HANNE HANSEN

Quotes from Obama's peace prize speech

2010-05-26T10:45:00.001-07:00

I was working with this speech as preparation for my exam tomorrow and just had to post a couple of quotes:

"The absence of hope can rot a society from within."

"So let us reach for the world that ought to be - that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls."

Photostory about devolution in the UK

2010-05-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

First television debate

2010-04-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

Debate (focus on domestic affairs)

Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Klegg debated for the first time together on television. All three of them got the chance to say something before the debate began.

Nick Klegg persuades the people with a new alternative. He says: "We can do something new, we can do something different this time." He speaks of change.

Gordon Brown says that we do not find ourselves in an easy time but he believes that we are moving towards prosperity. He promises better economy and protection if the people choose right. He states the fact that he knows what he is doing, because he has done it before (refers to the financial crisis).

David Cameron speaks of togetherness - the country has to come together. He says that the country needs a change. If elected he plans on keeping some of the good things Labour has done, but change a bit.

After the opening the audience got to ask questions.

The first question was about immigration. I felt that the three candidates had many of the same opinions but that they had different approaches.

Brown starts off saying that he knows that people feel pressure because of immigration. And he wants control. He does not want no put immigration to an end but he say: "We are a tolerant and diverse country but want to control the immigration more." He also says that the numbers of immigration is falling because of what Labour are doing.

Cameron means that the numbers for immigration are way too high and that they have to come down. He says that they have to address immigration properly. Have stronger border control and a proper border police force.

Klegg say that there is a complete chaos in the administration and that they need more control. He states the fact that there exists both good and bad immigration. He explains that immigrants only should go to those regions where they can be supported. He talks of change.

The next question was about law and order

Cameron says that he thinks the sentences are not long enough. He uses an example about a burglar who broke in to a woman's apartment and set coach on fire. The fumes from the fire killed her son. Cameron say that it is outrageous that this burglar, that this murderer only got four and a half year in prison. He suggests a better drug rehab. He thinks it will help if drug addicts got off the streets and into treatment.

Klegg wants more police on our streets. He continuously repeats, "There are too many young defendants who become the hardened criminals of tomorrow." He says a lot about preventative work. He wants to stop the young defendants before they become hardened criminals.

Brown had three points. I am sorry I only remember two of them:
1. He wants 80% of the police on the streets
2. He feels the parents have to follow up more closely (that is for him to say, huh?)

Brown speaks of progress already made by the Labour party on this problem and he presents data to support it.

The third and final question was about the MPs expenses. The woman asking asks how she can trust a MP who spilled his guts to her at her pub.

Nick Klegg tells her that no politicians deserve her trust until everybody have come clean on what has been going on.

Brown says that he is shocked and sickened by the corruption by the MPs. He says that he was brought up to the belief that one act honestly and fairly and he is shocked by the MPs.

Brown wants to do three things (luckily I remembered all of these):

1. If a MP is misbehaving - you should have the right to recall that MP.
2. He wants to reform the House of Commons and the House of Lords. He wants the House of Lords to be elected.
3. He wants the people to write a partition Parliament.

Cameron wants to cut the costs of politics. He means that it is the real apology the politicians have to make. They spend too much money on politics.

My group though that Nick Klegg definitely was the winner of the debate. His body language, his way of speaking and his arguments were great. He takes advantage of his position in a good way.

The Road - final evaluation

2010-03-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

I finished The Road in two days when I was in Spain with my family this winter vacation. I always read a lot when I am on holidays with my family, and I love that because reading good books is always a pleasure. This book really was a pleasure reading.

I wrote about the book when I had only read a few pages so if you want to know something about the author or the prizes the book has won – just take a look earlier in my blog.

The theme of the novel is the loving relationship between a father and a son. But at the same time I would say that the theme could be about how far people are willing to go to survive. McCarthy often shows the surviving men from their most cruel side. But simultaneously as McCarthy shows people from their very worst side, he also shows them from their very best. The boy and the father are the “good guys” as they call themselves. The “bad guys” are the killers. The theme could be the balance and struggle between good and bad.

