Standards play a significant role in supporting the process detailed in an earlier post; specifically, allowing metadata records (retrieved from Web of Science) to be transformed and deposited into the Leeds Met institutional repository (intraLibrary).

The method of depositing into intraLibrary is SWORD (see http://www.swordapp.org). SWORD is a profile of the Atom Publishing Protocol which was developed as part of a JISC funded project. Simply put, SWORD allows for content packages or metadata records to be deposited into a repository from outside of that repository. Previous to SWORD there was not a standard way of doing this.

Leeds Metropolitan University uses intraLibrary 3.1 which uses version 1.2 of SWORD.

IntraLibrary 3.2, due for release sometime in the new year will support SWORD 1.3. A SWORD 1.3 reference implementation of intraLibrary can be found at http://www.swordapp.org/sword/demonstrators. Note that while intraLibrary is being used in Bibliosight, there are other repositories which use SWORD – see http://www.swordapp.org for more information.

For Bibliosight we are depositing metadata records and, again, this relies on standards. The format of the metadata record being deposited is LOM (Learning Object Metadata – see http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/What_is_IEEE_LOM/IMS_LRM for a good overview of LOM) with bibliographic citation extensions. From  version 3.0 onwards, intraLibrary provides extensions of the LOM Identifier fields for describing bibliographic citation data about a resource.  The metadata fields used in this extension conform to DCMI’s Guidelines for Encoding Bibliographic Citation Information in Dublin Core Metadata – see http://www.dublincore.org/documents/dc-citation-guidelines/.

An example of a metadata record including bibliographic citation metadata can be seen at the end of this article. This shows the format of a metadata record which can be deposited into intraLibrary using SWORD. The Bibliosight project will be taking the XML record which WoS returns and converting this to the format shown below using XSLT. The Bibliosight team are currently working on a crosswalk between the WoS-formatted metadata and the LOM record we require for deposit (see Nick’s post on Nov 16th).

Note that the following example also includes XCRI (course information) extensions and CLA reporting extensions but those are not required in the Bibliosight project.

Žali se Fata koni:

- Mujo mi je 300 posto impotentan!

- Kako 300? Jučer si rekla 100.

- Pa, pao je niz stepenice, slomio prste i pregrizao jezik!

A very busy deal week coincided with a very busy work week (for those of us with day jobs), so allow me a particularly grateful thank-you to Jacob Cawker, who’s been an invaluable help with the Deal Review this and the last several weeks.  After the jump, licenses both inbound, outbound and just tied up (optioned); securities extended and accelerated (plus an actual common share offering, with the word “units” banished for one special week); and last but not least, a good volume of Canadian M&A (M&Eh?) from private to public to “just browsing.” 

Licensing and Commercial Deals

• Sonomax Hearing Healthcare Inc. (TSXV: SHH) announced the signing of a five-year renewable license agreement with Hearing Coach Africa (Pty).  The agreement specifies minimum quarterly commitments over five years for V3 hearing protectors, totalling a minimum of $1,000,000.  Mining giant BHP Billiton is the first to buy into Sonomax hearing protection under this agreement.
• Cangene Corporation announced an agreement with Apotex, its largest shareholder, under which Cangene will acquire all U.S. commercialization rights for HepaGam B®, which is approved for treating two Hepatitis-B-related indications in the U.S.  Cangene will pay Apotex a US$7.0 million fee as well as royalties on sales from November 1, 2009 through June 2016.  Cangene manufactures HepaGam B® in its Winnipeg facility.
• Apotex Corp signed a deal with Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical to bring Hisamitsu’s FDA approved transdermal Fentanyl to the U.S., which they say is a $1.2 billion market.
• Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (TSX: ONC) (NASDAQ: ONCY) took an option in a Phase II oncology product currently being developed by privately-held British Biosciences Corp.  Oncolytics bought all the convertible preferred shares of British Biosciences in exchange for 200,000 common shares of Oncolytics –at about $3.50 per share leading up to closing, that’s around $700,000 and about 0.4% of Oncolytics.  If Oncolytics converts the pref shares, it would own about 10% of British Biosciences’ commons.
• Covalon Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: COV), which engineers biomaterials, signed a License Agreement and Services and Supply Agreement with a division of C.R. Bard Inc., permitting the use by Bard of Covalon technology on “certain” products and delivery by Covalon of “various” services.  A bit hard to assess this one, since no financial terms or operational details were provided.
• QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI) (TSX: QLT), which just sold its U.S. subsidiary to manufacturing partner TOLMAR, is re-arranging its Visudyne deal with Novartis.  QLT will have exclusive U.S. sales and marketing rights, including rights to all end-user revenue derived from Visudyne sales in the U.S., and Novartis will have marketing and sales rights in all countries outside of the U.S. subject to a 20% royalty until December 31, 2014, and 16% after that through December 31, 2019. QLT will continue to manufacture Visudyne for Novartis for ex-US distribution.

