The endless Densi jig and the woes of being a clandestine fan

Last episode of NCIS:LA 'Frozen Lake' goes down as being one of my most favorite NCIS:LA episode of all time. I was initially wary of watching it as I hate being emotionally manipulated by TV shows and to be honest, I was not too optimistic about how things would turn out. NCIS:LA does have an impressive track-record of messing things up after all. But this episode they did very right. I needn't have worried - and after all the script writer was Mr. Kalstein. I always love the episodes he writes and this one did not disappoint at all.

Good things

-The frozen lake metaphor! I was all over that one - it was such a well crafted and incredible metaphor. It was very well applied during the episode and well woven into it. And realistic, I can't imagine how many times people have experienced something like that - always waiting for the one thing they think will make everything right. And it was a pure dream for an English nerd like me.

-The Ghurka. I really liked the character and the way they incorporated him into the show. They manage to give him a back-story and motive and you get a really good feel of him. He was very well developed as a character. I was straightaway caught up in him and interested in knowing more. And the actor who played him was incredibly good. It is not often I get so caught up extra characters on NCIS:LA. 

-The acting was absolutely incredible. Just brilliant! NCIS:LA despite its many mishaps always delivers incredibly good, spot-on acting which is certainly not always a component of tv shows (CSI being a good example...). It is one of the reasons I watch the show. I got completely caught up with the characters and watching their journey and I was very impressed!

-Sam noticed Kensi was wearing the same shirt. Considering Sam's track record with always wearing the same clothes (I imagine he is meant to owe like 15 pieces of the same clothing in the same style) I was surprised but it was amusing.

-NCIS:LA did not mention Russia for the first time in forever. It was a definite plus. Instead they futured India and Nepal and did it quite well and were accurate with the information they used. It was a definite plus for them and yes, this does show that they can do absolutely fine with material that does not involve Russia.

And there was movement on the jig. Something did happen between them and they acknowledged it. Yes, NCIS:LA did pump it for all it was worth but it didn't feel manipulative or drawn out. It felt realistic and I highly appreciated that. There are ways to go but with luck this will turn out well. It reminded me of the last episodes of season 4 of Castle before C and B got together. It was so heart-wrenching to watch but so well done.  

In any case I highly enjoyed the episode 'Frozen Lake' 

Bad things (yes I am mean)

-Deeks walked around as if nothing was going on wearing a shirt with a bloodstain on it! And he was completely calm. I did not get that. This is the second time NCIS:LA has had a mistake like this - the best example being when they had a person with PTSD who had been in a gunfight and yet he wore the same blood-stained t-shirt for most of the episode. Who does something like that?! I imagine had this happened in the NCIS world Abby Sciuto would have thrown a fit had she seen it. I know I would be screaming my head off in fright. But then again, NCIS:LA characters are not exactly the definition of normal, rather the very definition of dysfunctional and I expect this was part of it. 

-Nuclear weapons again - not exactly working the creative front but at least it did not have Russia so there is hope.
-The use of intensive dramatic close ups. This was a very dramatic episode and whenever something important was going on emotionally with the characters, they used very dramatic close-up frames. Every single time. With me being the terrible fan I am I was laughing every time it happened. It felt like: "Ok, dramatic scene. Cue to close-up, the more the better". 

And before I go: I am a terrible NCIS:LA fan. I am happy to discuss NCIS with people but NCIS:LA, that's another thing. I instead sneak into conversations lightly that I watch it as well as NCIS, that it's not the best show but I like it and watching it is an excellent way to forget studying and then I do not comment more on it. I have been watching it for over two years now and only last week was the first time I ever discussed the show with someone. The first time and incidentally it was a fellow NCIS fan and friend that has seen some episodes of NCIS:LA (our convo included a 'Yay Nell'). So I am an absolute clandestine fan of NCIS:LA that likes watching it (hell, I write about it) but feels embarrassed about it at the same time. 

