tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40126699609059720272024-03-05T21:10:47.657-08:00Fair ContemplationsPonderings on life, culture and technology from a nordic perspective.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-65712890565212244322015-10-25T12:20:00.001-07:002015-10-25T12:20:17.084-07:00Jian<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>Accepting change as we<br />seek beyond and within<br />An extension of mind<br /><br />Crucial connection fills<br />barriers and opens a stream<br />of endless surrender<br /><br />Let go and forget <br />what you know<br />Through weakness you are strong<br />As humility cradles the heavens</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-76605521938113492872015-10-04T10:07:00.001-07:002015-10-04T10:07:06.792-07:00Old StoriesConnecting old hard drives to explore old files is a strange thing. Old images, projects and text files present an interesting snapshot of who you once was, who you still are and, perhaps, who you will become. There is a certain irony to being against data collection whilst avidly collecting and keeping all kinds of data about oneself. Yet I feel these traces of the past need to be stuck there, on these dusty old hard drives I keep in my closet. This is not a matter of physical space, perhaps it is mental space? Old memories remain through these drives instead of synapses. It is possible to relive them if I should want to. Otherwise, they do not exist. In that case, are they still memories if I don't remember them?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZJ1bwzc1M" target="_blank">Autumn 2010</a></td></tr>
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<span id="goog_72783152"></span><span id="goog_72783153"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-10908587988318179452014-08-24T05:08:00.001-07:002014-08-24T05:13:06.719-07:00Open Access - A blessing or source of confusion?<div>
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In 2012, The European Commission announced that all research funded by the Horizon 2020 program will be Open Access. This means unrestricted online access to finished and peer reviewed research papers. UK research funders have also released similar plans the recent years. Now, Open Access isn't a new concept, but it seems like the world(meaning funders) is finally beginning to embrace it.<br />
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Open Access makes me positively excited. If you look at the fundamental purpose of research, it is (in my humble opinion) all about elevating humanity through new discoveries. How can you do this by keeping your newfound knowledge to yourself(ignoring ethical reasons)? Ironically, this is exactly what the research community has been doing through the years. Closed journals with expensive entry fees usually makes access impossible unless you are filthy rich or connected to a paying institution.<br />
Yet you often hear complaints on how new discoveries are misrepresented and twisted in the media. How can we complain if we don't let all journalists read the source?<br />
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In an ideal world, I imagine news articles with lovely citations and references, where it is possible for the journalist to present the real numbers and discussions, not just the conclusion(which often isn't conclusive). I imagine a world where the reader can easily look up the papers and check the facts straight from the source, without having to rely on the abstract alone. Or as a researcher, you don't have to hassle your library to order specific papers from journals you can't access, but I'll focus on the public in this post.<br />
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Unfortunately, I realise this is slightly utopian. I am not blind to the often black/white representations in the media. Where the research world thrives on perhaps and maybes, the popular media relishes stark contrast and clear cases. A "Z might happen if X is this and Y is that, but we need more testing" rarely makes the headlines(or if it does, it's "X causes Z!!") . <br />
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Reading and understanding research papers is almost an artform. The lingo and phrasings can easily confuse the most seasoned professor. Is it possible that free papers for the public can cause even more misrepresentation of research? I imagine three reporters reading the same paper, getting three different interpretations and three different sensational articles in the media. Will we get an even more confused public that shudders at the latest reports? The phrasing "Agh, those pesky scientists never find out anything useful, use our tax money and always change their minds" comes to mind.<br />
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With Open Access and the media of today, having skillful presentation of research is more important than ever. Perhaps we will see new degrees called "Scientific Journalism" in the future(or perhaps they already exist)?<br />
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There are many technicalities around this issue, mostly money based. Nevertheless, I strongly believe we can get around those in order to bring new knowledge to humanity. That is why we do this, right?<br />
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Read more:<br />
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/open-access-open-science<br />
http://www.plos.org/open-access/<br />
http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-65448668961503846852014-07-30T11:23:00.001-07:002014-07-30T11:31:30.374-07:00Water<div>
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Every month, I receive some tea from the lovely people of the Global Tea Hut. Finding this package of love in the mail is a highlight of the month. </div>
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This month I received a lovely red tea with the beautiful name "Daughter of the Forest". What a special tea. A group of people from the community travelled to Yunnan, China and participated in the creation of this tea. The leaves were rolled by many different hands and in the end combined for the final tea blend. What a beautiful testament to the intent of Global Tea Hut, where people from all over the world share the same tea during the same month. If you enjoy tea, I highly recommend checking these people out. A lovely and welcoming community that I appreciate, even if I don't know the people personally.</div>
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This particular day I didn't have anyone to share my tea with, any human at least. I am lucky to have a river as my closest neighbour, so I opened the windows and let the flowing river and trickles of rain be my tea companions. As this river ends up in the drinking water, there is a possibility that my humble bowl of tea included parts of the river. My tea could once have been the rain splashing down as thunder and lightening started filling the sky.</div>
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I love how tea can instantly connect you to the nature that surrounds you. As I drank the tea, these thoughts made me look at my little droplet decoration that I once bought for a water charity. The glass droplet with water inside rests on a silvery ring with the inscription "Water~Life". Almost everything is connected through water. Life and water has a symbiotic relationship where life will cease to exist without water. Water is the seed to life(To be fair, energy, carbon and other things are too, but I am being poetic here!). </div>
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Water is also the main ingredient in tea. I am so lucky to live in a place where the tap water is pure and better than the bottled water. Whenever I travel, water is what makes me miss home the most. When I get home from travels, the first thing I do is fill up a huge glass of water and chug down the most amazing drink this planet can offer.</div>
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<i>A strange little flowery companion. This one also likes water!</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-33745794749282848272013-08-29T12:36:00.001-07:002014-08-29T07:18:11.384-07:00Do we need game research?<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: NittiWM-HD; font-size: 22px;">
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Indirectly related, as I'm getting more and more excited about Dreamfall Chapters!</span></i></div>
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Game research. These words often make the gamer shudder. It is my impression that many gamers, or even game designers, are doubting the point and benefit of game research.</div>
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Do we really need game research? Should it just be left alone as a natural art where game designers do their own thing? It might seem like game designers and researchers live on different planes. Research and reality(reminds you of biology vs humanities?). Personally I'd like to see a blend between the two. There is no point to research if it can never be applied to reality. Vice versa, game design or the way we think of games can always be improved by good and relevant research.</div>
