Videos from my trip to New York (in swedish)

The places:

The people:

Home

I'm back in Sweden. 

To the 11 people I stayed with during my time in America;

thank you <3 

Dawn of The Final Day

#TCGS @ #DCM15

The Chris Gethard Live Show at the Del Close Marathon was great. Totally worth the measly $20. There were actually 20 shows in one, in this huge place at F.I.T. There were tents and dividers all over the place. Everyone was there; the Hintmaster, Alyssa, Bobby Moynihan (who said hi to me after the show... I immediately got starstruck), Vacation Jason, Writer from the New Yorker who got fired for being too pretentious, Lil' Woody Allen, 40 y/o Goosey (doing a presentation on paper clips), the LLC (doing karaoke), Cockstain Tearduct, and, of course, Chris Gethard himself (who did a great improv performance at the end with fellow performer Shannon O'Neil). My assignment was to help out Mimi on the Hoops with anything she needed. She had a corner where people could try hoop dancing. I did a bit of hooping too ^_^ I might actually buy a hoop when I get back to Sweden. Also, I was on bubble duty during the show (and almost fainted from blowing too many bubbles ^_^). It was a crazy-ass show that went GREAT! The audience seemed to have a great time too. The perfect end to a perfect vacation. Yes, Jason, I said VACATION!

That was yesterday.

Ignore the -24 Hours Remain- part
This is it though. I'm at Mimi's, drinking tea, getting ready to go to the airport. It's 9:00 (New York time), which means the time is 15:00 back in Sweden. Oh I'm gonna be soo jetlagged tomorrow!  It's waaay too early, but I'm too excited to sleep. I always get like this when I'm travelling.

So this has been an amazing trip. Everyone I've stayed with have been so nice to me. Thank you, I will never ever forget this!

I don't know if I'm gonna write anything else in this blog, but if I do, it's gonna be from Sweden.
So this is Stellan from New York, signing out.

Buhbye! <3

TCGS @ DCM

So this is the final day. I leave for Sweden tomorrow.
I had a delicious lunch with Keith H (Bananaman) at a place called Souen and a waitress there spilled an entire glass of water on me, so the meal was free. Yay! Totally worth it :-)
I was in the NintenoWorld store for quite a while, gathering StreetPass hits. Nerd! Then I went to the NBC experience store and bought a big-ass F*R*I*E*N*D*S mug ^_^

I stayed with Clif H, which was a weird trip because he lives further down south in Brooklyn, and I had been staying with Emma, who lives near the Graham station. And now I'm staying with Heidi, who also lives near the Graham station. I could've planned this better, I feel ^_^ oh well.

The pins show where I have been staying.
Red pin = Manhattan. Blue pin = Brooklyn.

This map shows you how many days I stayed at each place, and in what order.

I feel kinda bad that I didn't get to hang out with Clif more. I was very much just there to sleep and have a shower.

So tonight, the Chris Gethard Show is doing a 20-show live thingie at the Del Close Marathon. I'm gonna be there to help out. It's gonna be bonkers. I'm thinking of running out before the show to buy a WiiMote at NintendoWorld, just because they're much much cheaper here than in Sweden. I'm staying at Mimi's the final night. That way, I can just get on the E train and go straight to the airport tomorrow.

Sounds like a plan, right?

This is Stellan, signing out.
<3

the Chris Gethard Show

Ok, so I was on the Chris Gethard Show
TWICE
during my trip to New York.

Here are those episodes. Enjoy!




Also, I was on the podcast "Hit the Mark"
with Mark Levy,

...aaand today I was on "Hallies Ukulele Army"
with Hallie Bulleit.

I'm having so much fun! :-D

Fat face

2 weeks

Doma is unconstitutional, Paula Deen is a racist, Zero Fucks Boyd wins the character contest, Snowden is gone, Hallie and Chris got engaged, midsummer eve is celebrated in Sweden and the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This is what has happened since I came to America. I've been here for 2 whole weeks now. Well, not really. In about an hour, it'll be 2 weeks since I came through the clouds, listening to a combination of the soothing "sounds of the rainforest" on my iPod and the not-quite-as-soothing sounds of "guy throwing up in the seat behind mine".

