Egypt

... and all we could think was "hope the sand people don't get us"

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Statues of Memnon, aging 3400 years


Ramses II with his wife Nefertari

Our housekeeper possessed a portion of humour

Batman Evolution

It is somewhat remarkable to see the girly boy Heath Ledger evolve, from A Knight's Tale to The Dark Knight,
the sequel to the prequel Batman Begins ;)
(The trailer, from the blog geekporr)

I must admit, I have hated the guy, much in the same way I hated (and still have a thorn in the side for) Henke Larsson. -Why? You might ask. Well it is actually just something as simple as plain jealousy - they had a way too large share off a loved ones attention - according to me at least :-)

But my vendetta has already been set aside with Heath, he buried the hatchet when he was brave enough to do Brokeback Mountain so I have forgiven him. My feud with Henke hasn't really been a very bloody fight either since my singlehood stepped in and jealousy wasn't the issue any more.

---

For further reference and as a note to oneself. I got more convinced to go through with a little idea I have. Some might call it a stroke of hubris, some of Narcissism. But I would very much love to get some (or all) of this blogg here put on paper.

And seeing live copies of two photobooks today that my father had ordered as well as one from my sister (wich even contained some text - i.e. text printed as text and not just coarse pixelated stuff.) did it for me and I will start to work on the llayout if there is one to be found.

The places selling them online is for instance fotoknudsen og japanphoto

---

Well for all you linguists out there, here's a little latin to wrap this one up by the Roman Catullus

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

I hate and I love. Why do I do it, perchance you might ask?
I don't know, but I feel it happening to me and I'm burning up.

Catullus 85

---

I don't want you to change the course of the world
I don't want you to change
I just want you to be
To be the course of my world

Ratm-am-Ring

Rage against the Machine will perform live and united
at the Rock-am-Ring, Germany
June 06-08 2008!

This is breaking news for the kid who 1997 hadn't turned 18 and was not allowed to travel to the far off forests of Småland to see his then, as now, idols Rage perform on a stage near the lake Hulingen in Hultsfred. Now as then this band holds a special place in my heart. Their:

Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

Their anger and straightforward heavy rap-metal or whatever they were labelled as, Zach's voice shouting straight in to the heart of a boy - and man - with some slight issues to confront and act on things. Tom's guitar picking that is now turned in to a Guitar Hero 3 - spin off and made mainstream, Tim's bass riffs and great rytm and all accompanied by Brad's drums.

Saying it's a dream come true isn't an understatement, and saying I look forward to it is not a lie either. Just need to polish my German-skills and actually be able to read that bloody page says since they refuse to go with an English version, but seeing how they have some 150 000 tickets it shouldn't be sold out very soon. (€125 for anyone willing to join up)

Cover of their first Album - the only CD I've actually bought twice.

How do I do?

Well I have walked this earth for some 27 years, I rise a good 181 cm above ground, I weigh in at a steady 78.7 kg. I know now that my blood carries some 128 g hemoglobin per liter, a bit low. My blood pressure is 130/80 mmHg, a value on the higher end of normal. My seated rest pulse was meassured in at 72 BPM, a number on the lower end, indicating or at least implying that I should be average to well fit. I will in six weeks or so know if my blood carries some disease like HIV, Hepatit B or C. I know that if it don't I'll be able to donate some 450 ml of blood @ February 25th. But should I??

Donating that amount of blood, some 8.25% of my total blood volume, will set my ability to transport oxygen to my myscles back. The volume won't be fully restored until after six weeks, hence I won't perform on a top level for 42 days - beeing able to give blood four times a year that would have me n o t living life to the max at 46% of the time. Add to that the need to sleep on the other half of the year, illness and other setbacks and the numbers won't be on my side.

Though it will apparantly help me prevent heart diseases and it will stimulate my regrowth of red blood cells - doh! If it didn't I'd be dead in ten servings to the bloodbank :).
It will also cost me a good 650 calories the equivalent of 1.5 l Coke or 1.6 kg of carrots. (Sidenote - Coke has a higher density - 1.1 kg/l, wich will actually givie us that there's more energy in a kilo of carrots than in a kilo of coke. What ever you use that conclusion to must be up to you)


Oh, and since I am matched according to this:

-81kg:
Olle N, Helsingborg
Adam H, Frontline Academy Oslo

I will have 2.3 kg to g a i n until Sunday's fight instead of having to lose
0.7 kg as i feared since I registered myself to weigh in at 78 kg.
That's why I without shame and guild at this late hour sink my teeth in to today's result from the oven - crumb-dough-pie* with pears, blackberry and cardamom


* Yes we actually call it that and it makes sense in Swedish - smuldegspaj
-the dough is crumbled over the fruit filling.

---

Been to the movies quite a lot lately, the ones I recall at the moment would be: Switch, Control, Beowulf, The Golden Compass and today I added American Gangster to that list.

This one is, to spread the clichées around, An epic tale - A grand saga - A stunning portrait. You've heard it before, all taglines and trailers have them but this one deliveres it. The family of such films is a small one. I count the Godfather-trilogy among them, the LOTR's of course but not quite related otherwise, Scorcese's Goodfellas isn't far off - the taglines even seen similar:
"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster."

I find it to cary a great deal of credibility - all the way from detective Richie Roberts sleazy hawaii-shirt to the electric knife used to cut the Turkey.

And if all else fails - perhaps the MPAA-rating will get you back on track:

"Rated R for violence, pervasive drug content and language, nudity and sexuality."

