New Side-Project, Beklager

Three or four years ago, I fell in love with Bohren & der Club of Gore, a German band that plays a super slow version of jazz.  Here’s a video of one of their faster songs. I first made an attempt to create music in this vein by myself, then with a band that never materialized (due to practice space issues).  But I just wasn’t ready, both in terms of my songwriting skills and practical skills.

In the intermittent time, I’ve thought about coming back to this idea several times, and I even wrote a few melodies.  Now, I find myself nearing the end of my year-long stay in Norway.  For reasons I can’t explain or even quite understand, the inspiration suddenly hit me not long ago.  I decided to come up with a technique for creating these songs that I’ve had floating around for three years.

The product is my synth-ier, cruchy-er take on the genre of music dominated by a handful of bands (pretty much just Bohren & der Club of Gore and The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble).  That project is called Beklager, which is Norwegian for “sorry” or “my apologies,” and below, you can download and/or stream my first full-length album, Unnskyld.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue working with this project, but I think it’s a very likely possibility.  I’ve even talked with some people about making it a real band.

So if you’ve got the time, check out a couple tracks, leave some comments, add me as a friend.

Track List:
01. Når Vi Døde Vågner
02. Midt-Telemark
03. Skogen Hevener
04. Kattejævelen

Translated Track List:
01. When We Dead Awaken
02. Midt-Telemark
03. The Forest Gets Revenge
04. That Bastard Cat

Resolutions(?)

I believe the world has twisted the notion of New Years resolutions into a dirty thing.  Almost always, we set ourselves up for disappointment and self-loathing by setting impossibly-high benchmarks.  That is why I am doing them differently.  For example, mine started yesterday, on the first of February.  Why make New Years resolutions so hastily?  It deserves rational thought.  That is why I spent the first month of the year milling over what I could realistically achieve.  I plan to make these resolutions last at least 11 months, when I can re-evaluate them.  Here are my goals (resolutions sound too strict), in no particular order:

1. Speak and/or write in Norwegian every day.
2. Read at least five books in Norwegian.
3. Submit at least five pieces of writing to literary journals, at least one of which is The New Yorker.
4. Release an album on vinyl.
5. Be happy about my body.
6. Write thirty pieces for Years For Beards.
7. Make significant efforts toward a novel.
8. Submit John Praw demos to at least five record labels.

Some notes are in order.

#1. This has been going for well over a month, though I might start a new blog in Norwegian to help work on my skills there even more.

#2. I am currently reading Den Gamle Mannen Og Havet by Hemmingway, as well as Hodejegerne and Karusellmusikk, both by Jo Nesbø – I started reading Vind I Auga by Jon Fosse, but poetry in Nynorsk is proving a bit too difficult for me at this point.

#3. I have already submitted one piece, with a second ready very soon.  If anyone would like to read either, feel free to message me.  I can not post it online, because some journals would consider it a form of publishing, thus ruining any opportunity to have them published elsewhere.

#4. This is the most difficult.  It depends 100% on money.  If I never have the money to afford it, it won’t happen.

#5. I feel it is wrong to just say “lose weight.”  I’ve never really felt fat, though at the moment (due largely to lifestyle here in Norway), I am not where I want to be.

#6. This is all about motivation.  Can I do it?  Do I want to?  Who knows.

#7. I have two or three ideas for a novel, but I need to focus on one.  We’ll see where I get with this.  It is something I want, though I feel it is wrong to put a deadline on it at this time.

#8. Almost ready for this.  I just need to wait for summer when I’ll be back in the states.

Humbug

Winter break is over, and classes have started back up again.

Due to financial reasons (read: tickets are expensive), I decided to stay here in Bø for the entirety of break.  The hope is that I will have saved the $1200 on round-trip tickets in order to 1) afford life in this country and 2) be able to travel somewhere this semester.  I don’t know if either are possible, but I’m going to try.  As I’ve said before, food here is incredibly expensive.  My friend Pierrick even took a four hour drive one-way to Sweden to purchase groceries (primarily meat).  To celebrate Christmas on my own, I purchased a 1,4k ham (3 lbs).  That piece of meat alone cost me over 160 NOK ($28).