I've seen so much. As you know. But also, I've met so many amazing people. As I told Emma on the subway home from the Chris Gethard Show afterparty yesterday (this morning);
words cannot describe my gratitude. But I am forever grateful. Thank you!

Speaking of the Chris Gethard Show; yesterday was a fun one. I got to meet Random Maxine (actually we met on the street a cpl of hours prior to the show; Emma was taking me to her improv show and we decided to stop by this place for some bubble tea (daaamn you Jamie Casbon!!!) and Maxine just popped up, like a happy bubble ^_^ she's awesome! I told her that I think of her as the lovechild of Yeardley Smith and Kristen Schaal... she seemed delighted) and I also got to meed Riley Soloner (Vacation Jason) which was fun. During the show, people called in and told us true or false facts about themselves, and we (I was, once again, on the panel) had to guess whether or not the fact was a lie. If we got it wrong, there was punishment involved, but luckily I got mine right, and passed the whifflebat beating on to Shannon ^_^ sorry! Check out the episode; it's a fun one.
After the show, Chris signed my copy of his book (A Bad Idea I'm About To Do) and Hallie signed my kazoo (but the text didn't stick... oh well). We hung out at this bar after the show, and got home to Emma's really late (like 4am). I should be really sleepy right now... probably am, but I just can't feel it.
I woke up like 9am. Strange. Oh well.
Today, I'm gonna have lunch with Keith H (bananaman) and then head on over to the Nintendoworld store to stand in line for the playable demo of Super Mario 3D World. Yay! :-) Hopefully I'll get some streetpass hits while there. Oh how I wish my Animal Crossing New Leaf cassette wasn't in Sweden right now... something to look forward to though.

I'm staying w. Clif H tonight, and then Heidi V tomorrow and the final night I'm staying with Mimi.
I'm going to TCGS at DCM on saturday, but that is it for me. I can't take any more amazing things now. My brain is going to explode ^_^ Also, I have, in fact, seen all the stuff I set out to see during my time in NYC/Brooklyn. ... I told you that already? Well fuck you then! ;-P

Ok, imma have another cup of Irish Breakfast Tea now. Maybe watch Conan.
Byyeee lovelies!!!

Come take a ride...

Good morning! It's 8:50am. I'm at Emma's in Brooklyn.
So yesterday was an awesome day. Not quite as insanely hot and humid as the day before. I got to hang out with 2 of Patrick's friends. We went out for food at Dos Toros (I had a simple salad). It was good :-)
I'm staying with Emma for 2 days. She is so cool, as is her roommate Anna. They're totally my type. As I first walked into their apartment and saw a Beetlejuice dvd and 3 WiiMotes laying on a table, I immediately felt right at home ^_^ they even have My Neighbor Totoro stationary (and, of course, the dvd). Yes. These are my kind of people, for sure!

They had 2 friends over last night. We had such a good time, I feel. I hope the feeling is mutual. We took a stroll down memory lane, talking about the cartoons we watched growing up (and international translations). I made them laugh by singing along to the swedish version of the Chip & Dale - Rescue Rangers themesong. Chip and Dale are called Piff and Puff in Sweden. True story. All the really old Disney characters have different names in Sweden. And they're all really dumb. Except for Dumbo. He's just Dumbo. We used to call Batman "the Leather Patch" (Läderlappen), and we just add "springtime for" to a word when naming Mel Brooks movies (Spaceballs is "springtime for space", Blazing Saddles is "springtime for the sheriff"... weird huh?).

Today is wednesday. It's once again time to take a ride with the weirdest guy I know. Yup. It's wednesday night, and out I didn't go (sing along). Before the Chris Gethard Show, we're going to a nearby park, and then I will see a show prior to TCGS. Emma was kind enough to get me in for free :-)
I'm loving this last week. It's definately MUCH more mellow than last week. I've done everything I set out to do (as of yesterday, when I got photographed outside of Tom's restaurant). So now, it's time to just hang out and chill with all these cool weirdos.

So yeah. How are you guys?

Seinbusters... or Ghostfeld?

I'll let the photos do the talking:


Tom's Restaurant; the exterior for Monk's (Seinfeld)


One of the locations in the movie Ghostbusters


One of the locations in the movie Ghostbusters


Ghostbusters HQ, at the LEGO store


The fire station from Ghostbusters
the actual one!!!


That's me, in front of the fire station!


