h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Meanwhile I may take my bicycle to the southernmost part of Denmark (and in fact the southernmost part of all the Nordic countries) and back again

After all it will only be +25-28C (+77-82.4F) today

The wind might be a problem though. We'll see

Enjoy Gedser!

Thanks, but something came up and I had to postpone.

I will go to Gedser today, though, only in a friend's car. There is a band playing jazz in a huge garden.

It's going to be the southernmost jazz concert in the Nordic countries

The human race is perverse. It gave up Baroque music (which was not called Baroque at the time). Then, 200 years later, it began veering away from jazz. The highest accomplishments are laid aside for the sake of mere novelty.

Indeed, but luckily baroque music isn't going away and there is a more or less straight line from it to jazz and beyond.

What's interesting is when contemporary African music meets its descendants jazz, blues and rock and also teams up with latin rythms. Osibisa is a fine example. Plus most of their music is very upbeat and happy

I liked what Paul Simon did with it.

Fusion is often a good move. Maybe this is because the people who try it have the chops to actually pull it off. The less imaginative musicians stick with existing systems.

You are right, I believe that is very often true.
I like Simon's collaborations with African musicians too.
Plus what he did with the South American band Urubamba. In fact I believe that is some of his best work. I had the good fortune of seeing the performance you can hear on their record "Live Rhymin'". The Jessy Dixon Singers were there also. It was magnificent. One of the best concerts ever

"Graceland" and "Rhythm of the Saints."

For some strange reason I don't have that in my collection

Must try to rectify that!

Hey, Pierce,


Years (decades) ago I bought a couple of "Scandinavian" drinking mugs. One is still in regular use as it resides at my local "British" pub (the Bartender IS from Weymouth). I bought at a French store you may have heard of. I believe it's pronounced "Tar-zhay".

Anyhoo, I keep forgetting what this style of mug is called, probably because I've never known how to pronounce it.

It's spelt "Krouvi". Is it pronounced "KROO-vee"? "CROW-vee"? "KROW-vee" (with krowch rhyming with "OUCH").

Or is it pronounced with an eldritch accent only those with Viking blood can pronounce correctly?

I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer

Seriously though I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe if you could show me a photograph? By Messenger or Facebook?

A mug is called "krus" in Danish and Norwegian and pronounced "croos" but without the "rolling" on the "r" if you know what I mean.
(Funnily enough it's called "mug" in Swedish - no wonder why)

"No wonder why"

I mean I wonder why, of course.

Here's a link to an image of them.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/set-of-4-iittala-krouvi-beer-mugs/s579044

Aha! Littala is a glassworks in a Finnish town by the same name. And they called one of their designs Krouvi, which is probably (I'm not 100% sure) pronounced Crow-vee and most likely means pub.

You remember the bar in Manchester named Kro, right? I'm pretty sure the words krouvi and kro are related. Even if Finnish is quite different from the Scandinavian languages there is a strong Swedish influence in Finnish

Apparently they don't make these mugs any more. I couldn't find them at least, but look for yourself here:

https://www.iittala.com/home

Oh, that's cool. The Kro bar wasn't my favorite place we went to in Manchester (too hip for my taste), but that will definitely help me remember what to call it.


I wouldn't mind getting some more of these mugs, but I just don't have any need or room for them. I stopped taking free beer glasses from the craft bars and breweries years ago. My apartment has very limited storage space.

If I did want some, it appears that Crate & Barrel have plenty.


Thanks again.

In the meantime I have asked my oldest son's Finnish girlfriend if I am right about the meaning of the name. If not I'll let you know.

No, Kro wasn't my cup of either. When I first heard the name I thought it strange. That's what we call the old inns in the Danish countryside. Then I saw some of the photos on the wall, noticed they were actually made in Denmark and couldn't help laughing. Manchester Inn was as far form as a Danish roadside inn as one coiuld imagine!