Our Arctic Adventure

Northern Lights

2012-02-14T11:10:00.000+01:00

24th of January 2012

Going to bed, and thought i would check the sky, amazingly it was clear. Having the 3D sun app on my iphone and some helpful reminders from Neil, i knew that there was good solar activity. A CME (coronal mass ejection) had occured a day or so earlier and today was a good chance of Northern lights. So at -18 i head down to the water with my tripod but not much clue how to configure my camera and see what i can see.

At first there is nothing to see, but then if you know what you are looking for, there is a slight vertical line up into the sky that is not light pollution from Storheden (area with big-box shopping centres). It is a streak of northern lights.

As i wait the green builds into a long snaking green band from one horizon overhead to the other. The green northern lights is very slow moving.

But after a while something really amazing happens, suddenly there are white and purple tangential streaks of color shooting along the green band, and everything is moving fast, the sky is dancing. I fall over on my back trying to see everything that is going on overhead.

My hands are freezing trying to get the camera to work. Next time i will try the fireworks setting. But the photos i get are as i have an ISO3200 speed camera. With some heavy enhancing in picassa you can get an idea of the color.

Race to the sun

2012-02-14T10:58:00.000+01:00

One morning (29th Jan) the kids and I raced down to the water to catch the sun. We hadn't seen it for a few weeks, and we got there just in time before it disappeared again for the whole day, and a few more days.

Like a bullet

2012-02-14T10:45:00.001+01:00

Went skiing with the kids while Cathy is on the way to Cape Town.

Night time skiing on a Monday night, and we haven't been downhill since 2010.

They are really independent, Calvin was off with Nikolaj, and I followed Maya. It was so cool. Thanks for the idea Mats.

What should you pay

2011-12-06T17:28:00.001+01:00

What should one pay for something that is done with care and craftsmanship?

It's an enormous contrast between the price of a haircut in Sweden and Australia at the everyday level. We are not in a fancy suburb of a big city, we are in a rural centre of 50-70,000 people.

A friend of mine was a teacher at the senior high school. He said the entrance score to train as a hairdresser was very high. If you got into hairdressing you could get into just about any other training program or university degree.

I hope that doesn't mean we get fewer potential scientists, engineers and doctors, but what does it mean for valuing craftsmanship? If people value their appearance, and most do, then why shouldn't it the craftsman be appreciated and paid well.

Tradesmen are paid well, I think in both countries, teachers perhaps not so well.

Value the craftsman, or anything made with care, and love

Innovative Economic Thinking

2011-12-04T20:41:00.000+01:00

A seminar from an innovative economic thinker about what is unfixable with our current global economic model, and the facts and data on resource depletion, and the start of the global battle for resources.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8WBiTnBwSWc

Melbourne winter in Northern Sweden

2011-12-04T14:18:00.001+01:00

On the way to ice skating

Which was great fun, Maya is so focused on figure skating, one has to admire her determination, and Calvin and i had a great time chasing each other around.

But lets talk about the weather. These two graphs say a lot

November 2010 - by the end of this month we had 1 meter of snow and 1 meter of ice in the harbor and they were getting ready to open the ice roads. This was a bit colder the average.

November 2011 is totally different and about 10 degrees warmer than average, it is ridiculous.

So this is the view today at the ice skating stadium, grey, drizzle, windy, admittedly the degrees is less that Melbourne, at 3, but it doesn't really seem to matter if its 3 or 10, it's the wet, windy that makes is unpleasant.

Christmas Carols

2011-11-22T18:46:00.001+01:00

The kids have started practicing for their school choral concert. This year Maya wants to be a 'tomte' (Santa Claus) which will make a nice change from a lucia or gingerbread man! Here is Maya practicing at home tonight. She insisted on putting on the right dress ups to match the songs! A lovely time of year!

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More hockey

2011-11-05T21:34:00.001+01:00

At the last minute we bought tickets for the game tonight at coop arena. Finished dinner at 6. Decided to go at 6.05. Tickets bought and printed by 6.15. At the rink by 6.27. Back home by 6.32 to pick up forgotten tickets. Back to rink and in seats having only missed the first 7 minutes. Not bad! Maya spent the first two periods making this flag. She spent the third cheering furiously and waving it. Luleå turned a 0-0 game into 2-0 in the third. We all think it was the power of her flag :) Go girl!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More hockey

2011-11-05T21:30:00.001+01:00

Hockey!!

2011-11-05T15:44:00.003+01:00

It started with us going to a few of the elite games together as a family at COOP Arena. We always enjoy cheering on Luleå. Then through one of Calvin's friends found out about a training he could go to. Well, that one training turned into three times a week training and a little fellow how absolutely loves it! They even got to play a three period stop time practice match against Boden, the neighbouring town. I didn't get to do that unless playing at National or International level! As if that wasn't enough then Maya found out through a friend about skating school so we took her along to that. She had an absolute ball. Only problem was that it is the figure skating association that runs it so there are older girls at the other end of the ice spinning around looking pretty. So of course she now wants to be an ice dancer rather than a hockey player. Hmmmmmph. " Mummy just so you know I am learning to skate so I can be an ice dancer not a hockey player". Pretty clear I guess where her loyalties lie right now. Anyway spending so much time on the sidelines watching the kids started driving Matt and I bonkers. So we decided to find a training for ourselves. He, he, he. We found a Monday morning hockey club. So now every Monday we wake the kids at 6.30, bunddle two half awake boffins into the car with a packed breakfast and two happy grown ups head off to play scrimmage for an hour. And if the kids say they are bored we remind them of the deal. We are happy to sit on the sidelines bucket loads of times a week while they do their activities so long as we get our one training a week. Usually quietens them down for a bit ;)

