Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Books I've read in 2011 - November

Diana, volume one by Alexandre Dumas
The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony
Politi og røver by Kjetil S Østli - AUDIO
Not Buying It by Judith Levine
Den vidunderlige kjærlighetens historie
by Carl-Johan Vallgren - AUDIO
Sitt ned og hold kjeft by Knut Nærum
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Solar by Ian McEwan - AUDIO
Dypet by Tom Kristensen - AUDIO
Mysteries and Legends - Virginia by Emilee Hines
En verdensomseiling under havet by Jules Verne - AUDIO
Ulysses by James Joyce - AUDIO
The Vintage Mencken by HL Mencken, Alistair Cooke
Tordengudens sønn by Arto Paasilinna - AUDIO
The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein
Kurt blir grusom by Erlend Loe - AUDIO

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Quote of the Week

All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.
HL Mencken

Monday, November 28, 2011

It's happening again

I think Keanu's becoming a meme again. Well, at least this time he's philosophical instead of sad. Kind of stupidly philosophical, but still, it's an improvement.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Not too smart

Staying up really really late watching American Horror Story and then, standing in your darkened hall about to go to bed, totally forgetting that the light sensor in the hallway can detect motion inside the apartments too, if it's just inside a door and the door has a peephole. So no, the fact that the lights just went on in the hallway - very noticeable via that very same peephole - doesn't mean that someone standing outside your door just moved. You did that yourself.

Better check all the same, just to be on the safe side.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

IT IS DONE

Yes, finally, my torment is over. I can't tell you how happy I am. In the future, I may be happy about the actual achievement as well, but right now, I'm really only so thrilled that the ordeal is behind me.

I have read, all the way through, James Joyce's Ulysses. I really have. Remember I posted about how I was reading it, or trying to, and just slowly struggling my way through it ... ? That was only three weeks ago. Well, 20 days. And now I'm actually done. It was a long hard slog at first ... I seemed to be making hardly any progress and I felt like I would never hear the end of this thing. But about a week and a half ago I got my metaphorical second wind and got really serious with it. Some days I've been listening to upwards of ninety minutes of this boring trash. It's been horrendous, but now I finally have my reward. I finished it this morning.

NEVER AGAIN ... !!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Kleine kids

Den siste tida har jeg innsett at jeg ikke er inne i slangen de unge bruker nå til dags. Det er jeg forsåvidt glad for. Jeg hadde egentlig trodd at jeg ikke helt hadde mistet kontakten med ungdommens språk, men jo, det har jeg nok, og det er slett ikke det verste som kan skje. Når jeg tok Aftenpostens språktest her om dagen fikk jeg opplyst at jeg har en språklig alder på ... hva var det nå, 74 år? Bare fordi jeg ikke er så tett i nøtta at jeg tror at det heter et hamster. >:-(

Men i alle fall. Jeg har skjønt at jeg ikke vet hvordan ungdommen snakker, og denne innsikten har jeg oppnådd gjennom massemedia. Til og med Dagbladet har altså fortsatt sin misjon. Som alle gamle avfeldige knarker som ikke forstår verden rundt seg lenger irriterer også jeg meg over hvordan disse unge jyplingene maltrakterer språket vårt. Det er spesielt to ord som irriterer meg i ekstrem grad og som jeg nå bare må beklage meg over.

Det ene er adjektivet kleint, som tydeligvis er det helt store dilleordet for tiden, av en eller annen ubegripelig grunn. Det må være svært mye brukt - alle unge kvasikjendiser, fra Trekanttullinger til jockeyer som har sett døden i hvitøyet, og en lang rekke helt ukjente brødhuer, blir sitert på dette ordet. Da kan jeg knapt forestille meg hvor ofte de bruker det i dagligtalen, hvis de er villige til å la seg forevige i landets største aviser med så idiotiske utsagn. Hvor kommer dette fra? Dansk? Tysk? Det virker ikke særlig kebabnorsk. Men det er i hvert fall utrolig irriterende.

Dog ikke på langt nær så irriterende som det faktum at nordmenn nå tydeligvis har begynt å bruke ordet kids når de mener barn eller unger. Dette begynte vel som noe hipsterironisk, at de som var hakket eldre skulle virke underholdende nedlatende mot generasjonene under seg ved å kalle dem for kidsa. Men nå har det altså gått over i mainstream, dessverre, og det ser ut til å brukes som om det var et virkelig ord, et normalt ord. Og ikke bare av ungdommen heller - folk som hevder seg å være småbarnsforeldre bruker det. Jeg er far til to kids, for eksempel. Hæ? Er du en geitebukk, eller hva er det du innbiller deg at du sier?

