Today I found out something new about my grandmother. I have always thought that she was the youngest of four girls. This turns out to be wrong. Because of no cencus after 1910, people born after that (who are dead), can be quite tricky to track. Unless you find a death certificate. In 1916 Elses parent's, Harald and Margrethe, had a boy. They named him Aasulv Edvard Berhard Devold. A long, and quite strange name, if you ask me. But I suppose they wanted to make him special, seen as he was their first boy. He got a job on a ship called Stavangerfjord. He only sailed with them a couple of times before WWII. In 1940 he left Norway. He got a job as an able seaman (deckman) on a ship called Bonde. Unfortunately on a trip from Swansea to Canada in 1943, three ships were attacked by an u-boat. Within three minutes, all three ships, Selvistan, Gharinda and Bonde were hit by torpedos. They all sank, and Bonde sank quite slowly. One hour later, elleven survivors were picked up from the sea. Aasulv was not one of them.

I came across this here http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesside&bokid=vaarefalne1&sideid=456&innhaldid=3&storleik=
So, this answers a question I've been sitting on. Who is this? His name was Aasulv.

You know what's annoying? Oh don't worry I will tell you... people who write and speak as if they are better than everything and everyone. I just don't get it. Is this supposed to be funny? Maybe I just have a dull sense of humour, but I don't find these jokes about how much you hate evrything and everyone funny. People like that have an opinion on everything. And, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having an opinion, but is it necessary to poison everyone around you with it?

This makes me look a bit stupid, I suppose, because I am sharing my opinion as we speak. All I wanted to say is... you're not funny.

Musicians of the 60s? I've always known my dad was a very good musician (i.e. singing and playing guitar), and I've always known he was a great big fan of the Beatles. Here in suit and tie and screaming(singing?), my dad is playing the drums. I wonder what the inspiration was...

I can see the similarities, but I guess they didn't get quite "there". 60s teenagers with their hopes and dreams of becoming a Beatle... But no one ever really did. Apparantly the greatest wish my father had was to meet Paul McCartney. He never saw them live, and I am pretty certain he never met any of them either, so when I saw Sir Paul in London last year, it really broke my heart in a way. I didn't want to be one of the screaming, crying beatlemaniacs, but I couldn't help myself sometimes. I think it was only when Paul and his band performed Can't Buy Me Love I realised who I was watching. It was amazing. I started to cry. So The Beatles still lives on.

The point of this was really just to point out that my family have many musicians in it. Both on my mothers side and my fathers side. I know some can play the fiddle(or violin, I guess), and some can play the piano. Some play guitar and some play the trumpet. Whilst all of them sing (more detailed information when I know more). Last year my sister and I performed in my older sisters, Othilie, tenth wedding anniversary. We played mostly Beatles, and it was amazing when all the sisters were singing together.

The Burdal sisters. Not quite the same dress code as The Beatles, but close enough.
"Be mine, sister salvation.
Juke joint jezebel is coming for my cremation.
Be mine, sister salvation.
Closer now, see the revelation."
- KMFDM

I have hit a dead end. My name, Burdal, only seem to go back to my great grandpa, Petter Burdal, born in 1876. Why is that? That is only four generations (five if you count my nieces and nephew). I thought that was a bit weird, but I suppose it is possible. My theories now is that my great grandpa, Petter, got his name from where he was from. A farm or a small area or something like that. The problem with this theory, is that there is farms called Burdal, but I can't seem to make a connection between the farm and us. Another problem I am facing is the spelling of the name. Was it really spelt "Burdal"? Or could it be "Burdahl", "Berdal", "Burdall", "Bordal" or "Børdal"?. The name must in a way have been fexible, seen as my grand uncle (mye grandpas brother), was called Erling Burdahl.

I have one lead... apparently the name Nils and Petter was used every other time(how inventive, and grandpa just decided to ruin the cycle by calling my father Nils Petter). I don't know how far back this cycle went... But after following this lead, I might have found Petter's parents. But they might also be Agnes' parents(I think I am overcomplicating things). I will try to explain... In a digital archive (http://www.arkivverket.no/arkivverket/Digitalarkivet/), I have found the name Aksel Burdal, born in 1905, twice. Aksel was Nils' brother. The name was registered twice in the 1910 cencus. Why? Because he was visiting his grandparents when they came round to count their household. The father in this household is called Nils. Coincidence?

To try and figure this problem out in a better way, I have contacted my older sister. She didn't know, but possibly knew someone who might know (this is complicated, I know). Another thing I have done, is that I have found a cousin of my father. He is still alive! So I have written him a letter where I included some questions and pictures. I really hope he has some answers for me.

The picture above is my grandfather, Nils. Now tell me, Nils, "who's yo daddy?"

I have always been very curious about my past. Mainly because I don't know much about it. My dad died when I was only nine, to which has led me into an unknowing state. Unknowing about who my family on his side actually were. What were their names? Where did they come from? When were they born? I have of course also wondered what their personality were like, but that is an issue I will struggle far more to figure out.

Seen as my mother is still alive, and her father as well, I have learned a lot more about that side of the family than my father. I appreciate the times I have sat down to talk to them both about our family. Both my mom and my grandpa know so much, and have so many stories to share. Unfortunately, neither of them knew any of the people in my fathers family, not even his parents.