The style the book is written in is very poetic. McCarthy uses metaphors and comparisons that force you to stop and think for a minute. What does he really mean by this? This is what separates the novel from all the other books I have read before. He explains things in this graceful and flowing way and makes it impossible for the reader to put the book down. It really is beautifully written. He has also used quite a few difficult words (at least I thought so), but I did not mind because I love a challenge.

What does the book try to tell us? Does it have an agenda other than what I have already mentioned? The question is hard to answer. Ultimately I think that the book is a criticism to people as well as it is a tribute to them.

This picture is from the film – the father and the son are wandering in the god-forsaken country.

After I got home from warm and relaxing Spain I had to see the screen version of the novel. It is the first time that I have seen a film that could even compare itself to the book. The director had incorporated almost every little detail from the book into the film. Magnificent! The only thing that got lost was the poetic descriptions of different things and also the wonderful conversations between the boy and the father. And I had kind of expected that anyway.

My earlier blog post amongst other things said this: My first impression of the book is good and I think I am going to like it. It is strangely written though. There are a few difficult words in this novel but I look them up if I can find a computer. I can conclude that my first impression did not change much as I continued to read. I did like it and I still thought the words were quite difficult.

As mentioned about a hundred times already I thought the book was excellent. I actually thought it was so good that I convinced my father to read it after me. He liked it as well. Definitely a book I would recommend – and the film of course.

Watch the trailer to the film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbLgszfXTAY

Assignment 1

2010-03-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

B. Day Paper at Question Time

At Question Time the 24th of February many important topics created a heated debate in the House of Commons. Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask government ministers questions. The Prime Minister answers questions in the Commons every Wednesday and last Wednesday Day Paper was there to witness the debate.

The discussion started off by the Prime Minister paying a tribute to the British troops in Afghanistan. A total of seven soldiers had lost their lives since the House last met. Gordon Brown was clearly touched by the loss of the brave soldiers and sent profound condolences to the soldiers’ families and loved ones.

Later on David Cameron spoke about the Stafford hospital where hundreds of people ended up dying because of the way they were mistreated. Cameron asked the Prime Minister if he understood that the victims would never be content with an inquiry that was conducted in private, but that they would claim a public inquiry. Brown responded with a very well-articulated answer and told Cameron that each case was being investigated individually.

The debate grew more intense and Cameron accused Brown of having brought Britain to its knees and that he had wrecked the pension system and ruined the tax system. He presented the data to back his statement up but Brown smoothly proved the data as incorrect.

Richard Benyon from the Conservative Party asked Brown if he shared his thoughts about the importance to inform people of the value of the work the British troops are doing in Afghanistan. Gordon Browns response was in agreement with Benyon and he presented a plan to make people understand that they have a purpose for their missions. He also explained very well, for those who might be critical to the troops in Afghanistan, why it is important to have them there.

Gordon Brown appeared to be calm and concise during the debate and responded to the questions with well-articulated answers that showed reflection. He remained calm and stayed on-topic during the more heated debates whilst Cameron easily got off-topic and made unnecessary remarks on Browns behalf. Therefore – based on this Question Time I would say that the sitting Prime Minister has a better chance of winning the peoples' votes and the forthcoming election.

Gordon Brown speaking at Question Time 24th of February.

