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.

---

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

---

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!

---

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)

---

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

The light at the end of the ...

Door closing
Leaving my apartment behind

Entering the light
Enter the corridor

A fresh scent left behind
A sensation of warmth

An awakening
An enlightening

So this is how it's like
This is how it feels

In to the light - Karlstad, August -06

Come sing for me my morning bird

This cuckoo is calling: cuckoo cuckoo

---

The weekend's trek draws near.
Excitement is rising.
This will be an awesome experience.
I haven't really been on higher altitude than some +500/1000m before
as far as I can recall.

Shopping and preparations are about done.

Just need to stack up on some hot dogs and tortillas,
for the infamous Pølsemiddag on friday.
A nation that actually has a word for HotDogDinner puzzles me :)

Huge backpack to carry some extra stones just for the fun of it - check
High leather boots / low coarse runners - check
Headlight, thermos, random jazz - check

Galdhøpiggen - 2469m above sea level

And that would make it Norway's highest peak.

The world's highest mountain is Mt. Everest @ 8.848m -
but this is only true measuring the height above sea level.

The world's tallest mountain is actually Hawaii's Mauna Kea
Which is some 10.203m tall measuring from the base
on the ocean floor up to it's peak.

The point farthest from the earth's center
(which would grant a third way to measure how tall a mountain peak is)
is the peak of Chimborazo in the Andes.

Source: hypertextbook.com

Til Topps!!

PS. Förlåt ... det var jävligt klantigt gjort av mig.

180º

Mosaic window art @ Oppsal Kirke, Oslo

Having attended my baby sister's confirmation this sunday in church
some thoughts struck my mind.
a) what are other people fed in their schooling and culture?
b) the actual saying and wording in some of the psalms and prayers is quite scary.

Islam is a religion that comes to mind so monday morning I headed straight in to Bokus to order some literature to ease some of my curiosity
"What Everyone Should Know About Islam And Muslims" (2005) and
"Islam och Europa" (1995)

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take.
If I should live to future days,
I pray Thee, Lord, to guide my ways. Amen.

Evening Prayer

The core of Christianity - to invoke fear in it's believers.
To keep the people in check. To serve them their opium.
It is the way it goes, u need the whip and the carrot.

This is in not a very large extent the case here today,
but the wording in the prayers and the book behind it is
I can imagine "younger" countries going through the same Christianization
would have more of that today. I won't touch US of A and their relations with religion.
So I'll leave it at this with a short oxymoron:
(Can't really come to an answer,
just wanted to ventilate some thoughts that spring to mind.)

Thank god for for our secularization

---

The day yesterday also held a world première -
A debut for me on the squash-court, and a merry one as well!

Hopefully that can be a re-ocurring event.
(Pricing in Oslo for the curious one - 130NOK/court/30mins)

And to return to the title and fill in the unexplained word left there - bike - I'll just repeat what I've said earlier on the convenient success a bike in the city is. Distances shrink to zero suddenly. Giving me time for other stuff :)

Marrow&Bone

One should always strive to surprise oneself is my motto.
Not to sure I always live by it. Did try today at least.

Checked out http://www.detskjerioslo.no/ and found an interesting art exhibition: Signal from a modem by the Duo Marg&Bein (Marrow and Bone)

The art was mainly done with acrylic paint on canvas with
some additions of metallic pigments to add structure and depth.
In addition to this Bein (Stein) had been using a uv-fluoroscent paint
on a large canvas - making the colors turn slightly more purple
when viewn from a different angle.

There were also two installations made -
both with the purpose to show the beauty in everyday junk we see around us.

What I like about the exhibition was the fact that I had
the opportunity to actually meet and discuss the works with the two artists.
And (un)fortunately there were at the time no other visitors but me.


There were especially two works I appreciated.
(All pictures published without explicit permission)

Marg (Rune) - Mother is wathching you

The picture has a genuine warmth about it and peacefulness. Hence the title "Mother is ..." instead of it's counterpart "Big brother is ...."
It was inspired by an (apparantly) well known Norwegian motif called
"Elg i solnedgang" (Moose in sunset)

Marg - Celtic Night

This one appeal to my logical sense with the symmetries and the
use of stencils makes it clean. In this case I suppose it is some kind of document holder.