Showing posts with label Anders Behring Breivik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anders Behring Breivik. Show all posts

Saturday, July 22, 2017

#22juli - Trying hard not to think too much about today being the 6th Anniversary of the #Utøya Massacre and the #Oslo bombing. But still... 😢 #Norway #Norge #mittlilleland

#22juli - Trying hard not to think too much about today being the 6th Anniversary of the Massacre and the bombing. But still... 😢 
🇳🇴 #Norway #Norge


The message to reporters in the outside world: Du behöver komma till Utöya. Det är döda barn överallt.” Den meningen glömmer jag aldrig. 😢
"You need to come to Utöya. There are dead children everywhere." I never forget that sentence.)
- SVT's Carina Bergfeldt last year, on the Fifth Anniversary





On July 22nd, 2011, even before the TV news cameras and helicopters of the world arrived, there was already an idea in Stockholm at Aftonbladet of how terrible it truly was. 
And they printed it. And I copied it because it was one of the few things I could share with friends about how bad everything was, when rumors were flying abut how many people might've been behind the twin attacks.
Six years later, the words linger in my mind:

”Ring inte ön"”

En varningstweet spreds om att låta bli att ringa de som gömde sig på Utøya, eftersom gärningsmannen fortsatte skjuta under lång tid.
"RING INTE FOLK PÅ UTØYA. De gömmer sig för gärningsmannen. Kopiera statusen! (Ambulansen kommer inte fram ertersom det fortfarande är skottlossning)."

Do not call the island on your mobile as fake cop re-loading gun in search of children to shoot, is listening for rings from phones

(Ambulances won't arrive if shooting is happening.)

from http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article13364079.ab









The Roar Hagen drawing in Verdens Gang (VG) that hit Jens Stoltenberg so hard...









This film is honest and heartbreaking in so many ways that few films you've ever seen in your life can be, because you know as you watch it and get a sense of what daily life was like at this idyllic Norwegian island camp during the summer, that so many of the very bright and politically-ambitious teenagers and twenty-somethings you will see here, smiling and laughing, never got off the island alive.
This film proves a level of understanding that simply reading endless news stories and analyses can't hope to provide.


"Terror Island" Documentary about the attacks on Oslo and Utoya 22/7 (eng sub) from Tommy Gulliksen on Vimeo.

"Terror Island" - Documentary about the attacks on Oslo and Utoya 22/7 (English subtitles) https://vimeo.com/27616588


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Sissel Kyrkjebø - Til ungdommen (Live Minnesceremoni Oslo 2011)





Bjørn Eidsvåg - Eg ser (Live Minnesceremoni Oslo 2011)



Wow!


Karpe Diem m/ Kork - "Tusen Tegninger" fra Nasjonal minneseremoni 22.07.2011



I wrote many contemporaneous blog posts on the horrors of the #Utøya Massacre and the #Oslo bombing, as well as the subsequent nationally-televised memorial ceremonies one month later and in the years since. 
Please check the blog's archives for those posts, being sure to use the search terms Utøya, Oslo and minneseremoni

Dave 

Sunday, July 1, 2012

More mournful wistfulness about a talented entertainer: All Eyes on Sharon Tate


Turner Classic Movies video: All Eyes on Sharon Tate - (Original Promo Featurette) A behind the scenes featurette on the making of 13 which was released as Eye of the Devil (1967). http://youtu.be/Qf1NX9AQOEI


I've been wanting to post this Sharon Tate featurette video ever since I started the blog, even before Turner Classic Movies finally made the video available on their website as an embed, having previously videotaped it off of TCM many years ago and then subsequently dubbed it to a DVD thanks to a friend who had a VHS/DVR when they were still expensive.
But now, well, I don't have to do that, and the difference in quality is obvious.


(And no sooner do I say that than two of the videos I've embedded here keep showing the same thing, the trailer for Eye of the Devil, when I look at this in Draft preview.
Even though the embed code for each is different! I've run into this problem before with the TCM embeds and had to cancel some blog posts here on classic films because I couldn't show what was the meat of the post. Oh, well.)