Charlie Wilson's War

2010-02-16T04:24:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, February 16, I watched the film Charlie Wilson’s War in class. The film is a drama based on Congressman Charles Wilsons' (1933-2010) efforts to help the people in Afghanistan during the war against Soviet. Wilson’s efforts to help had some unforeseen and long-reaching effects that are still going on today. In this blog post I will answer three questions:

1. Write a short review of the movie and state your personal opinions on both subject and movie.

The movie is set in the early 1980s. Charlie Wilson is a US congressional representative from Texas. Wilson dedicates his political efforts to supply the Afghan mujahideen with the support they need to defeat the Soviet Union. Wilson receives a lot of help from his rich, conservative supporter and lover, Joanne Herring and the CIA agent Gust Avrakotos. Because the only demand the people from Texas have is their right to bear arms and low taxes, Wilson is able to save up a lot of favors by, as he says "voting yes a lot", to cases that are important to his colleges. By reclaiming his favors he manages to increase the budget for the Afghan warfare from $5 million to $1 billion. However, Charlie Wilson eventually learns that even though they won a military victory, there are other consequences to that fight that are being ignored.

I thought the movie was excellent. It was both thrilling and interesting as well as enlightening and funny. At the end of the film there is a conversation between Wilson and Avrakotos where Avrakotos warns him that even though they have won, there is still a lot of work to do in the war-damaged country. And that leads me to my personal opinion about the subject. I though it was quite amazing that no one would give $1 million to rebuilding Afghanistan. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that things easily can evolve in a negative direction, in a post war country where about 50 % of the population is less than fifteen years old, and have no family or school to go to. It is quite sad to think about how history could have been changed if they had just given the money needed to build schools and infrastructure in Afghanistan.

2. How did the movie portray Charles Wilson?

Charles Wilson is portrayed as a charming fellow who is good with the ladies and who knows how to speak for himself. He loves his drink at after hours as much as at work. He is always seen with a new woman and he only hires beautiful girls to work for him. But Wilson is not in any way just a drunk and a womanizer. As mentioned, the fact that he is a congressman in Texas, gives him some advantages. Saving up favors and then reclaiming them in that certain way shows us that Wilson is smart.

3. Did you understand more about the conflict after watching the movie?

My answer to this question is most definitely: YES. Here is why; I never really knew the background for the conflict. After watching the movie I had both learned the origins of the conflict and I understood why there had developed one at all.

Again, it is sad to think about how easily history could have been altered. No one has ever said this better than Charlie Wilson himself:

"These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the endgame."

Charlie Wilson

Class today

2010-02-02T03:39:00.003-08:00

Class today was a little different than usual. We were supposed to prepare for our test text Tuesday which is about politics in the United States. The class was divided into five groups - each group with its own responsibilities. The front desk talked to all the groups and made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. The research group found material while the journalists picked out the most important topics and wrote them down. I was in the teachers group. We made rubrics with criteria for testing and made the test questions. I think we made the test quite hard actually. It is funny; I had always thought that my teacher's tests were not that good and that I would make better ones myself. But as it turns out - I make them to hard. Finally the designers made Glogs with material.

I like that my teachers use different teaching methods. And I am glad Ann was feeling creative yesterday when she came up with this system. Things get boring really fast when there is no variation. However the system probably did not work as well for everyone else as it did for me. I do not think the front desk learnt as much as the journalists. Next time a front desk probably would not be needed. The research group and the journalists could make one big group because of the huge amount of work the journalists had to do. If we were to do this again I would probably pick the teachers group one more time because I thought it was fun and I learnt a lot.

The Road - class book

2010-02-02T03:39:00.001-08:00

I am currently reading Cormac McCarthy's book "The Road" as my class book. My bad conscience is that I am only on page 40. I have just had so much to do these last couple of weeks that I am behind in some of my classes. The plan is to finish it in my winter vacation.

The Road was published in 2006. It is a science-fiction novel and the plot is set in a post-apocalypse world. A father and his young son are the main characters and they are traveling across a gray and destroyed landscape. The novel received excellent reviews and was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

As mentioned I have not gotten that far. But my first impression is good and I think I am going to like it. It is really different from the books I usually read which are crime novels and romance novels. It is strangely written though. Had I not known in advance what the plot was I would have had a hard time figuring out what I was reading about. The post-apocalyptic landscape is described but it is hard to understand what have happened. But the book will probably get to that though. Here is an excerpt from it for you to read:

With the first gray light he rose and left the boy sleeping and walked out to the road and squatted and studied the country to the south. Barren, silent, godless. He thought the month was October but he wasnt sure. He hadnt kept a calendar for years. They were moving south. There'd be no surviving another winter here.

