før. Vi spillede et spil der hedder "cards against humanity". Det var rigtig sjovt, I skulle tjekke det ud.

http://cardsagainsthumanity.com/

Illinois marathon

The Illinois marathon was today. The runners started at 7 am, so when I went with Don and Nancy to hand out water to the runners at their friends house at around 8 am, a lot of the people had already passed. The route whent almost right past our house. When almost all the runners had passed, I took my bike into the finish line which was at the football stadium. The security was extra strict due to the Boston bombings. Many people also wore a sticker to remember the victims.

Illinois maraton fandt sted i dag. Løberne startede allerede kl. 7 om morgenen, så da jeg tog med Don og Nancy hen for at dele vand ud ved deres vens hus omkring kl. 8, var der allerede mange mennesker der var løbet forbi. Ruten løb næsten lige forbi vores hus. Da næsten alle løberne var forbi kørte jeg hen til mållinjen som var midt i football stadionet. Sikkerheden var sat ekstra op pga. Boston bomberne. Mange mennesker bar også et klistermærke for at mindes ofrene.

It is good to be back

I went to workout at the crossfit box today. It was so great to be back in the game, and really fun to be in such a relaxed and personal environment. It seems like there are about 5 people there for each session, and the trainer waits for everyone to be ready. There is no rush to be finished at a certain time or anything. I even got credit for really good deadlifts and I made a PR in front squat of 3 reps at 40 kg. Great experience. I can't wait to go back on monday, although that might change tomorrow when I can't walk.

Jeg tog hen og trænede i crossfit boksen i dag. Det var virkelig fedt at være i gang igen og virkelig sjovt at være i sådan et afslappet og personligt miljø. Det virker som om at der kun er omkring 5 personer til hver session, og trænereventer på at alle er klar til at gå i gang. Der er ingen hastværk til at være færdig på at bestemt tidspunkt eller noget. Jeg fik endda ros for rigtig gode dødløft og lavede PR i front squat med 3 reps af 40 kg. Fed oplevelse. Jeg kan ikke vente til på man dag når jeg skal tilbage igen, selvom at det ændrer sig nok når jeg ikke kan gå.

Fixing my bike

I went to the bike project where I bought my bike again, because my brakes needed tightening. So here are some images of the garage.

Jeg tog hen til "The Bike Project" hvor jeg købte min cykel igen, fordi jeg skulle stramme mine bremser. Så her er et par billeder fra garagen.

Yeaaahhh...

I found a crossfit gym close to campus. I thought there was only crossfit gym in town, and it is so far away from anything that the bus doesn't even go there. Yesterday I found out that there is another one close to campus, it is just so small that I wasn't om google maps. And it doesn't help that the name of the other gym is "Crossfit Champaign-Urbana", so when that is what you search for on google, that gym is the only one that shows up.
I went there today, and I joined on the spot. I am really looking forward to working out at Chief Crossfit.

Jeg har fundet et crossfit center tæt på campus. Jeg troede kun der var et crossfit center i byen, og det er så langt væk fra alt, at selv bussen ikke kører helt derud. I går fandt jeg ud af at der er et mere tæt på campus, men det er bare så lille at det ikke var på google maps. Og det hjælper ikke at det andet center hedder "Crossfit Champaign-Urbana", så når man søger på det på google, er det det eneste crossfit center der kommer op.
Jeg tog derhen i dag og meldte mig ind med det samme. Jeg glæder mig virkelig til at træne ved Chief Crossfit.

San Francisco

We only had two days in San Francisco. The first day we went shopping and took a night trip out to Alcatraz. It was very interesting to learn about the history of the prison and the famous gangsters who served time there, among which were Al Capone. Before we went out there we had dinner on the pier at Bubba Gump shrimp. The whole restaurant was decorated with memorabilia from Forrest Gump.
The second day we rented bikes and went around the Golden Gate park and across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was quite fun until we returned the bikes and got ripped off by the rental place. They only gave us one key for the two locks, and then when we got back they insisted that they had given ud two keys. So we had to pay for the missing key even though we were absolutely positive that it was not there to begin with. It was very easy to spot on the handle, and neither Søren or I had seen it. But we shook it off and went to get some peace and quite at the japanese tea garden. Which actually turned out not to be so easy due to the amount of children present there.
We ended the trip with hot dogs from the local organic hot dog restaurant, if you can call it that, and ice cream from Ben and Jerrys along with the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

