1 month

The sun is shining outside and I believe the spring is on its way...but what am I doing? Homework!
The reason for this is simple: 1 month until my 2 excruciating exams; piano and singing, so I have to spend every moment available rehearsing. The pianoplaying is the worst, since I'm so slow with it, though I seem to be able to play both "The Highwayman" by Loreena McKennitt, "Foggy Dew" and "Johnny I hardly knew ye".

When it comes to singing, the theme I'm subconciously have chosen is "murder". I have to sing for 15 minutes, and so far these are the songs I've chosen:

• The Ballad of Sweeney Todd - sooo hard to learn since the singer and the piano will go "crashing" into eachother throughout the whole song...but who am I to complain? It is Stephen Sondheim's work after all...

 

• Mackie Messer - awesome blooddripping song by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht. Gives me a chance to be quite theatrical and dramatic...so looking for a blue handkerchief, a knife and a hat...

• Where the wild roses grow - Nick Cave..what more is there to say

So back to rehearsing...and in 5 weeks time I will  be out of here

Me singing....oh my god

One of my favorite songs

My new home?

Can you guess where I have lost my heart?

Hamar

19. February 2012

Yesterday I experienced something I probably will never experience ever again...sadly..

It was time for Rammstein again, a band that has 'followed' me through much of my life thanks to my older brother who introduced me to their music when he was babysitting me and my sister maaany years ago..
Rammstein is more than just a band, they are a phenomenon. Their lyrics can be said to be hiding in plain sight and it is easy to just see one layer to them, just see something that you cannot take seriously.
But they are, in their own peculiar way.

It was a cold and sunny day, and after nearly 3 hours standing outside Valhall where the concert would be taking place, I could barely feel my toes. But believe me: IT WAS WORTH IT!
Inside we got some places up on the tribune so we would look down on the stage and as the night progressed we understood that we barely could have chosen better places to stand.
Quick I changed into my corset and was ready for an evening of epic proportions.

First on stage was Deathstars, an industrial gothmetalband from Sweden. They have musical elements that I find interesting, but all they did this night was to play what sounded the same throughout. As my friend said: it sounded almost like an everlasting song. It also felt like the vocalist had a really crappy microphone, so I couldn't get much sense out of what he sang or said. The one guitarist was cool though; head-banging like no other with VERY long dreads. Esthetically it looked like a mixture of Marilyn Manson, a tiny bit of Rammstein and a hint of something dark and funny...

But we had not come to listen to Deathstars, and we almost counted the minutes, the second until Rammstein would go on...

And what an opening! They came marching in, not onto the enormous stage in front, but from behind the audience, carrying flames and flags. A pathway were lowered from the ceiling and they could walk across the audience onto the stage. If the audience could have shot sparks from anticipation...the room was buzzing.

The setlist was totally amazing, combined with as much flames, lights and fireworks you can imagine. And the whole concert felt like it could go on and on..like it could never stop.
From where we stood we could indeed feel the heat, and Rammstein gave its audience what they had only dreamed about but what they knew Rammstein would be the only ones that could pull it through.

• Sonne - they really started with a bang, and when we sang "Einz, zwei..."etc the flames followed us faithfully. 
• Wollt ihr das bett in Flammen sehen - one word that echoed in the room during this: RAMMSTEIN!
• Keine Lust - this has always given me some kind of goosebumps, and I certainly got it yesterday
• Sehnsucht - one of the songs I don't know very well, but still I enjoyed it immensely
• Asche zu Asche - from this I couldn't stop smiling. Their music makes me happy
• Feuer Frei! - What would this song be without flames, fireworks or Till going mad on stage? AWESOME!
• Mutter - felt good to wind down a bit with this which I consider one of their most beautiful songs
• Mein Teil - of course Till had to dress up as a butcher and boil Flake...freaky and intriguing
• Du Riechst So Gut - at this point I know there is no return, this is becoming the best concert EVER
• Links 2-3-4 - makes me want to march...
• Du Hast - time to go mental! When the whole place was singing along, I got goosebumps that never disappeared
• Haifisch - Flake in boat...floating on the audience. A hint to Mackie Messer I've been told...(not the boat, the song)
• Bück Dich - oh my f****** god! Drummer in a dress with the rest of the band in leashes, like dogs. They were moving across the bridge once more and suddenly the scene was in the middle of the audience. 

