...what we do online echoes in eternity: 2009

20090614

Better than the real thing ...

... sometimes it actually happens - that the film is better than the book. If these two can be even be described. What this is all about? -Well 'the Bat' of course.

Batman - the Dark Knight Returns as a film and comic can't really be compared on the same day so I won't, but that said - the comic is great and the film better.

The comic then, well it's Frank Miller and it is neatly drawn. I do like even more flashy crisp fully colorized drawings than this but it works. (I still hold a good Wolverine number of this over this compare: Blood & Sorrow)

The story on the other hand is a great one. The plot in short - Bruce Wayne has put his costumed alter ego Batman to a rest for ten years, Commissioner Gordon is a week from retirement but things get messy in Gotham City as they often do. Bruce can't resist the urge to clean the mess up and Commissioner Gordon wants to leave his post with a clear conscience and the town in a good shape.

Throughout the book we are pulled through the classical dramaturgic roller coaster, we get to see the rise and fall and in-betweens of Batman and his allies. But what I lack is the villains. Sure there's one or two tossed in here and there but the main enemy now is a horde, a grey mass of "Mutants" without personality and seemingly even without any other vicious grand motives than to destroy Gotham. Where's the Joker's world-wide-affecting smile-bombs and the Penguin's army of robot penguins or whatever.

Still we got some gadgetry and motors of the more evil kind - the "Batmobile" is nothing short of an indestructible truck and we get to see Batman bleed and torment, we get to see an aged Clark Kent steer off a Russian nuke as a little hint to cold war clashes between the US and them.

All in all this is indeed comics and especially super hero comics at its best but I expected even more. But then again I demanded nothing short of '300' of "This shit is the best I've ever read and seen"-level and I didn't get that. Can't wait to get down to the local dealer and get something new to sink my teeth into - Suggestions?

20090526

Wanted [Comic]

I've read the comic Wanted a few weeks ago but haven't gotten around to review it just yet.

"Average Joe"-type of guy finds out his dad is an infamous villain that is part of a large organization of criminals ruling the world after they had battled out all the superheros in the grand battle a decade or two ago.

This is the starting plot in a great read with quite adult content, no not that kind of adult, but explicit language and sex scenes and such. For a generation like me that is brought up on "Bamse" and "Donald Duck" it is great to see the bad guys actually beating the crap out of the good guys and so on.

The way Weslay finds this out is in many ways a parallell to what Nemo does in Matrix and in the same way I can't help but seeing how similar the character Wesley and Eminen are and even more so his "fan" Stan.

All in all you get what you expect, some twists and turns, not overly thick plot, but greatly drawn panels in a colored realistic modern way - exactly how I like my comics.

But what is more important this brings me one step closer towards unwrapping the plastic around my "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns"
Mark Millar - Frank Miller ... so similar names, yet they play in different leagues.

See you next Batbloggpost, same Battime, same batchannel.

20090506

What would Banksy do?

The girl of my dreams, woman of my life, live-in, friend, lover and apparantly soon-to-be partner-in-crime. Came up with an idea or if it rather was a "dream" she shared I am not to sure which.

But she thought it would be cool to make a stencil and post somewhere - something that was our own. Well if this isn't our own then I don't know what. Time will tell where it'll end up. But be sure to look out on the city's walls while in Oslo next time

For those of you that are inclined to crime and would even consider making one yourself, here's how to:

While in Photoshop - Image - Desaturate
Image - Posterize (2 levels)
Filter - CutoutClean it - make sure there's no isolated areas of white, can't cut that way.
Trim uneven edges and simplify graphics
Print
Cut with a razor or scalpell
Tape it up on the designated spot
Spray - remove paper - watch it dry
Enjoy the new streetcred earned!

20090505

My Baby's Coming Home

När morgonsolen börjar värma sovrummet
När vinterns bruna träd väcks till liv med grönskande blad
När syrenernas knoppar varslar om den väldoft som komma skall
När russens glada tillrop och framtidstro skänker hopp om framtiden
När Nordmarka lockar med långa promenader runt tjärn och sjö

Det är då jag får hem dig till denna stad i försommardräkt
Det är då jag blir hel igen

Welcome home love - in three days, three long weeks are over!

