Valhalla Villager: News, Rumors and Gossip

[PrplChilPill]

14 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

The one time that I was in Portland they seemed to have a severe homelessness problem. There were people sleeping in the doorways to most of the businesses that November. And that wasn't all the long ago, maybe five years.

All this talk about people wanting to be in MN in the winter only makes me look forward to my trips away from MN next month. To think of how much a spend to leave MN in January and February while other people are wishing to be here. The grass is always greener...

@Robb_K I am confused how you live in three different countries at once. How do you decide which place to sleep each night? How is life over in Europe? I have seriously been considering getting a place in Norway to live at for a year.  But after a year maybe I would just decide to stay. Things are quite expensive in Norway though. I might rather live in one of the countries you live in but I already know some Norwegian and would have to start from scratch learning danish or german -- no small task for a fellow my age.

As far as Treadwell, it has been great to seeing him have a bit more success this year.

Definitely homeless problems here in WA and OR for sure. It's just warm enough to sleep outside here, and housing costs have boomed in both states (at least in the two big metro areas). 

[PrplChilPill]

1 hour ago, vikingsrule said:

I think that memo has changed every decade so I am not sure what I should believe. Last winter I do recall several school closures due to severely cold weather, seemed abnormal, though I’m new to this as a parent and have only paid attention to school closures the past couple of years, not counting my time as a student myself praying for winter weather to shut down classes. I don’t mind a frigid winter that dries up all the moisture in the air. I hate the winter commute more than anything, so anything to avoid heavy snowfall.

https://www.salon.com/2019/06/22/the-paradox-of-global-warming-and-colder-winters_partner/

[Robb_K]

5 hours ago, Cearbhall said:

The one time that I was in Portland they seemed to have a severe homelessness problem. There were people sleeping in the doorways to most of the businesses that November. And that wasn't all the long ago, maybe five years.

All this talk about people wanting to be in MN in the winter only makes me look forward to my trips away from MN next month. To think of how much a spend to leave MN in January and February while other people are wishing to be here. The grass is always greener...

@Robb_K I am confused how you live in three different countries at once. How do you decide which place to sleep each night? How is life over in Europe? I have seriously been considering getting a place in Norway to live at for a year.  But after a year maybe I would just decide to stay. Things are quite expensive in Norway though. I might rather live in one of the countries you live in but I already know some Norwegian and would have to start from scratch learning danish or german -- no small task for a fellow my age.

As far as Treadwell, it has been great to seeing him have a bit more success this year.

I work for (artist and storywriter) the Disney comic book Franchise  publishers in The Netherlands(since 1984), Denmark(since 1989), and Germany, since 1988).  I am also a partner in a small animation firm in Munich, Germany, and I also teach storyboarding seminars in libraries in Denmark, and a few also in Norway, and in comic book shops in The Netherlands, I also do some translating.  In addition to clients, I also have business/work partners in all 3 countries.  So, I've been dividing the year between those 3 countries(2-4months each) , and also about 1.5-2 months in Winnipeg, and L.A.(USA), where my 2 sisters live, and where much of my family comes between US thanksgiving and mid January, from Sweden, Denmark, and The Netherlands to get together.  As the 3 main chunks are all within The European Union, it is not a problem.  I lived in my grandparents' home in Den Haag from 1972-2007, and now I'm in a village of 300 people and no shops (only an elementary School, and more sheep and cows than people). I rent a home from a friend for a very low cost. In Munich, I've been staying for free in one of my rich landlady's 2 extra family visiting flats for 2-5 months each year since 1985 (she was my animation/cartooning business partner's mother (died last year at 105)).  I've been staying in a good friend and business partner's guest house in northern Denmark (near Hilleroed) for free, since 1989.  Both of these situations are so we can work together intensely for 2.5-3 months each year to set up stories and plans for development of our projects and I can also meet with our clients, and then we can finish our projects from a distance using E-Mail and Skype.

