Archive for August, 2011

Master of Puppets

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

No, no, not the Metallica song (note to self; a great Song of the Day! πŸ˜‰ ), but a true Master of Puppets a.k.a. great puppeteer!

Ha, some say we’re all puppets controlled by a Big Brother of some sort, wouldn’t it be great if we all could play the piano as this puppet does? πŸ˜‰

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppeteer

One month to go!!

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Time is relative as we all ‘know’. Yet it can be pretty absolute too πŸ˜‰ : today is exactly one month before the due date, exciting!! We’re pretty much ‘ready to receive’ the gift of love, both practically and mentally (as far as one can really be ready for the ‘unknown’ πŸ˜‰ )

1 month and counting…

QOTD August 29 2011

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Hugh Elliott: “Miracles: You do not have to look for them. They are there, 24-7, beaming like radio waves all around you. Put up the antenna, turn up the volume – snap… crackle… this just in, every person you talk to is a chance to change the world…”

An internet-less weekend

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Internet had been down this weekend (and still is πŸ™ ), making the past days relatively quiet, online that is. πŸ˜‰ Not so much social networking, yet still a pretty social weekend; Andrea in da house, having Slovak friends visiting yesterday and going out enjoying fantastic Indian food with other friends last night.

Today we went to church (!) which was our first time since we moved to Norway..uhhhh… πŸ˜‰ A friend had her ‘Konfirmasjon’ (‘Confirmation‘), which is a pretty big thing here and as a bonus we also witnessed a child getting baptized, check! πŸ˜‰

So, more than enough to do and no time to miss the internet, or?!?

No birkebeiner this year

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

Unlike the past three years, I did not to participate in this years Birkebeiner race. πŸ™

Several reasons: I didn’t manage to get my mountainbike fixed in time (just being slow), I didn’t train at all (although that didn’t stop me the past two years πŸ˜‰ ), Andrea is visiting us this weekend (and yes, while she *is* a fantastic cheerleader, it *is* nice to have a totally relaxed weekend too), and last but not least: it would be a pretty (too) tiresome day for Kissy…oh well, there is always next year! Ha, and looking at today’s weather it was a great decision…it has been raining all day long, bluhhh!!! πŸ˜‰

Drink and drive uhhh…makes thirsty?

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Oh boy, this is actually pretty sad yet oh-so FUNNYYYY…ROTFLMAO!!!

Enjoy your weekend y’all, and…don’t drink too much! πŸ˜‰

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHDo7KXhPHU

Steve Jobs resigned

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Normally I won’t repeat main topic news, but Steve Jobs resigning is something BIG news for this Apple fanboy! πŸ˜‰

With Apple being where they currently are, and Steve Jobs being the architect and visionair behind it’s success, it should be no surprise that this announcement was ALL over the news today.

There is no specific reason given on why he resigned, although most assume that it is related to the pancreatic cancer for which he received a liver transplant in 2009.

The Wall Street Journal says Jobs’ decision is not about his health: β€œMr. Jobs, while seriously ill, is very much alive,” Walt Mossberg writes. β€œPeople with direct knowledge of the matter say he intends to remain involved in developing major future products and strategy and intends to be an active chairman of the board, even while new CEO Tim Cook runs the company day-to-day.”

Uhmm, Tim Cook…that is the man who apparently sees printers as the company’s future and will hold the iPhone 5 back for at least four years (as reported by The Union πŸ˜‰ πŸ˜‰ ).

 

Toys for boys (or soon to be dad ;))

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

I came back to Norway yesterday with a new toy: the Panasonic HDC-SD900 camcorder! Packed with features and a terrific image quality; according to various reviews a superb camcorder…a verdict that I expect to share soon enough! πŸ˜‰

Haha, no idea why I ‘had’ to buy a camcorder now, I have a feeling it will come in handy soon… πŸ˜‰

QOTD August 23 2011

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Aaron Douglas Trimble: “Nothing’s better than the wind to your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends beside you.”

