Archive for the ‘Issues’ Category
Sorry about this. I just had to! I don’t expect you to read it, but it would sure be nice if you did.
My hand writing is awful, and there might quite a few grammar errors in there!
Here’s to the crazy ones! Gonna do some awesome activism today, but first some fiscal responsiblity, I love when debt gets repaid!
But you don’t care about that, do you? You just want me for my communism! Alright, I’ll indulge. What we’ll be doing today is a simple but delicious act of civil disobedience. They’re discussing the budget at city hall today, and they’re probably gonna pass something that will have terrible consequences for Metropolis, a very successful youth/concert house thingie here in Stavanger. We’re not too happy about this, so we’ll drop a huge ass banner over them inside city hall that reads “PRESERVE METROPOLIS.” Long live imagination, eh? It does sound marginally better in Norwegian though.
…
Shut up! It’s awesome, we’re awesome, and you know it!
Yours bussingly
Burnie
Aaaand that went to hell, because politicians are unreliable bastards! Damn! But!: I’ve got a new plan that will at least partly make up for it! I’ll show you later…
Salutations!
Those of you who have detailed information about my computing history, will know that I used to own a Macbook. Do not hold that against me when writing this.
These are the various iPhone generations. They are evil! And overrated! (i had one)
A while ago, actually quite a long time ago, I came over a news article which told us about Apple, and how ingenious this freakishly humongous computer-imperialism-badboy company is. First of all, all of us have heard rumors about various iProducts. “The next iPhone which will be released soon will have a fancy new screen! The next generation iPad will have USB ports!”. Well, some of these rumors are leaked discretely by Apple before an upcoming release, so that the product appears over and over again in new articles about new rumored features. Thus, everyone knows about products that will launch, and a false excitement of how wonderful a pretty mediocre product will be, flourishes in our heads (Yes, I have been victim to this).
Well, this is probably old news. But the real doobie (I saw Elaine using this word in one of her entries, and found it enthralling) is that they purposely leave out features of first generation products, so that when the next generation pops out, everyone will want to upgrade to a newer one! First generation iPhone did not include MMS, despite this being a feature that even phones from the 1990s have! If i had been able find the news articles (which was well sourced and had lots of striking examples) that I read this in (intense googling did not help), this entry would be much better.
I want one so badly. But I shall resist, because I know of their evil plan!
Also, a documentary aired on a Norwegian TV channel shows us how under capitalism, products are deliberately made so that they are prone to breaking. In the choice between a sturdy product that lasts and a product that will break down and need repairs, capitalists will go for the latter, because you get to charge extra for insurance and repair expenses, and if that cable breaks you’ll need to buy a new one.
Now, I can’t blame this solely on Apple. They are the victims of a system which rewards those who do exactly what Apple do: find brilliant ways to manipulate the public to sell their overrated, overpriced products that are prone to breaking (if you honestly have not seen a single news article about malfunctioning Apple products, you have never seen a newspaper.)
So Apple, as capitalism itself, is wicked, tricksy, false. They plays evil mindgames on us, precious.
And now that I have vented some frustration,
Peace out, liberty cabbage (which is what Americans called sauerkraut after the Germans crapped their pants and did that whole WW1 thing)
PS. Song recommendation, simply because both the artist and the song be awesome: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBqyEFyGaAM
PPS. How crazy conspiracy theorist am I sounding right now? 😀
PPPS. This entry turned out much longer than i expected. I do apologize, and for those who got through: R.E.S.P.E.C.E.T!
After Vegard’s post on why he wants to become a teacher I have felt that I wanted to do a similar post, seeing as I am studying for the same goal. And tonight seems to be the right time for that post.
Why is this such a good time? Maybe because I am currently reading up on school politics for a debate tomorrow. Or maybe because I just chose my major last week. Or maybe both?
When I went to high-school I didn’t have the best of times. My first three years of it I was living in Belgium with my family, and I had some subjects in the norwegian school and some in the american school. I didn’t want to be in Belgium, and the people in Belgium didn’t seem much pleased to have me there either. It was hard, and I didn’t feel like I fitted in. I wasn’t the sweet and cute cheerleader-type of girl, and I wasn’t quite as outspoken as I am now.
I was good in school, but I didn’t want to be there. And the teachers didn’t make it any easier. I wanted a teacher who understood that everything wasn’t all right, but no-one seemed to notice. I went to quite drastic meassures to let it show, and I suffered from periods of depressions.
The third year in Belgium, while in 9th grade, I found somewhere to belong. People who I could concider friends. Things seemed better, but I was still fucked up. I didn’t want to be in class, or in the classroom at all. I did good in classes, but getting up in the morning was hard.
The first couple of years back in Norway were okey. I always did good in school, and I made some friends. But the last year of High School was bad again. I had gone through a lot, I was tired and felt alienated from everything. I didn’t want to go to class. I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to sleep. I had friends, but I felt alone. I did good in school, and I had my plans and my goals, but I had a teacher who saw that I was struggling with even showing up enough to get my diploma.
This teacher is the reason I didn’t quit. He asked to talk to me, and I told him that I wanted to quit and take a year of, but I knew my parents wouldn’t like it. And he knew that the risk of me never returning to school was big. He helped me through it. He had an open door if I needed to talk, he let me take classes off as long as I did the work. He talked to my other teachers, and thanks to him I got my diploma.
I want to become a teacher to change the way school works. I want to become a teacher to help those who aren’t sure if they’ll make it. I want to become a teacher who isn’t afraid of asking a student what’s wrong, and how I can help.
The school-system is fucked up when teachers see students missing classes and not getting their diplomas without helping them.
The school-system is fucked up when students don’t want to go to school because of the way they’re treated by fellow students and teachers, and no-one does anything to fix it.
And the school-system is fucked up when students in trade-school have to learn Shakespeare, but can’t speak in english about their own profession.
A big problem in Norway is students who quit high-school, never to finish it. Good students who get tired, because the classes aren’t generated to meet their needs.
The teachers are supposed to be there for the students, not the other way around. And thanks to my one teacher who really understood that, I actually finished high-school and am now studying to be a teacher. If I can do that same effort for my students then I will concider my work a success.
Openly yours,
Frida
Hola hola hola, oatmeal and granola!
On the buss today, I heard of something that is nothing short of the most awesome thing ever. I dare say it even beats that time George Bush tried walking out a prop door (and while writing this word, I had a massive brain fart. I was unable to write door, i tried doar, dore, dor, nothing worked. Finnaly my good old pal Ferdinand helped me out).
Anyways. Apparently, in a town in Norway called Grimstad, a bunch of guys decided they wanted to do something to help make the world a better place. So they started a thing, called Mustachevember! Or Bartvember if you are Norwegian. The idea: The entire month of November, they grow a delicious, beautiful, untrimmed mustache! On their website, people can vote for the best mustache (costs 5 kr by SMS), and the winner gets crowned mustache-king! Apart from this, the addition of a mustache to a face everyone knows without a hairpiece, will surely cause conversation about the project. Woo!
These are "Les Bartenders", the runner up in the mustache king competition!
This initiative is sponsored by a bunch of corporations and stuff, and all the money they get goes to some charity. This year it goes to an organisation that works to prevent and uncover violence against children and take care of children who are subject to are subject to violence.
Once again mustaches prove to be a life-altering and wonderful thing. <3
Vegard