Pirates of the Caribbean & Johnny Depp

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The new Pirates of the Caribbean film is finally out, the forth in this series. I simply have to express my love for the films as I think they are amazing! My boyfriend, my little brother and I went to see the new one on Saturday and we had a fantastic time. The queue to buy tickets was so long we almost thought it would be sold out by the time it was our turn. Fortunately we were able to buy tickets and we were ready for an evening with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.

The film did not disappoint us. Johnny Depp was fantastic as the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, but Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly who had to major parts in the three first films have now walked the plank and was not in the forth film. In my opinion, I did not feel as if someone was missing. The feisty and gorgeous Penelope Cruz plays the part of Sparrows old flame and she fits right in as the aggressive Angelica.

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New creatures are also introduced, but they are not exaggerated and fit in perfectly in this fantasy world. The scenes with the mermaids are without a doubt the most exciting and thrilling but also rather scary.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides have not been presented as a very good film by the critiques but I honestly could not care less and I don’t think I’m the only one. The first three films was a huge success and the return of Captain Jack Sparrow has been well received by the audience. I think that people missed him and were pleased to see that he had not changed. The film also has moments with enjoyable comedy, amusing dialogues and some new fight scenes. All in all, this film impressed me and I really enjoyed it.

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Johnny Depp has always been one of my favourite actors and his interpretation of Jack Sparrow never fails to humour me. He is absolutely perfect and I give him the credit for why these films have become so popular. I also found out a couple of weeks ago that he was in London promoting this film. I was so angry because I had just returned to Norway then for the summer. I have to admit that I would love to meet him someday, but I guess I am not the only girl with such a dream.

17th May – Norwegian Constitution Day

My brothers and I

Yesterday was Norway’s Constitution Day, a day that is celebrated each year as the National Day of Norway. The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent nation.

My wonderful parents

An aspect that is significant of the Norwegian Constitution Day is the children’s parades. All over Norway, children parades with an abundance of flags from the central elements of the celebration. Each elementary school district arranges its own parade with marching bands between schools. Another typical element for this parade is that some senior school children are carrying the school’s official banner, followed by a marching band and the rest of the school children carrying hand sized flags.

As this is a very traditional day a lot of Norwegians choose to wear a traditional outfit on this day. This traditional outfit is called Bunad and it is popular to wear on weddings, baptisms and on the 17^th of May. There are various types of bunads from all over the country and it is fashionable to wear a bunad that is from your region of the country. A bunad is also very expensive so when you first have one you have it for the rest of your life. There are bunads for both men and women, but it is most common for women to wear it.

This was just a little bit of Norwegian history for you. 17^th of May is an important day for us Norwegians and it is not just celebrated here in Norway. Norwegians around the world gather wherever they are and have their own little celebration. They also have it in London but I have never attended it there. This is a day for everyone to meet and spend time together with friends and family but the day is mostly for the children.

My 7 (soon 8) years old brother Adrian

My 11 years old brother Nils-Morten

I had such a good time yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. It was a lot of fun to watch the parade as my brothers was there, waving with their flags. Unfortunately the weather was not great but we still had a fantastic time. Hope you enjoy the pictures I took on this day and hopefully you learned something about my home country. 

Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)

I heard this song a few days ago and I thought the lyrics were hilarious. And the song is rather catchy too. Hope you’ll enjoy this and have a wonderful Thursday afternoon. 

Barbeque the Norwegian style

I have been back in Norway for almost a week now and I have to say that I am quite enjoying it. The sun is shining and it is actually warm outside, which rarely happens here in May. I’m not starting work properly until Friday (in two days) and I have been enjoying the sun by sitting outside with a glass of ice tea and a book. For me, it really could not be better.

Because the weather is so nice, me and my parents decided it was about to have a barbeque, which I love. It is the perfect way to celebrate summer and to spend some quality time with my parents and my brothers.

Summer in Norway can be very boring because our country is so far north. It can be rainy, cold and dark, but we can also have sunny warm days and 25 degrees, like yesterday. Everyone is outside and people in general seem happier.

