Category Archives: Totaly off topic

’tis the season – better to give than to receive

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This the season to give and receive gifts… and one gift that is certainly better to give than to receive is blood.
I’ve been giving blood for a while now, and passed a US gallon of blood today – 4 litres total so far.
If you are not donating – and you are capable of doing so – please consider doing so.

…attaching and connecting parts

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Wetshaving requires water, and water means pipes and valves. And all that means that somewhere there has to be a water shut off valve, so I can shut off the water whenever a packing or O-ring needs replacing in a tap. Thus the main water shut off valve can be considered an “attaching and connecting part” of my shave

In my case, the shut off valve have – as I discovered a little while ago – corroded to the point of not shutting the water off. And since a water shut of valve that isn’t shutting the water off kind of negates the whole point (not to mention means that I can’t change the O-ring in the tap that drips), it was time to call in the professionals; i.e.: the plumber.
So out with the old:

And in with the new:

Whole thing done in less than an hour, including small talk and paperwork. And yes, it does shut off completely, allowing me to replace O-rings in peace…

WTB: G-type injector

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I’ve realised that my only injector probably feels lonely, and is in the market for a reasonable priced G-type injector. Preferable without cracks in the handle, case optional, must be in good working order although scratches and plating loss is okay. In other words; I’m looking for a user grade razor.

Contact me over at the Shave Nook, or email me directly.

Happy 17th!

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I don’t care where you are; today is Norway’s Constitution Day – so happy 17th everyone! I hope you enjoy the day regardless of who and where you are!

A bit more explanation:
For those few who don’t know it yet, the Seventeenth of May is Norwegian Constitution Day! We got the the oldest single-document national constitution in Europe – the second oldest in the world – still in continuous force… Go us!
For those a little shaky on early 19th century Norwegian history, the story basically goes as follows: After the middle ages Norway found itself in a union with Denmark (Sweden was originally part of it too, but choose to bail out for various reasons). During the Napoleonic wars, the British decided to steal the Dano-Norwegian fleet (being one of the very few fleets who they considered a threat), thus forcing Denmark-Norway into the war on Napoleon’s side. And when Napoleon lost, the Powers that Be – or rather Was – decided that Norway should be handed over to Sweden in 1814, to compensate them for their loss of Finland (which Russia had grabbed back in 1809, if my memory serves me correct).
Needless to say the Norwegians wasn’t too thrilled about this, a reaction thats pretty natural when you consider that the Swedes had a history of attacking Norway stretching back a few hundred years at this point. And if Norway couldn’t get back into a union with Denmark… the logical steps to take was declare our Independence, write a Constitution and set out on our own!! Woot!! Go us!!
The constitution that was drawn up and signed at Eidsvoll on Seventeenth of May 1814 was a radical document for the time… drawing on the French constitution from the French Revolution, as well as the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Based on the guiding principles of Freedom, equality and brotherhood it separated the Executive, Legislative and Juridical powers, established the freedom of speech and curtailed the powers of the King fairly severely. Pretty hot stuff, considering the time it was written.
Sweden on the other hand wasn’t too thrilled by this development…. and as they had done more than a few times in the centuries leading up to 1814, promptly invaded. The Norwegian Army was understaffed, untrained and undernourished after years of British blockade of Norway still put up a pretty determined fight, giving at least as good as they got and holding back the Swedish advance long enough to stave off the possibility of a forced surrender.
After negotiations held in Moss (my home town), Norway and Sweden entered a union; but it was a union of two independent nations under one king, and not – as the Swedes had no doubt intended – a union making Norway a part of Sweden. Norway retained it’s own government, it’s own armed forces and most of the other trappings of an independent country – only sharing a king and forgein policy.
As the years went past, the Norwegians started to celebrate the Constitution Day, at least in part in order to rub it in with the Swedes that Norway was in fact it’s own country. This didn’t go over too well with the Swedish, resulting – among other things – in the infamous Battle of the Square (17 May 1829), in which mounted cavalry and light infantry routed a more or less peaceful demonstration.
Later during the 19th century things calmed down a bit, even if Norwegians celebrated the Seventeenth more than ever. After a few years the tradition of children’s parades was initiated (originaly started on the basis that the Swedes wouldn’t sink as low as to attack children), and has become an enduring symbol of the day in Norway.
While we’re no longer in a union with Sweden – we broke out of that in 1905 – we still celebrate the 17th as Norways Birthday… and like most birthdays, it’s mostly about the children. Childrens Parades, ice cream and hot dogs, flaggs all over the place… it’s been described as the day Norwegians stop acting like Norwegians in order to celebrate that we’re Norwegians.
So Happy 17th to each and every one of you!!