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What good does game research do? I wouldn't want game research to simply be the systematic explanation of what we already know. As it stands, there is a lot of knowledge on game design. I would like to take it one step further. Games are more than Starcraft or the latest Grand Theft Auto. Games offer us the opportunity to tap into interesting parts of our psyche normally not seen. Buzz words such as gamification and serious games have been around for a while now, but do these have anything to offer? There are many good and bad examples, but let me show you some of my favorites! </div>
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I have enjoyed using the workout tracker Fitocracy which incorporates various game mechanics. You get xp after tracking your workout, there is a level bar, quests and achievements to win. If you respond well to level mechanics, this will work great for you! I would call this good gamification. A great example of serious games is how the Norwegian military uses simulation games to practice teamwork and communication skills in serious situations that are hard to replicate in real life. These types of games would not be around if there was no knowledge of the player and the psychology of gaming.</div>
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Understanding the gamer is crucial to game research. How does the gamer react to various game mechanics? Does game mechanics overide other important elements in the game? Games for learning often attempt to put some sort of curriculum on top of a well established game mechanics to promote learning. But lets face it, would you truly learn molecular strucures by playing a bubble shooter with molecule "bubbles" and somewhat correct matches you had to create? Chances are, you'd simply play the mechanics after a while, not caring about the bubble graphics. This argument is often used to refute arguments about game violence turning the gamer violent, they are just playing the mechanic of reducing health bars and moving onto the next! What is more interesting are those who watch. The experience of sitting next to someone playing a game could be very different than being the one with the controller. How about kids watching game violence played out by their parents. Is it possible that they could link the action to their parent and take damage from it? We don't fully know, yet.</div>
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These are just a sample of interesting questions and dilemmas surround the world of games.By use of reliable game metrics and controlled experiments, I think there are many interesting things we can find within the gaming world. Perhaps it can even help us understand more about ourselves?</div>
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Personally, I think game research should be fuelled by both the desire to make better games and wanting to harvest the fruits of powerful game mechanics in useful ways. This might sound idealistic, but isn't that what all research is? Curious, ambitious and with the desire to improve.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Detail of a beautiful University glass painting, "Science and religion". </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Education" by Louis Tiffany.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-24457800783514959732013-06-29T03:20:00.003-07:002013-06-29T03:20:54.995-07:00Who do you think you are?Generally I am happy and content with my Scandinavian and Northern Norwegian culture, although there are things that I'd be more than happy to throw away. The prime example here is the renowned Jante law. This is a set of rules that describe the ugliest and most ingrained part of Scandi culture. It basically tells the individual to submit to the general consensus and never ever try to stand out or attempt to "be something".<br />
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This law looks like this:</div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think you are anything special.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> are as good as <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> are smarter than <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to convince yourself that <i>you</i> are better than <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> know more than <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> are more important than <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> are good at anything.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to laugh at <i>us</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think anyone cares about <i>you</i>.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You're not to think <i>you</i> can teach <i>us</i> anything.</span></li>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Pretty depressing stuff. The "us" in this law describes the majority of people, the masses. Even though this was written in 1933, the concept of the law is very much alive today. People don't think about the law, but it hides deep within the national psyche. Although I agree with and sometimes like how most Norwegians are humble in their efforts, this Jante culture is easily destructive.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Most of the time I like to think of myself as a person who has thrown this pattern of thought in the trash. Unfortunately, I caught myself in a most unfortunate way yesterday(which is also why I am inspired to write this. I read an article in a local newspaper about two young girls who spent a considerable amount of money on a 9 week trip to South America to mix studying and cultural experienses. Suddenly I found myself thinking thoughts like "What a waste. They could have saved the money and worked while finding out what they really wanted to study. They probably were study loan leeches who had joined many programs before and never decided..." WAIT.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I was "us". Ashamed, I had to admit to myself that I was thinking in the exact pattern of the Jante law. "Who were these girls to brag about their experiense in the news? Who do they think they are?" (See law 1, 4, 6 and 10)</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">What was the problem, I thought. These girls had said in the article that they loved their trip and had gained so much personcal experiense from it, they were happy. No, <i>I </i>was the problem. More specifically, my thoughts were and they stopped me from being happy for these girls who had an amazing experiense. The more I thought about this, it annoyed me. It looks like I still have more work to do with myself. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">In an earlier post I wrote <a href="http://faircontemplations.blogspot.no/2011/01/wisdom-from-book-of-javi-part-one.html" target="_blank">a little piece</a> on how your thoughts are the beginning of everything. Your thoughts lead to what you say, what you say leads to action, your actions lead to your habits, your habits to your character, and in the end, your character is your fate. Eventually, I intend to rid myself of this silly thought pattern. It all starts in the mind...</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-83135283120389207612013-06-25T11:03:00.002-07:002014-01-04T10:54:40.308-08:00Book Review - Parable of the Sower<div>
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<b>For quite some time I have been intrigued and fascinated by dystopian stories. I think it is the mix of prophecy and description of how people cope with a difficult and sometimes deadly society that triggers me. After plowing through the classics I was tired of the gloomy big brother'esque stories. </b></div>
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<b>Not too long ago I came across "Parable of the Sower", a book written by American Octavia Butler. Apart from having an incredible first name, she also wrote an amazing story called "Parable of the sower". As I do not enjoy spoilers myself, I will keep this spoiler free. </b></div>
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The story centres around Lauren Olamina, a 15 year old daughter of a baptist preacher living in a walled neighborhood, set in a semi dystopian 2024 USA. We never truly get an explanation of what went wrong with the world, but it seems like a mix of climate change and economic collapse hurled the US into chaos. We follow Lauren throughout several traumatic experiences in an unforgiving world and her spiritual journey of creating a new religion for herself.</div>
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The two qualities about this book that makes it stand out is its excellent character development and believable society. With only 329 pages, there isn't too much space for cramming descriptions into the story. What Butler did well for this story was to weave character personality and traits into their dialogue and actions. Society is experienced as the characters live it rather than explained. This is done with the finesse that I loved Dune (book by Frank Herbert) for. </div>
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Throughout the book, several new characters are introduced without being too vague or too elaborated. I heavily enjoyed this. I also want to give the book a heads up for the believable character development. I especially enjoyed a segment where a few characters who were neighbors their entire life found out that they never knew one another at all and restarted their friendship.</div>