Securities

• Amorfix Life Sciences (TSX: AMF) announced the acceleration of the expiry of warrants issued on April 29, 2009.  A 10-day VWAP over $1.20 per share triggered the acceleration.  If all outstanding warrants are exercised, Amorfix will receive $2,524,189 of additional proceeds.
• Æterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:  AEZS) (TSX: AEZ) followed June’s $10 million offering with another $5.5 million this week: 4.58 million common shares at $1.20 per share plus 5-year warrants to acquire approximately 1.83 million common shares at an exercise price of US$1.25 per share.  Net proceeds of $5.1 million will be used for general corporate purposes, presumably including the Phase III clinical program it took back from its insolvent partner Ardana this week.
• iCo Therapeutics Inc. (TSXV: ICO) launched a private placement of up to 8.3 million common shares (yep, not units, just actual common shares) this week.  Loewen, Ondaatje, McCutcheon Limited and Versant Partners Inc. are the co-lead agents (no LOM-BioQuest angle here?).  The offering is priced at $0.48 per share, for gross proceeds to iCo of $4,000,000, if fully subscribed.  The Agents get a cash commission of 8%, as well as $0.60 12-month options equal to 4% of the number of shares sold.
• Theralase Technologies Inc. (TSXV: TLT) got a 30-day extension from the TSX Venture Exchange to close its $1.2 million private placement.  No word on how it’s been doing so far.

M&A

• Maxxam Analytics International Corporation, an OMERS private equity portfolio company, expanded its British Columbia operations 7-fold (50 to 350 employees) by acquiring CANTEST Ltd. The deal also takes Maxxam to 1,800 employees across Canada, which according to them is “Canada’s largest independent analytical laboratory services company.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS) (NYSE: MDZ) announced that over 99% of the Common Shares were voted in favour of the sale of its MDS Analytical Technologies business to Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) for $650 million in cash.  MDS is also intent on selling its MDS Pharma Services business, which when complete, will leave MDS focused solely on its MDS Nordion business, which is a leading provider of medical isotopes for molecular and diagnostic imaging, radiotherapeutics and sterilization technologies.
• We were impressed with the IntelliPharmaCeutics-Vasogen-Cervus deal when it was announced in August, and so were shareholders.  Following their approval of the plan of arrangement and merger, the transactions closed, et voila, IntelliPharmaCeutics is a public, dual-listed company (NASDAQ:IPCI; TSX:I) with $7.5 million extra cash (less what must have been some significant fees on this complex deal).
• Advitech Inc. (TSXV: AVI) announced that it will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Botaneco Specialty Ingredients Inc., held by Avrio Ventures Limited Partnership and (a little, still by) SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX: SBS) (SemBioSys’ release here).  Under the terms of the deal, Advitech will issue to Avrio and SemBioSys 28,099,003 post-Consolidation common shares of Advitech (representing 49% of all the issued and outstanding shares of Advitech), at a deemed issuance price of $0.02 per share. Concurrently with the above, Advitech will also complete a $2.5 million private placement, to be shared equally between Avrio and AgeChem Venture Fund L.P., with each acquiring 7,812,500 units of Advitech at a price of $0.16 per unit.  Each unit consists of one post-Consolidation common share, and one common share purchase warrant, exercisable on the terms and conditions agreed to by the parties at the time of closing. In connection with the above-mentioned transactions, Advitech and AgeChem agreed to have 58,083,333 common share purchase warrants currently held by AgeChem redeemed through the issuance of 6,250,000 pre-Consolidation common shares at a deemed price of $0.02 per share. Following the transactions, Advitech’s largest shareholders will be Avrio (41.76%) and AgeChem (21.73%).  SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX: SBS) also announced an exclusive license agreement with Argentina’s Instituto de Agrobiotecnologia Rosario S.A. (INDEAR) for the commercialization and supply of SemBioSys’ safflower-produced chymosin, a protein used in the manufacture of food products. INDEAR signed an option agreement with SemBioSys in January 2008 that seems to have borne fruit.
• Prism Medical Ltd. (TSXV: PM) put itself on the block, appointing Raymond James & Associates to look for “strategic alternatives” [following an undersubscribed placement in August].

Traim in era digitala. Ce expresie fumata, dar adevarata. Ce a mai ramas din realitatea cruda, cea de la varful simturilor noastre incepe sa fie din ce in ce mai mult transpusa in “continut media”. Un SLR sau o camera HD (nemaivorbind de PC-uri performante sau monitoare uriase) nu mai sunt chiar SF si permit oricui crearea de continut digital.
Mai mult sau mai putin util, acesta, ca orice informatie, trebuie stocat. La naiba in puii mei, am deja 70GB in 3 ani de pozat (incluzand si filmuletele 640*320 capturate cu ap. foto). Se vorbeste din ce in ce mai des de NAS, ca fiind ceva natural, asa cum, sa zicem, erau pe vremuri “video-urile” sau casetele VHS.
Si acum ajungem la titlu: unde le tinem, ca sa ramana in siguranta (presupunand ca e clar ca tinem doar ce merita). RAID6 ca la Calin, sa isi tina pe veci 3TB cu redundanta la picarea a doua discuri, HDD extern criptat, cum propune AdrianB1 pe xf, DVD-uri dual-layer…
In cazul meu sigur s-ar potrivi varianta de mijloc, dar nici a din urma nu suna rau. Atat doar ca.. ocupa spatiu. Ca orice chestie fizica, bun material, iar tendinta mea de a tot acapara lom se pastreaza constanta.
Sambata inca doua undite, ca plecam peste 2 saptamani in Delta, un CD de la Ateneu de vineri 25 septembrie noaptea (singura seara din Festivalul Enescu la care am fost anul asta), cateva CD-uri din Franta, DVD-ul Farinelli. Si mereu zic ca voi face curat, ca mai scap din inutilitati.
Chiar am avut o pornire de a debarasa pe okazii tot ce am in plus, dar mi-au inchis licitatia pe motiv ca, fiind “mokazie”, nu am voie sa ii stabilesc un pret. Daca nu am voie, atunci de ce sistemul permite? Nu am inteles-o pe asta…
Diana cumpara carti intr-una. Ii mai iau si cadou azi, se aduna la morman. Iar cand ne-om muta, sa vezi dixtractie.
Apropo de 16-19, uf.. o sa pierd 2-3 concerte din Festivalul de Muzica Veche 2009. Dar despre asta, intr-un articol viitor, ca tot s-au strans idei.