Tuesday the 17^th of May is Norway’s Constitutional Day and I sure hope that the weather will stay this way. We have had our share of rainy cold Constitutional Days but this year I think we deserve a sunny day. I will blog about this day as we celebrate it in a special way. Can’t wait to show you.

Until then, have a lovely day. I will go outside again and continue to enjoy my book, which is fantastic. I might have to blog about that one too.

Happy birthday to me!

It was my birthday yesterday and I am now 23 years old. It is so weird to write that, 23 sounds so old. I can’t believe it is five years since I turned 18, it really does not feel that long.

I had a fantastic day yesterday though. My best friend Johanne and I had a Starbucksdate where we ended up spending a few hours talking about everything. I love my Starbucksdates with her; I could sit there all day long with her if we had to. We always have a lot to talk about and I just have to say that she truly is an extraordinary friend. I am not looking forward to spending the summer not being able to see her every week. So I’m glad we had some quality time together yesterday.

After our date we went home and later I had dinner with some friends at Pizza Express. They have very good food there and it is absolutely a restaurant I recommend. I’ll write a review about it later. But the evening was such a success, at least in my eyes. I got to spend time with my friends and boyfriend and even though some people are still busy with revising for exams they took time off to spend time with me. And that means a lot. So thank you so much, everyone, you’re the best!

 I also feel very spoiled as I got some very nice birthday presents. I even got a cake, and I love cake. I could probably eat cake all day long, if I had my way. Just look at the picture below; doesn’t it look like a little piece of heaven? It really was. And so was the rest of my presents, I love them all. I am truly blessed with some amazing friends.

How good doesn't this cake look? Yum.

My amazing birthday cards.

Beautiful shoes from my best friend Johanne.

Earrings also from the always lovely Johanne.

Wine with my name on it from Jenny and Eirik. I didn't see it yesterday but it says happy 22nd birthday, which is funny because I'm 23. I could not help but laugh.

My boyfriend completely surprised me with these Burberry shoes. How amazing isn't he?

Hi again, everyone!

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I have now officially finished my last essay for Roehampton University. I never thought this day would come that I would put on my shoes and jacket, walk to uni and actually hand in my dissertation, feature story and crime fiction essay. It felt amazing!

I have worked so hard this last month and been extremely stressed. This is why I had to stop blogging for a while; I simply did not have the time. I have missed it though, and I have missed you guys. Not blogging and being a part of this community have made me realise just how much it means to me and how much I’ve learned. It really feels good to start again; I have been looking forward to it for a month.

Your travel.

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I have been blogging quite a bit about my around-the-world trip from last summer and I am actually still not finished with that. I love to write about it and relive the good memories and share them with you. For a while now I have been playing around with an idea and I would love to hear your opinion about it.

Every two weeks I would like to have a guest post from you guys where you share about your favourite travel. It could be about travel tips, what you did and saw on your holiday, if you recommend the place or not or anything you would like to share. It can be as long as you’d like and if you have a picture or two to be on the guest post then that would be fantastic. So if you are interested in contributing then please email me on: cammiewaaden@yahoo.com

I love to read about travel and to learn about new destinations, which is why I am trying to write about my travel experiences in detail. I would be so excited for you to share yours and make this blog a part of a travel community.

Hope you are all well and I’m looking forward to start reading your blogs again and to hear from you. Have a lovely weekend, everyone! 

Back in Norway

 

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Hi, everyone. I just wanted to apologise that I haven’t been doing much blogging these past few days. I have just been so busy with coursework that it is taking all of my energy.

I am actually back in Norway for a couple of weeks now. It is Easter holiday so it was about time to visit the cold country in the north. And yes, it is still winter here. It is quite a lot of snow and still cold. Last week, it was a blizzard here but the snow has started to melt now so I’m hoping spring will come here soon as well. It is beautiful in London these days and it was so sad to pack my suitcase with winter clothes. I didn’t bring my camera, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to post photos from Norway right now.