(You should be informed though that there actually is an even stronger rating - NC 17, R = Restriced, under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. NC17 = No one 17 and under are permitted)

This is slowly drifting out to be a gathering of anecdotes and sidetracks but to read that the hilarious movie Orgazmo has received a NC17-rating for "explicit sexual content and dialogue", but movies as the Clockwork orange and Texas Chainsaw Massacre and whatever just have R-ratings makes one wonder. MPAA

Pleasure Doing Business

This post is just a small salute and tribute to the creative minds of LG Mr Madsen and Christian Fundin. (And their webstore company) They have posted a webcomic every weekday since December 1st 2000. (7 years anniversary these days. Gratz!)

Long story short, I like what they do and I suppose they like me cause I order the things they put up for sale - but with a smile. Here's two of the reasons why.

1. Confirmation mail sent upon preordering their 4th book:

HEY!!

Order received and as we speak, small one legged penguins are
printing your order and walking down to the basement were baby
unicorns takes the order and puts it in an excel-sheet.

Those baby unicorns are effective.

Thanks for the support, and I hope you won't be let down when you
get the book in your hands sometime in February, yes, that's how
long turnaround our printer has.

Oh, and just so it's been said, "Please don't email and ask me if you
made the first 250", we don't want to bother the baby unicorns with
that right now.

Again, thanks!! :D

/madsen

2. Delivery confirmation mail sent upon buying another t-shirt:

Someone's Webcomic Item is Being Shipped by TopatoCo
And that someone is ADAM H*HNE ! ADAM H*HNE is about to get a package in
the mail from TopatoCo, former washing machine repair shop turned world
famous webcomic merchandise distributor!

If you're in the USA, expect your package in 3-4 days. If you're in
Canada, about two weeks. If you are from a magical land far, far away it
can take up to four weeks depending on what Customs is doing.
Tracking is not available for most international destinations because it's wicked
expensive!

Thanks!
Jeffrey Rowland
TopatoCo President
"TopatoCo. Thinking of the Children So You Don't Have To."

Just pure love, and cute ninjas!

Dysfunctional

.: Diary and self-diagnosis ahed. Beware. Truth may lie in these lines. A slight touch of nonsense and exaggaration might be there as well. Self-pity and lies would be located elsewhere. :.

(Due to the topic, the late hour, my lack of sleep, the current phase of the moon and my PMS-cycle I will have to confess that the structure and logical order of the following text might be so and so -should you decide to read it.
But well here goes - for the world to see, and for myself to perhaps learn)

My intention was to go further then the regular whine-posts I come up with from time to time and actually try seeking a solution. Well what's the problem you might ask. Staying in the office 17h and still not getting things done. Instead spending countless hours on ... well ... you know ... s t u f f. The dusfunctionality is my complete lack to focus and concentrate on a given task. Don't get me wrong. The prestudy for this blog has taken roughly an hour (edit: make that two) of browsing the net, a lot of hard work and no problems focusing there.. Passing through wikipedia pages on ADHD, MDB, the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition) - where I by chance finds a smashing recognance on some of the conditions "needed" to be labeled as having an Adult attention-deficit disorder

1. A sense of underachievement, of not meeting one's goals
   (regardless of how much one has actually accomplished). Check
2. Difficulty getting organized. Check
3. Chronic procrastination or trouble getting started. Check
4. Many projects going simultaneously; trouble with follow through. Check
5. A tendency to say what comes to mind without necessarily considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark. Hard one. But things I say might seem blunt and harsh sometimes I'm afraid
6. A frequent search for high stimulation. Check
7. An intolerance of boredom. Earlier yes. Today no
8. Easy distractibility; trouble focusing attention, tendency to tune out or drift away in the middle of a page or conversation, often coupled with an inability to focus at times. Check
9. Trouble in going through established channels and following "proper" procedure.
   Check, (but a bit vague statement)
   
10. Impatient; low tolerance of frustration. Check
11. Impulsive, either verbally or in action, as an impulsive spending of money. 50/50
12. Changing plans, enacting new schemes or career plans and the like; hot-tempered No
    
13. Physical or cognitive restlessness. Check
14. A tendency toward addictive behaviour. 50/50*
15. Chronic problems with self-esteem. Nope
    
16. Inaccurate self-observation. No, cause answering yes here would screw up this whole check list
    
17. Family history of AD/HD or manic depressive illness or depression or substance abuse or other disorders of impulse control or mood. Check

* I could never see myself as a substance addict. But having a playtime in Wow of 2500+ hours
since May 2005 I guess there is something in there after all.

About the scoring: It is recommended that individuals with at least twelve of the following behaviours since childhood— consider professional diagnosis

So I scored 12 - Do I care? Do I act? Do I need it?
I do! I might. I don't know - time and my actions will tell.


But then again, seeking diagnoses like this would just be a way of escaping the fact, beating about the bush and not facing the actual problem. Am I in the right office doing the right thing? Should I get another job, change career completely or is this just a trick by my supposed "sense of underachievement". I am not sure, but it raises a question. Would I be better off working as a gardener. Would I have been better off living back home raising my fictive second child in my fictional apartment driving my former car married to a most definately real madame. Well to answer the second one at least - nope. Having chosen that path in life when the fork appeared wouldn't see this day dawn. I wouldn't know myself as I do know. Sure it might appear tempting and easy - an escapism, a universal answer that isn't actually answering anything.