Den 3. august 2009 tog vi på 4-dags turen til Jostedalsbreen, Geiranger og Ålesund. Vores første seværdighed på turen var Stavkirken i Lom ad hovedvej 15. Kirken er oprindeligt fra 1200-tallet.

Vi var for nærige til at betale 45 kr. for at komme ind i kirken – men det skulle heller ikke være noget specielt ifølge nogle amerikanere, der kom ud derindefra. I stedet købte vi postkort fra kirken.

Det var i øvrigt også her i Lom ved 11.30-tiden at det endelig stoppede med at regne. Det var dog stadig skyet, som man kan se på billederne her.

Og sådan var vores bil pakket til tre overnatninger

We have new details about the LOM-BioQuest joint venture that was announced last week.  The WSJ article about the JV emphasized the goals of supporting good science and expanding the two companies’ presence in the life sciences market.

I spoke to the Director of LOM BioQuest, Garrett Herman, and one of his associates yesterday about their vision for the joint venture.  They also shared with me the letter they sent announcing the JV (pdf).  Here are the highlights of the letter and our conversation:

• They are taking a broad view of “life sciences” and plan to have the JV be the intake point for all their new projects in the space.
• They want to take whatever approach will maximize the likelihood of good science succeeding and are willing to engage shareholders as well as management and boards.
• Although the JV does not have any current employees, it does have “the full attention of both firms.”
• For now, interested parties should contact the principals in the letter.
• The plan is to nurture a few dramatic successes that will allow them to have an in-house source (or a regular stable) of capital to lead future deals, and a revived Canadian investor ecosystem to syndicate to.

I look forward to seeing LOM-BioQuest’s private sector approach to combining operating and financial advisory services, which should complement analogous efforts at NRC-IRAP and MaRS Innovation…

In addition to the highlights already noted — Enobia’s $50 million r0und, and the LOM – BioQuest joint venture — there was plenty of other Canadian deal activity this week.  Check it out

M&A:

• IMBiotechnologies Ltd, a private biotechnology company based in Edmonton, purchased assets related to the Occlusin® tumor starvation technology from Paladin Labs (TSE: PLB).  Paladin gets a cash payment for the purchase (undisclosed amount), a one-time milestone payment on first sale of product and a royalty with a capped payment.
• Pacgen Biopharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX-V: PGA) closed its acquisition of Xphase Pharmaceuticals Inc. following TSX-V approval. As agreed, Pacgen issued 3 million common shares to Xphase shareholders in exchange for 100% ownership of Xphase as well as the management services of certain Xphase principals. An additional 3.5 million shares may be payable for business development milestones.

Securities:

• BioSyntech, Inc. (TSX: BSY) appointed Ms. Jeanne Bertonis, MBA, M.Sc. as their new CEO this week and  announced plans to raise $4.5 million through a private placement, debenture extension and rights offering.  Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. is acting as sole financial advisor for the whole triple-play, which should be done by October.  Here’s the scoop:
  • The private placement is for 140,000 units, at $10 per unit, each unit being $10 principal amount of 12% subordinated secured convertible debentures due March 31, 2010 (convertible at $0.11 per share) and ninety-one 7-year $0.14 warrants for gross proceeds of $1,400,000;
  • The current subordinated secured convertible debentures of BioSyntech will be extended to March 31, 2010; and
  • BioSyntech will launch the rights offering, following completion of the private placement and the term extension, for an additional 310,000 units at a price of $10 per unit, representing gross aggregate proceeds of up to $3,100,000, for which the company has a stand-by commitment of $1,958,900 (with an additioal $1.1 million stand-by possibly pending).
• Oncothyreon Inc. (Nasdaq: ONTY, TSX: ONY) placed approximately 2.28 million units (common share plus 0.30 of a 24-month $6.5775 warrant) at $6.5775 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $15.0 million.  Quite a boost over their deal in May that was $2.85 per unit.
• Jennerex, Inc. announced the first closing of a private placement financing with gross proceeds of US $5,123,521, exceeding the target of $5 million USD. A second closing is anticipated on or before September 15, 2009, with additional proceeds to be determined.
• GeneNews Limited (TSX: GEN) closed the second tranche of its private placement, raising an additional $300,000 over July’s first tranche of $1.7 million.
• Pyng Medical Corp. (TSX-V: PYT) closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement of secured subordinated convertible notes  and common share purchase warrants for gross proceeds of $547,725.  The notes are 5-year notes with a conversion price of $0.20 per share and for every $0.20 principal amount of  notes purchased, subscribers received one 5-year $0.22 warrant.  Pyng Growth LLC purchased $400,000 of the offering.  L.J. Evans, Jr. is a shareholder of Pyng Growth and a director of Pyng.
• MedMira Inc., (NASDAQ: MMIRF, TSX-V: MIR) is planning to settle a total of $966,087 of debt by issuing 14,862,880 common shares ($0.065 per share), subject to TSX-V approval.  This is just a half cent a share less than their last round of debt settlement in June.
• Medicure Inc. (TSX: MPH) reached an agreement with its lender to further defer a required payment of approximately US$1.7M to September 1st, 2009 while the parties continue discussions.
• Prism Medical Ltd. (TSX-V: PM), which makes home medical equipment and provides services, granted 3-year options to acquire 50,000 common shares to a senior officer of Prism Medical UK at an option price of $6.00.

