12 irrefutable reasons why gay people should not be allowed to get married

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can't legally get married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously, homosexual parents will raise homosexual children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if homosexual marriage is allowed, since Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are property, blacks can't marry whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Homosexual marriage should be decided by people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.

7. Homosexual marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in the world.

8. Homosexual marriage will encourage people to be homosexual, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

9. Legalizing homosexual marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Homosexual marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to things like cars or longer life-spans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always good (and constitutional). Separate marriages for homosexuals will work just as well as separate schools for African-Americans did.

(Source: unknown)

A nude guy while you're waiting...

Okay, I know I'm not writing too much these days - I work too much and have interesting social things going on, so my blog suffers...

While you're waiting for my next real posting, I thought you might want to look at one of the newest male nude models at John Andresen's webpage:



He's got a nice smile, doesn't he?

Movie: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I know Charlie quite well from my childhood - I remember sitting in my family's car listening to the radio version when the rest of the family were in the rented cabin. And I remember reading the book of course (I've even read it in French, just for fun...) It is a recipe for disaster to go to a movie theater to see a movie based on a book I know so well. But I loved it.

One reason I loved it was perhaps simply the colors. It's a beautiful movie - with lots and lots of scenery that people have never seen before. Of course, I had colorful pictures in my head as well, but the movie surpassed it.



Another reason is the fun of it all - there are all kinds of funny small details that ensures that the movie is never boring and often quite hilarious.

And the third reason is Johnny Depp. Some people think he is overdoing his acting in some of his movies - in this one it's perfect. And the other actors were also great (and just think of the luxury of having Helena Bonham Carter in the quite modestly sized role as Charlie's mother...)



So how will I conclude? I conclude by saying that I'm looking forward to seeing it again... And I will keep the thought brought by this movie: things work out in the end for good boys...

Movie: Kiss me deadly

I saw an old film noir movie yesterday - Kiss me deadly from 1955. It was (at least partly) hilarious. You knew from the start that picking up the woman in the street was not a very good idea (after all, it's part of the ting about being a film noir movie that meeting women at all is not a very good idea), and throughout the movie, the main male character made sure to do the dangerous thing at every possible turn.

I'm afraid I didn't really notice the great photography that people talk about when they discuss this movie - to me it was mostly just plain, ordinary film noir photography (even though I do in hindsight understand what they are talking about). I was mostly concentrating on the story, which featured an endless stream of new names with little screen-time.

It's difficult to see this movie today without feeling that the script is terrible. For one thing, the writers seemed to know a bit too little of physics (or just relying on the audience to know little). On the other hand, the story says a lot of the way Americans felt in the early 1950s...

At the screening I went to, there were people in the audience laughing out loud at the ending. I guess that the creators of the movie were quite serious about that part of the movie, but I also wonder how much of the humour is unintentional - was the creators trying to be witty at all? (At least some of the fights have a slap-stick taste to them...)

The rating above (6 out of 10) has more to do with the fun of seeing the movie than of the quality of it, I'm afraid. See it if you're in a good mood.

Gamst scored two

Morten Gamst Pedersen scored both of Blackburn's goals when Manchester United was beaten at its own home ground this evening. It's nice to see that Norwegians are still making themselves seen in the Premier League.

I've only seen Morten Gamst Pedersen live once, actually (in an uneventful 0-1 loss against Brann on Brann stadion while he was still playing for Tromsø), but it's always more interesting to follow players that you have heard of for some years...

Series final...

This weekend, the Norwegian soccer series may well be (almost) decided. Vålerenga visits Start in Kristiansand, and if Vålerenga wins, they will have a six point lead.

The season has been incredible for Start, a team that was predicted to be fighting for survival in the bottom of the league table. Start's Kristofer Hæstad has gone from "the small midfielder" to "popstar" in just a few months - and people scream wherever he turns up, according to Dagbladet. He says that "It's embarrassing when the girls scream" - luckily he doesn't mention what he thinks about boys screaming...

(In the picture above, we see Hæstad with Morten Gamst Pedersen.)

Permanent job

In a way, my life has changed quite a lot this last week. For the first time in my life, I have a permanent job that I may actually want to keep for the rest of my life. Add that to the apartment that I actually own (bought in November), and my life is starting to look settled...

Just to clarify: it's quite normal in Norway to have temporary jobs for a few years before getting a permanent one. My career has been like this: one year at a high school in Oslo, five years in a university college in Alta (where I actually had a permanent position for the last two years - but that doesn't really count, as I had absolutely no intention to stay there for longer than five years) and now two years at the university college in Oslo.

What does this mean? Getting a permanent job has been a goal, if only because working conditions are better and it opens the possibility of taking time off (for studies, for instance) without feeling that the whole future is in danger... But other than that not much has changed, has it?

Well, the next big thing is to get a boyfriend, isn't it? Feel free to apply in the comments to this post... :-)

Strategically placed tan line

From Oh la la Paris I picked up this nice ad, which has apparently been on Paris' metro stations. The text? "AIDES congratulates all those who have been using protection this summer."