Almost no one was here for the majority of break, and there were a number of days where I was the only one in this building.  And in the times when there were people here (that I knew), there wasn’t much hanging out for some reason.  I was the recipient of a lot of pity over the holiday season, but I have to say that it wasn’t as bad as people thought it would be.  I wasn’t personally worried about it, but others were, and for their compassion, I am grateful.

I did get a bit of cabin fever, though.  That’s for sure.  I would be tired and restless at the same time.  My sleep schedule became completely inverted.  There were numerous days where I did not go to bed until between 6 and 10 AM.  I would frequently wake up sometime around 6:30 PM.  There were many days in which I did not see the sun at all (not difficult when it barely comes up in the first place).  It took me a couple of all-nighters to remedy this situation, but now I’m about back on track.  Lately, I’ve been having a different sleeping issue, though.  This morning, for example, I woke up at 8:30 AM – not a bad time to wake up.  The problem, however, is that I went to bed at 2:45 AM.  That’s not enough sleep.  I guess I’ll try to nap later.

I did call my family back home.  The only part of the break where I was bummed out about being here and not home came when I called home.  It was a bit disheartening to hear all of the family gathered into a few Christmas celebrations.  But it was nice talking with them nonetheless.

For New Years, I was invited to Skien to hang out with my friend Gunnar, but ended up turning down the offer in order to save some more money until I get the loan money for this semester.  It’s not much, but it’ll help.  Instead, I opened my curtains and watched the people of Bø celebrate the New Year with a rather impressive fireworks display.  Houses on the sides of the mountains all around Grivi launched their own little displays, and collectively, it was quite a nice sight.

I also participated in an online marathon for charity put on by the folks at ExtraLives.org.  They are definitely doing some good work, particularly when you consider that they’re only high school seniors.  After almost 81 hours of solid Zelda gameplay (they played several different games, including the horrible CD-I games), the guys had raised over $12k.  I was happy to donate my $10 and be part of the marathon.  With the money they donated to Free The Children, they are able to fund the building of a small school house (or build on to an existing school), stock the school with books and furniture, train teachers to run the school, and create a lunch program for the students for two whole years.  Absolutely amazing.  Now if only they could get the triforce on there…

Other parts of my break included (in no particular order):

1. Runes of Magic
2. Misc. video games
3. Reading
4. Writing
5. Movies
6. TV (see below)
7. Ham
8. mam!records

I watched a surprising amount of TV, often while playing games or doing other stuff online.  I watched:

1. Pokemon: Indigo League (the original season, all 82 episodes)
2. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (all seasons)
3. Frisky Dingo (all seasons)
4. Scrubs: Med School
5. MythBusters
6. Modern Family
7. Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil
8. Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge
9. Pawn Stars
10. Devil May Cry: The Animated Series (all episodes)
11. Cavemen
12. The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
13. etc, etc, etc – this list is starting to get embarrassing…. It was a couple of weeks alone in Norway.  What do you expect?

Well, after that whole deal, I’m happy that people are finally here in Bø again.  I had my first classes this week – Norwegian Literature After 1900.  Recently, I had been doubting the progress I’ve made in my Norwegian education, but the start of this class has given me some much needed confidence.  Last semester, I had signed up for this same class (except it was based on literature before 1900).  I attended the first class or so, and found that I could understand nothing that the professor said.  I dropped it in favor of an independent study making up for the lack of linguistics at the college here in Bø.  This semester, I expected to have trouble understanding the teacher, just like last time.  But lo and behold! I could understand her – mostly. Definitely what I needed.

That’s about where the encouragement ended, however…  We started off our Norwegian literature course by reading Swedish, among all things.  It wasn’t too bad, but I certainly did not understand much of what I read.  The story we read was Alexander Skarsgård’s Att döda ett Barn (To Kill A Child).  At only two pages, it was a really great piece.  It certainly inspires me to write more.