Halloween Party

2011-11-05T15:23:00.004+01:00

Maya wanted a Halloween Party this year so out with the princess dresses and in with witches, vampires and skeletons. We decided to invite the whole class to help them get to know one another plus her friends from the neighbourhood so ended up with 20 kids! We started outside with a treasure hunt to find ingredients for the cauldron so Matt could cast the spell to get us into the house. Then it was fika and birthday cake. Then it was time for games. We had a tall box covered with cloth and the children had to put their hand into it and guess what was in there. It was a roaring success. We had warm spaghetti which brought screams of surprise/horror. "Is it alive?" Then came a very real feeling rubber rat. "Can it bite me?" And then a lump of that play putty that makes farting noises. Anyway they had a ball. Then they had to wrap each other up with toilet rolls to become mummies before taking it in turns to knock down the two ghost pinatas that Maya had spent the previous month making from paper mache. I don't have a lot of photos of the actual event but we will post more as we get them from friends.

The kids did so many of the decorations themselves. Also note Maya putting on a scary witch face with her pet bat on her shoulder! And Matt putting his academic gown to vonderful use as a vampire!

Images of Autumn

2011-11-05T15:11:00.003+01:00

Picking the last of the carrots at Ekoringen at Gäddvik. These are the best carrots in the world. Maya even took them to school instead of fruit!

Maya's montage pictures with petals and leaves. There is lots and lot of craft always going on!

Calvin home sick with fever. I kid you not! They are loving gymnastics which they do together in the same group every Monday 5:30-7 in a proper gymnastics hall.

Maya practicing doing bows on her toes with ribbon!

Warm

2011-10-31T10:31:00.001+01:00

It is totally crazy that this is October 31

There is no snow, no starting ice, only 3 mornings have we had a frost and minus degrees.

Good day for a bike ride

Democracy now! sit-in in a Gothemberg mall

2011-10-18T20:21:00.001+02:00

Cool, I wrote placards against our debt based economy (google for chrismartenson.com crash course) and the poem "tomorrow's child" (google for the poem and the reader, Ray Anderson)

Farm Stay Älvsbyn

2011-09-26T12:27:00.004+02:00

Matt found a wonderful farm stay stuga near Älvsbyn and the four of us went there for a weekend away. It was a dairy with a bakery. Maya loved the calves. Calvin loved the milking and had a go himself and ended up staying and helping the whole milking round. We even got to taste milk straight from the cow. Yum! Maya found a foal and they galloped along side one another to Maya's great delight. And Calvin gave a pig a good back scratch with a brush. Plus they got to jump from the hayloft. Calvin even got to control the machine to pick up more hay and dump it over the edge so they had plenty to land in. As for me I love the wood fired hot tub and watching the migrating swans come and go on the lake. And the massive veggie garden. Thanks babe xx

Custard Tarts

2011-09-26T09:34:00.002+02:00

Maya's cooking fest continues. She wanted to make lemon tarts but we had no eggs. Scrib's custard power to the rescue and custard tarts they became. Mind you it took us 1.5 hours!! Kaz's cookbook, Gran ma ma's apron and hat and Scrib's custard powder, and my patience :) ;)

Breakfast

2011-09-17T09:16:00.002+02:00

Maya woke up a happy little chappy and made breakfast for all of us before Matt or I were even out of bed. Scrambled egg, baked beans, toast, apple (from neighbors house), jelly with pear set in it (that she made the night before) and a glass of water.

What a champ!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Älvsbyn & Storforsen

2011-09-11T11:23:00.001+02:00

Sight-seeing with Dad

And here comes the sun

Storforsen

Stora Karlsö

2011-09-07T17:56:00.004+02:00

I just spent three days on this little limestone island off Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea.
The Stockholm Resilience Centre has a research station there for marine birds. There is evidence of stone age, bronze age and iron age settlement. Amazing! There were heaps of fossils and interesting lichens. The birds lay their eggs high up on the cliff face and then two weeks after their young are hatched the mum pushes them off the cliff into the water below where they swim to their dads. Brutal! You can see in one of the photos the artificial cliff face that has been constructed as part of the research observation. We got up early one morning to bird watch. And over dinner two of the park rangers entertained us with beautiful violin duets as the sun set. :)

Hope and Change

2011-09-07T07:06:00.001+02:00

Good email from Avaaz in my inbox today

Happens to coincide with some articles I saw in the Australian newspaper that clearly were aimed at painting Gillard as doomed.

Murdoch press is a disaster for hope, innovation and progress.
Check out the email

Dear friends across Australia,

Our government is about to pass a clever law -- it will cut carbon emissions and get polluters to pay. But big businesses, backed by Rupert Murdoch, are trying to kill it. Together our voices are more powerful than money -- sign the urgent petition to back the carbon price and steel our MPs against the pressure:

Our government is about to pass a clever climate bill -- it will cut carbon emissions and get polluters to pay. But big businesses, backed by Rupert Murdoch, are trying to kill it.