There are a few difficult words in this novel but I look them up if I can find a computer. When I first started reading I reacted to the way McCarthy uses the apostrophes. Or should I say how he does not use them? I did not know you could write "hadnt" and "wasnt". Did you know?

Beautiful poem

2010-01-28T00:14:00.000-08:00

This poem is written by a fourteen year old girl with cancer. I thought it was so beautiful that I just had to post it.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly`s erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don`t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won`t last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask “How are you?”

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You`d better slow down

Don`t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won`t last.

Ever told your child,

We`ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friend die

Cause you never had time

To call and say “Hi”?

You`d better slow down

Don`t dance so fast

Time is short

The music won`t last.

2010

2010-01-12T01:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I love the beginning of a new year. I love starting with blank sheets and new motivation. I am going to get excellent grades this year. Here is a list of four things I think I have to do to get better grades in 2010:

- do all my homework (even though my teacher is not suppose to check them)
- prioritize right (school before job and friends)
- Do my homework without watching television and listening to music at the same time
- Be more structured

So, that is the plan anyway. I do not know if I can complete all four of them - but at least I have a plan.

I have chosen what I want to write about for my senior project. A little less then a year ago I developed an interest for the hippie period and especially the hippie fashion. I fell in love with the colors and the political statements on their t-shirts like for example "make love, not war". In the flower power period peace and love was the center of attention. The hippie culture was a youth movement that aroused in the mid 60's as a reaction to the materialistic society. The hippies had a very special fashion style. In my senior project I want to write about hippie fashion in the 60's and 70's with the subheading "political and cultural influence". Why did the hippies wear clothes that were so different from what their parents did and in what grade was culture and politics a part of the new fashion style that developed?

The American Constitution

2009-12-17T05:56:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we had a visitor in class. Her name was Lee Ann Potter and she spoke about the American Constitution. She was a good speaker and it was interesting to listen to her. In this entry I will try to recapture what she told us in a short summary. Enjoy!

The American form of government was written down in a Constitution adopted in 1787, not long after the thirteen colonies gained independence from Great Britain. They decided to have a representative democracy. The system worked like this; elected representatives would regularly be shifted out. For the first time the power belonged to the people, and not to a king. They also decided to have a federal system. This was made up of individual states, which gave only certain specific powers to a central government. This is known as federalism. The last thing they decided was to divide the powers of the federal government into three. Each of these branches kept track of the other two so that none of them could become too powerful. This is known as the separation of powers.

As you see, the Americans were very eager to make sure that no person or persons would be allowed to have too much power. This is understandable after fighting war against what they viewed as the tyranny of King George III.

Lee Ann Potter showed the class a clip on YouTube. The clip was a jingle that aired on television when she was a little girl. It was named “We – the people” and the text of the refrain is the Preamble (which is the beginning part of the American Constitution). It was pretty funny. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNb9AoY5XXE

Milk

2009-11-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday I watched the film Milk with my class. I had seen it once before but I did not mind seeing it again because I think it is so good. It is a very serious and important film that is grounded in historical events. Howard Milk was a real person who lived from 1930-1978. He was the first openly gay man to be elected to any substantial political office. He was murdered on November 27, 1978. Milk is a film about Harvey Milks journey from being a gay man living in the closet to being the first openly gay person to be elected to major office.

The film is set in two different time zones. The first scene is from the “future” where Milk sits at his breakfast table talking into a microphone. He starts telling his story before the film travels back in time. Milk meets a gorgeous young man whom he falls in love with. This young man eventually becomes not only Milks boyfriend but also his campaign manager, at least for a period. Their relationship makes you smile because they are so cute together. As I have already told you this story is real. Harvey Milk was real. I get chills already in one of the first scenes where Milk and many homosexuals march down the streets in San Francisco as an attempt to be heard. I think the film is absolutely fantastic. It is touching and I think that Sean Penn does an amazing job in the lead as Harvey Milk.

