The Busking Queen

Yup, I'm so poor, I have turned to street performing. I took my clunky turquoise typewriter out, sat on the street and wrote poems and stories for people for money. It's actually loads of fun.

Read about my busking experience on my XIHA Life blog.

One woman took a photo of me busking and then printed
out the photo for me. She also gave me 10 euros for one poem!

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Passion Pit – The Reeling

Yello's "Oh Yeah" and Halloween

My dear friend was telling me about how she needs to be the hot girlfriend from Ferris Bueller's Day Off for Halloween solely because she recently bought some white fringed boots. I agree wholeheartedly. And it reminded me of the song from the movie that just says like "OH YEAH" – similar to the Kool-Aid man. (The lyrics actually go, "Oh Yeah. The moon. Beautiful. Oh yeah. The sun. Even more beautiful." How can you go wrong there?)

I decided to Youtube it to see if I could watch the part of Ferris Bueller that features the song. Even better: I found the music video.

I LIKE THIS SONG SO MUCH MORE AFTER THIS VIDEO:



Two guys making those noises and a little girl who is the sun and the moon? Brilliant. My favourite part comes at the end (2:53) where the men's silhouettes are fighting and point at the moon to distract their opponents.

As a side note, if another friend and I don't go ahead with our top-secret ideas for Halloween, I think I might just have to be Pikku Myy from the Finnish cartoon, Moomin. I look enough like her that it's so simple: I put a bun on top of my head, find a red dress, get a bow tie and, ka-ching, Halloween costume.

It's just a shame that no one will understand it in New York.

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Matt & Kim – Daylight

Phoenix's "1901"

An extremely good lights show can go a long way, and for Phoenix, that’s what they are counting on in their video for "1901." White lights illuminate the boys in bars, streaks, plaids and sparkles. The lights electrify the sound! Luckily, a simple concept can lead to great things.



See my blurb on nickydigital.com here.

Chairlift's "Bruises"

You may have heard this one featured on NPR, or in an Apple commercial for a new iPod Nano. The truth is: Chairlift's "Bruises" has a catchy beat and a quirky chorus no one can deny. And what is going on in this video? Stacks of TV screens, black spray paint, lead singer Caroline Polachek rolling around in a garbage bag dress? It’s a lovely little hideout these kids have, and the best news is that the video devolves into a spin-the-bottle make-out session (sadly excluding the duet singers).



Read my blurb on nickydigital.com here.

Sunday Funday: The Zombies

Even if you're not familiar with the name, I'm sure you've heard The Zombies, perhaps without realizing it. They're probably most famous for their song "Time of the Season." I have been on a Zombies binge recently, and found this great video that VH1 probably threw together in order to play the song on their Classics. But it has some great footage! How amazing are some of those outfits??? And who can resist some great '60s lady-ass-shakin'?

For extra credit, check out The Zombies performing "She's Not There" live on U.S. television. Gah, nostalgia – and I wasn't even alive then!

Birdy Nam Nam's "The Parachute Ending"

It’s no surprise that this song is reminiscent of Justice's album Cross, because the French duo produced the song. And just like the famed jams from that album, Birdy Nam Nam's bass-thumping "The Parachute Ending" is sure to move your hips – if you can take your eyes off the video.

Beginning with a hover-craft wielding alien, the video narrates an epic space battle full of neon colors and constant movement.



See my blurb on www.nickydigital.com here.

Settle down now: Helsinki

I am finally settling down. I have spent the past two nights in my new apartment, which is only a five-minute walk away from the fake apartment I was duped into believing was a good choice. (See my previous blog post if you don’t know what I’m talking about there.)


I am starting to think it was kind of fate that I didn’t get the other apartment, because this one is really ideal. It’s tiny, but lovely. Here is what I love about it:

Read the rest of my blog post on my XIHA Life blog here.

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Sparklehorse – It's a Wonderful Life

Welcomed to Finland with a scam!

A Finnish friend of mine moved to New York in January. A few months later, he told me about his old roommate who refused to return the deposit from his previous apartment. I gave him my best advice and told him that this was a huge difference between the U.S. and Finland, in my mind. People in Finland are more honest and wouldn’t try to cheat another person out of a measly $800. “That doesn’t happen in Finland!” I recall saying.

Yap, well it does. And it happened to me, but under other circumstances. I never got to live in my apartment, and I still didn’t get my deposit back. I just moved from New York to Helsinki, arriving in Finland on Sunday, May 31st. I don’t have a job yet, but I had arranged for an apartment in Töölö and it seemed perfect: it was 36 m2 for one person with electricity, water and Internet included in the price.

Read the rest of my blog post on my XIHA Life blog here.

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Dear Nora – Girl From The North Country

XIHA Life

Check out XIHA Life! The "About Us" section on the site explains it all:

XIHA Life is the world's first truly multilingual social network.

Targeted at people living outside their home country, as well as multilingual people around the world, XIHA Life makes communication and content sharing easier across cultures and language barriers. Our language recognition and filtering technology enables users to select not only one, but several different languages to communicate with new friends and people they care about.

You can also follow XIHA Life on Twitter! Check it out here.

Why am I forwarding this Web site so much? Why, I write for them, of course! Join and enter this wonderful multicultural community.

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Cat Stevens – I Wish, I Wish

The Brooklyn Paper

An evolution-themed artwork that beautified an ugly scaffolding was ripped down by state officials who claimed the artists did their public service without permission.

On May 8, the artist group De-Fence installed wood cutouts of various flora and fauna on the eyesore scaffold that has surrounded the Empire Stores warehouse in DUMBO for two years. The work depicted a storyline of evolution, moving from small water creatures to a throng of birds bursting into flight. Read the rest of "Art attacked! State park cops reuglify DUMBO building."

Photo by Tom Callan / The Brooklyn Paper

Drivers, neighbors and merchants who are forking over handfuls of quarters to pay the newly increased parking meter rates during peak hours on Fifth and Seventh avenues say the city’s so-called “Park Smart” project isn’t living up to its name — because debit cards that render change obsolete aren’t being sold in the neighborhood yet! Read the rest of "Park Smart? More like Park Dumb as high-cost meter cards aren't even for sale!" (I didn't write it, but I did reporting for it.)

A proposal for a federally overseen clean-up of the Gowanus Canal sounds like something that everyone can get behind, but it’s actually pitting neighbor against neighbor over facts and hearsay that are as murky as the waterway itself. Read the rest of "Superfund showdown on the Gowanus."

One police blotter!

Another police blotter! (This one is funny. I called it "Teenage Wasteland" after that song by The Who. Read it to find out why!)

And finally, a tribute video they did for me. Aw, how sweet.

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Beck – The New Pollution

Let's play catch-up!

I have been MIA over the past few weeks. Trouble is, I went to Peru for a week (for my birthday!), then when I got back to New York, I had to pack up all of my stuff and move it around the city. Now about seven or eight different people are storing my stuff over the summer while I am gone.

Where am I? LIVING IN HELSINKI, FINLAND!

The next few posts are going to be me playing catch-up, hence the sudden boost in posts. Enjoy!

Em