And regarding the addictive behaviour, of course I will rather log on and play WoW than work if I were to try working from home. WoW rewards me in a very easy manner for my tasks. Pick ten flowers - get stronger. Kill two hundred mobs - get a new belt. Work and tasks related to that won't give the immediate reward. The very same one touches the topic of drugs and stimulating substances as well. You are given immediate rewards with little input (but at high risk).

---

Surrounding these topics is quite a humorous dark parodic industry,
pages like Despair, Inc :-( make good (?) money selling de-motivators. A breath of fresh air against the often cheesy slogans and chlichées you'll see on corporate walls. Or why not get your next coffee cup there

Also found my way back to the extensive galleries of deviantART
Like the following image for instance, as well as the top one

---

I need you
I want you
I miss you

Are you my answer?
Who are you then?
Where are you?

Let go of your cowl!
Crawl out of your nest!
Reveal yourself!

Please.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO_QRSTUVWXYZ

1981.01.31-2007.10.27

What do you write when words won't say it?

What do you do when tears don't show it?

I will try by thanking you for the joy you brought
I will try by remembering the good you gave

Tack för allt Per!

:: You will be missed ::

Nǐ Hǎo!

There and back again - A Beijing Tale.
I would love to start out with something grande, something about how wonderful, special, marvellous, revitalizing it was for the soul to enter the Middle Kingdom. But honestly - there is a limit to what one can make out of 48h of which there were supposed to be work three days and dinner one night with the client. What can be said is that the people are at a surprisingly high economical standard, with a professional attitude and seemingly harmonic calm persons. (All these generalisations go for the few people I met at the engineering company we work with.)

The food is a chapter on it's own, the rule of conduct is to eat and smile so what passed my lips was among other things shrimps (eaten w h o l e) shells, clams and snails and a frog or two. All served in seasoning and sauces of various taste, strength and enjoyment. All in all a pleasant experience as long as you can accept the fact that everything from pork and chicken to prawns and what-knows will crunch when you set your teeth to it be it bones, cartilage, knuckles ...

The shopping was limited to a 45 minute visit to the Ya Show department store / mal on the way out to the airport. And the items purchased was a Wilson squash racket - first buy and I was definately scammed. For how much will be revealed once I get to try it and actually play it. If it turns out to be playable I didn't make too great fool of myself. The second item was more of a lottery buy, an iPod nano @ 100:- can't be anything else but a bluff but we had them turn it on and play whatever tracks was on it - and here comes the good part - for some random chance they had the track "Basshunter - Vi sitter här i venten". A warning signal if there ever was one. Final buy was two ties to fill up my collection at around 50:-

There were more of the drinking. Too much beer in too little time and too little sleep and too much jet lag. Needless to say I'm slightly grumpy today

Gan Bei! (Bottom's up!)

---

But if the physical journey wasn't all to fancy schmancy the inner one was the richer.
Having spent the time traveling meant I had some time to catch up reading and viewing through other medias.
The list goes as follows:

• Albert Camus - The Stranger
• About Schmidt, drama with Jack Nicholson
• Transformers the movie
• Sommar i P1 Pelle Almqvist and Paolo Roberto
• Filosofiska rummet on the topic eroticism in philosophy
• BBC Documentary on India
  
• Interview with Dave Gahan in King magazine
  

A list like this would have taken me weeks to go through back home at my current pace. Some of them goes without saying of course.
Pelle Almqvist is a rock star and talks about coming straight outta Fagersta in to a red carpet world beeing hand shaken by Joe Strummer and beeing thanked for "saving rock".
Paolo Roberto is a boxer and will talk 'bout boxing. Always inspiring to hear other people's views on martial arts (which is what he did first before he became a boxer) and them describing the 'presence' and 'now' you can only feel in the ring.
The Dave Gahan interview was just a confirmation that he is an inspiring person with a bit more artistic twist than I had known before.
The eroticism discussion didn't really spark me up very much. Was at times a bit too hard to see it was eroticism and lust the discussion was about.
Transformers delivered what I had expected.
About Schmidt could have had a touch of Camus and Lost in Translation-ish existentialism over it but Mr Nicholson is a bit too grumpy and absent for that.
But Camus, and his Mr Mersault - the Stranger this is a work the sparks my interest and makes me alert, and in some ways slightly worried.

Short on the book. A novel set in a French North African colony i think it is Algeria a man's life and living is re-told in "I-form". The story leads up to an accident where he accidentally takes another man's life and the following trial afterwards. The strange in the stranger is Mr Mersaults complete abscence of remorse and regret, his lack of sorrow and empathy. This is subtly noted during the starting chapters in his clinical conclussions and his sort of viewing himself from the outside-perspective he has to things. What scares me in the story is when one tries to apply this to oneself and compare and see similarities and differences.

But enough of that. I have sleep to reclaim and sheets to wrestle.

SAS is a lie.

I have always been told the SAS was an abbreviation of Scandinavian Airline System. Just to discover that the truth is that it's actually named Scandinavian Airlines. Or as I have come to think of them after today - Scandalous Airlines.

