crime and punishment

My next-door neighbour is the guy responsible for the bomb in Oslo and the massacre at Utøya. It is a prison. But there is an ironic twist, that he is incarcerated at Ila Landsfengsel. During the occupation of the second world war it was only known as Grini, the first concentration camp in Norway. It mainly housed political prisoners, and a large percentage was transported to the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Continue reading “crime and punishment” »

the mysterious case of the dead dog

An insane man have placed poison around Oslo, hidden in little piles of sawdust, to murder dogs.

I woke up yesterday, to a flood of warnings on facebook, telling me about this deeply disturbed individual, and that several dogs had already died. Even in my grumpy pre-coffee morning haze, something smelled a little off. Continue reading “the mysterious case of the dead dog” »

#occupy

occupyDear Amerikay -
You have some people camping out in your parks and squares. They are not so happy. Your middle classes are becoming the great, unemployed masses. It is quite simple really, it is the rat analogy. Corner a rat, and see what happens. Corner 2000 rats and see what gives. Continue reading “#occupy” »

best books – non-fiction

Some of the best non-fiction books I have read. Some of them are not necessarily well written, and would not win prices for excellent language; at least one of them is actually annoying in that respect, but I have included them because the subject is interesting/important. I am sure I have forgotten some, but there you go. Teflon brain.

The art of looking sideways
Alan Fletcher
This is how it looks like inside my head. It a fountain of musings, facts, the odd, solid, and whimsical. It is design, doodles, unfinished thoughts, images, drawings. It is colours, shapes and wisdom. It is a delight and frustration at the same time – if I could show what goes on in my head, this is pretty much it. Continue reading “best books – non-fiction” »

Northern Irelands silly ghosts. Attempted murder, hahaha!

northern ireland, the foyleI admit I don’t really keep up with Northern Irish news much these days. It’s either desperately provincial – or just plain desperate. Yes, someone planted a bomb the other day, and yes, somebody got hurt. And I’m sure the obscure rural radio show is still going on without me. So. Some things never change.
But the other day, I got tangled in a BBC-infused NI-news-net. And some old skeletons dropped out of the closet. Good old names like Michael Stone and Mad Dog Adair.
Gerry Adams and Martin McGunniess nearly had their parliamentary meeting disturbed by Michael Stone, the old rascal, who wanted to slit the throats of the Shinners. Seriously. No kidding.

Michael Stone – exceptionally bad haircut and not-a-winning personality – stuck his nose out again, and this is a good wan!

Continue reading “Northern Irelands silly ghosts. Attempted murder, hahaha!” »

media – gossip central and major irony

I don’t read papers much anymore, I don’t have a telly.

In fact, I have been sans telly for …oh.. the main part of the last sixteen years. I had a telly the first four years, I used it as a pedestal for potted plants and asian souvenirs, considered making a fish-tank out of it, and watched, hungover, all in all four hours of the good Sir David Attenborough. I had it for months before I turned it on to figure out if it was colour or black and white. The thing is: some things on telly are good. Some first class stuff. But it is surrounded by trash. So either you turn it on – default – and accidentally bump into something good,… or… I simply forgot when to turn it on for the good stuff.
Continue reading “media – gossip central and major irony” »

The great student riots of 2008

In the spring of 2008 campuses all over the country exploded in political protest. Riots spread like wildfire, and creative students built barricades of tables, vending machines and arming themselves with molotovcoctails and general kitchenwear found on campus.

The first buildings they occupied, was the server and computer labs, and from there coordinated their actions. In Østfold, they painted the glass walls and brick buildings with slogans of politcal dissent, and set up watches with web cameras and sensors on the roof of the university college.

The leaders of the riots said to the press, via video interviews, that they will not give in, that the demands must be met, and that the educational system..

Continue reading “The great student riots of 2008” »

Perfume for my x-mas tree, salt for my hair

Going to my sisters place is fraught with danger. She’s got a large basket with newspapers, economic tidings and interior magazines. It’s the latter that contains pitfalls.
On one hand, I like to flick through others’ creativity; other ways to treat three dimensions. Bear in mind that all these magazines are worked over the same formula, and are – these days – endless pages of whitewashed walls, empty spaces and the the odd chique madonna & child, in a seemingly random combination.
Do not be fooled. The casualness is bollocks. And the fact that all the delightfully manipulated photos are taken at some unspecified holiday-lunch-time, with pale light filtered through casual fabrics the owners “picked up” in Marrakesh. Continue reading “Perfume for my x-mas tree, salt for my hair” »