På tross av at det norske språket er langt fra fattig sliter jeg med å uttrykke hvor enormt irriterende jeg synes dette ordet og bruken av det er. Språket vårt er ikke fattig, men om det noen gang blir det, så kommer det til å være på grunn av disse personene som bruker slike ord. Er du en av dem? Du skulle faen meg hatt deg en på trynet.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

News flash

Til de som trenger å høre det, og dem er det visst noen av:

Ytringsfrihet kan ikke misbrukes. Det er derfor det er ytringsfrihet.

Veldig god kommentar her. Langt fra alltid jeg er enig med Gunnar Stavrum, men denne gangen er han god. Men hartkorn staves altså ikke med d.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Interesting interview

Not available yet, but will be soon. Only in Norwegian, though. :-) We recorded another episode of Saltklypa tonight and devoted the entire episode to Andreas Heldal-Lund, of Operation Clambake fame. It's going to be a pretty long one, because, and I quote, we 'let him talk way too much'. :-D His words, not ours. Time goes so fast ... and everything he said was so interesting. :-)

Keep an eye out for the episode - it'll be released in a few days' time - and in the meantime, check out Andreas' website, here, for everything you ever wanted to know about the 'Church' of $cientology.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011

A hell of a show

So, we saw the show yesterday, and we both laughed our heads off ... along with the rest of a very happy audience. It rocked. If you twist my arm, I guess I would have to admit that it isn't quite as good as the previous production. It's really very very good, but it's maybe not quite up there with the 1996 'version'. We both agreed on this. It looks extremely similar - they may even be using the same sets and props - and the director is, strangely, the very same, so I have no choice but to put it down mostly to the actors.

I say mostly because we also both agreed that we have become older and more blasé since 1996. ;-)

Don't get me wrong, they did a great job, both of them. But Hatlo and Joner were amazing. They're always amazing together, whatever they're doing. They just absolutely blew this show out of the water and I think that anyone who saw them in it back then will probably be just the teensiest bit ... not let down, but ... well ... slightly less impressed this time around.

But all the same it's a hysterical and fantastic production and we totally loved it. I'm thinking I want to see it again. :-) You should go too!! :-) You'll laugh till your face hurts, or you should see a doctor. :-)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Fadervår forbedret

En svært forbedret utgave av Fadervår. Denne liker jeg. Kan nesten overveie å begynne med aftenbønn nå. ;-)

Fader vår, la din bok holdes lukket, prakk den ikke på oss for vi er opplyste og gjennomskuer dens falskhet. La dens vold være historie og plag oss ikke mere for vi er et sekulært samfunn.

Fra en kommentar i diskusjonen under denne artikkelen i Aftenposten.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Want to get a good laugh?

Then you really can't beat live theater at its best. Sure, movies can be tremendously funny too, but IMO there's really nothing to beat live theater when it's done just right. And right now here in Oslo you have the chance to see something that is exactly right. :-)

Anyone remember Mysteriet Myrna Vep? It was produced for the first, or was it second, time in Norway right here in town in 1996, starring the fantastically comical pair of Anders Hatlo and Johannes Joner, and it was absolutely beyond brilliant. I went to see it three times and I laughed till it hurt every time. Now it's on again - opened a month ago - this time starring Simon Andersen and Stig Werner-Moe. The former I'm sure will be fantastic; the latter I have never seen in anything, but the reviews indicate that the casting is right on the money this time too.

The Mystery of Irma Vep is a brilliant play for two actors. They must be either both male or both female; this is stipulated in the performance rights. There are seven characters; crossdressing is inevitable and costume changes extremely frequent and very impressive. Each actor needs his or her own highly skilled dresser, who are almost as important to the play's success as the actors. The play, which was written by the American playwright Charles Ludlam in the early 80s, is on the face of it a gothic horror mystery, but it's really a totally wacky comedy. If you can see this play without laughing, you must be dead.

The current production will run at Centralteatret through December 17th. I'm going to see it tomorrow night. I am SO excited that I can hardly wait. We've had our tickets since August and now we are practically swooning with excitement. One more day ... !! :-o

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Quote of the Week

A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know.
H.L. Mencken

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ninjas and pirates and zombies, oh my!

And princesses and aliens! But not just any old ninjas and pirates and zombies and princesses and aliens!! No! MEEPLE ninjas and pirates and zombies and princesses and aliens!!! :-D

Look they are so many!!1 Everywhar!!1!

Five different kinds, and all of them SO COOL ... !1! They are all megameeple, normal sized meeple don't come in this much detail, it would be too tricky. So sayeth the wonderful folks over at MeepleSource. But who cares!! We'll squeeze those giant meeple on there! Pirates on the roads, zombies in the fields!! Aliens in every town!! Are you with me?? :-D

Watch your back, the aliens have got their eyes on you ... o_O Aliens in Carcassonne. It's what's always been missing in my life.

