Case closed. It has to be said that Anniken asked me several times if I wanted to join her, but after a while she got convinced that her friend would most likely enjoy it more then I would. I’ve got a very nice girlfriend.

Let’s start with the new server. I realized that the server that is currently running this site and two other doesn’t pack enough punch to handle the odd requests peaks I’m seeing. Every now and then, the one-liners are being picked up by some site, sending quite a lot of people this way. The last time this happened, about a week ago, the server got totally clogged when it ran out of memory. The reason? Only half of the 1GB chip in the box is discovered by the motherboard. The result? Swapping madness and total break down. The solution is to build a new and better box that will handle the peaks and then some. This will cost me a hell of a lot more than paying someone to host the site, but where’s the fun in that!? Now I’ve almost got all the parts I need (all I’m missing are some cables and the ones I received in the mail today were all useless – I have to learn to read the specifications properly before ordering), and I’m working on a small How To so that other people can also build their own home server. More to come.

The movie I went to see was the Norwegian “Tomme Tønner“. It’s heavily influenced by the style that Guy Ritchie uses in his movies, and it has its moments. They are brief, but they are still moments. Onc scene in particular actually made me laugh until I cried and that’s not something that happens often to me at the movies. Don’t get your expectations go through the roof, though, but you should still go see it. Maybe just to support Norwegian movies.

In other and music-related news, I’m happy to announce that Biffy Clyro is coming to Norway! Not only are they coming, they’ll be here in two-ish weeks time, on February 1st. That’s some great stuff right there. Even though their last album is not as smashing as the previous one, I’m not missing out on this. And to make everything even better, they are appearing on the Norwegian TV music show Lydverket on February 3rd. I’ll be in the audience, and so can you.

Anniken is still out and about on her 4 months journey. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if she got back tomorrow, but there are still two and a half months left until she returns home. Today she and Pernille, who she is traveling with, left Buenos Aires and flew to Costa Rica, which will be their base of operations for the remainder of their trip. Argentina was nice, but I think they are really looking forward to sandy beaches and umbrella drinks. Over the last two weeks, while they have been staying in the Argentine capital, we’ve been in touch every day using MSN and Skype. And I’m very happy we’ve got access to the wonders of modern technology or else I probably would have gone mad. Now, however, MSN and Skype use will be a more limited, as they will be moving around quite a lot and internet connections might be harder to find. Finger crossed, though, and there’s always text messages and land lines.

Even though Anniken is far, far away, she is in my head pretty much all the time, and sometimes she even manages to occupy it when I sleep. It gives me that tingling feeling, from the tip of my toes to the top of the longest hair on my head. It’s 78 days left. There, I’ve started to count down.

But since I’m not sick yet, the game is still in its plastic wrapping. Nothing wrong with playing the game while I’m not ill, of course, but since being home sick can be quite boring, I need something to do if it happens. I do have some excellent PC games I can play, but they are all strategy games that require some level of brain activity and that’s usually not my strong side when the fever kicks in. But where did all those great strategy games come from?

Well, basically it’s all Valve‘s fault. You might know them as the creators of The Best Computer Game Ever Made, Half-Life, but they also run a digital game distribution service: Steam. The service was launched back in 2003 and today it provides games from a wide range of developers. The beauty of everything is that most of the games can be downloaded and played as many times as you want, as long as you’re logged on to the Steam service. Games you’ve already downloaded can even be played without logging in. No more having to worry about crap like DRM activation and where you hid the game DVD.

My “problem”, however, is that they have some ridiculous sale offers at times. What about Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: The Complete Edition for only €19.99? Or AI War: Fleet Command for less than half that price? If you have a decent PC, enjoy computer games and great deals, you should get an account right away.

In other, but somewhat related, news I should probably warn you about the movie Zombieland. While the trailer might look sweet – don’t they always – the movie is not really cinema worthy. You’re better off waiting for the DVD.

But something even better than reading a Stephen King book is to watch Neill Blomkamp’s movie District 9. I’m pretty sure this is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, and I won’t be surprised if no one will make a better before the year ends. Unless that movie 9 or maybe even Up can match it, that is. They’re very different movies, though.