The second day of this class was even more discouraging.  This time, we have a different teacher.  I forget his name at the moment, but he speaks a dialect that is very far from the one I learned.  The Norwegian students have even told me that they have trouble understanding him.  He also writes in nynorsk, which is a different writing system than what I learned (bokmål).  Luckily, he writes on the board for us to take notes from.  It would be a great help, but he writes in some of the worst cursive I have ever seen.  Combine that with words you’ve never heard in a writing system you’ve not used much, and it’s all Greek to me.

That’s enough for now.

Exams And Other Things

A lot of things have been going on lately, and it doesn’t surprise me.  Around this time every semester, stuff hits the fan.  Today was no exception.

I set my alarm for 6:30 AM in order to get up early enough for some studying before my written Norwegian exam at 9 AM.  At 8:02 AM, I woke up.  Dammit…  Took a quick shower and rushed out the door without any breakfast.  Rushed to the culture center for the exam, then remembered I needed to go check out a Norwegian dictionary (no English allowed) for the test, so I ran up to the school, then back down just in time to make it for the exam.  I walked in to get my seat, only to be told that our exam was moved back to the main school building because of a listening exercise included in the test.

So all four of us in our Norwegian class (Hope, Anjuli, Kelsey and me) went up to the school and asked around until we found out our room.  After about fifteen minutes, we realized no one was coming to give us our exam.  Checked some more rooms, and nothing.  I guess there was a mistake, and it was the Introductory Norwegian course that was supposed to change spaces, not us.  Finally, they arranged a new room for us to take our test, and we began about thirty minutes late, but were given more time on account of the confusion.  The exam was much easier than I thought it would have been.  It was certainly easier and fairer than our second midterm exam was.  I finished with plenty of time left over, so I relaxed downstairs while I waited for the others to finish.

What followed was five-ish hours of waiting for the oral part of the exam.  We did some good studying, and a lot of goofing off.  It was nice to spend that time with my buddies.  I hope I didn’t annoy them too much.  The oral exam went pretty well.  I was worried that I would have to talk about a political party in Norway, but ended up telling the fairy tale “De Tre Bukkene Bruse” (The Three Billy Goats Gruff).  I knew that the teacher and evaluator would have heard that story a few times today, so I decided to switch it up a bit.  I gave all of the goats names (like Carl) and made them eat the troll instead of poke his eyes out and get fat in the pasture.  I thought it went well.

Did some grocery shopping for some much-needed food (these cupboards were bare, for sure).  On my way home, I cut through the elementary school playground, which was not a good idea.  As you can see by the pictures, the weather here has not been ideal.  These pictures are actually a bit old.  We don’t get this much sun anymore.  It snowed a little while ago, and it’s been rainy recently, which means lots of ice and some really slick slush.  I must have tripped on something in the schoolyard, but whatever happened, I ended up face first in the semi-frozen mud.  It didn’t hurt too much, and it was dark, so no one saw me… I think.

But the day has been all gravy since then.  I only have one exam and a paper to write, then I’m done for the semester.

Thanksgiving/Birthday:

I had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving, which was coincidentally my birthday this year, with a bunch of international students.  We had five whole turkeys and gallons of mashed potatoes and gravy.  Tons of people brought dishes to share as well.  I had four cans of cranberry sauce, thanks to my mother who so kindly sent them.  Tusen takk!

I won the big side of the wishbone after an epic battle with Janys.  She didn’t stand a chance.  It was great to share my favorite holiday with so many people I know.  It was a nice piece of home.

Damn.  I’m 22 aren’t I?

Years For Beards:

We’re continuing to write articles for my little group project, Years For Beards.  It is a music review site, and so far it’s doing pretty well.  Things are slow with most of us in exam mode, but we’re still pumping out articles.  At least one a week.  Click here to go there.

