Ten

Happy tenth birthday to our energetic, well-mannered, adventurous, minecrafting (obviously), early-rising, football-playing, respectful, loving, not-so-little-anymore bundle of joy.

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He needs to stop growing up so fast now. Please. Thanks.

And, you know what? Well done to us parents as well, and thanks to all the family and friends (not least the amazing Poliswa) who have helped us – and him – get this far.

achievement

Level up. Next step – surviving the teenage years.

 

*gulp*

Support

Given my history with attending a-ha concerts in Norway (or rather not attending a-ha concerts in Norway), each time something pops up in my email regarding the Bergen gig, I get slightly panicky. There has been much time, effort, money and emotion invested in our upcoming trip. Plans must not go astray. And, to be honest, there’s no reason why they should.

Here is one of those missives, via a-ha.com and their Facebook page. But it’s news news, rather than bad news.

The first support act for the evening – I say “first”, because there will be more:

We will make a proper party in Bergen. We are working to put in place an international “mystery” entertainers that people have heard about.

Anyway, the first support act for the evening has been announced. And he are dePresno.

No. Me neither.

depresno

Apparently, he is/was a finalist in a Norwegian singing show, which seems akin to Idols or The Voice. It’s called Urørt which means “Untouched”. He looks like a cross between Ed Sheeran and Thom Yorke here, although there’s also elements of Alfred E. Neuman from MAD magazine and a hint of Ron Weasley in other photos. Right, I’m all out of ginger comparisons now.
And while the music coming out of those shows might not be quite my cup of tea, there’s obviously talent there.

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Ugh. Bit R&B, ne?

Says dePresno, via Google Translate:

Both me and the band is insanely excited and very honored to have the opportunity to warm up for A-ha! It will be an amazing experience. I’m looking forward to people ocean and A-ha concert! It gets insanely fat!

People oceans and the prospect of certifiable obesity are two of the main reasons I wanted to go into the music business, so I’m right with him there.

A couple of points here. Norwegian for support act is “varmer-opp”. This pleases me.

Also, no-one goes to concerts to just see the support act. Believe me, it won’t be the end of my world if he’s a bit shit. That said, please note my comments on Chris de Burgh last weekend. Live music is live music. It’s an experience, no matter whether it’s your cup of tea or not. I will enjoy that experience.

And what comes immediately after…

Faded Restrung

This is the big EDM hit of the moment, penned by Northampton-born, Bergen-based music producer Alan Walker.
If you feel the need (and I did), you can venture onto Soundcloud and explore literally several different remixes of this tune – try this one and this one, for example.

This Restrung version is acoustic with piano and pizzicato strings blooming into that soaring, catchy melody.

That breathy vocal is courtesy of Norwegian folk/pop chick Iselin Sondheim, whose pseudo-Celtic 2013 single The Wizard Of Us has a video which showcases wild Norway in the same way that Tove Lo showcased wild Sweden here.

I mentioned back then that female vocalists wandering through woods in Scandinavia seems like a very good way of showing off your country. I stand by that assertion.

First Football

My boy played his first game of football for his school today. A bit of a rite of passage moment.

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Let the record show that the match was away at St George’s Grammar School in Mowbray.
Playing into the wind in the first half, his side were 5-1 up at the break and finished the game 10-3 winners. Alex played left back and, although he didn’t have much to do, nailed each one of the five important tackles he had to make and didn’t put a foot wrong.

Let the record also show that I’m a very proud father.

Gripen video

Wow. Just… wow.

You’ll need HD and full screen – the bigger the better – for this.
It’s going on my large Smart TV as soon as I get home this evening.

This comes from SAAB, the Swedish Air Force and production company Blue Sky, and apparently, it’s a big step forward in aeronautical video.

If you want to make a video like this, you’ll need a custom-designed gyro-stabilisation system, a 6k (nice number) Red Dragon digital cinema camera and a $40,000 Canon camera lens.
Oh, and a Saab JAS 39 Gripen multirole fighter at $60,000,000.

But that’s pocket change to make something this spectacular.