The Dark Knight

WOW. To keep it short and simple. Go see it again! Got to love Batman, it was better than the newest Hulk film, which was brilliant as well! GO! FILM! Also I watched Kronks New Groove (that is The Emperors New Groove 2) yesterday - and it was brilliant! It was a birthday present from Audun. Thank you so much Audun! W00t!

I found a draft for an e-mail in my Gmail draft box, it was saved some time in April - and the title is Bompitequila.

Explain please?

Registrar

Welcome to Step 3 of your registration process. Please proceed by returning all the peaches to the left basket and step away from the wheelbarrel. Now repeat your username and Password to the midget - no lisping! I said no lisping! Jamie flippin' Oliver!

Continue -->

Wacom power

Right now I'm sitting with my very pretty bluetooth wacom pad, it lags just a little bit, but as far as I can tell so far - at least it's working! Which is a good thing. This means that I'll be able to draw digitally, and instead of taping my drawings to the attic ceiling (which is now the case, after covering the walls) I can just store them as jpg.s! Whoho!

Last night there was a massive thunderstorm, and there was lightning and thunder and SO MUCH rain, haven't seen rain like that since Singapore! It was crazy. For every lightning the night changed into day, and then crackled away back into night again. A real proper summer storm!

Hm. And that's about it! - except this beautiful poem (that I'm going to write right now without being able to edit it - not even typos!)

I was staring at the sun for a moment or two
I got stuck and couldn't look away, even though I had things to do
the point is, the problem, I was thinking of you

Naaawhhh!!! Now, you go! Schmoo schmoo!

Google Search Strategies

Your personal Viking Google Guide on How to find things on the internet:

These "tips" may of course be applied to any search engine, like AltaVista, Cuil, Yahoo, Ask, Mamma Metasearch - whatever floats your boat. It's just that Google makes such a good verb!

General Search:
Be accurate. Include the words that you already know about the subject and what kind of information you’re after. Do that instead of just random keywords to narrow your search. Remember the difference between what you know already and what you want to know.
“Prince Septimus dental record and licence plate”
“Prince Septimus seventh son of the king of Stormhold”

Use questionform to easier access pages that are created to help, like DIY pages,
"How to delete cookies from my intestines"
"How to decapitate shrimp"
"How to stop spelling inconsideriderideriderate"
or, just Keep it simple.
"Tits"

Multilingual Searches:
If you are looking for the Norwegian translation for something English, start by Googling the word first by the English name, then either;
1. Look for a Latin name or definition for the word/thing – search for this on Norwegian pages, like Wikipedia. This is particularily handy if it is an animal or plant in question.
“Thyme” -> “Thymus vulgaris” -> ”Timian”.

2. Look for an English to Norwegian dictionary – like Freedict. To find one just Google “English to Norwegian online dictionary” for example. This should be fairly foolproof!

3. Look for a thesaurus, I recommend http://www.thesaurus.com/ and try to find a similar word to translate instead, if your previous word had no obvious translation into your designated language of choice.

Music Search:
If you are looking for song lyrics or the name of a song, type in the bit that you have heard (or think you have heard) and add “lyrics”. Gladly enter the name of the artist as well, if you know it. This proves very effective in most cases.
“My boobs are okay lyrics”
“My boobs are okay lyrics Lene Alexandra”

This way it’s easier to exclude random referring to a song, and increases your chance of finding the information you’re looking for.
If you are looking for an artist or a band that you’ve heard or seen, but can’t remember the name of, use keywords.

"Great concert standing on the bongo drums possibly high" -> "Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band"
“Russian ballad singer” -> “Theodore Bikel"
"Music for sad people" -> "Limp Bizkit/My Chemical Romance/Sum 41/Wham"

Hello world!

Oh Hello! I feel like such an idiot for not updating more often, I have (actually) been blogging for several years (even though I am not sure this even counts as "several years" - seeing I don't post very often at all, and when I do it is usually not relevant to the concept of this blog or anything, this being said if this blog had a particular concept).

So, what is all this www.cuil.com search engine schmuffle all about? Well actually, I'm fairly up to date! They launched just a couple of hours ago. But anyway. Apparently it's an old Irish word for knowledge, and it searches through three times as many pages as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft (according to Cuil). So, to put this to the test I tried googling "Thoughts of a Viking" - and my blog (this blog, the one here - that you're reading, or maybe you just stopped reading, but I wont know, and then you wouldn't know that I said it, wrote it, or well - er, anyway) came first. I'd say that's a good thing! So as a comparison I cuil-ed "Thoughts of a Viking" to see what came up there. And you know what?

