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Medieoperatørene presents

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A film by Charlotte Thiis-Evensen

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Perhaps you could play that song you gave me?

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- Now? 
- Yes.

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St. Jørgen's Square

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(NEWS JINGLE)

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...riots and general strike in Athens...

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...good morning everyone...

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(MORNING RADIO SHOW JINGLE)

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Jørgen is head of the equipment storage 
at the NRK for the past ten years.

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I am going on a shoot today, but I 
forgot the memory cards for the P2-camera.

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- That’s not exactly my problem, is it?
- No.

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- And then there's a collection afterwards.
- I'll bring them back.

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You can have one, but there will 
be a collection afterwards,

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- A collection?
- I'll hassle you with phonecalls.

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These cards are just trouble, really.

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You should shape up, not just 
make a muddle. Don't you agree?

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- Yes, yes...

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- An order has been placed? 
- Yes, but things take time.

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- Must nag, you know. 
- Can't nag. It takes time.

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They don’t work any faster down there.

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- In Germany? 
- Yes, they don't.

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The “I-must-have” people... 
then I get pissed off.

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They don’t get any particular service.

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- I need sound.
- You'll need some mikes, then?

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All people are different,
some people you like, some you don't

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Of course, I offer more 
serviceto people I like.

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Some people... I instantly
pick up on a bad vibration.

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People are very self-absorbed here.

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No one thinks about the next man.

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"I need, I need..."

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- Haven't you completed the smile-program, Jørgen?

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No, I haven't.

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- Why should I?
- Service course...

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- Should I run around smiling when you come then? 
- Yes.

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– Yeah, right.
- You should.

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I'm not working for an airline, you know.

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You don’t have to come here, you know.

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You don’t have to come here.

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You can stay down in the News-department

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- That’s going out again tomorrow. 
- Have a nice day!

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"Chapter 23"

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"Establishing a power base through terror."

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"For the next ten years, Mao’s home was on
the Yellow Earth Plateau in northwestern China,"

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"near the Yellow River"

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"the next largest river in 
China after the Yangtze,"

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"and the cradle of Chinese civilization."

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The Mao book, "The Unknown Mao" 
is a 78 hours long audio book.

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I listen to it at work now and then, 
but mostly when I go to bed at night, or after work.

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The book is very fascinating. 
How crazy it all was.

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"The advancing communist army 
took over all civil institutions"

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"recruiting young people with education, 
urban men and women, to fill the positions."

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I need a camera, I am going on a trip.

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It's not like a shop here, you know.
"Need this, need that"

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- Can I get a camera then?
- Where are you going?

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Somalia. Or no, I am going to Kenya.

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- Then you definitely won’t get one. 
It will get ruined. Sand and shit.

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I talked to Gunnar Grønlund, 
and we'll bring this air spray.

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I’m not that keen on it.
It’s all the same to me where you are going.

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But I can’t go back to my boss and say
I can’t go because I can’t get a camera.

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- Allright, do you need a tripod then? 
- A monopod and a small camera.

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- Can't you do without a camera stand?
- Yeah, but the camera is heavy.

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You get one battery. 
To keep the program short.

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Good lord, this is like pulling teeth now.

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Now you owe me a cigarette.
I had to stub mine.

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- I don’t smoke anymore.
- Then you can buy me some duty-free.

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- Bye. Have a good trip.
- Thanks!

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There's something wrong with power people.
Communism and power is not the same.

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- But I’m not really a communist.
- A little?

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No. Maybe... Aren't we all?

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Maybe. A hobby communist.

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"Chapter 14. The Long March, III."

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"When the two red armies joined forces in June, 1935,"

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"Mao’s powerbase, the Central Red Army, 
was completely destroyed."

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"The long march started out with 80,000 soldiers"

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"Now it was reduced to around 10,000, 
on the verge of collapse."

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- Have you got it?
- Just.

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Replace the transmitter.

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There.

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This drives me totally, 
completely crazy, really.

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Damn, where did it go? There, yes.

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Jørgen used to be one of 
NRK's best Lighting technicians.

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Before he became partially sighted.

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- Are things allright or what?
- No.

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- No?
- No.

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- It’s absolute hell. Everything is just a fog.
- Really?

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I am barely able to make it to work. 
To find the way.

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I know from memory, but driving...

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But walking is not bad. I need some exercise. 
And I pass the beer-shop on the way.

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You drink red wine, right, 
I drink beer. Different tastes.

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Are you having a new operation now?

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I was at the hospital, 
then I was at the borderline.

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But the conclusion is, I can't be 
bothered anymore. It’s over. I can't.

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Clearly, it's game over if anything happens.

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- You would like a camera.
- If you have one tucked away.

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I do.

97
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... then there's Top 20, 
but does he need sound equipment?

98
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...Isn't that just a kind of streaming thing?

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(mimicking a Northern dialect). 
- "You should be able to hold it then".

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"Otherwise you won't be able to film."

