Melshornet on Boxing Day

I had originally planned on starting early, but I kinda overslept :) It was a cold day, -16 or so, but still it was a nice trip.









































I got home just in time to go to grandma`s surprise Boxing Day dinner-party with lots of family. It was fun too (no pics I`m afraid) !

Christmas Eve 2010 - at my parents house

My mom likes decorations









































What`s cooking? It smells DELICIOUS :)



























My plate (first serving that is (!))












My favorite dessert...cream-porridge with raspberry sauce












My dear family

Christmas Eve 2010 - beautiful and cold outside

View of the Ørsta-fjord











yes..it is that cold here! Temperature has been dropping to -16 so I have not been skiing so far this holiday....

A cozy picture from downtown Ørsta














View of the mountains from my parents driveway

P.O.W.D.E.R.

Oh yes...today it has been snowing like crazy all day, so I just had to go to Bondalseidet! I kinda knew what to expect, but 40-50 cm is a lot in just 12 hours. I thought my skis could handle it, but it was kinda limited experience as they kept steering down in the huge amounts of fresh powder..so I had 3 ugly falls. I landed in soft snow, so I didn`t hurt myself or anything, but on one occasion I had to dig deep for one of my skis :)

I wish I could have a video from today..but I don`t have the equipment to video so....

Tomorrow I have to take a break from skiing, as I have been skiing 3 days in a row. My grandparents have invited me over for sourcream-porridge, one of my favorites..so I couldn`t say no of course! Some of my cousins who are studying in various places are now home for Christmas, so it will be fun to see them there! (Oh, how I envy students for their long vacations!!!!!!).

I have found a couple of "new" bands that I have listened a lot too lately...and I like having music on my ear when I am skiing and exercise in general. If you are interested in expanding your music-library, check out The Low Frequency in Stereo, Kasabian and Muse (the latter is kinda famous already, I know, it just took me a while to find out how good they are :))

December...and it is freeeezing cold....

Brrr...for the past ten days it has been freezing cold here with temperatures as low as -17! It hasn`t snowed in this period, so I hope it will change soon so we get lots of snow for Christmas!







I did go skiing on Saturday and Sunday, and it was a refreshing experience :)
I`ll have to decide whether or not to go tonight, but it is so much fun, so I`ll probably go skiing for an hour or two.

I`m planning on taking a day or two off this coming weekend, so I can make it a "mini-vacation". It has been really hard to get up in the morning and go to work this week. So, hopefully a couple of extra days off will give me some extra energy!
Also, I have to buy Christmas-gifts... I am not looking forward to go shopping!

Happy birthday Neil!

Neil Young, who is my #1 musical inspiration, celebrates his 65th birthday today. When I listen to his newest record it is impossible to tell that is the work of an "old man"!!
Neil Young is a musical chameleon, it is impossible to know what direction he will take next, and I find this to be one of many great attributions to him besides him being a great composer, fantastic guitar, harmonica, pump-organ AND banjo-player..you mention it, he masters it!

Neil Young - Le Noise

It’s fantastic. It’s his best in decades, at least since Ragged Glory, one of my absolute favorites!
Le Noise is solo electric—just Young and his crushing guitar. Crank up the volume!!!

The opening songs, “Walk with Me” and “Sign of Love” are perhaps the record’s least successful, but they are still really good!
“Someone’s Gonna Rescue You”... now the album truly kicks into high gear!
“Angry World”, ambiguous lyrics that are either a howl of frustration or a condemnation of bitterness and cynicism to a brutally heavy riff. It’s awesome!
But then comes “Hitchhiker”... It’s as nakedly personal as anything Young has written since the Ditch Trilogy. The first several verses are straight autobiography, a laundry list of Youngs flaws and other transgressions since his career started in the mid 60`ies.
“Love and War”. In short, it’s exactly the sort of song you’d hope to hear from an elder statesman of rock and roll!
“Peaceful Valley Boulevard” is the most traditional Neil Young-type song on here, about westward expansion.
“Rumblin’” ends proceedings on an ominous note, combining imagery both natural and personal. A fitting song to end a unique album!















Kudos Mr. Young!

C`est la vie...

For the past 8 days I have had a really bad flu. I managed to go to work on Monday, but Tuesday morning I was feeling reeeeally bad, so I had to call in sick.

With the help of this (okay, I admit the book was more for self-pity)















my flu is so almost gone now, so I hope by tomorrow life will back to normal...yay!

I never imagined staying home from work would be so boring! On the television...boring sit-coms were running non-stop..blæh. I rarely listen to the radio, so I ended up listening to some of my recent records.

Countdown to....

has started...!!!! It started snowing last week, so hopefully the lifts will open soon :)

deleted

Back @ work

Wow..hard to believe how fast 3 weeks can pass. Besides doing some work on the pier in Eiksund (picture will follow....when I get around to it!) my vacation this year was mostly filled with exercising (hey...I`ve reached my 600 mile-on-the-bike-goal thank you very much!! and its still August!). I was without my car for almost 2 weeks, but had it serviced last week, it cost me a small fortune. The car is now working...FOR NOW!
My family cleaned up around the boathouses at lake Vatnevatnet, and it looks so much better. Next year we will have a power shovel to do some landscaping. I`m sure it will turn out great.

My company is now laying people off, and although I`m in the clear for now, it is not certain what the future will bring..so I`ve been trying to save as much money as possible for a few months now (besides the accidental guitar-purchase (!). If I manage to save enough, I hope I can travel next year. I reeeeally want to go to the US next summer. Hard to believe it`s been 2 years since last time.. and I would like to go to the Alps on a skiing-trip with my cousin.

My place...

Enter the.... *drum-roll* entrance!















