Will Copenhagen become the Tetris capital of Europe?
Posted on March 26, 2015 2 Comments
On March 14th I attended the European Championships in Tetris just outside Copenhagen. I wrote the article “Klodsede stjerner” which was published in Weekendavisen, March 20th 2015. Below, a recap in English – with pics from the night.
The Perfect Game
The best Tetris players in the world were gathered in Copenhagen on March 14th for the first Tetris European Championships ever. The ambition of the organizers is to establish Copenhagen as the Tetris capital of Europe.
by Christina Majcher | @chriszka
Tetris is one of the best-known computer games in the history of digital entertainment. The tile-matching puzzle game was created by the Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 and since then, it has made its way onto nearly every console, computer and platform imaginable, from graphing calculators to arcade machines. There are many variants of the game, but Classic Tetris is played on the original Nintendo console – the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System).
On this evening, Saturday March 14th 2015, people are playing on NES consoles at the music venue Forbrændingen in Albertslund just outside Copenhagen. It’s the night of the first Tetris European Championships ever. During the last two days people have been competing on Gameboys, Super Nintendos and on arcade machines. But the highlight and the most prestigious part of the tournament is coming up: Classic Tetris.
Qualification games have been played continuously for two days at the round tables in the middle of the venue. The 16 people with the highest scores move on to the finals.
In the darkened room the light-shaded Tetris blocks fall like a continuous rain on the Bang & Olufsen monitors from the 90s. These monitors are not just here because everyone in this room loves retro. Modern LCD flat screens are too slow. Too slow only by milliseconds, but every millisecond counts when you play Tetris at this level.
Qualification rounds at Forbrændingen.
A rush of excitement
35 minutes before the finals a rush of excitement moves through the venue. 27-year old Christian Steen Mortensen from Copenhagen has jumped to the top position on the qualifications list with a score of 602.577. Christian spent a large part of his math and physics classes in high school playing Tetris on his graphing calculator. Last year he reached 3rd place in the Classic Tetris tournament at the Danish Championships without even owning a NES. Two months later his friends gave him a NES console for his birthday so that he could practice.
Before this evening, his personal highscore was around 470.000. Now, with such an extreme jump in his Personal Best score, expectations to his performance has risen tremendously.
The Tetris Capital
One of the ambitions of the people behind the European Championships is to establish Copenhagen as the Tetris Capital of Europe, and so far things are going well. People from 11 different countries have shown up, which makes this the most international Tetris tournament ever.
Visiting Americans: Adam Cornelius and Vince Clemente, director and producer of the documentary “The Ecstasy of Order”, battling on stage.
Amongst the 16 qualified for the finals are the Swedish sisters Sabina (27) and Jessica Hyøtylä (29). They have sharpened their Tetris talents playing against each other for ten years. During the week, Sabina works in a bank. In the weekends, she plays Tetris 6 to 8 hours a day.
Both of the sisters are on the list of only 9 people in the world who has scored more than 600.000 points in the European version of Classic Tetris. Most of the people on the list are in this room today. Jessica is at number 2 with 679.000 points.
A magician
Only Jani Herlevi (36) from Finland has scored more than 700.000 points. He is here tonight, too. He is also the only European who has been competing at the World Championships in the US. At the World Championships, he finished at number 8. He was competing in the American version of Tetris where the bricks move slower. At this tournament, the faster European version is played, so Jani is on his own turf and the front-runner for the title. His playing style is described as “risky”, “wild” and “incredibly fast”. Level 19 is supposedly the killscreen. After that level, the bricks fall to fast for anyone to react. But Jani has reached level 20. Some people call him a magician.
On stage
In the finals, the combattants are playing in pairs on the stage while the audience watch the game on big screens behind them.
Janis’ first match on stage is against ”Muf” from Holland. Most of the players have a relaxed gaming style, but not Jani. He is leaning towards the screen, intensely absorbed, the falling of the digital blocks trembling across his face, the hair an electrical cloud around his head. He is wearing a blue knitted glove on his left hand, made by his grandmother. It protects his left thumb from being torn apart by the controller and his intense moves. After each match he throws himself back in the sofa, exhaling dramatically.
Everything is streamed on Twitch. A commentator is conveying the players’ efficiency, risky stackings, particularly wild moves. At each Tetris (when four rows are cleared at once to a maximum score) – the audience yells ”Boom!” – a tradition established in 1990 at the Nintendo World Championships, the first Tetris tournament ever.
The quarter finals
In the quarter finals, Jani plays against Sabina. Jani wins both rounds. Christian, undefeated in the first rounds, is beaten in the quarter finals by Jessica. Watching the matches on the big screen is an intense experience, constantly fluctuating from meditatively relaxing moments to stressful anxiety when a nerve-wrecking tower of blocks grows at incredible speed. Every dextrous move gets an immediate appreciative response from the audience.
Jani and Sabina, battling on stage.
“It’s a spectator sport”
The rules and setup are the same as at the Tetris World Championships. In October, Vincente Clemente (32) who is also attending this evening, will host the World Championships for the 6th time at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, the biggest retro gaming conference in the US with arougn 5000 participants.
“Tetris is turning into a sports event. The tournament is growing and growing, and the players are getting stronger and stronger and better and better”, he says.
He hopes that the rules of the World Championships will be adopted by Tetris tournaments all over the world so that Tetris players will be able to compete against eachother and see how they measure up globally. The ambition is to get the matches on tv.
“It’s a real spectator sport, because it’s so easy to understand. Even people who are not playing Tetris themselves can instantly see and appreciate how incredibly good the players are. It’s really fun to watch”, he says.
“Playing Tetris is like reading Shakespeare”
The organiser of the European Championships, Chrisstoffer Paluszewski, is the founder of the Chassis Arkade in Copenhagen – a popular arcade packed with old arcade games like Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat. The arcade opened in Nørrebro (Copenhagen North) in 2011 but quickly became so popular that they had to move to facilities four times the size of the original spot. The arcade is now located in Østerbro (Copenhagen East).
Now the arcade has expanded once again, right here at Forbrændingen: 20 arcade machines have been set up at the brand new Mönt Arkade which will be open for visitors and gamers every single weekend from now on. And it’s quite a desirable location: Forbrændingen hosts 70 concerts a year, and all guests have to walk through the arcade to reach the concert room. Quite a big audience for the arcade machines, potentially.
Chrisstoffer on stage, to the right, with the mike.
“I’m looking so much forward to the gaming scene finally getting the reputation it deserves. The gaming scene is so cool, and everybody loves it, both young and all. All this has a very broad appeal. We can see that just by looking at our guests,” Chrisstoffer says.
