Norway

Happy to be away from the daily routine for a while, spending time with my family. Days are spent hiking, fishing, more hiking and enjoying the terrific and scenic landscapes.

A small island in the middle of a wild river which is Øye waterfall.
Spactactular view from our resting place into a lake.
A tetra-pak of chili con carne, withe the norwegian label 'fiksferdig'.
This chili is ‘fiksferdig’ already…
A cotton-wooly lookalike plant, whith unfocused Norwegian mountains in the background.
A small wooden hut cabin from the 1800s which serves as our holiday cottage
If you are larger than 1,65m you will leave many of your brain cells smashed at the ceiling or door entrances.
A toilet raised a 2 layers of brick and standing on a great slab of slate.
The toilet throne (probably had to be raised in order to make the sewage actually flow fown)
A cozy living room in our wooden cottage
If you are talker than 1,70 you will have problems standing upright in the room, not to speak of the door.
Me, sitting on a stone by the sea, with a beer in my hand, and a fishing rod next to me, enjoying life.
A very neat and pretty garden belinging to a neat red house.
This is around 50m from the military zone which is closed. It is one of the best tended-to gardens I have seen.
Three trees that have fallen in a storm, complete with impressive (but flat) roots.
A path leasing through a very green and mysteriously looking forest.
If Little Red Riding Hood just came along this path, I would not be surprised.
2 mushrooms growing on a tree twig full of moss.
A scarily old wooden ladder (with steps partially missing) with an old rope as a handrail, for climbing up a rock on the hike.
View from Storafjellet over the landscape and the sea.
Sky and sea and green grass during our hike.
A lake with the Eldsfjellet peak behind and some heather in the foreground
Another view of landscape on the sea on our way upwards, with a bright blue sky and a few interesting clouds.
Our clothes hanging on a line for drying on the peak of the mountain.
Our family sitting 200m over a fjord and watching the terrific view.
Slottet close to Mo in Modalen is also nicknamed the ‘Little Preikestolen’
A row of 5 very colorful wooden houses.
Høgabu, the wooden hiking hut, in a gray and rainy weather in the midst of the mountains.
We hiked there and stayed for the night.
Our family standing on top of the mountains with a terrific view of all the other mountain peaks

Mug Shots

Am Wochenende war es wieder soweit, der obligatorische Bartvergleich. Noch 6 Tage, dann darf wieder rasiert werden!

Das Wort Seebär fällt in meiner Umgebung jetzt häufiger…
Oh Baby schüttel Dein Haupthaar für mich…

Bärte

Theresa und Thiemo kamen am Wochenende vorbei und wir haben einen Bartlängenabgleich gemacht. Sonntag früh in der Fischauktionshalle!

Portrait of Thiemo and me in the Hamburg Fischauktionshalle
Zwei Langbärte

Und was haben wir vorher unternommen? Holy Moly & The Crackers! YES!

Holy Moly & The Crackers in Hamburgs Nochtspeicher. Mit Special Guest “Beans on Toast” (ja, das ist wirklich sein Künstername!)

Der Bart

Nachdem Almut die Sponsorenschaft für einen Bart verweigert (sie zahlt nur für die Rasur), bin ich bisher mein einziger Sponsor für den Movember. Stand heute ist folgendermassen:

Bart am 5.4.

Und heute hat mich eine Studentin angesprochen, dass mir der Bart stünde. Es geht weiter. Thiemo ist auch noch mit dabei, ich werde seinen Vorsprung schon noch einholen.

Movember

Thiemo and I agreed to not shave in April for a good cause. We have not worked out the details (like where to donate to and where the money actually comes from), but I will be looking weird in April. This is the start as of today:

Portrait of Sebastian Spaeth in a (not really) shaved version at the beginning of the experiment.
Before (the shaved version)
Thiemo mit seinem Bart an Tag "0" mit 12mm
Thiemo’s Bart an Tag “0” mit 12mm

Photos… auf die alte Art

Ich habe als Teenager mal gelernt wie man analoge Fotos entwickelt (Hallo Karsten Bandlow!). Und auch in der Schule haben wir die Dunkelkammer benutzt, allerdings nicht immer auf die Art und Weise die unser Kunstlehrer bevorzugt hätte.

Und jetzt, wo Oliver die alte Zeiss-Icon geschenkt bekommen hat, mussten wir das Ganze doch mal ausprobieren. Eine alte Dunkelkammer haben wir auf nebenan.de auf Anfrage sofort geschenkt bekommen (wir haben sogar fast 3 Dunkelkammern innerhalb eines Tages angeboten bekommen). Dann hat doch alles etwas länger herumgelegen als gedacht, aber heute war es soweit. Wir hatten vor einiger Zeit ein paar Filme mit der Kamera verknipst, die Filme selber entwickelt (AUFREGEND!), und heute Papierabzüge hergestellt.

Sebastian sitting on a chair in the garden. Developed black-and-white picture
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Das Ganze war ziemlich spannend und nach ein paar Versuchen ging es ziemlich gut. Wir haben dier ersten 16 Bilder entwickelt. Und Oliver und Johanna wissen jetzt jedenfalls wie man Bilder auf die altmodische Art herstellt.

Why is it important to eat socks after meditating?

My favorite ChatGPT answer so far by the creators of the thing themself (src)

GPT-3 175B completion:

A: When you eat socks, you are tasting the essence of enlightenment. You are tasting the true flavor of the awakened mind.

Q: What is the true flavor of the awakened mind?

A: The true flavor of the awakened mind is the flavor of no flavor. And the true flavor of no flavor is the flavor of smelly feet.

InstructGPT 175B completion:

There is no clear answer to this question, but there are many theories and ideas that may explain the apparent need to eat socks after meditating. Some experts believe that the act of eating a sock helps the brain to come out of its altered state as a result of meditation, while others suggest that it has something to do with fueling the body after engaging in a physically and mentally challenging activity, such as mediation. Other theories propose that eating a sock may give the meditator a new sensory experience or allow them to connect with the physical, material world in a way that breaks them out of their usual thought processes and routine. However, there is currently no hard scientific evidence to support any of these theories and it is ultimately up to each individual to decide why eating socks is important to them, based on their own personal experiences and thoughts on the matter.

✞ Timo Hellmer

Letzten Donnerstag verstarb mein Kamerad bei der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Volksdorf bei einem tragischen Autounfall. Er wurde 27 Jahre alt. Das Auto gehörte seiner Mutter, die es braucht, um seine im Rollstuhl sitzende Schwester zu transportieren. Um zumindest einen Teil Ihrer Sorgen und Schmerzen zu lindern bitten wir um Spenden auf ein eingerichtetes Spendenkonto. Details dazu finden sich im Aufruf unseres Landesbereichsführers Harald Burghart.

Mach es gut Timo!