We havde kun to dage i San Francisco. Den første dag brugte vi på shopping og en aftentur til Alcatraz. Det var rigtig spændende at høre historien om fængslet og de berømte ganstere der havde siddet der, bla. Al Capone. Inden vi tog derud spiste aftensmad på molen ved Bubba Gump Shrimp. Hele restauranten var dekoreret med ting fra Forrest Gump.
På andendagen lejede vi cykler ogkørte rundt i Golden Gate Park og over Golden Gate Bridge. Det var ret sjovt indtil vi afleverede cyklerne og blev snydt af udlejningsstedet. De kan os kun en nøgle til de to låse, men da vi kom tilbage insisterede de på at vi havde fået to nøgler. Så vi var nødt til at betale gebyret for den "mistede" nøgle, selvom vi vidste at den ikke havde været der. De var meget nemme at se på styret, og hverken Søren eller jeg havde set den. Men vi slog det af os og tog hen i den Japanske te have for at få nogle fred og ro. Det vidste sig ikke at være så nemt pga. mængden af børn der var derinde.
Vi endte turen med hot dogs fra den lokale økologiske hot dog restaurnat, hvis man kan kalde det, og is fra Ben and Jerrys sammen med den seneste episode af Game of Thrones.

Warner Brothers Studios

We went on a VIP tour of the Warner Brothers Studios. They have made so many famous movies and tv series that you saw something you could recognize everywhere. Some of the places we were not allowed to take pictures because of copyright, one of them being a museum of costumes, everything from the dresses from Gossip Girl to the Bad guys of Batman. It was really cool. The entire top floor was dedicated to Harry Potter. They had a sorting hat, and both Søren and I got sorted to Gryffindor. Below you can see some pictures of the highlights from the tour.
After the tour we went to sit in line in a very cold parking garage. We had standby tickets to see the taping of The Big Bang Theory, which meant that we weren't sure that we were going to get in. Therefore, we had to sit in line from noon and the show started at 5.30 pm. When we got there we found out that it was the finale of season six, which meant that there was the possibility of a lot of invited guests, and the number of standbys who were going to get in was very uncertain.
Luckily, we did get in, and it was entirely worth the wait. It was really fun to watch the taping of the show and how professional the actors were. Before the actual taping, they showed us the previous episode so that we would be up to speed on the story.
Between scenes there was this warm-up guy whe was supposed to keep the crowd hot and laughing. He was kind of a stand-up comedian who brought people up to do different kinds of funny stuff. And then he also handed out candy. I got up to sing a song, and the only two songs I could think of was the danish national anthem and "Se den lille kattekilling". I though the national anthem was cheasy, and I wasn't sure I would actually be able to sing it properly, so I chose "Se den lille kattekilling". It wasn't until the guy asked be what the song was that I realized that it was the danish version of Sheldons "Soft kitty". The audience voted for me over the other guys who sang a song, and that earned me an autographed picture of the cast. Coolest souvenir ever.

Vi tog på en VIP tour af Warner Brothers Studios. De har lavet så mange berømte film of tv programmer at man så noget man kunne genkende alle vegne. Nogle af stederne var det ikke tilladt at tage billeder pga. copyright, og et af de steder var et museum med kostumer, alt fra kjolerne fra Gossip Girl til de onde fra Batman. Det var virkelig fedt. Hele den øvre etage var dedikeret til Harry Potter. Der var en sorteringshat, og både Søren og jeg blev sorteret til Gryffindor. Nedenunder kan I se nogle af de bedste steder på turen.
Efter turen tog vi hen for at sidde i kø i et meget koldt parkeringshus. Vi havde standby billetter til at se optagelsen af Big Bang Theory, hvilket betød at vi ikke var sikre på at komme ind. Derfor var vi nødt til at sidde i kø fra middag til showet startede kl. 17.30. Da vi kom derhen fandt vi ud af at det var det sidste afsnit af sæson 6 der skulle optages, hvilket betød at der var en mulighed for mange inviterede gæster og antallet af standbys der ville komme ind var meget usikkert.
Heldigvis kom vi ind alligevel, og det var hele ventetiden værd. Det var virkelig sjovt at se optagelsen at showet og hvor professionelle skuespillerne er. Inden optagelsen fik vi lov at se den foregående afsnit, så vi ville være helt med på historien.
Mellem scenerne var der en mand der skulle varme publikum op og holde gang i latteren. Han var en slags stand-up komiker der tog publikum op for at lave alle mulige skøre ting. Han delte også slik ud. Jeg gik op for at synge en sang, og de eneste to sange jeg kunne komme i tanke om var nationalsangen og "Se den lille kattekilling". Jeg tænkte at nationalsangen ville være for åndsvagt, og jeg var heller ikke sikker på at jeg rent faktisk kunne ramme alle tonerne, så jeg valgte "Se den lille kattekilling". Det var ikke før fyren spurgte hvad sangen handlede om at jeg kom i tanke om at det jo er den danske version a Sheldons "Soft Kitty". Publikum stemte på mig frem for to andre der også var oppe og synge en sang, hvilket skaffede mig et signeret billede af alle skuespillerne. Fedeste souvenir nogensinde.

