Schmap travel guides

Again, the Schmap online travel guide has chosen one of my photos (as well as hundreds of others) for inclusion in their travel guides - this time it's the Copenhagen guide. And as they thought, I'm not only flattered by this inclusion (as flattered as the hundreds of others they've included), but I'm also finding it interesting enough for me to write a post in my blog. More free PR for them. They're smart...



By the way: The photo they've included this time is this:

Old trams

Yesterday, a collection of old trams were on display in front of the town hall in Oslo. It is cool to see the development of the art of transport - obviously, the demands have increased when it comes to comfort and speed...


1875 model from Stephenson: KSS 6


1899 model from Falkenried: KSS 32


1914 model from Skabo: KSS 96

And here's an ad from one of the old trams:

I'm in love...

I'm in love! Well, that's nothing new - I do have a wonderful boyfriend. But now I've also fallen in love with a building.

It's not the first time it's happened - I fell in love with the Sydney Opera House the first time I saw it as well. Today, I got the first close look at Oslo's new opera, and I fell in love again. It is a beautiful building with a huge, white marble roof which will be open to visitors.





From the roof, you can see the Oslo fjord, or the city, depending on where you look. I'm sure this will be a major tourist spot and a joy to visit. And now the opening of the inside is only months away...




See more photos on my Flickr page for the new opera house.

Nude for the environment

While demonstrations for the environment are worthwhile in itself, I particularly enjoy the demonstrations staged by Spencer Tunik, as noted in Dagbladet.

The world's best movies

Dagbladet has made a list of the world's 15 best movies from the last 25 years - as well as Norway's 15 best movies in the same period. Here's the lists, with links to my page for the movies I've seen, and my rating (0 to 10) in parenthesis:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Blue Velvet (6)
3. Short Cuts
4. Chungking Express (7)
5. Where is my friend's house
6. Stranger Than Paradise (5)
7. Blade Runner (7)
8. Once Upon a Time in America
9. Breaking the Waves (8)
10. Silence of the Lambs (8)
11. Go and See
12. Oldboy
13. Fargo
14. Ran
15. Requiem for a Dream

As you see, I'm certainly not up to date on "good movies" (according to Dagbladet), but on the other hand, I didn't like the "good" ones I've seen too much either...

Norwegian movies:
1. Budbringeren (8)
2. Insomnia (6)
3. Reprise
4. Salmer fra kjøkkenet (7)
5. Veiviseren (8)
6. Kjærlighetens kjøtere
7. Mongoland (8)
8. Eggs
9. X
10. Orions belte (8)
11. Slipp Jimmy fri (7)
12. Dei mjuke hendene
13. Ti kniver i hjertet (6)
14. Den brysomme mannen
15. Stella Polaris

Although I certainly don't agree with this list either, it is a healthy reminder that there are many good Norwegian movies out there.

Mr. Gay Europe 2007

gaysir covers the Mr. Swimwear part of the Mr. Gay Europe competition. It is kind of interesting to see which parts of the heterosexual exploitation of women we gays choose to copy. But that's of course not the only thing that makes it interesting to watch these photos...


(More photos at gaysir.)

Magnus won Biel

Magnus Carlsen just won the Biel tournament. He had to face Alexander Onischuk for rapid games after both ended up on 5.5 points after the ordinary 9 games. The two rapid games and the two blitz games all ended up with draws, and Magnus had to resort to an Armageddon game to finish it all. He won the Armageddon with black.

This is certainly a major victory for Magnus, arguably the highest-quality tournament he has ever won. Congratulations!