Noen dager åpner man nettavisen og ser overskriften og tenker: “Jøss, er HAN død?”
Noen dager tenker man: “Jøss, har ikke han vært død lenge?”
Og noen dager blir man nesten på gråten.
I dag er en dag av den siste typen. Gustav Lorentzen er død. Jeg er fortsatt ikke helt sikker på at jeg tror på det. For å sitere Mikkel Grüner på Twitter:
Lorentzen? DØD?? Jeg var ellers ganske sikker på at han hadde fått bevilget fritak.
Det er selvsagt delvis fordi Gustav Lorentzen ER Ludvigsen, og Ludvigsen er jo en snål liten fyr som bor i en tunnel. Og små snåle fyrer som bor i tunneler dør jo ikke bare sånn uten videre. I hvert fall ikke av hjertestans under et o-løp.
Og hva skal stakkars Knutsen gjøre nå? Tør han å bli boende i tunnelen helt alene? Hvor skal han ellers bo?
Knutsen og Ludvigsen har vært en del av min bevissthet så lenge jeg kan huske. Vi hadde de første historiene på en gul kassett – tatt opp fra radio, tror jeg. Den hørte jeg på i bilen når jeg fortsatt måtte sitte på pute (og vi sluttet jo med slikt mye tidligere den gangen). Og alle platene, selvsagt. På LP eller kassett. Og etterpå har jeg kjøpt dem på CD. Og så rippet dem til MP3 for å kunne ha dem som del av standardspillelisten på MP3-spilleren.
Verden er blitt et fattigere sted. Heldigvis har vi fortsatt platene.
Hvil i fred, Gustav Lorentzen. Jeg regner med du finner både gyngehest, skinke og syltetøy der du er nå, det vil kle deg bedre enn harpe.
(Og jeg som aldri kom meg på Knutsen og Ludvigsen konsert. Pokker.)
I’ve heard about the sort of research on incentives that he quotes before, and so wasn’t surprised as such, but he has a greater level of detail on which scenarios play out which way which was new to me.
I’ve “always” known that financial motivators don’t work for me, but I kind of thought it was “just me”, or at least “it works for some people”. This research should be slapped (yes, literally if you like) in the face of every CEO who justifies the ridiculous salaries and bonuses, especially in financial corporations, with “it motivates people to do a good job”.
Uh uh. It doesn’t.
A note – spoilerish, so watch the video first: The candle problem… When he’d shown the first picture and started talking about the task I honestly thought “well, what’s so difficult about it? Just use the bl***y box.” Smugness ensues.
Egentlig vil jeg bare ha en forklaring på elefantene, men siden jeg først gikk til bryet med å ta bilde av plakaten kan jeg jo like gjerne plukke fra hverandre resten også…
For det første kan man vel gå ut fra at Ola Borten Moe (heretter OBM) ikke bidrar med nevneverdige arbeidsplasser for grafiske designere eller profesjonelle reklamefolk. Eventuellt driver han veldedighet og hyrer in sådanne som ikke får jobb noe annet sted. Men det er nå en sak. OBM er ikke alene om å tro at bare fordi dagens datateknikk har gjort at man KAN lage sine egne plakater så BØR man gjøre det.
La oss snakke litt om billedvalget, sånn utenom elefantene, selvsagt. Jeg skulle gjerne visst hvorfor det ene er i svart/hvitt, men slår meg til ro med at designeren (jeg bruker ordet i dets løseste betydning) synes det så kult ut. Ellers er det vel normal Senterparti-nasjonalromatikk vi snakker om. Ikke ett av bildene hadde skiftet “stemning” nevneverdig om de avbildede menneskene hadde vært ikledd bunad. Legg også merke til den totale mangelen på mennesker med noe annet enn griserosa hud. Nå kan man jo forstå at “bondepartiet” liker griser, men jeg har da sett mange flotte griser med andre hudfarger også, og da snakker jeg altså om griser – sånne som sier nøff, nøff. Nordmenn finnes også med mange flotte hudfarger, men det passer kanskje ikke like bra inn i Tidemand og Gude?
Og så var det mottoet, da. “Gode liv – der du bor”. Sikkert godt ment, for all del, men burde det ikke være enten “Godt liv der du bor” (personlig) eller “Gode liv der dere (evt. folk) bor” (generelt velvillig)? “Gode liv – der du bor” gir meg inntrykket av at OBM vil at jeg og naboene mine skal ha det bra, noe som forsåvidt er hyggelig, men at det ikke er så nøye med resten av verden. Det er upraktisk på flere måter, blandt annet ser jeg for meg at det kan bli folksomt i nabolaget mitt dersom det bare er her man kan få seg ett godt liv.
En annen ting er at i følge bildene bor jeg visst i en eller annen blomstereng et sted, det er forsvinnende lite asfalt i OBMs verden. Ikke at jeg er så fryktelig fan av asfalt, men jeg bor nå engang i byen og selv om jeg av og til får lyst på “katt og kaniner og et småbruk på Høland” så går anfallet som regel over det øyeblikket jeg kommer på at vi er tom for skikkelig ost (nå kan man argumentere med at hvis jeg bodde på et småbruk så kunne jeg lage ost selv, men jeg er ikke så sikker). Er ikke dette feil bilder å reklamere med på bussene i Norges tredje største by?
Og hva er det egentlig med den nettadressen? Nudge.no? Hæ. Hvorfor? Nudge er, meg bekjent, ikek engang et norsk ord. Er det ikke norsk valgkamp?
Men egentlig var det altså disse elefantene. Hva? Eller som vår gode venn Bertie Wooster ville ha sagt: “What, what what, what, what?”