The carbon pricing law is a win-win measure -- it will charge polluters to generate more resources for working families, and help us catch up with the rest of the world in the clean economy race. But Murdoch's media megaphone has teamed up with a $10 million multinational advertising campaign to sway public opinion against the bill and scare our MPs. Now, it's up to us to turn the tide and show our MPs that the law has massive support before the vote.

Together our voices are more powerful than money -- if enough of us join this urgent call we can show our MPs that Australians support the bill and push them to act. Sign the urgent petition to back the carbon price and share it with everyone -- when we reach 20,000 signatures, we’ll deliver it to MPs and run inspiring radio ads on popular radio shows to counter the skewed propaganda:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price_au/?vl

We are all under threat from climate change -- including the droughts and storms that cause bush fires, floods and failed harvests. But the carbon price would help insulate our economy and communities from future risks. It will make polluting companies pay, encouraging them to become more efficient while funding technologies of the future and increasing support to the most needy. Yet Murdoch -- who has a long history of supporting climate denial -- has joined with mining companies to spread wild predictions of job losses and economic doom.

Australia has been lagging behind many nations on climate action -- instead of committing to cut emissions, we proposed an increase emission by 8% at Kyoto, and we continue to be the world's biggest rich country polluters per capita. With this proposal we would join countries like Denmark, Sweden, Costa Rica, parts of China, as well as many US states who have already introduced carbon-pricing, and we would turn Australia from a global pariah to a global good example.

But it is up to the MPs to pass this critical bill, and they are under serious pressure from industry lobbyists. We can turn this around and give them the support they need to face down the pollution profiteers and champion a new green economy with climate solutions. Let’s give them our support now and ask our friends to do the same:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price_au/?vl

Politicians and businesses often think about short-term gains, when long-term action is needed. When our people-powered movement counters these tendencies and offers a clear vision of the future we want, we can tip the balance and bring out the best in our leaders. Let’s shore up our MPs resolve, join the greatest global visionaries and move towards the global climate deal the world needs.

With hope,

Alex, Ben, Stephanie, Emma, Giulia, Carol, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team.

MORE INFORMATION:

Murdoch's campaign against the carbon price (SMH)
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/fair-balanced-reporting-not-on-murdoch-agenda-20110901-1jnzx.html

Australia plans to impose carbon price on worst polluters (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14096750

Industry push to wipe out carbon price (The Age)
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/industry-push-to-wipe-out-carbon-price-20110630-1gtae.html

Australia overtakes U.S. in per capita carbon emissions (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aN60ck4Sz4iE

David Cameron supports Australian carbon price (The Telegraph)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8673736/David-Cameron-supports-Australian-carbon-tax.html

China trialling carbon trading (SMH)
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/china-trialling-carbon-trading-garnaut-20110329-1cekd.html

Support the Avaaz Community!
We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.

Avaaz.org is a 9-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Fresh Blueberries out of the backyard forest

2011-09-05T19:42:00.001+02:00

Fresh Blueberries out of the backyard forest. Thanks for picking them Da.

Midsommar 2011

2011-08-19T21:58:00.005+02:00

For a last minute affair we had a great Midsommar 2011. We started by heading to Brandön for the dancing around the pole then a great magic show for the kids. Then for dinner Sven and Anne and Sven's boys and his twin brother and family from down south came as well as Sven-Olov, our 80 year old neighbour whose wife was still in hospital. Plus Dad was here. We had a delicious smorgasbord interrupted by strange Swedish songs and much toasting with horribly strong rocket fuel! Dad and the kids had then invented a post-dinner game for all - 'Scobbing'. Everyone was given a sheet with ten or so things they needed to collect or do. Once everyone was finished results were tallied and the victor announced :)

The magician gets Matt to test the rings. He had Matt and the kids totally bamboozled.

The feast!

The Scobbing sheet of activities including collection of a live ant, counting the number of triangles that can be seen from the verandah and getting a puck past Calvin in his goalie gear in front of the net!

Sven-Olov, the 80 year old neighbourh, taking his shots on Calvin :)

Much discussion ensued regarding the number of triangles ;)

Dad announces the prize - an apple from Springfield Orchard!

Sven-Olov is the victor!!

Kiosk Opening

2011-08-19T21:43:00.002+02:00

Matt built the kiosk. Maya made and delivered invitations impromptu one summer day. Morning tea was prepared and the kiosk was decorated.

Maya and her friend ready for customers!

The Menu! Customers had to pay with pine cones that that girls had collected.

And then the customers came from far and wide all great fun was had by all :)

Norway - Deep Fjord & lake

2011-08-14T22:57:00.000+02:00

Reminiscent of Lake Tali-karn in the Victorian alpine regions, this lake is essentially a blocked-off and dammed-up fjord. The lower part is a fjord but the upper part is a lake. You just have to get across the bit in between which is highly varied in terrain but mostly boulders upon boulders upon boulders making for a lot of rock hoping.

What a great day, the kids walked and walked, and calvin and I swam in the cold water.

Could spend days here climbing the mountains.

The fjord

First part of the lake. Can you spot the family in the above photo.

Norway - Ørsvågvær

2011-08-14T17:44:00.000+02:00

5 nights in the Lofoten Islands based at Ørsvågvær. Amazing how far the tide moves, though perhaps i'm no longer used to tidal water.

Norway - Saltdalen day hike

2011-08-10T16:35:00.000+02:00

What a day, we had no idea it would take this long but great weather, great scenery, lovely places to stop and lunch and fika (have a snack), suspension bridges, waterfalls, amazing colors.