20090406

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

This is a bonus story that I didn't realize until getting home and googling the name of Saturday Night's Pub - Deacon Brodie's Tavern

With its upstairs restaurant, is situated on the Lawnmarket at its junction with Bank Street. It is a large traditional pub, popular with tourists and with a wonderfully ornate thistle ceiling. It is named after real life cabinet-maker, William Brodie who was elected a Deacon Councillor of the City of Edinburgh in 1781. By day Brodie was an outwardly respectable citizen and pillar of society, but by "night he was a gambler, a thief, dissipated and licentious." To support his lavish lifestyle Brodie would copy the keys of his wealthy clients and return at night to rob them. He escaped to the Netherlands after being recognised at the scene of one of his crimes only to be caught and returned to Scotland. He was hanged from the city's new gallows at the Tolbooth (which ironically it is said he had a hand in designing) on 1 October 1788. Such was the public interest in the case that it was said to have been attended by a crowd of over 25,000. It is also said that the story of Deacon Brodie later served as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde".

A glass of Strongbow over at the Tavern

You'll have to decide by yourself if this man is currently Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde ...

20090405

Pour me a Scotch

This could be a hymn for her, celebrate the fun we had - the joy to see her - the times we spent.
But it's not ... this'll be a short summary of Edinburgh Town.

Got there late Friday night and signed in to "Royal Garden Apartments" - a decent place to stay all in all, free internet and muffinses situated a few yards North of Princes Street and Waverley Station.

The actual toursting took place between 8 am and 4 pm.

8:00 - got down to Holyrood Park after passing the University and House of Parliament. (The latter one apparantly given several international architecture awards - bullshit if you ask me)
From the westernmost plateu I got a good view of the City and the natural eyecatcher - the Castle.

9:00 - strolled slowly through Old Town and got to see a rich variety of pubs and clubs at Grassmarket (saw a few of them while driving in to town Friday night too) and eventually got up the "Granny's Green stairs" to the Castle

9:30 - Edinburgh Castle - the place where Royalties have been living since 12th Century and the place was an interesting attraction but not THAT fancy.

10:30 - "The Scotch Whisky Experience" - was an hour-long tour and taste experience through the four regions and their different flavours as well as a short tour on the production process of Whisky. All in all quite interesting. Well worth an hour an £11.

12:00 - found a cozy "close" and sat down for lunch, soup&sandwich with a *ehum* typical chocolate fudge cake for desert before the walk north started

14:00 - Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden - this was a success. Didn't see even half of it but still enjoyed it quite a lot. Spent well over an hour going throught the ten zones in the Glasshouses and that was well spent £3:50

16:00 - met up with the Mrs, relaxed had a bath, got ready for down-town action and we ended up at "Hannah's" - a Kurdish/Iranian restaurant (The Witchery was full). Great meal there and then straight down to Grassmarket for desert before stopping by a genuine pub along the "Royal Mile" before finishing the day.

Urban Angel

Sunday had a wonderful start of the day at a cozy eco-fairtrade-local grown-modern-hippie-cafe (Urban angel) with the best muesli-fruit compote-yoghurt-jam-experience I've everhad as well as the sweetest scones man has ever sank his teeth in.

____________________________________________

20090402

I watch the Watchmen

Rorschach's Journal: October 12th, 1985:
Tonight, a comedian died in New York.

If I may, I'll just cut'n'paste my own review from the forum

Läste ut serien över en veckas tid, gillade den som fasen.
Men att sen se adaptionen till vita duken överträffa det -
ja det var baskemej trevligt. Att slås av den klockrena castingen
(nja ... dvärgen i fängelset var iofs pissdåligt val men kanske dåligt utbud av korta killar)

Vad har vi att göra med? Jo ett comic-epos från mitten 80-tal utgivet av DC-comics
ritad o skrivet av Dave Gibbons o Alan Moore (V for vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)

Vi har kallt krig, vi har superhjältar, antihjältar vi har överhängande risk för kärnvapenkrig vi har kommunistskräck, vi har Nixon vid makten för 3e (4e? 5e?) gången i rad.

Vi får flashar av Warhol, Bowie, Kennedy-mordet, vi har underbar musik - Simon & Garfunkel, Dylan, Nena (!), Cohens Hallelujah.

Vi bjuds på (av-)maskerade superhjältar utan mer krafter än sitt civilkurage

Mycket jag kan spåna vidare runt, Rorschach's ständigt skiftande mask. Night Owl's duala natur som ärkemes o atletisk uggle-hjälte.

Ja jag sitter kort och gott igen med känslan efter 2:45 att här har skaparna gjort vad de ska i sina jobb.

10 av 10

What I do miss from the movie though - something that of course might be hard to translate to the screen - is the parallell story going on at the newspaperstand, where a kid reads a comic which is interlaced in the real story. A comic in the comic so to say. The whole story at the newspaperstand is actually left out. As well as the psychiatrists discussions with Rorschach, quite interesting ones in the book but all too short in the film. (Is it just me or does the voice of Rorschach sound hilariously similar to that of Clint Eastwood?)