Blog metrics revisited

In an earlier post I invented some metrics to describe the contents or attitudes of a blog. Now that google has given us a search tool for blogs, I can now give the "universal" metrics:

The "sex"/"work" ratio: 722,974/1,904,910 = 0,38

"love"/"hate" ratio: 1,962,575/1,050,689 = 1,87

"fashion"/"nude" ratio: 703,728/44,591 = 15,78

"sport"/"art" ratio: 698,901/1,131,923 = 0,62

"travel"/"home" ratio: 961,923/2,319,907 = 0,41

Thus, we see that bloggers love more than they hate, write more about work than sex, are far more interested in fashion than in being nude, prefer art to sport, and focus more on the home than travelling. At least, that's one way of looking at the numbers... :-)

Movie: Kinsey

Alfred Kinsey must surely rank among the most important scientists of the 20th century. His research helped people realize that they were not "unnormal" or "unnatural", but that variation is normal and natural in any population. This has changed the life of people just as much as the invention of the laser and other ground-breaking inventions.

The movie based on Kinsey's life is warm, showing Kinsey as a complex person. It also shows the resistance he faced - which is the same resistance faced by anyone who challenges ancient truths in a society. Liam Neeson does a splendid job in portraying Kinsey.

Of course, the movie has been attacked by the same people who have for years attacked the research. Well, it only goes to show that his fight is still important, I guess...

Gay sex - even in Britain

The Scotsman writes about a 1949 British sex survey and its result, which are finally about to be revealed by a BBC documentary.

"One in five men confessed to a homosexual experience and one in four admitted sex with prostitutes. One in five women had an extra-marital affair - and most complained their husbands were terrible in bed.

These are the findings of the 1949 Mass Observation Project, Britain's first ever sex survey, which quizzed several thousand men and women nationwide about their sexual tastes on condition of anonymity. The results were deemed so outrageous that they were never made public, and the survey was buried in an archive at the University of Sussex."

Of course, these findings don't seem so outrageus any more - but at least they seem to confirm that homosexuality is not a fad...

A nice swim after a hard match

Rosenborg, who is fighting for survival in the Norwegian soccer series, this week surprisingly beat Olympiakos 3-1 away in Champions League.

Yesterday, Norwegian newspaper chose to focus on some flesh after being given the chance to join the team at the swimming pool:

From Adresseavisa:


Daniel Braaten


Per Ciljan Skjelbred


Torstein Helstad and Jan Gunnar Solli on the floor

From Dagbladet:


Jan Gunnar Solli, Thorstein Helstad and Daniel Braaten


Per Ciljan Skjelbred


Ørjan Berg


Thorstein Helstad, Jan Gunnar Solli and Ørjan Berg

Movie: Diarios De Motocicleta

Diarios De Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) is a beautiful roadmovie through South American landscapes and cultures. It should probably be seen on the big screen, not on a tiny TV. Still, it comes across as a warm and engaging picture of the lands and people.

And Gael García Bernal is a beauty, as usual.

I saw the movie without knowing that it is "based on a true story", I don't know if that would have made a difference.

The most sexy footballers

Dagbladet quotes a ranking of the world's most sexy soccer players of all time. It's an interesting topic, so I'll quote it too...

20. Michael Owen
19. Frank Lampard

18. Vinnie Jones (!)
17. Dennis Bergkamp
16. Ryan Giggs
15. Trevor Sinclair
14. Ray Wilkins
13. Paolo Maldini
12. Alan Shearer
11. Gary Lineker
10. Jamie Redknapp
9. Steven Gerrard
8. Fredrik Ljungberg

7. Milan Baros

6. David James
5. Eric Cantona
4. Francesco Totti
3. Thierry Henry
2. David Beckham


1. David Ginola


(But what about Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance?)



Comments?

Concerts: a-Ha and Ravi & DJ Løv

I've forgotten to mention that I was one of the 100,000 people attending the concerts in Frognerparken in Oslo not long ago (a free concert arranged by a Norwegian company who had an anniversary).

It was great! I did not hear the Lord of the Rings concert earlier in the day (and also escaped the pouring rain at the end of that), but did come in time for Ravi & DJ Løv. I haven't listened too much to them before, just their biggest hits ("Dødssøt", "E-Ore" and "Tsjeriåu"), but it was great too see them live. Their lyrics (in Norwegian, I must warn you) are hilarious. Great fun!

Then there was a-Ha - Norway's greatest music export ever (even though Röyksopp is also well-known by many). They had a few new songs, that were ok (songs are rarely more than "ok" the first time I hear them), but the main attraction was of course the string of great hits ("Take on me", "The sun always shines on TV" and "The Living Daylights", for instance). And the band seemed to be in a good mood, even joking a little on stage.

The location was excellent: in a park with trees on the side. I calculated that I had perhaps 2,000 people between me and the stage (with another 100,000 behind me), and being part of such a huge audience felt good.

All in all: a great night for music.




(Pictures: vg)

Movie: The Man Who Wasn't There

In my effort to catch up on the backlog of Coen movies, the time came to see "The Man Who Wasn't There".

The sad thing is that I start thinking that I may not like the Coen brothers as much as I thought I did... It was a fine movie, no doubt about that. A film noir-ish thing, a criminal story that didn't turn out quite the way the main character wanted. A great look into an American small town in the first part of the 20th century - and the photography is great. But it's still a tiny bit boring at times...

I'm starting to think that the problem may be that I'm watching these DVDs on a terrible TV... Well, anyhow, I'll still look out for other Coen films and hope they're more in the league of Hudsucker Proxy or O Brother, Where Art Thou...

New Orleans

It's incredible to follow the news of the situation in New Orleans.

I try to remember the New Orleans that once was, and hope it will return back to normal in time, and that the number of deaths will stop increasing.