oslo ++++

this is an epic post, so get comfortable.
GOOD NEWS!
Jesper, my trusty officemate and friend, helped me find a community center where i could develop my own film for a very low price. and last night i did a marathon and developed 8 rolls! so, i have the negatives that i can scan and share with you. i am still working out a scanner that really gets the negs well, but this post has some scans that i tried to make presentable enough for you, my savvy readers.

first, meet Lasse! This is Ane, Kristin and Årild's dog. I stayed with them in Blaker and they were amazing hosts. I will post pics of them when i can scan the negatives better. all the people shots are too light.



That is most definitely Lasse hording my shoe. I took it as a sign of affection, though he wouldn't let that thing go. I was scheming a plan to lure him away with a piece of Jarlsberg cheese(his current favorite--such a mature, Scandinavian palate), when Årild came into the house and there is really no better distraction than his Papa.

The first night that I actually stayed in Oslo, I didn't have any plans, but I had seen a poster in a bar window for music that was free and something about caught my eye, so I decided I would have a beer there after I had rested from my day of walking around. When I got there, the band was sweet--playing good covers--and then they had a break. I had brought a book on the off chance I would find myself alone and so I began to read. Not long after someone asked my what I was reading and before I knew it I was meeting a whole table of Norwegians who were sweet and fun and great conversation. I mentioned that I thought the hotdog stands were cool and one guy told that, that day's paper had a magazine insert with Norwegian hot dog stands as the cover story. On my way home I picked up a copy and it was true! 8 pages of glossy hotdog glory! It was incredible. I have scanned a few to show you, though, I haven't really dedicated myself to trying to read the text. but, i am not alone. in fact, i may have really struck a chord with this hot dog stuff.


And, though a Danish dog is not perfect by any stretch, I do have to say I rate it higher than the Norwegian dogs, which are mostly steamed, not grilled. Big difference.



One last thing. My colleague at the Center is writing her PhD and one of her subjects is a town not far from Copenhagen. Her main text is a book from the 50's that has all these cute drawings/pics of the town and one has the cutest hot dog stand in it. The three pics above are the drawing, a close up of the hotdog sign(i highlighted the text in yellow) and a picture of the new stand that is there now, present day. Cool. So, as I suspected, the Danes have been doing this hot dog stand gig for quite some time now. Maybe I can find an even earlier example.