Valdres and the Winter Olympics

[bjorn-are.davidsen@s.televerket.tele.no]

After having lurked some months (I think since
the Teddy Roosevelt discussion) I am back again with 
some information on Norwegian music and the Winter 
Olympic Sotry. It is a bit calmer on the job these two
Olympic weeks...

To Chris:

About your non comic stuff:

> The other night in the band I play in (a concert 
>band where I play trombone) we played a song 
>called "Valdres". Our Conductor said "Valdres is to 
>Norwegians as Stars and Stripes Forever is to 
>Americans". Is this true.

I think your conductor does have a point, but he does  
exaggerate a bit. "The Valdres March" (in Norwegian 
"Valdresmarsjen") is a "song" (no lyrics though) 
based on traditional Norwegian folk music (from 
Valdres), and it is popular. But it can in no way be
considered in the same vein as Stars and Stripes
in the US. I don't think ANY Norwegian song really 
can that (although Grieg's "In The Hall of The
Mountain King" does touch some deep emotions,
perhaps from or Viking (or Troll?) heritage).

To Don:

Last week the Norwegian Newspaper "V}rt Land" 
(the "}" is the last letter in the Norwegian alphabet
and pronouced like the "a" in "fall", but will NOT 
get through in the correct way to the digest) carried 
an article on "The Olympic spirit without the Olympic
Duck?". The headline is a pun based om the word for
duck which in Norway is "and" and the word for spirit
which is "}nd" (the same letter "}" as mentioned above). 

In this aritcle the journalist Kjetil Hanssen tells us (after 
a short summary of the story) that "The artist Don Rosa 
has become very popular among Donald-loving Norwegians.
Next week Rosa pays back by giving us a special story 
about the furious Duck's struggle to get to Lillehammer." 

Then more summary of the story before we get some
interesting information:
"Don Rosa visited Norway last summer, and has done a
thorough research. The drawings he got from LOOC 
(Lillehammer Olympic Organisation Comitee) did among 
other things show a glass wall in front of the Olympic Fire 
at the Lysg}rdsbakken Ski Jump. However, this wall was 
taken out of the plans later. Don Rosa shows us how it 
might have looked like." 

Incidentially, the Opening Ceremony (as some of you may 
have seen on television) did feature a ski jumper with the 
Olympic Torch (no ducks or rockets though).

Bjorn Are Davidsen

P.S. I love lurking - even in book stores and Disney 
Shops (I was present when the Shop in Regent Street
in London formally was opened some years ago -
but may be back with more writings in less than 
three months this time (b.t.w. has the reaction in some 
Norwegian anti-racist circles to Gottfredsson's "Thursday" 
story (republished in Norway last month) been discussed 
in the Digest? I was off the list for technical reasons at 
the time in January and don't know if anyone mentioned it.)