This is from Moscow...and convey what I try to explain...

I simply love this song...am I weird? Yes

• Mann Gegen Mann - this song made me want to dive deeper into the album "Rosenrot"
• Ohne Dich - I nearly cried here...so sensitive and deep-felt..one of the many highlights
• Mein Herz Brennt - fitted so perfectly after Ohne Dich...hard to describe such a seamless concert
• Amerika - sing-along! and...glitter
• Ich Will - love this song because it really invites the audience into taking part in the song as they answer Till as he sings "Kann ihn mich hören (can you hear me) and we answer "wir kann dich hören" (we can hear you). Nearly no voice left at this point...but I don't give a damn!
• Engel - Till will make a terrific angel...he was wearing angelwings that shot flames...almost speechless and smiling like a maniac
• Pussy - Feeling like a child again...jumping up and down, headbanging and screaming in joy

When it was over, I could not believe it: I had witnessed something that will mark me for a long time, something that will make me smile when I think about it, and which has confirmed my ties to this band and to their music.
All I can say now is this:

THANK YOU RAMMSTEIN FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE GIVEN ME AS I HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR MUSIC. 

30. january 1972 - 40 years ago

40 years ago the events of Derry shook a whole world.

38 of these have been poisoned by those responsible not wanting to face up to what they had done.

After 38 years noone could hide the truth anymore and now they who are left behind are being given a possibility to step out of the shadows of the past and look forward.

The poisoned wound is clean and the healing can begin.

To those who died

A new inspiration

And here we are, in 2012. The year of the dragon and a time to look for inspiration. I'm halfway through my musical studies here in Volda, and since it is driving me mental from time to time I've decided to get read more.
Not curriculum or boring books about didactics, singing technique or how to survive as a student.
No, I wanted to return to fictional litterature and first on the list was Lord of the Rings...until I picked up a book which did not seem very special. I sat down and started to read...
I simply devoured the pages, I could not stop reading and in two days time I was through 390 pages! I asked myself what had just happened, and I understood: this was a book to get addicted to.
Can you guess which book I read?

It felt so good to be able to sit back and enjoy such a good piece of writing and now I've started on the second part of the first book....
My recommendations to you all: Read it and you will not regret it

Ireland in pictures

Kinlay Hostel

Just to be sure you get it

Maybe they are right - from Cork

Michael and Levi - Ballyliffin

Baaa!

Our street in Dublin

Porterhouse

Outdoor market, just around the corner from where we stayed - Dublin

Bird caught on cam by my sister

the traffic don't scare me...

he seemed to pop up everywhere in Dublin...

not an ugly, but cute little duckling

the beaches of Tramore

Not something you see very often: a shy donkey - Fanad

Handmade by Brian, our host

Interesting....

Isn't there??

Detail from Howth

Perhaps needed when you are taking the train from Cork....?

Do girls need more guiding than boys?

Detail from Cork

Heaven on earth

Michael's clothespeg-bag

Memorial for those who fell in the Anglo-Boer War - Belfast

Detail from Kelly's - Belfast

When the drink is in, the sense is out...

Beautiful church in the southern part of Belfast

From the botanical garden in Belfast

What I found when I got lost in Belfast

Detail from the Crown Liquor saloon in Belfast

My Irish adventure: Last day

Our last day in Belfast, I couldn't believe how fast the time had flown. It was a warm and sunny day, and I hoped to show Solveig some of the troubled history of the place. This meant: a black cab, Shankill and Falls Road, and a cabdriver eager to tell us everything about the places that we would visit.
As you may have known, I took this tour with my friend Steven last summer, so I mostly did it again for Solveig. But as people are different, the tour had another "flavour" to it, and it was very interesting to listen to the stories our driver told us.

This gun will always point at you no matter where you stand...freaky

The hand of Ulster in another setting

The Peacewall

"God! How does one drive these?"

Solveig  and our driver

 And so passed the last day in Belfast...when we were dropped off downtown, we just wandered around a bit, feeling the atmosphere.
I think I actually prefer Belfast to Dublin; rougher round the edges and less self-righteous. It has managed much better to keep its soul in a way...go to Belfast, and you will know.