The continous growth of the arcades seems to indicate a growing interest in retro games, but the way Chrisstoffer sees it, the interest has been there all along. It’s just that now it finally gets a chance to unfold itself properly.
”We don’t call Tetris ”retro”. We call it a classic. Playing tetris is like reading Shakespeare if you’re into literature. Or like knowing Mozart, if you listen to classical music. There are elements of Tetris in soooo many other games,” Chrisstoffer says.
Time for a happy group photo in the break. Check out the Tetris tights to the left. The tall guy with his hands in the air at the back is “Muf”. In the red sofa, to the right, is Linus from Sweden.
The impossible: Level 21
It’s time for the final of the Europan Championships. Not surprisingly, it’s Jani Herlevi against Linus from Sweden, who won the European Championsips of Tetris on GameBoy the day before. They are on stage, playing best of five. First round, and incredible stuff happens. Jani reaches level 21. The coloured bricks fall in a glittering shower of pixellated seconds and magically fast moves on the big screen. The hall roars with excitement.
After a feat of strength like that, victory seems certain. But the European Championships ned just like they began: With a surprise. After Jani’s amazing round 1, Linus wins the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th round. Hands in the air. He now holds a double European Championship in Tetris – on the NES console, too.
And the winner is…
The ultimate computer game
Maybe Christian Steen Mortensen will be the one standing there with his hands in the air next year, even though, at this moment in time, he sees Jani’s record of 700.000+ points as “unachievable”.
But he will keep practising. Of course.
“To me, Tetris is the ultimate computer game. I never get tired of it”, Christian says.
”You can’t complete the game. But you can always improve just a little bit. And then a little bit more”.
What I was wearing at this festive occassion.
And here, the article in Weekendavisen (print only). <– that’s pretty retro.
5 games I played on my way to GDC
Posted on March 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
This could have been a list on all the awesome digital games I should’ve/could’ve/would’ve played or replayed while sitting on the airplane on my way to the Game Developers’ Conference in San Francisco. But I played these little-known games instead. Do you know them?
It goes without saying that it would be awesome to spend all those hours on the plane on the way to GDC playing or replaying some of the many games that will be talked about at the conference, like Depression Quest or Tengami or 80 Days or… well, you know. etc. etc. etc. But let’s have a look at these lesser-known experimental full-immersion games instead!
The Very Broken Airport Simulation Game
I have a really high tolerance for long haul travels, but since I had to catch three different airplanes to travel from Copenhagen to San Francisco, I felt like I was a character in a very sadistically designed version of an Airport Tycoon simulation game, where the person playing it had been totally overdoing the amount of security checks, thus spending my entire time lining up, taking off my shoes, putting my shoes on again and running to catch the next security check. Obviously this resulted in me spending absolutely no money in the airport shops, so the person playing my imagined Airport Tycoon Game would be losing money. Also, my energy levels had most definitely dropped to somewhere in the red zone when I reached my destination. If I HAD been a character in a simulation game, I would probably have died. An airport simulation game would be kind of fun, though. Like Roller Coaster Tycoon, but with super complicated security checks instead of roller coasters. And lots of places where everything could go horribly wrong with crowds in transit and lost suitcases on carousels and fun airport stuff like that. Whohoooo! Who will make it?
The OMG Mind Game
After having my passport rejected at the self-service ESTA machines at the LAX Airport because my passport had been extended, I reluctantly started playing the “OMG-is-my-passport-actually-valid” mind game in my head. Super exciting!
The What Are the Odds Game
When not going on direct flights, airports usually send my suitcases in all kinds of interesting directions instead of where I am actually going. This has happened an amazing amount of times, so I usually travel with a carry-on when possible, and when not, I make sure to travel in clothes that I would be able to survive in at a conference for at least three days.
This time, though, having experienced it so often, I decided to play the What Are the Odds Game (the odds of my suitcase being delayed AGAIN, I mean). Just for the excitement. Amazingly, my suitcase managed to get delayed once more, which resulted in me spending an hour and a half extra at the San Francisco Airport, waiting, filling out forms and getting sent to weird closed offices in the basement. This game sucked pretty much, especially the 45 minutes by the suitcase carousel. There would most definitely be tons of annoying suitcase carousels in my Airport Tycoon Game.
The How San Fransisco-y Can Things Get in 5 Minutes Bingo
1) I found the house I live in through Airbnb. (oh, but of course).
2) There’s the most magnificent view of the Bay Bridge from my room.
3) All the residents in the house work with tech.
4) They were watching The Walking Dead while simultaneously working on their laptops and their smartphones when I arrived. Third screen viewing.
5) The living room has the best view of Noe Valley and Twin Peaks. And a disco ball.
6) I registered at Uber two minutes after my arrival at the house.
7) Two minutes later I saw a racoon walking down the street. This was somehow extra awesome after watching Guardians of the Galaxy on the plane.
8) Okay, so it’s not Lombard Street (the steepest street in San Francisco), but the street has an incline of about 20 degrees.
9) There´s a Golden Gate picture in my room.
10) The door has a digital lock. No keys.
BINGO!
The Postpone The Pain Game
The schedule of talks at the GDC runs from 9.30 to 17.30 Monday to Friday, and there’s an average of 7 new talks to choose from every hour. And they are all interesting! So what does the Christina On Her Way to GDC version of me do when she has to choose between “Comedy Games: An Under-Explored Genre” with Zoe Quinn or “In the Hearts of Players: Affection Games and Mobile Love” or “Straight Talk about Community Manager Tenure” or “Teaching Beyond the Industry”? I put them all in my schedule and think “I’ll just choose when I’m there”. I hate this earlier version of myself right now.
The 5 mobile games I enjoyed the most in 2014
Posted on January 16, 2015 Leave a Comment
My article on the 5 mobile games I enjoyed the most in 2014: Her er årets 5 bedste mobilspil.
– including Framed by LoveShack (possibly the coolest game of that year) and Lyne by Thomas Bowker (one of the most elegant and relaxing puzzles I have ever tried).
Published on jp.dk in December 2014.
Stop wasting your time with Candy Crush and the likes – these games are pure quality.
The Present: Jungle Dawn
Posted on December 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
Day 24 of the JungLE Calendar – it’s PRESENT TIME!
I shall keep this short and sweet today, people, because it’s Christmas, and we shouldn’t be hovering over our smartphones for too long today, now should we.
So here’s the present, let’s unwrap it.
It’s a sports thing!
Something for your bodies and your spirits, people. I’ve been doing all kinds of sports throughout my life, and of all the branches of sports I have explored, the most fun and fulfilling one has in many ways been dancing. Wakeboarding is out of this world fun, too, but there’s quite a lot of water involved, so I will leave that one out of the picture for the moment.
