En tanke eller to…

May 9, 2008 at 4:41 pm (Everyday life - or just a stroke of boredom, In Norwegian, Thoughts) (, , , , , )

Mennesker er en del av naturen.

Alle ting i naturen streber for å oppnå balanse.

Når man åpner en demning vil vannet fortsette å flomme til vannhøyden er utjevnet.

Når et menneske føler seg til overs har det det bedre der det vet at det er savnet.

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Wh00t!!!!11!!

May 5, 2008 at 6:56 pm (Everyday life - or just a stroke of boredom, News) (, , , , )

I’ve got an apartment, I’ve got an apartment! Nah nah nanah nah!

Me ish happee. ^^

On Saturday, I got a letter from SIO which told me I’ve received a student’s apartment in a city area called Bjølsen in Oslo. Oh dear, I’m looking so much forward to moving in!

And as for the more eventful happenings this weekend, another blog will come as soon as I’ve received some photos. ;)

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Inferno 08!!!

March 28, 2008 at 10:38 pm (Adventures, Music) (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , )

Finally! After waiting for years and years, I finally spent my first Easter at the Inferno festival. I could have gone last year, too, but sadly, I was way too broke at that time. Of course, I was really anticipated about it even before it had started, and I can’t say the festival was a disappointment in any way.
So how did four days of running from music-scene to music-scene and insane amounts of kebab, beer and chocolate go by?
The first thing Linda and I did Wednesday morning, the same day as the festival was about to start, was just going for some shopping and then getting our wristbands. Jan Tore had missed his bus and wouldn’t arrive until later.
The wristbands were handed out at Sentrum Scene, which also served as the Expo-venue. The first thing we spotted was Gaahl from Gorgoroth lurking around outside Sentrum Scene. I think Linda was in a mix of fascination and shock. XD
Inside the venue, the wristbands turned out to be… I can just quote the guy handing them out; “a lovely, pink bracelet going perfectly with your style”. I almost wish they had been baby-pink, which would have made them even more funny, in my opinion.
Linda and I Me and Jan Tore <3
Jan Tore and Linda
When Jan Tore finally arrived we went to the hotel and checked in properly, and then went to stand in the first queue at John Dee. We hoped we would come in time to watch Red Harvest, something which we originally did, but since there was an endless line outside John Dee, and the people at Rockefeller have a lacking knowledge of practical logistics, we ended up standing there for and hour and didn’t get in until the next band started playing.
Luckily, the band, which was In Vain, were pretty good. Didn’t have very high expectations, but they were good. :) It was still quite fun to see how much the singer tried to look evil and scary without much success.

In Vain

In Vain

I was looking even more forward to the next band, though, which was Vreid, a band I appreciate very much. This time I was even luckier, standing in the front row, and I had the bass-player’s shoe about 50 centimeters from my face. It was a really, really good gig, one of the best I saw during the festival, even though I wish they would have played “Væpna Lengsel”, since I love that song very much.

VreidVreid

Sadly, the lack of logistics had made John Dee at least half an hour late that evening, which meant that the last band Jan Tore and I had planned watching that night, Negura Bunget, had gone on stage long before Vreid had finished their gig. We already knew we wouldn’t get the chance to watch much of the concert even if we hurried. We didn’t even know where Maiden, the next venue, was situated. We finally found it, but only managed to see the last two and a half songs. :( Even though it obviously was a very good gig, I was quite sad, since it was the band I had been looking forward to the most, but at least Vreid made up for it to some level.
On our way home, Jan Tore and I stumbled across some foreign girls who tried to make their way to Maiden, struggling a bit with the Norwegian street-names. We tried to explain the way for them, but in the end, the best sign was to look for drunk metal-heads. XD
We didn’t go out that evening, and just went back to our hotel-room afterwards.
And one more thing - the wisdom of this year’s first concert/festival: don’t use Inferno to getting used to new boots. I did, and I didn’t have any skin left on my heels when I was a back at the hotel-room, and my New Rocks were completely blood-drenched on the inside. Well, well, they can’t get more metal than that. XDA proof on global warming? ;p
Thursday started pretty early with the two of us heading straight to Sentrum Scene for the Inferno Metal Expo - which simply could be named “games and activities for metalheads”. We lurked around a little before we headed for Sound of Noise where I spent a small fortune. They were also giving out “free infernal candy” XD It was quite fun watching a foreginer glancing suspicously at a Kvikk Lunsj. And… I also had my breakfast at Sound of Noise that day…
After catching up with Linda again, we went back to Sentrum Scene for the Satyricon signing session. The line wasn’t as long as we had feared. It was quite fun saying hi to them, and they seemed like nice guys the both of them. Satyr seemed as super-social as expected, and Frost as quiet as expected. :p I got The Shadowthrone signed and also got a couple of pictures.
As were all getting hungry for some REAL food, we headed for Jambo, a REALLY delicious Chinese restaurant with reasonable prices in Karl Johans Gate. It was as good as last time, and there were few other people there too, except a family with their little kids and… some more metalheads. ;D

LindaJan ToreGRRRR!