Licensing:

Clinical Data, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDA) announced a collaboration and licensing agreement with CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: CRXX).  Clinical Data is licensing its adenosine A2A agonist, ATL313, to CombinatoRx in exchange for the potential earnings of up to $252 million from milestones and royalties (this In Vivo Blog DoTW post extracts details from the 8-K). CombinatoRx, fresh off the Neuromed transaction, will be responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of ATL313.

Distributor:

Warnex Medical Laboratories, a division of Warnex Inc. (TSX: WNX) and Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), a developer of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, announced an exclusive distribution agreement in Canada for three currently-available diagnostic tests for tumor characterization.  Warnex will market Rosetta Genomics’ miRview™ tests. Samples will be sent from Canada to Rosetta Genomics’ Philadelphia-based CLIA-certified laboratory for analysis.

Follow-Up:

• LAB Research Inc. (TSX: LRI) filed the final prospectus for the $15.6 million rights offering they launched last week.
• ConjuChem Biotechnologies Inc.’s (TSX: CJB) plan of arrangement with Colabor Income Fund (TSX: CLB.UN) that was announced last month is scheduled for a final order August 24th.  ConjuChem shares are still down about 10% since the announcement.
• JLL Partners extended its offer for Patheon again, while Patheon announced a regulatory approval.

This week has seen a continued upswing for biotech and other health industry companies in the U.S. (with two IPOs) and in Canada (with great VC news and the pending appointment of an administrator for the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund):

In the U.S.

• Emdeon (NYSE: EM) IPO’d today, pricing at the top of its range ($15.50) and closing up about 10% on the day at $16.52 after touching as high as $18.24.  Emdeon processed almost half of all U.S. electronic medical claims in 2008, according to the WSJ, meaning they’re poised for further growth on the wave of electronic medical record spending expected between now and 2011.
• Specialty pharma company Cumberland priced under its range yesterday, but has held its own in the first two days of trading (NASDAQ: CPIX). Check out Brian Orelli’s take on the offering.
• Biotech venture capital firm Domain Associates, which topped today’s list from FierceBiotech of the most active life science investors with 41 deals in the last year and a half, closed its eighth fund yesterday with $500M, and will focus on early stage therapeutics and devices. H/T @SternIR.

Here in Canada

• Enobia Pharma, whose lead (Phase II) product is a human recombinant enzyme for hormone replacement in hypophosphatasia patients, raised $50 million in their third venture round this week. Remember the grim report on Canada’s VC numbers last week?  Well, between this Enobia deal plus Allostera’s $17 million round in July, Canadian healthcare companies are on-track to match 2008 levels (no great shakes, but still better than other sectors were faring at the end of Q2).
• In other interesting news, investment firm LOM Bancorp and BioQuest Capital Corp., a biotechnology developer, announced a new joint venture this week.  More to come on this one as we learn more about the goals, structure and funding, but this will be good for Canadian biotech.
• We also hear that the Ontario Emerging Technology Fund launch will really get moving with the engagement of a fund administrator, as the Province’s RFP process wraps up in the next couple of weeks.

In the pipeline

With personalized medicine seeing increasing validation as a clinical strategy, genomics technology will be key.  News this week from Helicos Biosciences that an individual’s complete genome was sequenced in one month for just $50k in consumables is an important marker (har) on the road to regular full-genome scans as part of our medical toolkit.

Votre équipe préférer c qui vous ???

 mwa vou l’avez deviner

Target acquired

Ein sehr interessanter Blog zum Thema Rapid Prototyping mit dem Laser – aber auch mit anderen Technologien – findet sich hier.

Beschrieben werden (bis jetzt) die folgenden Technologien:

SLA – StereolithographySLS – Selective Laser Sintering
FDM – Fused Deposition Modeling
LOM – Laminated Object Manufacturing
3DP – 3-Dimensional PrintingInkjet and MultiJet Printing
SGC – Solid Ground Curing
JP – Jetted Photopolymer
DMLS – Direct Metal Laser Sintering
LENS – Laser Engineered Net Shaping & DMD – Direct Metal Deposition

Hvordan takler man en krise på skolen? Enten det gjelder mobbing, vold eller andre kriser bør man ha lagt planer på forhånd, sa seniorrådegiver Torunn Tinnesand ved Lillegården kompetansesenter da hun ble intervjuet av Telemarkssendinga nylig. (Innslaget begynner ca 3 minutter inn i nyhetssendingen.)

