Den kalde krigen gjekk ikkje så hardt inn på meg. Eg var meir oppteken av barne-TV og neste middagsmåltid. Det å unngå fiskekaker var for meg eitt viktigare mål enn å forstå kvifor Noreg engasjerte seg i noko eg ikkje visste heitte NATO eller kva var.

Ordet “Jernteppet” gleid imidlertid jamleg forbi — og feste seg til sist. Det feste seg sterkt å beklage saman med ordet hjerneteppe, slik at dei to sjølv i dag ikkje kan kallast fram uavhengig av kvarandre.

I ettermiddag, under ein spasertur i Sør-Karelen har eg for fyrste gong sett “Jernteppet”.

Det var på mange måtar eitt forbausande og ikkje så reint lite skuffande “teppe” med tanke på kor stor politisk vekt det var, og dels framleis er, tillagt. Når eg tenkjer meg om kan eg ikkje minnast ein einaste grenseovergong som har mindre høgtid og seremoni over seg enn dette.

Hadde eg ikkje vore vár at desse skilta fanst i førevegen, trur eg ikkje at eg hadde reflektert noko vidare over dei. Eg hadde såleis kunna spasert meg inn i ein tung byråkratisk prosess som moglegvis ville krevje involvering frå ein eller fleire Norske utanriksstasjonar før eg kunne vende nasen heimover att.

Trass ein heller vesal fysisk konstruksjon tente “Jernteppet” likevel til å byggje eitt effektivt skille mellom folk; eitt skille som er velfungerande sjølv idag.

‘Gode gjerde gjer gode grannar seiest det[ref]Fritt omsett etter ordtaket ‘Good fences make good neighbours'[/ref]’ — kanskje det som trengst her er eitt betre gjerde.

Tractor driver chatting up woman from old Zetor-tractor at one of Zetor’s characteristic pub tables.

After visiting Helsinki’s tractor pub Zetor, named after the Czech tractor brand popular during the Cold War, my interest for Leningrad Cowboys came to life again after years of slumber. The pub, owned by Aki Kaurismaki, was decorated with Zetors fitted with a bar counter so you could sit on or around the tractors enjoying your beer. Almost like home.

My first meeting with Leningrad Cowboys was through Kaurismakis 1989 cult film, Leningrad Cowboys go America (which I didn’t see until 1996). I was immediately intrigued by the pack of strange characters, the lack of continuous dialog and their highly original and irregular interpretations of rock’n roll music!

As with so many things, the contrasts are what makes the band ingenious. The cooperation between the Cowboys and the Alexandrov Red Army choir see to it that contrast is in plenty! Together they do covers such as “California Girls”, “Happy together” and balalaika renditions of “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Knocking on Heavens door” and “Stairway to Heaven”.

Great stuff!

IST 2006

Travelling with no less than eight colleagues from the region of Sogn og Fjordane in Western Norway, my purpose of being in Helsinki was attending the IST 2006 conference. The core topic of the conference was preparing for the launch of a new European research period throuh the 7th framework programme for reserach and development. This was also reflected in the selection of key note speakers which in sum covered all the aspects of FP7 projects: the technicalities of writing a proposal; how to establish and set up a consortium; how to run a project and finally, which thematical priorities are put forward for the new programming period and its various calls for proposals.

Key feedback

• The new programme is to focus on enabling European industry to take global leadership within ICT and increase the ability to compete with emerging economies in Asia and India in addition to challenging the position of USA.
• Focus is on technologies to form the basis for new economies rather than simply improving current processes and implementing regional political strategies.
• The commission seems to be targeting the fulfilment of overall European objectives such as the European Digital Library within the cultural heritage sector.