Seventy four years ago today…

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From the Home Front Leadership
Our fight is crowned with victory
Norway is again free
Our minds are filled with joy, our hearts of gratitude toward those who fell in battle and towards all who were struggling to win the victory.
The enemy has now surrendered, and soon we will again fully be in control of our country. But remember: Capitulation is not the same as peace. The enemy still has weapons.
Let us in the midst of celebration preserve peace, dignity and discipline. Do not provoke the beaten enemy, and do not take the law into your own hands.
The duties of war are completed, the duties of peace await. They demand that we put everything in place to restore our democracy and rule of law.
The peace we have now won shall commit us as strongly as the war and the necessity tied our will to the fatherland’s cause. Together we will rebuild the country as a better, happier home for everyone.
God bless our precious fatherland!

 May 8th. Victory Europe Day, and the Norwegian Liberation day… when five years of occupation (more or less, depending on where in Norway you were) ended.

Some titbits from the liberation:

  • On May 8th, Norwegian Resistance units quickly and peacefully took control of administrative centres, radio stations and transport hubs.
  • The German forces were – with a few exception – were happy to give up, and were put in “house arrest” until POW-camps could be organised.
  • On May 9th and 10th Norwegian “police troops”* trained in Sweden arrived in selected Norwegain cities to assist taking control over the large mass of German prisoners.
  • The first allied forces started arriving by air on the 10th as well, including a fair number of intelligence specialists to take control of any advanced German military equipment.
  • On May 14th enough of the government in exile had returned for the resistance to officially hand over the governing of the country back to the elected officials.
  • On June 7th King Haakon VII returned to Norway, five years to the day after he went into exile rather than surrender.
Major Josef Nichterlain (centre) and his aide-deecamp hauptmann Hammel (right) surrenders Akershus Fortess – the location of main German military head quarter in Oslo – to 2. Lt Terje Rollem (left) of the Norwegian Resistance in accordance with the German instrument of surrender. Legend has it that Nichterlain felt disrespected and insulted by having to surrender to low ranking officer who were not in uniform, and didn’t carry rank insignia.

*) To avoid breaking Swedish neutrality, the Swedes could not train Norwegian military personnel… however, they could train a “police reserve” to help preserve peace in Norway – and since there were “foreign elements” in Norway that might “resist the police”, such a police force must be trained and equipped with the necessary equipment; i.e.: infantry small arms, anti-tank artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, mines, radios, etc… Had the war continued, there would even have been a unit of “police paratroopers” fully trained.

Seven years and counting

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I posted the very first post on this blog seven years ago today… it’s been fun, and as long as it keeps being fun I’ll keep at it. Thanks to all my readers, both my regulars and those who swing my now and then. I couldn’t done this without your interest in the fine art of wet shaving.

One of my favourite parts of writing this blog is when I got the time to deep dive into old patents and odd shaving gear and accessories – what I call Shaving Oddities – and I gathered all (or at least most) of those in a single page. If you have the time and inclination I suggest looking over them; there is quite a bit to learn and a fair number of chuckles to be had there.

I’ve also attempted to collect all of my reviews on a single page… I probably missed out a few here and there.

So again, to all my readers, thank you all for coming by and thank you all for inspiring me to keep having fun writing this blog.

Small homemade spruce shaving bowl

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An hour on the lathe to get out of the way yielded a small spruce shaving bowl. Started with some leftover 2×4, finished with mineral oil and two coats of superglue finish.

It’s tested and working well for lathering. It’s admittedly a bit on the tiny side, but when you start with a 2×4 it’s a limit to how wide it can be without spending the time to glue up a blank.