Milk A Fat Guy:

I started another website (bringing my total number of domains up to five, I believe).  This time, it’s a comedy site.  I have these comics that I made sitting around, and I wanted to share them with people.  The name comes from an inside joke.  Dan gets it.  Like Years For Beards, I’m looking for people to make content for the site along with me.  I’ve gotten generally positive feedback on it.  New strips are ready to go up soon (possibly every Wednesday, but maybe every Sunday).  The comics will probably be aimed toward an older audience (above 18).  I think Corey might be joining me to make some strips.  I hope he does.  Click here to go there.

Support Your Scene:

I tuned in to Support Your Scene this past weekend and had a chance to talk with Ashley for the first time in a while.  Support Your Scene is a radio program on WSUM that focuses on music local to the Madison area.  This Sunday, from 1 PM to 3 PM Wisconsin time, is Ashley’s last show with Support Your Scene.  She’s been a great host, and I’d like to formally thank her for getting me into WSUM.  I will, and do, miss you, Assley.  Check out her last show this Sunday.  Click here to go to the WSUM site, where you can listen to our live stream. I’ll be back this summer with my show, Bridges and Balloons.  So look forward to that in 5-ish months.

Music:

I’ve been spending a lot of my spare time working on music, like I always do.  Recently, however, I have been happier with my music than I had been earlier this year.  Corey and I are working closely on some stuff for Pushmi-Pullyu and K. Wilhelm that is turning out great.  I’ve also created the first few [praw] tracks that I’ve been happy with in a long time.  I have decided to keep working on music for the rest of the semester and avoid releasing anything until I get back to the states.  In the past, I would have released a lot of stuff in this 10 month time, but I’ve decided it’s best to wait a bit and make some more cohesive releases.  Expect a big party when I get back home.

~             ~             ~

I’m sure there are things that I had wanted to say, but it’s getting pretty late (2:34 AM).  Now that exams are coming to an end, I’ll be able to post more.  Keep in touch – remember, you don’t need an account here to leave a comment.

Non-Collige Virgo Rosas

Non-collige
Virgo rosas.

Non-collige
Virgo rosas.

We were dreaming
Under pavement;
And I asked you,
“Will you be my
Earthly body?”
Then we shivered.

Would You Be

The following are the lyrics to a song I wrote, currently titled “Would You Be”.  I might change the title, but the lyrics are pretty much set now.  I’m thinking maybe “Shakespeare” or something else.  This song will be on my new Pushmi-Pullyu album.

* * *

If I would be a tree
Would you be the breeze
And blow through my brown leaves
In the autumn when I need it

If I were on my knees
Would you be willing to please me
And watch my simple smile
Turn from frowns

Believable
Believable
I thought you knew
The season’s pull

Believable
Believable
I thought you knew
The truth

If you could hold your whiskey
Would you whistle with me
A song about a fortnight
In the woods

If you could write a play
Would you act it out today
And be my little Shakespeare
And not just exit stage right

I won’t wait for your wind to blow
That’s alright with me
I won’t wait for your chest to heave
That’s alright with me

I won’t wait for your lips to purse
That’s alright with me
I won’t wait for intermission
That’s alright with me

Man Tänker Sitt

Not a week goes by where I don’t have a conversation on facebook similar to the following:

“John is having a great time in Norway.” (status update, etc)

Someone: yur in norway lol

John: You bet!

Someone: liak, the country?  er what?

John: Yeah, the country Norway.  Over by Sweden.

Someone: o kool!  why are you ther?

John: I’m studying for the year.

Someone: oh

Repeat.

And I have a feeling it will never really end.  I seem to have amassed 547 facebook friends as of the writing of this post.  I guess it is not really annoying that people ask me about Norway and don’t know I am here – after all, there must be over a thousand things that go through the feed just among these 547 friends each day.  And for the many people I am friends with but only really acquaintances in real life, it is easy to overlook me.  The real annoyance is having to tell the details over and over again.

Before coming to Norway, I got the same questions over and over again.

Why?

What for?

Now that I’m here, I still get the same questions.

Why?

What for?

A little annoying, but I have come to accept it.  Maybe I need to create a FAQ of my life.  Now there’s an idea.