I got seven pages of results and I wasn't even there! Can you believe it?! Well, obviously, I wont let this put me off from using Cuil, because you know it looks kind of sweet with its pimped up black and blue layout and the images and categories. And to be honest I just don't feel comfortable about monopolies, everyone are going on and on about Google (don't get me wrong, I'm actually a Google-geek (What? What just happened? Er. Half my post just disappeared right after I published it. Now what on earth is that supposed to mean? What the flux? ehm, I'll duplicate it the best I can then, I guess.) damn you Google, I was in the middle of a praise! Duuh, don't bite the hand that feeds you, sweetcheeks, you really shouldn't! Well, as I was saying--

I have Gmail, iGoogle (frontpage), Google Calendar and I blog through Google (yes, this here blog) and what about YouTube? (Or should I say GooTube?). So it feels nice with a little breath of fresh air here on the intarwebnets, we need it! And I'm sure Google is up for the snazzy challenge. Good luck Cuil! (It's pronounced "cool". Yeah, I know! Cheesy!)


This is from Lofoten! Woot! It was the view from the cabins where we stayed (this June).

Trippin

Yesterday I tripped over my own shoes on my way home from work. Made me feel like I'm eight years old again. Also, I mysteriously manage to hit the CAPS LOCK all the time, which means I have to rewrite everything shortly after.

Right now I'm eating a rather depressing lunch. It's nice at work though, because we're three here today, and we bought chocolate and cordial and biscuits and put it on a table so the customers could have some. We did it strictly for their sake.

iN OTHER NEWS. There! See what I'm talking about? Ridiculous. But yeah, other news! Tomorrow is my 19th birthday! Whoptidu! Pretty far out. I better be getting a snail, or a lumpfish. I really want a baby lumpfish. I haven't said that I want one for my birthday to anyone though, so I expect to be disappointed - then pleasantly surprised at what else I'd get. If I get anything at all, which doesn't really matter as long as I get dessert!

Where is Smy?

No, really!

:( I miss him!

Infallible Creativity Supply of the century

A lot of people experience draughts, you know - when you can't think of a single idea - or anything out of the ordinary, everything coming out of your mindhole is perfectly ordinary things - papermills, paved streets, lightbulbs. What lacks is the it. The it - factor - oh what a ridiculous thing, really. The it. Who's got the it, who has it now? Is it mine? Is it yours? Who even invented the it? The what? It needs a name, though, doesn't it? It gets confusing, I use the it word all the time - while as it can be hard to tell whether I'm going on about it, or some completely other kind of it. The one who came up with the it in the first place had to be lacking it. If a person with the it-factor had invented the it-factor - that person would have thought of a better name for it!
*glurg*
So let's call it Icsc. Pronounce it like it was a czech wedding ceremony, or alternatively something in Hebrew.

I admit you'd have to be pretty thick not to be able to spot the Icsc in a person when you meet them. As a typical Icsc person would have that certain air of recognition, it's an attitude thing. That surge of warm, enlightening energy - preparing to broaden your horizon of ideas and quirks. I've met a lot of creative people in my life, and I think they deserve a lot of respect for having that in them. But if I've met a lot of Icsc people?

Not a lot. To be fair. I can't possibly sum up a list of characteristics, or how to spot one of them, you'll know when you do. It's hard to misunderstand, or - as a matter of fact I'm starting to wonder if it really is hard to catch on to, might be why we don't see a lot of them, they're all locked up, aren't they? In dark cellars.

Maybe that's a better place for them, after all - they're all so incredibly wonderful it will make the rest of us look bad.

PMPP :)

This is my Pretty Much Pointless Post!
Have you spent a sufficient amount of time over at Cake Wrecks, yet? You haven't, have you? Well you should. It is most amusing. A good blog.

I don't think I can be bothered to write anything even remotely sensible at the moment.

BLABLABLA. I've been listening to Coldplay's newest album, Viva La Vida over and over and over again. Maybe I'll do a review of it. Who knows? Today it's sunny in Oslo. We like sun, we do. It's just that everyone is pretty much on holiday, so it's a waste. It's nice that leaves are green, it would've been really different around here if they weren't. Also the sky is blue, I'm full of interesting information for you. I also wrote an introduction for a short story - it'll probably be over at Fiction Chickens. Meow!

Postman: Is this letter for you? The name is smudged.
Man: No, it can't be for me, my name is Smith.