Anyway, let’s get back to District 9. It all started with a short movie called “Alive in Joburg”, directed by South Africans Blomkamp and his friend Sharlto Copley. Because of Alive in Joburg, together with other work by Blomkamp, he was offered to work with the movie adaption of the Halo video game together with Peter Jackson. Unfortunately, the Halo movie was put on hold because of lack of funding. But this got Jackson and Blomkamp talking about other projects and result of that discussion is District 9. Here’s Alive in Joburg from YouTube:

If watching Alive in Joburg doesn’t make you want to run to the nearest cinema and watch District 9, I’ve taken the liberty to copy/paste an excerpt from the plot summary on Wikipedia:

In 1982, a large alien spaceship stops above Johannesburg, South Africa. Reports suggest that the ship became stranded after a command module separated from the ship and dropped to Earth, nowhere to be found. After cutting their way inside, an exploratory team discovers a large group of unhealthy and leaderless arthropod-like species. These alien creatures, derogatorily referred to as prawns, are taken from the ship and housed in a government camp inside Johannesburg called District 9, which soon turns into a slum. In the first decade of the 21st century, Multinational United (MNU), a private military contractor, is placed in charge of policing and relocating the now 1.8 million aliens to District 10, a new camp 240 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg.

Brilliant stuff. When you didn’t think it was possible to come up with a new idea for a movie, it just suddenly happens. At least I’ve not heard of any movie plots like this one.

District 9 starts out as a documentary, but after a while it changes genre into a full blown action movie. Writing more about the plot could spoil some of the movie for you, so I’ll shut up now so you can actually go see it. So, in the end, this is not much of a review, but the main message I’d like to get through here is that you should really, really see this movie.

By the way, if you suddenly get a strange crave for cat food after you’ve seen District 9, fear not – it happened to me as well.

We never got too close when we lived together and immediately lost contact when he moved out. But over the years I’ve got regular updates on what’s been happening in his life through friends, and a while back I learned that he’d been accepted to attend the Oslo National Academy of the Arts to try to get a Bachelor of Acting. Quite impressive as they only accept 8 new students every year.

Three years have passed now since he got accepted and yesterday I went with a few friends to see his graduation play, “Closer“. The fine arts is not usually my thing, I think the last time I went to the theater was 15 or so years ago, and I saw “Of Mice and Men” with Klas and his family. To be honest, I’m more of a movie goer.

The play was adapted for a film with the same title in 2004, but I never saw it. That it’s listed as a drama and romance movie in the IMDB might be the reason. I didn’t even know that the movie existed until yesterday when someone asked me during the intermission what I thought of the play compared to the movie.

Watching the scene where Alice and Dan break up for the first time was rather surreal. Suddenly I was moved back in time to one of the many discussions me and Gine had when we were breaking up. Remove what Alice and Dan said about cheating on each other and you’re left with a conversation I’ve had before. And it wasn’t just similar to one, around 3/4 of it was a word-by-fucking-word carbon copy. It was really weird and at one point I found myself very close to mouthing the performer’s lines as they were saying them. Goes to show that the things people say to each other when they break up is pretty much the same. Maybe we’re influenced by movies we see and books we read. It could be that we tend to subconsciously use phrases from make-believe worlds, because in those worlds, things almost always work out in the end.

Or maybe it was just a freak coincidence.

Seeing Herman in action as Larry was very entertaining, all the four actors did a great job. Their final performance will be tomorrow, May 22^nd, and if you have the time and like going to the theater, head over to the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and enjoy two and a half entertaining hours with some of the actors and actresses you are likely to see in Norwegian plays and movies in the coming years. More information here.

When I was grocery shopping today, I noticed that they had the Sunshine DVD for sale (grocery shops sell all kinds of stuff these days) and decided to go for it. If it was a good movie on the plane, it’s very likely that it’s a good movie in our living room as well.

The reason for this is not that you should stop going to the movies, it’s just that it looks like there are so many bad movies being released in the next few weeks and months it’s almost depressing for movie lovers like myself. For some reason, they are all comedies. Maybe it’s just me that has run out of a sense of humor?

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Trailer)

Synposis: From the producers of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up comes a comic look at one guy’s arduous quest to grow up and get over the heartbreak of being dumped—if he can only make himself start Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, Knocked Up, How I Met Your Mother) has spent six years idolizing his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars). He’s the guy left holding her purse in paparazzi photos and accidentally omitted from acceptance award speeches. But his world is rocked when she dumps him and Peter finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life. To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where he is confronted by his worst nightmare: his ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are sharing his hotel.

The Hottie and the Nottie (Trailer)

Synposis: Nate Cooper (Joel David Moore) has been smitten with Cristabel Abbott (Paris Hilton) since he first laid eyes on her at the impressionable age of six. But before he could try and snuggle up to her at nap time, or maybe send her a valentine, his family moved away. In the intervening years there have been other women in Nate’s life, but none who could measure up to Cristabel. Convinced she’s the only girl for him, Nate decides to move back to L.A. and track her down. The good news: she’s still single and stunning. The bad news: there’s a reason she’s still single. Cristabel’s still best friends with the same ugly little girl Nate remembers from first grade, JUNE PHIGG (Christine Lakin).