What I don't really miss but what is a major difference from the paper copy is the ending. In my opinion it gets slightly too simplified - won't spoil it but the paper copy has a more intricate ending.

And as I said, what I really really love is the striking resemblances between the comic version of the characters and the ones on the screen.
Rorschach is brilliant, Nite Owl's glasses as nerdy as expected. Jacobi as sick as one could wish for. Ozymandias as distant and "plastic" as needed.

-We have to compromise! Rorschach
-No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. ...

20090328

Can't you understand, oh my little girl?

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unneccessary
They can only do harm

Adam - Enjoying the Silence

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes

Watchmen by

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons on DC Comics from 1986.
Read it through like a breeze, the themes are known in the comic world, Cold-War fear for the Russians and the nuclear threat is imminent. The artwork is rich and beautiful and weaved in the "original" story is a parellell story on a shipwrecked man seeking revenge on the pirates that supposably killed his family - but where the hate and revenge turns him in to what he fights.

The story is in my opinion strong and rich, the obvious heroes aren't always the heroes and the villains aren't always the vile.
The climax and ending is built up as much as it is surprising.

All in all a great work I enjoyed reading through in these days when the cinema shows the white screen adaptation (finally!)

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes - Who watches the watchmen

A Hard Day's Work

Waking up at 07:03 to a blinding white landscape at mum's place to a day of endless possibilities.
After a steady breakfast of eggs and rye-bread I start shoveling snow to make a path for the afternoon's sauna. Something that also required a hole of 2-by-2 meters to be made in the ice.
These wee small tasks were made before the city kids that were out yesterday have had their first morning puke. Off I went for new tasks, these requiring some heavy duty machinery:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood

So before the clock had struck ten we had filled a hanger with wood and spent some time driving around the woods on the all-terrain-vehicle.

And now at noon i still have 12 waken hours to spend doing something fruitful and rewardindg. My suspicions point to sauna @ 15:00. Vättern Crayfish for dinner with brother home from his Dylan-concert and until then I think I might just spend an hour or three reading last year's Nobel Prize winner Le Clézio's "Le procès-verbal" (Rapport om Adam)

This is quite exactly what a stressed out none-sleeping non-reading Adam needed.

20090324

A Fourth of 2009

A quick look on my post for what I expected from 2009 :

Miss Right - hoping to involve myself in a relationship this year
Friends - will try seeing even more of you all
Lovers - will try getting even more of them :)
Travel the world - in mind as in body
Less drinking then the later half of 2008
...more drinking than the first half of 2008
Some sort of therapeutic examination to check how I am doing
Lasers - pew-pew. Hope to get my eyes fixed a.s.a.p
54 km of skiing in the Birkebeinerrenn
89 km of cycling in the Birkebeinerritt

Blogg less
Read more
Exercise more Fight less
Ride a horse
Climb a mountain

Seeing the progress so far, I can indeed say 2009 has held a lot of good surprises. First and foremost of course starting something grand up with miss Right. The two off-track items requires some attention though.

I need to stop slacking on contacting and visiting friends. I guess there's this "2-month-immunity" when you enter a relationship and are somewhat excused by your friends for not being there and crazy in love, well those two months are over. See you soon! :)
The travelling isn't really bothering me, have spent most of this first quarter of 2009 in Norway but has still managed to drop by Trysil, Hemsedal, Lillehammer - three new locations.

I got a slight issue with the "blogg less"-item, not all are very happy 'bout that. Sorry Em, I might shape up some :)

Gloves in Hand

Hand in glove
The sun shines out of our behinds
No, it's not like any other love
This one is different - because it's us

Hand in Glove by The Smiths

20090119

Close - Closer - Closest

Godgiven Godson

I was trusted with the task to get dear Håvard to sleep tonight in Emilie's birthday party. I won't say much but nothing warmens my heart more than getting the little 10month-old-treasure to fall asleep on my arm and hear his heavy slow breathing. It wasn't more than a 20min power nap to him, but it restituted me in more ways than one.
Thanks dear nephew - the sweetest, calmest, warmest little thing there is.

I would love to use this other half of the post to continue on the warm embrace of someone else's arms but will leave it by replying to the old "2b or not 2b" that I guess I'll "B" - capital B that is. :)
Thanks for two great weeks and hope to see more of you for a long time.

20090106

2008 - images of memories

In the background of this image, but yet I managed to do 2 BJJ matches and 1 Muay Thai-fight, and actually lost them all three. Compared to last year's five wins out of five.