Oslo; part 1

I've been spending the last few days in our not so lovely capital; Oslo. I say this because compared with Bergen, my home-town, does Oslo feel impersonal, strange and cold. But I've been told that this is the case of most capitals...or am I wrong here?
Well, arrived last Friday after a train-trip from Hell (next time I want to have a bed!). It was impossible to find a good sleeping-pose, so guess who was extremely tired at arrival? Me!. I couldn't think clearly and the only thing I wanted was a bed.
No bed for me yet , since me and my friend had to wait at the train-station for 2 hours. This was because the friend I was going to stay at wasn't up before 9:00. When I got inside his door, I immediately crashed on his bed and slept for almost 6 hours. The evening wasn't very special, so we skip that one...
Saturday I went down to the opera where I was going to meet a friend of mine who sings in the opera-choir, and he gave me a guided tour behind the stage. That place is HUGE! So i got speechless. The building is like an enormous ice-cube, covered in white marble.

Every part of this building has been discussed, thought through, loved and hated. And it will inspire for passionate discussions in the years to come.
Well, after the "tour" I made my way to the most genuine Irish pub in town; The Dubliner, to meet a friend from the university. And oh my god, this was a place with a soul. It was quite big, but still intimate. You could almost feel the warmth when you stepped inside. I ordered Irish Stew and Guinness, and I was soon in heaven. For the cooks and barmen who works there know what they are doing.

Yummy

Could it get any better? Suddenly I heard a familiar tune. I went around the corner, and what did I see? A proper Irish gig, with fiddles, tin-whistle, bodhran, spoons and button accordion! I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears. This would never happen in Bergen....

Maybe I'll start something like this in Bergen...

Check out the kilt ^ ^

The fiddler was veeeery good

I was in Heaven! But the evening wasn't over yet. Wales was beating the crap out of Italy in rugby, and I found the game rather interesting. I must admit that I have never seen Italy as a great rugby-nation, but there have to be a reason why they are in the 6-nations-tournament... When the game was over, Wales had 33 points, while Italy had only 10. But this was not the nights greatest game. That was the Battle between Ireland and Scotland. It was truly a battle, and not a game for pompous ass-holes that think a sport can only be a sport if it involve large amounts of money. This was a battle of will and strength, and it was wonderful to behold.

Everybody wants the ball

 

 Can't we make world-peace since we're stuck here?

This soon became the game with a capital G. Ireland took the lead, but Scotland caught up with them pretty fast. And suddenly was Scotland leading with 10 (!) points. The score at the break was staggering 7-17. 

Rugby is a very physical game, and sometimes I wondered how it was like for him who was lying at the bottom of the heap of men, all of them either trying to take the ball from him, or protect him from them. It was very seldom that the referee interfered. It was like all knew how the rules were, and they respected and obeyed them .

In the second period things weren't looking very bright for Ireland, since Scotland was leading with so many point. But maybe they did something during the break, because the teams attitude was somewhat different. They would fight to the very end.

They managed to catch up with Scotland and when there were 10 minutes left of the game the score was 17-17. Scotland made another goal, and Ireland hit back...

But of course,  like Rosenborg in Norway, Scotland got a late goal and won 20-23...

Quite cosy...they had an amazing collection of Irish whiskeys

When I had visited the opera earlier, I had started talking with the man in the café there, since he commented on my Scottish outfit. And he had shown me the way to maybe the most famous whisk(e)y-bar in town: Dr Jekyll. So I went there after the game, and this place had also an amazing atmosphere. Dark, with lot of red details. I felt like I had arrived in Dracula's castle...

Here I decided to try a whisky that I had never tried before: Jura. Oh my God! That was a magical whisky, and I can really recommend it to anyone who wants to try something new

This is the perfect evening: Whisky, Guinness and a lot of talking

The friend I stayed with during my visit; Henrik

So when I went to bed that night, was it with a smile on my lips. I knew that the next day would probably be quite as awesome as this one had been. The next day would be my birthday, and I will tell you about it in the next post

I'M GOING!

Big news: I'M GOING TO IRELAND! Still cannot realize what has happened....
I've been talking about this for years, and suddenly it's a reality. The best birthdaypresent EVER :)

So prepare yourself Ireland

12th July!

What a day!

St Patricks Day is really the day when EVERYBODY is Irish; and since I had delivered my thesis I decided to join the fun at my favorite Irish pub in Bergen: Finnegan's. I've told you about this place earlier, and the way they celebrate St Patricks Day is amazing. Came in when they opened and sat by the bar, reading with a pint of the black stuff by my side. Everywhere I looked I saw shamrocks, leprechauns and Irish flags. After some minutes my friends came, and we toasted for Ireland, and the Irish people. This was going to be a nice evening. People where coming and going, and all of them in a wonderful mood. the fact that it was raining and that the snow had turned into slush, didn't seem to bother them. They were ready!

During the evening, more and more people were coming, and the place got rather crowded. But noone got irritated if you bumped into them, you just said Slainté/Erin go Bragh or something similar, so they understood that your intentions was Irish.

There was also an Irish quiz, which was very funny. Hail hail for Anthony Hill :) There were bagpipes, singing, LOTS of Guinness and the overall mood was fabulous. Here are some pictures from the evening, hope you like them...

