the houses
Yesterday was great. I went on a long walk and found 9 houses by three different architects from the 30s and 40s, plus a bunch of other interesting domestic arrangements. The architects I was looking for were Ove Bang, Arne Korsmo and Knut Knutson. The Korsmo stuff was the best stuff I saw yesterday. One of his houses is on exhibit on Sundays so I went in and had a look around. Here are some photos of the place.
It was exceptional. Korsmo also designed a set of silverware. I asked about it and was told that they are reissuing it. I hope to get a set before I leave. I am a fan of Arne’s. He was Fehn’s teacher, just to put that in perspective. Here is a photo of the cutlery he designed with his wife, Grete.
The walk I took led me up into the trails North of the city. It was a good walk. I started out at 10am and made it downtown at 4. Here are some photos from the trail.
The trail.
The Devil’s Football Pitch.
I also found this snail. I haven’t seen any snails here all summer. But it was raining so I figured this must have brought them out. I saw a couple more on the walk.
And this slate growing this plant.
I didn’t take any pictures of this, although I thought about it. I ended up downtown waiting for a bus and there was this crazy who couldn’t control himself, jigging and sort of convulsing in the park. He seemed drugged, but I couldn’t tell if he was just a really bad drunk or some other demon had a hold of him. Anyway, he kept bouncing off the atoms in the air, throwing his arms around, wagging his feet and head, taking his shirt off, putting it back on, taking it off again. I was standing around waiting for this bus, reading my book and sort of watching him out of the corner of my eye. I was also watching the people who walked by. They would be peacefully walking down the street and then suddenly look up and catch a glimpse of this guy doing some unnatural bend to pick up some god forsaken item off the ground and they would stop short, a look of horror and confusion on their face. “That is not normal,” they seemed to say with their exhalations and gasps. And then they would continue. Couples would grab onto each, pull their kids closer ease by with cautious eyes. This was sort of interesting to me. I’ve been building a theory about Norway that I won’t get into here fully, but I’ll say that there is an incredible expectation of public normalcy in this country, and those things that step out of the norm are truly offensive to the citizens. This fact, this offense at public abnormality, is why I was surprised to witness a Norwegian cross the street from a restaurant and begin engaging the spirited young man. And the thing was the guy who entered the situation was trying to engage the frailer by dancing with the man who obviously couldn’t control himself. The new man would shuck and jive and try to get the crazy to enter some rhythm, take on some cohesive set of repeatable steps. But the crazy was having nothing to do with the order of a dance, he continued to flail and such and the other kept slapping him on the back and helping him pick up his dropped items. Eventually the crazy settled and they were sitting on the sidewalk and I could tell the new man was imploring the crazy with some tale of greatness or some infernal mystery because he kept raising his arms and pounding his chest and then offering his hands out to the man who didn’t take them, but who also seemed to be contemplating what the man was saying. After several minutes of this they both stood. The new man sort of bowed and turned and walked back across the street and sat down at his table in the restaurant. The crazy went on flailing. .And I left.
I worked up another video all last night. It actually took me a couple days to figure it out. It should be live soon and then I’ll post it. It’s called “bees butterflies and old sally goodin.”
Today it rained all morning. I spent the day trying to figure out how to put a map of Oslo up here that would show the different places I’ve walked and such. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I might have to learn some javascripting for it to work. We’ll see.
Tomorrow I’m going up to Hamar. And lucky me it’ll be raining all day. Should be great
It was exceptional. Korsmo also designed a set of silverware. I asked about it and was told that they are reissuing it. I hope to get a set before I leave. I am a fan of Arne’s. He was Fehn’s teacher, just to put that in perspective. Here is a photo of the cutlery he designed with his wife, Grete.
The walk I took led me up into the trails North of the city. It was a good walk. I started out at 10am and made it downtown at 4. Here are some photos from the trail.
The trail.
The Devil’s Football Pitch.
I also found this snail. I haven’t seen any snails here all summer. But it was raining so I figured this must have brought them out. I saw a couple more on the walk.
And this slate growing this plant.
I didn’t take any pictures of this, although I thought about it. I ended up downtown waiting for a bus and there was this crazy who couldn’t control himself, jigging and sort of convulsing in the park. He seemed drugged, but I couldn’t tell if he was just a really bad drunk or some other demon had a hold of him. Anyway, he kept bouncing off the atoms in the air, throwing his arms around, wagging his feet and head, taking his shirt off, putting it back on, taking it off again. I was standing around waiting for this bus, reading my book and sort of watching him out of the corner of my eye. I was also watching the people who walked by. They would be peacefully walking down the street and then suddenly look up and catch a glimpse of this guy doing some unnatural bend to pick up some god forsaken item off the ground and they would stop short, a look of horror and confusion on their face. “That is not normal,” they seemed to say with their exhalations and gasps. And then they would continue. Couples would grab onto each, pull their kids closer ease by with cautious eyes. This was sort of interesting to me. I’ve been building a theory about Norway that I won’t get into here fully, but I’ll say that there is an incredible expectation of public normalcy in this country, and those things that step out of the norm are truly offensive to the citizens. This fact, this offense at public abnormality, is why I was surprised to witness a Norwegian cross the street from a restaurant and begin engaging the spirited young man. And the thing was the guy who entered the situation was trying to engage the frailer by dancing with the man who obviously couldn’t control himself. The new man would shuck and jive and try to get the crazy to enter some rhythm, take on some cohesive set of repeatable steps. But the crazy was having nothing to do with the order of a dance, he continued to flail and such and the other kept slapping him on the back and helping him pick up his dropped items. Eventually the crazy settled and they were sitting on the sidewalk and I could tell the new man was imploring the crazy with some tale of greatness or some infernal mystery because he kept raising his arms and pounding his chest and then offering his hands out to the man who didn’t take them, but who also seemed to be contemplating what the man was saying. After several minutes of this they both stood. The new man sort of bowed and turned and walked back across the street and sat down at his table in the restaurant. The crazy went on flailing. .And I left.
I worked up another video all last night. It actually took me a couple days to figure it out. It should be live soon and then I’ll post it. It’s called “bees butterflies and old sally goodin.”
Today it rained all morning. I spent the day trying to figure out how to put a map of Oslo up here that would show the different places I’ve walked and such. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I might have to learn some javascripting for it to work. We’ll see.
Tomorrow I’m going up to Hamar. And lucky me it’ll be raining all day. Should be great
posted by jeffrey ottem at 9:35 PM
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