Black Metal

Hmmm....just got back from our dinner at Kick (a restaurant in downtown Kristiansand) where I sat across from a graduate student at the University of Agder who told me about Norwegian Black Metal, a subgenre of heavy metal music, which features growling and fast guitars.

Here's Wiki's definition: "Raw, fast and complex instrument handling, satanic or anti-Christian texts, often relatively obscure, rapid light vote (often called "grim vocals"or" screaming "/" black metal scream ") in addition to the quality (especially in the early 90 century) was in lo-fi because of lack of money. In addition, black metal is usually destructive, sad, dark and cold. Many black metal bands have fast drum beats and blast beats that require a quick and sustainable drummer."

Apparently Black Metal musicians were reacting against the state church of Norway. Bands include Mayhem, Immortal, Emperor, Dark Throne and Venom.

Bill and I checked it out on YouTube--what we saw was vile. Maybe some of the stuff is innocuous, but what we watched seemed to be nothing more than adolescent nihilism. (Bill's tastes run more toward the Beatles. I'm a Mary J. Blige fan.)

Another fellow told me to go to the Milky Way Cafe in Amsterdam, where one can buy some Space Cake filled with hashish.

Hmmm...

I enjoyed the evening but wanted to be home with Bill and the kids. It was Walter's birthday today (well, yesterday because it's after midnight). He got 9 hugs and 9 kisses, but as I did not administer these in front of any of the kids at school, he tolerated them.

Goodnight,

Martha

Authenticity Conference

Hi All,

This conference, organized by Michael Prince, is part of an annual event on American Beat Movement at the University of Agder, which is home to a large collection of San Francisco area Beat art collected by a Norwegian dentist in the 1950s.

Bill and I will be going to as many events as we can.

Cheers,

Martha

THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT— Symposium Conference
[in conjunction with Beat Days]

University of Agder
November 4-5, 2010


PROGRAM

Thursday, 4 November, 2010 UiA B3-007

1215-1400 Screening of Robert Frank's Pull My Daisy

Lecture by Søren Hattesen Balle, Aalborg University
"Voice(-)Over(,) Sound Track and Silent Movie: Mediating Beat Authority in Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie's Pull My Daisy (1959)"

Thursday, 4 November, 2010 Sørlands Kunstmuseet

1900 Screening of Mary Kerr's "San Francisco's Wild History Groove" [European Premier]

1950 Dr. Frida Forsgren, Comments on the film

2010 Sigmund Ro from his new book Rebeller i Paradis: Beat Litteratur 1945-1965
[Lecture will be in English]

Friday, 5 November, 2010 UiA B2-002

1015—1200

Lecture by Dr. Jaap van der Bent, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
"The Transition from On the Road to Visions of Cody"

Friday, 5 November, 2010 UiA, Møterom B (DU-078)

1300—Lunch for "Authenticity Project" participants & Guests

Friday 5 November, 2010 UiA A7-006

1415—Words of Welcome to Symposium participants; rules of the road; Authenticity Project: A Proposal

1430—Johan Schubert Moen, University of Agder, "Entropy and Meaning; creation through decay?"

1500— Dr. Frida Forsgren, University of Agder, "Capturing the moment: Sketching the Beat Aesthetic"

1530—Søren Hattesen Balle, Aalborg Univeristy, " Monsters of Drawing and Writing Matter - Larry Rivers and Frank O'Hara's Stones (1957-1960)"

1600—Dr. Martha Patterson, Associate Professor of English, McKendree University (Fulbright, University of Agder), "Harlem Renaissance Detective Fiction as Satire"

1630—Dr. Michael J. Prince, University of Agder, "Authenticity, Irony, and Satire in Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

Friday 5 November, 2010, Kick Dronningsgt. 8:

1930—Seminar Dinner, casual attire

Halloween

A rainy, blustery day today. Walter went to orienteering, and, again, I smiled as the Norwegian men, boys and girls filed past me, jogging in the rain with their headlamps, long underwear, running shoes, and rain slickers. Mark is off with Bill to his first night of horseback riding. Actually the kids don't ride every night (tonight they were going to be polishing saddles). I am home alone procrastinating (I have writing to do and must do it!). Earlier today I gave a talk to teachers in training on Asperger's and ADD.

We didn't celebrate Halloween, though it's a growing presence in Norway. Some Norwegians see the holiday as a sign of American cultural imperialism, and they steadfastly turn off their lights and close their blinds, but in a number of neighborhoods kids trick or treat and parents get together to socialize.

Three hours later....

A first. After running through the woods for an hour and a half in the rain with his boots, headgear, waterproof pants and map, Walter said, and Bill too witnessed this statement, "I'm tired and I think I want to rest."