Patrick was the one who, despite the INSANE heat,
showed me all this stuff: THANK YOU!!!


Little Italy


WTC



30 Rock


NBC


Truth

I now have seen everything I had planned on seeing while in NYC.
Phew!

One week left...

Ok, so in exactly one week I will be sitting on an airplane on my way back to Sweden.
This is the final week. It's gonna be a wacky one, I bet.

Today is CRAZY hot and humid.
I went to the movies at the Cobble Hill Cinemas to see "this is the end".
I walked there, since today is my "subway free day" (that way, my new week on the metro card will last from tomorrow and right up until I go back to sweden; yay planning).
It's a perfect lazy sunday movie. Stupid dick-jokes and insane special effects. Just as espected.
After the movie, I got some bubble tea. It's the 3rd day in a row. I think I might be addicted (thanks Jamie ^_^) I will need to buy tapioka pearls in sweden and start making my own.

It started raining, so the walk home would have suuuucked if it hadn't been for the umbrella that Jersey Dave borrowed me ^_^

So now I am here, back at Jamie's. I feel like doing nothing. Nothing at all. It's one of those days.
I've basically been walking non stop since arriving in the states (with only a few hours of nothingness here and there). I'm usually not an outgoing person, so this is all very out of my comfort zone. In a good way. But right now, I really just need to chill the fuck out, y'know?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this final week in the states. Here's what's on the agenda:
TCGS on wednesday. TCGS at DCM on saturday. Aaaand that's pretty much it. Everything else is left up to my hosts.

Ok, so that's it for now I think.
Hugs!

Roosevelt island, NYPL, TCGS live, Grandmas Ashes

Just woke up. No sleep til Brooklyn. Lol

On my phone, so this'll be short

Jamie took me to Roosevelt Island. We walked all around the entire island so I got to see a lot of different areas. He would make a great tour guide; that guy knows something about EVERYTHING!!!

After that, we visited NYPL (I'm a huge Ghostbusters fan) 

And then we went back to his place, dropped off some things and went straight to a live TCGS. They played audience basketball w beach balls. 

Got to meet Connor Ratliff and Shannon O'Neil, so now only Random Maxine and Alyssa remains and then I will have met everyone (I think). 

I had a blast at the live show. So much fun!!! 

We went to Hanco's for some bubble tea 

Then we went to Jamies and watched Brian Posein's latest special on Netflix (US Netflix kicks sweden's Netflix' ass). After that we went to UCB to see Grandma's Ashes perform. Dru Johnston (the Hintmaster / sometimes shirtless Barista) got us in for free. Here's Dru: 

Dru is the one to the right in the picture. 

I really enjoyed Grandmas Ashes a LOT. Still not 100% into improv, but it's a very impressive artform! And it's very funny. 

Also, the secret I put into the bowl got picked (if you don't know; don't ask). 

Today: this is the end, more bubble tea and then some rest. 

Kisses & hugs

Ok, so where was I... right!

Wednesday, on the 19th of june:

When I arrived at TCGS (the Chris Gethard Show), they told me I was gonna be a panelist on the show. That was super-exciting, but also super-scary. In a good way. I actually watched it (with Jamie C and his roommates) for the first time only like an hour ago, and I didn't look nearly as nervous as I felt. Check it out here!. Anyway, show went great. Lots of great fan-submitted characters. I especially liked weenie-feet Bobbins. Got to meet a lot of Gethtards, which was awesome since I've only talked to these people online. If you were there and I didn't say hello, just come by on wednesday and grab me. Take pics, as long as you post them online ;-)

After the show, the cast, crew and fans usually hang out at this bar nearby the studio. I tagged along with Rob S, who I would later be staying with. I had a great time at the bar. Was watching my bags pretty closely though ;-) 

 Ok, so here's where it gets a bit weird. Rob S told me that his roommate was kind of fucked up. I don't remember his exact words but he described him as being, well... a psycho. They didn't live together when Rob first agreed to let me stay with him, and he felt bad about it. So after a while (we stayed kinda late) we took the subway back to Rob's place. We got in at around, I guess 2 or 3 in the morning. No one was home, and I felt a lot better. Rob inflated my bed and we said goodnight. After like an hour, I woke up hearing noises. It was his roommate. He came home and immediately started blasting gangsta rap right into the apartment (where I was sleeping; in the commonroom, between Rob's room and his), pacing angrily saying stuff like "wake your ass up punk ass" (muttering)... I was terrified. I had the cover pulled all the way up over my head, too afraid to move or make a sound. Please don't confront me. Please don't confront me... please. The guy went into his room and I heard a LOT of weird noises. Of course, my mind started wandering. It was late and I was in a very weird situation. The guy returned a cpl of times. Each time, I thought "this is it, he's gonna start shouting at me or something"... luckily, he didn't. But I did not sleep. At all.