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This book deals with several themes that usually isn't found in popular dystopian literature. The protagonist is an African American woman, which in itself is a fresh change and also understandable as Octavia Butler herself was of the same background. This is however never the main point of the story, while there still are hints of a world with women's issues and trouble for mixed couples. The story also digs into the paranoia of growing up in a world where your neighbor could quickly become your enemy, who do you help and who do you abandon?</div>
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As the story progresses we also learn to know Earthseed, the new religion created by Lauren. As I personally love religious references and explanation, I wish that the story would dig into the core of Earthseed instead of swirling around its edges. This is my personal opinion and the descriptions might have been enough for others. I enjoyed reading the Earthseed verses at the beginning of each chapter and did not perceive this as preachy in any way. I think it is refreshing to read a book where religion is used as a part of the narrative because it allows for dialogue between characters you normally wouldn't find.</div>
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When asked about this book while reading it, I described it as "The Walking Dead" (Game or TV series, you chose) without the zombies, plus a sprinkle of religion. Overall, I think this description captures the feeling I got from most of this book. Eerie, scary and immersive. A great read! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-22281176245668145432013-05-09T04:53:00.002-07:002013-05-09T05:26:59.797-07:00Concert Review - Eivør Palsdottir (Hamar - AnJazz)<p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uI5k3ItJrd0/UYuWAaHe9SI/AAAAAAAAJTU/cGRqQxA3iHQ/s1600-h/201358211517889_3%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="201358211517889_3" border="0" alt="201358211517889_3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQKUXiul_Kshs8t95H3o4_FCj1yDCbwplaG_lSOIemYZHJXs2CYHb4Tl5TaLkRKK2wXvQHigdNVifITrg4rT1BvEIGtPR4m4xKGGILK31aFtVxOwDT6VM7lxiZb-7uLKVC7qDpHxC9o8/?imgmax=800" width="480" height="336"></a><a href="http://h-a.no/Kultur/Kultur/tabid/359/articleView/true/moduleid/204041/Default.aspx#.UYuT6rW-18E" target="_blank">Source: Hamar Arbeiderblad</a></p> <p align="left"><br>Those who know me well are familiar with my bias towards the Faroese singer Eivør Palsdottir. Ever since I first heard a clip of her singing about four, maybe five years ago, I was absolutely captivated by her voice and the very soul of her music. It is hard to describe why I like her music so much. My best guess is the eclectic mix of traditional elements I can relate to as a Scandinavian and the modern mix of various genres. I was trying to think of how to describe it one day and came to the conclusion that her music is simply Eivør Music.</p> <p align="center"><em>Feel free to listen while reading:</em></p> <p align="center"></p> <p align="center"></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 448px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:315352e7-1fc6-4d94-b54e-03aa0a1f3c34" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="b750769c-0d58-4ec5-9813-05ca4a59eb14" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvAWuGzAVs" target="_new"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TNRW_jl91ok/UYuWCUEEcEI/AAAAAAAAJTk/maD68DkMfIE/videof19be9d01569%25255B16%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('b750769c-0d58-4ec5-9813-05ca4a59eb14'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/PrvAWuGzAVs?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/PrvAWuGzAVs?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p align="left"><br>As you probably understand, this review will be slightly (okay, very!) biased and full of praise, but I will allow myself this privilege.<br><br>First things first. Her voice shines with exellence. I would go as far as saying that singing is her native language. I got the feeling that she was playing around with the various notes, high and low, without any hesitation or force. She's simply a natural. From the reactions of people around me, everyone were stunned at the vocal performance. Most of the time, artists tone down the vocal range when performing live, but in this case it is completely the opposite.<br><br>It is also easy to see how she lives within the music itself. With every strange gesture and flick of the hand, her entire body reflects the music that's being transmitted to the audience. A joy to the eye as well.<br><br>Her band and backup singers offered a new dimension and depth to the songs. I especially enjoyed the dark arrangement with a heavy, almost house like beat for "Nu brennur tu i mær". Absolutely fitting to the song. The sound was tight, well rounded and professional. Only once did the bass get too intense, and I noticed the bass player correcting it immediately, good job. Props to the musicians and sound technicians. <br><br>My favorite moment of the entire concert has to be Eivør all by herself, only with the company of a drum. Trøllabundin is one of the first of her songs that I heard and also one that made me intrigued. Throat singing in its various forms isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I find it to be an interesting contrast to the beautiful bird twittering singing. The moments where she mixed elements of throat singing and various jumping sounds I will only describe as one thing, cool. I had hoped for it to happen and I was not disappointed!<br><br>I had hoped for a couple of songs from Larva, which is my favorite album by her, but it is completely understandable to focus on the latest album. If I had the joyous option of making my own set list, I probably would have included Undo Your Mind, Min Modir, Vøka and Livandi Trø. Nevertheless, I was completely satisfied and was smiling inside out the entire evening.<br><br>My inner fangirl was pleased as well. After I bought the "Room" LP, I asked the man selling them if she would come out. He told me that if I stuck around a bit, she just might. So I waited for a while. After 15 minutes, I knew I had to leave soon and my heart sank as I understood it probably wouldn't happen. Suddenly the guy selling the album nodded at me. He asked if I was still waiting, which I obviously was. He told me to wait a little bit and went off. How exciting!<br><br>In my mind, I had planned what to say. But when I actually met her, it was just like the Katie Melua song where she's 22, but acting 17 (Except I am 25!). I thought I had learned to be calm, but there I was, starstruck. I got to tell her a couple of things and she complimented my necklace. <br><br></p><span id="goog_775688881"></span><span id="goog_775688882"></span><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-oqAX6Z12Eek/UYuWDZKBfUI/AAAAAAAAJTs/Z-KjDCVZNbg/s1600-h/photo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="photo" border="0" alt="photo" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkiGsz3uPwhNwfbty5Cs5GrrSO2Y1M3FsBiYY2J23ZbRpV7fyQbxXS70fQh1ZxRXy5Zuubl7o3xZWO7QqCMGqHUMniFw2ra5lCVP3qvE5Yp01z-yt4QlMdxTLz2LR9aTCZA7iD3JiTmU/?imgmax=800" width="280" height="377"></a> <p align="center"><br>An amazing evening.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-9091580367865077282013-04-21T11:10:00.001-07:002013-04-21T11:48:15.859-07:00Sunday Thoughts - Use the stairs!<p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font> </p> <p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode">A thought crossed my mind not too long about using the stairs. Of course, we all know that always using the stairs is a tiny thing one can do as a part of living healthy. On the other hand, there are stairs we often forget about that differ from the physical ones.</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Stairway-to-Life-304243651" target="_blank"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="stairway_to____life_by_missv10-d514zwj" border="0" alt="stairway_to____life_by_missv10-d514zwj" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Yj4t7lCjwYRMllO2jinAoC34hozUbiDbFaLz9sRPj5wy82Z-8rzDuLJBjn25aaZj4_i_fsgQUosq2kZ414Fms6cXC0fw9x5_GQYz2TNmQD__ydSqTN5v3qwqQHab0Q157FUe8Is8AuY/?imgmax=800" width="477" height="535"></font></a><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"><em><a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Stairway-to-Life-304243651" target="_blank">“Stairway to…Life” By Miss Valentina</a> <br></em></font><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font></p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"> <p align="left"><br>During work or social situations, it is smart to use the stairs instead of the elevator. The stairs are heavy and can easily hurt after a while. But, as opposed to the lift, you walk the road yourself and gain strength. If you always use the elevator, others could easily slip in on your ride, running out first to get to your goal before you can reach it. The elevator does not make you stronger. If it is you who sneak in on the ride of someone else, you might not be able to deal with the consequenses if you are forced to using the stairs.<br><br>As an example, a colleague is always freeloading on the results of a better colleague. The better colleague suddenly is sick for a couple of weeks. The freeloader can't produce the same results as he's used to leaning on the other colleague to finish. The charade is over.<br></p></font> <p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font></p> <p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font></p> <p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font></p> <p><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"></font></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-30976375940547971812013-03-14T12:52:00.005-07:002014-08-29T07:24:29.334-07:00Quick thought: Do you own your face?Do you own your face?<br />
