What forest? What trees?

Vikings acquitted

So there's this recent revelation that the second woman buried with the famous Oseberg Viking ship was not in fact murdered and sent to the hereafter (Valhalla!) with her queen. This all seems a little sketchy to me. Revisionist history. So how did she die and why was she buried with the older woman--thought to be a queen--who may have died from cancer.

This is bad news for the Viking brand, right? These guys were known for murdering, raping, and pillaging. And this recent discovery seems to be trying to make then out to be sensitive guys. Forget it! They were Vikings!

Norway prepares for the apocalypse, at least food-wise

I read about this seed vault and all I can think is that it will be the subject of an upcoming James Bond film, in which the evil powers will either try to steal all the seeds or contaminate them with some left-over plutonium from one of their other nefarious projects.

But you read the article and realize how much biodiversity we've lost and it is frightening to consider.

On another front, one of the driving forces behind the project died recently. You've got to love that first name, Bent. Bent! You just want to say that out loud: "Bent!"

And what if you need someone to ask Bent to come into your office? "Get Bent," you say. Which then leads into this whole (rather unsavory) discussion about the phrase.

Norway goes carbon neutral?

So originally Norway had pledged to go 'carbon neutral' by 2050 and then later changed that deadline to 2030 (only 22 years away!), but it seems that a lot of this 'neutrality' is based on growing trees in Africa or other 3rd-world places, according to this article in the New York Times. Problem is they haven't figured out how to decrease their own carbon emissions. And my guess is that innovations related to energy will not occur in Norway. It's not a nation of entrepreneurs. But it is a rich nation from all the oil out there under the North Sea. So they'll have to buy that technology when it gets invented.

Norway says cars aren't "green" or "clean"

Bente Oeverli, a senior official at the office of the state-run Consumer Ombudsman in Oslo, says that "cars cannot do anything good for the environment except less damage than others" in this article from Reuters.

So they're asking carmakers not to use phrases such as "green," "clean," or "environmentally friendly" in advertisements for their cars in Norway.

The Vikings are coming!

This from the New York Times:

Ireland: Dublin Welcomes Viking Ship

A replica of a Viking ship believed to have been built in 1042 sailed triumphantly into Dublin after retracing the 1,000-mile path of the fleets of Norsemen who invaded Ireland more than a millennium ago. Over six weeks, the 100-foot ship, which carried some decidedly un-Viking-like equipment — global positioning systems, radar, radio, satellite weather forecasts and life jackets — crossed the waters of northern Europe from Scandinavia, around Scotland and into the Irish Sea. Spectators cheered and the 65 sailors on board blew the horns as the ship drew into the harbor in Dublin, the site of a ninth-century Viking settlement. This time around, there was no pillaging.

No pillaging? How much fun could that be?

Northern Lights Tonight!

According to SpaceWeather.com, tonight is a good night to observe the Northern Lights if you happen to be in northern Alaska, Canada, or Norway. I spent a winter in the Lofoten Islands of Norway (above the Arctic Circle) and I will tell you, the northern lights there are absolutely psychedelic. Burgundy-colored curtains floating through the sky, concentric cirlces of orange light sizzling by and electric green splotches, all accompanied by a low level hissing and crackling. You know you're close to where the ionized particles are hitting the earth when you can hear them. The photos at spaceweather, though good, don't capture some of the really wild pyrotechnics that can occur in the dark of winter.

Norwegian flag hat

Norwegian flag hat, originally uploaded by erikorama.

Tom Peters was recently traveling in Norway and Sweden and he sent me this Norwegian flag winter hat. Which reminds me that I ought to start a hat of the day type of post. He mentions my Norwegian-ness in this post over at tompeters.com.

Viking bike?

This picture at flickr purports to be a Viking bike. I'm not so sure that's what I'd call it. Looks like a big horn cattle bike to me, but I must admit I like the idea of being able to categorize this post as both Bicycling and Norwegian stuff. And the picture is taken in front of the Museum of Science in Boston. Maybe bike and rider will show up at the next Critical Mass ride. Git along little dogies!

Norwegian crime wave

The Easter holidays are a big deal in Norway and in most of Europe for that matter. Not that the Norwegians spend much time in church during this time. Seems that the country gets caught up in watching crime thrillers on TV and when not doing that, reading crime fiction (supposedly at their cabins in the mountains). The best part of any Norwegian item is somehow relating it back to the time of the Vikings. The money quote in this article from Reuters:

Nobody knows when the Norwegian tradition of crime telling at Easter began, but their warrior ancestors -- the Vikings -- were renowned for raiding trips to the British Isles. On their return the Vikings would settle down with flasks of mead, an alcoholic drink made from honey, and recount tales of murder and pillage to their women and children.

Gotta love those tales of murder and pillage told 'round the fire. Aaah, another pleasant evening in Viking time.

But speaking of mead, I noticed that my local wine shop is now selling three or four different brands of mead. It must be disgusting, but I'm afraid I may be forced--due to my Viking heritage--to give it a try sometime. Aaaarggh! (I know that's pirate talk, but that's got to be some cross over between the Vikings and the pirates somewhere...)

Those crazy Norwegians

So, not content with only 166 people sliding down a hill on one huge f'ing piece of plastic last year, residents of Lillehammer, Norway (my cousin could be in that group!) gather 245 this year on an even bigger piece of plastic. See story here.