Raving to jungle is a sport in itself. As I have previously written, dancing to jungle has never just been about fun for me (although it certainly IS fun). It’s just as much about the physical challenge of it, and the zen-like meditation state it delivers when done right. (You can read more about that in Being a Junglist: Going to London.) Jungle is really good for running, too, and just in every way an extremely motivational kind of music.
Join the Jungle Dawn! It’s bouncy!
So here it is: No more longing for those oldskool jungle sounds. No more grinding your teeth to soul-destroying eurodance in the spinning class. No more wondering if the music in your gym actually harms your brain. This is where jungle raving meets every day workouts (but with a twist). This is dancing in the morning to get happier. This is where you can keep fit in a fun way that lifts your spirits, too.
Unwrap the present. It´s JUNGLE DAWN! «— This is where you join.
Like the facebook page and invite anyone you think would be happy to join and bounce along. Anyone who wants their molecules warmed up in the nicest possible way. Everyone who wants more bounce. And everyone who hungers for the tribal beats of jungle.
And now, when you have read the important message below, go do all those Christmassy things! Massive junglistic hugs and enthusiastic kisses (you know what they look like by now!) and a merry Christmas to you all!
What will you do without the JUngLEkalender? 🙁
Don’t be sad. Not too sad, anyway. You will be happy to know that there will be a Special JUngLEkalender Surprise. Scroll down a few inches and Follow the JUngLE Calendar via email if you want to make sure that you don’t miss it. I promise it will entertain you wildly.
Jungle Feelings: The Love and Kisses Special Round II
Posted on December 23, 2014 Leave a Comment
Genuine feelings. The warm buzz of looking back, reconnecting and feeling everything again with such intensity across the time span that you realize (once more) that the time span doesn’t really exist. All these moments are eternal, just waiting for your revisit. That is what it’s all about.
On that note, here’s what I, the Time Traveller, Portal Jumper and Insatiable Collector of Memories, think today:
1) While facebook spills over with those auto-generated “It’s been a great year, thanks for being part of it” picture collections, I think we should spend these final, Christmassy days of 2014 actually saying something instead of speaking with the dead voice of the digital facebook robot. It’s like a pre-printed postcard, and yes, pre-printed postcards are harmless, but spending some precious tiny moments putting together just 7 words of your own choice expressing what you actually feel is not just worthwhile, it’s the point of everything.
I work with the digital realm for a living, a lot of the time anyway, so I am not sitting on some serene offline island saying this. Enjoy the cold buzz of looking at yourself in the facebook mirror, by all means, and yes, you can do it ironically, too, I guess.
But since our digital tools will get better and better and better at these things, offering more and more of it, I’m just saying: Keep working your this-is-me-communicating-for-real muscle, instead of staying inside those pre-printed boxes made available by fast-and-easy-digi-la-la-land. Because when there’s no effort, it means nothing.
2) I think everyone should totally do whatever they want, so feel free to completely ignore 1).
3) But my rant mode is still on, so: Anyone doing the usual complaining about public transport and Christmas travels as if it’s the fifth circle of Dante’s Inferno has no real problems and should travel the world some more to get some perspective.
Right, that was 1 – 2 – 3 – now GO! Time for some wild time travelling with no complaining at all. Only ONE day to go now, people, so we’re heating things up, cosy emotion soup styleee, with one more collection of those junglistic kisses and sweaty hugs all over the place. It’s a junglistic love mix, once again, and we’re diving in!
Chriszka the Time Traveller makes an appearance at the Jeff Mills Party Turned Junglism Session after a particularly fun portal adventure (hence the adventurous hair), and Jungle Hut Mama is really happy to see her! Also, one of my absolute favourite friendship pics. Bonus info: In the background, Rasmus takes a rest on a pillow covering the secret time portal. He knows nothing.
Awww. Joel and Sofia feeling the friendship on the dancefloor at RAW 2008.
CRS and Chriszka feeling intense at Culture Box, 2007.
Garridge Bwoy feels okay once again, safely sandwiched by the Time Traveller and the Jungle Monster. At Ohoi!’s 6th birthday bash, July 2008. We all know that the Jungle Monster could have all kinds of things hiding in her mouth, here, but on the surface, this is a zen moment.
Liquido manages a quick kiss goodbye before the Time Traveller jumps out into new portal adventures. Looking at the dress she might be ending up at the Jeff Mills Kidnapping Party “later” on. Okay, but on the surface of things, this is Stella Polaris 2008.
Siblings enjoying themselves at RAW 2009!
Yes, I know you are all looking straight into our lovely eyes right now. Somewhere on a dancefloor, could be a FWD night, on the Ohoi! trip, London 2007.
The time traveller makes one of many appearances at Jungle Bells 2005! Vitus appreciates this!
Big smiles, blurry scan! Mega oldskool pic of N.I.S and Chriszka. Looking back, even I (who revisit the past often) feel genuinely surprised about the amount of jungle parties we had in Copenhagen back in those days. It was almost every single week for a while. No wonder we have big Cheshire cat grins here.
A magnificent masterpiece of a group hug at Roskilde 2005. What a great Sunday that was.
LOL. CRS has himself a very zen moment at Ohoi!s 6th birthday party.
An extreme close-up of friendliness! Chriszka the Time Traveller has definitely been dancing here.
You have probably noticed that there’s a whole lot of friendly kissing going on in this junglistic universe of warmed up molecules. But THESE GUYS are actually a couple! Here doing the back-to-front-we-are-a-couple-hug. It’s definitely not like an I-OWN-this-woman! kind of hug, because Garridge Bwoy does not wanna own anything at all, according to his firm political standpoints. (In the back, you see birthday boy Tim Driver still trying to explain his t-shirt. Oh, and in the back to the other side, Sofus the Amazing Shapeshifter! How cosy is this! Let’s go back to this moment!)
See what I mean? Couples are the only ones NOT kissing in these Jungle Feelings selections.
Okay, so that’s not completely true, either, I guess. So here you go. Extra bonus in the back: Lewis a tiny bit zonked out by his busy schedule that weekend. Almost looks like a time portal hangover, that. This is, of course, the RAW after after after after after party on a Monday evening at Bryggen.
More kissing! This time a New Year’s version! New Year’s Evening is a marvellous night for some serious time portal jumping, for obvious reasons. Everyone’s more drunk than ususal so notices even less, and the entire planet is absorbed in thoughts on the mysteries of chronological time, intensifying the magic in the air and thus making time travelling a lot easier. Thank you, sheeple, you worshippers of the clock!