These sorts of featurettes and film promos are one of the reasons that I've been such a devout TCM viewer ever since it started. My favorite is one that was done about the filming of The Dirty Dozen, like the first video, filmed in London in 1966 for MGM.


Turner Classic Movies video: The Dirty Dozen - (Original Promo Featurette), A look behind the scenes of the making of the World War II thriller, The Dirty Dozen (1967), starring Lee Marvin & Jim Brown.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/30500/Dirty-Dozen-The-Original-Promo-Featurette-.html


The specific reasons I'm posting this today is two-fold.
First, it's a general reaction of sorts on my part from watching so much of the truly disturbing courtroom testimony that's been given at the trial of Anders Behring Breivik in Oslo, which I've been following closely and watching online since it started, though I haven't mentioned it here on the blog for reasons not worth getting into now.


Breivik was/is a person with a delusional personality who imagined himself destined for big things, believes in a political manifesto and was more than willing to kill innocent people to gain publicity for those political beliefs and to hasten the change that he imagined would naturally follow from it. 
Just like Charles Manson.


This past week, I finally I saw a recent film directed by Sharon Tate's husband, Roman Polanskithat I'd never seen before, though I've seen pretty much everything else he's done that's been released in the U.S., including the Polish language films from the 1960's, like .
Knife in the Water 
It's 2010's The Ghost Writer starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan MacGregor.


I've previously discussed the controversy surrounding him here on the blog, but my focus today is on Tate, his wife who was only 26 when she was intentionally murdered by the Charles Manson gang, along with their unborn child, and four others on her property, three years after this video was filmed.


When you watch this video at the top that was done to promote the upcoming David Hemmings, David Niven and Debrorah Kerr suspense film she was co-starring in, she just completely takes your breath away, and you see how her dynamic beauty just jumps right off the screen.

Turner Classic Movies video: Eye of the Devil - (Original Trailer)
A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret in Eye of the Devil (1966) starring David Niven and Deborah Kerr.
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/29013/Eye-of-the-Devil-Original-Trailer-.html


In my opinion, the only actress we have now with those sort of dynamic qualities is really Charlize Theron, and frankly, I'm not so crazy about her recent film choice selection or even her off-screen choices.


Theron is perplexing in that way, and while I can imagine some of the reasons why her film choices might've seemed appealing to her at the time, to be honest, since she won her Oscar for a film that very few people actually saw at the time -and which is, even now, largely forgotten and which draws blank looks from people when you ask which film she won the Oscar for- while there's no doubting that she's clearly got the talent chops and the beauty, what have we really been offered of late that film fans will recall fondly twenty years from now?


Why is she never in an ensemble film that is really well-done, memorable and popular with critics and audiences alike?
Why is is always one but not the others?


Talented directors we respect and admire ought to practically be banging down her door -or having her agent do that because of a role that she'd be perfect in- but I never hear from my friends and contacts in LA about good roles she turned down in order to be in something great.


It sort of makes me wonder what's going on, and whether there's some reason, mysterious or banal, that might better explain why Theron, as close as we have to a glamorous old-fashioned movie star as anyone, doesn't seem to be getting offered the sorts of scripts we'd all agree she ought to be seeing, for films that we'd like to see her in.


Who knows, maybe the directors I'm thinking of think she should work for less to be in quality ensemble productions, something that DOES happen frequently in Hollywood and esp. in London for period films, and she simply thinks that she'd be making a mistake to do that now.


On the other hand, isn't this sort of what has happened to Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, too?
They both should really be in the 'sweet spot' of their film careers, where they are in one good film after another, and yet... the best thing I've seen Charlize in has been that fabulous Dior ad for J'adore.



http://youtu.be/mXrWiJcmvBI


As for Gwyneth, is it a case of too much Goop-ing around?