When we came to the hotel, Jan Tore and I started drinking, while Linda started sleeping. Almost. In short, we were mainly fooling around for a couple of hours, until we decided to go down Rockefeller/John Dee again and see some bands.
The first band we had planned seeing was Cor Scorpii. We arrived maybe ten minutes after the concert had started, but it was still lot of fun. Seeing Vreid one day and Cor Scorpii the other at least made certain that the old Windir-spirit was still alive. Good band. :)
After Cor Scorpii, we decided it was time for a beerbreak, and went to Møllers. It was completely PACKED with metalheads, but amazingly enough, we found somewhere to sit. We also met Anders, who joined us for the next couple of concerts.Jan Tore with his best friend - Guinness ;)Guinness!
Next out were Tristania. I guess I can say I had mixed expectations concerning this band. First of all since I love what they did on the first three album, but not at all on the fourth and fifth. Secondly because I had HUGE doubts about the new singer. One might say they honoured my expectations. The gig itself was good, even though they only played two old song. The singer, though, wasn’t all that good. Most of them time, I got the impression she was only dancing around instead of singing. WHen they performed Beyond the Veil, they had even cut out most of the female vocals. Probably because they were mainly operatic. Altogether, my feelings were as mixed when I left the gig as when I came, but at least I enjoyed myself.

Tristania’s new singer

Next band out was Goat the Head, another band I had been looking forward to a lot. Caveman-metal! The band came on stage, blood-soaked, only wearing loincloths, and acted like true cavemen during the entire gig. And not only the show was good, the musical performance was also splendid. I’m quite certain I’ll listen much more to Goat the Head in the future. And btw, if you want a good laugh - check out the song “Otterskull” from their EP, Neander Tales. Need to buy their album, Simian Supremacy, soon. :D

Goat the Head

Goat the HeadNext band out was Behemoth. We were quite exhausted by then, and decided to stand at the gallery instead, something which I regretted a bit later on, since it was a hell of a concert. I’ll probably get a chance to see them later, though. :) BehemothBehemoth

The last band for the evening was infamous Gorgoroth. In fact, neither Jan Tore or I are particular Gorgoroth-fans. Having a certain overview of the music, but neither having any positive or negative thoughts about that band, unlike most people. We were also pretty tired, and therefore a bit indifferent, so Jan Tore and I stayed half of the gig. Gorgoroth played well, but I guess they are the kind of band you have to be a huge fan of, if you really want to get something out of seeing them live. Oh, and since it’s Gorgoroth, their scene-”props” might be worth mentioning; four crosses with two naked men, and two naked women “crucified” on them. A bit ironic since this concert took place after midnight, and it was practically Good Friday.Gorgoroth

After the gig, we headed for Nye Lille Amir, a pretty well-known kebab-restaurant right down the street with REALLY good kebabs. There were some metal-people there and some Arabs who were either VERY drunk, or EXTREMELY hyperactive. At least they were good entertainment. Especially one of them who started talking in Toten-dialect about how “we need to get rid of those bloody immigrant”, then started singing “Jag Vil Vara Din” and kept calling for the chef: “Hey, brother, give me more kebab” “MORE kebab, bro!” At least they put some smiles on our faces. Funny guys. XD

Friday was maybe the most relaxing day at Inferno. We got up late, only walked around for a little in the evening, and then went to see Tulus. Tulus is a band I’m getting to know better by everyday these days. The gig was really good, in fact, it was one of the best during Inferno. A shame I hadn’t gotten more into them on beforehand, so I could follow the songs a little better, but I’m improving. One fun thing was the session musicians, since Tulus use a lot of piano, violin and cello in their songs. The pianist looked like he could play in a or for a band of any genre. The violinist and cellist, though… They looked like they had been dragged straight out of the music conservatory and looked completely lost with their watercombed hair and prudish faces. XD

TulusTulusRAWRR! We’re being evil and metal and shit!

