Centaurus Communications

I've(n't) had enough of crushing digits

2009-02-24T22:47:00.004+01:00

It's running late but here they are; my top 10 albums of 2008:

10. The Magnetic Fields: Distortion

9. Sune Rose Wagner: Sune Rose Wagner.

8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

7. Diefenbach: Dark Spinner

6. Virak: Threads

5. Munich: Those Who Dare

4. Mike Sheridan: I syv sind

3. Glasvegas: Glasvegas

2. The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of Understatement

1. Veto: Crushing Digits

A Sort of Homecoming

2008-06-29T16:23:00.000+02:00

Roskilde Festival er i gang! Lejren er oppe! Det gik ganske glat i år; der var langt færre mennesker kl. 5 end tidligere år. Mange er tydeligvis blevet afskrækket af sidste års ankeldybe mudderpøl, og så er musikprogrammet noget svagt i år. Vi stod i armbåndskøen ca. to en halv time og kunne derefter gå ind på campingarealet da hegnet var blevet væltet allerede før kl. 4. Det er en klar fordel at gå ind fra camping vest, som man også kan se af nyheden på festivalens hjemmeside.

Ca. 7:30: rekognoseringsholdet har sikret en plads i C68 og afventer de øvrige teltopslagere.

Det første problem vi løb ind i var at den ene pavillon var fejlpakket fra fabrikken: for mange af pind nummer 2 og for få af pind nummer 4. Heldigvis havde vi allerede observeret flere tilfælde af pavillonvraggods, og vi fik scoret de manglende reservedele. Derefter forløb alt ganske glat: jorden var perfekt til at slå pløkker i efter de seneste dages regn, og vi var et dejligt stort opslagningshold i år; 14 personer til godt 20 telte og 2 pavilloner. Vejret var super: ingen blæst, ikke for varmt, ikke for koldt. Kl. 9 var lejren rejst.

Det næste problem var mere alvorligt idet ølsalget igen i år ikke var klar til at åbne kl. 8 som ellers lovet. Det viste sig heldigvis at yigmobilen indeholdt adskillige øl. Og så var der jo traditionen tro champagne efter at lejren var blevet rejst.

Lejren set fra arealet ved banen. Det forventes at de mageligt henslængte campingvagter er udskiftet med en fin række af iglo-telte inden for kort tid, men mon ikke lejren stadig kan kendes på de to hvide pavilloner og det lange grå telt med Skanderborg-logo.

Wicked Game

2008-05-31T13:11:00.000+02:00

There's been a lot of talk about cancelling participation of official country representatives at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, especially in Europe I suppose. What's that all about, suddenly closely connecting sports and politics? An aggressive campaign from Amnesty International, an organization that I otherwise respect and once was a member of , claims that China have promised to improve human rights in order to become this year's Olympic host. No documentation of such promises have been presented though, and the IOC spokesperson says that IOC is a non-political organization. The only promise made by China regards the freedom of foreign press to operate in China during the Olympics, and a decree to that effect has been made by the Chinese government. The effectiveness of the decree remains to be seen, of course, but I think we can rely on the 20,000 accredited press people to let us know if any unreasonable hindrances should be present.

While there are unarguably problems with human rights issues in China, there's no doubt China has seen immense improvements on many fronts since 2001 (where Beijing as 2008 Olympic city was announced), such as improvements for migrant workers, combating of corruption and improvements in the judiciary system. China is on the right track, and China is rightfully proud to host this year's Olympic games. The campaigning by AI to connect the issues of human rights and the Olympic games is completely untimely. There is absolutely no reason to induce neither athletes nor country officials with bad conscience about participating. Did AI try to boycott previous Olympic games in US cities because of US violations of human rights (executions is one of AI's main criticism of China)? Should 2016 candidate Madrid face questions about Basque independence?

The way to encourage further improvements of human rights in China is to support and to maintain a dialogue with the Chinese that work to improve the conditions within China as well as with the Chinese authorities. A boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony will only serve to further nationalism and xenophobic views, as can to some extent be seen after the very negative coverage in western media regarding human rights in Tibet. It would be tragic and counter-productive if the Western world in misunderstood or disinformed concern for human rights in China would nourish Chinese nationalism and isolationism by solely focussing on the negative stories about China.

The way that the Chinese authorities have handled the devastating Sichuan earthquake may have shifted sympathies in a more favourable direction for China. Hopefully the folly and shrill voices of a few months back of the likes of French president Sarkozy and the Danish Conservative People's Party will be unheeded. At least the Danish Parliament on May 22nd voted against a governmental boycot of the opening ceremony.

Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)

2008-04-15T20:10:00.000+02:00

I acquired my second mahjong set in San Francisco's China Town for USD 20. It's a travel set with quite small plastic tiles, 17 x 23 x 13 mm. I believe I bought in December 2001, but it might have been the year before. (I was at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union for three years in a row, 1999-2001).

The set has served me faithfully while travelling to tournaments and has been inspected by various airport security staff. It's important, of course, to carry it in the hand luggage for when the plane gets delayed. The plastic case turned out to be not very durable for travelling, and has been repaired thoroughly with duct tape, and the trays I made myself with cardboard and a stapler.

Mostly the set has been used in trains, going to tournaments. Trains to Århus and trains to Germany. For trains, it is recommended to bring racks for the tiles (we don't usually use racks, but in trains they are convenient). The coming months has two long train rides coming: for the MCR tournament in Edewecht in May and the European Riichi Championship in Hannover in June, and my Chinatown travel set will surely come along.

Wandering Star

2008-04-04T23:25:00.000+02:00

Portishead er tilbage – med stil. Fantastisk koncert; eller i hvert fald så god som nu KB Hallen tillader det. Beth Gibbons er af en anden verden. Geoff Barrow er for cool. Han må have tilbragt store dele af pausen siden det seneste album med at spille japanske trommebaserede arkadespil.
Opvarmningsbandet Kling Klang spillede til gengæld den elendigste koncert jeg har overværet nogensinde. Jeg kan kun på det kraftigste advare mod deres blanding af wanna-be Jean Michel Jarre og firser-heavy.

Wandering stars, for whom it is reserved // The blackness of darkness forever
Wandering star, Dummy, Portishead, 1994

And Justice For All

2008-01-31T16:42:00.000+01:00

Don't kiss me or smile for me,
Don't tell me that you'll wait for me,
The CIA will never let me go.
Cause I'm leaving on a jetplane,
Don't think I'll ever be back again,
Oh babe, I hate to go.

Leaving On A Jetplane, alt. version by ATS // Politiken

It should be so easy but music is a sensitive art

2008-01-11T23:51:00.000+01:00

Hear this, I can't deny the truth
[...]
Tear this touchy town apart
Tear this posh party in parts
Wear this itchy shirt of limits
Hear this tiny voice of truth
Clear this for you
I will blast the truth

Tillykke, Dúné, årets band 2007, med P3-prisen. Velfortjent!

Der er award shows, og så er der P3 guld som i den grad forstår at hæve sig over niveauet med fem i den grad værdige vindere og et underholdende show der ikke er bange for at komme med aktuelle og politiske kommentarer. Jeres indslag med fan-taler til vinderen af lytterhittet er fantastisk. Og hyldesten til Natasja var smuk som nattens stjerner. Tak, DR, jeg håber I formår at opretholde niveauet fremover selv med bæltet spændt langt ind under det nederste ribben. Lige pt er jeg lidt bekymret for Radium Rock der ikke længere synes at være programsat. Forhåbentlig er det ikke et endeligt farvel til DR's stolte tradition for rock-magasinprogrammer. Jeg er naiv nok til at mit håb endnu lever, for det er da ikke til at holde ud hvis traditionen fra Rockaften på P3, Rockland og Beat skal dø helt. Men okay, Musikprogrammet på DR2 har de jo allerede skåret væk. Måske må jeg bare se sandheden i øjnene, men våde det er de.

Would you die // oh, would you die // oh, would you die in 80 years with me

Men de der Storm, de ku' da være i et glas vand, ku' de ikke?

Robot Beat , We are in there you are out here, Dúné, 2007
A Blast Beat, We are in there you are out here, Dúné, 2007
80 Years, We are in there you are out here, Dúné, 2007

Another Brick in the Wall (part 1)

2008-01-11T19:58:00.000+01:00

I bought my first mahjong set in May 1999 for DKK 698,- That's about € 94, a substantial price. Bone and bamboo sets tend to be a bit pricey. It wasn't easy to find a set without Arabic numerals, but I found one in my native town, Aarhus. (In the shop Byens Kurve in Ryesgade).

I moved from Aarhus to Copenhagen in June 1998, and some days/weeks/months (the details are a bit misty) later I got a visit from a couple of college mates from University of Aarhus and we had an evening of playing board games. Then, at about 3am after I dunno how much wine, but a substantial amount, I was introduced to the game of mahjong. And I was intrigued, but several months would pass until I got a second chance at playing. That second time was at Fastaval, a gaming con, Easter 1999. One of the first hands I got on that occasion was Thirteen Orphans, or as we called it then, Thirteen Degrees of Imperial Treasure, so for several years that hand was special to me, and I made it a couple of times. It's kind of worn off by now, though, and I haven't succeeded with that hand in recent years. I think that means I've improved as a player, actually.