Meanwhile, we wonder about what might've been for Sharon Tate.
The quality light-comedy films that she would've delighted us in, or the melodramas that made us cry, as she got better at her craft and more self-confident...
Take advantage of your opportunities while you have them...



Sharon Tate, Murdered Innocence - Part 4
http://youtu.be/NnrqxXnD-Mo  

Friday, December 23, 2011

Update on singer Chris Medina -Interviewed on TV4's Nyhetsmorgon on performing at funeral for Utøya massacre victim who loved his song, his new album, and life since American Idol made him well-known; a guy you clearly have to root for!

S%C3%A5ngaren%20Chris%20Medina%20om%20sin%20musik

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon, Abbey Road LIVE -Chris Medina talks about his music
with co-hosts Jenny Östergren and Peter Lindgren. December 14, 2011.


Chris%20Medina%20om%20sin%20medverkan%20i%20amerikanska%20Idol

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon, Abbey Road LIVE -Chris Medina talks with co-hosts Jenny Östergren and Peter Lindgren about his life since American Idol and the months since his successful visits to Scandinavia this past summer. December 14, 2011.

My last blog post about Chris Medina was on July 16th of this year -less than a week before the bombing in Oslo and the massacre on Utøya Island carried out by Anders Behring Breivik- when he performed LIVE on VG Lista Topp 20 at Rådhusplassen, (City Hall) Oslo.


My post then about his American Idol performances and his successful trip to Sweden and Norway was called, A talented & worthy American takes Scandinavia by storm: up-close with Chris Medina - One Day In Stockholm (What Are Words)


As I mentioned at the time, and for reasons I explained, I'm NOT an American Idol viewer, but you don't need to be Quincy Jones to see that Chris Medina CLEARLY has a unique voice and talent.
It's hard not to root for him to have nothing but success.


As I said back in July, the more I see of singer Chris Medina the more I am impressed, and the more he reveals himself as one very-grounded individual in a very cynical world.
And with this interview and these performances -in English- from December 14th on Sweden's most-popular TV morning program, Channel 4's Nyhetsmorgon, he proves that all over again.  


In the TV interview, Medina also discusses his feelings about being asked to perform at the funeral of 18-year old Monica Iselin Didriksen, one of the 77 Norwegians murdered at Utøya on July 22nd, whose very last conversation with her parents -on her cell phone, while taking the ferry to the island- was about her intense feelings for his song, the popularity of which had led him to be performing in Oslo just a few weeks earlier. 


Chris%20Medina%20framf%C3%B6r%20One%20more%20time

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon, Abbey Road LIVE -Chris Medina sings One More Time. December 14, 2011.



Chris%20Medina%20framf%C3%B6r%20One%20More%20Time

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon, Abbey Road LIVE -Chris Medina sings What Are Words. December 14, 2011.


A few days after his calm and earnest appearance on Abbey Road, Aftonbladet columnist Ronnie Sandahl pondered what it must be like to be Chris Medina now,
and suddenly go overnight from unknown singer working hard to become a success in the industry on his own terms, to becoming a beloved American Idol contestant and popular singing artist whose songs are famously sung back to him with gusto at performances.
But inevitably, he knows that at nearly every performance he gives, the question will arise about his  fiancée, Juliana Ramos.
Medina talks forthrightly about that very issue in the second video above.

 Aftonbladet 
Chris får berätta samma berättelse tusen gånger 
av Ronnie Sandahl
2011-12-19

För vilken gång i ordningen står han där med samma milda sorgsna leende, samma fruktansvärda berättelse?Femhundrade? Tusende?
Det är ännu en dag i nöjesfabriken. Den amerikanske sångaren Chris Medina försöker variera sina intervjusvar,fastän frågorna nästan alltid är samma


As you know from my earlier blog post, for weeks earlier this year, What Are Words was the number-one song on the best-seller list in both Norway and Sweden.