Today has in many senses been a wasted day. Got up well late and did the only two things today I consider beeing something constructive - I played WoW, c a s u a l l y for an hour and attained a new cooking recipie. And I did the dishes. The clock is now close to 1200 and preparations for the coming China trip takes place. Pack, plan, pass time and voilà the clock is 1730 I arrive at Gardermoen, check in only to find my original 1930 flight to Arlanda cancelled and my two co-travellers have seats on the 1805 one and me and the fourth one and me on the 2105 one. Not to anyone's surprise time goes, the 2105 is re-schedulued to go @ 2145 and hence having us miss the Beijing connection from Arlanda and well, 2240 I am once more back home in Oslo with a new ticket for the 1405 flight tomorrow monday. Yiiiiiipppppiiiiieeeeee.

To sum it up. The only really bad thing is that I am now down to 48h in Beijing instead of the planned 72 which I fear will cut the chances of touristing, in percentage, down to slightly less than the alchol content of a folk-öl. Or should i say people-beer since we are on the topic of the People's Republic of China.

Nevertheless, not all is wasted. This blog is getting written - doh - don't ever underestimate the art and writing. I am served a single malt Cragganmore in the comfort of my own home instead of a blended whisky in a plastic cup on a crowded plane. (Which still might be the case in less than 24h again though.)
But most valuable of all. I found myself as a calm, stress resistant person that is not letting himself down by a sudden setback or uphill. Sure I miss this and that, but trying to see the benefits and positive sides to things is a great strenght. And hey! I got a new cooking recipie:

Eat a cake, be happy for an hour. -God how easy life is online!
Or is it: perhaps the Cake is a lie. (That song is wonderful!)

The "Cake is a lie"-thing is something from the game Portal. Sure that would be ok if I had actually played the game, but what scares me is that I know a whole lot about a game on a platform I don't even own (xBox 360) in a genre I don't play (puzzle games in the Half-Life universe in 3rd person perspective) but since I read up on my nerdy comics CAD and LG and get into the random online hypes that come and go I have to fuel it with some more rant.


(Story in short - you are supposed to solve puzzles on command from a co-worker and she promises cake as a reward. But graffiti seen on the wall keep implying that "The Cake is a lie")

This reminds me of the viral marketing campaign Ask did towards Google.
Hmm did I write something on that. Gotta check.
If I didn't it is quite an interesting topic in it's own.
A topic another favourite comic/community has been touching.
xkcd they are too nerdy but in a more science/math way and not the gaming way as the other two. Well worth the read.

T h e _ a l g o r i t h m _ c o n s t a n t l y _ f i n d s _ J e s u s

And risking to tip off on another one again here goes the fourth A Softer World, not a comic in the obvious way - just a random picture/pictures framed in to three pictures and some text added. But the mood in it is just lovely. Romantic, weird, slightly emo and some weird undertones. Not all of the currently 261 strips are spot on but the ones that are are really good.

#136: WE CAN AFFORD NO MORE DISTRACTIONS

#194: even after we're done

Re.use

Found some writings and jottings in a notebook. Know some of the content of it has been revealed previously. But as the "Industry" likes to release items like CD's and movies I will do it as well then:
"This blog contains "previously unreleased material"

Just write don't spell . never think of hell
But if you do . and if you go
I'll go there with you

Spring spring, oh the joy
Life is now, bring a toy

Come out and play
Value each day

This might be your very last
Start living and do it fast!

I am here, a friend is near
Think of this and feel no fear

Time flies, present is past
But nothing dies, memories last

As long as someone remembers
All is forever, even rainy Novembers

Sunday screams . screams for the new
Monday listens . loved by few
But I count among them . the Monday lovers

Poesi utan fantasi
Likt vatten utan väte i
Men syret det räcker för att hjärnan ska jobba
Ny lyckas jag inte infallen nobba
Skriver och står i
Gömt mig däri
Tömt ut lite av min själ
-är jag den enda som känner mig väl?
Hoppas det icke, för det skulle gagna mig föga
Men nu börjar fan rimmen bli tröga

---

Well if I ever saw a contradiction if there ever was one
this has to be it: WoW+ Casual
Apparantly it is possible according to this blogger.

Thrown into Existence

.: Disclaimer :.
Call it a brief review over a philosophical movement. Think of it as a turning point. Consider it an awakening. Disregard it as nonsense. Be upset by the illogical reasoning. Thank me if you find it interesting. Flee me if it scares you.
.: End of Disclaimer :.

.: Start of shameless theft from wikipedia and other sources :.

Existentialism claims that individual human beings create the meanings and essence of their own lives. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound Anguish or Dread. The same topic as the infamous Angst.
Two forerunners of the movement were Nietzsche and Kirkegaard, connected to this movement are also writers like Dostoevsky and Sartre.
(The Swedish wikipedia-page on "Existentialism" holds an interesting writeup with focus on Sartre.)

I realized aloud in the midst of saying it that even when we die we probably don't find out the answer as to why were we ever alive. Even the avowed atheist probably thinks than in death he'll get some answer. I mean God will be there, or there won't be anything at all.
'But that's just it,' I said, 'we don't make any discovery at that moment! We merely stop! We pass into nonexistence without ever knowing a thing.' I saw the universe, a vision of the sun, the planets, the stars, black night going on forever. And I began to laugh.
'Do you realise that! We'll never know why the hell any of it happened, not even when it's over! We're going to die and not even know. We'll never know, and all this meaninglessness will just go on and on and on. And we won't any longer be witnesses to it. We won't have even that little bit of power to give meaning to it in our minds. We'll just be gone, dead, dead, dead, without ever knowing!'

"The Dark Moment", passage from Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat

How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?

Repetition, Kirkegaard

.: I feel I am just opening the lid of Pandora's infamous Box here and can't get to a wrap-up at this point :.