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I also wanted to let you know that I probably won’t be blogging as much as I have over the next month as I have a lot of coursework to finish. Of course there will be some new post every now and then, so please don’t forget about me. When April is finished I will be blogging as much as I have before. I have a few ideas I want to share with you too, so please stay tuned. But for now, I’m going to enjoy spending time with my family and friends this weekend before continuing with my dissertation and essays. I honestly cannot wait to be finished. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!  

Disney songs - welcome to my childhood memories

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with Disney films and the magic around them. After watching a Disney film I would walk around singing for the rest of the day, simply being happy. I still love Disney films, I think they are brilliant. So when I saw this youtube video yesterday so many fantastic memories were brought back and I started singing again. The songs of Disney films are so beautiful and timeless and I do not feel too old to enjoy them. So hope you’ll enjoy this little youtube video with a Disney medley starring the one man Disney show. Have a lovely Thursday, everyone! 

My favourite movie quotes

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I love to watch film and there are so many amazing quotes that get stuck in my head. I thought I would share some of my favourite movie quotes with you from some of my favourite films. There are probably so many more amazing quotes but these were the ones I could think of at this moment. I have to admit, some of these are quotes I actually say from time to time in a sentence and you end up having a laugh with your friends because you have good memories from this film. Hope you’ll enjoy this and have a very lovely Thursday!

Well, I can’t colour enough. I could colour all day every day. If I had my way, I would use every crayon in my box.

-          Samantha, in  Sex and the City, the movie

Wanna know how I got these scars?

-          The Joker, in  The Dark Knight

Sorry boss, but there's only two men I trust. One of them's me. The other's not you.  

-          Cameron Poe, in  Con Air

What makes you think you can just walk in there and take whatever you want?

They’re called boobs, Ed.

-          Ed Masry and Erin Brockovich, in  Erin Brockovich

Fifty bucks, Grandpa. For seventy-five, the wife can watch.

-          Kit, in Pretty Woman

Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

-          Johnny, in  Dirty Dancing

Tell me about it, stud.

-          Sandy, in  Grease

I sing you to me, Mrs. Boss.

-          Nullah, in  Australia

The name is Bond. James Bond.

-          James Bond, in all the James Bond films

I bought the airline. It seemed neater.

-          Saito, in Inception

I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner. Bye.

-          Hannibal Lecter, in The Silence of the Lambs

I feel the need. The need for speed.

-          Maverick, in Top Gun

Honey, I have to go. I am pulling up my panties to get to a lunch date.

-          Samantha Jones, in Sex and the City 2

What's your favourite movie quote?

Smell Like A Monster

Last Monday I started the week by showing you a video I think is very funny, so I thought I’d show you another funny video this week. I think it is a good idea to watch the video I posted last week before watching this one as they link together. You can find it here and I hope you’ll enjoy this one too. And have a very lovely week, everyone. Enjoy!  

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

I saw this commercial a while ago and I just think it is so funny. The ending is random and I really could not stop laughing. I thought this would be a nice way to start a new week with new possibilities. Enjoy! 

My dream

As you all probably know I am a journalist student and I have two months left of my third and final year. It is scary but at the same time I cannot wait to be finished and to join all the fine working people out there. That is, if I get a job.

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One of my greatest passions in life is travelling. I know I’ve mentioned this before, especially when I wrote about our planet, but I absolutely love travelling. My list over places to go is not becoming any shorter, it is simply becoming longer as I discover new places I want to go. I write down everything, down to a teeny tiny little town. There is simply too much to see on our beautiful planet.

I also love to write about the places I’ve been to. After I started this blog I have really become aware of just how much I love it. To be able to write about my personal experiences gives me such a satisfaction, especially when I hear that people are learning something from what I write.

I would love to be a professional journalist some day. I realise that it is a tough market but I am willing to struggle to achieve my goals. I would especially love to be a travel journalist. That is my dream and I hope this is a dream that I can achieve. Yesterday I got a comment on my post about Tower Bridge from Shah, the lovely blogger from Words in Sync, and it almost brought me to tears.

You SO should be a travel journalist – and work for London Media! You give each post a kiss of fun and you evoke a desire to visit – I always loved London, but you really add a certain special glow to it.