Railway Porter (cheerfully) - Miss the train, sir?
Passenger - No, I didn't like the look of it, so I chased it out of the station.

Mary was telling her friends about her new apartment. "It's fantastic," she said, "I can lie in bed and watch the sun rise."
"So what," replied her friend Joan, "in my apartment, I can sit on a chair and watch the kitchen sink."

Summer Music

Hello. You're the apple of my eye. Did you know?

Today I love:

Fatboy Slim - Song for Shelter, because it's in Green Wing and everything Fatboy Slim does is great.
Coldplay - Lost! Because it has an excellent beat and it makes me feel all fuzzy like a freshly squeezed squirrel in a tumbledrier.
Real Ones - Lonesome Town, You have no other choice but to be happy when you hear it.
Bent - Ordinary Day, it's summer in a song. Like they wrote summer down on a piece of paper and fed it through instuments and made a song from it. Anyway Bent is always magnificent, if you don't like this song I'm voting you off the island. Nothing personal, actually it is personal.

I took that picture from our verandah some years back. In the summer, so I thought it would fit the title!

Today I had a customer at work that spoke some kind of far off Norwegian dialect, and that's tricky enough to understand - the problem, or the real problem with it - was that he spoke straight in to his own mustache. Ever heard that? No! - You know why?
BECAUSE YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY HEAR ANYTHING THROUGH A MUSTACHE, CAN YOU?!-

He must've thought I was dumber than I look. I didn't understand what he said, so I talked about something else. :) Must've been a really random conversationiutyl

With love, .løiuø.97fyvg-.

Foreign money

It is always interesting to see how tourists relate to foreign currency. I know I probably do it myself when I'm abroad; staring puzzedly into my wallet and pay for a pack of gum with a herd of camels. it is one of those things it's just horribly difficult to relate to.

Even in Norway where everything is expensive - a lot of money still IS worth a lot of money, it's just that you can't usually buy a lot of things for it. The easiest way to get accustomed to new money and what ACTUAL value it has is by comparing it to something you buy quite often. Like the kilo price of pineapples, a serving of beaten and sauteed lobster or the tag on a pack of cigarettes. Actually - I'm trying to be serious, but it's hard.

Personally I always go by converting the foreign currency in to Norwegian Kroners before I buy anything abroad. The problem is just that I completely lose perspective after a while. "500,-? That's just like a night out in Oslo, that's not a lot at all. I mean, you pay like 120,- for two beers and then you pay 50,- for the nightbus and maybe you buy crisps at Deli de Luca, that'd be like 25,-. So it's 195,- in total. And maybe you find an underground casino and you blow 305,- at rulette. Happens all the time. And this is such a pretty teapot. Doesn't cost more than a night out. No worries. Si Si Signor, I'll take it, thank you".

You see? - So what you ACTUALLY have to do is to not bring your wallet at all when you travel. It prevents it from getting stolen, it will not reduce, but it will at least help stabilize the amount of teapots in your cupboard, You wont lose it, or confuse yourself with foreign money.

Basically that's the way to go. Just make sure you go on really short holidays at a time so you wont get too hungry.

Dear reader

I'm so terribly sorry for not updating, it makes me feel bad. Believe me - I spend several waking hours thinking "I should update my blog". "No, really. I should update my blog". That's what it's here for, yeah?

These days it's hot in Oslo, and everybody is at the beach or at their cabin, or in Spain or Greece, or whatever. Except me of course, I'm stuck here, smelling and rotting away like a partly digested carcass in a mildly damp ditch. Actually it's not that bad. I took Torstein to see the new Opera house, surprisingly it wasn't as ugly as I was suspicious of, but we should've worn shades because it was so white and bright and shiny.

I work though, that's what I do. I work and sleep and eat. Especially the latter. I have nothing better to do, we don't even have BBC Food, So I eat. I've done a drawing over the past few days, which was nice. Not necessarily the drawing, but the meditative aspect of concentrating on something. I'm also looking forward to starting school. I think it is the first time in my life that I'm actually looking forward to that. Not that I've been treated bad at school or anything, but I've never had a subject I've actually liked.

Hmm. Except perhaps art. But that is not really a subject, is it? Now that I've burst the un-blogging bubble, there's suddenly so much to say! Fab.

I wonder what would happen to my family if World of Warcraft suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth...? Probably nothing good. Maybe we'd explode. Not me in particular, but I bet I'd be pretty near when it goes "Boom!". Wops. Just ignore all the present tense. Your router is safe with me <_<