You always have a c h o i c e. You are always responsible
To c h o o s e not to act is also an act.

Whatever we choose to do we are always responsible
To shift blame to not see our responsibility is not an option.
You can never lie to yourself

And just to repeat myself ...

Existentialism claims that individual human beings create the meanings and essence of their own lives.

Grasping that one to its fullest width holds some interesting consequences. No other philosophical movement makes sense to me. I don't want to put my faith in the hands of a maker - a man with a plan. I don't want to be a set of cells on a predefined course through life, neither do I want to be a victim of animalistic needs and instincts that would navigate me.

But again - freedom is the bless and the curse of it.
Y o u are held responsible:

F r i h e t _ u n d e r _ a n s v a r

This topic will be continued. If I c h o o s e to do so.
This message was posted incomplete since I c h o o s e to do so.

---

Wrapping it up with a Banksy.
The "Art Terrorist" has several facebook groups in addition to his www.banksy.co.uk. The one named "Banksy" for instance holds some 300+ pics.

Talk Tonight - Act Tomorrow!

Sittin' on my own
Chewin' on a bone
A thousand million
Miles from home
When Something hit me
Somewhere right between the eyes

I wanna talk tonight
Until the mornin' light
'Bout how you saved my life
You and me see how we are
You and me see how we are

Oasis - Talk Tonight

We talked tonight
Until the morning light
Mind bending
Idea blending
Save my life it might

These last few days has hold a lot of good solid talks on quite varied topics. Well ... less talk more action - would be the next phase now then.

---

Going off-topic to post one of the more interesting dialogue-boxes I have bumped in to during my years as user of M$-systems

Thank You!

With this post I would just want to say:

T H A N K _ Y O U _ A L L !

This year's birthday celebration exceeded all

my hopes and expactations.
I have had a couple of great days.
Sure some hard work in the kitchen -
Sure one could always wish for this
and hope for that ...
But this is just awesome, perfect, lovely.
Course I love the attention,
Course I love to have friends over
Course I love to be loved
But this was just more than one could hope for!

Leafkickers FC

This was just a spontaneous snapshot.
But I'd say it is quite representative for the uncomplicated joy,
for the relaxed come-as-you-are spirit that has been flowing lately!

-And I just love it!

Once again - thank you all for lighting my path, for making this place a place worth living and a place I love to live in! It is such a joy to be able to give and get back.

And the recipe for this success ....
well if I'd knew that I'd live it every day.
But what I c a n post is the recipe for the cake:

150g butter (melted)
3 eggs + 4.5 dl sugar = whip together until puffy
add 5 tbs of cacao and 2 tbs vanilla sugar and blend.
Stir in 3 dl flour and finally the melted butter.

Bake for 20 mins in 175° and sift vanilla/icing sugar on top if preferred when cool.

Yours Truly
/Adam

Lost Control

Have been looking forward to seeing this piece for a few weeks now. The reason why is simple. Anton Corbijn has been directing it and the details of the life of singer Ian Curtis has so far been unknown to me.

The movie delivers what I expect. A young man's struggle against his demons, his rise to success and fame and the downsides to that, his feeling that the more he gives of himself the higher the demands are.

The foto is beautiful and sets the atmosphere perfectly for the Manchester area / late 70's era that it is to depicture.

It has as been generally authorised, the widow's memoir of her life with Ian has been the base for the work. But Anton has also had contact with Ian's mistress Annick and the remains of the band helped with recording the soundtrack and letting him in on their memoires.

Well all in all, a great film, great music, an intruiging character is portrayed - we get in to his
epilepsy, his depressions, his love for music, his isolation.

---

Underground poetry typed while on the Underground in the underground.
This last few days my town has been feeling cold, so cold ...

Storstaden - en teater för en stum publik
Storstaden - en scen utan aktörer

Så många personer - så opersonligt
Så mycket ljust - så lite värme

Mörkret lägger sig över byn
En vilsen själ stirrar ut från tunnelbanefönstret
Ett hjärta står berett att ta emot dig med öppna dörrar
Storstadsisen kyler

---

What if you slept?
And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed?
And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven
and there plucked an strange and beautiful flower?
And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand?
Ah, what then?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I hope you woke up in heaven,
and that this all was just a dream.

.: You'll be missed, dear Friend :.

---

Quite understandably I didn't see it fit to post the experience of the fight saturday in this post. The euphoria and rush felt there don't go well in hand with today's events. I'll just leave it with a song title from Kent, explaining it in my own way.

05. Kent - Ett Tidsfördriv Att Dö För

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I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world....?

Louis Armstrong

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Dear Diary ...

.: Diary-thread detected. Disregard this post's intellectual value
and well .... it might not even be comprehensible :.

This week has been an emotional rollercoaster.
Buddy leaving Norway for Dubai. Got replied by an hmail on gmail.

Tomorrows fight has had butterflies circulating
'round my stomach now for more than a week now.

It is not fear that grips him...
only a heightened sense of things.
Cold air in his lungs...
wind-swept pines moving against the coming night.
His hands are steady... his form perfect.

300

But nonetheless. I have been tense as a violin string today.
Waiting to go off with a * s p o i n g *
The week as a whole, o I don't know where to begin.