Chriszka the Time Traveller and Sofus the Amazing Shapeshifter is having a relaxed break from their superpowers on the dancefloor at Dyssen. Sofus is NOT tired, just a but mellow, after being hypnotized so that he wouldn’t expose the Time Traveller secret (remember?)
2000F couldn’t kill himself with the group hug, so he goes for a synchronous drinking hug instead at RAW, 2009! Experts.
No, I’m not stopping ever. Apparently. Chriszka and Mika at Chriszka’s Birthday Bash at Nadsat.
Liquid is all “oh, alrighty then, come on here, you” with Wilcks in this pic. Well, who can resist the happy puppy mood. Only robots. This is RAW 2009, btw.
Someone feels pleased with the sandwich situation, here. Happy wolf face, well executed! This is one of those particularly fun New Year’s Eves, with lots of wild adventures. Did everyone survive? Not sure, actually, the Jungle Monster could have easily killed off a few without anyone noticing. Two people in this pic survived the night, I know that much.
Mega oldskool scan! Ok Preston gets one of those hair kisses.
The pretending-not-to-have-fun hug, while having tons of fun, late evening at Roskilde Festival.
More cosy times at Tim Driver’s birthday, June 2009. Tim Driver is f******* done explaining his t-shirt by now.
Molecules are thoroughly warmed up here! Junglists crashing a trance dancefloor. That’s how we do it. Showing those trancers who’s boss.
This is what darkside does to me! Laura still wears the attitude necessary for the Ass’n’Titties t-shirt.
Look, we have Friends Hair! <3
Another mega old scan! Look at you, CRS! And look at OK Preston looking at us. A private party at one of Jungle Mama’s very early Jungle Hut’s, this. The dj setup was on the window sill.
Whooops, what is this? WHEN is this? Nine years ago? Now? Soon? Don’t be fooled by the chronology mind trick, people, it’s just the universe teasing you. And yes, I see your eye, Jungle Monster, burning red, still.
Two important things to remember
1) Tomorrow is the last day of JUngLEkalenderen. Present time! (this could be a riddle).
2) It’s also family time, big time! What a great opportunity to test your kids (and your uncles) for darkside junglism with the infallable Ali Baba test! – find it here: The DIY Test: Is Your Child a Junglist?
More love
Feeling loved up? If you want more, check out the 7 most romantic jungle tunes ever.
For more intense hugging, check out the Blasts from the Past – the Birthday Bash Edition, and, of course, the first edition of Jungle Feelings: The Love and Kisses Special. Also, I wouldn’t miss the Jungle Feelings: The Group Hug Special if I were you.
For more dancefloor’y action, jump into the Dancefloors, moshpits and junglistic crowdsurfing.
Did you miss a day of JUnGLE? There are 23 posts to dive into, now, and you can do them chronologically or whichever way you please right here: JUngLEkalenderen, the complete collection.
How to be a Junglist: The Hand Signs Special Part II
Posted on December 22, 2014 1 Comment
You know it by now. The hand signs are everywhere. And junglists LOVES series. Jungle Fever VIII. Dreamscape XXVIII. Helter Skelter XXI. AWOL every single Saturday forever. Well, it wasn’t, but if the junglists had had their way, it would have been. So: Wheel it, come again, please please please. Absolutely T for Tremendous. The magnificent Hand Signs Special Part II.
The Expert Photo Bomber and the Amazing Shapeshifter do their thing at Stella Polaris 2008.
Relaxed power hand signs at the EBK party at Culture Box, 2008. A Miss Popo pic, I think.
Anna throwing the “I-survived-but-I-need-my-super-large-sunglasses-and-comfort-food-that-can-be-eaten-with-one-hand-only-to-get-through-this-day” hand sign. Roskilde Festival, Dust Valley.
Odd junglistic superhero appearing at Warehouse9, 2009.
The Time Traveller just made it to Stella Polaris 2008. Klaus Boss likes time travelling and throws a classic.
Who needs Instagram filters when you can be artistic with a 5 kroner coin! Yes, exactly! Yo Akim spots my artistic efforts and totally agrees. Summer party at Dyssen 2008.
Something’s happening in the mix here, clearly. Christiania Radios Torsdagsredaktion feels it! Enthusiastic hand signs at Bolsjefabrikken 2009.
Super sharp shooting by Revealomatic at Tim Driver’s birthday party at Rust, 2009.
Lewis does a talk to the hand thing at the Raw after after after after party at Bryggen 2007.
One quarter of a hand sign caught at Ohoi!s 6th birthday bash, 2008.
That is Pyro, smiling, again! Sort of! Bolsjefabrikken 2009.
Yeah, I know that’s not polite, but I am dj-splaining here. To a top interested crowd. Chriszka’s Birthday Bash at Nadsat.
Two experts throwing hand signs, effortlessly. Deep inside the summer party at Dyssen, 2008.
Dollar$ looking for a way out at RAW, 2007. Not panicking yet, though.
A classic from Tim Driver. This is what it looks like when a Jeff Mills party is turned into Junglism.
Garridge Bwoy and Chriszka, late night, Roskilde 2006. Noone knows what hand signs mean anymore at this point.
Youngman MC at Rum’n’Bass, Stengade 2006. Photo courtesy of Vitus.
Could we be more Adidas? The Jungle Monster, Jungle Hut Mama and the Time Traveller being 10000% junglist at RAW, 2011. And yep, a killer cyborg with bad intentions is approaching from the back, but we are invincible and scared of nothing. Thanks for the pic, Ida.
A junglist out and about feels okay in the middle of a morning crowd of non-junglists. Signals okay’ism to other junglist. Kristobal enjoying Trentemøller’s morning set at Dyssen’s summer party, 2008.
Super oldskool scan! That’s Casparados hiding behind hand signs and women.
Dj 2000F throwing a discreet yet potent hand sign at Roskilde Festival.
That’s right, Wilcks.
Rasmus brought his own music to this….. thing. Stella Polaris, 2007.
Junglistic hand signs lvl. 80 with a touch of disco. Public Service at DR Byen, an event with lots of interesting walks.
These are the satisfied grins of junglists kidnapping techno people at a Jeff Mills party and turning them into junglists. It’s what we do.
The junglist “just-arrived-at-the-party, see-you-playing, appreciate-your-selection” hand sign. A Culture Box moment. But, AND I’M NOT POINTING ANY FINGERS HERE, the Time Traveller is wearing the same dress as at the Hype party (the first one) at Stengade, so you all know what this means. It is happening again, as the giant in Twin Peaks says.