Years For Beards

I have been thinking about doing some music reviews and starting a music site for a while.  Well, I finally decided to just go for it the other day.  Corey Murphy is helping me out with this endeavor, and he was nice enough to tweak his reviews from The Badger Herald to give us some more content as we work on getting the site off the ground.

For those who’d like to check the site out, you can visit http://www.yearsforbeards.com.

As for the name…

1. “years for beards” comes from the lyrics for the Why? song “Sanddollars”
2. there is a running joke that the awesome potential of a band is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of facial hair

Right now, we’re focusing mainly on album reviews and some show reviews.  In the future, however, we plan on adding news, interviews, site-exclusive releases, city-specific content and most importantly, BAND BEARD REVIEWS.

At the time I am writing this, Corey has posted two album reviews and a summary of some highlights from Lollapalooza 2009.  New content will be uploaded on Tuesdays.  Some things we’ve got planned for this week:

• Bon Iver – Blood Bank
• Erik Enocksson – Man tänker sitt
• Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky
• The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
• Earth Died Screaming (a tribute to Tom Waits) – show review
• Sufjan Stevens – The BQE

We might have some more content if we get another staff writer or two.  If you’re interested, let me know.  Otherwise, Corey and I will be adding new content every Tuesday.

A Package From Home

I finally received the package my mother sent me one week ago, and I decided it might be nice to make a list of the things she sent me.

• 7 x 5.6 oz Knorr brand Rice Sides
• 10 x chewy chocolate chip granola bars
• 4 x ping pong balls
• 10 x single serving oatmeal
• 1 x 17.5 oz Frito Lay brand corn chips (1 week past use-by date {but still delicious})
• 10 x Create-A-Dino fruit flavored snacks
• 2 x 30 count cough drops
• 1 x Oral-B tooth brush (from Dental Associates)
• 1 x cork screw / bottle opener combo
• 1/3 x bottle of chili powder
• 1 x 50 m Oral-B dental floss
• 1 x 3 oz deodorant stick
• 1 x small screw (why??)
• 1 x beard trimmer (I’m in need of a trim)
• 6 x mechanical pencils
• 1 x green Sharpie
• 1 x container of pencil lead
• 1 x 1.75 liters Premium San Juan Liqueur made with Virgin Islands Rum (80 proof)

Thanks Mom!  (I wonder if she knows the difference between rum and rum-based liqueur…)

In other news, tonight I will be seeing Earth Died Screaming (while I lay dreaming of Tom) – a tribute to Tom Waits.  Hope and I failed to get our tickets ahead of time, so it will cost a bit extra.  But I’m still stoked to hear some Tom Waits songs live.  I sure hope this band doesn’t mess it up!

Earth Died Screaming (while I lay dreaming of Tom)

~a tribute to Tom Waits~

You are invited to a murky whiskey-evening where musicians from Trondheim’s metal, rock and jazz scene come together with a common denominator: Tom Waits. The band will create a dense atmosphere with their great interaction, great songs and wonderful drive. Vocalists Stian Leknes and Marita Rostad will be playing up to Tom’s dancing with good friends from Trondheim’s music scene. Stian is the lead singer of the Trondheim-based metal band Manifest, while Marita is best known from the city’s jazz scene, and with the album “Silent Sunday”.

Take your gutter humor and meet up!

That’s my rough translation of the description of the show.  For 150 NOK ($26.71), it had better be good.  The show starts at 9:30 PM at Grillen (“The Grill”).

Gotta Catch ‘em All!

A friend of mine (on facebook) recently posted this video:

Lately, I have been having a lot of nightmares (or at least very bad dreams). But the last couple of nights, I have had a bit of break from them. Seeing this video reminded me of a great dream I had last night. In my dream, I was raising a Magikarp with the hope of it becoming a Gyarados. It was great.

But I wonder… Is it sad that one of the best dreams I’ve had in weeks consisted of me level-grinding in an RPG I played when I was a kid…?