The only other band we were seeing that night was Satyricon, which wouldn’t get on until 01.00 am, which meant we were heading back to Møllers again. It was even more packed than the day before, so this time we had to stand. Still, Guinness was goooood. ^^

Finally, Satyricon came on, and I was even between the first and the second row. The show started with a blast and the title-track from Now, Diabolical. Sadly, I discovered pretty soon that being slightly dehydrated in a packed gig with a moshpit and people standing on each other’s shoes wasn’t a very good idea. Getting very dizzy, I found out it was smarter to stand a little bit behind the moshpit. But in the end, we almost got a better view from that angle, since we were still pretty much in the front-most lines.Satyricon

Satyricon also played a song from their upcoming album. The song was called “My Skin is Cold”, and proved they were continuing in the same vein as they have done on the last two albums. Satyr also proved to be a very carismatic singer, pulling some good lines between the songs every now and then. Satyricon was also one of the best gigs during Inferno.Wonder what he was attempting to do?Satyricon

Not even this night was complete without kebab at Lille Amir. And of course… JELLY BELLIES! I think we almost ate ourselves to sleep on Jelly Bellies that night. :p They are so yummy! ^^

Saturday was the last day of Inferno. We mostly stayed in the hotel room most of the day, finally making a dinner on our own, accompanied by beer-drinking once again. :p The last day was also one of the busiest days.

Tuborg and HansaPaaaanoooraaamaaa! Bands we saw were: Iskald, 1349, a little bit of Burst and Shining. We missed the start of Iskald too, but 1349 made up for it by playing a very good gig. They even had the Celtic Frost-singer as guest-singer on one of the songs.Iskald1349The singer from Celtic Frost

Burst was the biggest disappointment of the entire festival. The flyers had promoted them as a band “especially for fans of Opeth”, so of course, we ran as fast as we could to see them. Bit disappointment. They proved to simply be some poor metalcore-crap with a hing of Opeth-rhythms in their drums. We left after two or three songs.Me at Inferno

Shining was another band I had been looking forward too. The Swedish band entered stage and made sure the creepy atmosphere entered the room in an instant. Their music could best be called experimental black metal, and they’re really good. Their stage-show was pretty weird at times, though. The singer kept cutting his arms and torso, and at one point, some gothic-looking model lady came on stage with a middle-aged man on a leash. The next moment, she started whipping him, and then left the whip for the singer who also started whipping the man. Odd stuff, but the musical part was at least very good.Shining

This night as the two previous ones was icingly cold, so we had to take a taxi back to the hotel this night well. Since we were practically broke, both Jan Tore and I, going out was really something we could afford at the moment, but at least we had a very good time.

Sunday went by filled with packing and good-byes. It was an incredible festival, and I will go next year as well, no matter how poor a student I may be.

A small edit:
SOME of the pictures at the start are taken by me, some by Linda, but most of the band-pictures are taken by my boyfriend, Jan Tore, since he’s a incredibly more gifted photographer than I.

You can check out more of his works here

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Wanderlust

February 3, 2008 at 4:23 pm (Everyday life - or just a stroke of boredom) (, , , , , , , )

I’ve decided I want to go on a holiday - or I don’t know if holiday is the right word - I want to travel! There are loads of places in the world I want to visit, basicly even all of it. THere are quite a few countries and places I’ve had on my wishlist for some time, especially Finland and New Zealand, but I’ve discovered that at the moment, Iceland might be on the top of my migratory wishlist.

The past months, it seems like I’ve been developing symptoms that might turn into some sort of Iceland-interest. For some reason, I’ve been reading a bit about Iceland lately (and looked at LOADS of pictures of the scenery), and been pretty attracted. The music I’ve been listening to and books I’ve read lately haven’t helped much. I’ve been listening a lot to Solefald’s Icelandic Odyssey and Falkenbach. Not to mention that this autumn I had a special-study project in Norwegian where I chose Norse sagas as my subject (I got a 6 on that project, btw :D ). I’ve also read “Gudenes Fall” by Cornelius Jakhelln, which has, despite its fantasy/sci fi-nature, loads of fascinating description of both countryside and the cities. Knowing that the author resided there for a longer period makes the frames of the tale even more tempting and genuine.

As a conclusion of rant: I want to Iceland! :D :D :D

Anyone who wanna join me? ^^

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A howl for a new blog!

January 19, 2008 at 12:38 pm (Everyday life - or just a stroke of boredom) (, , )

At the moment I feel just like Bambi. I’m Bambi, and this is the ice. I knew I wanted a new blog, and after keeping an eye on my friend’s (I should have had a link for her blog, might add it later) blog, I thought WordPress seemed okay. Let’s see if I can figure anything out sooner or later and let this be the first, wee, little try.

I used to write a lot in my Windows Live Space until about a year ago, but since I’ve grown more hostile towards anything controlled by Microsoft, I wanted to change. On the other hand, I feel that lots of the content in that former blog belongs to a different time. Neither am I a fan of LiveJournal and I didn’t want a blog which only was a part of a webprofile of which I have a few. So here I am! I guess I’ll write a little, both in English and Norwegian.

Well, as the template said; Hello world!

(hopefully, the future posts will be more comprehensive)

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