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Albert Einstein: “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.”

Norway celebrates its Constitution (Grunnloven) today which was signed on May 17 (‘syttende mai‘) in 1814 marking Norway’s independence from Sweden (fully realized in 1905).

Besides the drinking, one of the main activities of the day (every day? 🙂 ), the norwegians give the celebration a quite nice touch; everyone dresses up! Most will wear a Bunad, the traditional clothing, and if you don’t have one, then your best suit or dress will do t! (soooo totally opposite to the somewhat clownish King’s Day in NL…)

‘Syttende mai‘ is also known its parades; thousands march all over the country expressing their cultural pride, joy in springtime and honor of those citizens who created Norway’s constitutional government, founding her independence. Especially popular is the Children’s Procession; dressed in their best clothes or national costume, the children march with their school’s band, classmates and teachers. Joy joy!

This year marks the 200 years anniversary of Norway’s Constitution which calls for an extra big celebration 🙂 the sun is shining and the whole country ready for a party: GRATULERER MED DAGEN NORGE!!

(parts of this text (c) Ink)

Oprah Winfrey: “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”

Fred Allen: “[Television is] the triumph of machine over people.”

Have you ever wondered why Japanese kids are better at multiplication? (trust me, they are!)

Check out these YouTube videos and learn why! Is it really oh-so easy? Yes, it is!

PS. Why haven’t ‘we’ learned this at school?? 🙂

Baltasar Gracian: “The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.”

Wil Wheaton: “Sometimes, a person who likes your work and a person who don’t will show up within milliseconds of each other to let you know how they feel. One does not need to cancel out the other, positively or negatively; if you’re proud of the work, and you enjoyed the work, that is what’s important.”

Cicero: “Friendship make prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.”

Haha, it is a hard story to sell these days! 🙂

John Ruskin: “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.”

Robert Townsend: “Getting there isn’t half the fun – it’s all the fun.”

To cover a song in various styles is quite a nice concept though pretty hard to do or at least, to do it well. Anthony Vincent Valbiro of tensecondsongs.com does it fantastic and uses 20 (!) styles! Watch and hear him sing Katie Perry‘s ‘Dark Horse‘.

So…which style do you like best?

Jennifer Hudson: “We all have the power to choose how we are going to handle every situation we are faced with throughout our lives. We are in control of the decision we make whether it’s about work, relationships, parenting, or our health.”

I couldn’t resist thinking of people who make a big deal about changing their swimming trunk on the beach in a way so that no one can see their thingelingy…if only they would be handy with towels as the guys in the YouTube video below!

Funny! 🙂

Barbra Streisand: “A human being is only interesting if he’s in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.”

Michael Hanson: “To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action.”

You might remember the Ylvis Brothers from last years funny and funky song ‘What Does The Fox Say’ (unless you live in Norway and *obviously* know the Ylvis Brothers 🙂 ). They did an elevator prank in 2012 which I recently ‘discovered’…ROTFLMAO!!

Follow the links to the separate episodes here: 1, 2, 3 and 4, or watch them all at once below:

HILARIOUS!!

John F. Kennedy: “The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.”

It is probably nothing more than a coincidence, but when I started writing this post (about a magnificent beatbox performance at Sydney’s TEDx) and wanted to refer to some previous ‘beatbox posts’ I made, I discovered that there has been one every two year from 2008, 2010 and 2012…huh?! A mystical two year beatbox cycle on the blog?! 🙂

This one is a must-watch; really amaaaaaazing what this guy, Tom Thum, can do with just his voice! He ‘uses his mouth in strange ways in exchange for cash’ 🙂 strange ways indeed and…friggin’ brilliant!!

Erica Jong: “The trick is not how much pain you feel – but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live, excuses, excuses, excuses.”