Back then we played Western style rules, dubbed Vanilla Western. It's a rule set that focusses on special hands, and I must say that today I have little fascination for such Western rules. Once you've become an experienced player you'll find there are only very few hands worth your while if you want to go out. And because of the requirements for hands (one suit, max. one chow), there's not much flexibilty, not many choices to make, just a lot of pick-and-discard, waiting for the few tiles that'll advance the hand. I much prefer the Asian styles of mahjong which are much more skill-based.

The trouble with bone-and-bamboo sets is that the tiles are round-backed which means they don't stack well, and they are a bit on the light-weight side for playing, in my opinion. My first mahjong set was used a lot for many years, though. On the picture at the top you can also see that some fives are coloured red, because in October 2001 I learned to play riichi from the guys in Aarhus who had regular games going with a Japanese guy living there who had taught them how to really play mahjong. In November 2001 I organized a Mahjong Day in Copenhagen and invited all my friends and contacts and collegues that might be interested, and afterwards we agreed that regular games was an excellent idea. In the beginning we played Western style, but in the late spring of 2002 we started playing riichi in Copenhagen, and almost immediately decided to play riichi exclusively. Western style was out.

2002 was the year that I first heard of MCR (Mahjong Competition Rules) or as we called it then OIR (Official International Rules). Rule booklets were sent from Japan to a friend of mine who was active on rec.games.mahjong and who had introduced mahjong to others of my friends who got really addicted and persuaded me that this was a game way out of the ordinary. After the ground-breaking world-class mahjong tournament in Tokyo in 2002, European mahjong players were inspired to get together and organize tournaments and it was clear that MCR had the potential of being a unifying rule set. Netherlands and Denmark started talking about making a European Championship. In early 2004 we started practising MCR in Denmark, and in August 2004 we organized the first MCR Danish championship. In preparation of the Open European Mahjong Championship (which took place in Nijmegen in the Netherlands in 2005) contacts between Denmark and Netherlands was strengthened and on the occasion of that first Danish championship we had a visit from four of the Dutch organizers. And here you'll see my first mahjong set starring in Martin Rep's Seven Shifted Pairs. That's a limit hand in MCR.

Rest My Chemistry

2007-12-30T20:35:00.000+01:00

Come New Years Day I'll be resting my chemistry, and I won't be up to any postings. So here comes the top albums of the year.

2007 was a great year for an indie and shoegaze sucker like me, and I don't need to to compile both a Local and a Global list, since Danish and Scandinavian music in my opinion can fully compete internationally.

10. Death By Kite: Death By Kite
It's so indie and I love it. They played Roskilde Jr., but I didn't see them because I didn't have enough holidays to stay for the warm-up. I think they should have been in the main Roskilde Festival programme, but I've been making such points about promising and talented debut acts in the feedback forms to Roskilde every year since they invented the camping stage. I believe that was in 2000 when Nephew played a great gig under abysmally lousy conditions. I know I made a long point about that in that year's feedback form. I'm digressing. Back to Death By Kite. Okay so it's not like they're inventing sliced bread or anything, but I just love the sound, and I love to follow their future progress.

9. LCD Sound System: Sound of Silver
I love the beats. I love this new bold sound. I guess new rave is the term.

8. Brett Anderson: Brett Anderson
Yes, yes, I know, noone else will have this album on their best-of-2007-compilations. They'll think it too kliche, too unoriginal, but I don't agree and I'm not afraid of saying it. I've been hearing this on repeat at home as well as on the go on the ipod. It's great, it's beautiful, it's addictive, it's Brett back in shape.

7. Raveonettes: Lust, Lust, Lust
The sound and the noise guitars here are quite corporeal and dirty. Free of the big labels, the duo seems to dare more, to make more noise than on the last two of albums. The simplicity, the effect of the two intertwining vocals and the heavily distorted guitars makes a wonderful whole.

6. Klaxons: Myths of the Near Future
This year's British album. Anglofile as I am, it's amazing there are so few British acts making an impact on me this year. The best concert at the Roskilde Festival this year was Klaxons. It's audacious, it's catchy, it's makes you wanna dance in the same way Franz Ferdinand does.

5. Decorate. Decorate: Normandie
Dark, sombre and melodic. It's been on repeat on my ipod a lot this autumn and winter. The strength of this debut reminds of the impact that Mew's A Triumph for Man made on me back in 1997. Disconcerting and beautiful. I have yet to see this band live. These guys know how to make an atmosphere like Joy Division and Interpol. I expect a lot from this band!

4. Asobi Seksu: Citrus
When I went to the sold out gig with Editors at Lille Vega in June, I didn't know this band existed, but they made a huge impact on me. After the gig I bought both their albums, and especiallly the latest is great. This reminds me of the shoegaze hey day in the early nineties, and of Lush. Noise guitars, such a tender voice, heavenly melodies. It's the noise rock equivalent of Sigur Rós.