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This might seem like a strange question, but hear me out. Every now and then, I hear stories about girls being addicted to makeup. Those who say they cannot leave the house without at least some amount of makeup on. The phrase "putting my face on" is frequently used. This ranges from those who use a little bit of mascara and foundation to those who go through daily makeup rituals lasting at least 30 minutes before they are ready to leave the house.<br />
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Blaming society and getting into the social mechanics of makeup aren't the things that intrigue me the most about this phenomenon. As I thought about it, the psychology behind "putting my face on" was very interesting. As a disclaimer, I am not a taught psychologist in any way.<br />
My thoughts on this is as follows. When you wear makeup every single day for an extended amount of time, your makeup face becomes the face that you and your peers get used to seeing on you. This washes out the line between the real you and makeup you. At this point, it is easy to feel a sense of dissociation with your natural face. As your mind sees your makeup face as the real you, your natural face becomes alien, a stranger. Speaking from personal experiense, I clearly remember this feeling after trying out an amazing cream I ordered from abroad which made my skin look absolutely flawless. After a about a month, it became hard not to wear it because my skin looked too different from what I had gotten accustomed to. That was my telltale that I should probably cut down on it. I don't want to lose my own face! While this case was fairly innocent, a little bit of imagination can portray how this situation looks like if you wear a lot of eye makeup, which can dramatically change your appearance. Example:<br />
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This phenomenon is very interesting, but also sad. It is sad to feel that your natural state is something alien to you, as if there is a stranger looking back in the mirror. I don't have a good solution to this issue other than taking care of your skin and forcing yourself not to wear as much makeup all the time. Aka getting to know your own face for what it really is and taking ownership over it. If you wear a lot of makeup, ask youself this every once in a while; Do I own my face or does my makeup own it?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-6559020146795290362012-09-09T10:57:00.001-07:002014-02-09T08:00:41.891-08:00Sunday Poetry - My Grandmother's Needlework<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I look up<br />at the frayed<br />tip of the thread</div>
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<br />in the sampler cloth<br />where my grandmother created<br />a barefoot girl</div>
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<br />holding a bowl<br />of lemons,<br />her hair</div>
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<br />braided back,<br />an oval of vines<br />around her,</div>
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<br />tiny leaves<br />not quite closing<br />at the bottom</div>
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<br />a space of<br />untatted white perhaps<br />a gate ajar</div>
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<br />where her sadness<br />or dreams<br />escaped.<br />.<br /><i>by Andrea Potos</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-34908247352685779752011-11-13T07:31:00.001-08:002013-03-18T11:16:55.676-07:00Sunday Thoughts - Undo Your Mind<br />
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</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the water</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>crystal clear</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>on the earth</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>and in the air</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the shadow</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the light</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the day</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>and in the night</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>filled with fear</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>filled with faith</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>the one who´s true</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>the one who betrays</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>will you surrender</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>before it´s too late</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>do you believe</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the golden gates</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i can feel it all around</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in every song in every sound</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the mountains in the trees</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i feel it in the air i breathe</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>hear the whisper</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in your ear</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i´m in love</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i do not fear</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>inside your heart</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>beneath your skin</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>it´s in the dream</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you’re living in</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>can you rise from the dirt</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>can you love like you´ve never been hurt</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>if you´ve been hurt</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>can you still believe</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>can you set your spirit free</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the seeker</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the child</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the lion</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>running wild</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the master</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the slave</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>you are the door</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>to your hiding place</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i can feel it all around</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in every song in every sound</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>in the mountains in the trees</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>i feel it in the air i breathe</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i>undo your mind</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><i></i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><i>---</i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><i><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvAWuGzAVs">eivør</a></div></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-28508032939871900362011-11-06T02:15:00.000-08:002015-10-04T10:14:13.546-07:00Sunday Poetry<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Calm sundays are well fitted for poetry and thought. So I thought I'd share with you this poem I just found. It is written by </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Maya Angelou, an American autobiographer and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer". Enjoy.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://designnrg.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1ygha">"Like a bird" by Chris Mayernik</a></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IA4iksJw1-sA3pAwN0nXyjoPg9nDVP1ZwQd23r5x6pq4hjKgTforWJGcrtmvsjkEtk_qRCgplHw-PXfnY5IASZBP8ULBJO-ziohnOPC3Qt7Q8qnwi-lBaNzUNqxEc9g6lDHUoSPEGTE/s1600/like_a_bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IA4iksJw1-sA3pAwN0nXyjoPg9nDVP1ZwQd23r5x6pq4hjKgTforWJGcrtmvsjkEtk_qRCgplHw-PXfnY5IASZBP8ULBJO-ziohnOPC3Qt7Q8qnwi-lBaNzUNqxEc9g6lDHUoSPEGTE/s640/like_a_bird.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h3 style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">
I know why the caged bird sings</span></h3>
<div>
<div class="top" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 25px; text-align: left;">
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<i>A free bird leaps on the back</i></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<i>Of the wind and floats downstream </i></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<i>Till the current ends and dips his wing </i></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<i>In the orange suns rays</i></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: center;">
<i>And dares to claim the sky.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">Can seldom see through his bars of rage</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
So he opens his throat to sing.</div>