I am however quite happy to let everyone know I am a devoted Castle fan :) And I love the word 'clandestine'

The anthems of my studying and of my youth - a musical geek speaking

I have before written about my intense love for musicals, in fact I dedicated an entire post to a single song I have been loving for the past year and still do. Exam season is almost upon me and as I do a lot of my studying on the computer at my Uni I typically listen to music on youtube while doing so. I love music more than anything (except literature) and it helps me have fun when studying. I scroll through an alarming amount of my favorite Irish music, Disney songs and songs from musicals - yes I do happen to have an awful taste in music :)

And how does this tie in with TV?

One of my most favorite lines ever from NCIS:LA is when Deeks says: "This was the anthem of my youth" in season 4 in reference to his past as a member of rock band when in high-school. It made me grin as the line brought back a flood of memories from my own teenage years and the music I listened to then. I have so many songs that are the anthems of my youth.
Until the age of 16, like the typical European I am, I coveted British boy band. Busted, McFly, Blue; I loved them all. It was so simple during my teenage years - anything British with cute boys and corny music was enough to have me swooning. It was pretty much a rite of passage for every girl to covet British bands. I listened to some of the songs so many times that now many years on I can still sing 'I've been to the year 3000' and 'Five colours in her hair' quite accurately.

As I am now a somewhat more mature Uni student I still retain my love for music but have stopped listening to boy bands. Instead my nerdy love for musicals and Irish music has grown by epic proportions. And things brings me to the two anthems of my studying that I have had for the past year - both incidentally featuring actors from two of my favorite shows. These are songs I have listened to so many times I know them by heart and can sing them if needed. I love these songs to bits. What better to study with than music dedicated to a)one of the best couples on TV and reminds me of my boy band years and b)a musical number that's political satire?
To the music geek in me it equals music paradise.

So without further ado, here are the anthems of my studying (well two of them). I have listened to them so many times it's practically indecent but the way I see it - any music that gets me happy and makes studying fun is worth listening to a thousand times and more.

The lovely song 'Ledge of Love'

Click here for 'I believe' - the music number for the musical geek in me.

And if needed for an extra boost I blast Defying Gravity over and over again. I've known that song by heart for over two years now. It is the anthem of my studying/kicking-ass. Idina Menzel is one of my most favorite singers and I love listening to her songs.

In any case it is quite funny how many memories a single line on a TV show brought me but I liked it.

Exploring Names - the NCIS franchise and Criminal Minds

I am a nerd in many ways and have a strange fascination for all sorts of things. If there is one thing I love it is names. I have loved names ever since I was little and discovering new names, reading about names, debating names has always been an interest of mine. I am such a nerd I even have special lists containing my favorite names from various cultures. So far I have Chinese, Russian, English, Spanish, Indian and Nordic. I love names and I enjoy writing a lot so I employ the names I've discovered and love on the characters I create and use.

I also come from a culture where names are regulated by the authorities and people cannot name their child anything they want. This is very much a European thing and nobody questions it. Names are regulated in all the Nordic countries, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany and many other countries. This is both a good and a bad thing but personally I support it. Not to mention I find it hilarious that it's like: "Congratulations, a child is born, here is a long winded booklet/statue of laws that tell you what you can name your child and what not. Enjoy!" It is so incredibly European. Up here in the north we view Western cultures, where the custom is that names are not regulated, as being as being a practically uncivilized in that regard. For us, hearing stories about unusual, unregulated names equals hearing a horror story

This article explains this culture well

So as a name fanatic, I naturally have formed opinions on some of the names employed in the shows I write about here. So with further ado, here is the TV matters and me official name column detailing my favorite names, the curious one's and the one's I took some time accepting, all with the personal opinions of a Nordic nerd.

NCIS:LA - Their names are a mix of good and bad

Kensi Blye - When I first heard the name Kensi I loathed it. I thought it was such a bad name, much too preppy and modern. To me it sounded like the name of an overly cheerful fitness coach or Zumba teacher. It took me months to actually start liking the name but I admit it has grown on me and I kind of like it now. It has a lovely meaning and at least they didn't inventive with the spelling like they could have. I however love the name Blye. It sounds very similar to a word that means 'light breeze' in one Nordic language and I love the sound of it.