I find myself writing down and then deleting what I have already written over and over again. This is because I am afraid to give anything away. There are so many important events happening in the film and I think I should stop writing before I ruin the film for you. You just have to see it yourself! This is probably a given by now, anyway I think I should tell you one more time that I strongly recommend this movie to everyone.

“His life changed history – his courage changed lives”
His goal was to make homosexuality legal. You are definitely missing out on something great if you do not watch this movie. Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLC5SzczC44

Loony Parties

2009-11-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

In the UK the three major parties are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. These parties are taken very seriously by British citizens. But there also exists smaller parties which are not taken so seriously. They have been founded to show how absurd politics can be. The Official Monster Raving Loony Party was established in 1983 by musician and politician David Sutch, also known as Screaming Lord Sutch. Even though there exists hundreds of candidates with ridiculous names none of them have ever won a seat in the Commons. One of the loony parties proposes a lowering of the school-leaving age to nine.

Examples of crazy proposals:

-Re-introducing hanging (but only for offences like throwing away banana skins on the street)

-Conquering France

-Placing an electric shock collar on the other politicians, the type to stop dogs barking, so they can be shocked every time they lie

-All football team's should wear the same colored shirts, shorts and boots, wear big red noses and bright green wigs, as this will lead to a more exciting and interesting game.

-Semicolons should be banned; No-one knows when to use one anyway.

Not many people vote for these parties, but a few actually do. The fact that loony parties win a handful of votes indicates that some people are quite bored with conventional politics – and that many have a good sense of humor.

Screaming Lord Sutch (1940-1999)

In 1954..

2009-10-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

Joseph R. McCarthy (1908-1957) is best known as a communist-hating senator. At a period McCarthy was one of the most powerful men in Washington. He developed a personal and political view that has been called McCarthyism. It included bullying attacks and accusations, branding anyone who disagreed with him as disloyal, un-American or a communist symphatizer. In 1954 McCarthy accused public figures of being communists and reportet that the Army was trying to keep him from digging out more communists.

In the 1950s, racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America. Oliver Brown who was the father of a black third-grader was tired of seeing his little girl walk such a long way too school. He wanted to challenge segregation in public schools and in 1951, the NAACP, recuested an injuction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka's public schools. Eventually the proposal came through and in 1954 supreme court decided that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional.

Lions for lambs

2009-10-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

Three different stories with three separate time zones are told simultaneously in the film Lions for lambs. Republican Senator Jasper Irving gives a one-on-one interview to a cynical veteran television reporter named Janine Roth. Irving details a strategy for victory in Afghanistan while Roth asks skeptical questions. Meanwhile professor Dr. Stephen Malley invites a promising student named Todd Hayes to his office for a talk. Hayes has been skipping class and Malley tries to re-engage him. Concurrently, a platoon of United States soldiers is airlifted to a location in the Afghan mountains to head off the Taliban.

These three separate events are linked at the very beginning of the film. Irving tells Roth that small groups have been sent into Afghanistan to resolve the deadlock. Meanwhile Malley tells his student a story about two former students he had. His former students both enlisted in the military. The mission they were sent on is the mission Senator Irving is telling Roth about. In this way all three stories are connected.

But why did Malley’s former students join the military? They both grew up in poor families and faced many challenges growing up. They had to work hard to get good grades so they could get a scholarship and attend college. They were the part of the American society that no one really cared about. They wanted to make USA a better place for everyone to live. But to do so they first had to engage people in their country’s foreign problems. They did not want to just sit back and do nothing.

Irving and Roth end their interview, Malley and Hayes end their talk and the soldiers end their lives. Roth wants to publish the story with a negative perception to Irving’s mission but is told to do the exact opposite by her boss. Hayes has clearly been affected by his teacher’s story and goes home thinking about it. The reporter, the student and the soldiers all have to make an important decision but we only get to see what the soldier’s decision is.