Når planene er på plass, må man trene på dem og ta dem fram jevnlig så alle vet hva de skal gjøre når det oppstår en krise.

Innslaget ble laget i forbindelse med en konkret hendelse på en lokal videregående skole, men Tinnesand uttalte seg selvfølgelig på generelt grunnlag.

Les mer om kriser og krisehåndtering på nettstedet LOM.

Apple hat gestern ein Update der LOM Firmware für die Xserves (Early 2008) veröffentlicht. Das Update erhöht die Versionsnummer auf 1.2 und behebt Fehler  mit dem Lights-Out-Management, das bei der Überwachung der Stromversorgung und Lüfter zu Problemen führen konnte. Nach dem Update, das Mac OS 10.5.6 zwingend verlangt, sollte sich die Lights-Out-Management-Versionsnummer auf 1.1.2 belaufen. Das Update kann hier heruntergeladen werden.

Høyfjellets fortid og framtid
Klimaendringer, kulturminner og naturen i Jotunheimen – høyfjellets fortid og framtid – står i fokus under den store klimakonferansen i Lom 25. – 26. mai. Konferansen samler blant andre ledende klimaforskere, glasiologer, arkeologer og miljøvernorganisasjoner. Dagen før selve konferansen – 24. mai, den europeiske nasjonalparkdagen – inviteres ungdom med på topptur til Galdhøpiggen sammen med polfareren Liv Arnesen og Natur og Ungdom.

Gå inn på www.oppland.no, finn invitasjonen på http://www.oppland.no/Fag-og-tjenester/Kulturvern/Aktuelt-kulturvern/Miljotopper-til-klimakonferanse-/
og meld dere på: Et viktig tema, – og det hele foregår i en vakker nasjonalparklandsby

“Tisztelt xyz kerületi lakosok! Felhívjuk szíves figyelmüket, hogy hamarosan sorra kerül éves lomtalanítási programunk. Kérjük készítsék ki házaik elé a feleslegessé vált használati tárgyaikat, mellőzve a háztartási szemetet, veszélyes hulladékokat (gyógyszerek, szárazelemek, akkumulátorok, stb.), állati tetemeket, építési törmeléket és zöldhulladékot. A kitett lomok elszállításáról még aznap este gondoskodnak Budapest székesfőváros nemhivatalos, buckalakókból álló, párszemélyes dzsuvakommandói, a maradékot pedig a másnap folyamán járműveinkkel bezúzatjuk és elszállítjuk. Együttműködésüket előre is köszönjük!”

A folyamat a következőképpen zajlik:

Ön összegyűjti feleslegessé vált, bár többségében hibás, vagy sérült bútorait, műszaki cikkeit, amit Ön kihelyez az ingatlanja elé, a többi lakóval egyetemben. Miután a kirakott hulladék alapterülete meghaladta az 1 négyzetmétert, megjelennek sötét színezetű felebarátaink, akik stipi-stopit szeretnének játszani az adott halom (illetve a nagyobb fémtartalmú dolgok) tulajdonjogáért. Vagy székkel érkeznek meg, vagy a kirakott ülőalkalmatosságokat használják, akkor is, ha a hibás gázrugó belerobbanhat a seggükbe. Ilyenkor “aki kapja, marha” alapon kiosztásra kerülnek a fontosabb hulladékhalmok, de ekkor még viszonylagos nyugalom van. A késő délutáni, kora esti órákban viszont felbőgnek a Barkas-motorok, és sötét színezetű felebarátaink nekivágnak motorizált begyűjtőkörútjuknak.

Első lépés:
Lefoglalás

Alias camp. Sötét színezetű felebarátaink járják az utcákat, és nézelődnek, melyik kis kupacban van potenciál, hogy kincsesbánya lehessen. Amint találnak ilyet, hátrahagynak egy tagot, aki felügyeli és védi a kupacot a rivális mobok ellen. Ilyenkor a hátramaradt őrszem leül a járda közepén, fényes nappal egy székre, és elkezd várni. Nagyon könnyen felismerhetőek, lévén általában szakadt dzsekit vagy inget, koszos nadrágot, ápolatlan bajuszt, és kócos hajat viselnek, és enyhén szólva hibás a fogsoruk. A női verzió is ismeretes, csak az mellényt visel, ragyás, ráncos, őszülő hajú és kicsit nagyon molett. De arcszőrzete annak is van ám rendesen. Ezek a védemberek mobiltelefonon keresztül tartják a kapcsolatot a főhadiszállással, és semmi esetre sem tágítanak az általuk őrzött halomtól.
Ahogy a nap folyamán gyűlik a lom, úgy egyre több halomnál jelenik meg egy, kettő, netalántán három sötét színezetű embertársunk, és csak a legócskább dombocskák maradnak szűzen. Ilyenkorra már rendesen beindul a kupacok mélyanalizálása, átforgatással, szétpakolászással, ami a kupac által lefoglalt területet minimum duplájára növeli, és kettővel kevesebb autó fog tudni parkolni a kupac mellett.