Reading this meant the world to me. To hear this makes me believe that my dream is possible and I am so thankful for all the support I get from friends and family, such as my best friend Johanne and my lovely boyfriend Kjell Steinar. I can’t wait to see what will happen; we all just have to be brave enough to follow our dreams.

Family time

Spending some time with my family who is visiting this weekend. They came yesterday and are leaving again Sunday morning. We had a great time yesterday and will be having a great time these next couple of days as well. More of my time with my family will be coming later. Have a great Friday, everyone. Weekend is almost here.

Welcome back to 1999

A couple of days ago my boyfriend asked me if I remembered a certain song from a while back and ever since I have had this playing over and over again in my head. Brings back so many memories from when I was a kid and of course the good 1990’s.

This song was quite popular in Norway around this time and I think a lot of young girls had a little crush on this guy. He participated in Eurovision but I don’t think he won but he sure had a couple of hits after that. This song kind of reminds me of Backstreet Boys, but when this song came out the boy band was at their most popular. So this is Stig van Eijk with breakout. Hope you’ll enjoy it and perhaps it takes you down memory lane, I sure have been walking down that lane for a few days now. Enjoy!  

Fantastic comment of the week

The Girl In Oslo was so kind as no award me the fantastic comment of the week on her blog. I am very touched and actually speachless as this means a lot to me. So thank you so much, girl!
Check out her blog.

The butterfly effect

I have heard some many wonderful things about this film, but for some reason I have never seen it before. That is until last night. And I have to admit that the psychology behind this film was kind of scary and it made me think of how important one person or an object can be in your life and how that life develops.

The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with “what if” cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes. (Source)

As I was reading about what the butterfly effect actually is, I could not help but wonder about everything that is happening in this world. People are meeting someone on the other side of the world and several years later they meet and some amazing secrets are revealed, or a person who is perpetually ten minutes late are not one day and because of that she is not involved in an accident. Perhaps this is too Hollywood but I cannot help but wonder if there is something to it. Is there really a destiny or can we change the past in order to make the present/future better?

Last night I saw the film called the butterfly effect starring Asthon Kutcher. The film is about Evan Treborn (Kutcher) who blocks out harmful memories of significant events in his life. But as he gets older he discovers a way to remember these lost memories and he travels back in time to redo parts of his past in order to make his future better. This does not turn out like he wanted to, and the consequences to his actions are less than desirable.

Even though this is a Hollywood film I cannot help but believe that there is some truth to it. There is a reason why we cannot change the past because one small insignificant object can turn out to not be irrelevant for a person who is crossing its path. Perhaps everything happens for a reason and we are to accept that. The people you meet and the choices you make are shaping your future and the forces outside of that should not be played with. Perhaps I am being naïve but I believe there are some truths to this. Maybe we should stop dwelling on what happened in the past on concentrate on what we want to happen in the future. After all, we do have the ability to choose our own paths in any direction we want. 

Pictures from http://meme-evolution-and-culture.blogspot.com/ and http://www.rlslog.net/the-butterfly-effect-2004-720p-bluray-x264-sinners/

Back in London, baby!

The holiday is over and it sure was about to return to my favourite city; London. Kjell Steinar and I got up at 5am this morning, as our flight was at 07.45am. That is too early, and I’m sitting in my flat now in my living room and I cannot believe how tired I am. It is going to be an early night tonight.

It was actually rather strange to come back. It was snowing in Norway today when we were leaving and it was about -4 degrees Celsius. As we were approaching Britain and London, it did not feel like early January. The sun was shining, it was 5 degrees and it almost felt like spring outside. Of course in my flat it was freezing. No one has been here for three weeks, and we could tell. But now that I have unpacked and am relaxing, it feels amazing to be back.

About 30 minutes or so after takeoff, Kjell Steinar and I witnessed the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen. Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures of it, and I really wish I could have. But please trust me, it truly was spectacular and I actually envy the pilots for being able to see something as beautiful as that sunrise when they are at work. In my opinion it is worth getting up early for.