I thought the film was okay entertainment. If you ask me I would probably recommend a different film. However, it does make you think about doing something special with your life. And that is not such a bad thing is it?

Lions for lambs, trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_V6ulwA0KE

Snowboarding

2009-10-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

Snowboarding is a sport that is very popular in Norway. If you were to ski (or to snowboard) down our slopes half of the people there would be snowboarding. It is mostly young people who do it but older people are beginning to join the popular wave as well. But snowboarding can bee dangerous and it is important to use a helmet. The snowboard is attached to the riders' feet using a special boot set into a binding that does not come off if the rider were to fall.

To be able to ride a snowboard you have to have good balance, technique and stamina. I have snowboarded since i was a little girl and I can go pretty fast and controlled down the slopes. However, where I am at compared to where professional snowboarders are at are two very different levels. The pictures to the left are all pictures of good snowboarders.

Since snowboarding became a Winter Olympic Sport (in 1998) it has developed various styles each with its own specialized equipment and technique. In USA there is an annual sports event called X Games. Click on the link below to see some insane snowboarding from this American competition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSQgld2RPIA

9/11

2009-10-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday my class watched a documentary made in 2002 called 9/11. I have seen many movies made about this date but I had never even heard about this documentary. I thought it was extremely exciting to see real footage from that day. It was filmed and directed by two brothers named Jules and Gedeon Naudet who was in the middle of the chaos when the two plains crashed into the towers. Originally the two brothers were making a documentary on a probationary firefighter on the New York City Fire Department (Battalion 1).

On the morning on September 11th Battalion 1 was called to check out a gas leak near the towers. Jules Naudet filmed the first plain crashing into tower one. Battalion 1 was the first responders to the scene. Jules and Gedeon get separated during most of the day. The film continues to show 9/11 through the cameras of the two brothers who are in different places in New York. I definitely recommend this film to everybody! But I have to warn you; it is a very strong film.

I think most of us remember where we were and what we were doing on September 11. It was (and still is) the biggest terrorist attack in history and it shocked the whole world. How did the people in USA react to this attack? First of all people got scared. They no longer felt secure going to their jobs or leaving their kids in kinder garden. The fear of another attack was very real. One of the definitions of terrorism is that it is violent acts that are intended to create fear. And 9/11 really created fear throughout the world.

People in Europe also got scared. They got scared that their country was next on the terrorists list. But above all the Europeans sympathized with USA. USA declared a global fight against terrorism and Europe was not late to enter. Europe wanted to help and to stop terrorism. USA also reached out to the states for allies in the fight and this brought the country together. But the Americans were not only sad. They were also very angry and wanted revenge for their loss. It is still an ongoing conflict today; should the American soldiers in Afghanistan be taken out or not?

After 9/11 airport security have become very strict in both USA and Europe. People are afraid of another similar attack and are trying to prevent it from happening. 9/11 was a day that shocked both USA and Europe. Americans have sworn that the lives lost on that day will never be forgotten.

Jules Naudet's film of the first plain craching into tower one can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys41jnL2Elk

Weather today

2009-10-13T03:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!

When I woke up today it was cold and grey outside. But the grey has gone away and the sun is shining :) It's still really cold though, but that is just because the autumn has arrived! Autumn in Norway is a beautiful season. The leaves turn orange and yellow and eventually fall of the threes. Spring is the total opposite. Everything turns green and flowers blossom.

My favourite season is summer. I love Norwegian winter as well but it is to long for me. The snow is lovely but the darkness can be very tireing at times. The winter is mostly spent at home but also at my winter cabin in Sjusjøen. I have been snowboarding since I was about six years old and I think it is a lot of fun. I am also trying out down hill skiing now. In the summer vacation I spend my time at my summer cabin which is about an hour drive from my house. I love it there! I have many girlfriends who stay there as well and we have a lot of fun. We bathe, waterski or wakeboard all day long and in the evening we drive down town and attend a movie or to shop at the mall. What do you guys do in your holidays and which season is your favourite one?