Monday: - saying goodbye is never easy.
But I guess a: "You will be missed around here, mate" worked ok
Wednesday: - fat, salt and alcohol, the cornerstones of any diet. A great dinner
Thursday: - Back in Black - Blacksmithing @ Marcus' Parents-in-law
Friday: - mail + violinstring scenario
Saturday: - even if it is sitll twentythree minutes away, I dare say it'll be a day to remember. But for what ...well only time can tell.

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Note to self:

No doubt could either be an American rock band or:

No doubt! would be a request to the auther to stop doubting himself.
To wake up and smell the Coffee.
Self-righteousness aside how can I not be happy being me ;)

Just Be!

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Sometimes there are people whose path comes to cross yours.
And even more rarely these persons come to shed light,
come with advice and show you a new world.
One of them would run you through a Maraton -
walk the highest mountain.
One of them will be missed around here.

Best of Luck Mate!

What would you bring?

Halfway throug Generation X by Mr Coupland
we readers are to think of what we will bring:

"I want you to tell me something first;
after you’re dead and buried and
floating around in whatever place we go to,
what’s going to be your best memory of earth?"

"What one moment for you defines what it’s like
to be alive on this planet. What’s your takeaway?"

"I want to hear some small moment from your life
that proves you’re really alive?"

An example of what the characters answered would be:
snow. That is the answer Claire gives. Snow.

My direct and immediate reply would be. P a i n.
Not a conventional one I suppose,
Not the most streamlined - mainstreamed one.
But I am quite comfortable with answering that.


Being a kid at fifteen, skateboarding was great fun.
I loved the sport, loved the gang. Never had any particular technique -
I rather went for speed, height and risk.
Usually ending up hurt, blue, bruised and full of joy!

Beeing a Scorpio. I would rather feel pain, than to feel nothing at all.
I want to be fully immersed in it, deeply and passionately involved.
(Life for you is not a spectator sport). (Quoted from astro-site)

Beeing a grown (?) up man, in the ring, ready to fight.
Adrenaline rushing to the brain, senses sharpened.
Pain is my reminder, my receipt. I live - I am alive:

Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls, City of Angel's soundtrack

Sure I will remember the smell of roses
I will have a sense of what a kiss tasted like
My hands still recall the softness of skin
My heart will beat upon thinking of h e r

But my takeaway, my one thing that defines
what it's like to be a l i v e. That will still be Pain

I hurt myself today
to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
the only thing that's real

NIN - Hurt

If you still think the answer is too morbid or
leaning too much to the dark side.
Think about what you do when you wake up from a dream
and want to make sure you are awake - that you are a l i ve.
Yeah, you pinch yourself - who's the masochist now? Huh? ;)

Get Under My Skin

A weekend came and went.
A hometown seen and left.
A mother, a grandmother.
A sister, another one's sister.
A cousin, a friend.
A beer, ten beers.
A comeback, to come back.
A kiss, a smile

---

Friday held nothing special, whisky and wow.
A great meal a good night's sleep with fresh country air.

Saturday saw the comeback of adamskater,
accompanied by Johan and documented by Tine.
Was great fun to get back to something I haven't
done in well 8-10 years and still be as good (... or bad)
as I remembered I was when I last had a board
under my feet. The next session is hopefully not that far off.

Rest of the evening saw a thai-dinner,
a night out, a kiss, a smile, friends and fun.

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Kent är döda - länge leve Kent

Read an article in Café with my favourite rockers.

Jag har länge varit övertygad om att folk egentligen inte lyssnar på texter. ... folk lyssnar inte på vad som sägs

Jocke Berg

That said, be it irony or not. Their new album is out tomorrow
(in stores in Norway 15th, in Sweden 17th !!! )

And their position on my pedestal was never threatened,
a band like that needs to fuck up way much worse before
I get them down from there. Name-dropping Martin Gore
as a good writer in the same interview for instance
saw them back up there before they'd even started to fall

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Get Under My Skin

I want you under my skin
I want to share my secrets

I want you to see
I want you to listen

I could give you my heart
I could give you all

Just get under my skin
And don't be afraid of what hides within.

(Background: did last winter some reading on Scorpions
and found some of the descriptions to go hand in hand with my own thoughts.)

Sun in Scorpio:

For you, this lifetime revolves upon the theme of experiencing your emotional depths, and penetrating the surface of life to explore the hidden, dark, secret or taboo. What lurks in the shadows or in the inner depths of the human soul is what concerns you, and it is your task to become aware of and express what you find hidden there. What society at large may fear or repress, you are fascinated with and drawn to experience and understand.

With you it is usually all or nothing, whether you choose total celibacy or complete immersion and involvement. A really loving intimate relationship can be tremendously healing for you also, especially if you allow your partner to see who you really are, including those aspects of yourself you usually hide and consider ugly and unacceptable. Being unconditionally accepted by another may be the first step toward embracing your own "darkness", which will be a lifelong lesson for you.

Extract from www.keplersoftware.com/Karisamp

Multi-faceted

Hello darkness my old friend-I've come to talk to you again

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence

It won't be all that black, not bad at all actually.
Just noting that October 1st is passed and the themes
might change with that - even though my intention is to stay light!

Fly on Denim - Summer 06.

I see myself as a varied person.

I try to cater well for my pot-plants,
I can swing a beer or ten (... with varied results)

I can spend an evening reading Shakespeare,
As much as I can appreciate Dumb & Dumber.

I think of myself with some knowledge in french cuisine
But do not mind indulging myself in a Big Mac

But this is in no way me saying that I am c o m pl e t e -
Oh no, far from - saying that would be quite disrespectful.
But the times they are a-changing Dylan sang and I hope to live by that!