Silver Museum - Historic dwelling

2011-08-10T16:34:00.000+02:00

Raining hard all day, hope to find sun in Norway, but for now a stop in Arjeplog and the silver museum. Just a few shots of the historic dwelling, some of the small cottages at småskör are still like this.

3 days at småskör

2011-08-10T16:33:00.000+02:00

Out to småskör, this time with mum, and finally it is starting to feel like we are part of the community, maybe it's because the kids are older and have grown into it, maybe it's because we have more purpose there now, helping Sven and Anne. Regardless, it was an excellent 3 days, debarked a pine tree for Sven, found a pile of Åke berries (arctic raspberries, darker and smaller than raspberries) and the kids had a good time. Sven bought an excellent 6m long boat and this will make a huge difference to his capacity to bring out supplies and equipment to the island.

Next year, we should come out here for 4 weeks, live close to nature.

Ships in the harbor

Råneå river public sauna - part 2

2011-08-10T16:32:00.000+02:00

Here just south of Niemisel (spelling) you can find Lillstryken , a beautiful narrow spot between two large expanses of the Råneå river. Three small traditional wooden buildings are here, plus a wood shed. Anyone can turn up, get the fire going to grill something, or get the wood fired heater going in the sauna and enjoy. If it's winter you can even stay and sleep in the third building with it's central fireplace for warmth and cooking. And it's all free.

We had a great day with a slight breeze, no Mosquitos and great food. Excellent. Calvin got right into the wood carving.

Public Sauna

2011-08-03T19:05:00.000+02:00

The Råneå river is a beautiful free flowing river (no dams) and it has many public saunas. Today we have grilled moose burgers, salmon burgers, had a sauna, a swim in the amazing water, and now pancakes, the day is flying away.

Camping on Klunterna Part 2

2011-07-11T14:33:00.000+02:00

Our first "hiking" style camp trip with the kids, even though the hike was only 1km or less.

Beautiful spot near a sauna, lovely swimming, unforecast downpour and thunder

I was cooking toasted sandwiches in that fire, while it rained.

Kungsholm ferry and Calvin swimming

Rock collection

Småskör in the distance

So many downed trees, signs of those May storms.

Geocaching near the stone man.

Camping on Klunterna

2011-07-08T21:53:00.001+02:00

Camping out in the archipeligo.

Storforsen - Amazing

2011-06-28T17:50:00.001+02:00

After 5 years we've visited Storforsen, a big river rapid / waterfall. It has thus far been described to us in thoroughly underwhelmed terms, so we weren't expecting much.

So Wow! The power of the water is amazing, and moreover it looks like a great place to come and picnic and sunbath in some cool rock pools. Next time. Apparently end of June (now) is when the flow is largest, 850 cubic meters a second.

Australia Day in Luleå

2011-06-26T21:45:00.000+02:00

Australia day is the 26th of January, but for those of us who live on top of the world (meaning close to the arctic circle) there is a slight problem with that.

There is no way i'm standing around in my shorts trying to have a BBQ with a meter of snow and temperatures that regularly get down to -20 degrees C.

The solution, have Australia day in summer. So today was Australia Day in Luleå Sweden, 26th of June. Its like when Australians have a christmas dinner in July. If the weather doesn't feel right, just move the event.

The weather was great, then the weather was raining for an hour when everyone was supposed to arrive, then great again, then hot. We had Melbourne weather for Australia Day.

BBQ rain protection comprised of some wooden boards and a snow shovel.

Toss a tarp on the table and chairs

3 BBQ action

Kiosk cubby house for serving food to the kids, sausages, ice cream

The kiosk owner invents a new use of the kiosk.

Backyard cricket. Well done Graeme for bringing the cricket set, it was a huge hit, with all the boys, big and small.

The day was a huge success. 15 adults, 10 kids, and a commitment to do this every year. We are connecting the australians.

Couldn't have done it without everyones help, and the English Speakers in Luleå Facebook group. Thanks everyone.

Nordic Airshow 2011

2011-06-19T23:58:00.001+02:00

At the last minute i cycled to the airshow. Half way there i realised i was heading to the regular terminal and not the other side of the airport where the military base entrance is.

Therefore i setup along the fence near the end of the runway. It turned out to be a brilliant spot, since the jet were going right over my head. BOOM, the F18 Hornet and JAS 39 Gripen are incredibly loud. Amazing
Most of the photos are the Baltic Bees Stunt Team, but the videos are the F18 and JAS 39, worth watching with sound, beware! its loud!

F18 Hornet Take-off

F18 Hornet right over my head

JAS 39 Gripen

Football School

2011-06-14T08:21:00.000+02:00

Four days of soccer school. Seems really cool to be part of something like this. Calvin got to play with the 2002 boys from his normal football team, which seemed to solve all the anxiety.

Maya seems to have got right into it, and Maya's friend Henrietta joined the same group.

Beautiful one day, perfect the next

2011-06-12T12:22:00.001+02:00

Or not

We've had 3 days of high 20s, nearly 30. But not today

Calvins School Finale

2011-06-11T15:44:00.001+02:00

In the Town Cathedral. Montessori prep to grade 3 school finale.

And Calvin really sings. Well done super boy.