</span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">The caged bird sings with a fearful trill</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">Of things unknown but longed for still</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
The caged bird sings of freedom.</div>
</span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">The free bird thinks of another breeze</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">And the trade winds soft through</span></i></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
The sighing trees</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright</div>
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Lawn and he names the sky his own.</div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams</span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream</span></i></div>
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His wings are clipped and his feet are tied</div>
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So he opens his throat to sing.</div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">The caged bird sings with</span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;">A fearful trill of things unknown</span></i></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
But longed for still and his</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Tune is heard on the distant hill</div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif; line-height: 24px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
For the caged bird sings of freedom.</div>
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</span></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-73480537362859494102011-10-07T05:15:00.000-07:002011-10-09T01:13:54.136-07:00Language and self expression<br />
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.43409171025268734" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it easier to express yourself in another language than your native language?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a question that left me been pondering as of recently. What made me pose this question is music. Music itself can talk to you no matter the language you speak, but what about the lyrics? Here in the Scandinavian part of the world, the vast majority of all musical artist produce English lyrics for their music. Some might claim this is done to enjoy a broader appeal internationally. It's hard to go sky high if your language is only understood by a few millions of all the billions of people inhabiting this earth. This is a valid point of course, but I want to delve into this phenomenon from another perspective.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are the Scandinavian languages lacking a depth of expression which leads us to use the English language for music and poetry?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is true that the Scandinavian languages are beaten by the English language with regards to vocabulary.(find number of words in both languages and compare) This heavily affects the dynamic of the language. When writing poetry and musical lyrics, one will often want to play with words, make rhymes and generally have fun with the language itself. It is much harder to do this successfully with a smaller vocabulary, which is the case with the Scandinavian languages. This fact will often result in lyrics sounding too simple and childish in a way that will make Scandinavians cringe. However, when it is done well, it truly displays the strength and beauty of the Scandinavian languages.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a foreign language acting as a shield, giving you some distance from the actual matter when you use it instead of your native language?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is something that I have experienced that I am doing unintentionally. When talking to my friends about serious and personal matters, I went to say the important things in English. I can not completely explain why I am doing this, but I can always guess. I think speaking in a language you have learned well later on in life is not as tied to you as your native language from your childhood. This means that you are not as mentally attached to the language, which gives you some freedom in regards to who you are when you speak it. A friend of mine once told me that he liked himself better when he was speaking in English. To me, this is extremely interesting and proves as a pointer to what is going on. Another language with no connection to the person you have been your entire life gives you the freedom to reinvent yourself and be how you want to be but do not dare to in your native language. With this in mind, it makes more sense as to why most musicians chose English as their language of choice.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But this makes me wonder why we do this. Are we afraid of expressing ourselves in our native language? Why is this? Perhaps the strong mental connection that we have to our native language makes it so personal that it makes us feel “naked” when talking about difficult things with it. Personally I have found myself saying short sentences about very difficult things in English and not in my own language without even thinking about the fact that I did:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever the reason might be, it surely consists of many partial truths which will wary from person to person. There is no set truth as to this phenomenon, but one thing is for sure, languages are beautiful and intriguing beholders of culture. Do not forget yours.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>While one can question the meaning of the lyrics, this song offers some of the most beautiful play with words I've ever heard in music.</i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-36323913634330448662011-07-17T01:26:00.001-07:002011-10-18T00:45:05.527-07:00Fairground<div align="center">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bDn1z5-rLd0/TiKctVHL1_I/AAAAAAAABSc/axbNMEIbZsM/s1600-h/IMG_5447%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_5447" border="0" height="312" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6Vpk_TXX17Q/TiKcuaijcVI/AAAAAAAABSg/gEjrT6yXVsw/IMG_5447_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="IMG_5447" width="446" /></a><br />
<em>She said meet me at the fairground<br />Half past one and seven minutes<br />Let us try some rides<br />I heard it could be fun</em><br />
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<em>She said meet me at the fairground<br />Only bring yourself and noone else<br />Let us be alone together<br />I heard it could be smart</em><br />
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<em>She said meet me at the fairground<br />Let me whisper in your ear<br />Forget all you know about me<br />I did not hear a word</em><br />
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<em>She said meet me at the fairground<br />Half past one and seven minutes</em></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-59134298964045465332011-07-10T02:01:00.001-07:002011-10-18T00:45:18.419-07:00Walking Without Glasses<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-THFL2ElS9KM/ThlqXvwhIdI/AAAAAAAABQg/BImHIwmH88E/s1600-h/IMG_6901%25255B13%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6901" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl-njxC2Fy_xlK6TvlwSCVDmOmtL0YlP63KnGoYXERbw50pGGjN-b5dmboiTJsMXfCcd4_OFGvBYSxdyaER6h9h0rYooom_a0ub6ISjrFQnZ5EOJ2Co9O2aBQ06zFLgWLCt3W8x3J6N0/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6901" width="445" /></a><br />
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<em>A Lucid Image<br />Blurry Sky<br />Leaves and Wind<br />In a Mosaic Play</em><br />
<em><br /></em></div>
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<em>Close Images<br />Sharply Non Distant<br />One Focus at Hand<br />No Surroundings</em><br />
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<em>Be Careful<br />Do Not Strain Your Eyes<br />Remember the World As It Is<br />When Walking Without Glasses</em></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-4471851350715971742011-05-23T04:17:00.001-07:002011-10-09T01:13:30.412-07:00May Days<div align="left">
We’re nearing the end of May rapidly, time passes quickly(Says Captain Obvious)! As there are other things to be dealt with at the moment, this post will mostly contain visuals. However, images are probably best for describing May here in Gjøvik. It is truly a beautiful place to live in. I have been out walking/cycling several times during this month, just enjoying the season.</div>
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<br /><em>From a late night walk with a friend(note the little boat out there)</em><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6narJIJz-Vr4qMbQROD1Hd10Q_zz0JMTqD4y-Fdh6lm0eoBX_VG69Gt1ZFXCXIe4TDMmPpFGcP7BBg2wYnamIeC41MMh6iJtnctz3RWUqO1E08M0dfcGWO-FgSm6mGHXECU4oKJMwTHs/s1600-h/IMAG0128%5B36%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="IMAG0128" border="0" height="279" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCSEXTh6I/AAAAAAAABPM/52K86WKV6Lg/IMAG0128_thumb%5B32%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMAG0128" width="465" /></a></em><em> </em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRHo9pofeamC5NUnOXUsYKANEEX_lujGFcdSft1oiP4nsFuN9C2YL1c7p5M_uBBu9lqanCDmpRgMEnrkSjB_gNFYM3VWoVUiQpGhEMWnhfgPvmFExkLvDwvFy1SoNVTVnGbY4HEGE26X0/s1600-h/IMAG0128%5B23%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><br /></a><em>Finding friends in trees?</em><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCTGp-V7I/AAAAAAAABOc/Zw3R_ky32Do/s1600-h/IMG_6823%5B16%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="IMG_6823" border="0" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKXi-GT5GFo_iOcEQ4n0hfIbVlEJGHXIeiDsCyq0R_VJvI6ZhE-wobuhyphenhyphenCXy8rm4zj7PRslwFgwzaZ1O-PoIf1ROnFrzRPvLSWYXuFk4-0EqelpPJ11iaqpyCL5-NvEZoDGpUfvSZ7Jk/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6823" width="465" /></a></div>