I'm well used to never living just in one place (continent). Every year of my growing up in Canada from the end of WWII to 1971, I spent summers in The Netherlands (often Christmas vacation, as well). From 1972-1988 I worked as an environmental scientist and economist for The UN, mainly in Africa, The Middle East and a few countries in The Far East. Projects were 6-9 months, and we had 3 months off for R&R at home in The Netherlands, plus, I usually spent another month in Winnipeg.  Then,  In 1984, at almost 40 years old, I started working in cartooning, and attending art school.  By 1989, I was able to get work with Danish Disney, too, and could then drop my "day job", and just work on cartooning, bouncing between the 3 European countries.  It was tough following The NHL and The Vikings before The Internet, and living in 3rd World countries.  I enjoyed my youth in the freezer that Winnipeg was.  We often laid down our backyard ice rink near the beginning of October, and kept it going till near the end of April, and a few times into May.  Hockey was my whole life.  And after living 9 months a year mostly in hot desert countries, and a little in tropical countries, I enjoy returning to Winnipeg even in mid-winter.  We get a lot of rain in winter, instead of snow in Munich and Holland now, when it used to be snow almost always, back 30-60 years ago.  When we DO get snow, it only lasts on the ground for a few days.  I remember 5 and 6 month winters with no thaw, and we could play hockey every day, with no ice fees!  ! 

I must admit that sometimes I wake up and am I shocked to find that I'm in a different country from the one I expected.  But that fades away quickly.  I'm very at home in all 3 places, with different good friends in all 3, and close family in both The Netherlands and Denmark/Sweden, and a ladyfriend in Holland, who sometimes visits me in all my other abodes.

I am a Vikings fan because I was a fan of Winnipeg's CFL Blue Bombers, who were very, very good and won a few championships, with Bud Grant as their coach. After he started coaching The Vikings, I became their fan for life.  But, I was a Vikings' fan from an early age, anyway, because they were the closest NFL team to us.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Robb_K

[Robb_K]

5 hours ago, Cearbhall said:

The one time that I was in Portland they seemed to have a severe homelessness problem. There were people sleeping in the doorways to most of the businesses that November. And that wasn't all the long ago, maybe five years.

All this talk about people wanting to be in MN in the winter only makes me look forward to my trips away from MN next month. To think of how much a spend to leave MN in January and February while other people are wishing to be here. The grass is always greener...

@Robb_K I am confused how you live in three different countries at once. How do you decide which place to sleep each night? How is life over in Europe? I have seriously been considering getting a place in Norway to live at for a year.  But after a year maybe I would just decide to stay. Things are quite expensive in Norway though. I might rather live in one of the countries you live in but I already know some Norwegian and would have to start from scratch learning danish or german -- no small task for a fellow my age.

As far as Treadwell, it has been great to seeing him have a bit more success this year.

ALL 3 of those countries are quite a bit more expensive than USA.  But, I'll admit that Norway is ridiculously expensive.  But Denmark is a LOT closer to Norway's prices than USA's. ALL of Scandinavia and Iceland, and Finland are very expensive.  But, written (national) Norwegian is almost exactly the same as (national) Danish.  So, you'd probably find it easier to fit in in Denmark.  It's only spoken Danish that is different from Norwegian, and a much more difficult to learn and pronounce, because it has 23 different vowel sounds, and lots of silent letters, glottal stops, speaking from the back of the throat, and sounds that English speakers don't make, and most never master.  So, if you only know a few words and phrases in Norwegian, using that for a base to learn Danish, would probably be worthless.  German is a quite difficult language to learn for English speakers because it has a much more complicated grammar than English.  But, if you are dedicated, you will learn it well.  When I first visited Germany in the early 1960s, no one spoke English, except a handful in the tourism trade.  Now, because English is the language of computers, everyone under the age of 65 or so, speaks English fairly well.  In The Netherlands and all of Scandinavia, and Switzerland and Finland, EVERYONE under 90 years old is perfectly fluent in English, and from what I've seen and heard, they speak it, and certainly write it better than probably more than half The Americans I've met.  A native English speaker could live his or her whole life in any of those countries, and never need to speak a word of anything but English.  Many of the emigrees from Africa, Asia, and Latin America speak to Germans, Dutchmen, Danes, Finns, and Icelanders in English, and hear English from them in return.  But, of course, if you spend the rest of your life in a new country, it's better to "fit in", and not be a "foreigner" forever.