Martin Deeks - I like the name Martin a lot but the character is always called Marty. Whenever I hear that nickname I associate it with someone overly happy and cheerful but I kind of like the name. It means 'warlike' which is cool. An alarming amount of Nordic names have meanings that have something to do with war - remnants of Viking heritage I guess. I can however not possibly take the last name Deeks seriously. Marty Deeks is meant to be Norwegian-American and his last name is the least Norwegian name ever. I am well aware of the fact that the character was not originally meant to be Norwegian-American, rather it evolved as the actor came in, and hence the name. I am also aware of the changes in last names that occurred when people emigrated to America so this does not surprise me, I just find it funny - bit like when NCIS had a Russian named Viggo. I think of Deeks as the Norwegian-American with the least Norwegian name ever.

The actor Mr. Olsen has a very Nordic last name however. In fact it's so Nordic it's one of the most common last names here, it's also the name of a popular candy bar, the name of a famous Danish comedy trio and the name of a classic card game everyone knows. You can't go much more Nordic than Olsen

And I can't go without mention the Olsen brothers, the winners of Eurovision 2001 with their lovely song 'fly on the wings of love'. The Danish version is called 'smuk som et stjerneskud' which means 'beautiful like starry night' and the lyrics are actually really sensual. Leave it to the Nordics to be rude in their own language but polite in English :)

Nell Jones - Nell has to be my most favorite TV name. It comes from  my most favorite name Eleanor and it means light. I love the soft and unusual sound of it and how similar it sounds to Nellica which is a flower I love. It's unusual and uncommon but also classic.

NCIS - an absolute name jackpot! All the names are lovely and classical.

Ziva David - I absolutely adore the name Ziva. It is such an unusual but beautiful Hebrew name. It means 'brightness'; I happen to love all names that mean something having to do with light. And I am going to explain further about the last name David. In English the name is pronounced phonetically 'Dayvid' whereas Ziva's last name is pronounced phonetically 'Dahveed'. Not to mention, I loved how they played around with this on NCIS. In my country we pronounce the name according to the Hebrew version (except with a soft 'd' at the end) and I find it far more beautiful. We always go for the European pronunciation and spelling of names instead of the English. Consequently it is very easy for us to adapt European names into our culture but it's more troublesome with English names.

Eleanor Bishop - I have loved the name Eleanor ever since I saw Sense and Sensibility 1995 movie and was fascinated with the character Elinor in that film. And just like 'Nell' and 'Ziva' the name means light. I typically end up falling for names whose meaning is 'light' for some reason. Not to mention I also like the nickname Ellie. NCIS has an incredible knack for choosing beautiful, classic names.

Donald Mallard 'Ducky' - It wasn't until this year I finally learned the reason for Ducky's nickname. I was looking at a video from a friend featuring 'mallard ducks' - we refer to them by a completely different name in my dialect. So the moment I saw the name something clicked for me. Finally, after having been a fan of NCIS for over two years I figured it out. Oh the many joys of being an EFL speaker.

Criminal Minds - they have such beautiful names

Spencer Reed - I love both names; Spencer is an old English name and I saw it written on a gravestone from the 1600's when I was in England last year. It brought Spencer Reed to mind instantly. It also brings to mind the old English play 'The Faerie Queen'. The name Reed I associate with trees (which I love) and I just love the sound of it.

Alex Blake - I love that name. Alex is a diminutive of Alexander/Alexandra which means 'defender of mankind'. It's a strong name and classic. William Blake happens to be one of my most favorite poems of all time and I really like the name Blake. So for me, the CM producers couldn't have figured out a better name than Alex Blake. I do wonder thought whether her name is Alexandra or Alex. Either way it is an awesome name.

Derek Morgan - Such a bad-ass and cool name. Derek means 'peaceful ruler' and Morgan 'from the sea'. I love both the names and the meanings of them and the character is awesome. Basically a win-win in every way.