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<em>Beautiful Norwegian forest..</em><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCT0yU3bI/AAAAAAAABOk/iDCVRcnLJhg/s1600-h/IMG_6863%5B9%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="IMG_6863" border="0" height="310" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCUps3YdI/AAAAAAAABOo/G1gnpbCIzpc/IMG_6863_thumb%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6863" width="465" /></a></div>
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<em>..and a lovely bed of flowers.</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNN2cFlYS1enxd9X4-MQoyC4_e8ppMC_UqDVkoeUjXUxbBIIkFBA2waKSV6Wd88uJasHBOgBanfwBA8ryG2IZmR8s9LaRFQjRyECmUkmoieyAeD_Bk6oGUAIwyxiQl9q91VfDN9p-V77o/s1600-h/IMG_6852%5B7%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="IMG_6852" border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMYRHQJBHTk9Q_DyFWoyuFhapR_EoiFTq20fD0sjmQWc-ityfRXV_t3RyHcMDv161MpZRzVNihrTbn0jcxh4rOnxRUvlsSlvEY7N3p-tEC_xeeCQNtMXWxVotMRILB_6qOw57lphpvH8/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="IMG_6852" width="465" /></a> </div>
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<em>Out cycling above the lake Mjøsa</em><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCWShsFEI/AAAAAAAABO0/dnpdi68OZhs/s1600-h/IMAG0133%5B6%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="IMAG0133" border="0" height="279" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TdpCW7TnAZI/AAAAAAAABO4/a04UjZG2y4M/IMAG0133_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMAG0133" width="465" /></a><br /><br /><em>Some video footage from my phone</em></div>
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<em>Me acting dignified(?!) on the Norwegian national day(17th of May)</em></div>
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Summer is coming. :-)<br />
Enjoy!<br />
-JaviAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-67460268838539522182011-04-30T12:57:00.001-07:002011-10-09T01:13:11.386-07:00Kings, queens and purple unicorns<img alt="kingcrown" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ScISQafvrJlkKTyDb3nxdkbP791vZrrOWoUGOJ8W_qmb7Yq1JlQ9vaRuxAZwGsvB9ekhIlc9Su7tdRlFO-vAz_20q6V9PYIbwxbjmyYGzkvymtoHupoQNNqQWz7UWLenrDfieBqAtwU/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="kingcrown" width="180" /><br />
You would have to live underneath a rock not to have noticed the royal wedding ruckus going on this week. All the fuzz made me think about a few things. Before you run away screaming, do not worry, I will not delve into matters of gossip, hats, dresses and newfound hot sisters(none of these are necessarily bad, mind you!) What came into mind was the role and purpose of the monarchy in the modern world.<br />
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My initial thought to this has always been of the sceptical kind. Keeping a hereditary royal family in a modern society does not easily make sense. Keeping such a custom can be accused of effectively keeping old fashioned ideas of class alive. This quickly clashes with the idea of how hard work and dedication can make you raise in a class based society. Some people argue that monarchs now have no political power and serve as mere decorations to national festivities. We already have politicians available for representation of the country which additionally are chosen by the people(at least when compared to monarchs which are not chosen). Another critical argument mentions how the children of monarchs have no choice in the role they have in society. Whether they like it or not, they will have a public life where their every move is followed. <br />
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However(Yes, you knew there was one), there are several aspects about the reality of the monarchy that should be looked into. The first and most important point that I would like to stress is the need for neutral representatives that royals fill. I am not a trained diplomat, but I can imagine that royals actually do important work in keeping good relations between nations as well as in nation, acting as official representatives only attending to keep the relations. As humans, we have a need for nice things every once in a while, so keeping representatives specifically for positive matters does make sense to yours truly. While one has elected politicians which easily could fill these representation missions; they would still be politicians with a political agenda, no matter what they do. As royals are not allowed to utter their political opinion, they can act as a neutral representatives of the country itself instead of a specific ideology. Their neutral stance can help unite people rather than splitting them over a political cause. <br />
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This leads me to ask, why should this be kept hereditary? Why couldn’t we keep an election of neutral representatives and throw away the old system? This is a hard question to answer and there will be a lot of guessing involved. It is of my opinion that, if we were to hold an election, it would split people rather than unifying them. Representatives of the country should as much as possible be accepted by the people and not act as a grounds of separation. If an election was held, the followers of the losing candidate(s) would probably be displeased with the winner and would not be supportive. Indirectly, this would turn the entire business into political grounds, which I would personally try to avoid. While the royal family do not receive support from the entire population, they are generally accepted by everyone. As there is a set line of people ready to inherit the throne once the previous ruler dies, people have time to process and accept this. When a king dies, there is no fight over the next ruler because it has already been decided. In effect, this can unify people in their accept.<br />
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Additionally, being in such a position requires quite a lot from a person. One has to handle extreme pressure from the media and the people. One needs extremely well developed people skills and the ability to handle new situations well(and whatever else follows. I am no royal expert). I would like to propose the idea that the best way of being prepared for this is being born into the role. Would a person who signs up for an election to become “royal” have the intention which is required by the role? If you grow up in a royal family, you inheritly learn all the tricks of the trade as your grow up and you get a completely different perspective of the reality of the job(I would call it a job, yes) than no outsider could ever hope to gain. Perhaps keeping the monarchy clashes slightly with a few core values of our modern world; but could one wonder if it is a necessity to keep it like this because it would be near impossible to get neutral representatives otherwise? Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-45383224980471882002011-04-24T03:56:00.001-07:002011-10-09T01:13:01.818-07:00Of Nerds and EEG<div align="left">
Depending on your level of nerdyness, you may or may not know about The Gathering. For the non initiated, The Gathering is the 2nd largest computer party in the world with almost 6000 participants, only rivaling Dreamhack in Sweden(about 10 000 participants). I find it funny how the two biggest lan parties are situated in Scandinavia, we’re such a huge horde of nerds up here. I have had the pleasure of attending TG three times as a participant and this year as a speaker. I am already planning for next year where I will be bringing my crew(or what others might refer to as friends..). It is probably apparent that I am very much exited about this huge nerdfest in the Viking Ship. Makes good use of an old olympic sports building and is well worthy of a yearly pilgrimage!<br /><br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TbQB6QJQOMI/AAAAAAAAA-0/T5HwcyYD5Rs/s1600-h/Hamar_Vikingship_740%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="Hamar_Vikingship_740" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIxvFK7tnib4kcUko-YK_Md7U8BzkT3VtrVg5QCIIeCJ5TI51diNiFKziuU8n_7vI__ohQUwIQmkoir3hrKMuK1GoC98ok7pq-RKFGXmfRDOiQngElYDalDqbbwN9BrV_0kX7g4T68BY/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Hamar_Vikingship_740" width="380" /></a> </div>
What I enjoy the most about TG is the atmosphere. Almost 6000 glowing computer screens, a bizzare mix of music and random screams spreading as a wave throughout the entire area. It is also a great place to meet new and old friends, attend seminars, workshops, compos or other interesting happenings. Have a look at this amazing panorama shot taken by a friend of mine(<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.ansatt.hig.no/einarh/TG-panorama2.jpg" target="_blank">click here for big view</a>). Watching this in real life is quite an experience.<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TbQFQcN8uwI/AAAAAAAABAE/UqJPs0aUcQo/s1600-h/TGpanorama212.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="TG-panorama2" border="0" height="105" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TbQB7yzPEPI/AAAAAAAABAI/VFU6ifkc7uk/TGpanorama2_thumb10.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="TG-panorama2" width="461" /></a> <br />
