I was at my sisters place over christmas, and was reminded of my grandmother by this oilpainting of her (painted by Ragnhild Thrane in 1904). Her mother and father both had unusual family names, and for a laugh I thought I should see what I could find on that grand internet of ours. Continue reading “noble genealogy” »
Dear 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” »
Back in DC. Back to the bones, the squirrels and the schnapps. back to squirrels and bones
oh, what joy!
Again, after the new-years spin it is still great fun to board the cardboard plane and visit the clouds! more pics of the world from above here
2011
an inspired singers epic journey across USA, retracing old history, creating new.
Here i sit, on what can be called my last business trip. I have always been the practical, long-term traveller with the worn out backpack and simple well tested, practical – sometimes filthy – and ugly clothes. Continue reading “fieldnotes: airport class war” »
My brother got his licence a while back; he blames it all on me (whom he should blame though, is the eminent Thore ‘propell’ Thoresen who started it all. So finally, I got to go up ..and see flat, flat Denmark from a tiny, cardboard plane with a lawnmower engine: fab! more! Continue reading “up in the air!” »
what happens in black and white?
days looks different.
melbourne, australia Continue reading “black & white” »
I am a freelancer now, not being able to do an interview the way it is supposed to be done. It is a game; there are rules. There are formulated questions, and therefore formulated answers. I cannot do it.
Continue reading “triage” »
If you ask a norwegian what s/he is most proud of, you might find a usually quiet person prattling on endlessly about natural beauty. Waxing lyrically, this norwegian might go on and on and on and on (and ON) about snow, mountains, deep forests, long rivers, rolling farmland, dramatic coastline, the mad explosion of spring. Ad infinitum. Yawn. Continue reading “norway, my stupidly beautiful country” »
words on paper; from where no signals reach: Continue reading “out in the woods” »
self, at 21, on Fraser Island, Queensland, Oz
I travelled in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand back in the dark ages before the internet. I remember my brother told me before I left, that in the future, I could use any computer anywhere in the world to talk to him. Back then I thought, but why would I want to?
Continue reading “travels with/out internet” »
I have always had a dream of sailing. A few years back I did some serious research, and was pretty close to go either across the Atlantic or across from Africa to India. I had a look at a few shorter, less dramatic alternatives too, but things go the way they go, and I ended up doing that bachelor thing instead. In addition, I am not entirely certain of my own seaworthiness either. I have been on large boats and ferries, where everyone had green faces and fed the fishes. I was bored. It was not entirely comfortable, but most of all I was bored; that there was no-one to hang around in the bar with, telling tall tales. I wove my limbs and sleepingbag through some bolted chairs, locked myself in and slept. Then a variety of ferries in Asia, with chickens, wired-in piglets, and locals throwing up. Continue reading “white sails” »
So what was that bachelor thesis all about? I have had that question a few times, and now that I have room to breathe again, I will elaborate.
At the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., they have a programme that’s been going on for a number of years; The Human Origins Program. This is to bring evolution and research out there, mainly via the exhibition Hall of Human Origins. In the US, this is considered politics. I venture to say that in Europe this is considered history. So as the americans need to do sensible research, they also to a certain extent need to step carefully. Interesting, bizarre and a wee bit disturbing to me; this tip-toeing.
Scientists argue. Scientists have specialities, and some are extremely specialised in very detailed, at times small and obscure fields. Sometimes they want to share, sometimes not. Sometimes they dislike other scientists definitions, sometimes the overlap of fields can be enriching or frustrating. They work on projects, and they create the tools they need. It seems that they, for all sorts of reasons, creates their own databases; gather their data and information in forms that suits them best there and then. Not necessarily very sustainable, but if you don’t want to share your findings, well, I suppose you could have it inscribed on scrolls under your bed. Continue reading “bachelor thesis: a walk in the rift valley, four million years ago” »
I haz nut.
Work work – no time to sightseeing or go arty photographing. Little snippets, though. Continue reading “wildlife, geeklife” »
Warmer days in D.C. (foto by Lars)
Continue reading “days” »
australopithecus africanus, approx. 2.5 million years old Continue reading “relatives and ancestors” »
Ignoring all the stupid meta-problems to solve before proper work can begin, the environment is inspiring. Continue reading “computers & bones” »
This is the first time I’ve been properly stuck. Takeoff postponed for 7-8-9 hours. Good job we got up at five in the morning for this. Continue reading “lost in transition” »
D.C. is a strange city; it feels like a bubble. It is a smallish, administrative city in a very very large and powerful country. It is rather anonymous. It seems, in this city of administration, power and museums, people live here for a few years, and it gives the city a neutral feel. I am sure the masses of security forces helps too. The city have some lovely, quirky neighbourhoods; places I could live. A little outside the centre, there is life. The city centre is over-dimensioned with bizarre architecture. A mish-mash of styles and taste. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is awful. A new nation cherry-picking world history. Continue reading “– au revoir, D.C.” »