Uni starts again tomorrow, and then it is back to course work and a lot of essay writing. This is my last semester before I’m finished, which is kind of scary but at the same time I can’t wait. So while I’m studying I will also be continuing to write about my amazing holiday from last summer here on my blog, and I have also started to plan what other remarkable matter I can write about. London, shoes, travel and perfume are just a few of the upcoming contributions. Have a great evening, everyone. 

The pictures are my own and from http://wareseeker.com/screenshot/flaming-horizon-screensaver-1.1.exe/433874

Oppdal, Norway

 

Like I said a couple of days ago, I spent some of my Christmas with Kjell Steinar and his wonderful family in Oppdal. I had a great time, and time sure flew by fast. There is so much to do here, both during summer and winter, so I thought I’d share some of my winter experiences with you.

Oppdal is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag County here in Norway. From Trondheim, which is the third largest city in Norway, it is about a two hour drive to this winter wonderland. The mountains are breathtaking and you simply cannot wait to go out in the cold weather and explore the nature. Because it is cold in Oppdal, as the climate is harsh even by Norwegian standards. But with warm clothes, especially items made out of wool (wool is the best you can wear to keep warm) you’re set.

A lot of people are visiting Oppdal because it is one of the best places in Norway to go down-hill skiing. Slalom is a very popular winter sport in Norway and Oppdal has four mountains with several possibilities to try this trendy sport. You don’t have to be a professional to enjoy it. I haven’t tried slalom in years but this winter I did and I had not forgotten how to do it. It is just like riding a bicycle. It is a bit expensive, but in my opinion it is worth it.

If you are not a fan of going down hill fast, then perhaps cross-country skiing is something to try. You can also do that in Oppdal and the possibilities are endless. Norway is well known for its professional skiers and quite a few of them are from Trondheim. It is the perfect way to spend the day. Pack a bag with something warm to drink and a lovely lunch and you are guaranteed to have fun. You don’t have to ski far or fast, but just enjoy the nature and the company.

I hope this has inspired someone to visit Norway and Oppdal, as I truly recommend this place. You can rent a cabin or a hotel room while you’re staying here and truly experience the wonder that is Norwegian winter and nature. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to go to Oppdal as it is close to my home town, because Oppdal has over the past year become my new favourite place in Norway. 

All of the pictures are my own. 

Happy new-year!

 

I haven’t been writing anything here for a while, and I’m so sorry about that. But I have been busy spending time with friends and family this Christmas and I have actually had a great time.

Speaking of time, it sure is flying by quickly. I cannot believe that we have now entered 2011. This is the year I will be finishing my bachelor degree, have a romantic long-weekend in Paris with Kjell Steinar and hopefully start working in London at some point this year. I feel I have so much to look forward to and I have a feeling this is going to be a great year.

This Christmas I was home with my family, and from the 25^th to the 29^th of December I was in Oppdal with Kjell Steinar’s family. It was so nice and relaxing to spend some time in the mountains with his lovely family. I really like Oppdal and I will be writing some more about this wonderful place later on.

I haven’t been doing much this Christmas. I have been reading, like I always do this time of the year, and now I have only one week left in Trondheim before returning to London and coursework. I feel highly optimistic about next semester; a small holiday can give you back some of the strengths you need to continue with your work.

So I hope everyone had a great new years eve yesterday and that 2011 will be fantastic for all of you. This is the year to experience, explore and do something wild. Happy new year, everyone!

Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?

Every year on the 23^rd of December there is a tv show called Dinner for One and it has become a Norwegian tradition to see this today. At around 9pm the tv channel called NRK sends it, and everyone is watching it. NRK as tried to not send it a few times, but that was not a success with the Norwegian people. A tradition is a tradition, and you don’t mess with that. So in about an hour my family will be sitting in front of the tv, watching the hilarious show while enjoying some mulled wine and snacks. Like I said earlier, this Christmas is all about traditions and I cannot wait to continue with this one. You can actually find the show on youtube so I have attached it here for everyone to enjoy. So have fun, and a merry Christmas to all!