Thursday, June 20th: 

Finally, the roommate went to sleep. I just laid there, listening for any sound. Keep in mind that this is New York, so there are a LOT of sounds. I was gonna go to a Daily Show taping the next day and had told Rob that I was gonna wake up at around 11. But I just wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible, so I got dressed and just laid there, waiting for Rob's alarm to go off. At 10.30, I put my bags in Rob's room (I didn't feel safe leaving my personal belongings there in the middle of the apartment, with a potential crazy person in the next room) and just took the first subway into town (I was staying in Brooklyn, so it takes a while to get to the Daily Show Studio). The deal was that I was gonna send a text to Keith B as soon as the show was done, and we were going to pick my bags up at Rob's (they live 2 subway stops apart). I arrived at the Daily Show Studio at around noon.

The tickets were gonna be handed out at around 2.30pm, and my online reservation only qualified me to stay in line - it doesn't guarantee you a ticket. There were already a bunch of people ahead of me in line - that shows how popular the show is. I was EXHAUSTED, so I actually fell asleep right there on the sidewalk. Fairly understandable. After I got the ticket (yellow #16, pretty sweet) I had some time to kill (I was told to return at 4.30pm), so I grabbed a 6in veggie patty at Subway and ate it slooooowly (to avoid gastric dumping syndrome) and then I sat in a nearby park and enjoyed the beautiul weather for a bit. As much as I could, considering being tired as fuck. They finally let us into the building, and there was a fair amount of waiting before the actual show. The warm-up comedian talked to me and asked me what I do for a living etc. He wasn't my type of comedian though, but the crowd seemed to like him. Funny thing happened when I turned around to take my own picture with the studio in the background, and a guy thought I was taking a picture of his gf. Haha.

The show itself was great. Sooooo fucking cool to see how it's done. Also cool to see John Oliver in action. He is brilliant. Tom Brokaw was the guest that night. So fucking awesome!!! Everything went by in a flash. Such a smooth machinery.

I had a blast, but one thing fucked me up. Completely: the iPhone that has my US SIM card died on me. Not my Swedish phone (that's locked). The one Mimi borrowed me. It said that there was like 40% battery left, and then... black.

I tried turning it on, but it just showed the apple logo:

I thought "well that can't be good". After the show ended (around 6.30), I contacted Keith using my Swedish phone (expensive, but it was either that or... I don't know) and it turns out that Rob had taken my bags to Keith's place for me, because he felt bad about what happened. That made EVERYTHING sooo much easier! So I went straight to Keith's place. Keith works at MNN, where TCGS is made. He and his wife Suki were super cool! Such awesome people.

I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get a chance to hang out with them more. I told Keith my story. He went out and got food for me. I had a shower and went straight to bed. I slept. Oh boy, did I sleep. That was EASILY the best sleep I have ever had. In my entire life. I woke up feeling like a completely new person. Ok, so it's getting a little late. The time is 12.50 and I should probably sleep, but here's a quick summary of what I did today: 

Friday, June 21st, 2013: 

I had a cup of tea at Keith's place and then went straight to Jamie C's place (at around noon). He came to meet me and we just dropped my bags off at his place and went straight for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I had a great time there and Jamie is such an awesome guy.

Just what I needed. Such a beautiful place!!! I saw some pretty fuckin' old bonzai trees there, which was pretty cool.

Then we went to the Brooklyn Museum,

which was amazing as well. It was like all the museums I had previously visited in NYC, combined into one.  

There was this one excibit where the artist had made HUGE quilt-like pieces out of the metal rings from soda and/or beer bottles.