Aaron - That name is a thorn in my eye. I mean the name is spelled 'Aaron' yet it is pronounced like 'Erin'. And if I do not see the names in writing I cannot for the life of me fathom whether the phoentic sounds 'Eerin' are the names Erin or Aaron. It is one of these things I do NOT like about English. In Nordic countries we pronounce the name phonetically 'Ahrohn' which makes far more sense in my humble opinion.

Penelope - I absolutely love that name. It is so beautiful and has such a nice meaning 'weaver'. Yet again, I will add we pronounce it differently here. We go according to the Spanish pronunciation here which is 'Pehnelopeh'. Except I in my infinite wisdom have been pronouncing it like 'Pehnelop' for years and have gotten to use to it. I am bad-ass like that (and have a reasonably wonky pronunciation)

All in all TV has a mix of both good and bad names but I love exploring them.

NCIS and NCIS:LA - Ellie Bishop is so lovely and is Densi finally happening?

Today I had the honour of watching the new character Eleanor 'Ellie' Bishop enter the NCIS scene. And is she ever a lovely character?! I absolutely loved her. She was unique and fun from the start of the episode. She has a quirky and curious aura about her and she seems like a unique and dynamic character. I was instantly very happy with her. I was over the moon that not only did she reference a musical (Oklahoma) but she food associates and was motivated by a box of Cocoa Puffs. I could imagine her straightaway bouncing up and down sugar high while writing the report. As a devoted foodie I loved that. She feels so realistic as well and I loved the slightly awkward aura around her. And her style is amazing! I loved the way the actress Emily Wickersham played her, this odd mix of pure professionalism, introversion, idiosyncrasies and wit. She did such a wonderful job! She's going to be a great addition to the show and I cannot wait to see more of her.

And something finally happened with Densi. I know next episode will explode and they'll be split up as partners but I don't care a fig. There is an incredibly good (and delightful) reason for why Kensi will disappear of the scene for a while. She should actually disappear longer! The Densi ball has started rolling and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next but I'm also wary of  that the show might emotionally manipulate the audience in this regard and play it like a fiddle. I know Castle did. I cannot bear to watch some of the last episodes of season 4 because they are so difficult to see emotionally when Beckett wants Castle but he's given up. I know it's a television show but it had me in an emotional puddle. But the payoff when they got together was even sweeter. It was soooo good. Considering how similar Densi is to Caskett I expect them to follow a similar timeline. This means that NCIS:LA has until the end of season 6 to get them together. And I expect the payoff to be as good as Castle. In any case their jig will pay off someday.

On the bright side Nell will most likely get a chance to shine and I'm looking forward to that. Nell has been on a roll this season and it'll be great to see how she will continue to be developed.
We'll also see more of Agent Sabatino who I really like as a character. Hints have been dropped he'll be involved with Kensi somehow doing something work related- what it is remains to be seen. In any case, I like his character and am happy he's back.
On the up/down side a recurring tech analyst will be introduced soon. The up-side is that it's part of a new and upcoming plot (if it involves Russian I don't know what I'll do!) and I like the actor who'll be playing him - he is really good. The downside is that he's male. This will make for effectively 6 male characters (Callen, Sam, Deeks, Eric, Granger, Booker) and only two female characters Nell and Hetty while Kensi is away. That makes 3/4 male and 1/4 female. Not exactly cool but hopefully they'll work well around it. And keep the bro-syndrome at bay.

 And NCIS took some time to comment on the NSA scandal that's been shaking Europe/America. Apparently they need court orders to listen in on people so that clears it. I do hope NCIS will dig more into this issue as well - I would like to see their take on it. I know it has ruffled a lot of feathers over here, especially in Germany and Spain. NCIS:LA also worked so well with the issue of addiction on last show. I was very impressed with how well and sympathetically they covered it. It had some wonderfully sweet scenes. After last week's debacle, I was very happy about this. In any case - things are looking up on both shows and I am enjoying the ride.

Dear NCIS:LA - there is nothing fascinating about force-feeding and gulags are not lovely

NCIS:LA has managed it again. I am pretty much speechless with what's been said in the past two episodes. In my opinion it goes well beyond all boundaries of decency into being despicable.