John the Boss

a couple of these went down...

cool guys in the bar ^^

Pål enjoys a well deserved pint

Finnegan's own private mural

starting to get crowded ^^

Bergen Pipes & Drums

Me and my friends having a few laughs

a proper irish man (they exist in Bergen too)

ERIN GO BRAGH!

Much to do behind the bar (credit to you guys)

All I can say is that is was a wonderful day/evening/night, and I really looking forward to next year

SLAINTÉ!

The place for inspirational writing

I'm at the moment in the middle of my bachelor-thesis...well, I'm reading and taking notes, and trying to get down to writing the paper. But who said that life was easy? Noone! So I hope that my notes will be readable so that the paper will end up like a bachelor-thesis should; filled with dried up talk about numbers and figures.
But I don't want to do it like that. I want to tell about the souls and the peoples experience of emigration.
I want to touch the hearts and minds of those who read it. Well, bad for me that I'm going to the academic institution of the University of Bergen, so I'm forbidden from doing just that.

In the middle of all my problems concerning the thesis; I have found the perfect place to write it:

Finnegan's Pub

There are nobody there when I've come there the past few days; just me and the very nice bartender. The inspiration lives in the woodwork there, and it comes streaming into my mind when I enter the place.

So I should actually write a thesis about the place and not about the destitute irish emigrants that ended up in New York and Boston...

So cheers/prost/slainté/ skål for the Irish, for Finnegan's and for all of you who inspires me everyday

Some Irish inspiration

In my search for some inspiration, I found some wonderful bands that is as crazy in their music as I am everyday.
Hope you'll like them too...
Amazingly, there actually exist some "irish" - punk-rock in my city. So on St Patricks Day, which is only 10 days away (hurray), a band called Shenanigans will play at the best Irish Pub in town; Finnegans...I will probably write a ode to that pub some day, after a couple of pints ^^

Sheninagans

 

I really look forward to this, both because 'everybody's Irish on St Patricks Day, and because I will deliver part of my thesis that day (good reason for some partying...)

the next band I will mention here is also from Bergen; The Greenland Whalefishers. A little bird told me that they are named after a song by The Pogues. Can anybody verify this? Well, their music reminds me of Flogging Molly, another one of my favorite-bands :p

 Greenland Whalefishers

And this next was a true surprise; because they are German, but sounds unmistakeably like they are Irish. So don't think you know what something is before you've heard it ^^ Don't judge the book by the cover...

So here you got them:

Fiddler's Green

Last, but not least: FLOGGING MOLLY!

I cannot stop smiling when I hear these guys. They are so energetic and fun and  their lyrics have always some kind of edge. Their last album; "Float" is perfect for cleaning the house and get some energy out of the system.

This one; "Drunken Lullaby", makes me wanna JUMP, until I'm exhausted. Perfect for an ADD-case like me...

So listen and HAVE FUN!

Memory of good old times

 Per Langhelle 1945-2010

Today I will tell you about my uncle. He was the greatest uncle anybody could have; he was funny, serious, had always time for a chat, and his heart burned for his family, friends and his hometown. I will always remember the Christmas-parties with the enormous turkeys, where my uncle and my father always sang something by their favorite song-composer; Evert Taube. The way they told the story Fritiof in Arkadien; they gave life to every word and every note. Another great memory from these parties was the games after the famous dinner. We have a tradition in our family, that once a year we play this game called "animal, mineral or plant" (almost similar to 20 questions, just with no limit), and my uncle always got the tricky ones to figure out. Once he had to guess his way to the lost finger of Boris Jeltsin, another time he got the left eyeglass of Yassir Arafat. So it has never been easy. But somehow he managed them all. 

My father and my uncle were both alike, but also different. They were like Yin and Yang,  they complemented each other. Who can forget the speeches they held at each others  60-years birthday-parties? They knew how to get people in a good mood, and my uncle was especially good at putting a smile on people's  faces.

He always had a joke up his sleeve. If there ever was a moment of awkward silence, he would break the spell with a witty comment or even just a smile!

I will remember him as a good person, a friend, and a terrific uncle. He will be sorely missed by his loving family, friends and the city as a whole.

We will never forget you

Rest in peace

The devil of our lives

The Devil is a fascinating figure, you never know where you got him..If you think that I believe in him, as a reality like sunshine or rain, you are mistaken. I'm just intrigued by his presence in the human mind, like a nightmare from the first days of our existence. He frightens and fascinates us. He never play by the rules, and you could say that he's a trickster...Or maybe there's more to him than that?
Even though our time isn't obsessed with the devil as a reality and a cause to all harm, we still feel his presence. In our everyday choice we are faced with the possibility of evil- and good-doing (I can't find a better word to describe the actual happening). We can choose that our actions is for the good of man, or we can act selfish and don't care about other than ourselves. We think "survival of the fittest, at any cost", and nothing can stand in our way for self-fulfillment and success. We leave a trail of darkness, jealousy, pain and hate. This is the Devils trademark. He sits in the corner of our mind, laughing, and hope that we will repeat and repeat.
The Devil does not exist, but he lives through humanities cruelest features.

You can find him anywhere....