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Posts published in February 2019

Old king coal: The traditional ways are riper than ever for satire and sorrow during the 25th staging of Svalbard’s year in revuerevuemain

Old king coal: The traditional ways are riper than ever for satire and sorrow during the 25th staging of Svalbard’s year in revue

By Mark Sabbatini on February 27, 2019
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Read Time:3 Minute, 53 Second

Let’s start with the show’s title since it’s about the only thing we’re allowed to reveal in advance: it can’t be properly translated into English.

Officially the title is “25 År Og Kull Verdt” (which, taking extensive liberties, roughly means “25 Years And Worth Its Weight in Coal”), based on a long-running gag equating coal with gold in Svalbard, a concept that is now truly – if tragically to the performers – ripe for a mother lode of satirical stagecraft.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Summer salvage: ‘Wrecked’ trawler stranded in north Svalbard won’t be removed until August due to ice, nesting seasontrawlerice

Summer salvage: ‘Wrecked’ trawler stranded in north Svalbard won’t be removed until August due to ice, nesting season

By Mark Sabbatini on February 27, 2019
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Read Time:2 Minute, 11 Second

A shrimp trawler stranded in north Svalbard since late December won’t be removed from the area until August when the sea ice and the wildlife breeding season are over, the owner of the boat said Wednesday.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Virtual voyage: NRK to film nine-day cruise around Svalbard this summer for ‘Minute By Minute” broadcast next Februarytvcruise

Virtual voyage: NRK to film nine-day cruise around Svalbard this summer for ‘Minute By Minute” broadcast next February

By Mark Sabbatini on February 27, 2019
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Read Time:2 Minute, 48 Second

Bad news : Travel companies soon won’t be able to say a cruise around Svalbard is something only an adventurous few experience as NRK is planning to film a nine-day voyage this summer for the latest installment of its famous “Minute By Minute” series that is scheduled to be broadcast next February.

A crew of 26 people will rig Hurtigruten’s M/S Spitsbergen with cameras on all corners and edges, establish a control center on the rear deck, and use drone cameras for the broadcast expected to last about 13,000 minutes. 

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Chilli feast: Scorching music video, cable car craft, a 150 percent effort and yet another circus prove hot at local UKMukmband

Chilli feast: Scorching music video, cable car craft, a 150 percent effort and yet another circus prove hot at local UKM

By Mark Sabbatini on February 25, 2019
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Read Time:3 Minute, 30 Second

Most small town parents probably wouldn’t be thrilled spending a Friday night being confronted with their son hijacking the pulpit of the local church followed by an escort to the back of a police car, much less seeing it broadcast far and wide. Then again, they could have been the ones watching their kids take a high fall without a net or trying to show it’s actually possible to give a 150 percent effort.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Just another typical Svalbard police blotter: Snowmobile DUI checkpoint nabs 1 of 85 drivers; reindeer with broken leg killedscooterdui

Just another typical Svalbard police blotter: Snowmobile DUI checkpoint nabs 1 of 85 drivers; reindeer with broken leg killed

By Mark Sabbatini on February 24, 2019
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Read Time:1 Minute, 33 Second

The crowds now arriving in force for adventures in the “remote” Arctic found themselves dealing with a bit of cold reality Saturday in the form of traffic jams at a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoints for snowmobilers. But for nearly all it was merely a nuisance as only one of 85 drivers saw red, so speak, on the alcohol test – and that tourist suffered far less of a hardship than a reindeer suffering a broken leg that police killed after it was spotted near Huset.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Random weirdness for the week of Feb. 19, 2019hornsundfirstbears

Random weirdness for the week of Feb. 19, 2019

By Mark Sabbatini on February 20, 2019
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Read Time:19 Second

The first sunlight of the year is back and so are the first polar bears at the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund (unless the predators were lurking in the dark waiting for some hapless person without a headlamp). But it’s not entirely a happy sight for staffers and not because of what some outsiders might presume is the possibility of becoming polar prey.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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DAWN OR DECEPTION? Longyearbyen’s first sunrise of the year after nearly four months? Well, kinda…it’s complicatedfirsunriseboth

DAWN OR DECEPTION? Longyearbyen’s first sunrise of the year after nearly four months? Well, kinda…it’s complicated

By Mark Sabbatini on February 19, 2019
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Read Time:4 Minute, 47 Second

The nearly four-month-long polar night is over as the sun made a dazzling return with its rays to Longyearbyen on Saturday. Except in all but the technical sense it actually didn’t and won’t for a few more weeks.

Confused? No biggie – it happens all the time, with even the sun forgetting its norms and doing things like setting twice a day in these parts.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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SOVEREIGNTY CLAWS: Norway tightens grip on Svalbard’s snow crabs and boosts its claim to oil with Supreme Court rulingcrabcase

SOVEREIGNTY CLAWS: Norway tightens grip on Svalbard’s snow crabs and boosts its claim to oil with Supreme Court ruling

By Mark Sabbatini on February 16, 2019
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Read Time:2 Minute, 32 Second

Norway won a huge – and expected – victory this week as the Supreme Court declared the country has exclusive rights to manage the crab stocks in the waters north of Svalbard, rejecting a European Union-backed claim of legal access.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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Briefs from Svalbardposten for the week of Feb. 12, 2019sysseladmin

Briefs from Svalbardposten for the week of Feb. 12, 2019

By Mark Sabbatini on February 16, 2019
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Read Time:1 Minute, 49 Second

Man arrives without job or place to stay, is expelled by governor the same day
A man who arrived in Svalbard without a return flight ticket, money, job or place to stay was expelled from the archipelago the same day by The Governor of Svalbard. The man did not succeed in obtaining funds from others to stay or for a return trip, and attempts to contact the consulate for the country where the man is a citizen was unsuccessful, Lt. Gov. Berit Sagfossen wrote in the expulsion decision. She said such incidents are rare, happening twice a year during the past two years, and sometimes it is due to tips the governor receives and other times the person reports the situation themselves.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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DANGEROUS DRIVE: Governor issues warning about large meltwater opening on glacier in east Svalbardicecrack

DANGEROUS DRIVE: Governor issues warning about large meltwater opening on glacier in east Svalbard

By Mark Sabbatini on February 15, 2019
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Read Time:59 Second

With the winter/spring tour season about to hit full speed, The Governor of Svalbard is warning travelers to exercise extreme caution on Ulvebreen is east Svalbard due to a large meltwater channel across the glacier that may not be easily seen due to snow cover or other reasons.

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
marksabbatini@yahoo.com
http://icepeople.net
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