As mentioned, I attended this years’ TG as a speaker. With my supervisor I held a talk on EEG and gaming. We explained to the crowd what EEG is and how it works. My talk focused on EEG brain training, which is a focus area of my master thesis. This was my first time holding a public talk for a larger crowd of people, which was very exiting! Luckily, being on stage in front of everyone was far from as scary as I thought it would be. It was definitely an interesting experience and hopefully I will get more chances of doing this again. What I like the most about this is the chance of spreading knowledge about something I am passionate about. Hopefully I was able to convey some of my own enthusiasm to the crowd.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkumh5R_3UOySpHDXBuQdItqbbc37qFVthl6Yus4RsQMWHPL1QnwDoJdZDU2yzOV9gYcAUe88Vl3gH-6KjRhyphenhyphenDQ3_eqHjRBEm_uf51w2jkRjO6-N00lUQ4brGZwMaW40kLcQKhhF6M9k/s1600-h/P4230587%5B7%5D.jpg"><img alt="P4230587" border="0" height="673" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TbQB86gd12I/AAAAAAAAA_s/-zn_dDP0nBI/P4230587_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="P4230587" width="524" /></a><br />
-JaviAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-56510090767962064162011-03-08T14:47:00.001-08:002011-10-18T00:45:31.185-07:00Æva - Poem<div align="center">
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<em></em> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Ojz9xRYzi37s4IcYXLm2-dlDh65mU9cuy_zXTQcq1KiS8yOyivRzBIdTs-Kx1TbKbLgG9CQseIk3xXWA5xK_1KQ35_lXzMCNMnvXUlRjQWdnpFJO57FH6XBBZ42wu8UIMCrZyGKFsR4/s1600-h/arcana2640%5B6%5D.jpg"><img alt="arcana2640" border="0" height="304" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TXayAVD-3fI/AAAAAAAAA20/bb1oG-7G2aM/arcana2640_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="arcana2640" width="389" /></a></div>
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<em>Du E Ei Æve<br />Ei Såge Så Aldri Tar Slutt </em><br />
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<em>Du E En Løyndom<br />En Skatt Gjømt Blandt Ord </em><br />
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<em>Du E Det Vakreste <br />Den Djupeste Fargen I Øyet </em><br />
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<em>Du<br />Du E</em></div>
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In Norwegian this time. I decided to use parts of my own Northern Norwegian dialect to maintain the flow and feeling I wished to express. My apologies to those who might not be able to understand this. Certain things I simply can not express in any other language. The illustration is kindly lent from <a href="http://digitalblasphemy.com/dbhome.shtml" target="_blank">Digital Blasphemy</a>, home of the most amazing 3D rendered wallpapers I’ve seen online.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-1529510546468921802011-03-04T00:47:00.001-08:002011-10-18T00:46:38.466-07:00Seclusion and Ripples - Poem<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0japqcdYm5j__76lnpRT_5o8Nhw7rR5uPAjjsA36kxc8SYYYzysR5gGh78rdDMiD_S0j0Yee0u9LyUSjq6cozsdZ6A8zye0S30YBCECvZuFfhl6gjamkVQtK9ALRyXn02uNpJoK-P8jw/s1600-h/Hidden_Beauty_by_Windcharmer%5B6%5D.png"><img alt="Hidden_Beauty_by_Windcharmer" border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhNqOwFloeVRunNTaPYQEUq5i9FuX2dPBkEWVLpwER3itUdZeooZebMc6Ux0JDGQ7zZRzK0JRwpKeqoMoFBLArH1ZHtOYM4AofZrmNGwRKFp4as9RgJW0QS5F8i5VlSFxze0TQcjiFD8/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="Hidden_Beauty_by_Windcharmer" width="359" /></a> <br />
<em>I Feel It<br />Feel You Through The Wind<br />Prickling Scent </em><br />
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<em>I Hide Away<br />Fingers Dancing Graciously<br />Fluctuant Act </em><br />
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<em>I Listen<br />A Symphony of Cadence and Pulse <br />Inducement Supreme</em></div>
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Image by <a href="http://windcharmer.deviantart.com/art/Hidden-Beauty-43709848" target="_blank">Windcharmer</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-71296636346582747022011-02-20T03:24:00.001-08:002011-10-09T01:12:31.401-07:00Of Saturday Jazz and Sunday MorningsLiving in a tiny city in Norway has its challenges and advantages. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I loathe it. Being raised an urban Norwegian, the complete lack of happenings can be utterly <em>boring</em> at times. However, when things <strong>do </strong>happen, I now appreciate it a lot more.<br />
A local cafe in the city centre of Gjøvik has been arranging Saturday jazz concerts which a good friend and I have been attending a couple of times. In the quiet winter cold, it’s refreshing to get a taste of urban life; live music, cosy surroundings, good tea and yummy food.<br />
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<br /><em>Skilled saxophone/piano duo playing :). I love the mix of flashy neon paint and wooden walls.</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWk73255c1rUYWPPNgeB7igKPEXyShMpnwM0Iw_hqpl8H_VLLAB7ukvQMnAdoc3ocb4koROdkR9eBu6dfKin0b-YRJQwhFv1zRUU46MCW_KrmatMpo7ssRns7djiCJq-aFREvLdaOyQdw/s1600-h/IMG_6356%5B5%5D.jpg"><em><img alt="IMG_6356" border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xDaNRB0_4bORTLR5CDPpMTuOp0GLwOgQihll4WjRlqJ7rOuxmdgSdl0EucL73y_zSKzoR0rL-5akKhC9qsLRMqsPL3z4ST2qX35UtEaJIRlm0JHnWwMo5e4KRgEFj-iFj7QAxoBl1mE/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6356" width="391" /></em></a></div>
With moments like these, I sometimes get the feeling of getting the best of both worlds. Being able to enjoy the urban aspects of life while still being able to wake up to this:<br />
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<em>View from my bedside window(click for bigger view).</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXJbtIs0wMoFY3VNhsAbvxjAodVHcYTuyzrFVO58nU0sdYRHaFN352ygp972MYbOn5IJH2mfyH8hxIsG_dBBbCY55CcTbYFYTZxTQD7otmwAX8Z-gPfPAXnXX4WVEpHOdCqEWm7TD1e0/s1600-h/IMG_6362%5B10%5D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_6362" border="0" height="317" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TWD55ud--MI/AAAAAAAAA10/Ucy_dt9N6MA/IMG_6362_thumb%5B8%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_6362" width="454" /></a></div>
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Hmm, sometimes I quite enjoy living in the city of the white swan.</div>
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-Javi</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-59405399799758103142011-02-14T13:46:00.001-08:002011-10-09T01:12:20.741-07:00Norwegian Game Conference; Part 2After a lunch and some mingling, <strong>Simon Egenfeldt Nielsen, PhD, </strong>from Serious Games held a talk on games and learning. He pointed out that many learning games fail at their goal. He made an interesting analogy on failed edutaininment. <br />
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<em>A stupid, but beautiful woman approaches an ugly but intelligent man with the suggestion of procreation. “Imagine!” she says “With my looks and your intelligence, what kids we could produce!” The man then answers “But that child could very well get my looks and your intelligence…”</em> </div>
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This analogy works well with the idea of taking the best from games and education. Sometimes you end up getting the worst from both worlds, resulting in an overall horrid game. Nielsen additionally suggested further what a good learning game could be: </div>
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<em>A good learning game is also a good game<br />A good game is also a good learning game </em></div>
He spoke of how game mechanics can be used in order to make education more exiting. As learning doesn’t have the intrinsic motivation like games, it requires some extra work to aquire it. Examples of such gamification includes adding reward systems and other similar game mechanics to real life situations. However, when learning focus increase, motivation tends to decrease. Another challenge is making sure people are actually learning something. This requires the learning to be fundamentally integrated in the game. If the learning is not integrated properly, people will most likely end up playing the game mechanics only, not learning anything new. If learning games are to succeed, they have to be made with integration, motivation and focus in mind.<br />