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- We’re talking about a monitor for...
- Can you pull focus with this?

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- No...
- Is it the same one that we used in the sound...?

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- Yes.
- Then it won't work.

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Bad luck if someone cleans up 
around here when I’m on holiday.

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I wouldn’t find anything when I came back.

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- You have your own system?
- It looks like a mess, but it isn't.

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I know where things are. When people 
ask me, I find it for them right away.

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I remember I was lighting 
Maria McKee for an interview

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I wanted to really go for it, 
with lots of lamps and soft lighting.

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She was pretty, and then I liked 
her in Lone Justice and other stuff.

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I was a bit anxious if she wanted so much 
lighting, it was really hot in there.

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It was an awesome, 
big lighting design, but...

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It’s fun to meet celebrities. 
I’m not that blasé.

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There is a hierarchy. The interviewer talks 
to them, the lighting people do the lighting.

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Lighting people don’t talk to celebrities.

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Hi, this is Jørgen.

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Huh? This is...? What? Ok.

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Which DV-camera, the whole set, 
or just the camera, or what?

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A lot of people have no idea what 
we do down here. It's just a warehouse.

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But without us, you couldn't make TV-programmes.

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Some come here just to talk.

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A daily routine to come down here 
to talk, and to have a smoke and...

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...talk rubbish. People like it here.

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Some places in NRK no bosses 
know about. Important places.

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- Isn’t that quite nice?
- Red wine and coke?

126
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- It’s refreshing in the summer. 
- I’ve never tried. I mix white wine and seltzer.

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Are you connected to the program-bank and such?

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I have managed to create 
a bit of an atmosphere here.

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Now there are chairs, people sit 
there... it's a gathering point.

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I was actually going to 
call it King Jørgen's Ramp.

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But my boss had made a sign with 
St. Jørgen's Square, so he beat me to it.

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So it is now called St. Jørgen's Square.

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It was presented to me on my 50th birthday.

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"He greatly enjoyed a poem from the sixth century called,"

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“'The withered trees,'”

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"an elegy about a copse of unique trees"

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"ending their days dried-up and lifeless."

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"The poet Yo Xin attributed the trees' sad fate"

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"to the fact that they had been pulled 
up from the roots and transplanted."

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It was my... boyhood dream...
A Harley Davidson Soft Tail custom.

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It's the closest one gets to the dream of “Easy Rider”.

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It is very difficult to describe that
feeling of having wind in your face, and...

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...air and smells, and...

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...you sit outside, it’s a...

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...it’s a bit..."top of the world" feeling in a way.

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(Private footage from 1994)

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You can accelerate on the uphill slopes

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and then you notice a kind of slow pull backwards.

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Then it’s kind of fun to sing
“Born to be Wild” driving over the mountain.

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Just throttle it and head on.

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The best trip I had, I think was when
I had been in Western-Norway for work.

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I had my bike and rode over Valdres plateau

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in fantastic weather, late summer. 
It was really warm.

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The mountains lay in the background
and there was willowherb along the road

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and you could just stop and lie
down along the river and sunbathe.

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"...also outside NRK. It is known that NRK 
wishes to free up about a hundred million kroner..."

157
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"...There has been much unrest about 
the plans for NRK’s future these past..."

158
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"...and that we, confronted with the rapid changes in media, need"

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"need to have greater economic flexibility..."

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"...today, we received word that NRK will 
cut 100 positions in the course of the year..."

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Perhaps you could play that song that you gave me?

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- Now? 
- Yes.

163
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It must be melodic.

164
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I am melancholic and often dream.

165
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I am not aggressive at all. 
I don’t have any violent genes at all.

166
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No, I am actually pretty kind. Maybe a 
little strange, and a little... individualistic.

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Music can only be played when 
you’re alone, otherwise it becomes annoying.

168
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No one has the same taste, 
so it must be played when you’re alone.

169
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But of course I am mostly on my own, 
so then you play it alone.

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I have become kind of melancholic
over the years, a bit calmer.

171
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So I play more and more calm music.

172
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But when in a bad mood, it's better
to play an intense song and just dance.

173
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I grew up with alternative clubs... 
so of course it's the solo dance.

174
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Doing the airguitar, and yeah, all that.

175
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What the hell should I use my head 
for if I can’t dream and fantasize?

176
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Actually, you haven’t been very much alone, have you?

177
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No, I have though, really... What the hell 
am I supposed to say to that, then? Alone...

178
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The last five years I have lived alone.

179
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From when I was 36 and until I was 
almost 50, I was in a long relationship.

180
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We had a good time together, and had fun together.

181
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Perhaps we were both just 
as strange, and individualistic.

182
00:19:20,027 --> 00:19:23,093
We slid away from each other, 
my sight became worse and worse.

183
00:19:23,093 --> 00:19:28,002
Our interests changed, both of ours... 
We rode bikes and she started sailing.

184
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We just slid away from each other.

185
00:19:32,094 --> 00:19:36,060
I can’t decide that other people 
should fancy me. Or fall in love with me.

