POSTED BY RASMUSHERLO ⋅ FEBRUARY 1, 2013
The vikings are coming!
…but this time not as a roaring pillaging group on a boat, this time actually not even as a group.
The group:
To completely live up to the stereotypic diffuse natural scientist we have ignored all typical organisatory advice and managed to split our little group of 5 people from our lab into 4 different departures over 2 days (Thursday and Friday). Hence, Simon (the NMR guy) was getting a train to Philly yesterday afternoon, while I (the molecular biologist) was stopping by my kid sister in Brooklyn (she’s attending a tv-actress school somewhere in NY, and I’m also going back to visit after the BPS) and was taking a train this morning to Philly. Few hours later Kenneth (the human biologist) and Morten (the SAXS-guy), will arrive and head for Philly. Later in the evening we will be joined by our last colleague, Christian (the biophysicist).
Had it not been a potential problem for the check-in, half of us would probably also arrive in lab-coats.
“National” Anthems
This is my second trip to the U.S., and I’m expecting it to differ remarkedly from the first. In September I attended a medical conference in California with 3 other colleagues, and after the conference we drove along the West coast from San Francisco to LA in a rental. To get in proper travel-mood and stage ourselves as proper tourists, we made a Californian playlist for the ride. I know it is tourist-corny as a “I heart xxx”-T-shirt, but the best way to meet another country and/or culture is through their music, food and semiotics. It reveals a lot and you easier avoid to offend or provoke anyone than if you pull subjects as religion and politics.
Our list included several classics, such as;
TuPac, California love; Red Hot Chilipeppers, Californiacation; LL Cool J’s, Going Back to Cali…
…and many others.
So, repeating the gimmick for this trip, i have been listening through place-specific songs the last couple of days.
New York was easy;
From easy rock as Thomas Dybdahl’s “one Day you’ll Dance for me New York City”, through frank’s classic “New York New York” to more modern pop with Alicia Keys/Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”
….and the list seems to be progressing towards infinity…..
But! where’s Philly on the musical map?!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z2DtNW79sQ&w=420&h=315]
To my limited knowledge there is only one famous song about Philly; “The Streets of Philadelphia” by “The Boss” himself, and then a part of
Will Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But, both good songs, the first is melancholic and in the second life doesn’t get better before her gets to Bel-Air. This doesn’t exactly evoke the proper spirit for enthusiastic science talks and cultural exploration, so we are still looking for an up-beat cheerful song which can follow us through the BPS. Philly-style!
Suggestions will be recieved with gratitude, and why not, a beer, Danish viking-style, on SuperBowl Night.
Because, in spite of bad planning and lack of a Philly-tune, we are now gathering the group and really starting to look towards the BPS with great expectations.
See you there