... in Norway, and it was covered in daisies, and very nice too. And they had a museum made entirely of little wooden houses that they had brought by lorry from all over Norway and put up again in the special museum field in Oslo. All the houses looked as if they would have little old ladies living in them who would eat you at the drop of a hat, and they had little built-in wooden beds by the stove, and wooden verandahs, and carved rooves with dragon heads, and they were very beautiful. But the best thing we saw was a very small dog. It was so small it couldn't climb the kerb. Its owner had to pick it up. Isabel thought that perhaps it was a guinea pig in disguise.
Other Norwegian things:
1 Norwegian Italian restaurants. We had a kebab on a skewer and they hung the skewer from a hook so our dinner was upright. This was a little confusing.
2 Water busses: If you live on the other side of the bay from the main bit of Oslo you can go to work on a boat. You get on and off at boat stops, which are like bus stops only for boats, and with water where the road might be. This reminded us of when Rafi arrived in Venice. There's a famous story about a journalist arriving in Venice and not knowing what to expect sent a telegram back to his boss saying 'Streets full of water. please advise'.
3 Really nice ribbons. One day a year they all wear national dress, which is very woolly and warm, and involves knee breeches and blouses and pinafores with full skirts and ribbons sewn on. The ribbons can be very fancy and very beautiful. We bought some to make into bracelets. So far Isabel has made four and I have made one. We cut some ribbon to the length of a wrist, plus a bit; sew some felt on to the back, then sew a popper on the end. Then it is a bracelet.
4 A statue of a lion outside the publishers' office. We sat on it to have our photo taken. We thought it would be quite funny if all the photographers had the same idea and we would appear in all the Norwegian papers and magazines sitting on the same lion. Photographers are peculiar. They always want you to do something new and often it involves lying on the floor.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Blog Six - errrr
OK, so, what was wrong with that last post? Yes! Well done. Of course I can tell the difference between two saxophones and two trumpets. It's just the picture was very small on my computer.
I think his name is Lester Bowie, by the way. I think. But you know, sometimes I get things wrong.
I think his name is Lester Bowie, by the way. I think. But you know, sometimes I get things wrong.
Yes! A Picture on the Blog!
Not the right picture mind you. I was looking for a picture that was relevant. Or an elephant (then I could have done a little joke about it being irrelevant). But that proved a little complicated for my first try, so instead here is a musician playing two saxophones. This band is called the Art Ensemble of Chicago and they are superb. But even if you don't like their music, hey, he's playing two saxophones. At the same time!
Blog Five - remember to give it a title. Zizou's going to Norway. OR: Zizou has seen inside the human heart. Yes, literally.
I am learning bit by bit how to do this blog thing and get it right and looking nice. Give it a title, do it regularly, capitals at the beginning of a sentence, spell things right...
Next week, dear readers, Zizou is heading off to Norway. Normally the younger of the pair that make up us has to go to school, and we don't let her out to go frolicking about the world, but Norway is not very far away and she has never been there before so we thought it would count as educational. We're going to look at the beautiful Viking ships they have there and if I can work out how to do something so advanced I will attempt to post a picture of them. Also I think in Norway they have houses with lawns on the roof. Though that might be Iceland. Anyway if you have a lawn on your roof does that mean you could have sheep on your lawn on your roof to graze it? I'm just thinking that would be a good way to insulate your house since apparently a lot of heat gets lost through the roof (since heat rises) but not a lot of heat can escape through a layer of woolly sheep. Then we could save energy and avoid global warming and not have such huge gas bills.
Or would the sheep just fall off the edge?
I will let you know if I learn any more about this in Norway.
The other thing I did was I went to a hospital and I watched two operations. I had to put on a hat and mask and baggy special pyjamas, and I stood at the top of the operating table and I saw right into the patient's body, right inside his chest, and in fact right inside his heart. It is not the sort of thing you would think could be possible. The patient had a problem with a valve inside his heart, so the doctors stopped his heart from beating, and sent all his blood through a special machine to keep it going round his body even though the heart had been stopped. Then I watched while the surgeon (his name is Frank) cut out the diseased valve and sewed in a new one, with tiny very tidy little stitches. He had to make sure he used the right size valve (it was size 23, you might like to know - about as fat as a slice through a small sausage). Then he sewed up the heart, and started it beating again. It went from being all floppy and empty to being fat and strong and pumping again. Then they sewed up his chest, and that was that. He has to rest for a while, but basically he had been mended. Like fixing a puncture on a bicycle tyre.
This was one of the most interesting things I have ever seen in my life. It was so interesting that I leaned in too close and one of the guys had to tell me to stand a bit further back.
No, of course I didn't take photos of it.
The surgeon said would I like to go and watch a heart transplant one day and I said that I would.