Consider yourselves warned (you know who you are) - next board game night, we are soo playing Carcassonne. ;-)

Monday, November 14, 2011

He totally would have!

Ahahahahaha!! Fantastic! :-D

If you haven't seen this movie, you really need to get hold of it. Al Pacino as Satan, come on! :-D

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Little house in the big woods

Well, I'm not sure it's exactly the big woods. You don't have to go very far to hit a main road. Then again, it is Värmland. :-) There's nothing much except the road. ;-)

My mother bought a house in Sweden this summer, much to the distress of my father at the time, but now he's fixing it up like a champ. Even doing lots of stuff that nobody's asking him to do ... and loving it like I knew he would. ;-) It's already very charming but I think it's got a lot of improvements ahead of it still. I totally love the place, I can't tell you why exactly but I just love being there. I jump at every chance to go. Like this weekend ... my mother's in Copenhagen, but my father was going to Sweden, so I asked to go with him. Of course he was thrilled at the idea.

Now, I totally accept that he was primarily happy to have company. And especially that of his only child. However, it was certainly very convenient that he also wouldn't have to cook dinner for himself, since naturally I would be doing that. I'm a woman, so ... Right? I put this to him and he denied the charges, of course not, anyone who feels like it can do the cooking, he wasn't thinking about that at all. I pretended to believe him. This was on Friday.

Then yesterday - by which time he had clearly forgotten the details of our conversation - he came in from doing some work on the property, I was sitting in my room reading, in my new* chair. I heard him opening the front door, this was about 1pm ... and I heard him call out, Leisha? Are you going to make me some lunch?

Sure, anyone can cook who feels like it! :-D

Here's our little house, isn't it pretty. And soo Swedish-looking. ;-)

*I say new, what I mean is that I kind of rescued it from the dump. But it's new to me ... and totally comfortable. Free stuff, yay!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Pointless but harmless

I didn't actually post this on Friday. I left for Sweden early Friday morning and didn't have time to post anything. But I'm still going back to update the blog with this post, because I want to have something posted on this very unusual date - 11/11/11. I know, it's totally meaningless ... but it's kind of fun anyway. And at least this is harmless. Some people take it a few steps further, and it can definitely get beyond harmless. Sheesh, humans.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Quote of the Week

I'd like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realised that humans are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague.
Agent Smith, The Matrix

Even though I'm such a massive Keanufan, I never really got all that into The Matrix. Probably because I rooted for the other guy. I think Agent Smith is totally right. We suck. The world would be infinitely better off without us. >:-(

Post inspired, if that's the word I want, by this tragic and infuriating news.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Norgesrekord!

Norgeshistoriens beste oppmøte på BookCrossing-treff, så vidt jeg kjenner til: 15 personer. Noen bedre? :-)

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

J&M tell it like it is

I love Jesus and Mo. I mean, who doesn't? Sometimes - or in fact, often - the Author just says things so well and puts his finger on something so exactly. And in only four panels, too. Major kudos.

Read more here.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Less interesting book

Another book I'm reading, or trying to read, is far from recommendable. Ulysses by James Joyce. I'm reading it because it's on the 1001 list. (I know, I know.) I got it on audio and it lasts FOREVER. Seriously, it just goes on and on and on and on. Each track is about half an hour long and there are 64 of them. o_O I could only do this on audio. I don't mean to offend any Irishmen reading this, but, sheesh. I hope they don't make you read the whole thing in school. I know it's supposed to be an amazing classic, but it's mostly just boring me to tears. I'm now at track 25 and I can hardly find anything at all to keep my interest. And there are forty more tracks!! :-o At least there's a mention here and there of a Dublin street that I remember walking along, otherwise I might almost be tempted to throw in the towel.

I know, I know ...

Saturday, November 5, 2011

V. interesting book

Just started reading it. Very thought-provoking. Deals with some issues that I think about a lot. So far highly recommendable.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Quote of the Week

If we are to go on living together on this earth, we must all be responsible for it.
Kofi Annan

Thursday, November 3, 2011

This is SO TRUE

This is the truest Rage Comic I've ever seen. I feel this.

Ooh, and on a totally unrelated subject: happy birthday to James!!! :-D

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

A pretty crazy story

Finally getting around to telling that crazy story I promised. :-)

Anne Ida and Tanumine and I went to my mother's house in Sweden this past weekend, to celebrate Anne Ida's birthday, and we might have had a more eventful time than we expected. Fortunately that didn't pan out, everything was fine and we made it back home alive and unharmed. ;-) Here's the crazy back story.