Want more hand signs? Well, that’s just an 11 day jump back to How to Be a Junglist: The Hand Signs Special Part I.
Did you miss a day of JUngLE? No worries. The entire JUngLE Calendar is here: JUngLEkalenderen, all of it.
Jungle Feelings: The Weird Faces Special
Posted on December 21, 2014 4 Comments
It can’t all be about pretty dresses here. In fact, it can’t all be pretty. So let’s have a straight look into the contorted face of physical reality. Quite a fun place, when you know the moves and learn the rules. And then break them, to see what happens.
No vanity. Weird Faces coming up. Also, and I don’t want to reveal too much, but still: In the course of the next three days things will slowly heat up here in a jungliciously heartwarming way, so it’s time to have a giggle before we get all emotional.
And here’s another reason: It’s important to laugh today. It’s the shortest day of the year, and that kind of Scandinavian darkness is no joke.
A Group Hug meets Weird Face masterpiece at DNBZone, Nadsat, November 2005.
Bass faces feeling the bass. We are on the Ohoi! trip to London here, May 2007. Ohoi! played at Rhythm Factory alongside F.U.K.T. – and Simon Bassline Smith. (I prefer things to be very positive here, but just one small remark: I made a small note about Simon Bassline Smith’s set that night for my musical journals afterwards, and all it says is: “Cheese!”. Does anyone remember the set?)
I took two photos of Dj Hype with my mobile phone at the 2008 party at Stengade. JKamata managed to photobomb both exquisitely. Bonus info: Did you know that “photobombing” was just named Word of the Year by Collins English Dictionary? And what did we get in Denmark? Here it comes, Danish word of the year from Dansk Sprognævn and Sproglaboratoriet on P1: “Mobilepay”. “MOBILEPAY”!
The enthusiastic “I don’t care about your conversations and your networking, I want to parteeeeeyyyy”-face.
High IQ’s displayed at Dollar$’ Campingvogn Party, August 2007.
Evil Economist feels troubled about the state of the world at Jungle Bells 2007.
I am not sure it can get any weirder than this. Drop, you win!
The Time Traveller and the Amazing Shapeshifter try, though. They try hard. The epic Dyssen party, July 2008.
Slightly odd, yes, but this was a very Ohoi! kind of New Year’s Eve, so… PIRATE GEAR, obviously. PIRATE GEAR INTERMEZZO: If you want to re-read my text about the Kraken Monster, I managed to recover it in its entirety from the depths of broken links on half-abandoned websites: It’s right here (in Danish): Gigantisk dybhavsuhyre indtager Stengade
A classic taking-the-lift pic snapped on our way to DNBZone in June, 2008.
A very difficult yoga pose performed at RAW 2009.
Whenever Mariii opened her mouth in 2008, a tiny bit of smoke from the Angry Flames of Jungle Monster Hell slipped out.
Junglists on a mission. We are driving this bus to dj Hype in Malmö! Blending in perfectly.
Sofus the Amazing Shapeshifter has just discovered that Chriszka the Time Traveller has magically reappeared through a portal at the Dyssen Party in Copenhagen after travelling the world for a while and having tons of colourful adventures. Sofus is very excited about this and wants to tell everyone! But Chriszka the Time Traveller is safe. The guy is a model, no-one believes all his wild stories.
Lots of zen-like calm, here. Spot the weird face, though. Ohoi!’s 6th Birthday Bash, 2008. Lewis checks once again if he’s behind schedule. No, everything’s fine.
Well done, JSL! Sulu just does the Zen Face, because nothing can touch you when you are protected by the glittery powers of the amazing Are You Dumb? t-shirt.
Okay, here’s another one. Complete meltdown meets zen. Deep in the jungle. “We’re NOT gonna die, we’re gonna get outta here!”
JKamata, the photo bombing ninja lightens up one of those boring mornings at Dyssen. 2008!
The Time Traveller ponders her next move (or jump), sipping a brain-cooling drink at Roskilde Festival 2008, while the Jungle Monster hides in a forest of glittery distractions.
And OBVIOUSLY, this series has to end the way it began, with another Group Hug meets Weird Face masterpiece, just to emphasize the grand illusion of chronological time (if that JUngLEkalender theme has escaped anybody’s attention by now). So. When is this? 2005? Recent? Now? Soon? You will never know, and the secret is CERTAINLY safe with The Time Traveller, The Jungle Hut Mama and The Jungle Monster!
Feeling a little bit warmer now? More expressive body language can be found in How to be a Junglist: The Dancefloor Moves.
For more Jungle Feelings, revisit the Group Hug Special where the Jungle Monster reveals itself for the first time. And for those who just can’t get enough of those monsters, this is where you test yourself for darkside junglism: The DIY Test: Is My Child a Junglist?
Do not forget the Lottery of Favourite Jungle Tunes from yesterday, people! Join the competition right here in Blasts from the Past: Jungle Bells 2006 if you want the chance to bounce your way into the dj Friction party at Pumpehuset for free – with a time travelling friend. Sharing your favourite tracks is SUCH a mood boost! And you need it, Scandinavians, with 7 minutes of daylight a day.
Extra bonus for the Copenhageners: If anyone is hit by massive waves of nostalgia with all these Jungle Bells at the Jungle Hut Blasts from the Past and wants to do some time travelling FOR REAL, keep an eye on things happening on facebook. Warm and cosy plans are brewing in the Jungle Hut!
Did you miss a day of JUngLE? Travel back through the entire JUngLE Calendar here.
Blasts from the Past: Jungle Bells 2006
Posted on December 20, 2014 6 Comments
Christmas is REALLY closing in on us now, and thus, once again, it’s time to boost the Christmas vibes even more with a third and final (“final?”) round of Jungle Bells. Everyone get ready for some more Blasts from the Past! Or is that, in fact, Blasts from the Future? Yup, things get complicated, but hold on to your hats, the truth is evident, and all shall be revealed right before your eyes in the pics below.
And that is not all. Once again, it’s COMPETITION TIME! Or rather, Lottery Time, as we know it! See how to join in on the fun and TRULY bounce back to your roots, once you have feasted on the pics.
And so, let the journey begin: We are travelling back to a Saturday in late December, 2006. Big revelations below, people.
As we have seen before, junglists need to eat before all that 175 BPM dancing business.
Vitus tries out the very difficult hand sign Blurry Hand. (Once mastered, you can advance to the outrageously difficult No Hands (see The Secret Junglists for documentation), but this is for very skilled people only).
Obey the bacon!
Blitzed!
That is Pyro smiling, right there.
Evil, your hair is so awesome!
