So, What's On TV?

                                                   So, what’s on TV?

Unless you have just recovered from a three-month coma, the soap operas continue, but the tweets, facebook comments as well as all social media consists of angry comments, personal attacks and  accusations being hurled in attacks from individuals to others wishing to be ‘chosen’ to be our next leaders. It’s an election year!

 Constant repetition of improbable promises become stressful when repeatedly presented to the public. Many will be relieved when this process is completed and calmness is heard once again.

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Remember an American “artist” named Andy Warhol? In the 1960s, Warhol was a controversial figure producing images of “Mushroom Clouds”, “Electric Chairs”, and Soup Cans while writing books as well as dabbling in film-production of anti-social leanings. One day, Warhol phoned his close-friend John Giorno who, after work, had been sleeping. Warhol decided to film his friend as he slept at a later time. His film consisted of  a combination of close-ups, profiles and facial expressions for over five hours on film. Labelled an “Anti-film”, the production was called ”Sleep” and was edited to 40 silent minutes of Giorno’s rest.         Five hundred people were present for the film’s premier.

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'Sleeping'

It didn’t take long before viewers became restless and several  started to walk out  after only seven silent minutes. At a camera close-up of the man’s head, someone who had seen enough, ran up to the screen and shouted in the ‘sleeping man’s’ ear. ‘WAKE UP!!’  Warhol had pushed “calm” a bit far! However, the point of ‘calm’ and resisting the 1960’s period of social unrest was made.

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Perhaps, we need some ‘calmness’ in our time.
 If we were in Norway, we might tune in WPIX and NRK, Norway and enjoy Norwegian slow television.

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 Norway has taken Warhol to a new level.

 Slow television, (Norwegian: Sakte-TV), is a term used for  live "marathon" television unedited coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. Its name comes from the long endurance of the broadcast as well as from the natural slow pace of the  program's progress.

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The idea for ‘Slow TV’ was born over lunch at NRK Hordaland in West-Norway in 2009, the year that “In a world where everything moves so fast, it was refreshing to find something so captivating that you did not want to look away from it.” said a  senior VP of development.”We are constantly looking for very loud, distinctive formats and characters, and we believe we have found just that with the Slow TV concept.” A train-ride became an early hit !

The 'Bergensbanen', or The Bergen Line, (a train that runs from the capital of Oslo to Bergen, one of the other largest cities in the country) celebrated its 100th anniversary.This film became so popular, Norwegian viewers wanted more.

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The Hurtigruten "Nordnorge."

In June, 2011, one of the well-known passenger and tourist ferry Hurtigrutens  steamed on it's standard voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes, near the Russian border before returning to Bergen. Filmmakers recorded the northern leg of the voyage  as cheering coastal villagers greeted the ship's passengers. When later viewed on TV, the ratings increased as the voyage film progressed. For this 134 hours of film,     3.2 million viewers tuned in to enjoy the broadcast.

 

This concept of calm, meditative and commercial-free TV viewing has been well-received by Norway’s TV viewers. Every sakte-tv production has drawn at least 1.2 million viewers of Norway’s population of over five million people.

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Since 1966, when an experimental  weekend-long showing of a Yule-log burning in a fireplace with 

A sweater in the making..

Christmas music playing in the background, all productions have been well-received. There were three such broadcasts in 2012, three more in 2013, one of which featured  “Knitting a sweater from the start to the finish”. Twelve hours of non-stop knitting with the goal of breaking a Guiness Book' knitting' record.

 This has to be the epitome of  ‘calm’!

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NRK  has been working on the possibility of satellite coverage to transmit these images from Norway’s far north to the rest of the country. A test run is planned for this spring to see if this is possible. Soon, we may be able to view productions such as footage of a train-ride in Northern Norway. On this trip, a camera is

North of the Arctic Circle

positioned on the front of the train as it travels through tunnels and over bridges through a landscape that changes from snow to grass. Occasionally, the voice of the conductor is heard announcing the next station, but normally the scenes are repetitive.1.6 million Norwegians watched at least a portion of this unedited five day broadcast.

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Norwegian National Hymnal

On November 28–30th in 2014, NRK aired the 60-hour broadcast, Salmeboka – minutt for minutt”. Utilizing 200 choirs  plus soloists, musicians performed the entire contents of the Church of Norway's national hymnal from cover to cover. Most of the performances were done live at a church in Trondheim, while recorded performances came from other sites as distant as Karasjok in northern Norway and even Decorah, Iowa. The Norwegian church was open throughout the filming,  and more than 16,000 visitors came in to view the performances. Totally, 2.2 million viewers watched the TV production at some time, with an average of 87,000 at any one time. All 899 hymns in that hymnal published in 2013 were done by 3-4,000 singers of choirs and soloists invited from all over the country.