Mark seemed enamored with the horses, fed them some hay, and is eager to ride.

Cheers,

Martha

Bokmål and Nynorsk

Hi All,

Over lunch I met a colleague in the Nordic Studies Department and we talked about Norwegian children's literature, Bokmål and Nynorsk. He recommended a series of children's mystery books by Bjørn Sortland, and I checked out Oslo Mystery and Paris Mystery for Mark and Walter.

Bokmål, which derives from Danish, is the language most often taught in Norwegian schools, and the language of choice for the vast majority of academic publications. Nynorsk, which is spoken most often in western and northern Norway by a far smaller percentage of the population, apparently was the language of choice for some of the nation's best literature. Norway, unlike Sweden, has made a concerted effort to support its small towns and villages throughout the country as a vital part of its national heritage. Perserving regional dialects is part of that larger effort.

Cheers,

Martha

Secret Garden, ski shopping, horseback riding and Oleana

Hi All,

Bill is reading Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden to the kids. I think the kids are getting bogged down a bit in Burnett's theosophical riffs, but they're enjoying the book overall. I can't quite figure out Burnett's take on imperialism; she seems to critique it in the Indian scenes, but the male protagonist, Colin, is certainly learning to be member of the ruling class and Mary subservient to him.

We bought skis (without boots), a boys bike and one pair of skates at a school rummage sale.

The headmaster suggested that we try horseback riding for Mark. We're going to look into it.

One of my colleagues told me about Oleana, one of the most famous sweater producers in Norway. Oleana got a big boost when Michelle Obama bought some of the company's sweaters after the President was awarded the Nobel. The sweaters are lovely!!



God Natt,

Martha

Orienteering

We signed Mark up for orienteering, which I hadn't heard of before I came here, but it's big in Norway. As I understand it, the kids run around the woods--running is the key--and try to find posts using a map and a compass. When I dropped Mark off at the meeting spot at 6:30, it was already dark, but he happily donned his elastic headlight and bemoaned the fact that he wasn't wearing appropriate running gear. Even though I rued my unabashedly suburban first thought, "Why would anyone want to run around the woods in the dark?", I still had misgivings. But, when in Norway... Oh, Mark had a great time, and Walter wants to join too.

Bill's giving a lecture on American politics to my students on Friday. I'm helping him with the oh-so-fine points of powerpoint slide design. My McKendree students would be astonished at how far my powerpoints have come.

I'm contemplating agrarianism and The Wizard of Oz--man, I love my job.

I'll try to get some pics of the orienteering and handball sessions. My camera is getting dusty:)

Tomorrow we're going to try to buy used skiis at a school fundraising function.

Cheers,

Martha

Napoleon, Crimea and Detective Fiction

Hi All,

The boys were off school today because of a city-wide teacher training day at the University of Agder. Bill headed out with Walter to find a movie at the public library to show during Walter's birthday party. He brought back Buster Keaton's The General, Harry Potter Og Fangen Fra Azkaban, and Tintin I Haisjøen. Which would you choose? I'm a bit anxious about having an apartment filled with Norwegian nine-year old boys who speak little English.

I took Mark down to the University where he made his way to the different school-publishing/activity tables. Whittling, we discovered, is a favorite activity for kids in school. At the Norwegian history booth a nice fellow gave him a book in Norwegian on Norwegian history and a poster of Oscar Wergeland's 1885 painting "Eidsvold 1814," showing the signing of the Norwegian constitution in 1814.

While Mark went to the library, I went to my office to read Rudolph Fisher's The Conjure-Man Dies,(1932) the first detective novel written by an African American. Fisher was a physician in Harlem who died as the result of x-ray exposure from experiments he performed. Next it's onto Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon--all context for George Schuyler's detective fiction in the Courier.

Mark met me in my office and had a nice conversation with Peter Young, a British professor of Victorian studies, who has been teaching at the University since 1969! When I mentioned that Mark and Walter were interested in Napoleon's battles at Trafalgar and Waterloo, he suggested that Mark read more about the battle of Borodino. Mark asked where Borodino was and Peter responded that it was in Russia, and that Napoleon had left thousands of his troops there to starve. Lithuania had a few years ago, in fact, found the remains of several thousand of Napoleon's troops, and we saw some of the remnants of their uniforms in the National History Museum in Vilnius. In any event, Peter then gave Mark a book on the Crimean War and explained that it was the first war to be photographed. Florence Nightingale served there and her work marks the beginning of modern nursing. Mark happily accepted the book and started reading. I was touched by Peter's kindness.