Ben Hamilton
November 1st, 2019

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Laid out together, they’d span New York … sorry a bit of Nyhavn (Photo: Flickr/Aimee Rivers)

Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier in the mile, Bob Hayes became the first to run 100 metres in under ten seconds, and Eliud Kipchoge recently ran a marathon in under two hours.

But none of these suckers can compete with Freja Louise Kristiansen, a 16-year-old efterskole student from Aarhus, who has not only smashed through barrier after barrier to surpass a world record, but has broken it 114 times in the last year.

She’s like Sergey Bubka, only she collects tea bag covers.

Genius in the genes
Just recently Kristiansen broke her own Guinness World Record for the largest collection of tea bag covers, increasing it from 1,023, which was documented in June 2018, to 1,237.

Kristiansen started collecting tea bags in 2010 when she got inspired by her grandmother’s hobby of making rosettes out of them – clearly creative genius for the unexpected runs in her genes.

Later, when she started to lose track of how many she had, her older brothers helped her by listing the collection on Excel spreadsheets.

Nonchalant ease
When the legendary mountaineer George Leigh Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he responded: “Because it’s there.”

And Kristiansen had a similar response when she discovered in 2017 that the record was only 743 (one of our staff members claims to have more than that in his top drawer), and that she was within 100 with her collection of 650.

“When I found out I was so close, I thought I might as well take the record,” she nonchalantly told TV2.

Tomorrow the world
Recently when she embarked to efterskole in Hou, she took the whole collection with her – presumably in a briefcase padlocked to her wrist.

“People have been helpful when they have been travelling. For example, my older siblings bought some tea bags from abroad,” she said.

Just imagine what she can achieve when she finally leaves Jutland.

Easier on the Moon
Elton John in his autobiography ‘Me’ has said that scoring cocaine on the Moon would be easier than in Randers. During the late 1980s, John was a guest at Puk Recording Studios, a countryside retreat for musicians in north Jutland. “It was in the middle of winter, icy and completely remote,” he recalled, but he filled the void by discovering the local tipple ‘Nordsøolie’ on nights out in Randers, which he describes as “life-threatening” – the spirit not the city!

Too much confetti!
NorthSide employee Sofie Randel, whose duties include making sure waste disposal is sustainable at the Aarhus music festival, criticised the organisers of the Danish Music Awards at KB Hallen for using too much confetti – as she picked up an award. Randel was receiving the award on behalf of Resource Warriors, a volunteer group that works for the festival. The big winners on the night were Lukas Graham, who won three awards, and The Minds of 99 and Kesi, who won two.

Doubt over Mads film
Doubt has been thrown on the Netflix film starring Mads Mikkelsen as a Danish journalist on a road trip with his teenage daughter in the US. It has been confirmed the film’s script will be based on the writings of Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award recipient, who in 2015 penned a travelogue for the New York Times.

Rene busy at pizzeria
Noma chef René Redzepi spent Sunday tossing pizzas at the acclaimed restaurant Bæst, which was recently named among the world’s best pizzerias. As a guest of Bæst owner Christian Puglisi to celebrate the pizza restaurant’s fifth birthday, he and four other top chefs served up 50 each – which were sold to the public on a first come, first served basis for just 50 kroner each.

More angling spots plea
Danmarks Sportsfiskerforening, the country’s angling association, would like Copenhagen to permit fishing in more areas along its waterfronts – particularly during winter. Presently the areas where fishing is allowed stretch for 37 km – following a huge rise from 7 km introduced by the municipality in 2015.

Happy days in Verbier
The Crown Prince Couple’s decision to send all of their children to an international school in Verbier, Switzerland has generated hundreds of hateful comments on the website of the Daily Mail – mostly from readers outraged that the children would be separated from their parents for so long. Few readers commented on Verbier being Mary’s favourite skiing resort, however.

Whisky glory
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, the spirit’s equivalent of the Michelin Guide, has named ‘Thy Whisky No 9 Bøg Single Malt’ as the best ‘Whisky in Europe’. Thy Whisky, which was only founded in 2010, said the honour went beyond “our wildest dreams”. The category does not include whiskies from Scotland and Ireland.

All coming soon
Irish band The Script are performing at TAP1 on March 17. Among the other acts to announce dates next year are NZ-Australian star Keith Urban (Falkoner Salen; May 29), British singer-songwriter Sam Fender (Amager Bio; March 10), 1980s British band Level 42 (DR Koncerthuset; Nov 19-21) and British singer-songwriter Freya Ridings (Vega; Feb 10).

Challenge to architects
The Utzon Center in Aalborg is again challenging architects to make a 3D model of one of Jørn Utzon’s unfinished projects – this time an underground theatre in Lebanon. The Danish architect famously designed the Sydney Opera House, but never saw the finished structure.