I like you so much better when you're naked!

Listening to at the moment:
I like you so much better when you're naked - Ida Marie. So far this is my summer song! I also like Stella.

Scared of heights - Espen Lind. Tuba and ukulele are unusual instruments in a pop song:-)

Lost - Erlend Bratland. The song is a bit over the top for me, but I got to say that this kid (17 years old) has an amazing voice.

November 2007. Photos

Daylight doesn't last long in Finnmark towards the end of November. These photos were taken within half an hour - and as far as I remember, I didn't do anything with shutter speed and such things. (Too complicated! Too much work;-)) This is a lovely place called Kongsfjord (King's fjord), about 100 kilometres from Båtsfjord.

Norway Parliament Approves Gay Marriage

"The gallery at the Norwegian Parliament erupted in applause and cheers on Wednesday with the passage of legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry.

The law also recognizes both partners in a marriage as equal parents and gives lesbian couples the same access to "medically assisted reproduction" as opposite-sex couples.

Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill, despite opposition from the Christian Democrats and Progress Party."

Read the rest here!:-)

Norway Moves To Legalize Gay Marriage

Hooray! Norway has legalized gay marriage! Like 20 minutes ago! So in fact we have moved - in the right direction:-) Couldn't find recent news in English, so heres an old article:

Norway Moves To Legalize Gay Marriage
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: March 14, 2008 - 11:00 am ET

(Oslo) The Norwegian government on Friday introduced legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry and have joint custody over children.

The country already allows gay and lesbian couples to enter into civil partnerships, but LGBT rights groups have long complained the law does not go far enough and has created two classes of citizenship - one for heterosexuals the other for gays.

The new legislation amends the definition of civil marriage to make it gender neutral.

It also says that when a lesbian who is married to another women becomes pregnant through in vitro the partner will have all the rights of parenthood "from the moment of conception".

The legislation additionally states that in cases of adoption, both partners, gay or lesbian, would have complete joint parenting rights.

Family Issues minister Anniken Huitfeldt in introducing the bill called it "an historic step towards equality."

Read more here. I'm sure they'll write more about this soon:-)

Here's good reading too: Did gay marriage destroy heterosexual marriage in Scandinavia?

And Mark Morford talks about California and what's happening there.

Autumn Gilt

The late September sunshine
Lime green on the linden leaves
Burns bronze on the slated roof-tops,
Yellow on the farmer's last sheaves.

It flares flame-like on the fire hydrant,
Is ebony on the blackbird's wing,
Blue beryl on the face of the ocean,
Glints gold on the bride's wedding ring.

A sparkling rainbow on the stained-glass window,
It's a silver sheen on the kitchen sink,
The late September sunshine
Is a chameleon I think.
Valerie Bloom

Valerie Bloom is a new favourite! And so is The Poetry Archive.



I think the photo might be from the beginning of October, but the sunshine is still worthy of a poem:-)

October 2007. Photos

The area around Hammerfest is quite all right too:





...but I didn't go for a swim this time:-)

September 2007. Photos

Taking a photo from the airport just outside
Vadsø. I've traveled quite a lot around Finnmark this last year, both because of the job and because me and my wife lived 500 kilometres apart September to January. We soon discovered we prefer to live a lot closer together. Like in the same house:-)

Old warehouse in Båtsfjord. Or it could be a place where they used to work with seafood processing. There used to be 30-40 places like that back in the days. Now there's just two left. It's cheaper to send the fish to China, process it there, and then send it back to Norwegian stores! I'm thinking more expensive petrol might change that.


Båtsfjord, small lighthouse. When we go for a small Sunday walk (because the weather is shitty, or because we're lazy) we usually walk along the fjord in this area.

August 2007. Photos

I think I promised to post photos like 8 months ago. *cough*
Well, here's a start!

Flying up to Båtsfjord

The area where I lived my first six months in Båtsfjord

The neighbourhood 1

The neighbourhood 2

The neighbourhood 3