Not very mainstream

I do not consider myself a musical snob, but I have strong feelings when it comes to music and musical performances.

Music must be passion, joy, brutal, psychoactive, symphonic beautiful and engaging. And many other things, but never insignificant, thoughtless and physically painful bad.

There are so incredibly many really good musicians out there, who create really strong music and lyrics. And no, I'm not a narrow-minded person who hates pop, and feel that the only true music is one specific genre. I like the whole spectrum.

My brothers are a few years older than me, and they have always been interested in music. They played themselves and recorded a couple of cassette tapes, and they introduced me to Earth, Wind and Fire, Dire Straits and Yngve Malmsteen when I was only a small child.

In the beginning I liked mostly rock. New forms of music came along and I was more than ready to explore and embrace.
Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willy Nelson and, of course, Johnny Cash taught me to appreciate outlawcountry, country music has an undeserved bad reputation in many circles, there is a lot of excellent country artists worth the while listening to.

Motorhead made me, who was fond of symphonic music ala Vangelis, realize that everything you need to create a massive wall of sound is two or three devoted musicians who give everything they have, and then some. Blood, Sweat and Tears in practice.

Leonard Cohen taught me that one can say a lot even if one is low-key. And later Jeff Buckley showed me that one can always do things better than the original, as long as it has soul and character.

Before he became raving mad Brian Wilson showed that 3 minute pop could be written into eternity as long as it was smart and with heart and soul involved.

Satiricon hit me with a bang in 1990s and made me realize that wild and brutal music can be incredibly beautiful, if you just listen. Past my younger youth I still discovered hidden treasures.
Screaming Jay Hawkins and The Blues Brothers made me like the blues, and later more artists added to the list, which goes on. The night we watched the Blues Brothers three times in a row is still a precious memory, maybe because it was a mad thing to do, but we had fun. It was great.

I could have rattled off singersongerwriter Robert Wyatt's incredibly strange low-key music, for example the song Goccia with Cristina Dona. The strange collective Current 93 which presents goth somewhere far to the left of the one and only Nick Cave.

I like the love Bach strive to describe, through his divine inspiration, through the mighty organ pipes, but I also think Kurt Cobain, Faith No More and Alice in Chains are excellent.

Beethoven's Fifth and Ninth Symphony are powerful, passionate and tumultuous beautiful. But sometimes, instead of weather, you need Kate Bush's strange universe.​​When craving some quality time, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and all the other dead rockers from the 60s-70s, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the rest of the gang from the eighties. Grunge in the nineties and old pop included.  A little country, not too much but some, and of course gems like Meatloaf, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, but preferably from the old days, and plenty of metal from the time when men wore tights and had long hair, flow like a mind blowing force of nature from the speakers. Maybe even Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon and their black-minded friends are compatible to my mood at the time.

Positive bands in the recent past is System of a Down and Wolftmother bright steady. The latter makes me always think of hard rock's childhood with Sabbath, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Thin Lizzy and a whole lot of other brilliant bands, while it sounds new and fresh, and makes me believe that maybe the best of things is not over.

It certainly sounds far-fetched for people of today, but I did not actually own a stereo system until I was an adult and moved out from my parents’ house. I listened to music from a tape recorder, it was not fixed either, at first it was a little mono cassette player, the stereo soundblaster was the first thing I bought when I got my first paycheck; I was 13.
The miracle of music sounding was still present. It was not just music, but the joy of having music in my power.

In a world with no MTV and only one channel on the radio playing music primarily addressing the older generations I found Radio Luxemburgh. I would sit by my radio/cassette recorder and record the songs played, using the pause button to edit away the talking. My tape cassettes were a wonderful collection of what went on in Europe as far as music was concerned.

I left my family and friends behind and went abroad, not yet 19 years old. I was supposed to stay away for three months… and came back home a year later. During this year the locals tried to convince me that Bob Marley with his reggae was the only true way to experience music. I was never quite sure if Bob Marley was merely a symbol of a lifestyle or actually the best music they ever heard. I still love Bob Marley, but I never fell for the temptation of adopting the lifestyle. Music was the only drug I needed.