[SteelKing728]

Well I live in Pittsburgh! Born and raised! Haha

[swede700]

15 hours ago, PrplChilPill said:

Definitely homeless problems here in WA and OR for sure. It's just warm enough to sleep outside here, and housing costs have boomed in both states (at least in the two big metro areas). 

Doesn't surprise me, it was extremely expensive to live out there 15 years ago when I left (which is partially the reason I left) and often, you aren't able to make the money necessary to pay those exorbitant costs.  Hell, when I came back here, I made the same amount of money as I did out there, but the rental cost was cut in half.  

[vikingsrule]

37 minutes ago, swede700 said:

Doesn't surprise me, it was extremely expensive to live out there 15 years ago when I left (which is partially the reason I left) and often, you aren't able to make the money necessary to pay those exorbitant costs.  Hell, when I came back here, I made the same amount of money as I did out there, but the rental cost was cut in half.  

Same could be said about SF, but probably significantly worse than Seattle. When I was looking for entry level type finance jobs in 2008-2010 when I graduated, they paid roughly the same as what my friend were getting back in Minneapolis. I was stubborn and stayed too long, couldn’t be happier that I found my way back to the Midwest. Now im well seasoned in my finance career and the pay difference doesn’t come close to compensating for cost of living. 

I paid $1700 per month for a tiny studio in SF. I now pay about the same for a few acres within 35 miles of Minneapolis. 

Edited December 4, 2019 by vikingsrule

[since72]

11 hours ago, Robb_K said:

I work for (artist and storywriter) the Disney comic book Franchise  publishers in The Netherlands(since 1984), Denmark(since 1989), and Germany, since 1988).  I am also a partner in a small animation firm in Munich, Germany, and I also teach storyboarding seminars in libraries in Denmark, and a few also in Norway, and in comic book shops in The Netherlands, I also do some translating. 

I used to love comic books when I was young.  Wish I still had that box of DC and Marvel comics.  Comic books are a very underrated form of literature.  DC ran a series with a "Manhunter" character in the early 1970's that was awesome.  Would make a great movie if it was done faithful to the original material.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_(comics)#1970s_revival

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=manhunter+special+edition&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

LOL  From your profile picture, I imagined you were a mountain man living off the grid somewhere near Kalispell, Montana, possibly next door to VikeDaddy.  I guess I was a little off.  

[Robb_K]

2 hours ago, since72 said:

I used to love comic books when I was young.  Wish I still had that box of DC and Marvel comics.  Comic books are a very underrated form of literature.  DC ran a series with a "Manhunter" character in the early 1970's that was awesome.  Would make a great movie if it was done faithful to the original material.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunter_(comics)#1970s_revival

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=manhunter+special+edition&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

LOL  From your profile picture, I imagined you were a mountain man living off the grid somewhere near Kalispell, Montana, possibly next door to VikeDaddy.  I guess I was a little off.  

Not a tremendous amount off.  I was a ski-mountaineer for 26 years (while working for The UN, during my 3 months off for R&R). I'd ski out into the back country and sleep on the sides of the mountain  in my 2-man tent, when with someone else, or just in my expedition hollofill sleeping bag (good to 75 degrees below zero F), which was so hot , I could never zip it up all the way.  Sometimes we built snow caves (easier than building igloos).We'd ski upward, climbing as high as possible on skis, and, if we couldn't go all the way up, then, finally, we'd break out the ropes, ice axes and pitons, and do technical mountain climbing.  In over 2500 days of ski-mountaineering, I made it up to the top of 14 peaks (4 of them on skis).  I skied in Sweden, Norway, Alps in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Dinaric Alps, The High Tatras(Slovakia), The Bugaboos, Whistler(British Columbia) Rockies and Coast Range in northern BC and Yukon, , The Rockies (Jasper and Banff Alberta, Glacier Nat.Park, Montana, Yellowstone Park. Wyoming.Colorado, Utah, Sierra Nevada Calif. (Sequoia, Yosemite, Mt. Whitney, Lassen, Coast Range Mount Hood, Crater Lake,Oregon, Mount Rainier and Snoqualmie, Washington, Laurentians, Quebec, Sangre De Cristos, New Mexico, along the full range of The Atlas Mountains from southwest Morocco to Northeast Algeria, Southern Alps, New Zealand, Mount Hermon. Israel/Syria, Lebanon. I used to teach back-country survival courses, and Telemark skiing. That photo was taken when I was about 65. I'm well into my 70s now, but haven't skied nor snowcamped for well over 10 years.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Robb_K

[since72]

@Robb_K   

Well I'm green with envy.

