Out of the way

There is a song that gets stuck in my head from time to time (even when I haven't been to Ireland) called "Summer in Dublin". The bit I remember of it (and so the bit that plays on endless loop for an hour or three) is

I remember that summer in Dublin
The Liffey how it stank like hell
The young people walking down Grafton street
and everyone looking so well

I was singing a song I heard somewhere
called Rock 'n Roll never forgets
When my humming was smothered by the 46A
And the scream of a low-flying jet

So I jumped on a bus to Dun Laoghaire
Stopping off to pick up my guitar
When a drunk on the bus told me how to get rich
I was glad we weren't going too far

Apparently it is by Liam Reilly and Bagatelle, and was a huge hit in 1980. I learned it from the Irish Hooligans (also called the Hooligang and some other stuff, a band set up by Ben Flood and friends in Melbourne in the mid to late 90s)

It is summer in Oslo. The nights are short, and not really night - a sort of dark twilight that goes away again. The parks and beaches are filled with people and engangsgriller (one-time barbecues), being used to cook the inevitable grillpølser (barbecue sausages).

(I would post a photo of one, but it seems to have been eaten by a flaky blog system I used to use)

Although it is technically illegal to drink in public in Norway, there are often people enjoying a quiet beer or wine with their barbecue.

People go out at night, although it means they leave a bar as the day is coming, or before it gets "dark". The streets are full of people. The women generally dress up in Oslo. The boys don't, so much - and I don't in apparent male solidarity or something.

It's something I never quite got the hang of. I can dress up for real in a nice suit and tie, and brush my hair and clean my nails and look perfectly presentable. It is when people dress nicely but not really formally that I am often left feeling either overdressed or underdressed. Admittedly summer isn't the right weather for me to get it right - sitting around quietly in shirtsleeves my melting point is probably not far above 20˚. Besides, by nature I tend to be very casual about appearance. Or is it that I just do that to cover the uneasy feeling I get that I will somehow manage to look a little out of place?

But if I can't get the hang of the clothing thing, I can take my guitar to the park and play it. I've never seriously done that before before this summer. I realise, too, that I still have quite a way to go before people actually ask me to play (although now some especially polite people don't ask me to stop, which is something ). And yet it is a pleasure that I have never really known before, to play music for people. As my singing improves ever so slowly, even that becomes more fun and less tinged with fear. (At least for me, since I am always optimistic about how the next song will turn out. I guess the audience might have a different perspective...)

I'm still more likely to impress them by cooking, and that is something that makes me happy. I am not a big fan of the engangsgrill staple sausages, ketchup, mustard, and airy bread (although I don't mind lømper). So I managed to cook some pretty decent food on the engangsgrill, and discovered that it is even possible to make an espresso, albeit with a lot of effort and "encouragement". I suspect I still have a way to go before I am a master of the little tinfoil tray of charcoal (and a small bellows would be handy on occasion). So maybe by the time I am 40 I will be able to make a presentable effort of offering people a decent grill with music.

It's a nice little dream, anyway. Little enough to be allowed out to play, even.

If you've got any tips, let fly. (Same with fashion hints, although I still like my orange shirt and will probably still wear it from time to time). Otherwise, come join me on a summer evening or two when I am there. It's still nice out...

[For those of you who were looking for the sex in here, it's my tag and it's for things where I note that there are differences between boys and girls...]