Második lépés:
Territoriális acsarkodás

Alias aggro. Alapvetően a buckalakók, másik nevükön réti niggerek agresszív fajta. Ahogy máskor is, a lomtalanítás idején is tesznek a tulajdonjogokra, mégha az egy másik csoportjuké is, így egymástól is meg akarják kaparintani az értékesebb holmikat. Ebből általában nem lesz testi fenyítés, csak hangos, magyar vagy egzotikus nyelvű szídalmazás, és egymás felszólítása egy lóval való közösülésre.
A vitában jó hasznát veszik szókincsüknek és nagy hangerejüknek, ami minden további nélkül demonstrálnak a nyílt utcán. Alapvetően a több ember-több erő elv érvényesül, ezért az igazán profi lomguberálók erős, tagbaszakadt társakat hívnak el portyára, akiknek a szókincse kimerül a következő kifejezésekben: hö, anyád, cafat, sukár, gádzsi, gádzsó, dikk nézd mán, Józsi, testvír és hűtőláda.

Harmadik lépés:
Begyűjtés

Alias loot. Az egész napos kemény lomkupac-őrzés után jön a nap fénypontja, amikoris sötét színezetű felebarátaink magukévá teszik a kidobott holmikat. Ehhez a csóribbak kézzel húzós kis szekérszerű tákolmányt használnak, a többiek viszont valahonnan a széles rokoni körből szereznek egy szocialista kistehergépjárművet, úgymint Barkas, Robur vagy Żuk, neadjisten egy utánfutós Ladát, és elindulnak kincsvadászatra, méghozzá térkép nélkül.
Ennek során platóra illetve raktérbe kerül minden ami működőképesnek látszik, vagy le lehet adni az átvevőtelepeken. Meg persze néha a bútor tüzelőnek is jól jön. Az egész nap felvigyázott hűtőszekrények, kanapék, fotelok és lemezjátszók elvándorolnak a helyükről, mielőtt megvirradna a következő nap. Mikorra megérkeznek a kukásautók, hogy bezúzzák a lomokat, már elég sok minden hiányozni fog, 8 méteres körzetben szanaszét lesz dobálva az apró szemét, és a meghagyott dolgok is darabokban lesznek. Ami marad, az megy a kukásautó gyomrába recsegve-ropogva.

Ugye-ugye, ami az egyik embernek lom, az a másiknak kincs. Épp most volt itt is lomtalanítás, és majdnem minden lomkupacnál üldögélt minimum egy opportunista színesbőrű, aki szépen őrizte a kinézett holmikat. Olyan melegség töltött el, hogy az FKF munkásainak nem kell annyi mindent bezúzatniuk, mert a felét széthordták kedves sötét színezetű felebarátaink. Köszönöm az ő nevükben is!

…for Jessica Sprague`s -  Type + Write starting today. I did not plan this, but with Easter coming up I have the time to do this. I loved her “stories in hand” class. She delivers good stuff.  And I want to take a peek into the world of digital scrapbooking. The first handout looks good and I love the digital elements we received today. (And I already finished today’s assignment).

I`m already  doing  Karen Grunberg`s class – Telling Stories Deeply – at BPS.  A great class, witch I hope she will teach again. Karen is a wonderful and engaged teacher. Her handouts are awesome. The class runs over 4 weeks and she left me behind in week 2. This is one of those classes that could run for months. Not her fault though that I`m left behind. I had to admit that translating this knowledge into Norwegian would take some more time. All the handouts are saved and I will work on this on my own. I am okay with that because her handouts are great.

On to a LOM update…

This week we are making Photo Album Scrapbooks. We learned that in Stacy Julian`s Have More Fun class last summer. I had never heard about PAS at the  time and I loved this concept. If you have lot of pictures from one event, or several pictures of the same situation over a span of time – this is a great way of honoring those memories. It is quick, fun and the choices are endless. I still have problems finding these albums in Norway. It is kind of boring to use the same album over and over again and they are difficult to alter. But – that is okay because I enjoy this so much.

…a word invented by Stacy Julian. After filling the storage binders with chronological photos we take some out of the binders and put them in category drawers. The photos will be taken out of their setting and put into another setting where they will be ageing. That way we will be able to se other connections with our photos. I have always loved to make this kind of connections when I work with albums, and now I will have a system to do so.

I was not going to do any scrapbooking today. I am cleaning and triaging. But, looking into the LOAW group at flicr I got inspired. This weeks challenge is to make a layout after a sketch from PageMaps.

She is such a brave little cookie. Crawling naked in the attic looking for the birds nest.

I am feeling good. This took me just a few minutes. I knew where I had the pics. My work space is organized – tank you Wendy Smedley. And the girls in the LOAW inspires me.

No – I feel great.

…is really the most good thing going for me right now. Working through all these photos drives me nuts. I feel that it gets me nowhere. There have been a lot of talk about birthdays and events on the message board. That is not a problem for me. Not so much events – but thousands of everyday moments. And it is so hard to let them go. Ah, but she is so cute…and Oh, I remember that…Some months there a thousands of photos…For once in my life I am really happy I don`t have that many years of digital photos to sort through.