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Slow-TV has been getting international attention. Television viewers have accepted the phenomenon to the point where  Slow-TV (‘sakte-tv’) has become a natural part of Norwegian vocabulary. Sakte-tv was even named “new word of the year” by The Language Council of Norway in 2013.

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We may be missing something! Time to relax, meditate, maybe read a good book...

Stay calm...

Ships Sighted!

It has been a quiet 850 A.D. winter with little action on the waters, but residents of La Baie Verte are on  watch. Spring and prevailing winds are favorable for visitors, sometimes not friendly. Men from the North have been rumored to have been seen in the area and they are expected to return at any time.

"Land, Ho!"

Currently, it’s spring, 2016, and news of this nature would have little concern for residents of La Baie, now known  as Green Bay which received it’s earlier name of “The Bay Green” due to the color of the water as seen by Jean Nicolet, a French explorer.

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However, the rumors and sightings are current. Huge ships, such as “El Galleon Andalucia”, the replica of a Spanish Galleon of the historic Spanish fleet will be sailing along with nineteen other “Tall Ships” as they take part in a Tall Ship Race across The Great Lakes this summer.

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The 'Andalucia' is a 170 foot, 495 ton authentic wooden replica of a Spanish ship, sailing in this race for the first time. This festival of ships will sail the Great Lakes with port-stops along the way to Chicago, before reversing course northward to Green Bay. 150,000 people will be expected to greet these ships that are expected to dock when they arrive in Green Bay, the first of August, as the ships finish their racing schedule.

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Founded in 1973, Tall Ships America is a non-profit organization  created for youth education through

leadership programs as they take part aboard these sailing ships.Green Bay will be one of nine cities to

welcome the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2016 as they tour the Great Lakes. Other ‘local’ ships expected are  ‘The U.S. Brig Niagara’ from Pennsylvania, ‘Windy’ from Chicago and ‘Denis Sullivan’ from Milwaukee. Their closest ports in eastern Wisconsin will be in Chicago, July 27th, Green Bay August 5th and Duluth, the middle of August.

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However, the Men from The North will set sail April 24th and have the tall-ship fleet and North America  in mind.

 In May 2016, Draken Harald Hårfagre, the worlds largest viking ship built in modern times, leaves her home port in Haugesund, Norway to sail across the North Atlantic Ocean.
The purpose of the voyage is to retrace the Viking discovery of the New World.
After studying historic sagas and examining recovered sunken vikingships,  construction began on what would be the largest Viking ship ever built in modern times. Named after Harald Hårfagre, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom, the great dragon ship has regained  life. At 114 feet of crafted oak, 27 feet on the beam,weighing eighty tons, and with a 3200 square foot sail, this magnificent single-sail ship is rowed by 25 pairs of oars, each oar pulled by 2 men.Worthy of a king. This vessel was designed for warfare and the ability to sail across the oceans.In the Viking Age,attacks carried out from the ocean was in form of a

Warship Battle Formation

“Strandhogg”,which was ‘hit and run’ tactics, being highly mobile. However, as time went on, ships changed shapes to become larger and heavier with platforms in the front and back. This was done for the sake of sea battles, that made it possible to board ships that lay alongside each other.

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During all territorial struggles in Scandinavian history, many chieftains became kings and area kings battled for more control. Harald was a chieftain born of Halfdan,the Black and his mother Ragnhild Haraldsdotter (or perhaps  Sigurdsdotter). He grew to become a fierce warrior and a respected king.

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Harald was regarded as having unified Norway into one kingdom. His colorful history involves his love for a woman who would not marry him unless he became king of the entire country! While fighting to that end, Harold vowed not to cut his hair until he accomplished his goal. Having done so, his crown of hair gave him his name of King Harald Hårfagre, or Harald Fairhair ( Earlier rumored to be called 'Harald Tanglehair').

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Becoming the sole king, Harald had a dragonship  as well as many additional large ships constructed for his warfleet. His crews were highly loyal for their strength, and courage, chosen from the best men of every district. His command vessel was feared by all. Using the best of Viking technology learned from archeology and ships that were recovered, current shipbuilders recreated the Viking ship that sails to North America this summer.

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As this Viking ship leaves Norway, it will be steered past known Viking settlements, sailing past the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. These islands had served as restocking or rest stops on early Viking voyages on their way to North America.

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On the 1st of July, the Draken will join the Tall Ships fleet in Toronto, then sail on to Navy Pier in Chicago before it reverses course back to Green Bay to drop anchor August 5-7 to be viewed by welcome crowds who are expected to number 150,000 visitors. Following this festive occasion, the ships will continue homeward bound, while the Draken Harald Hårfagre will make way through the lakes, heading for New York where the Draken will spend the winter of 2016/17 in Mystic Seaport.

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This time, the arrival of a dragon-headed Viking ship is not to be feared. 

It arrives in friendship and will be welcomed in peace.