The words are

Sommerlov (Summer holiday)
Solen lyser skön (The sun shines so nice)
Sommerlov
Gräset är så grönt (The grass is so green)
Himmel blå (The sky is blue)
Vill jag nå,
när jag fångas ut av vinden (perhaps this means, "i want to reach out and catch the wind")
sommer lov (summer holiday)
sköna sommer lov (beautiful summer holiday)

Havets vågor, sakta roller in (The ocean waves slowly roll in)
Och jag känner, sommeren är min (and i feel that the summer is mine)

Fantastic
but wait a minute, what ocean?

Summer Festival at Dagis, and Maya will not be back here

2011-06-11T15:14:00.000+02:00

Maya slowly became aware this week that this was her last few days at Dagis, forever! She wont be back, and one evening, before sleep, she seemed grumpy, and said she wont get to go back, and then broke down into tears and sobbing. And then came a long list of names of people she wouldn't get to see everyday, Stella, Hulda, others i cannot remember, and Harri, because he is so spinny (which was a good thing, whatever it was). Changing times

So she had a big cry and finally got to sleep.

SommerFest is a small party with all the families at Dagis, and the kids picnic, and play outside, and then sing, and Maya has been practising for weeks. Here is one highlight.

And some photos

Searching out a camping spot

2011-06-04T14:51:00.000+02:00

We went for a drive up the river to a forested sandy peninsula ti find an alleged camping place. Looks good, not sure how the pegs will hold, but it's a plan for when summer warms up a bit. Some sausages, some kite flying, and a wind storm

All sunny and blue skies now, it's like Melbourne weather in spring at the moment

The time is 23:06

2011-06-03T23:07:00.001+02:00

The birds are singing, sun has gone down

And this is the forest where we live

It's nice to get out of the house in the evening. Summer is here! :-)

Evening Walk

2011-05-25T07:21:00.001+02:00

Small streets, ancient buildings, love it.

This place is what's left of a monastery from 1200-and-something.

Sometime in the 1500s they covered up all the decorative features to make everything plain and white. Just a hint of color remains

Knights tomb, look carefully (upside down)

Is this part of the Icelandic ash cloud? It is arriving tonight. We have backup train tickets now

Gymnastics

2011-05-24T23:02:00.004+02:00

I was so so proud of Calvin and Maya last night at their first ever gymnastics competition. The whole Luleå gymnastics club turned out for turned out to be a relatively serious affair. We had no idea really. Anyway both children had to do two apparatus. For Calvin is was the vault and a floor routine. For Maya it was the beam and a floor routine. The courage it took for Maya to be out there in front of so many people let alone do her beam routine without holding the teachers hand for the first time!!! I had tears I was so proud. And Calvin was so patient waiting his turn. There is lots of waiting at gymnastics but I think having so many interesting things going on around him as well as being able to watch the bigger kids do really impressive stuff meant he just sat and observed all evening until he got to do his thing. Check out the videos!!

Texture in Ystad

2011-05-23T22:34:00.000+02:00

Cycling from the conference venue to the hotel with Håkan. Since i was just at a tutorial about appearance modeling and texture images, here is the texture in Ystad.

Scandinavian Image Analysis Conference Ystad

2011-05-23T19:07:00.001+02:00

The Industrial Image Analysis Group meets in Håkans hotel apartment! Not a room. How did he get so lucky.

Kiosk cubby house

2011-05-22T15:37:00.001+02:00

Now it's ready for Cathy and Maya to decorate the inside :-)

No drawings, no plan, just build. Very happy

Teknikens Hus

2011-05-21T21:22:00.001+02:00

At the science museum they had robot Lego cars that the kids programmed to do tasks like push a chair or open a gate.

Calvin's robot was called 'Galna roboten' and maya's was 'Galna roboten 5'. That is 'crazy robot'

And we made kites from plastic bags that flew so well outside!!

And Calvin and I had à great time playing air hockey and table hockey :)

A lovely family day!

Face painting

2011-05-18T15:29:00.002+02:00

Maya and I painted each other's faces :)

Catching the escaped lambs!

2011-05-18T15:18:00.003+02:00

On Sunday the Wilkinson-Thurleys (with a friend of Calvins' in tow) were responsible for feeding the sheep and lambs at Ekoringen, the community organic farm in Luleå. Shortly before heading off we got a call to say that several lambs had escaped and could we kindly recapture them and return them to their mothers! Fortunately it seems lambs don't stray too far. You can imagine how excited the kids were to have two real jobs to do - catching and feeding. It kept us busy for some time. We also had a peek into the greenhouse where all the seedlings are kept ready for planting once it gets a bit warmer. The kids want to come back to help with that! Yeah!

Maya the frog!

2011-05-18T15:13:00.002+02:00

Maya and Daddy

2011-04-24T20:43:00.001+02:00

Lunch with Cathy

2011-04-20T12:20:00.000+02:00

Day Trip to Blåbärsgrund (Blueberry Island)

2011-04-17T14:38:00.001+02:00

We've skied out to Blåbärsgrund in the Kallix river (north of Luleå) for day with friends at their holiday cottage. Not many weeks to go with the ice, but for now you can still ski without getting wet.

Street Hockey

2011-04-17T14:32:00.001+02:00

A Google Earth view of Luleå

2011-04-16T19:22:00.000+02:00

In this image from the Google Earth app (download it for free for your computer) you can see where we live near the blue dot near the water, you can see the university buildings in the foreground, and the centre of Luleå in the distance.