 

After the museum visit (we only had time for the 2 top floors), we went out for some bubble tea (a first for me) and some grocery shopping. I love the US supermarkets: they have all the brands you hear about in tv shows and movies (duh). We were running a bit behind schedule. Next stop: an open-mic comedy club (in the basement of a bar), where Jamie performed.

He did a great job, as did the other comedians. We hung around for a bit and then went back to Jamies apt (he also lives with 2 roommates (both non-psycho: phew!) and 2 cats (also: non-psycho)). We watched TCGS and an episode of Archer. And now; here we are. I should get to sleep now. It's 1am. But that's not THAT late, is it? I mean, it is friday. Oh well. Talk to you soon. And "glad midsommar" to all my swedish friends (it's... oh just google it).

 Byyeee!!!

TCGS + TDS

Today is friday. It's the 21st of June. The time is 10.30am. I'm at Keith B's house. Stil in bed. Well rested. Here's a partial recap of what I've been up to since I last wrote in this blog: Wednesday and thursday was CRAZY. You'll see. I paid someone to wash my clothes at a place close to where Mimi lives. Never done that before. It was 10 bucks but it was worth it. Mimi let me come with her to Hudson River Park for some hooping in the sunset before the Chris Gethard Show. That was so much fun :-) I left some stuff at Mimi's that I won't be needing until the way back to Sweden (I will be Staying with Mimi on the final night in NYC) and we took a cab to the MNN studio. The first people I saw were Omar and Random Dan. They were as nice in person as they are online :-) The studio felt bigger than I had expected. Turns out I was gonna be on the panel. Wow! Scary. The theme for the show was "Crowd-Sourced Character Contest 2". Ok, I have to get ready for my next stop on this crazy journey. I'll tell you more later. It involves a british person with sausages for feet, a crazy roommate and Tom Brokaw. Yes. Indeed. Bye.

Hoops, TCGS & Tom Brokaw

Short smartphone recap: 

So yesterday Mimi tought me hooping in Hudson River Park. Hooping at sunset = pure bliss <3

Then I was a panelist on the Chris Gethard Show. 

Here are some pics from that, and the afterparty: 

And today I'm gonna see John Oliver interview Tom Brokaw. How crazy is that!? 

Ok, so here's what happened yesterday...

Julia showed me around Bleecker street. I got to see this place called "Sockerbit"

(a swedish candy store) but it was closed when we got there. We went into this awesome tea shop (can't remember what it was called right now) that had like a million different teas. I bought cherry coke flavoued tea and Julia bought an awesome tea infuser / thermos (that later out turned out to be for me... AWWW!!! <3 )
When we got back to her place, Julia showed me the film "Clue" (based on the board game). I friggin' LOVED it. It was just up my alley!

I stayed over at Julia's (her apartment is really nice) and decided to go to the Met while she was at work.
That museum is HUGE!!!
I started off with the punk excibit. That consisted mostly of punk clothing from the 60s, which is cool but not quite up my alley. Also, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in there. Then I looked up this enormous temple in the egyptian excibit that Julia told me about.

I was amazed! After that I just walked aimlessly through the different sections. Ran into some Picassos and Matisses. You know; the basics ^_^

I mean, that museum alone could last me for the entire trip; I could just go back there every day and find something new.

After the museum I went back to Bleecker street and went into the swedish store and talked to the norweigian guy working there. They had cloudberry jam, which surprised me. It's expensive and can be hard to come by. But it was 13 dollars, which makes sense.

It started raining, so while I was waiting for Julia to finish work, I bought an iced tea at this coffee shop that had free WiFi. I uploaded a few pics to my instagram account and then just wandered the streets, looking at stuff.

I then went to Mimi's (she's sometimes referred to as Mimi on the hoops on the Chris Gethard Show). She is so nice and her apartment feels very organic; it has a great "flow"). I was sort of tuckered out from all the museum hopping, but still decided to come with her to Harold night at UCB (where I saw Asssscat the other day). That was a lot of fun. I mean, I can admit to liking improv without being a diehard fan, y'know? :-)

So now, it's 8.30 in the morning. Mimi is still asleep. Her cat is keeping me company while I am writing this.
Later on, I'm going to the Chris Gethard Show. That's gonna be so much fun. I mean I wouldn't be here in New York if it weren't for that show.

My next host is Rob Spenser.
All right. I'm signing off.
Buhbye!