186
00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:41,001
That is not something I can decide. 
Of course, I can fall in love. Theoretically.

187
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I am actually.

188
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But I don’t think it's realistic really.

189
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:57,000
Hell, who wants to be together with a cripple?

190
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:02,000
I am an old man and a cripple, right?

191
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,000
No, I must admit that I don’t have any
positive aspects right now, really.

192
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I have basically given up because of my sight

193
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and going home to hang around 
in the fog, and not see a damn shit.

194
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It's not often I laugh much anymore, 
or get very excited, really.

195
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If you are down of course you dream about 
having another person to lean on, or hold.

196
00:20:26,075 --> 00:20:35,000
Someone who thinks about me 
and takes... thinks about me.

197
00:20:36,095 --> 00:20:40,005
Not being completely alone here on earth.

198
00:20:40,005 --> 00:20:43,040
But that’s not something I can do anything about.

199
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:50,000
But not at all costs. I can happily 
do it a bit... on the weekends and things.

200
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:58,012
Not everyday, right? 
But to live alone all the time...

201
00:20:58,012 --> 00:21:02,019
No... 
(There's a knock on the door)

202
00:21:02,019 --> 00:21:07,074
There's this superior looking guy 
here. He is taking some batteries.

203
00:21:07,074 --> 00:21:10,048
- Who is it? 
- I’m Henrik.

204
00:21:10,048 --> 00:21:15,013
- What job is it for? 
- The Children's show. Our camera just eats batteries.

205
00:21:15,013 --> 00:21:19,086
- It's the DV-batteries? 
- Yes. Can I take three?

206
00:21:19,086 --> 00:21:23,017
- Yes. 
- Brilliant!

207
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,090
Just check that I have brought 
the right ones. There should be one 305.

208
00:21:33,090 --> 00:21:37,053
- If it is the three... let’s see... 
- Three, zero, five.

209
00:21:37,053 --> 00:21:43,000
There are five of those, and then there is one 305 camera.

210
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,092
Have you thought about what you 
would do if you didn’t work here?

211
00:21:48,092 --> 00:21:58,023
I have. Honestly, when I can’t 
handle it anymore, I’ll call it a day.

212
00:21:58,023 --> 00:22:03,025
- Call it a day? 
- When I don’t function anymore, I'll call it a day.

213
00:22:03,025 --> 00:22:07,046
That’s just how it is. It’s no 
loss for humanity that I die.

214
00:22:07,046 --> 00:22:11,003
It’s a loss for NRK, but not for humanity.

215
00:22:11,003 --> 00:22:12,087
So, it’s a loss for NRK?

216
00:22:12,088 --> 00:22:14,089
Oh yes.

217
00:22:14,089 --> 00:22:17,099
"Zhu De apologised to Zhang Guotao, who was an old friend"

218
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,084
"and said that the army had been 
a giant, but now it was just a skeleton."

219
00:22:22,084 --> 00:22:25,037
"It can no longer fight."

220
00:22:25,037 --> 00:22:29,065
If you want to understand how crazy Mao actually was...

221
00:22:29,065 --> 00:22:32,098
...of course, it is very difficult 
to know, to find out, isn’t it?

222
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000
"But Mao needed Jiang Ching at 
this turning point in his career."

223
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,065
"She was, as she said herself, 
his most loyal lieutenant"

224
00:22:40,065 --> 00:22:45,035
"Because without Mao she was nothing."

225
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:15,071
It’s OK to stand out as a character, 
during a long life at a workplace.

226
00:23:15,072 --> 00:23:22,000
Then at least people know... 
Then you haven’t been a grey mouse.

227
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,014
No, that’s for sure.

228
00:23:25,014 --> 00:23:28,041
- But it sounds as if you like your job? 
- Yes, I do.

229
00:23:28,041 --> 00:23:32,062
Yes, I think it's totally ok, 
because I'm free here, really.

230
00:23:32,062 --> 00:23:35,073
I'm a free man... you have to 
be here from half eight to four...

231
00:23:35,073 --> 00:23:39,000
...but then you are in a way free anyway, right?

232
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,040
You can choose your own tempo throughout the day.

233
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,098
That way it’s a pretty good 
workplace actually. It is.

234
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,092
- Can you see me now? 
- No.

235
00:23:50,092 --> 00:23:54,000
No. You are a sort of gray, 
or a sort of black mass.

236
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:59,040
You might look pretty, 
I don’t know, but it's possible.

237
00:24:00,057 --> 00:24:03,019
That’s straightforward.

238
00:24:03,019 --> 00:24:07,003
An advantage for you maybe?

239
00:24:15,068 --> 00:24:21,050
The equipment storage is to be moved, 
expanded and reorganized, for better efficiency.

240
00:24:21,050 --> 00:24:28,022
I’m very uncertain if I want to move. With my 
eyes I probably have no business being there.

241
00:24:28,022 --> 00:24:32,045
But time will tell.