Next week, dear readers, Zizou is heading off to Norway. Normally the younger of the pair that make up us has to go to school, and we don't let her out to go frolicking about the world, but Norway is not very far away and she has never been there before so we thought it would count as educational. We're going to look at the beautiful Viking ships they have there and if I can work out how to do something so advanced I will attempt to post a picture of them. Also I think in Norway they have houses with lawns on the roof. Though that might be Iceland. Anyway if you have a lawn on your roof does that mean you could have sheep on your lawn on your roof to graze it? I'm just thinking that would be a good way to insulate your house since apparently a lot of heat gets lost through the roof (since heat rises) but not a lot of heat can escape through a layer of woolly sheep. Then we could save energy and avoid global warming and not have such huge gas bills.
Or would the sheep just fall off the edge?
I will let you know if I learn any more about this in Norway.
The other thing I did was I went to a hospital and I watched two operations. I had to put on a hat and mask and baggy special pyjamas, and I stood at the top of the operating table and I saw right into the patient's body, right inside his chest, and in fact right inside his heart. It is not the sort of thing you would think could be possible. The patient had a problem with a valve inside his heart, so the doctors stopped his heart from beating, and sent all his blood through a special machine to keep it going round his body even though the heart had been stopped. Then I watched while the surgeon (his name is Frank) cut out the diseased valve and sewed in a new one, with tiny very tidy little stitches. He had to make sure he used the right size valve (it was size 23, you might like to know - about as fat as a slice through a small sausage). Then he sewed up the heart, and started it beating again. It went from being all floppy and empty to being fat and strong and pumping again. Then they sewed up his chest, and that was that. He has to rest for a while, but basically he had been mended. Like fixing a puncture on a bicycle tyre.
This was one of the most interesting things I have ever seen in my life. It was so interesting that I leaned in too close and one of the guys had to tell me to stand a bit further back.
No, of course I didn't take photos of it.
The surgeon said would I like to go and watch a heart transplant one day and I said that I would.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Post Four
Also I feel you should know that I am NOT posting at 5.18 in the morning. That would be way past my bedtime. It is in fact about half past one, ie a little past my lunchtime. But for some reason (perhaps my computer thinks it is in Japan, or the Andeman Islands, or up the Empire State Building) 5.18 is what comes up. I shall perhaps attempt to ask the computer why, and try to change it.
Now there's a good way to avoid work!
the technical term for this, dear reader, is 'displacement activity'. Writers know a lot about this.
How about a book about a girl spy, who pretends to be ineterested in only nailpolish but is really a black-belt karate with a personal jet-pack hidden in her dad's shed disguised as a lawnmower, who is under contract to the government and scoots off to save the world every day after school?
Just a thought.
Now there's a good way to avoid work!
the technical term for this, dear reader, is 'displacement activity'. Writers know a lot about this.
How about a book about a girl spy, who pretends to be ineterested in only nailpolish but is really a black-belt karate with a personal jet-pack hidden in her dad's shed disguised as a lawnmower, who is under contract to the government and scoots off to save the world every day after school?
Just a thought.
Blog Three: getting the hang of it
Ay ay ay! Just realised that some people had actually read this and written comments and I never knew or responded or anything. I am REALLY SORRY. And thank you sosos sososososososo much. So now even more I am going to be responsive and appreciative.
And in answer to your questions:
1) the blog is me (aha! which of us is me, you may ask. Ha ha ha! Not telling.)
2) the idea for Lionboy came from bedtime stories told by a tired mum who couldn't think of anything to tell a story about to a chirpy kid who didn't want to go to sleep. So the kid thought up subjects (a naughty boy! a whale! running away! a circus with zebras in!) and the mum thought up things in response and put them all together as stories, and from that little acorn the great Lionboy trilogy sprouted.
by the way our aunt who is also a writer had a little brother who would ask for stories about.... a lovely little electric plug. So really, we had it easy.
cheeriooooh. We are now going away to think up miore good dieas for exciting books.
(I do hope some of you come back....)
And in answer to your questions:
1) the blog is me (aha! which of us is me, you may ask. Ha ha ha! Not telling.)
2) the idea for Lionboy came from bedtime stories told by a tired mum who couldn't think of anything to tell a story about to a chirpy kid who didn't want to go to sleep. So the kid thought up subjects (a naughty boy! a whale! running away! a circus with zebras in!) and the mum thought up things in response and put them all together as stories, and from that little acorn the great Lionboy trilogy sprouted.
by the way our aunt who is also a writer had a little brother who would ask for stories about.... a lovely little electric plug. So really, we had it easy.
cheeriooooh. We are now going away to think up miore good dieas for exciting books.
(I do hope some of you come back....)
Whoops! We didn't post anything ofr more than a year! No wonder we're not taking over the world..
Well - if you're still here, you may like to know that Zizou has another book coming out. It has no title yet, but it's about a tough boy who can't read, and a magical book, and a lots of stinky sewers, and an evil authoress who steals other people's stories, and it is VERY VERY EXCITING.
You may also like to know that we will keep this blog a bit better from now on, with Lionboy news, interesting items, peculiar comments and our favouritely dreadful jokes appearing regularly. Honestly. We promise. Thank you. And we are very very sorry about the long gap, which is entirely because we are useless and lazy. We won't do it again.
Honest.