In the last episode 5x08 the NCIS:LA characters threatened a suspect with possibly sending him to Guantanamo. They speculated they would need to send him there for his own protection. And then there came the ultimate kicker line: "I hear force feeding is fascinating!" in a sarcastic tone

I am at a loss here. Guantanamo bay as a prison is a serious human rights violations. Deathly, utterly serious violation. Force feeding is a form of despicable torture.
These are serious matters that need to be discussed, people need to be aware of. Many people are campaigning against Gitmo and this use of torture and actively fighting against it.
So why on earth did NCIS:LA decide it was okay to reference it in this way? No one would dream of calling the gas chambers in Bergen-Belsen 'fascinating' or slavery 'an interesting experience'. Because doing so is highly disrespectful, indecent and insensitive. It would be beyond any boundaries of civility. So why on earth is it then okay that force feeding referred to as fascinating, even if it is in a sarcastic tone?
I love sarcasm, I really do but there are boundaries to the ways in which it can be used - and in this case it did not work. It was just despicable and a low for the show.

And today's episode did not improve on anything. Russia was yet again the enemy and they breezily broke into the house of a Russian consulate as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do and even if, according to Granger, it damaged the already precarious relationship between US and Russia. And there was of course a reference to the Cold War being far from over apparently. And it seems Russians are still obsessed with using nuclear weapons on USA. And NCIS:LA gets less than zero points in managing international relations.
I am starting to debate whether the NCIS:LA universe is still stuck in the eighties while the rest of the world (Europe at least) has long since moved on. The Cold War ended in 1989, there was a historic meeting in the 1980's in Reykjavik between Reagan and Gorbachev which change the course of the war. It's been 24 years since it ended and yet, the powers that be NCIS:LA continue using it as a plot point, recycling over and over again the plot of Russians trying to get their hands on nuclear weapons and wanting to attack USA. It gets old, stereotypical and displays a serious lack of creativity.

And the kicker was that when they decided to infiltrate the Russian consulate they discussed they might face criminal charges or be expedited. And then there came two of the quite possibly worst lines ever to be heard on the show:

"I have never been to Russia"
"I hear the gulags are lovely this time of year"

Gulags are not something to joke about. Never ever. They were prison labour camps during Stalin's reign. These were terrible, horrible camps akin to the Holocaust camps were people were systematically tortured and killed. Millions of people were wiped out in these camps, millions were sent to them for no other cause than being Jewish, being educated, being from the Baltic country, even just being alive was a sin. They were used as a serious form of political oppression. I have read stories from these camps on my own and it left me shivering, sad, terrified. It is a tragic and horrible part of Russian and Eastern-European history.

So I have to ask? Why on earth does NCIS:LA then think it's okay to reference those things as being lovely, even if it's sarcastic. I've said it once and I am saying it again: No one refers to the Holocaust in this way, or slavery, or genocide. So why is it then okay to refer to the Gulags? There was practiced a form of genocide, systematic killing of people. It is estimated that over 20 million people were killed there. Let it sink in, over 20 million. And yet it is used flippantly.

What I am questioning here is the way in which serious human rights violations both contemporary and historical are treated and referenced on TV. There have got to be some boundaries to this and in my opinion NCIS:LA as a show has overstepped it. I firmly believe that historical events such as the gulags need to be dealt with, discussed, taught about, learned from. But they should never ever be referenced lightly or be joked about. Never. It is as simple as that.

And I hope I'll never hear things like this on NCIS:LA again.

(If people want to learn about the gulags, my favorite fictional book about is 'Between shades of grey' - it's a book that changed my life.)

The token linguists - English language and the rest of the world

As I've made explicitly clear I am an EFL speaker. I spend all my day dealing with English as it's my major at Uni and I've been functioning in two languages for years, since childhood actually. English feels natural to me and I feel more than comfortable with it. But that does not change the fact that it challenges me on a daily basis and I must keep up. And a part of that is watching TV shows to help my auditory skills. I can read English as well as any native speaker but my auditory skills are not as good. So hence, TV is a great resource to train.