3. Kent: Tilbaka til samtiden
The lyrics of this band are always amazing and spellbinding. Never something you learn by heart when you first hear the songs, but rather level after level reveals itself as the play count in itunes and ipod grows and grows. I like the re-invention of the anglo-scandinavian indie sound with the bold new rave beats. Very cathy. Kent remains one of my absolute favourite bands.

2. Dúné: We Are In There, You Are Out Here
This is without comparison the best debut album for many, many years. I can't help comparing with the debuting of Superheroes because Mattias Kolstrup has a charisma and self belief that reminds me of Thomas Troelsen (whom I admire and respect greatly), but Dúné is a much better band. It's so intense, it's agressive and melancholic. There are also references to Veto.

1. Interpol: Our Love to Admire
So dark. So beautiful. 74 stars was awarded by Jens Unmack (jensunmack.dk) for the June gig at Vega, and I can't but agree. These melancholic sounds find a resonance in my heart.

Rest My Chemistry, Our Love to Admire, Interpol, 2007

On a Train

2007-10-01T20:05:00.000+02:00

Som bekendt kan man spille mahjong hvorsomhelst. Også i tog. Nogle tog giver bare større udfordringer end andre. Eurocity-tog og IC3 tog er for eksempel langt at foretrække for de tog der går til Sønderjylland. Men det kan man jo sige sig selv. Som I ser, i de sønderjydske tog er bordene mildest talt underdimensionerede.

På vejen hjem var vi bl.a. med et meget overfyldt tog, hvor vi spærrede for alle de mange mennesker der skulle forbi, da vi var nødsaget til at sidde noget ubekvemt, og vi måtte spille på Isabels kuffert med kort i stedet for brikker. Oversidderen agerede mur og delte korte ud når folk skulle trække en brik. Så havde spillerne bekvemt nok også én at skyde skylden på hvis de ikke fik ordentlige brikker, eller kort, mener jeg. Nå, men hvis sandheden skal frem havde vi en herlig tur til Hannover og hyggede os gevaldigt med hinanden og med vores venner fra hele Europa.

I German Mahjong Open vandt Désirée fortjent den mest attraktive præmie, et krus fra Deutsche Mah-Jongg Liga, for højeste pointscore i en runde. Det var sjovt nok i første runde hvor jeg spillede mod hende. Selv fik jeg heldigvis brokket mig så højlydt at Uwe fandt det bedst for alle parter at give mig et krus også. Désirée vandt også den næstbedste præmie, nemlig førstepræmien i turneringen. Brian Krog, den forsvarende mester måtte lade sig nøje med 2. pladsen. I alt havde vi 4 danskere i top 10, og 6 i top 20. Der var 56 deltagere, heraf 7 danske. Så det kan vi i den grad godt være bekendt. Nu bliver det så spændende hvordan det går til VM i Kina i starten af november.

For øvrige resultater og masser af billeder:
http://hannover.mah-jongg.de/gmo/

"I'm On a Train//It's insane//I'm On a Train
I'm saying //Be a man take a stand//show me what you got in your hand"
On a Train, 'Til We're Dead, Eskobar, 2000

You're Like a Knife You Cut Things Clean

2007-04-06T11:39:00.000+02:00

Der er da én god ting statsreligionen har givet os: et herligt væld af forårsfridage. Påskeferien blev indledt med maner til en fantastisk koncert med Veto på Vega onsdag aften. Veto er et helt fantastisk live band, der virkelig formår at nå ud over scenekanten. Her krænges sjælen ud, de store følelser synges med en medrivende indlevelse så nerveenderne blottes og det gyser ned ad ryggen. Troels A.'s optræden er imponerende og overbevisende og bliver aldrig klichefyldt. Det var rart at se så ungt et publikum dyrke dyster kvalitetsrock. En fordel ved det unge publikum er også at gennemsnitshøjden var mindst et hoved kortere end til de fleste andre rockkoncerter så mine 168 cm havde frit udsyn til scenen. Opvarmningen Marvel Hill var en ret positiv overraskelse med en rytmesektion der trak mindelser til The Cure, Joy Division og Interpol. Værd at holde øje med.

Vapour Trail

2007-04-03T09:36:00.000+02:00

Flight contrails over the French Alps, March 2007. These were pretty much the only clouds I saw on my skiing holiday this year. Exhaust from aircraft engines create contrails (condensation trails) which can develop into cirrus clouds that have an impact on the radiation balance of the Earth. The details is a complex balance between trapping and reflection of radiation; the net effect is a warming of the Earth's climate.

First you look so strong
then you fade away
you are a vapour trail
in a deep blue sky

Ride, Vapour Trail, Nowhere, 1990