All the sets that we saw looked a lot smaller than they do on TV. This is because the stuff in the back, like the houses in this picture, is smaller than the stuff in the front.

Alle de scener vi så, så meget mindre ud i virkeligheden end de gør i fjernsynet. Det er fordi at de ting der er bagerst, som husene i dette billede, er mindre end de ting der er i forgrunden.

This was the guys room. All the batmobiles, the car from gran torino, Howards space capsule from Big Bang Theory and the Union Jack car from Austin Powers were among the awesome vehicles in this show room. See how happy he is?

Dette var drengerøvs værelset. Alle batmobilerne, bilen fra gran torino, Howards rumkapsel fra Big Bang Theory og Union Jack bilen fra Austin Powers var blandt nogle af de fantastiske køretøjer i dette show room. Kan I se hvor glad han er?

This set has been kept from one of the most iconic show ever. The only thing that is missing is Phoebes guitar, Lisa Kudrow has taken that home with her.

Dette set er blevet bevaret fra en af de mest ikoniske serier nogen sinde. Det eneste der mangler er Phoebes guitar, den har Lisa Kudrow selv taget med hjem.

This is me very happy after the show.

Dette er mig der er meget glad efter showet.

Sorry for the delay...

Now there is finally an update again. The last days of the vacation where pretty packed, so there wasn't too much energy to get the blog up to date. But I will try to upload the pictures from the last part of the vacation during the next days.
We spent a day doing real Hollywood sightseeing, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign. It was pretty relaxed, but not the big experience. The great experierence that day was Amy's jazz concert. She played with a big band and the music was really good. Right after the break she played with three others in a saxofone-quartet. Really fantastic experience. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures during the concert, so I only have one from before it startet.

Så kom der endelig en opdatering. De sidste dage af ferien var ret hårde, så der var ikke så meget overskud til at opdatere bloggen. Men jeg vil prøve at få lagt nogle billeder op fra den sidste del af ferien i løbet af de næste dage.
Vi brugte en dag på at lave rigtig Hollywood sightseeing, Walk of Fame og Hollywood skiltet. Det var rimelig afslappet, men ikke den store oplevelse. Den helt store oplevelse den dag var Amy's jazz koncert. Hun spillede med et big band, og musikken var virkelig god. Lige efter pausen spille hun også sammen med tre andre i en saxofon-kvartet. Super fantastisk oplevelse. Uheldigvis, måtte man ikke tage billeder under koncerten, så jeg har kun et fra før det startede.

Sightseeing in LA

I have been really unlucky with the weather the two times I have been in California. The weather has been cloudy and cold today, so we decided to go to the California Science Center, where they have the space shuttle Endeavour. It was really fun to see and stand next to/under. I thought it would have a smooth surface, but the white on it actually looked like it was made of fabric.
We also went to see the Walt Disney concert hall, but there was an event going on, so we couldn't go in without a ticket.

Jeg har været virkelig uheldig med vejret de gange jeg har været i Californien. Vejret i dag har været overskyet og koldt, så vi tog på Californiens videnskabs center hvor man kan se rumfærgen Endeavour. Den var rigtig sjov at se og stå ved siden af/under. Jeg troede den ville have en glat overflade, men den hvide del lignede at den var lavet af stof.
Vi tog også hen for at se Walt Disneys koncertsal, men det var gang i et event, så vi kunne ikke gå ind uden en billet.

Relaxing day

What we did today is pretty simple, we just relaxed. The movies, "42", steaks for dinner, the arcade, and card games.

Hvad vi har lavet i dag er rimelig simpelt, vi har bare slappet af. Biografen, "42", steaks til aftensmad, spillehallen og kortspil.

Death Valley

We just had to bet $20 on red before we left Las Vegas. We did it three times, and won the first two, and then we cashed out and ran.
We rented a car to drive from Las Vegas through LA and to San Francisco. We were lucky to get a brand new car that no one else had rented before us. On the way to LA we drove through Death Valley, which was kind of a detour, but it was worth it. The scenery was really beautiful and we had a good burger at the Furnace Creek Ranch in the middle of nowhere.
Now we are chilling at Jesper and Amys apartment in LA, and we are all going to a movie and out to dinner.

Vi var lige nødt til at satse 20 dollars på rød inden vi forlod Las Vegas. Vi gjorde det tre gange og vandt de første to inden vi tog pengene og løb.
Vi har lejet en bil for at køre fra Las Vegas gennem LA til San Francisco. Vi var heldige at få en helt ny bil som ingen andre har kørt før os. På vej til LA kørte vi igennem Death Valley, hvilket var lidt a en omvej, men det var det værd. Området var virkelig flot og vi fik en god burger på Furnace Creek Ranch ude midt i ingenting.
Nu slapper vi lidt af hos Jesper og Amy inden vi allesammen tager i biografen og ud og spiser.