I grew up on a dairy farm in central MN.  Currently live about 45 minutes north of US Bank stadium.  I'll probably live around Minneapolis my whole life so my wife and i can be close to my grown children.

If I ever moved to another county, it would probably be Canada.  I would either move to one of the Atlantic provinces for something completely different, or Saskatchewan (because of "Owls in the Family" and some kind of affinity to the Great Plains), or British Columbia which is one of the most beautiful places on earth according to my cousin who moved there.  I've long since lost the desire to live in Europe or South America.  Never wanted to live in Asia, Africa, or Australia although I hear NZ is nice.

[Robb_K]

2 minutes ago, since72 said:

@Robb_K   

Well I'm green with envy.

I grew up on a dairy farm in central MN.  Currently live about 45 minutes north of US Bank stadium.  I'll probably live around Minneapolis my whole life so my wife and i can be close to my grown children.

If I ever moved to another county, it would probably be Canada.  I would either move to one of the Atlantic provinces for something completely different, or Saskatchewan (because of "Owls in the Family" and some kind of affinity to the Great Plains), or British Columbia which is one of the most beautiful places on earth according to my cousin who moved there.  I've long since lost the desire to live in Europe or South America.  Never wanted to live in Asia, Africa, or Australia although I hear NZ is nice.

The grass is always greener.  But it can't really be that way.   You can't have it all.  You choose a life's path filled with some things, and you miss out on other things,  I'm jealous of you because I've never had children, an won't have grandchildren.  Every path has both good times and troubles.  All we can do is try to enjoy every day as much as we can, and make The World a better place by our being here.

[marshpit23]

14 hours ago, SteelKing728 said:

Well I live in Pittsburgh! Born and raised! Haha

That explains it

[marshpit23]

3 hours ago, Robb_K said:

Not a tremendous amount off.  I was a ski-mountaineer for 26 years (while working for The UN, during my 3 months off for R&R). I'd ski out into the back country and sleep on the sides of the mountain  in my 2-man tent, when with someone else, or just in my expedition hollofill sleeping bag (good to 75 degrees below zero F), which was so hot , I could never zip it up all the way.  Sometimes we built snow caves (easier than building igloos).We'd ski upward, climbing as high as possible on skis, and, if we couldn't go all the way up, then, finally, we'd break out the ropes, ice axes and pitons, and do technical mountain climbing.  In over 2500 days of ski-mountaineering, I made it up to the top of 14 peaks (4 of them on skis).  I skied in Sweden, Norway, Alps in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Dinaric Alps, The High Tatras(Slovakia), The Bugaboos, Whistler(British Columbia) Rockies and Coast Range in northern BC and Yukon, , The Rockies (Jasper and Banff Alberta, Glacier Nat.Park, Montana, Yellowstone Park. Wyoming.Colorado, Utah, Sierra Nevada Calif. (Sequoia, Yosemite, Mt. Whitney, Lassen, Coast Range Mount Hood, Crater Lake,Oregon, Mount Rainier and Snoqualmie, Washington, Laurentians, Quebec, Sangre De Cristos, New Mexico, along the full range of The Atlas Mountains from southwest Morocco to Northeast Algeria, Southern Alps, New Zealand, Mount Hermon. Israel/Syria, Lebanon. I used to teach back-country survival courses, and Telemark skiing. That photo was taken when I was about 65. I'm well into my 70s now, but haven't skied nor snowcamped for well over 10 years.

Is Robb_K the new “Vike-Granddaddy “? 

[perrynoid]

1 hour ago, marshpit23 said:

Is Robb_K the new “Vike-Granddaddy “? 

But, could anyone be more famous than VD?!?

[marshpit23]

14 minutes ago, perrynoid said:

But, could anyone be more famous than VD?!?

Well, nope!