Load day 16

It is fun to look through the pictures taken in 2007. Baby Elin was so cute at three. Most of the photos from 2007 are mostly uploaded to FotoKnudsen ( where they are safely stored and printed).  The albums from 2007 is buried deep down and I have not seen them in a long time so I do enjoy my self. But, I have worked on this the whole evening and I have only done 4 days. I am just saying -  a lot of pictures…

…and my head NEVER hurts! I was up at 5 am and worked until noon. And I have been glued to the computer since I came home from work. And it`s not the gathering of the photos from all around the place that makes my head hurt. I can not get my head around the fact that I need to reprint  pictures that I already have in albums, and put them in storage binders.  I am talking about  thousands of photos already scrapped and  hundreds of leftovers – I still need to reprint and make storage binders. I have to rethink this part of the process.

In the meantime every corner of my workspace is covered in stacks of photo. I do not feel sorry for myself. There is only 4 years of digital photos, so I will be alright.

There is still snow and for a short period of time we had some strays of sun today.

It is snowing now but I would not be surprised if the rain is pouring down in the morning. Since I have photos all over the place I made a really quick digital layout for the Load challenge today, using one of Ali Edwards templates.

Load day 14 - Valentinsday

…and I just realized that I have to go back to work. I can choose to go now – at  midnight or to get out of bed at 5 am. I really do not want to go out in the cold snowy weather at midnight and I don`t want to get out of bed in 6 hours.  So between bad and bad – I choose early morning ; rise and shine. 

Finally the LOM-classroom opend up. I have been reading and listening to Stacy Julians brilliant ideas. All good. But reading through the message board I realized that I have to start all over again,  organizing my photos. The good thing – I finally understood what my brother have been trying to get into my head for months now. I have said it before – I am a slow learner. It is amazing what you can learn on the message board. One more thing the brilliant Stacy Julian said; get off the message boards and get to work. That might be a good advice, but I do not take orders that easy…

Lains mail today was were fitting. Go Simple and basic. I did. I turned to Cathy Z and printed a template from her design class and it all came together in a few minutes. Lucky thing I got a lot of photos printed today. Looking through them it was one photo that did stand out to me. It is my sister in law and baby Kristian. She is such a great grandma and the photo made me think of my mother and how she embraced being a grandma. I turned the photo to look at the date and it was taken March 29. 2008. That was my mothers birthday…

LOAD day 12

Canadian developments first:

• MDS (TSX:MDS; NYSE:MDZ) announced that it’s forming a special committee to “support the Company’s continuing process of reviewing alternatives to improve shareholder value.”  According to the press release:

The committee is comprised of William Anderson, Robert Luba, James MacDonald and Gregory Spivy, each of whom is independent of management. James MacDonald will act as Chair of the committee. Goldman, Sachs & Co and RBC Capital Markets are assisting the Company and the Board of Directors as financial advisors.

• Quest PharmaTech (TSX-V: QPT) announced that they engaged LOM “to provide financial advisory services in connection with various business development opportunities”

DealBook has an interesting post talking about the Pfizer-Wyeth merger agreement, followed by some good comments.

Score one for the financial buyers: fourth time was a charm for Deerfield Capital, which signed a deal to buy NitroMed for $46 million (go-shop period through February 26)

Also in the (deal) pipeline:

• Sanofi doesn’t want to miss the party (see interesting reference to Crucell as a potential target, now that Wyeth has called things off); and
• Several investors in Amylin (NASDAQ: AMLN), including entities associated with Carl Icahn, have nominated and/or announced their support for alternate director slates.  Eastbourne Capital Management LLC had reportedly spoken to Amylin in November about “possible acquisition by a third party” (Full Bloomberg story here.)

Berggården Uppigard Sulheim ligger i Bøverdalen i Lom. Och gården och Lom med omnejd är i sig värt några rader!

Gården, som är 30 timmerbyggnader, kom i 1923, som en av de första i Norge, under beteckningen “nationalmonument”. Redan i det nionde århundradet fanns det folk här, även om dagens äldsta byggnad först kom i 1250. Resten är från 1500- och 1600-talet. Huvudhuset, från 1660 är troligen Gudbrandsdalens äldsta tvåvåningshus.

I de många husen finns möbler, vapen och andra artefakter som har sin historia helt tillbaka till vikingatiden. Och även om Uppigard Sulheim är sedan länge förbi sin ungdomstid är den lika levande i dag som för tusen år sedan, bl.a. genom mjölk- och köttproduktion, skogbruk och dyrkad mark.

Det finns också, i “Nordrebygningen” möjlighet att semestra i en av de tre nyrenoverade lägenheterna. Vare sig man stannar en helg eller en hel vecka spelas det på kvällarna upp till dans i det gamla stallet. På dagarna kan man gå mediterande långpromenader i fjällen upp mot Jotunheimen och Sognefjell. Och gillar man inte att promenera kan man fiska ørret, gå på rypejakt eller skjuta hjort och dådyr. Vill man heller äta än jaga kan man besöka områdets underbara matställen, Røisheim Hotell, Jotunheimen Fjellstue, Grotli Høyfjellshotell, Brimi Fjellstugu eller Norges berömdaste kock, Arne Brimi på Fossheim Turisthotell.

