Le Weekend

Big plans, big plans. Actually a lot of wedding related stuff. There is supposedly a job fair as well so I need to fix up my CV a bit (you know add the part about having a masters degree). Getting a haircut as well around 11. I guess the term trim is more correct.

In the evening its time for some Under 21 European Championship footall. Sweden vs. England and to be perfectly honest and clear, Sweden aren´t tipped to win. Then again we weren´t tipped to win against Serbia either, which we did on Tuesday 3-1. We did it in style and team Serbia collapsed like a wounded giant and by the time the referee had decided to blow the final whistle it was an eleven man Sweden vs nine man Serbia (both red cards coming after the score was already 3-1). What I am trying to say is that if we go out tomorrow and battle our little hearts off, there is a chance we could pull this off. Not a big chance, but a chance all the same.

Ahmadinejad or the other option

I read an interview with Moussavi about two weeks before the election. Its funny to hear the GOP hyping this guy up as the person who would be able to bring peace and harmony to the region. Would he be better than the incumbent? Without a doubt, yet he is by no means what the GOP think of as a free leader. Look up the interview in Der Spiegel and make up your own mind.

There is still the question of whether or not the election was rigged or not. From everything I have read and heard, it was rigged. Shame on those who did it, it makes them look stupid and weak.

John Fante

I read the Road to Los Angeles when I was still in undergrad at FSU. It was part of a creative writing course and it was supposed to get us into exploring new ways of writing prose. At the time I had a sort of love/hate relationship to the book and though I knew that Fante had written some more stories using the same character, I didn't jump at any opportunities to read on.

That all changed three days ago. I was at the Berlin Library and looking for books in English which can be a trying experience (to be fair they have a great selection but you have to order most of them in advance if you want to get them, so browsing is not the optimal way to do things) and there it was in front of me: Fante's Ask the Dust. I picked it up with a feeling in my gut that this was probably not going to be the most exciting book I had read recently but whatever it was there and why not have a go. I had a go and its been a rollercoaster of an experience. The prose is straight from Fante's mind and onto the paper. At times it becomes impossible to separate the author from the main character Arturo Bandini (essentially himself, but in fiction format). At other times I was so lost in the story that I couldn't put the book down.

Note: its not for the weak of heart, and not for people who like happy endings. After all its John Fante and there is a good reason that Charles Bukowski thought he was god.

The Wedding Approacheth

And I am feeling it every minute. The thesis is done, stamped and over with. My provisional degree is on my desk and within the next three months the official one will arrive. Haven't decided whether or not to hang it on the wall: this always struck me as a lame thing to do.

Was sitting at my desk trying to figure out directions to two doctor's offices where I had to go and pick up some reinbursements for various reasons, and while I was doing this the sound of a trumpet and an accordian slowly made its way up the street. That is why the window is open almost 24/7: to hear the street life. Anyway I finally looked out and saw three guys making their way past all the cafes; two of them playing a barely perceptible tune, the other collecting money in a disposable Starbucks cup. They were being modest and only went with a grande. Didn't help their music. Saw the same group perform in a park. They approach some people having a perfectly good day and annoy them until they pay some money. All the while they wear the creepiest smiles and seem very into what they are playing.

Some strange person requested me on Facebook. Have no idea why and honestly find it annoying that someone I don't know in any way would think I would like to be friends.

Musings of a Master

Seems like the elections might have been rigged in good ole Iran, but who is really surprised?

Leaving Lund in the morning with a one way ticket to Berlin. Bout time for that one really.

Berlin better have a better summer this year than last. I am tired of getting rained on. I feel like a lot skating is in store for me and that the mini ramp at YAAM is going to have some hot sessions as well as the Warschauer Benches.

Getting married in less than a month and it is going to be amazing. Can't wait to see everyone who is invited.

Now I get to find out what a Master's degree means in terms of jobs. Going to be exciting. Thinking about a Sustainability Advisory company for the Surf industry. Any excuse to see the inside of a wave barrel.

The conspiracy theorists

I will name at least three of them. While their party is out of power and in the wilderness, they are promoting conspiracy theories for their eager uneducated listeners. Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Michael Savage. They all imagine that the government is fascist (or when they want another word they turn to communist or socialist anything to fit the moment). The best part is that quite a few million people sit around listening to these "prophets" words of wisdom.

Hilarious actually.

Tin foil hat

Listening to a speech by Sarah Palin. Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't agree with just about any of her ideas of how the country should be run or with her ideas of how to interact with the world (someone who hasn't traveled to other countries doesn't have much clout in telling me how the world works). Basically what I am trying to say is that I will never vote for her.

Listening to her speech however is pure pleasure. To hear her talk about how government is ruinning our lives and destroying our "freedoms" and being weak to all these enemies who are just waiting to pounce for no good reason at all. Its like listening to that homeless person on the street with the tin foil hat on his head so the government can't send signals or hear his thoughts. The bum is Sarah Palin and if you look closely enough she and the rest of her choir all have homemade tin foil hats on. I just hope the audience is smart enough not to believe the bum

Americans with Guns

So now you can carry your guns in national parks. Its jolly great is what I say. That stupidity goes this far. That a bunch of paranoid nuts get to buy handguns in sport stores and then carry them around in their everyday lives. Not to keep wild animals away. Not to protect themselves from gang wars (how many of these NRA guys really live in an inner city). No they want the guns so they can feel masculine and tough. A gun is a symbol of power. Without it they are simply not men. For them the loss of a gun is the same as testicular cancer: a loss of manhood. The gun then is truly a phallic symbol in every sense. Just like rape is a control method used by men in prison, so the gun is a feeling of being in control in their everyday lives. To them this is the freedom promised by America: the myth of the wild west never disappeared. They traded the horses and wide open plains for pick-up trucks and interstates. The thing that bothers me is they don't seem to be using their brains for much.

Stuck in Lund

I am here for about two weeks much to my own disappointment. I am tired of university towns. Ok, I will admit that when you live in Berlin its hard for everything else to in any way come close to the feelings that Germany's capital can provide. I have my defence on Monday. Then after that its a waiting game until Friday when graduation takes place. Then on the fifteenth its back to Berlin and the opening of the job hunting season.

I just had a genius idea that could one day make me a lot of money: A thesis coach job. What I mean is that I would be paid to coach people through their theses. Since professional coaching seems to be in right now in the business world, I can't think of any reason why this wouldn't work in the student world as well. Think about all these students with too much money on their hands and procrastinating like there was a thousand tomorrows, it could work.

Saturday at 20:00 Sweden plays Denmark in a world cup qualifier that quite frankly Sweden has to win. Otherwise we can kiss South Africa goodbye in which case I will be cheering for Germany. This game is going to hang on one man: Mr. Ibrahimovic. If he has a good game then the Danes are going to lose. If he has a bad game it can end 0-0 which no one likes (except the Danes of course). Anyway its time for a Swedish win. We have the squad quality for it so I want to see some goals.