Well - if you're still here, you may like to know that Zizou has another book coming out. It has no title yet, but it's about a tough boy who can't read, and a magical book, and a lots of stinky sewers, and an evil authoress who steals other people's stories, and it is VERY VERY EXCITING.
You may also like to know that we will keep this blog a bit better from now on, with Lionboy news, interesting items, peculiar comments and our favouritely dreadful jokes appearing regularly. Honestly. We promise. Thank you. And we are very very sorry about the long gap, which is entirely because we are useless and lazy. We won't do it again.
Honest.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Post One: On the floor by the fire
THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR ADULTS
So before we start we have a small entrance test:
1) Are you an adult?
2) Do you know who the Lizard is?
3) And the Footballer?
If your answer to 1) is yes, then you shouldn't really be here.
If your answer to 2) is yes, then you are an honoured guest
If your answer to 3) is yes, then you are a very honoured guest.
WELCOME
So the Author (well to be precise half the author) named after the Lizard named after the Footballer is lying on the floor by the fire in the stone cottage in the green field in the English countryside writing Zizou's first ever blog.
Today, I am going to tell you something about writing.
You don't always want to do it.
You can't always do it.
Sometimes you have to arrange everything to be just so, so that all arrangements are perfect for writing.
First, allow the other half of the author to go to Devon to jump into rivers and drink hot chocolate with her friend. (She's twelve now. She can do things like that.)
Then allow your boyfriend (who wrote the music) to stay in London doing what he has to do.
Then hotfoot to the country, all alone with your little computer and piles of paper and notebooks and some sausages and apples so you don't starve.
Unpack.
Settle in.
Sit in the big comfortable grey armchair that looks a bit like an elephant, and leans over because it is so old.
Fall asleep.
Wake up.
Think about writing.
Eat chocolate biscuit.
Think about writing.
Remember you promised you'd do a blog to link to the Zizou Corder webpage!
Hurray!
An excuse!
Lie on floor.
Write Blog.
So that's where I am now.
Putting off writing what I'm meant to be writing (ie another book for you).
Honoured guests, what do you want in the blog? Tell me and I will provide.
Here are two good things.
1) If I were writing this blog a year ago I would be telling all about Tokyo and how they gave us Strawberries and Cream sandwiches for our lunch.
2) Today on a layby of the A4 I saw a woman with two lambs on leads, going for a walk.
And one request:
Our Lionboy books are published in 35 languages. Bonjour! Hola! Ciao! Salaam! Guten Tag! Shalom! Etc! - Actually one of those is the odd one out - we have no publisher yet in Arabic and WE REALLY WANT ONE! If you or anyone you know publishes in Arabic let us know please: our website is zizoucorder.co.uk and you can email through there.
Or maybe you can add it here - don't really know about blogs...
Gracias! Kamshamnida! Alif Shukr!
So before we start we have a small entrance test:
1) Are you an adult?
2) Do you know who the Lizard is?
3) And the Footballer?
If your answer to 1) is yes, then you shouldn't really be here.
If your answer to 2) is yes, then you are an honoured guest
If your answer to 3) is yes, then you are a very honoured guest.
WELCOME
So the Author (well to be precise half the author) named after the Lizard named after the Footballer is lying on the floor by the fire in the stone cottage in the green field in the English countryside writing Zizou's first ever blog.
Today, I am going to tell you something about writing.
You don't always want to do it.
You can't always do it.
Sometimes you have to arrange everything to be just so, so that all arrangements are perfect for writing.
First, allow the other half of the author to go to Devon to jump into rivers and drink hot chocolate with her friend. (She's twelve now. She can do things like that.)
Then allow your boyfriend (who wrote the music) to stay in London doing what he has to do.
Then hotfoot to the country, all alone with your little computer and piles of paper and notebooks and some sausages and apples so you don't starve.
Unpack.
Settle in.
Sit in the big comfortable grey armchair that looks a bit like an elephant, and leans over because it is so old.
Fall asleep.
Wake up.
Think about writing.
Eat chocolate biscuit.
Think about writing.
Remember you promised you'd do a blog to link to the Zizou Corder webpage!
Hurray!
An excuse!
Lie on floor.
Write Blog.
So that's where I am now.
Putting off writing what I'm meant to be writing (ie another book for you).
Honoured guests, what do you want in the blog? Tell me and I will provide.
Here are two good things.
1) If I were writing this blog a year ago I would be telling all about Tokyo and how they gave us Strawberries and Cream sandwiches for our lunch.
2) Today on a layby of the A4 I saw a woman with two lambs on leads, going for a walk.
And one request:
Our Lionboy books are published in 35 languages. Bonjour! Hola! Ciao! Salaam! Guten Tag! Shalom! Etc! - Actually one of those is the odd one out - we have no publisher yet in Arabic and WE REALLY WANT ONE! If you or anyone you know publishes in Arabic let us know please: our website is zizoucorder.co.uk and you can email through there.
Or maybe you can add it here - don't really know about blogs...
Gracias! Kamshamnida! Alif Shukr!
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