Själva Lom centrum sägs vara den bäst förvarade tätbygden i inlands-Norge. Här finns ett vackert friluftsmuseum med bl.a. en stuga vid namn Olavsstugu. Här sägs Olav den Helige ha övernattat. I Lom finns också landets största samling av norska mineraler och smyckesstenar.

Norsk Fjellmuseum visar hur vi använder fjällen och hur dessa har format historien och kulturen i fjällbygderna. Här finns också utställningar om vegetation, djur, landskap och tur-rutter i Jotunheimen. Dessutom en spännande dokumentation om Mammuten, som för 35 000 år sedan dominerade i dessa trakterna, hur den levde och utrotades.

Nordgard Aukrust är en örtträdgård med hela 200 olika örttyper. Här kan man välja om man vill vandra omkring själv eller om man vill ha en guidad tur. Här finns försäljning av örter och grönsaker.

Vid Uppigard Sulheim finns högfjällsområdet i Norge. Jotunheimen – “där jotnarna bor”, är precis utanför dörren. Galdhøpiggen, som är landets högsta berg på 2469 m.o.h (tro mig, de fyra siffrorna sitter hårt sedan lågstadiet) och Glittertind. Dessutom tvåhundra andra “tindar” på mer än tvåtusen m.o.h. 52% av Jotunheimens nationalpark ligger i Lom. Nationalparken är den med flest berg i Norge, 27 av de högsta bergstopparna finns här. Och i tillägg till höga fjäll finns det frodiga dalar, flera glaciärer och stora insjöar. Området är rena eldoradot för naturälskare. Här färdar man fritt, det finns massor av frisk luft och rent, rinnande vatten. På färden – om man vill – följer man uppmärkade stigar och sover i turiststugor. Det är bara att ta för sig!

Här finns mer info:

Upplevelser
Vinter- och sommaraktiviteter på Leirvassbu
Skidåkning på Galdhøpiggen
Skidåkning vid Juvasshytta
Glaciärvandring
Mer glaciärvandring
Glaciärvandring på Smørstabbreen
Bergsklättring i t.ex. vackra Rondane
Jakt
Ät gott hos hela Norges kock
Norsk traditionsmat i Lom
Fisklycka i Skjåk
Fiske i Lom
Fiske i Gudbrandsdalslågen
Safari i Norge….
Häst till fjälls
Ridning på Sulseter
Ridturer på Slangen Seter
Hästar på Venabu
Ridning på Dalseter
Se Jotunheimen med båt
Bada på Dønfoss Camping i flodbassenget

Brimiland
Rafting på Sjoa
Mer Sjoa
Sjoa Kajaksenter
Skjåk rafting
Vandring
Vandring på Venabu
Lom Bygdamuseum
Grotturar i Dummdalsgrottorna

Övernattning
Dønfoss med badanlägg i floden
Kvila Turistheim är billig och charmig övernattning
Brimi Sæter
Brimi Fjellstugu
Nordal Turistsenter
Jotunheimen Fjellstue
Spiterstulen Turistsenter
Nissegården Villmarkssenter
Glitterheim
Raubergstulen Turisthytte
Røisheim Hotel Oj, så vackert (bilden härunder)!!!

Spiterstulen Turisthytte
Fossheim Hotel
Fossberg Hotel
Haukdalen med målarkurs NB!
Andvord Gard Ännu ett av de vackra (härunder)! Vill också ha ett sånt hus!

Elveseter Hotel
Pollfoss Gjestehus & Hotell
Sognefjellshytta
Graffer Gard

Transport
Nordfjordekspressen
Ekspressbussen Bergen-Trondheim
Gudbrandsdalekspressen
NOR-WAY Bussekspress
Fylkesbåtene
Lokalt och regionalt
Lokalekspressen
NSB
Jotunheimen och Valdresruten Bilselskap
Norwegian
SAS Braathens
Widerøe

Mellan Lom och Gaupne (i Luster) finns Sognefjellsveien som är Nord-Europas högsta bergpass. Högsta punktet är på 1434 m.o.h. Här får man en strålande panoramautsikt över blåvita glaciärer och majestätiska bergstoppar, innan man kommer ner till världens längsta fjord, den 200 km långa Sognefjorden. Och just detta området är ett av mina absoluta favoritområden i Norge. Det finns knappt något vackrare i världen! Här finns berg och dalar och vatten och is i en salig mix, bl.a. finns Jostedalsglaciären här. Och är man intresserad av arkitektur har man definitivt kommit rätt, här ligger nämligen Norges äldsta stavkyrka – Urnes Stavkyrka, som finns på Unesco’s lista över världsarv.

I did not plan to start with the photos just yet,  but I needed something to do while watching Obama and  the inauguration. Just finished sorting through 20 inches of photos, and a few inches found their home in the paper trash. Thought it would be good to have a head start before getting into LOM in February.

I am gathering the childhood memory. My brother goes treasure hunting, and sometimes he makes a find.

I don`t  know – maybe Kristian rather would draw instead of study an outdated world map…or maybe he feels obligated since he is the fourth generation watching this thing spin.

Lain Ehmann is doing LOAD ( a layout a day) in February. I would love to do this again. It was so fun last year. That was how I got started with the scrapbooking. Since Simple can`t  host this event, Lain is organising this her self – as a flicre group.

Lain`s blog