Another issue of INARVIK out on the street tomorrow

Yet another brilliant issue of the magazine INARVIK hits the streets tomorrow. As usual it is a brilliant magazine the small – but highly talented staff has put together – made with love and passion for “happy journalism”! That is their trademark. You actually feel happy after having browsed through this magazine!

Enjoy by clicking on the front cover! The text is in Norwegian – but there are plenty of photos there to please your eyes!

Front cover of I NARVIK 03 2011 (Please, Click the front cover to read the magazine)

24. February 2011 | Categories: Everyday Life, General Information, Just for fun | Leave a comment

Aesthetics of a tower

Control Tower at the Oslo Airport - Gardermoen

I love flying! There is something magical about flying in an aircraft. Yes, I know all the physics like Bernoulli’s principle and all that – but still if the physics is such and such – and my brain understands how an airflow works on an airplane wing, meteorology, procedures during the flight etc., the process of flying is nevertheless wonderfully magical.

I regard the crew on the ground with just as much respect as the men and women that take us on the journey along the airways. Thus I find airport control towers fascinating. The picture here shows the tower at the main airport in Norway – Gardermoen just North of Oslo – taken a couple of weeks ago. I guess what I find appealing about airport control towers is that they often combine aesthetics with functionality.

Bernoulli’s principle

3. February 2011 | Categories: Everyday Life, Panorama, Photo, Science & Technology | Leave a comment

Northern Lights and a moonlit Night

Romantic scenery panorama

Please CLICK on the picture to see it in full resolution. Northern light (aurora borrealis) with moon shining on the mountains in the background

19. January 2011 | Categories: Astronomy and Athmospheric Physics, Everyday Life, Nature's Delight, Photo | Leave a comment

-The Heroes come from the North! Another Airplane Hijack stopped lats night by North-Norwegian!

News on Norwegian TV2 about North-Norwegians Heroes

TV2 News about the Kato Air hijacking and Heroes from Northern Norway

Last night a passenger (Turkish Airways) plane from Oslo, Norway to Istanbul, Turkey was hijacked by an expelled asylumseeker. A man from Northern Norway – 54 year old Dag Gjerstad from Kvænangen in Troms attacked the hijacker and held him down until the plane landed in Istanbul and the Turkish Police could evacuate the plane and arrest the hijacker.

Muslim terrorist almost killed the Captain and 1st Officer of Kato Air Flight

In 2004 a plane from this city, Narvik enroute to Bodø was hijacked by a muslim terrorist who almost killed the pilots with an axe. The Captain and 1st Officer both sustained serious head injuries and was blinded by blood and partially paralyzed by the violent muslim terrorist. The plane went into a death-dive, and calculations show that the pilot regained control and avoided crashing by some 20 meters… Trond Frantzen and Odd Eriksen – both North-Norwegians attacked the hijacker and battled with him until they managed to free the restrained pilots from their attacker. They almost strangled the hijacker to death until he gave up fighting.

Odd Eriksen broke his back in the following crash landing at the airport in Bodø. The Police couldn’t understand how the pilots managed to land the plane. They both sustained serious head injuries and wounds to their bodies and were partly blinded by blood. The cockpit instruments were soaked in blood. All four heroes, the Captain, 1st Officer, Trond Frantzen and Odd Eriksen and all the passengers survived.

Simple Explanation

Professor in Crisis Psychiatry Lars Weisæth believes the reason why men and women from Northern-Norway are so capable of acting in serious crisis, is because the live in a part of Norway where it is necessary to be able to take Care of yourself. In Northern Norway there is a – at times – violent climate and nature, there is often a long way to the nearest police- and firebrigade-station and the nearest doctor or hospital. Thus forcing us to be able to cope in serious crisis-situations.

-Witness Passivity – a problem

Professor Weisæth says witness passivity is a problem in dramatic events. If the 2004-hijacking had taken place between Oslo and Stockholm chances are the passengers would have been seated, doing nothing, waiting for someone to take action, according to a SAS – Scandinavian Airlines Captain. So being from a city lessens the chance of being a hero.

Some of the best know hero-headlines from Norway the past few years

Rescued three children from the lit caravan
Rescued elderly from fire inferno
12-year old girl saved three girls from drowning
15-year old rescued fisherman from sinking boat
Tried saving drowned
Rescued elderly woman from burning house
Dived deep into capsized “Rocknes” to save seamen
Busdriver stabbed

Further reading: The Norway Post – Norwegian stops highjacker

6. January 2011 | Categories: Everyday Life, General Information, History, Opinion | Leave a comment

You won’t get more Northern-Norway than this!

My friend the biologist and natural photographer Mr. Bergersen has lend me a fantastic picture. Thank you so much Espen!

This time it is a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) sliding down into the pitch dark deep of the oceans – leaving just the majestic white snow covered mountains of the second largest Island of Norway – Senja – as a backdrop.

It simply doesn’t get much more North-Norwegian than that! And the light captured in this classical photo is so indicative of the time of year: Just a few hours of pink and red skies, and apart from that: complete night darkness – one really has to be tough to adjust to such an habitat. Beauty and Love is what drives us – Beauty and Love – Beauty in nature and Love for nature and the bounty of meat and fish it provides us, and Beauty in each other and Love for one another. That’s what we in Northern-Norway find at the core of being a society up here. Yeah, that and a dash of Viking Blood – otherwise we couldn’t rough it out.

Humpback Whale descends into the pitch blach sea with the Majestic Senja Mountains as a backrdrop in the light ours (no sun light here now)

Humpback Whale descends into the pitch blach sea with the Majestic Senja Mountains as a backrdrop in the light hours in the middle of the day (no sun light here now). Photo: Espen Bergersen.

On Espens’ blogg you will find even more stunning pictures. Please go to: naturgalleriet.blogspot.com and enjoy a whole series of raw and delicate arctic nature that we love som much here in The Great North.

30. December 2010 | Categories: Everyday Life, Friend's Achievements, Nature's Delight, Photo, Photo - Summa cum Laude, Poem | Leave a comment

As light as it gets

We are so far north here, so this is as light as it gets this time of year. Apart from these few hours of dusky daylight, it’s pitch black the rest of the day. But the sun has eventually turned, and in a few months time the forrest will explode in a bonanza in green an birdsong and the sun will shine 24 hours a day. Welcome to the land of Contrasts – Welcome to Northern-Norway.

This is the most we get from daylight this far north - just a few hours - then pitch black darkness (apart from the stars, moon and occasional Northern Lights)

29. December 2010 | Categories: Astronomy and Athmospheric Physics, Everyday Life, General Information, Nature's Delight, Panorama, Photo | Leave a comment

Unique Film and Pictures of Killer Whales by Espen Bergersen

The biologist and natural photographer Espen Bergersen has graciously let me borrow one of his amazing Pictures! His films has been shown on the state public channel NRK. No wonder! The films from Mr. Bergersen is absolutely breathtaking. These Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) are on the prowl for herring and in between there is time for some play and fun. The spectacle took place on Christmas Day outside of Kvalnes, Andøya in the county of Nordland.

There are also Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the mix. Absolutely fantastic. I have seen a lot of whales in packs, but this is really special. An enormous number of animals gathered for this Christmas feast on Christmas Day.

Breathtaking! See Mr. Bergersen’s film on his blog – naturgalleriet.blogspot.com – by clicking here or just click the photo below.