And here we are, at the end of my story of what happened during my adventures in Ireland last summer.

And guess what? I'm coming back next summer!

Thanks for listening

PS: if you want more, check out the pictures in my next post

My Irish adventure: Belfast (in the middle of everything)

It was with great sadness that we bade goodbye to Ballyliffin, Michael  and Levi, and it seemed that the weather was grieving too...
But we had arrangements in Belfast, so all we could do was to dry our tears, shove all our stuff unto the bus that would take us to Buncrana (where we would take a bus to Derry, where the bus to Belfast would be going from...and I thought the bussystem here was tricky) and look forward to the adventures that would be awaiting us.
Once more I had managed to wander straight into a turbulent time in Northern Ireland (we came there  on the 1st July). Last summer I had arrived on 12th of July, which is perhaps one of the most important days in the marchingseason, and a day that has a rather bloody history. We knew that there was rioting going on in the eastern parts of Belfast, but luckily we would couchsurf in the southern part.

We were going to stay with a girl named Ursula who was living in Ebor drive, a 100% neighbourhood (protestant that is). We got there in the evening after a long day on the bus, and it felt so good to put down our rucksacks and just have a cup of tea. The evening passed quickly, and since we were going exploring the next day, we went early to bed.

Oh what a sunny and warm day we got for our excursion. We got on the bus downtown, and the first plan was to find something for breakfast. So we ended up outside the cityhall with some sushi's, sandwiches and juice. And there we sat in the sun with no definitive plans for the day, except a vague idea about some museums.Or maybe not...

Outside the city hall there were some strange objects, an artproject about environmentally awareness. A tree made of tires, soles and shoes as the strange, hanging fruit. And all around the hall I found treasures, like a dinosaur, a fish and an earth in the cruel grip of a robot. I'll once more let the pictures speak for themselves

A modern fossil

The fish of bottles

The grip of used technology

Makes you think, don't it?

 After eating our breakfast we went exploring, pretending to be anything but tourists. If I remember correctly we got lost a couple of times, but in the end we found what we were looking for: Kelly's

Yep, a pub.....but a pub with a long, crooked and intriguing history. It was reputedly one of the meetingplace of the United Irishmen lead by Henry Joy McCracken and Theobald Wolftone, some of those who played a crucial role in the rebellion of 1798. So before going home to Ursula, we sat down for a while, had a pint and just enjoyed the histories that seemed to seep through the walls.

A good advice I would say

Maybe the wish of many?

a little tradsession

The sun shone down upon us when we walked back home, and tomorrow there would be museums...

 *next day*

Exploring Belfast on my own became a fascinating experience, and as I am a habitual person I went straight for the botanical garden and Ulster Museum which I visited last summer.

And what a garden! How could I miss it last year? The greenhouses were in the same style as in Dublin, and they were filled with exotical trees and flowers...and on a sunny day like this: extremely hot to walk around in.

And then I found the rosegarden...few words can describe the colorful sight in front of me, only the song "Red is the rose" sneaks into my mind.

Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows

Fair is the lily of the valley

Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne

But my love is fairer than any

Not red, but still a rose

I even found a rose called "Peer Gynt", named after one of Henrik Ibsen plays....

And just to mention it: my favourite among the roses aren't the bloodred one, but the fragile twocolored one in the picture above...

The perfect contrast to the rosegarden became the cool, white Ulster museum which has wide reputation for its historical exhibitions. But the museum also contains almost everything else, from owls to dinosaurs, paintings and artefacts from around the globe.

At the end of this day my feet hurt a bit from all the walking (I even got lost at one point), but I had seen so much...and was about to see even more.

Because that very evening when we had sat down to watch a movie and talk about our experiences, we were interrupted by some loud noises from the street. Of course we had forgot the whole marchingseason!

To see this take place made me feel somewhat uneasy, but still fascinated as history were being shown right before my very eyes.

So as soon as this was over we quickly retreated back to the couch to watch "An Everlasting Piece"

A little peak for you

So this was Belfast, first chapter...are you ready for more?