George Orwell

2009-09-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Eric Arthur Blair was born on June 25th 1903 in Motihari, Bihar India (then a British colony). When he was one year old Eric and his mother moved to England. He went to the Anglican parish school of Henley-on-Thames, St. Cyprian’s school in Sussex and Eton College. Corporal punishment was common and possibly a source of his initial resentment towards authority. Eric Arthur Blair is better known under the pseudonym George Orwell. Orwell was journalist and political author.

Soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Orwell volunteered to fight for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist uprising. Orwell was shot in the neck in 1937, an experience he described in his short essay "Wounded by a Fascist Sniper".

Eric Arthur Blair: "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it."

During most of his career Orwell was best known for his journalism, both in the British press and in books of reportage such as Homage to Catalonia. Contemporary readers are more often introduced to Orwell as a novelist, particularly through his enormously successful titles Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell is also known for his insights about the political implications of the use of language.

Birthday

2009-09-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

Yey, my birthday is in three days!

On September 17th I turn eighteen! My boyfriend is taking me to see "Raske menn" in Oslo. "Raske menn" is a very funny Norwegian stand up-group. I am really excited!

Another thing, the election in Norway is today. It is my first time to vote so that is pretty cool as well!

Inglorious basterds

2009-09-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I saw one of the best films I have ever seen! I am a huge Tarantino fan and I think his latest film "Inglorious basterds" is his best one yet.

The plot is set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. A group of Jewish-American soldiers, "The Basterds", are spreading fear throughout the Third Reich by hunting Nazis. Brad Pitt plays the leader of "The Basterds" as Aldo Raine and he does an excellent job in my opinion. A French-Jewish girl who runs a movie theater in Paris also has a plan including killing Nazis and she crosses paths with "The Basterds".

I absolutely loved this film. It is very funny and incredibly exciting! So if you have not seen it yet I suggest you do not make any other plans for this Friday because it is an absolutely must-see-movie!

You can watch the trailer to the film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQhTVz5IjQ

Siegfried Sassoon

2009-09-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

- Siegfried Sassoon was a decorated soldier
- His poem “Does it matter?” created a sort of shock
- WW1 soldiers thought the war would be different
- Sassoon said that in the beginning it was a war of defence but it became a war of aggression
- Sassoon was on a hospital for the mentally ill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3-qSV6zPDE

“Does it matter?”

2009-09-01T01:59:00.000-07:00

The three effects of the war on a soldier the poem "Does it matter?" touch on are:
-losing your legs
-loosing your sight
-loosing your dreams

The soldiers feel that their country does not care if they loose their legs, sight and dreams.

This poem by Siegfried Sassoon probably has enjoyed a bit of a revival because of the soldiers that are being sent to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Me and my hometown

2009-09-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!

My name is Hanne and I am a 17 year old girl from Norway. I created this blog because my English-teacher told me I had to. I am supposed to write about social studies but first I will tell you something about myself and where I live.

My life started on September 17, 1991 in the capital of Norway which is of course Oslo. I lived in the center of the town for about one year until my parents decided to move right outside of Oslo to a place called Baerum. I am very happy with their decision because Baerum have been a great place to grow up. It is one of the richest townships in Norway and people living here are known for being snobby and full of theirselves. If I am visiting some friends on the country I try to avoid the question "Were are you from?" If I can't avoid it I tell them I live just outside Oslo. I do this because when people hear I'm from Baerum they make assumptions and it can be kind of tireing to hear what they think about me before they even know my last name.

But enough about that! I love listening to music, watching crap-TV and good movies and hanging out with my friends and boyfriend. In the summer I lay on the beach, barbecue and party. And in the winter I freeze and ride snowboard :-)
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