Living-room (high ceiling, 9 feet)



















































The kitchen. Btw, it does not look spotless like this often ;)


























Hallway
































"Study" where I spend time playing my guitars, reading books, listening to music...



























Storage room "behind" the study. Other side of the room was to messy to show in photo (!)
















Bathroom (it is bigger than it looks, but it was kinda difficult to get a decent picture)














Bedroom




























So this was the "tour" of my apartment! I also have another storage-room one floor down where I keep my bicycle skis etc. etc. I decided not to take a picture of it, that also goes for the carport for my old Audi (relax..it`s just a carport).
As I wrote as a comment to one of the pictures above I do not keep my apartment this tidy at all times. Or, I would like to...but it is impossible :)

New layout....explains my mood

My life sucks atm.

I really really reeeeally wish I could travel more, but all I can think of is that this is not the right time for me to go, both economically and emotionally.

My car broke down again(!), so I have to spend more cash on it.. Its leaking oil (I have found the source), the repair shop is closed atm and I`m seriously thinking about riding my bicycle to work for the rest of the week.
I think my life would be so much better not owning a car, but I have become too dependent of it unfortunately.

I found these cool ads on Ebay and I wanted to have them framed. I got them really cheap, but finding frames for the "not so usual sized"-ads is killing me! The photo shop wanted 1000,- EACH !
C`mon, seriously..NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I will have to spend some time searching for a more reasonable-priced frame.

Only 3 days until my vacation starts.... for the three coming weeks I will focus on;

1) charging my batteries
2) exercising
3) spending quality-time with friends and family

Can`t wait..

@ the office

Something is not right in this picture....hmm

I plunged in and bought.....

Arrived yesterday...I`m a happy camper :)

Sigh....the weekend

The weather has been really awful this week. If it wasn`t for the World-Cup soccer in South Africa I would be really depressed...

The temperature has been down to 2 degrees...and it`s JUNE for crying out loud! I haven`t exercised as much as I hoped to, and that is a downer too. Maybe I should try to be more determined and go hiking. At least I would have the mountains to myself :)

Here`s the forecast for the weekend, more rain (!) to follow

Caleb Meyer - Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Wish I had a fraction of the talented David Rawlings guitar-skills.

To the Mountains

A new day, a new hike!

Today the weather was really nice. 14C and sunny, so I thought to myself that instead of going on a biketrip, I`d better hike up a mountain.
Not to worry, I won`t make a habit of it, but it is really good exercise.


Summit!

















Ørsta













When I got back to the car I turned on the radio, and the song that was being played was "To the Mountains" by Bigbang! What are the odds!!!!

Today is also summit-day for Karsten Holstad, one of my dads friends who is in Nepal trying to climb Mt. Everest.
http://www.summitclimb.com/new/default.asp?linktype=r&nid=133#14may

Good luck Karsten!

Lidaveten

On Fri. evening I hiked up Lidaveten with a colleague and a friend of his.



Great scenery and fantastic view. On the descent the temperature dropped to 2°C so it was freezing.



My shape is still nearly non-existing, but I hope it will improve during the summer.

G.A.S.

Why is it that I come down with GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) when my economy is rock bottom ?!?!?!



Too bad the price-tag is about the same as a new car would cost me :(

Maybe I should consider a custom-build from a luthier..but then again, it takes seriously forever to get on the short-list with the best luthiers today.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

Health challenge

Last week I received a health challenge from family in the US. This challenge was just what I needed to keep my motivation going!! 20 miles on my bike on Sat. in freezing rain, so it`s all about determination I guess :) I`ve cut down on the pop (Sunday only..soccer night) and the sugar, so I hope to lose a few pounds.

Recommended movie - Bridge to Terabithia

If you haven`t seen "Bridge to Terabithia", I can highly recommend it.

I really liked the fascinating story, the charm and the skill of the actors. The music was good. And not least, I am grateful that it did not turn into a cheesy Narnia rip-off.

It made my day!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398808/

Fields of Gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold

So she took her love for to gaze awhile
Among the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
And you can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold

I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold

I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
As you lie in fields of gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold

- as performed by Eva Cassidy

Vancouver 2010

Winter Olympics update!

Norway came out quite okay, despite an awful start to the Olympics. Not surprisingly we took the majority of our medals in crosscountry-skiing (!).

Aksel Lund Svindal won the Super-G, runner-up in the Downhill-race, and came in third in the GS. How awesome is that!!

I was surprised to see our curling-team going all the way to the Finals (lost against Canada, who were the far better team anyway). I now have a new fascination for curling..yea!




And Neil Young played in the closing-ceremony....Long May You Run Neil!

Almost snowed in....

With all the snow we`ve had here in Ørsta the pase week I`ve been helping my parents and grandparents removing snow from the rooftops (3 houses so far!).

At least the snow is good for something. The conditions at Bondalseidet have been terrific since Christmas.
Yesterday, it started snowing again..and when the weather got worse, I took a break and indulged myself with a little treat in the cafeteria





Yummy!

A cold day @ Bondalseidet

Another beautiful day @ Bondalseidet! The view from Eitrefjell (2300f) towards Ørsta is fantastic!!




This weekend we had -13 degrees Celsius. We`ve had tons of snow so far this year...6-7 feet I reckon...NOT that I`m complaining :)

Fun @ Bondalseidet

Last night we had a Scana Volda ski-event @ Bondalseidet Ski-centre!





The weatherconditions are fairly stable still, with enough snow to keep all but the powdersnow-buffs happy :)
We had a great time, with the mandatory photoshoot and of course a stop at the cafeteria...hot chocolate, yummy!

Ørsta on a cold winter night

Picture taken from Melshornet, 807 m. Beautiful view... isn`t it? Well worth the effort going up there for sure!