Er det et forsøk på å ta klimaendringene på alvor – snart får vi elefanter i Sør-Trøndelag? Synes OBM bare at elefanter er innmari ålreite dyr? Er det et nikk til the Republican Party (United States)? Er det en oppfordring til nytenking i landbruket: Hvis Senterpartiet får makten vil det bli store subsidier til elefantfarmer? Kan det overhodet finnes en logisk og gjennomtenkt forklaring?
And then, when I get around to reading it (and I’m putting it on my to-do list for tomorrow) I’ll post the link to the story about the last late-term abortionist (in the states). Because, you know what? I’m not actually “in favour of” abortion. I just happen to think that the one person qualified to decide whether a pregnancy is to come to term or not is the pregnant woman.
Taking a break from the quilting posts to do an excercise, inspired by this post by Tami, read more about how (and why) in this article.
Take a (virtual) step: If your father went to college before you started If your father finished college before you started If your mother went to college before you started If your mother finished college before you started If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. If your family was the same or higher class than your high school teachers If you had a computer at home when you were growing up
If you had your own computer at home when you were growing up If you had more than 50 books at home when you were growing up If you had more than 500 books at home when you were growing up(Well, my parents certainly did. And to be honest, I probably did, too, even if I’m just supposed to count MY books.) If were read children’s books by a parent when you were growing up If you ever had lessons of any kind as a child or a teen If you had more than two kinds of lessons as a child or a teen If the people in the media who dress and talk like you were portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it before college
If you had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
If you had or will have no student loans when you graduate
If you went to a private high school If you went to summer camp
If you had a private tutor
(US students only) If you have been to Europe more than once as a child or teen
(International question) If you have been to the US more than once as a child or teen If your family vacations involved staying at hotels rather than KOA or at relatives homes If all of your clothing has been new
If your parents gave you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them If there was original art in your house as a child or teen
If you had a phone in your room (But then, kids didn’t in Norway when I was young) If your parent owned their own house or apartment when you were a child or teen If you had your own room as a child or teen
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School (I hadn’t even heard of anyone having a personal cell phone before I went to university)
If you had your own TV as a child or teen (But not for lack of funds, more because my parents wouldn’t have thought that was a good idea)
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family If your parents took you to museums and art galleries as a child or teen If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
Yeah. Privileged.
But then, I’m white, cis-gendered, heterophile, able-bodied, educated with educated parents. The only thing I’ve got against me is being female, and I happen to live in one of the best countries in the world in terms of gender equality (though it’s still not perfect by any means). So I guess I knew that.
And helping someone else at the same time? What could be better. And there’s the perfect opportunity just now. Go to Iraqi Bundles of Love and read about the project and then leave a comment to get the mailing adress. There is now a European mailing adress, too, so we don’t have to trasport things backwards and forewards across the Atlantic.
I’ve been doing a lot of laughing, in an exasperated sort of way, over the last few days. See, this woman called Hanne N. Herland has been figuring in the Norwegian media for stating the – uhm – unusual* opinion than women should be good little wives and please their husband sexually and gastronimically and be happy about it (oh, and don’t forget to freshen up your makeup before he arrives home from work and greet him with a smile). She also said that it’s no wonder Norwegian men marry Russian or Thai ladies because at least these ladies like sex and can cook. Apparently. Also, Norwegian ladies are all hedonist and jump into bed with just anyone, especially their friends’ husbands. Why they would chose to do so if they don’t like sex hasn’t been explained yet, I’ll get back to you on that one.
So I chose to laugh.
Then some other ladies chimed in to say that really, all this equality-talk has gone too far and how it’s a shame that young women nowadays have to work full-time AND take care of the house and children.
Let me tell you something, ladies: That ain’t equality. The idea, you see, is that your husband should do his share of taking care of the house and the children. I know, revolutionary, isn’t it?
Anyway. I laughed some more.
And then, this afternoon, Herland participated in a net-meeting, and got the following question:
Du har skjønt det!
Oddvar Solemsli,
16.06.2009 13:29:51
Ja dette var skikkelig valgflesk for oss hjerneløse menn – mat og sex! Kunne ikke blitt bedre. Mitt spørsmål er: Hvordan har du tenkt å komme deg tilbake til førkrigstida der du åpenbart kommer fra når valget en gang er over?
And Herland offered this gem:
Hilsen Hanne Nabintu Herland svarer:
Jeg mener faktisk at det er enkelte ting ved 1950 tallet som er bra! Man kan da ikke mene at absolutt alt var verre før, og absolutt alt er fantastisk nå?
Which is when I stopped reading.
(To enlighten those of you who don’t read Norwegian, the question asks sarcastically how she intends to get back to pre-war times where she obviously belongs. She answers that she thinks there are a lot of good things to be said for the 1950-ies.)
Now Herland, I realise there have been wars since 1959, but generally, when one refers to pre-war in Norway, one is talking about the 30ies, as WW2 is THE war hereabouts. Not that there isn’t a lot to be said for the 3oies, too. But as far as being a woman goes, I for one am grateful I was not around then.
A 63 year old man has been sentenced to five months in jail for sexually abusing an eight year old girl. However, the court did not accept the girl’s claim for compensation, and has instead ruled that the girl must pay the abuser’s legal fees.
In what possible light can this be seen as “justice”?
______________
* Which is not unusual at all, of course, and I can’t quite understand why the papers can be bothered to give her any attention.
The text reads: “Life flows better when you can use the same card for something that highlights the whole of you or just a little detail.”
The whole of you? Really?
Note to advertisers: Most women have heads. I think - I might be wrong here, but I’m willing to chance it - it might be just ever so slightly difficult to get along without one.