The men are discussing CRS’ collection of Darkside Freddy Krueger Stripe Jumpers over a beer.
And so, the violent hugging and kissing begins.
Like this. And so on and so on and so on.
And so on and so on. But it’s time to take a look beneath the surface of things, people. Do you notice anything PECULIAR?
Yup, that’s right. Chriszka is wearing the SAME DRESS as she wore at Jungle Bells 2005!!! How odd is that. You all know how odd!
I’m not pointing any fingers here, but I would say that this is the FINAL PROOF of some serious time travelling occurring! Not that we needed more proof, but still. All this time. Right in front of everyone’s eyes. Many, many dresses in entertaining shapes and colours were used to conceal the truth, but here it is.
DRESS INTERMEZZO: Just look at this cheekiness! Appearing everywhere, anywhere. Wearing exactly the same thing! Even the necklace! Here spotted at RAW!
And WHAT IS THIS MADNESS! Popping up somewhere in Germany all of a sudden! Are there no limits?!
And at Stella Polaris! Who KNOWS which year by now!!! – and is that even relevant anymore?! I would say that what we have here is very, very clear evidence that Chriszka went to all these places and parties at the same time. Or, you know, “same time”. You know what I mean. Time portals dissolve these concepts.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE AT THE JUNGLE HUT. Now that the Secret of the Party Katamari is finally revealed, we can all relax again (for a while). “Is time travelling like that even legal?” CRS asks. “Sure is!” Chriszka answers with a grin.
Then she casts a spell and everyone forgets about it. That’s how it works.
And things proceed as normal.
You know, sort of normal. Is that a Prodigy move?
I would love to know what’s going on here. Or maybe not.
People get blitzed.
And that is Pyro smiling, right there, once again!
Let’s figure this out / practice those hand signs / whatever.
Mariiii has a slight attack of Jungle Monster in the sofa.
And swuiiish, it leaps across the room, and everyone gives in to the Jungle Monster madness.
Mariii feels relief in the sofa.
And Chriszka? Well, who knows! See ya later! 😀 (Or… “later”. Or “before”, or “again”, or whichever word we should choose in these confusing time traveller landscapes.)
Time travelling competition time! And yes, this is proper time bouncing, going both back and forth. On Saturday, in exactly a week from now, the one and only dj Friction (did some of you hear him at the magnificent RAW party at Docken in 2009?) plays in Pumpehuset in Copenhagen alongside our local heroes dj Breakfast, Bobby6Killer and Tim Driver. You can find all the relevant info here.
Are you in Copenhagen on Saturday 27th? Do you want to go?
All you have to do is this: Share your very first favourite OR your all time favourite jungle track in the comments.
Once again, it’s a lottery. The winner gets free entrance to the Friction party in Pumpehuset – including a friend/fellow time traveller. Share, share, share! I want your hands-in-the-air and heart-in-heaven tunes! Or your this-just-makes-my-head-explode tunes! Share and join the happiness! The winner will be announced right here, in proper time.
Back to your Roots
And so… I think the tune below would be an appropriate Signing Off Jingle for today’s time travelling special. It’s a Friction & TeeBee remix of a Jonny L tune, and it’s one of those tracks that I shouldn’t really like (the vocal’s too insistent) but totally like anyway (the bass is awesome and the bounce is great!). Obviously I hope to hear this on Saturday. And with that: Let me see you shakin’ your boots. Come back to the oldskool. Back to your roots!
Pssssst. And here’s some super mega bonus info for you: DJ Friction has been suspected of time travelling, too. Coincidence? You know by now there are no coincidences in this world, people. Check some of the comments from December 16th on his facebook fan page. The better you look, the more you see.
Time jumping
Are you thinking Jonny L… Jonny L…? I know that name. Where was that again… It was in the VERY FIRST JUngLE Calendar post! – yes, the one with the romance. Revisit it here and feel the warmth: The 7 Most Romantic Jungle Tunes Ever.
Do you want more big revelations? Don’t miss the list of the The Secret Junglists.
If you need more time travelling proof, check out the dancefloor action of Blasts from the Past: Jungle Bells 2005.
Are you thinking about clothes now? Dive into the How to Be a Junglist: The T-shirt Special.
Did you miss a day of JUngLEkalenderen? JUngLE yourself out with the entire journey so far: JUngLEkalenderen, the complete collection.
How to be a Junglist: Flyers, Flyers, Flyers Everywhere
Posted on December 19, 2014 3 Comments
Once again we’re going back to the time before digital cameras and social media. Back to when parties were not promoted on facebook but with flyers, handed out by hand, sought out from the flyer piles in the record shops.
I have vivid images in my head of those days, but, as I have mentioned before, pictures from that time are very rare. All the more precious and fun. So here we go.
It’s essential that we kick this off in London. When you stumbled out of the jungle clubs and warehouses in London back in the 90s, you were greeted by a massive human wall of friendly promoters handing out flyers for upcoming jungle parties, in all kinds of interesting colours to catch your blurry-eyed attention. In the background here, behind me and dear friend Dave, you see a classic Dreamscapey flyer (the Woodstock 2 edition). I am back on a visit for New Years’ Eve here, December 94. The next day we celebrate the jump into ’95 at The Harder They Come at Stonebridge Park Complex.
Obviously the flyers turned into collector’s items, and any self-respecting junglist decorated their walls with them. Wildly! Me too, of course. This beauty is for a jungle rave at Bagley’s, 1995.
…and sometimes, the nicest thing about the flyers were the colours. Hahaha. Look at this madness. (No offence, Tomlin). All the One Nation flyers looked like this. Super crazy. This is so insanely tacky, I can’t even. (And up on the wall it went). July 1994.
LOL. There was 1) always candles burning 2) always a woman a) jumping out of something b) with flowing hair. MEGA-TACKY. Was it on my wall, though? OF COURSE IT WAS!
And here we go, Copenhagen! This is November 1994, and I am on my way to the Prodigy concert in Den Grå Hal here! Who was there? 😀 As you can see, I’m slowly starting to build a new flyer wall behind me here incorporating some Danish finds (“Fuldmånefest”!) as well. RARE PIC!
Yup, brought all my beloved London jungle flyers and gave them new homes on new walls with every move. Geek-o-rama. Check out the Jungle Fever bat flyer. And the Jungle Sound Clash flyer behind my ear is a MASSIVE classic. Furthest to the right: Tomlin’s One Nation Valentine’s Ball flyer.
Lower view of same wall. Dreamscape XII. Future Myth! Tribal Dance!
