Tag Archives: Kristiansand

Jun 07 2012
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Early morning moon, Kristiansand

Wednesday 6th June 2012, 4.30am (day 286)

Moon and crane, 6/6/12

Today at 5.45 am (Norwegian time) there was a transit of Venus across the sun, the last such event until 2117. Through a series of lucky events, I did actually get to see it; not many people would a) be up at that time b) be somewhere where the sun was shining (particularly in Norway), c) have sight of it while sat in an airport departure lounge and d) have access to a pair of plastic, cheap children’s binoculars which nevertheless did project an image of the sun onto a whitewashed wall – on which the tiny black dot that was Venus was clearly visible. I did try to take a photo of it, but that proved beyond me, which I was disappointed about until reflecting that I was, after all, trying to take a picture of the dark side of a planet some 20 million miles away with a compact digital camera. So here’s another picture of an impressive astronomical object instead. (Chosen also for the novelty value of the time: one of the earliest shots on the whole blog.)

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Jun 07 2012
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Daily Post, Interior

Kilden performing arts centre, Kristiansand

Tuesday 5th June 2012, 5.40pm (day 285)

Kristiansand arts centre, 5/6/12

Norway is a sensibly governed country, compared to others I could mention: the best example of this being that the Norwegian state retains a 51% share in the main oil company and in each of the national banks. The result: it’s very wealthy. (Citizens of countries whose governments have, instead, chosen to squander all the revenue from North Sea oil over the last 40 years might like to take note.) Which is why it can afford to build vast and impressive new performing arts centres like the Kilden, in small provincial towns like Kristiansand.

This picture was taken during the conference reception. There are other people all around, but somehow, on this trip, it didn’t really seem to be about the people. At least, not photographically.

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Jun 07 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Town beach, Kristiansand

Monday 4th June 2012, 5.30pm (day 284)

Kristiansand beach, 4/6/12_low-res

We transited down to Kristiansand today, in the southernmost part of Norway (though still as far north as Aberdeen in Scotland). Wouldn’t have chosen to come here normally, but was invited to give a keynote speech at a conference. It’s not as dramatic as the western fjords but it’s pleasant enough, and the sun was shining. This picture makes it look like it’s got wide, sweeping sands, but actually it’s a pretty scrubby bit of beach, probably artificial. Nevertheless, the kid’s having fun, and it was quite a sunny and pleasant evening.

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