this is exciting

The process

It is always fascinating to follow the process of creative work, om the first sketches on to the result. Here is an illustration I made some weeks ago for Norwegian student magazine Argument: The illustration was made for an article discussing war films and how they rather work as therapy for the film-makers than the intrinsic problems of war. As examples, the author uses among others the film "Waltz with Bashir" (2008), an animated documentary portraying a middle-aged Israeli man trying to find out why he seems to have forgotten everything about his army service, where he participated in the Israeli-Lebanon war in 1982. Written and directed by Ari Folman, the film won several prizes and worldwide approval for being an interesting view from the side of a young Israeli soldier trying to come to terms with his personal trauma. The author of the article, however, seems to mean that the film (and also Lebanon, the other recently made war film made by an Israeli director) lacks the discussion around the wars and atrocities themselves, and turn out too subjective.

Interesting as it is, I leave the discussion to the reader. You can find this particular number of Argument Magazine through this link. argument.uio.no/utgaver/argument3_2010_ferdig.pdf (Norwegian, pdf file).

The old drawer

Georgian food!

Georgian food!
The Russian cuisine is not renowed for its tastefulness and variety. Although Russian food can be good, it is very northern, and thus very similar to traditional Scandinavian food: Boiled fish/meat, potatoes, peas and carrots. Shops sell half-fabricated and frozen products, everything is meaty, salads are drenched in mayonaisse, and there is extensive use of innards.
Luckily, Caucasian food is very polular in Russia. In the bigger cities, the most poular restaurants offer Caucasian cuisine and specialise in certain types and regions of this mountainous area. It can be said that Caucasian food is similar to both the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern cuisine in the sense that meals are often simple, but represent a richness only found in areas of the world where the fat of the land is at its fattest: Fresh fruits and vegetables, fish from the sea, meat from the plains, and a rich combination of spices and tastes. A typical visit at a Georgian restaurant (most of them are known as Georgian, although one Restaurant Georgia recently changed its name to Restaurant Abkhazia) should include fresh salads, Khachapuri (baked bread with melted cheese), Eggplants in walnut sauce, Lobio (red beans stew), Adjapsandali (squeezed eggplants with red peppers and tomatos in oil) and copious amounts of Georgian red wine. Caucasian food is a filling treat for veggies but if you prefer meat, khinkali (large gnocchis) and shashlik should be tried.
It`s quite simple to make at home, so if you click on the link above, you`ll get a list of recipies and a more filling description of the Georgian cuisine in creative English.

How long was Kropotkin in Haparanda?

This blog is undefined. As for now, it is as much a project of my own to categorise own works and things I find on the internet. Maybe it develops, maybe it will be abandoned. In the meantime, it is up to us all to find out what Kropotkin did in Haparanda.