UniversalMusicSweden video: Chris Medina - One Day In Stockholm (What Are Words). Chris appears on Rix FM in Stockholm. 
Yes, they DO have 'Morning Zoo' radio formats in Sweden. http://youtu.be/eNjSIKIBE1U 

Link

As I wrote back in July, I received the behind-the-scenes Chris Medina video above within about ten minutes of it being posted to YouTube by Universal Music Sweden, and thus was one of the first persons to see it.
That's the kind of video I want to see more of! 

Link


ABC News Good Morning America
Robin Roberts with Chris Medina.



NRK-TV video: Chris Medina LIVE on VG Lista Topp 20, Rådhusplassen, (City Hall) Oslo, Norway. June 2011
http://youtu.be/ap6oY2cN11E

http://www.youtube.com/OfficialChrisMedina

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChrismedinaVEVO

http://www.facebook.com/OfficialChrisMedina

http://www.youtube.com/user/UniversalMusicSweden

Monday, October 24, 2011

"Holy terror' - The upcoming U.S. media contretemps & cable net subject that's already getting columnists denouncing it in Sweden; a raw nerve exposed


Frank Miller's Holy Terror

"Holy terror' - Frank Miller's new graphic novel, will, I predict, be the subject of an upcoming U.S. media contretemps and quickly become a cable net subject that's argued over-and-over, and, in any case, is already getting newspaper columnists denouncing it in Sweden.

Miller has definitely struck a raw nerve in Europe, where accommodation is the preferred mode in dealing with uncomfortable subjects that touch close-to-home for the majority of Europe's mainstream media.

Like these sorts of controversies that annoy or antagonize non-Americans usually do, the "
Holy terror' media controversy will start in Europe, migrate to Britain and then finally, the snoozing U.S. news media will notice, as per usual.

At which point, the 'Arab Street' that was completely unaware of it, will then see it on MSNBC at least once an hour with all the Usual Suspects discussing something they have never personally seen or read.

After digesting that, the 'Arab Street' will swing by that flag store in Cairo & Damascus that never runs out of U.S. flags suitable for burning, and after some coffee or tea, or a Power Bar, assemble in the streets to denounce something that they too have never seen or read, and claim that this is how all Americans think, because, well...

They'll have no facts to support that supposition, but that hardly matters, right?
Who needs facts?
Why should this time be any different than the last?

The perpetually jaded foreign news media will then hit the protests with cameras to film the milling crowds of unemployed Egyptian college grads, making them look larger in size than they are, complete with the latest Obama effigy 2.0, and then it will suddenly get mentioned in the next-to-last news segment on a network TV newscast because some news producer saw a piece online about it while looking for something else.

And then we begin to see the ripples of it back here...

Voters in Iowa, again getting first crack at presidential candidates, will say when asked by shivering TV correspondents embedded in Iowa corn fields, "What the hell is all that protesting about?," even though the product itself is being pitched towards their teenage and college-age sons and daughters.

And there you have it
The only question is when it will happen over the next few months.

USA Today already bit at the apple two weeks ago with their 'Holy Terror' undone by patriotic revenge fantasy

Sweden's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, with a huge online presence, and a frequent subject and source here on this blog, had a column today by Martin Aagård in their Culture section titled, Seriemördare i Breiviks anda, i.e. Serial killer in Breivik's spirit.

Here's what the teaser for it looked like on the newspaper's main web page:

Seriemördare i Breiviks anda Batmans skapare gör rasistisk serie


Yes, that's NOT the least bit inflammatory.


Even now, lots of copies of this article are already being emailed from Sweden to family and friends back in the Middle East.
Just saying...

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Frank Miller's official homepage: http://frankmillerink.com/


Monday, August 22, 2011

Moved to tears... heart sure to follow... Something truly amazing that I saw for myself -the National Day of Remembrance in Oslo


A-ha - Stay on These Roads, Oslo Spektrum, August 21, 2011.
The band had just held their farewell concert there last year before Christmas.
The couple you see at the end of the performance is Princess Märtha Louise and her husband, author Ari Behn.
Related article, Minneseremoni hylles på Twitter at

Moved to tears... heart sure to follow... Something truly amazing that I saw for myself -the National Day of Remembrance telecast from Oslo.