<a href="http://egenfeldt.eu/blog/">Simon Egenfeldt Nielsen’s Blog</a><br /><a href="http://www.seriousgames.dk/" target="_blank">Serious Games</a><br /><br /><br />Next up was <strong>Major Roald Wold </strong>from the Norwegian Military Academy who held an interesting talk on serious gaming in military training. He shared some experienses from the Norwegian military, which have been using games to simulate combat situations. Generally the experienses have been very good and the recruits have been able to simulate scenarios in a much better way than moving pieces around a map in a chess like manner.<br />Using war simulator games helps the military go back and analyse what they did and why, while in a pressed situation. Sometimes there were unexpected results where recruits ended up breaking national war code of conduct without even realizing it, such as bombing religious buildings. When asked about it later, the person was not even aware of having done this. This created a situation of many scenarios one can learn important lessons from. These situations do not happen when working in a sandbox environment, which partially is why war gaming is embraced by the military. <br />It was found that the best thing new recruits could learn from the war simulation games was war communication, which is crucial in real combat situations. This is a valuable skill which is hard to train otherwise without being out on the battlefield. Additionally, the students got better at being tactical and learnt better leadership through communication.<br /><br />Another interesting find from using war games in military education was the change in role of the teacher. Where the teacher before was the “oracle” of the education, the simulations would turn the teacher into a storyteller and interpreter. While something being being simulated, one needs to make a decision immediately and can not “save it for next time”. Wold also made it clear that simulation war games do not replace the regular lectures, but has removed some lectures of boring material as they can now get “hands on” with the issue rather than simply discussing it.<br />
The most problematic thing about war simulation games is that there are not too many of the realistic and well produced ones. Most commercial war games do have potential but not does work as they are not realistic at all. Additionally, the AI of most games still is not good enough. A better AI as well as the possibility of setting up custom scenarios are features wanted for.<br /><br />(Major Wold recommended Virtual Battlespace 2 and Steelbeast Beasts Pro to anyone who wanted to try out good war simulation games.) <br />
After the interesting talk on war games, there was time to relax and watch the videos <strong>Peter Girgis</strong>, designer from Snøhetta, had to show off.<br />He showcased concept realization through animation and moving images to sell ideas and concepts of architechture.<br /><br /><br />The final talk of the day was held by<strong> Baroness Susan Greenfield</strong>, Professor, University of Oxford. She talked about about how gaming could affect the brain. <br />She started off by describing how the brain works when people get enough mental stimuli. She mentioned experiments where people learning to play the piano got better at playing the piano when thinking about playing it, as opposed to those who didn’t think about it, who had less of a progress. She pointed out how mental stimuli helps developing the brain and how this is important specially as you grow up. She critically questioned how some computer games might affect the development of the brain by nurturing short attention spans.<br />
Some of her conclusions and questions might be debatable, but overall it was an interesting talk with some relation to my own research regarding how stimuli helps developing the brain.<br /><br />To conclude, it was an interesting day with several surprises. The talk on war games in the military was probably the biggest surprise of the day, managing to entice yours truly, whom is not into subjects of war in almost any way. To be finicky about it, I would have liked to see a clearer focus on games rather than general media. As far as I am concerned, this years conference could have been called Norwegian Media Conference. Hopefully there will be more <em>games </em>in next years conference.<br />
-Javi Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-63081627636102414782011-02-08T06:35:00.001-08:002011-10-09T01:12:07.758-07:00Norwegian Game Conference; Part 1Last week I had the pleasure of attenting the Norwegian Game Conference in Hamar. Joined by a few fellow students and friends, I headed out at 0700 in the morning to get there in time. One has to love Norwegian distances! <br /><br />This years conference focused on media, games and learning. I found it to include quite a wide variety of speakers. Among the speakers one could find a state secretary, bloggers, a media developer, a sales- and marketing director, an army major, a designer and a British Baronesse and Professor. <br /><br />The first speaker was <strong>Lotte Grepp Knutsen</strong>, state secretary in the Norwegian <strong>Department of Culture</strong>. She spent some time describing the Norwegian Parliament Report on video games( Can be read <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.regjeringen.no/pages/2057781/PDFS/STM200720080014000DDDPDFS.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, Norwegian only though.) and how Norway is possibly the only country in the wolrd with a report like this. The report acknowledges video games as culture and an audio visual means of expression with great value. The department of culture would love more video games based on Norwegian culture and there are actually several funds available for game developers chosing this approach. The library of Drammen was also mentioned as a great culture carrier keeping up with the times we are living in. This library started arranging game nights, LAN’s and keeps a good selection for video games for rent. This is an interesting approach to the traditional library that I quite like. Libraries used to be a place you had to go to get knowledge. These days the knowledge is everywhere (computers at home etc) and libraries should rather become places of culture. To support this, the Norwegian Government has spent some of the state budget on games for libraries. <br />
<strong>Kristine Løwe(</strong><a href="http://digital.vgb.no/" target="_blank">Media Blogger</a> for VG(Norwegian Newspaper)) spoke briefly about how new technology gives us new media habits and how the technology enables a new kind of information source. <br />
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<strong>Marius Arnesen(</strong><a href="http://nrkbeta.no/" target="_blank">NRK Beta Blogger</a> and Media Developer) described the technology department of NRK (Norwegian State run TV Channel). For those not familiar with this, NRK Beta is a fairly open environment where new technology is tested. They have been producing several games, usually at a smaller scale, and have been covering news from the game world. Currently they are working on adjusting the NRK WebTV to all the new platforms available. They also showed off a sneak peak ofwhat might be the new Web TV design. </div>
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<em>What my phone managed to snap before the slide changed! </em><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TVFUvCaKnHI/AAAAAAAAAt4/Q7y2mRfuyio/s1600-h/IMAG0023%5B5%5D.jpg"><em><img alt="IMAG0023" border="0" height="321" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TVFUvdsSMEI/AAAAAAAAAt8/iKxGj_a0Wz4/IMAG0023_thumb%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMAG0023" width="405" /></em></a> </div>
<strong>Lars Ragnar Kristiansen (</strong>Sales and Marketing Director of Mobiletech) shared thought on the developing business of mobile phones. He shared some statistics on the power of utilizing mobile devices by showing off Swedish Aftonbladet, which went from 50 thousand to 650 thousand views per week as they went mobile. He also touched the native VS web app debate. With so many mobile devices on the market, it becomes difficult for developers to keep up with every single version of a single app. Kristiansen suggested that a mix of the two is probably what’s going to happen. Thin client apps with content fetched from the web will possibly be the apps of the near future. <br />
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Then there was time for lunch, which included yummy salmon wraps! Stay tuned for part two, which included a very interesting talk by Baroness Greenfield on the gaming brain. <br />
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<em>Me holding my notes and food!</em> <img alt="IMG_20110203_114002" border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtBiEzi_7h9T0C_nr1X9LJIPdcmzd2L4BHhxEAgPLS5Aa-m5H6dJCb91iAhAquPcHuqmAdwekD2JgQc1YYD9a_eUbDANot77YI9_bv0MVzSoKEVheaPMAMi8-SMTEWscI57Y3u5tR8YU/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IMG_20110203_114002" width="224" /> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012669960905972027.post-84064880995040551152011-02-07T08:34:00.001-08:002011-10-18T00:45:44.665-07:00The Wind and The Wave<div align="center">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TVAfASai2CI/AAAAAAAAAtw/uCJcxm5ae1c/s1600-h/49bc906a9b4b4c0f15dd295eee912df5_Ocean_Waves_Free_Screensaver%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="49bc906a9b4b4c0f15dd295eee912df5_Ocean_Waves_Free_Screensaver" border="0" height="264" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GzLqKMvHZfo/TVAfA3vCukI/AAAAAAAAAt0/vXX7skmgCxY/49bc906a9b4b4c0f15dd295eee912df5_Ocean_Waves_Free_Screensaver_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="49bc906a9b4b4c0f15dd295eee912df5_Ocean_Waves_Free_Screensaver" width="345" /></a> </div>
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<em>Still Water<br />Quiet Lake<br />Branches Dipping In </em><br />
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<em>Tranquil Breeze<br />Dancing Grass<br />Soft Against My Skin </em><br />
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<em>Waters Whirling<br />Circling Around<br />A Symbiotic Play </em><br />
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<em>Poised Gaze<br />Wavering Thought<br />Easily Lead Astray</em></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00940145781300753136noreply@blogger.com0