My grandparents on my fathers side are called Else and Nils, so I will refer to them as that. And my mothers parents are called Odd and Ingrid.

After talking to my older sister (born in 1974) on my fathers side, I have learned a bit more about Else. She was a beautiful, but apparently very strickt woman. My sister told me Else worked as a hat model. My dad inherited all her belongings when she died (simply because he was her only child). Her stuff was very posh. She liked finer things. Nice jewellery, pictures and china. Our house was practically decorated by her after she died. And it has been that way since about 1994 until today. The picture under is of her.

Else married Nils. I am not sure what his occupation was. But I know that he worked at the same place for 25 years, because I found lots of letters were friends and colleagues congratulated him. Another thing I know about him is that one of his brothers emigrated to America and settled down in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have found letters written in the 30s and 40s.

Nils died in 1956, of a heart attack. Apparently he was on his way to work. My father was only nine. When I heard this story, I think my heart must have skipped a beat. Where have I heard this story before? I have actually been through the exact thing myself, when my father died of a heart attack, on his way to work. I was only nine.

Else remarried. This time to a pharmacist. According to my older sisters grandma, everybody knew who this couple was. And they were the greatest couple in the city. I kind of like the idea of that, because it was so different back then. If someone asked me today "who is the greatest couple in the city you're from?", I would ask "what on earth are you talking about?"

Anyway, this was only a little bit of what I know so far. Will write more some other day, in order to make this post a bit shorter. Hope you enjoyed it.

On Friday, the high light of the day(Friday) was probably Dropkick Murphys. I had never seen them before, and I was quite impressed. Dropkick Murphys play Celtic punk, which  puts you in the mood for dancing, singing and drinking beer. Their vibe was amazing, and they knew how to entertain the audience.  Though I could probably not sit down and listen through a whole album by them non stop, I am glad I have seen them live. Their music is music I'd put on at a party. To round the concert off, they finished with a tribute to AC/DC by playing TNT. It was really cool. Here is a link to the concert on Hellfests website http://www.hellfest.fr/hellfest-tv.php?video_id=756&#video
And here are some pictures http://www.hellfest.fr/galerie.php?id_fi=269
I didn't take any pictures from the festival because I didn't bring my camera, biggest mistake ever. But if it had gotten wet or stolen, that would've been a

Last weekend I went to Hellfest in Clisson, France. I thought I'd write a few reviews of some of the bands I saw when I was there, and a review of the festival itself. I saw in total 25 bands, so I will probably not write a review for all of them. First of all... Christian and I startet our long journey on Wednesday June 13th. This year we decided to try out the coach provided by Argon Events. It costed us about £175 return, I think. Concidering the fact that you would probably end up paying the same or more for flights/train, I thought it was a pretty good deal. The coach picked us up in Sheffield and took us straight to the festival door. And it had a break ever 3-4 hours or so. The only downside was that it took us about 18 hours or so to get there.

We arrived at the festival on Thursday around midday. Due to some construction work of some sort, the festival has moved slightly. For those of you who know the festival, it means that the festival and camp site is all on the same side of the road. The changes weren't massive, but they were of course noticable. I think I prefer the new layout. Anyway... we popped up out two second tent and pegged it down. Our neighbours were from a Southern American country (my knowledge of flags isn't that good, but they spoke spanish, I think). They were quite nice, and helped us with the tent and lent us a hammer. I've never used a pop-up tent, so it was good to have someone to help you prevent it from leaking (seen as the weather forecast for the weekend was quite bad).

We didn't do much on Thursday. We went to the supermarket, and we checked out Metal Corner. That is a big tent with lots of seats and tables. They also had a Rocksmith truck and a massive screen (which played music until like 4AM). It was quite funny, because if Christian has a chance to play guitar, he will play! Rocksmith is a new game you can plug your REAL guitar into, and play. It is like Guitar Hero, I suppose, only real. Christian battled some random French guy and beat him... BADLY! He had about 13000 more points than him.

A hot, sunny day... can it get better? I guess it can. I have two exams left. Once they are done (hopefully well done), I can finally relax. Well, finally... The year has gone so fast. I can't believe I have finished a whole year at university! Only two more left and I will have a bachelor degree in journalism. 

I thought I'd write a bit about summer. I have quite a few plans this summer, actually. First, Christian and I are going to get on the festival bus to Hellfest in France. I hate driving buses, but I guess it is worth it once they drop us off on the doorstep of the festival. Check out the line up on http://www.hellfest.fr/artistes. 

Four days after we get back to Sheffield, we are heading to Norway. My mom is downsizing, ie. we are going to help her move. The new place will be surrounded by fjords. Oh how Norwegian of her. It is going to be sad to see my childhood home be sold, but I guess it is for the best for my mom. 

Then like... two days after we get back to England, Christians parents are taking us to Cyprus. In JULY! It is going to be so hot. We are going to the same place as last year. I hope I don't turn into a lobster this year as well. Cross your fingers!

Then I guess we will go back to Sheffield and eventually Norway at some point. Might take some small trips when we are in Norway. We really want to go to Gothenburg for a few days. It is easy to get there, so it shouldn't be a problem!