The weekend before our trip, my parents were at the house and spent some days there. When they got there Thursday night, they suddenly got an unexpected visit from a hitherto unknown neighbor. There are a couple of neighbors that they've introduced themselves to, they seem nice and normal, but this guy, well ... did not. They didn't even know about him, but apparently he lives pretty close, we just can't see his house through the forest. So, it was dark by then, and he arrived while they were carrying their groceries in from the car, but they felt they had to invite him in for coffee.

While they were having coffee he told them about himself. Oh, and he had a dog with him too, a 'creepy' dog according to my mother. It was an amstaff, so she may have just thought it looked creepy - they aren't exactly eye candy - because they can be really sweet and wonderful dogs. But she says no, it really was creepy too. I can't say, obviously. But she didn't like his dog. He told them that he had worked for years in a psychiatric institution, and told them various stories from them days ... this was kind of fun actually, my mother said that although he said he'd worked there, she and my father had kind of been thinking, well ... And I said, you were thinking that he was actually a patient instead. OMG YES! :-D

Anyway, he stayed for what they felt was a little too long, but they finally got rid of him. The next day was a Friday, and they were having some electricians come over to fix the pretty shoddy electrical system in the house. They didn't know when in the day they would get there, so my father had given them his key. Turned out they got there early enough that my parents were still in. The guy with the key gave it back to my father. Now, he remembers getting the key back. The problem is he doesn't remember what he did with it afterwards. o_O

He thinks he may have tried the lock with it. The lock is kind of tricky, it doesn't work all that well, at least not with my mother's key, which was the only one they'd tried. He wanted to try his key too ... that's what he was planning to do. But he doesn't remember. Whatever he did, the key is now gone without a trace. Nobody remembers seeing it after he got it back. This is where it gets kind of crazy.

Friday afternoon my uncle and aunt arrived, and of course spent the night. Saturday morning they all went out to drive to Arvika, one of the closest towns. Actually a pretty charming place. (Coming up on my Youtube channel. ;-) When they got out to my father's car, they saw that a huge pile of dog shit had been left right outside the driver's side front door, and, get this, the mirror on that side was twisted all out of whack. I don't know anything about cars, but my father says that the way it was twisted is something that can't really happen by accident, like if you brush up against it ... you have to really grab it and twist it. So someone must have been there and done it on purpose ... someone with a dog. Sound like anyone we might know?

It's obvious where this is leading. My father thinks the possibly crazy neighbor came over again in the night, let his dog take a huge dump on our property, temporarily vandalized the car and stole the key that some irresponsible person left in the front door. Far be it from me to point fingers. But this is his theory. He admits that he probably screwed up, which is pretty rare. ;-) When we were there this weekend we looked for the key, but unfortunately couldn't find it. Alas. It would have been so fantastic if we had found it in his jacket pocket. >:-)

Now, my dear old dad may have messed up with the key - though we still don't know if he really did forget it in the door - but no one can say that he doesn't clean up his messes. When we arrived at the house (with proper warning ;-) we had to negotiate two booby traps ... one a snow shovel that fell out of the front door when we opened it, and one a thread strung across the front door that anyone entering would have snapped if they didn't know about it. It was not snapped. We also had a list with us with the details of the beer and liquor supply, which we had to check, to see that all of his beers were still there. They all were. I noticed he didn't bother to count my cans of cider. They were also still all there, but even so.

We spent a quiet and uneventful weekend, as far as visits from weirdo neighbors go, and upon leaving followed my father's instructions and rigged the thread and snow shovel booby trap again. :-D Next weekend - a week and a half from now - he's going there to, among other things, change the lock.

What do you wanna bet we find the missing key in about five days' time after that?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Luke 6:41

I know, you don't often find me quoting the bible on this blog. Or anywhere else, for that matter. But right now it says exactly what I want to say.

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Has anyone else been following the debate - if that's the word I want - on what to do about the recent assault rape epidemic here in Oslo? Fabian Stang, our mayor, said something sensible on the issue this weekend ... that maybe we should consider trying to get some kind of control of the asylum seekers (quite a few of them probably no longer asylum seekers, but illegal immigrants) who are committing an absolutely grotesque percentage of these criminal acts. Of course the PC brigade was immediately up in arms and frothing at the mouth, as per usual, over this hideously racist idea. :-(

The amazing thing is that these people really don't see the logs in their own eyes. They critize Stang for branding a whole group as criminals, and stigmatizing people by generalizing in this way. I disagree with that, I don't think Stang is stigmatizing these uncivilized barbarians, I think they manage that just fine on their own. But what I want to point out is how their argument then continues. It's pretty amazing.

Let me see if I can sum it up here. I've seen this argument, if that's the word I want, pop up a number of times in the past few days. This problem has to do with attitudes that men have. Rapes happen because men need an attitude adjustment. Here it's explained over eight paragraphs. Men are the problem.

Stigmatizing whole groups and overgeneralizing is a really bad thing, mmkay?