The day after the Lowlands before

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Oof, today was a typical ‘after-festival’ day; tired from the intense days on festival grounds (and lack of sleep too πŸ˜‰ ) and also filled with energy and good vibes, giving me the idea I can go on and on and on…Lowlands 2011 was unforgettable (thx all!!!) and it ain’t all that easy to land back into the real world! Luckily I had a big list of things to arrange and to take care of while being in NL today (quite typical), so I am back on my feet, sort of… πŸ˜‰

Last day @Lowlands

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Time flies when you’re having fun; Lowlands 2011 has almost ended…and WHAT a party it has been! For those following me on Twitter (cross-posted on Facebook), you know what I’m talking about! πŸ˜‰
We were pretty lucky with the weather today, a little bit of rain in the morning, but the storm which was predicted this afternoon missed the area, leaving us with unexpected sunny (though humid) weather, YAYYYY!!!

A sunny Lowlands Saturday

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Yessss, *this* is how a festival is supposed to be: rock bands on stage while the sun shines and the beer flows πŸ˜‰ , enjoying a fantastic festival atmosphere with friends, yayyy!
I just saw The Deaf (The Hague rock-city), and upcoming are Within Temptation, Chef’Special, Selah Sue, The Computers and Elbow…life’s great!!

Lowlands 2011, we’re ON our way!!

Friday, August 19th, 2011

I am up bp bright and early, the rain is gone and sun is here (to stay? πŸ˜‰ )…YESSS, we are ON DA ROAD!!

A festival weekend full of sun, fun, music, friends, some drinks and more: Lowlands here we come, HELL YEAH!!!

QOTD August 18 2011

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Morrie Schwartz: “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

Special trip to NL

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

I just arrived in NL, hehe well in time for this weekends festivities: the Lowlands festival!! πŸ˜‰

I’ll first work my ass off (extremely busy times) from our dutch office tomorrow (while that is still possible, as the office will unfortunately close by year-end πŸ™ ), and then hope to have a great and sunny Lowlands festival from Friday to Monday!

It feels pretty special being here: it will most likely be the last time that I am in NL before I become ‘daddy’, somewhere end of September/early October…wow!!

Road Sign Story

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

A twist to the Manuel Antonio Road Sign I posted last week…whoever came up with this storyline is amazingly creative…haha, his/her driving test results must have been great!

Click on the picture to enlarge.

QOTD August 15 2011

Monday, August 15th, 2011
Lucille Ball: “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

End of the Harry Potter week

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

OK, enough with wizard tricks, spells, potions, Death Eaters, elves and more…I am done with magic for a while; the Harry Potter week has ended now that we watched all eight movies (each with a 2h-2.5h runtime) in just seven nights! πŸ˜‰

We saw the first seven at the movie theater nearest to me, theΒ  β€˜@Home’ cinema, and we just went to see the last one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, in the cinema. Again a great movie and the 3D experience made it a true grand finale…fantastic!!

Leaf, the electric car

Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Living in an area where having a car is a must, and with a baby on its way, we decided to explore the car market once more. There are quite some advantages in having an electric car in Norway, specifically when using it for commuting to work; you don’t pay toll, there is free charging at work and you can use the bus/taxi lanes to avoid traffic jams.

I did the calculations and I can lease or finance an electric car for roughly the same amount as what I am paying monthly for my commute…in other words, have two cars for the cost of one, a no-brainer! (a pure economical decision, and not so much an environmental choice: one should realize that electric cars are not that much ‘greener’ than gasoline cars…electricity is not ‘free’ either, eh?)

The challenge so far has been that there were no models that I would consider driving (except for the Tesla Roadster πŸ˜‰ ), until I saw the Nissan Leaf…finally an electric car that does not look like a dinky-toy! πŸ˜‰

And it comes packed with options: heated seats and steering wheel, navigation, rear-view camera and there is an iPhone App available that provides you with all sorts of status info on the car and batteries…nice!

We can test drive it in September and if that lives up to expectations, we’ll most likely buy it…first deliveries are in November, just in time to enjoy it in Norwegian winter time! πŸ˜‰

 

The unnatural human state of monogamy

Friday, August 12th, 2011

An interesting read, something to chew on this weekend… πŸ˜‰

Salon.com: “Psychologist Christopher Ryan and co-author/wife Cacilda JethΓ‘ are out to defeat an archetypal figure in the mythology of monogamy…Our hunting and gathering ancestors were nonmonogamous β€” the implication being that, biologically speaking, sexual exclusivity is unnatural…Cacilda and I don’t dispute that love is a very important human emotion and is deeply embedded in our nature. In fact, one of the things that we do best is love other people. But what we do dispute is that it’s necessarily linked to sexual exclusivity. I think that’s something that’s very much culturally encouraged in our possessive, imperialistic society.”