 
The list goes on and on. There are thousands of good artists, and thousands of brilliant songs, probably enough to not have to play the same song over again the first year if you play music constantly non stop.

So, why this list of strange bands who I enjoy and love so much? Even though we have a vast plentitude of radio channels, we very seldom get to hear music played by these great musicians.

We are presented the top 100s or designed music, produced to tickle our ears in order to create high ratings and fast cash, often accompanied with distinguished looks. Image is far from bad, it does emphasise identity and the sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people. But too often image is used to increase the factor which sells the best: sex.

I want to hear Aerosmith, Beatles, Biosphere, Black Debatth, Black Sabbath, BlurBob Dylan, Bobby, Boyd Rice, Bryan Adams before he went ballads (but I admit I have my romantic moments), Turbonegro, Camel, Cat Stevens, CC Cowboys, David Bowie, Dum Dum Boys, Elvis, Euroboy, Frank Zappa, Gary Moore, Genesis before PhilCollins began to sing, Gwar, Hawkwind, Him, Jefferson Airplane, Judas Priest, Kinks, Kyuss, Led Zeppelin, Manowar, Marlin Manson, Megadeath, Mike Oldfield, Mike Patton, Nazareth, Neil Young, Eagles, Oasis, Ozzy, Tough Men, Prince, Queensland, Radiohead, Raga, Rammstein, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Saxon, Sepultura, Sex Pistols, Simon and Garfunkle, Skunk Anansie, Slade, Sliverstein, Soundgarden, Steppenwolf, Talking Heads, The Byrds, The Cure, The Mamas and the papas, The Rex, The Streets, The Sword, The Who, Van Halen, Yngve Malmsteen, ZZ Top, and many more.

But save me from Kim and her girlfriends

A sigh over shoes

When planning my house I failed to consider the consequences of having active children.

Oh, I thought that I was smart and thought of every eventuality, and for the most part I am happy about how it turned out. Still, there is one thing which I am really annoyed at: I failed thinking through the quantities and how to store shoes.

Playing soccer my kids need boots for artificial ground, astro turf, firm ground and soft ground… and living in Norway indoor shoes as well. Soccer alone adds up to three pairs of football boots, times three: nine pairs of boots.

For everyday use they need sneakers, jogging shoes, rubber boots, hiking boots, winter boots, sandals and proper shoes for those dressed up occasions. And then some shoes they just had to have because they look cool or they are really comfortable. Not all of them used every day, but often enough nevertheless. Often enough to require having them. I have not done the math, to be honest I am a bit afraid to, but it is a great many shoes. I know that much.

They grow out of or wear out the footwear and need new ones, and the old ones tend to stay around causing both confusion and disorder.

You see; just like school bags, gym bags and jackets, shoes have this tendency to end up on the floor, just inside of the entrance door. We trample over it all, as we enter or exit the house, and strikingly few of us get the brilliant idea to hang, or place, them on one of the many convenient hooks, shelves or wardrobe closets in the hall. Even fewer of us actually do it, so the hall is constantly the total chaos! A jumble we cautiously tip-toe across in order not to strain an ankle.

The rumour has it that women, in general, have many shoes. I don’t think so. I think most women are like me, and I don’t have many pairs at all.

I only have my slip ons, my high-heeled ankle boots, my low-heeled ankle boots, my flat-heeled ankle boots, my jogging shoes (in case I was to give the impression I am a sporty type of a girl) my sneakers, my court shoes, my high-heeled sandals, my low-heeled sandals, my flat-heeled sandals, my slippers, my hiking boots, my rubber boots, my ski boots and my gardening boots. In addition I have my gorgeous, red, really high-heeled statement shoes… and a couple more court shoes, just because they need to fit the outfit. In other words: just the most essential pairs of shoes. I don’t have much space in my wardrobe (it is a very small wardrobe), so I keep those I can’t find room for there in different wardrobes around the house. (No, I do not hide them, just place them.)

I am not the only mum with three kids around: How do families in normal homes storage their shoes?