Pappmaskin.no

I took a fantastic trip to Prague with my P3nett colleagues in August. I let anyone who wanted borrow my camera, and these are some of the pictures I found on my memory card the next day.

Just got a heads up that the wonderful people over at GNU used one of my pictures in their Happy Birthday to GNU-video. I am of course a big fan of open source in all shapes and forms, so this is simply an honor and a delight! I said jokingly to my wife that “it felt like as if the Dalai Lama had quoted me”, which of course is a SLIGHT exaggeration, but you get the point. I am not a great photographer, so when someone, anyone wants to use an image it simply makes me REALLY REALLY HAPPY!

See the video below, or go to http://www.gnu.org/fry/ to view or download the original.

It’s probably a coincidence, but this is the third time in just a few months where someone has used one of my images in some way. They are all on flickr.com and they all have Creative Commons licences, most of them for commercial use as well, making it easy for anyone to use them as they wish. I am not a professional photographer, so I really have no urge to sell them. If anyone want to use them, then fine!

So, these are the images that people have picked:

photo credit: mskogly

Now, this image of my plumbing is just awful, and I suppose that was the point. I took it as documentation before renovation, it sure ain’t art. But still, it is wonderful to be wanted!

photo credit: mskogly

The San Antonio River Walk is quite a sight, it was a big surprise to find such a lush place in the middle of the city, and after having my senses numbed by the wasteland of the US highway system. A small version of this image is in use on a site called Scmap, go to
www.schmap.com/sanantonio/tours_tour3/p=2048D03/i=2048D03_10.jpg and take a look in the right hand corner. The image was also printed in the Fifth Edition of the Scmap San Antonio Guide. Schmap also makes their guide available in widget form, letting you embed the guide in your blog etc, looks something like this.

And the last image so far:

photo credit: mskogly

This Highway-picture was used in an article about Houston in an online magazine for expatriates called Global Connection. I don’t have access to it, so I don’t know what the finished article looks like.

The open source principle VS. the need for an income
I have followed a few debates about how “amateur photographers” encrouch on the livelihood of professionals, making it harder to make a living. There might be some merit to this, but I also believe that there is room for both. The access to cheap or free images makes it easier for more people to create, to write about and promote good things. Just like Google Maps and other map apis created an explosion in new services and mashups, sites like Flickr with a well organized way to search for pictures published with a suitable creative commons licence will lead to a richer flora of online and printed works. And I believe that the work will be a better world for it. Imagine the price of creating a school textbook “in the old days”, it would cost a small fortune in royalties for the images used, often images used purely as illustration of a concept (like pollution). These days, a writer, teacher or pupil for that matter could do a quick search on Flickr and find just about anything they need, for free, and with the permission to use the material in eighter a commercial or non-profit setting. Magic!

Bono would love to look this good in a cowboy hat. Taken at the Blue Velvet Vintage Shop, on a roadtrip, driving from Houston to Austin, with a detour to Keema and a short stop in beautiful San Antonio.

Have you ever slept outside in the wild? Without a tent or a roof to cover you, all you senses are sharpened, every little sound becomes important. It is a peculiar feeling, worth remembering. Here is my list over all the times I have slept underneath the stars.

photo credit: Just-Us-3

1. In an orange grove in Greece with Silje. It was too hot inside our tiny tent. When we woke up the next morning there where oranges on the ground all around us, fallen from the trees during the night. Fresh and free Orange Juice, Yum! Strange that none of the oranges fell on us.

2. Under a tree outside the railway station in the middle of Ancona, Italy, with a knife in reach under my curled up jacket. Scary place.

3. On snow on a reindeer pelt outside Mo i Rana. Drunk. Just wanted to try. Had to give up after 4 hours. Freezing!

4. On a beach with Silje in Saint-Sean-de-luz, France, because we couldn’t find a place to stay, but after stuffing ourselves with a ton of seafood and white wine!

5. On a mountaintop with four friends connecting all out sleeping bags together. The summers in Norway are amazing, no night, daylight 24/7.

6. Under a pine on a camping site in Lagos (or perhaps Sagres?), Portugal, feeling a little self conscious (it was, after all, a camping ground). But long haired brethren all around, so no stress.

7. On the lava rocks just outside Cascais, close to Lisboa, Portugal, with two cool germans I met, waking up to the sound of waves crashing and to a blistering day of swimming and being foolish, jumping from cliffs.

8. In the woodland behind my parents garage in my teens, passed out on stolen homemade wine and green something from my fathers bar cabinet, waking at noon not knowing where I was.

Orignally posted on 43things.com

Daniel Johnson Mural, originally uploaded by mskogly.

This is so strange, I took this picture in Austin, in 2006, and today while reading about Daniel Johnson I figured out that this is his work. You can read about him and the story behind it over at wikipedia.

Cowboy-hats make everyone look slightly gay, but that’s ok. Taken at Blue velvet vintage clothing in Austin by my friend Kim.

Update 4. of September 2009: I love second hand stores, and Blue velvet is a great one. I bought four handprinted t-shirts and a few vintage ones as well, and I practically wear something from that store every other day, three years later!

From a U.S. roadtrip, driving from Houston to Austin, with a detour to Keema and a short stop in beautiful San Antonio. You can see more cool pictures from that trip on Flickr.

It just truck me that there are very few Native American references in my NYC travel guide, so I did a little googleing.

Might visit this one during my stay in New York…

National Museum of the American Indian

Or maybe

New York City Native American Art Exhibition

I’m in love with Roadside America – Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions, home of the most bizarry roadside attractions in the US. When I’m old and grey I will rent an RV and take a long roadtrip and visit some of these gems.

2-story outhouse

Shoe Trees

White Squirrels

Tiny Churches

Mystery Spots