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I'm a lover not a fighter
-I write, I think, I paint, I dream
-I never pick a fight, I stay out of trouble

I'm a fighter not a lover
-I kick, I punch, I throw a knee head high
-I am still single ...

Well if I learnt something of my two years out, my one year drought,
It has to be that the old saying has to be remade in to:

The Catch is better than the Chase

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Well about this fighting.
I might have said it before,
and I am sure I will say it again.

But I am so glad I have found my niche
I really enjoy the training-
the sweat, the camaraderie, the discipline, the bruises.

I do think I walk a taller person when I train regularly.
I stand more upright. Feel more confident. Less concerned.

Tack Eirik, Tack Frontline, Tack Mamma - see you saturday!

My First Love

I might be exaggerate a bit in the title,
cause I am quite sure my first love
was not a set of notes and lyrics
but rather a being of flesh and blood.

But I wold never the less want to dedicate
a post and some writing to this phenomena.

There are those, I've heard, who put their faith in deities other than this but I would rather say that Music is my Faith and Religion then.

It is a cornerstone, a comfort, a helping hand
Something who never lets you down -
Something that is always there

It can bring back a memory,
help put words on a feeling,
put a smile on stiff lips,
And it can surely channel angst

Music was my first love
and it will be my last.
Music of the future
and music of the past.

To live without my music
would be impossible to do.
In this world of troubles,
my music pulls me through.

John Miles - Music

My own playlist has seen some songs come and go,
but there are a few tracks that always brings back the same
sensation and feeling - and I use them in almost the same way
to this very day.

RATM - Settle For Nothing
Depeche Mode - Sister Of Night

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I like clouds.
Not that I am an overly pessimistic person. Nor do I have an attraction to the dark sides of the mind (...well - yeah I do, but that's another story).

But I do like the perspective they bring. Without clouds in the sky there is just sky. Surely the sky is magnificent to watch,

- but give me a cloud
- let me see the depth

Just to appreciate the light even more!

.: Every silverlining has a cloud :.

I've got it in me ...

Well four months of preparation has now gotten me past
the finish line of my first (and last ...?) Maraton.

Unlike my Greek predecessor I didn't drop down dead
when I had laid the 42.195 meters at my feet,
but there were some times - or well the last 12 km -
when that did indeed feel like it would be the case.

I was prepared for the first 30 km and i knew I had them in me,
the time for the first lap (21 km) was going according to plan
and we passed Rådhusplassen at almost two hours on the minute.
And the next 9 km was quite ok as well,
but after that it just gets indescribably tough.
My only ever 30 km run had some of the elements in it,
hips starting to strain, calfs cramping, headache setting in,
and the new experience: I started to get emotionally unstable -
all I wanted to do was just run (sorry ... take a cab) home and cry.

"You are not prepared!" - Illidan Stormrage

Now I don't wanna argue with good ol' Illidan,
but well - I was prepared for a 30 km run but not for the full 42.


And of couse - all in all I am quite happy
I went through with the lap, and the fact is that
I know now that I can go through and reach my goals.

Adam Gump signing off
Adam Hump signing on :-)

Dog-Eat-Dog World

Just a short write-up on Saturday's dog course with dad and Tilla-
my sister's 9-month-old German shepherd/Greyhound.

The plan for the course was just to introduce the dogs to tracking.
It was great fun to see her perform surprisingly well in it,
since she has some severe attention disturbances and
behavioural deficiencies. So she grew quite a lot in my eyes.

What I would want to blog about and what my personal
reflections to this is the subject master - dog.


The first thing I notice (there were some 30 persons and 20+ dogs)
is the old cliche that the owners usually choose dogs
similar to themselves - not said that it is as bad as in this case everytime:

But you will find that your average butch would go with a large German shepherd (schäfer),
your uptown girl will come with a Chinese Crested Dog (kinesisk nakenhund) dressed in raincoat and just out of the hairdresser.

And what I find most interesting (disturbing) is the fact
that I can get very impatient with masters who hasn't got
their dogs under control and almost look down on them if
their dogs misbehave. I guess it is something similar to our saying
"Mina barn, andras ungar" (roughly: "My children, somebody else's kids")


That said - I am not less inclined to get a dog
but I can't really see how it would be very practical
so it'll have to wait.

But when that day comes I still hold Jack Russell terrier
as my winning horse dog ... either that or a Rottweiler.
Why settle for something in between?

Wilma - My old live-in Tomas' J.R.T.

Lynch Me Laura!

Lately there has been lots'o fuzz about the old man Mr Lynch.
Can't really say I up until this autumn knew much more than
the fact that he existed and made movies.

So monday saw the premiere of Twin Peaks for me.
Just seen the pilot so far but I think I will find the series quite enjoyable.
Not to mention the marvellous soundtrack is in a league of its own.

The actress Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer

Today I stepped the Lynchology up a notch and went
to see his latest movie Inland Empire in the cinemas with my brother
A very v e r y brief sum up of that one - experience and plot:

-3 hours of confusion and interesting photography
(you know by the crowds misplaced laughters though,
that you aren't alone not getting it all)
- we are all part of a movie in one way or another
- we are all prostitutes trying to get by in life one way or the other.


Well this little Lynchfest has at least spurred an interest
and the Twin Peaks will most definately get seen a.s.a.p.

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Well as the non-capitalized form of lynch goes -
my head is on the chopping block.
My intense fear of conflict is putting me in some untenable situations.