Postal (Tailer)

Synposis: A religious charlatan (Foley), his mild mannered nephew (Ward) and a gang of bosomy commandos face off against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in an epic battle that will determine the fate of the world in POSTAL, the latest film from controversial director Uwe Boll (“BloodRayne”). Boll roasts an entire herd of sacred cows and smashes taboos to smithereens in this over-the-top and hilariously subversive critique of modern day America. Inspired by the notorious videogame of the same name, POSTAL is a jaw-droppingly original spoof of contemporary culture and an equal opportunity offender, lampooning religious extremists, minorities, bureaucrats, immigrants, cops, women, the Holocaust, gun nuts and more with evenhanded abandon.

You Don’t Mess With Zohan (Trailer)

Synposis: In You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a comedy from screenwriters Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up), Sandler stars as Zohan, an Israeli commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York. Dennis Dugan directs.

College Road Trip (Trailer)

Synposis: Choosing which college to attend can be the most exciting and thrilling time of a young woman’s life…unless your overprotective father isn’t quite ready to let you go. In the Disney family comedy, COLLEGE ROAD TRIP, Melanie (RAVEN-SYMONÉ) is eagerly looking forward to her first big step towards independence when she plans a “girls only” road trip to check out prospective universities. But when her overbearing police chief father (MARTIN LAWRENCE) insists on escorting her instead, she soon finds her dream trip has turned into a hilarious nightmare adventure full of comical misfortune and turmoil.

Trailer Park Boys (Trailer)

Synposis: Widely regarded as one of Canada’s greatest comedy shows to hit the airwaves, Trailer Park Boys is now launching in the U.S. with, TRAILER PARK BOYS: THE MOVIE, produced by Hollywood comedy maestro Ivan Reitman. For seven years Julian, Ricky and Bubbles have been entertaining fans across Canada as the Trailer Park Boys in the irreverent TV smash hit centered around a group of trailer park residents living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park. The film finds pals Julian and Ricky serving an 18 month jail sentence for ATM robbery. Upon their release, they return to Sunnyvale trailer park to plan for the largest heist of their long, unsuccessful criminal careers-The Big Dirty, a scheme to steal vast quantities of untraceable change. But before their plan can succeed, they will have to outrun helicopters, survive shootouts, and face down drunken Trailer Park management in a deadly game of Sunnyvale Chicken.

If you have seen one of the three trailers for the movie, you have probably noticed that it’s simply impossible to figure out the plot. With some movies you really don’t have to see anything but the trailer to know everything about it, which can be a good thing because you save a lot of money.

So when you sit down to watch The Simpsons Movie you have no idea what to expect and I’m not planning to spoil the fun by telling you about it here. The movie is like seeing four The Simpsons episodes in a row, for me it was quite a few laughs, but I never had any problems breathing at the same time. That said, it’s all good fun, Simpsons style. I’m not sure why FOX let the writers kick them in the nuts so often; but I’m guessing it’s because the family of five is a gold mine for the network.

I’ve read a review where the author complained about the low quality of the animation and compared it to the works of animation studios like Pixar, writing that the animation in The Simpsons Movie far below Pixar’s superior quality. I’m not sure how it’s even possible to make that comparison as Pixar works exclusively in the 3D animation realm and a Simpsons movie made up exclusively of CG graphics would have looked plain stupid. Even though there are some CG in The Simpsons Movie, they are mostly sticking to their faithful Korean 2D drawers and I love it.

This movie can be watched by both hard core fans and people who are not at all familiar with the Simpsons. There is something in there for everyone, but I guess that the fans will be the ones getting the more subtle jokes.

And remember, the movie is not finished before the end credits are over. Sit through it all and you’ll be awarded.

The plot is not very complicated: Two fractions of autonomous robots, the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons have fought a war over a mystical talisman, the Allspark, that has ruined their homeworld. Whoever controls the Allspark is granted unlimited power. Some time during the war, the Allspark was lost in space. The Autobots are on its trail and has traced it to Earth, but of course the Deceptions are not far behind. Unless the Autobots can stop them, they’ll soon find the Allspark and destroy Earth in the process. The stage is set for some serious monster robot action.

Now, let’s talk about disappointment. There was none. It was quite the opposite, really, the movie was even better than I’d hoped. Michael Bay has done a brilliant job, turning a cartoon into an epic movie. It’s crammed with humor, an extremely hot heroine (not the drug, moron), and of course robots. Literary tons and tons of giant robots, all of them so detailed you almost believe they are not computer generated, but real, mechanical beasts.

You should go see this movie and go home and build your own robot afterwards.

Be warned though, if you had no knowledge of Transformers before the movie was announced, you’re probably going to be left with another impression of the movie when the end credits roll.