Calvin and Maya's new hobby

2011-04-14T21:05:00.000+02:00

Planting!

There are carrots and beans and mixed flowers and peas and I cannot remember what else, but man they are going for it. Half an hour of production while I cooked dinner.

Great listening Cathy to enable this one.

I love the tea section at the supermarket

2011-04-10T12:54:00.000+02:00

There are lots of exotic flavoured teas, especially Rooibos (red tea) with vanilla.

Welcome back to Luleå

2011-04-09T11:26:00.000+02:00

The snow is melting, but record cold temperatures mean that we have extremely thick ice. Here near the interface between underlying water and the land you get some water seeping up, and you can get pressure from the ice sheet melting the ice, compounded by the +1 degree temperature. Overnight the surface is refreezing but a 5 centimeter layer of water is underneath on top of the thick ice sheet. Here we are saying hello to Luleå at 8am.

Last Beach Trip in Australia

2011-04-09T09:34:00.000+02:00

The last week before leaving we headed down the Gippsland coast and stayed near Sandy Point. Our last beach trip with a bonus child, little cousin John. So open and free. Its an enormously flat beach and Calvin and Maya immediately started runnng along the breaking waves. Freedom

A sign of support for Luleå Hockey's playoff match. And below a view of the sign from far away so you can see how it was actually drawn on the sand.

New ways to view the blog

2011-04-09T09:19:00.000+02:00

Thanks to google there are now new ways to view any public blog (like this one)

Go to http://aussiesarcticadventure.blogspot.com/view/mosaic or
http://aussiesarcticadventure.blogspot.com/view/flipcard

and welcome to a mosaic view of the blog. Could be heavy on the download but worth it.
There is a blue button at the top right corner that lets you change between viewing modes.

Enjoy.

Eating Lamb like Asterix & Obelix

2011-03-18T00:21:00.000+01:00

Sunset in Mornington

2011-03-18T00:18:00.000+01:00

Elmer is Classic Melbourne

2011-03-18T00:08:00.002+01:00

Perhaps you have met Elmer, over the last few years we have grown fond of him. So it made a family weekend in Melbourne visiting the zoo and then the museum all that more curious now that we knew of Elmer.

Classic Melbourne, no elephants here.

Concert in the Myer music bowl.

Smoke Rises

2011-03-17T23:57:00.000+01:00

Morning burn-off to remove ground cover at the neighbor. Small burn-off fires are a frequent occurrence in this high fire danger residential forest area.

Cultural Diversity Day

2011-03-17T23:27:00.002+01:00

Today the kids could dress up for school in clothes from another culture, Maya would fit in at Hägnun, traditional swedish village, and calvin is in his Swedish football school gear.

The local member of parliament was there to give out leadership awards, now in opposition but for minister for multicultural affairs if I remember right

Kallista Primary School Art Room

2011-03-17T23:27:00.001+01:00

The kids and I had a look around before school one day. Awesome room. They have art once a week

Wikileaks, perhaps the most important transformation of our time

2011-03-16T04:18:00.000+01:00

John F Kennedy gave the following address before the Americal Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961
video on youtube, text on jfklibrary. This talk is being rebadged today under the title "Why we need Wikileaks"

Melbourne

2011-02-27T01:42:00.000+01:00

Melbourne from the air, the center, the harbor, and the sprawling suburbs

Barc Burnoff

2011-02-12T11:41:00.001+01:00

Mark 2

2011-02-06T09:10:00.000+01:00

About 10 years ago I built a wooden free standing arch in Castelmaine for some friends out of their huge woodpile. During the first few weeks of it's life the local king kangaroo came to consider it. It stood for 2 years.

Today sees the birth of Wooden Arch Mark 2. I hope it is as successful as the first.

School Boy

2011-02-04T07:14:00.000+01:00

He had a great day

Kallista Primary School

2011-02-04T00:40:00.000+01:00

Today was Calvins first day at school. He has been extremely excited and was already in his school uniform when i got out of bed at 7.

We packed his bag with his lunchbox and drink bottle and then Maya, Calvin and I went off to school. After dropping Calvin off at his room we were going to meet Maya's teacher Jake and see the classroom.

When we got to the office we introduced ourselves and were promptly met by a large pile of paperwork. I need to sign forms for watching the occasional dvd, using the internet, a student agreement that i need to go through with Calvin, and other stuff. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with this, its just different to sweden where i never signed any forms for these things.

Calvin's teacher is Mrs T, and the classroom is setup in little pods of 6. When we left calvin he was sitting excited and patient at his table, a bit alone, but he looked happy. When Maya and I came past later and the class was having their group meeting on the carpet in a circle, he looked radiant. Have a great day special boy.

Maya and I headed off to meet Jake, her teacher and see the classroom.

Wow! it was like walking into a combination of Calvin's prep classroom and the old montessori cooperative duvungen classroom, colorful, multi-textured, multi-dimensional, exciting space. Meeting mat, craft area, block building toy area, quite reading comfy area with bean-bags, hanging down rainbow curtain. Beautiful.

There is also a dramatic play room with heaps of dress-ups that they will share with the other prep class. I asked Maya if she could go to work and i could come to school.

Talking with Jake was excellent, its his second year teaching and he is implementing the system his lecturer at uni taught him which she based on Montessori, Steiner and the Finnish education system. Its a play based learning system and I felt totally at home, totally familiar and Maya will fit right in. Thrilling.

