a slight nauseous feeling

Here we see either the glam/screechy voiced metal-ish band Dio or a group of war veterans - it's hard to tell.

First of all I would like to thank Old Hits From the Bong for his astute commentary. Nobody knows how to get to the heart, or the spleen, of a matter like him. And since sometimes I feel he is the only one reading my drivel, I am doubly grateful.
What I would like to talk about at the moment is those bony inhabitants of everyone's closet, the skeletons. Everyone has these fellows lurking about, and as a man who has given more than his fair share of support to the good people at Bacardi, Tanqueray, Stolichnaya, Captain Morgan, Kokanee, Heineken, Becks, Stella, Southern Comfort, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Molson, Labatts, Carlsberg, Cuervo, and just about every wine producer in the world to name just a few, I have many foolish moments in my past. Just thinking back on them can give rise to a slight nauseous feeling.
So when a pair of well meaning friends in a different time zone ring up drunk as skunks on a Tuesday as I am enjoying my morning coffee and Euro News, and ask me to actually re-live one of these moments and perform an air-guitar version of Dio's "Hungry for Heaven" over the internet like some kind of trained seal, I must respectfully decline. Sometimes the past can only be revisited through a conduit provided by one of the fine beverage purveyors listed above.
So for Old Hits From the Bong, fans of shitty heavy metal, and masochists, here is possibly one of the worst songs of all time.

ny musik

I'm still playing around with the computer trying to make some music. I still suck, but now if people haven' actually HEARD the music that I make, then I can potentially fool them into thinking that I know what I'm doing since I now have a keyboard and lots of cords. Here's my latest creation. No Garage Band at all used here, just new stuff which I got courtesey of Sunnyboy. Unfortunately it couldn't make the jump to the new computer, so I'm still using old whitey now and then. Kari is frustrated as hell whenever I spend time doing this, and because of her my true genius will probably not be appreciated until after my death... You can hear or download this rubbish here. (ctrl. click on your mac for download options)

Nordic Quirkiness #3

People always ask me about the biggest differences between Canada and Norway. Aside from people's relationship with alcohol (definitely the subject of a future Nordic Quirkiness) I would have to say that I have a bit of a problem with the general coldness towards strangers that I often experience.
Whilst whining about this to one of my Norwegian friends, a suggestion was made to me that perhps it's only Oslo that is really so unfriendly. Last weekend I was in Trondheim and I must say, it was refreshing. People were actually nice - they even halfway smiled sometimes. i went out to a bar called Kredo or something (it's all a bit foggy) and I actually talked to some nice people. In addition, I got to hang out with some great friends who I already knew and the weather kicked ass. We were even at the beach... in September, in Norway (can you believe that?)


So my general conclusion is this: Oslo- GET OVER YOURSELF! This is not some fast paced metropolis, it's a relatively small city. Why can't everyone put away the mobile phone and stop trying soooo hard to be soooo coool? And furthermore, this is a rich city with a good standard of living. Why all the angst? People go around with a permanent expression like someone ran over their pet. A smile would not kill you Oslo.

At risk of being accused of Norway bashing, I promise to make my next Nordic Quirkiness more positive. 'Cause actually this place is growing on me, kind of like a fungus.

Blast from the Past

So I have this cool thing on this site - the site meter. It tells me who visits this site, and since there are relatively few who can understand my own particular brand of genius, I can pretty much keep track of all of you. Now I understand why organizations like the CIA engage in all kinds of covert activity. It's fun! For example, the other day I noticed that someone from Shizuoka Japan with a Mac OS visited. Hiya mister! It's been a while.

What's a Sneevel?

Sneevel, or Sneev for short is a name that I have acquired from my dear little Snømus. I guess that it was naive for me to think that there was no other associations for this name. I have recently found that the name is actually a known commodity among those coolest of cats... fantasy role-playing game fanatics. Specifically, it seems that the Sneevel is some sort of alien creature from the planet Sneeve, which is apparently mostly covered in swamp. The Sneevels are apparently excellent scouts and explorers. However, it is doubtful that anyone would want to go exploring with the Sneevel, since the role-playing fanatics write that the Sneevel exudes a horrible, horrible smell. It does appear that, despite this, the Sneevel is not without his fans. I guess mediocrity is okay, since THIS Sneevel is perhaps neither as odourous nor as popular as the ones from Planet Sneeve.

Nordic Quirkiness #2

First of all, the pancakes are just different. More like crepes really, which is fine by me. Secondly, they're served with some kind of fruit jam, which is also fine with me. But what definitely qualifies as Nordic Quirkiness is that every Norwegian I've spoken to always eats the same thing with pancakes: tomato soup with macaroni. Is it just me or is that weird?