I also read a fascinating statistic recently that 1/4 of the people of the world speak English, ranging from a native level to rudimentary. That's a lot. But that also means that 3/4 of the world speak no English at all. So even if English has become a global language, it is still imperative to study and know other languages. And this is reflected in the TV shows I deal with here. They are all American and use English as a primary language but still every single show has a character that can speak more than one language. I find it interesting how they deal with language and I listen intently to all language related things on TV. It's my bread and butter really when it comes to TV.
And today's topic is presenting an overview of those token linguistics

NCIS
Ziva is the multilingual wonder there - She speaks French, Spanish, German, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and English. That is quite a lot but it is fully possible in the real world. I have always loved this aspect of Ziva's character and enjoyed a lot how they have dealt with her journey of discovering English. As an EFL speaker it has taught me a lot and given me great enjoyment.

Abby speaks ASL and uses it regularly which I really like. I can finger-spell in ASL and I highly enjoy seeing how NCIS has incorporated ASL easily into the show.

NCIS has always provided me with the most language jokes and it's an aspect of the show I absolutely love. Plus, I never run into trouble understanding what the characters are saying which is nice. The show challenges my English abilities but in a good way.

NCIS:LA

Sam speaks Arabic, Japanese and Spanish - Japanese and Arabic are two extremely different languages with two different alphabets, systems of writing, pronunciation, vocabulary. It's not like French and Spanish which are derived from a similar source. These languages share no similarity. And apparently Sam is comfortable with them both! And they have never bothered to explain how on earth he learned them which I find annoying.

Callen - He is a fluent Russian speaker. It's been implied he learned it from a foster sister of his for a few months but that does not account for his remarkable skills. Yet again, NCIS:LA does not bother with explaining! His pronouncation seems good though.

Nell - She is meant to be fluent in Spanish but I have yet to hear her say a single word in Spanish.

Kensi - She speaks French, Spanish and German, basically she takes care of all the main European languages. She is by far the one most comfortable with dealing with languages and I enjoy it when she deals with them. But, to be nit picky, it has never been explained why she has an extremely good command of French, well beyond any general school level (I say this as a former French student and sufferer). My personal guess is at that Kensi grew up as bilingual with French and English.

Hetty - apparently she speaks German but it feels really forced every time she uses it. I'd rather listen to Deeks and Eric gleefully butcher German.

NCIS:LA contains by far the biggest number of linguists but it goes way overboard with it. I mean way overboard. It supplies a good number of language jokes but also the biggest challenge for me as an EFL speaker. It sometimes takes all my concentration to keep up with what the characters are saying so I regularly run into trouble. I notice pronunciation differences between my own English and theirs which helps me evaluate my skills and learn words properly. And whenever I run into words I am not completely familiar with I mentally spell them. The latest was 'thingamajig' and noticing how they say the words 'vehemently' and 'awry'. I apparently go British with these words. Watching NCIS:LA helps me improve but it can get vastly frustrating not being able to catch properly what the character say. Sometimes I don't get it at all, it just becomes a bunch of meaningless syllables and consonants thrown together in my ears - something I heartily dislike and to be honest, I feel super annoyed by it. I have great pride in my English abilities and being caught off guard like that when I feel I should be able to catch everything makes me frustrated.
I am typically on my toes the entire time I watch: listening, processing, spelling, concentrating. It really challenges me but it pays off sometimes like feeling a bit proud when I get things right (like managing to understand all the acronyms and slang). I'll never associate NCIS:LA with relaxing my English abilities in any case.

Criminal Minds

This show contains my two favorite linguists, Alex Blake and Reed.

Alex Blake - she has a PHD in linguistics and teaches them. I love how they've incorporated this fascinating aspect into her character and I really enjoy all the scenes she has dealing with language. I am a sucker for anything linguistic related and I love how CM works with it. Plus, all interactions between Blake and Reed involving linguistics are great. Two people fascinated with language is absolute heaven for someone like me to listen to.