Jake has also added a wood-working element, with blocks and hammer and nails. I think this is excellent and recollects Maya's teacher Tobias who introduced hammer and nails also.

Survival Day

2011-01-26T08:19:00.000+01:00

We went to a survival day, (though i didnt immediately comprehend why it was survival) on Australia day, an aboriginal australia event at the park at Belgrave. Great live music and then the "welcome to country" speech by the elder, with some history and details of the local tribes, then the smoking ceremony. This was about preserving their living culture, survival.

It felt great, what a great Australia day

G&T

2011-01-22T10:54:00.000+01:00

Its a hot country, so how about some ice cold flavoured milk

2011-01-13T12:26:00.000+01:00

Is this enough flavoured milk? And for all the Swedes who like coffee i've circled all the different brands or flavours of milk iced coffee.

Browser Hijack and Virus, windows XP, Dad's computer

2011-01-11T07:07:00.000+01:00

Been visiting my dad, and like most computer guys, as soon as you visit relatives they tell you all of their computer problems.

He explained how he got redirected to a porn site when he was using his browser. Initially suspicious of what silly thing my dad had managed to do to make that happen i looked a bit further. Sure enough, you google for something, and then click on one of the search items, and reasonably often you get sent to another web site. Typically not offensive, just not what we want. Once we even got sent to dell.com.

Interesting i noted that immediately before we go to whatever site it is, we could quickly go to this site. (This example shows what happened when i was following a search result for microsoft security essentials

http://www.wllbiy.net/?search=download%2Bmicrosoft%2Bsecurity%2Bessentials&n=1294555865

So my suspicion is that the virus and the site are attracting advertising revenue by forcing redirects. And somehow they do this infrequently enough to not attract too much attention. But then again, why not just redirect people to where they want to go, so you wouldn't be noticed at all.

So this doesn't entirely add up and now i'm concerned for all of dads internet accounts and passwords etc. Most searches for anything security, virus detection, and related topics would cause the redirection to occur.

I also noticed that Security Center did not show any virus detection option anymore like it does on my computer. Makes sense for a virus to hide this so the user doesn't get reminded about viruses.

The strange thing was Dad has symmantec anti-virus installed with up-to-date virus definitions.

I downloaded microsoft security essentials in the end, but when i tried to run it, it would be instantly shut-down.

When i booted up in safe mode without networking, Microsoft Security Essentials could run, but with no virus definitions since it had never been run before.

To cut a long story short, this was finally fixed by ComboFix which i found a reference too at Toms Guide, http://www.computing.net/answers/security/browser-hijack-virus/25347.html

I ran msconfig, turned off lots of services included Symmatec anti-virus, and then booted up.

The virus was still present.

Then downloaded ComboFix

Ran ComboFix

It said microsoft security essentials was running and should be turned off, but i could not find it running, so i proceeded anyway.

ComboFix deleted three files

c:\windows\autolnch.reg
c:\windows\st6unst.000
c:\windows\system32\muzapp.exe

Once i rebooted, Security Center now worked as it should have, showing the virus software status, and i activated Microsoft Security Essentials and updated virus definitions.

Still dont know how this came about

There are Storms and Stars

2011-01-01T22:55:00.000+01:00

Out here at Batlow, and similarly at Mystery Bay, the stars are amazing. With no moon the sky is like a blanket of diamonds. It is amazing how much light pollution there is in Lulea. This year the dark sky has been clear much more than usual, but the sky looks nothing like it does here.

Last night the stars were amazing and on the horizon where two storm fronts, the lightning flashes lit up the anvil shaped storm clouds. I took out Peter's ordinary digital camera and took about 130 night photos and got these 3 incredible images. Notice the different color of the two storm fronts.

The Ice Princess and Magical Daddy

2010-12-29T07:21:00.000+01:00

Magical Daddy, by Maya, or is it the 2010 version of Adam Ant?

Images of Australia

2010-12-26T05:33:00.000+01:00

Mystery Bay

2010-12-26T05:28:00.000+01:00

We're staying at Mystery Bay on the New South Wales coast. Great beach, waves, sand, sunburn on my feet and lower arms (all the places i missed).

Thursday i took a long walk along the coast, really interesting coastline, all the layered rock structure is turned on its side, so vertically oriented. Kind of eery to walk around there, high cliffs, small caves, odd looking rock structures, dangerous waves.

I followed the rocks around the coastline as much as possible, had to go back once and climb up to the top of the cliff to keep going. My destination, a geocache somewhere on the coast, somewhere in these strange rock structures. Apparantly it was washed away in a storm months ago, but now they have put a replacement cache in position. Great location for a cache.

Good Morning

2010-12-22T20:55:00.001+01:00

Australia

2010-12-20T22:29:00.001+01:00

We've arrived in Kallista, the little rainforest in the hills of Melbourne. Magic

The flights went really well, I'd recommend Qatar

Back by popular demand

2010-12-04T16:30:00.001+01:00

Spaceman Spiff flys again.

Happy 7th birthday Calvin.

Big piece of ice (stor is bit)

2010-11-28T09:30:00.000+01:00

At the end of our pier the ice is 30cm deep down to the mud. Further out it will be much thicker. We have had -15 and below for over a week, I think we could have a meter of ice further out.