What follows is an excerpt of an email that I sent to someone Far From the Madding Crowd of South Florida, whom I really respect and admire and who has been places and seen things herself, first-hand, that few people have seen.

I sent it to her about 1 p.m. or so Miami time on Sunday afternoon after getting my head and thoughts together after watching the very thing I wrote about yesterday, and encouraged you readers of the blog to see for yourself -the National Day of Remembrance in Oslo, for the attacks in Oslo and Utøya on July 22nd, which claimed 77 innocent lives.

-----
S,

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know about something truly amazing that I watched this morning -the National Day of Remembrance telecast from Oslo, which was streamed via NRK's website with absolutely amazing audio and video.
I literally felt like I was inside the Spektrum in Oslo.

Because of what you've done in the past and the places you've been, you've seen things that most people can never imagine seeing in-person, met all sorts of interesting and not-so interesting talented and well-known people along the way, and I'm sure that for either reporting or personal reasons, you've also been at your share of impressive memorials for notable people.
I've been to a few myself, but clearly not as many as you.

That said, this morning's ceremony was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, by turns inspiring, poignant and sweet, but most of all, clear-eyed and resolved.
You never heard the word democracy used as much at a memorial ceremony as it was heard today in Oslo.

The combination of the top-level Norwegian music, whether names you know, like A-ha to Sissel, to others I was unfamiliar with but who still left me equally dumbstruck, plus the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and the amazing heartfelt sets, lighting and stage backgrounds, candles everywhere... well, it really got to me from the start.

For long periods of time there was a golden heart formed by candles seemingly looming over the heads of the orchestra, and it was a very powerful symbol in ways that my mere words here can't convey.

And when, after about 90 minutes, they finally got to the point where five well-known Norwegian performers came on stage and read out-loud the names of the 77 people who perished, as large photos of them were shown on TV and inside the hall, WOW!

And all I could think of was those families sitting at a table in their own homes and knowing that they had to choose one photo to represent the qualities and life of their loved one to the country, one photo, well, it was so quiet that you could hear the sobbing after some kids names were read.

For the families involved, this was the day they dreaded most.
After the funerals and the family get-together in towns big and small, they always knew there would be this national day of remembrance to point to, a day where the whole country would be watching and listening.
A day that the country mourned together and put those memories in their heads forever.

But after today, there are no more ceremonies for the affected families, just the rest of their lives...and lots of haunting, never-ending questions about what might've been.

Here's the link to the complete program which will be available on the NRK website until Sept. 20th.
At some point in the near future, when you have the time and opportunity, perhaps you can see that it was as advertised: truly amazing.

The performers are listed on the left of the video when you pull this webpage up.
You can even click and hear just the performances you want.

Unfortunately, while I could watch this Full Screen when it was LIVE, the version they have here doesn't allow you to see it quite the same way I did and appreciate the intimate details.
If I come across a better version this week, I'll send the link.
It's just under two hours long and really gets moving after the first 20 minutes.

FYI: when Bjørn Eidsvåg sings the haunting song, "Eg Ser" (I see), with the full orchestra behind him, wow, the whole program goes up another level in intensity.
And then they read the 77 names...
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It all began with this...

Susanne Sundfør - Mitt Lille Land (My Small Country)

As I write this post, there is not yet a video available online of Bjørn Eidsvåg singing from Sunday afternoon that I can post separately here, though you can hear him sing at the link above.

There is, however, an excellent video of him singing this on July 30th, a week after the attacks, at Oslo Domkirke, the Cathedral in Oslo, with an orchestra, and the powerful feeling is just as beautiful and haunting and sad.

It's the very same cathedral where the July 23rd ceremony was held from whence came the screen shots I posted on the blog yesterday, including King Harald and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, both of whom gave very heartfelt and dignified speeches Sunday.


Bjørn Eidsvåg - Eg Ser (I see)