Spencer Reed - quite possibly my most favorite nerd on TV. He speaks Russian, Spanish, French and I think German. And best of all, his linguistic abilities have been explained (NCIS:LA might take note!). I love how he is enthusiastic and passionate about language and how it's been used to help solve crimes and evolve his character. Linguistics are a fascinating field and I love exploring it. CM has done a fabulous job incorporating it into their show and showing a different and wonderful side of English

I have no trouble understanding CM which I love. It instead keeps me enthusiastic and interested as I pick up new things about language and its usage and I don't need to concentrate all the time. It is instead vastly enjoyable.

Cultural references and a clueless Nordic

One of the topics I cover here is my inability to grasp language and cultural references. And today's topic is dedicated to my complete and utter inability to understand certain cultural references and traditions.

Entering houses and apartments while wearing shoes and walking straight into the living room
Here where I live, people always take their shoes of before entering any house or apartment. Not doing so is considered is considered to be the height of rudeness. I would  personally never ever do it. And when entering any house or apartment, there is always a space or a room for leaving once clothes a shoes before entering.

So you can imagine my look of terror every single time I see people enter /burst into houses and apartments in shows while wearing their shoes. I get that agents/cops cannot be bothered with moving their shoes (it'd just be weird) when taking a suspect down but not once have I seen any of the characters on the shows I cover here take their shoes off. Not once. Not even when visiting houses. It seems normal in the context of the shows but I can say that here in the North, the characters would be considered absolute brutes for not taking off their shoes.

Weird food

I personally come from a culture that is filled with weird food. Our national cuisine literally reads like something out of a horror magazine. So I do have a lot of experience with strange food but there is one instance in which I was ready to throw up when watching NCIS:LA.

Deep-fried bacon. They had deep-fried bacon and what was worse, the characters were eating it! I am no bacon lover but I can eat it if necessary (like say in a full English breakfast) but combining deep-fried and bacon just sounds like a recipe for a heart attack.

But they did score a definite point with me when Deeks said he loved liver. Liver is a part of the national Nordic cuisine and I eat it regularly. It is the cheapest kind of meat you can get and in the past it was known as poor man's food as it was so cheap. Plus, it can be cooked in some really good ways. So I was very surprised to hear Deeks express his love for liver and counting the many ways in which it can be cooked but it made me grin my ears off. Nordic food references for the win!

Sports

Nordics love football and handball. We take it so seriously that you'd think the national happiness of the Nordic countries depends solely on our achievements in sports. If one Nordic country does well, we all feel proud. If the Nordic countries are competing against each other, things go dark for a while. Currently Sweden and Iceland can potentially go the World Cup in football in Brazil in 2014 and let me tell you, even if it's only two countries out of five we are behind them. One Nordic country typically means all.

But aside from that - two sports I will never ever get are American football and baseball. These sports are not practiced here and I have less that zero knowledge of them. Not that I have absolutely no interest in sport but I can at least talk about football a bit. So any and all times these sports are mentioned and referenced, there is one Nordic that sits with glazed over eyes and shakes her head. NCIS:LA, NCIS and Castle have all had extensive references to these sports and I have never gotten them. The only one I have gotten was when NCIS:LA mentioned the football team 'The Vikings', I know they come from Minnesota - that's it.

Monster trucks and cronuts

These have been mentioned on NCIS:LA and I was completely lost what on earth they meant. I had a vague idea of what monster trucks are but didn't bother looking them up. So imagine my surprise while I was rolling through TV channels and saw a promo for a Monster truck show. And my first thought was: "Ah, so that's what they were talking about on NCIS:LA".

And cronuts - It looked to me like a weird kind of donut and I knew it somehow mixed together French and American cuisine but more than that was beyond me. So I was yet again mightily surprised to be flipping through an advertisement from a local boutique showing what they were offering on 'American theme days' (my country mostly imports from Europe so there are regular themes days in shops that offer more specialty items from countries) and I came across a cronut. Turns out it's a mix of a donut and croissant. And yet again I thought: "Ah, now I get the reference".

So my inability of grasping cultural references continues but I enjoy the ride.