Money, money, and more money

Søren just entered a poker tournament, so I thought I would take the time to update on everything that has happened. We were an hour and a half late flying from Chicago to Las Vegas. My suitcase was broken when it came of the flight, however united gave us a new one, which was sweet because we were already thinking of buying a new one. Then we arrive at Caesars Palace and have to stand in line to check in three times because they apparently changed our reservation. When we finally got settled in the room and went to explore the casino, it was midnight and we were really tired. Although I did manage to win 19 cents on a slot machine. My great succes of beating the house was overtaken today by Søren winning more than $200 in poker. Unfortunately for him, I was spending the money meanwhile getting a massage at the awesome hotel spa. Now I am counting on him to win the tournament so he can pay for the clothes I already bought.
It is too easy to spend money here, and it is good we are leaving tomorrow.

Søren har lige meldt sig til en poker turnering, så jeg tænkte at jeg kunne lave en opdatering på alt hvad der er sket. Vi var halvanden time forsinket med flyet fra Chicago til Las Vegas. Min kuffert var gået i stykker på flyet, så United Airlines gav os en ny en hvilket var fedt fordi vi havde allerede tænkt på at købe en ny en. Da vi så ankommer til Caesars Palace skal vi stå i kø for at checke in tre gange, fordi de åbenbart har ændret vores reservation. Da vi endelig er kommet på plads og går ned for at udforske kasinoet, er det midnat og vi var virkelig trætte. Alligevel lykkedes det mig at vinde 19 cents på en enarmet tyveknægt. Min store succes i at have slået huste blev dog overskygget af Søren i dag, da han vandt over $200 i poker. Uheldigvis for ham, så brugte jeg pengene samtidig på en massage i den fantastiske spa på hotellet. Nu regner jeg med at han vinder turneringen så han kan betale for det tøj jeg allerede har købt.
Det er alt for nemt at bruge penge her, og det er godt at vi skal videre i morgen.

Quote of The Day

Søren: "Can you smoke everywhere?"
Dealer: "Yep, no regulations here."

Surgery and Baseball

Chicago has a museum of surgical science at the College of Surgoens. It is free on tuesdays, which fit right into our budget. It was a little bit gross, but I don't know what we expected from a museum of surgical science.
The Cubs are playing this evening, so it was fitting that we went to a bar right next to Wrigley Field to try the batting cages above the bar. They had a whole floor with different games. It was actually really fun. And of course the whole thing had to end with some mexican cakes, which actually turned out not to be very good. Pretty disappointing.

Chicago har et museum for kirurgisk videnskab ved deres "College of Surgeons". Det er gratis om tirsdagne, hvilket passer glimrende ind i vores budget. Det var lidt ulækkert, men jeg ved ikke hvad vi havde forestillet os af et museum for kirurgisk videnskab.
The Cubs spiller her til aften, så det var ret passende at vi tog på en bar lige ved siden af Wrigley Field for at prøve de batting cages der var ovenpå baren. De havde en hel etage med forskellige spil. Det var ret sjovt. Og sselfølgelig skulle det hele ende med nogle mexikanske kager, som faktisk viste sig ikke at smage ret godt. Ret skuffende.

Chicago food

Chicago is known for two types of food; the deep pan pizza, and the Chicago style hot dog. Yesterday, we shared a deep pan pizza for lunch, admittedly it was quite a late lunch, but still we didn't have dinner because we were still full. Today, we had a hot dog for dinner, the special thing about it is apparently the poppy seed bun, the large pickle on top, and the lack of ketchup. It was really good, and we probably have to get another one at some point. We also went to see the dinosaurs today, which was quite disappointing, since it was only dinosaur (singular). On a side note: The mexican grocery in our neighborhood has the largest pork rinds I have ever seen.

Chicago er kendt for to slags mad; deep pan pizza og Chicago style hot dogs. I går delte vi en deep pan pizza til frokost, ganske vist en ret sen frokost, men vi fik stadig ikke aftensmad fordi vi var så mætte. Idag har vi fået en hot dog til aftensmad, det specielle ved den er tilsyneladende at der er birkes på brødet, en stor syltet agurk ovenpå og manglen på ketchup. Den var virkelig god, og vi skal sikkert have en mere på et tidspunkt. Vi tog også hen for at se på dinosaurer i dag, hvilket var ret skuffende eftersom det kun var dinosaur (ental). Lige en sidebemærkning: Den mexikanske købmand i vores nabolag har de største flæskesvær jeg nogensinde har set.