It must end now!
More on this after the October 1, due to a reader agreemeent.

Inflammable Mind

Themes to handle:
Drama - Male bonding - Muay Thai

Things to be said:
Well n o n e - just incoherent ramblings


Drama - there is something about some personalities
and moods that makes for a good bonfire.
Not that I would have it any other way - it's me
But it should perhaps be possible to tune it slightly
and not always burn every candle in both ends.

Let me take you on a trip
Around the world and back
And you won't have to move
You just sit still

Now let your mind do the walking
And let my body do the talking
Let me show you the world in my eyes

Depeche Mode - World in my eyes

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Male bonding
A simple talk, a drink - a burger.
Nothing fancy, nothing planned.
Just pure and simple discussion and exchange of ideas.
No tension, no stress, nothing complicated.
Themes ranging from blacksmithing, through physical attributes,
aging to art and back again to smoke grenades

Tack för den!

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Muay Thai
Well this is just a ego boost. A little side note for anyone but Moi.
Had a call from le Grand Coach E and he told me he
wanted to get some fighters together and go to Kristiansand
to match up some of our fighters against theirs and -

" ... help lift the Muay Thai-scene in Norway as a whole".

Can't really say no to going 325 km for such a cause.

(Date is either October 20 or 27)

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Morning Boot Camp in Frognerparken 19.09.07 07:57 PM

Fjellbekk

How would one start a writeup of an experience?
How would one start a writeup of a feeling?
How would one start a writeup of an euphoria?

The Besseggen ridge - Gjendevannet and Bessvannet on the sides

Well a slightly more famous writer already did a try
some 140 years ago - so let's hear his words:

Have you ever
chanced to see the Gendin-Edge?
Nigh on four miles long it stretches
sharp before you like a scythe.
Down o'er glaciers, landslips, scaurs,
down the toppling grey moraines,
you can see, both right and left,
straight into the tarns that slumber,
black and sluggish, more than seven
hundred fathoms deep below you.

From Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt (Gendin-Edge is Besseggen)

Short summary:
I got the task to organize an Autumn Trip with the company this autumn together with
my fellow members in the Alstom Aktiv-group (Christian and L-E).
We choose to arrang a weekend trip to the mountains of Jotunheimen
With housing at the Bessheim Fjellstue not far from Besseggen
We ended up with being twelve people going. All a good mix of merry men and women with
various experiences from mountaintreks - me having none, nada, zero.

The schedule was first to get to Galdhøpiggen as written previously,
but due to disastruos weather we went for the "easier" trip across Besseggen -
which in itself proved to be a bit of a challenge with gusts of winds up to some 24 m/s.

Besshø, towering 2258 meters above sea level

Action:
Three men set off from Bessheim at 07:30 to take the ferry from
Gjendesheim to Memurubu and there walk up to Besshø (2258m) and
then go across the Besseggen-ridge on the way home.
But due to the bad weather only one outta two boats
were able to go, and the first one filled up fast
so we went the route "backwards" so to say.
That turn turned out to bring us luck throughout the day
since the switched direction saved us from the wind at some passages
where wind would have been quite a non-needed addition.

The actual trek was well comparable to doing a slower jog,
(pulsewise at least) - some number crunching for the nerds -
Average puls was ~65%, peaks at 87% and the total time walking 8h
and the amount of energy used would be something like 5 500 kcal.

The sights and views of the landscape was amazing,
can't really describe in words without slipping in to clichées.
Really hard to imagine that rocks and water in all it's shapes can
be that beautiful but indeed it was.

The altitude of the cabin and the ferry was at some 950 meters,
and not far from the tree line which would be at around 1100m.
Most parts of the trek was at 1400-2258m level -
meaning: no trees, no large animals and hardly not even any plants.
So it was quite a barren terrain.

Random plant, taken @ ~1100m height

I have come to see myself as a person who disregards weather forecasts
and can't care less on what weather the Maker has in hold for us.
But I did get to know the importance of it this weekend.
It started already friday morning when the saturday weather
was forecasted to be as bad that we had to cancel the first plan
and go for this modified trek. It is quite a feeling to get up there
and leave yourself exposed to what Mother Nature has in hold for you.
Our worst passages was firstly coming down to the Besseggen ridge
from the east side and having gust of wind
trying to prevent us from doing just that with all her force.

The ridge leading down to Besseggen

The other one was hitting the peak of Besshø @ 2258m
and the same gusts biting your face,
now without any risk of bodily harm but a whole lot cooler
and with hail and snow being thrown upon bare cheeks.

The Besshø-peak. Left to right: Peder, Me, Petros

The rest of the weekend was well memorable as well.
Everything from the drive up there -
packing in five adult persons in a Kia Sportage can prove a challenge
- to playing charades until two in the morning saturday.
A quick swim in 4º water before hitting the sauna,
filling your water bottle straight of a fjellbekk,
Reinsdyrssteik with Viltsaus and a therapeutic sunday walk -
refreshening both for mind and sore legs.

Thank you:
Petros, Peder, Barbro, Tone, Jørgen, Ingunn,
Fredrik, Helene, Gro, Kai and Christian for a great weekend!

Kvikk Lunsj - for well needed energy ("tursjokolade" since 1938)
Alstom - for sponsoring
Ringnes - "after trek"-beer never tasted better
Helly/Hansen - for producing and selling durable clothing

Kodak Moment @ Besseggen