At this temperature the moisture in the air starts forming crystals

At some points rocks cause the ice to push up in plates, I broke this one off, it's about 5cm thick

Nailing the thesis

2010-11-28T09:20:00.001+01:00

Tobias nailed his thesis to the wall in the library this week. It's the symbolic statement of completion, now the world can consider it. The presentation and oral examination will be Dec 16. It's pretty cool the whole process, the symbolism, the acknowledgement, it's good.

Sunset 2:12

2010-11-21T14:13:00.001+01:00

Stockholm Adventure - Sausage Making

2010-11-12T20:40:00.001+01:00

Taylors and Jones, the original British Butcher, since 2007

Hantverkargatan 12, Stockholm

Trying to smile while concentrating and keeping the flow of sausage going.

Lamb, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onion powder, flour, salt, E223

Terracotta Warriors

2010-11-12T14:22:00.001+01:00

Just what you expect to see in Stockholm

Stockholm Adventure - Part 2 Vasamuseet

2010-11-12T12:49:00.000+01:00

A 380 year old ship, pride of Sweden, that sunk on it voyage out from the shipyard because it was top heavy, and rediscovered and refloated in 1961 after 333 years underwater.

Amazing site, it's huge

Stockholm Adventure - Part 1

2010-11-11T20:29:00.001+01:00

First night - Vinprovning (wine tasting)

Coming into town on the airport express train I decided I wanted to go to a wine tasting. Some quick searching the net on the iPhone revealed a Tuscan wine tasting tonight at one of the system-bolaget shops (state run bottle shops). Quick phone call revealed I needed to go to one of the bottle shops to book. IPhone again to show me all the system-bolaget outlets on my route from the central station to Neils place. Drop in, two tickets, done. Asian takeaway with Neil, then on the bus.

Vinprovning, här komma vi!

http://maps.google.se/?q=loc:Regeringsgatan+44,+111+56+Stockholm&sll=59.333957,18.068053

And my winner is number 1 (out of 6)

For it's amazing suprising aroma, hint of strawberry or light fruitiness. Gentle, smooth, perhaps a bit shallow but so soft and smooth.

Neils favourite, number 6, the full strong dark one with a hint of pepper.

All 6 wines were quite gentle, no strong back pallete, interesting.

Number 1: 149kr

And my other favorite, light, gentle, hint of sweet fruit, perhaps pair, number 3. I drank the most of this one actually.

Number 5 costs 1000kr!
gentle, full flavor, but not very interesting

Pretty Things ;)

2010-11-02T16:10:00.004+01:00

I like pretty things! Many of you will notice that even though too many of you are far away precious things you have given to us are with us everyday xx

Maya turns 5

2010-11-02T15:40:00.004+01:00

We had Maya's Birthday party on Sunday. Inspired by Bernie's party where the adults made hand puppets we thought we'd attempt the same. So we all headed off to the opp shop to buy buttons and fabric and decorative stuff. Then Matt and I got creative and we prepared twelve mini soft toys. The kids got to stuff them and then Matt sewed them at during the party. They seemed to like them although I got the impression some of them would have preferred more normal party games. So hard to get the culture of Swedish parties right sometimes! But most importantly Maya felt very loved and special! Happy Birthday precious girl xx

Disco Party

2010-11-02T15:10:00.004+01:00

We had a disco party for Matt's birthday. It didn't go exactly to plan as we had to take Calvin to emergency with concussion. Not surprisingly we didn't remember to take photos of our friends fantastic outfits - wigs and all. Here is a photo of Maya's disco queen dress - an adult sparkly number that we cut shorter from the opp shop. Calvin wore a funky hat. We decorated the play room and closed the curtain to maximum effect with the disco ball. Happy Birthday babe xx

Maya's Story

2010-10-09T15:58:00.000+02:00

Story by Maya
Grammar and writing by Cathy
Artwork by Maya and Cathy

First trip to the cinema

2010-10-09T15:42:00.000+02:00

Today was our first family trip to the cinema. Calvin, Viktor, Maya, Emmy, and Cathy, all with 3D glasses for Toy Story 3.

Fabulous film, what a great afternoon. Now it seems amazing that we hadn't been before. I half expected to have to leave at some point with scared kids but it went fine. We've had very little success with DVD films at home with Calvin the last year or more, maybe now he's crossed a threshold.

Great day

Computer Graphics

2010-09-28T17:09:00.000+02:00

Was looking at the teapot last night and realized what an amazing real world example of specular, diffuse, and reflective reflection I was looking at. Pick the computer graphics lecturer.

Cathys Birthday

2010-09-28T17:05:00.001+02:00

Happy birthday babe. Xx

Trampolining with Calvin

2010-09-28T17:02:00.001+02:00

We've been playing the fun game of trying to crash into each other. What a beautiful evening

Into the fog

2010-09-08T18:47:00.001+02:00

What a week

2010-09-08T16:50:00.000+02:00

Cathy crawled into bed last night after her two days in Stockholm, exhausted and sore from getting around on crutches, and she's been in bed most of the day.

But today's major excitement was Calvin getting hit in the head with a fist sized rock and getting two cuts on the forehead, one above the eye and a deeper spot cut higher up, no stitches but lots of tape.

One of Calvin's friends bent over and grabbed a rock a threw it to the side without looking. There was a lot of blood apparently and it was a traumatic event for Calvin and his entire 1,2,3 class. When we left school he was recovered enough to say bye to everyone, and he even went to the boy and said it was ok. They were all in a bit of shock.

Let's finish with a nice photo, something calm.