And another move, even more space, new junglistic flatmates! And once again, I went all in with my flyer wall. We’re about to head off for a Jungle Fever party here, in appropriately sporty gear. It could be at Operaen, but I have a feeling that this could actually be one of the bigger ones, at Den Grå Hal, where I met Sofus The Amazing Shapeshifter (see yesterday’s post).
A closer look at the Jungle Fever bat flyer (that’s Jungle Fever, London, of course), which has survived, because it ended up as deco in my diary at some point (when I stopped making jungle flyer walls everywhere I went). The biggest part of my flyer collection, which was lovingly stowed away in a leather suitcase in the basement, died in the massive rain storm of 2011.
A zoom in on the Back to Basics flyer, London 1994. I still like this kind of thing.
At one point I stopped doing the wall thing with flyers and went for posters instead, mostly Rotundum ones. But I continued collecting flyers for quite a while. Check out the banana logo on the Jungle Fever flyer from Det Blå Pakhus here. We had a few discussions about it back then. It’s a double flyer, actually: To the right, the next day, Birth of a New Energy – host: Al Lindrum. That was a really good party, too. And Eardrum at Alexandra, haha. Busy week. Busy year. Busy years.
The junglistic lineup for Jungle Fever at Det Blå Pakhus. 🙂
A short mega-oldskool birthday bash revisit just to show how, after I upgraded to a flat with THREE rooms (sort of), started to control myself just a little bit with the flyer craziness in the living room. What a lineup in the couch. Dimensions poster in place.
But to balance things out, I went ALL IN in the kitchen!!! (which was literally falling apart anyway). Look at these young fellas, on the hunt for more birthday bash gløgg. It’s on the stove, people, but I could see how things would just disappear before your exhausted eyes in this Find Hidden Object version of a kitchen.
Okay, Danish people, this approach would never work if you’re actually competing with someone for attention! We need bright oranges on blue backgrounds! 😉 Early version of DJ 2000F as Frederick with an added C, here. Roni Size played an excellent set, my diary says. Afterwards, we went straight to Pakhus 11 for a Warp Records thing. This is Dec. 7th. 1996. Do you remember how busy THAT year was, people…
But it is VERY CLEAR from the pages of my diary that my taste in flyers gravitated towards the trance scene! <3
More flyer collecting, on a trance tip. This is from a letter to a dear junglist friend back in London. It says: “Here’s the flyer for the rave I’m going to tonight! YES… Denmark’s getting there! Remember how worried I was?!” Such amusing reads.
This, though! This is a junglistic masterpiece! Invasion of the Bass Snatchers at Vega! January 1997.
This is where it gets truly awesome. The presentation of the lineup is hilarous. Caspar as Jimmy the Gasman, hahaha! Pics by jonask, as far as I can see from the front. Well done!
Yes yes, you want a closer look. THIS IS SO GOOD. (Uh-oh. Did you notice? The skin switching theme has been reintroduced again! What REALLY lurks inside of everyone? How can anyone possibly know by now…)
This is funny, too. Pandemonium at Huset. I wrote a few lines about this in my diary: “Exquisite vibe. Like a piece of art. Lots of reuniuons with people I haven’t seen for a while. Unfortunately the party was closed at 4. We jumped on the bike and went straight to Pakhus 11 for the Totem thing. Just awesome. All those good trance people.”
Whauw, and look at this. Jungle Experience at Vega, 1997. I brought a whole bunch of friends from university to this one. Dance show by Out of Control! I remember this clearly. Steen Koerner made a HUGE impression on me that evening! – not surprisingly. (For extra flyer geek bonus: Spot the mistake).
Okay, this list could go on and on and it has to end at some point. So here’s a goodbye wave from the past. And London. And yes, those subversive logo tops were HUGE in the 90s.
If you want more flyer/poster action from this time, check out the Blasts from the Past: Birthday Bash Edition.
And for more truly rare pics from those pre-facebook and pre-digital camera days (well, this was practically pre-internet days, people )ok, so not quite, but almost)), don’t miss the Super Rare Photos: Blasts from the Past.
Did you miss a day of JungLE? No worries. The entire Jungle Calendar is right here.
From flyers to facebook
I have written quite a lot of articles and columns on the ‘promotional move’ move from flyers to facebook and its implications for the underground party scene through the years. Here’s an example, inspired by a Selector Superior night at Kødboderne 18: I byen med facebook.
(This article touches upon the subject, too, and features some JUngLEkalender characters: Slut med festbilleder på de sociale medier.)
The Secret Junglists
Posted on December 18, 2014 10 Comments
Big revelations in the JUngLE Calendar today. We are seeking out the Secret Junglists. Who are they? What do they do? Do they walk around like regular people?
Yes, they live amongst you, and they roam free.
Let’s kick things off with THIS GUY! So, the first time I see Thor aka Ronin is at the Danish semi-finals for the big Heineken dj competition in 2006. Somehow I seem to remember the semi-finals as being held at Hornsleth Bar(??). Anyways, Thor is playing, and all of a sudden, in the middle of his set, he plays a jungle track. “Whoa, that was interesting and really well executed”, I think, “I really really REALLY hope this guy wins”. Thor did win. In fact, after winning the Danish rounds, he went and won the entire thing, earnt the title of world’s best dj according to Heineken and is (amongst many other things) flown to Ibiza to play. I was invited along, writing a spread on the trip for my magazine Citadel. In this pic, Thor is playing at Cafe Mambo, at sunset. Nicka is networking in the background.
Let the revelations continue. Brynjolfur to the right (hand sign, yes yes) at the Electronic Carnival in 2010, where he played a remarkable set. This was one of the first times we met, as far as I recall. Later on that weekend, we are at Tim Driver’s flat. I’m in the living room, Bryn is next door, by the studio gear and the computer. And all of a sudden, he puts on the track below. My first favourite jungle track ever. This has never happened before, unless I was in a junglist setting. Bryn earns the Secret Junglist Badge of Honor for life for this. Many people will get to know him for other musical endavours in years to come, but there’s a junglist inside. Let it be known.
Here are some proper olskool junglists out and about, looking at the world! Looking at the very first Public Service festival, in fact (2004?), in Strandgade by Luftkastellet. Later on this day, Trentemøller was playing on this stage. Big shout out to Jens! Here are some memories I would like to get sorted at some point: Tvangslykke at Backfisch. Something with a playground on the dancefloor (washing liquid for extra fluidity) and Nufound dancing electric boogie in the sulfo – and someone’s mum playing the transverse flute.
The guy to the left likes his dancemoves fast and furious. He also used to live in London which is a very easy way to become a Secret Junglist. And I know he loves the tune below. (We are at an outdoor thing in Fælledparken here, hosted by Culture Box. The guy to the right is a not so secret junglist). Ok, now listen to this masterpiece.
THIS GUY! The one and only Martin Nick. I know all this guy REALLY wants is to lose himself in some proper tunes at a dirty oldskool jungle rave! But he is just too darn busy with his mainstream career and yadi yadi yada! Too many left hands filled with important stuff, as you can see in this photo. But the oldskool jungle dreams still burn somewhere in there, I know it. I just know it.
Tadaaaaa! Yes, you are right, this is me, a Not So Secret Junglist out and about. This is SUPER RARE, people. A scan from Camp Electric, summer 2001. The massive Pyramid Stage to the right (I only made it inthere once, in the afternoon – Sommer was playing), The Lodge to the left in the background (jungle line-up on that stage!). and somewhere behind the Lodge, the outdoor stage.
The outdoor stage at Camp Electric! And here comes a revelation, people. I’m a junglist to the bone, but if there’s an outdoor stage like this, with a good soundsystem, quality trance, great vibe and nice people, the OUTDOOR STAGE WINS. Yes, it’s the truth. Dancing outdoors in places like this is a soul-lifting experience. There is no way I am going to drag myself indoors when this is available. So here we are. Spot us! (Hint: Inge was very blond that summer). Spot yourselves! And thank you, whoever borrowed Svingsen’s camera and took this! <3
I mean, seriously. Sun is setting, slowly, there was a GIANT RAINBOW in the sky. Yup, the outdoor trance floor wins. Here we are, secretly transferring a bit of our inner Jungle Monster to Innocent Guy on the left.
Here’s another case of Secret Junglism. We are at a Jeff Mills party (that’s techno, for those of you who don’t know that kind of stuff), and we kidnap this guy, takes him to the Jungle Hut and transforms him into a junglist with our secret Junglist Powers (succesfully, as you can see in this photo). Hello, blondie, you belong to us now.
A selection of oldskool junglists, out and about, trying to blend in but failing miserably and looking like tourists. This is RAW, 2008. Big shout to Alistair!
It’s quizzz time. Guess a Secret Junglist.
A happy Junglist is out and about! Meets Trancer! Feels happy like a puppy! Wants to play! All Trancer can think about is “Is this safe”? as you can clearly read from his facial expression.
Junglist spots other Junglist through the crowd! I took this pic of Kristobal through a 5 kroner coin, just to be artistic. This is at a summer party at Dyssen, Christiania, 2008. Trentemøller is playing a sunrise set. Secret Junglists blending in perfectly!
Here’s another junglist trying to blend in. Mediebyen at the Roskilde Festival, July 2009. The tattoo is a dead giveaway, though.
Thomas the Secret Junglist blending in for years, succesfully! But the lasers know the truth. Check out the How to Be a Junglist: The Dancefloor Moves for proof. Here at the Electronic Carnival at Fælledparken, May 2010.
This guy (proper junglistic yellow outfit here) earns the Secret Junglist Badge of Honor for liking this tune below. Maximum big up, Discoshaman! And thanks a billion for the pic, Kaptajn Fantastisk. This is Fusion, of course. <3 Oh, and now, LISTEN to the tune!
A proper oldskool junglist, hiding out at a Dyssen summer party, July 2010. I’m just gonna reveal it. IT’S HELMET!
Junglists out and about, just hanging out amongst regular people, hands full! Roskilde Festival, 2008.
Well, look at this. Chillin’ at the Club Awards in Vega, 2006.
A Junglist (that would be me, dressed in neon, far back) visits a Junglist disguising as a Trancer (that would be Nis) in Amager Bio. This disguising turned into a full-blown skin switch. But I’m just sayin’: Junglist inside.
World famous dj and producer Axl Rise gets his first sound effect gear. Much maracas joy in the Jungle Hut. Studio time!
The first time I met Rune was in Blackmarket Records in London, December ’94. I was checking out the flyers in the back on the ground floor, trying to decide where to go for New Year’s Eve. He was on his way to Ireland for New Year’s, as far as I recall. When he started spinning jungle in Copenhagen, it was as Ru Arkay. Here he is at the Club Awards in Vega, 2006, dressed up as Rune RK, a house dj. Or perhaps on the phone with God.
Well LOOKIE HERE! The one and only Casparados makes an appearance at Elektronisk Karneval in Fælledparken! Casparados is also a Time Traveller – let it be revealed.
A Junglist pretending to be harmless at Culture Box but, at this very moment, going in for the kill. Derrick May survived. Thanks for this revealing pic, jonask!
THIS GUY! Sofus is not really a Secret Junglist. The first time I met him was at a fullblown jungle rave in The Grey Hall in Christiania where he lit up in the crowd with his amazing junglistic moves. But he belongs in this selection anyway because of his incredible shapeshifting abilities. One day a model travelling the world, the next a futuristic blacksmithy-kind-of-thingy-builder working deep underground, piecing together complicated 3D stuff for a better world. He has met many people who has no idea about the junglist inside, I’m sure. But check out his amazing junglistic skills here: The incredibly difficult hand sign: NO HANDS!
Just visible in this pic: Gromit! One of the most remarkable bartenders I have ever met, and, being British, with easy access to the Secret Junglist ranks. Here he survives a junglistic hug at Chriszka’s Birthday Bash at Nadsat.
This is at the Electronic Carnival in Fælledparken, 2008 (oh my, that was a good night). To the right you see Jonas, one of the very few people that I had met at a trance party back in the day (that’s many years before this) and then later on met at a jungle party. This kind of thing happened so rarely back then, it made a lasting impression on me. He also earns the rank of being a Secret Junglist by showing true knowledge of the fact that Casparados is just simply one of the best dj’s ever. Thanks for the enthusiastic talk, Jonas. Much agreement in the air.
This is where the talk about Casparados’ skills happened, the other day. Jean von Baden’s colourful and heart-warming final party (okay, “final” party) in Copenhagen. With all your new knowledge in mind, just think about it. WHO KNOWS how many Secret Junglists hide in this crowd? I’m just sayin’. You have seen the truth now, people.
And on that note – for those who wants to do some more time travelling: Here’s an old set from Caspar – Jungle FM, 1998. Thanx, Vitus.
Do you have a Secret Junglist in your home? Run your kid through the Ali Baba test right here: The DIY Test: Is Your Child a Junglist?
Do you want to go hunting for Secret Junglists? Check out how they reveal themselves in How to Be a Junglist: The Dancefloor Moves.
For some more time travelling, revisit Blasts from the Past: The Birthday Bash Edition.
Did you miss a day of JUngLE? Find every day of the entire JUngLEkalenderen here.