Ah, to travel again

Well all my faithful readers here is an update. Ruco and Kristi were here and we had a blast together, we took a lot of photos and I'll probably end up posting several of them. Then since they had the travel bug I caught it to.

That means that tomorrow I go to Latvia for a week and then Berlin for two more. According to my friend Raimonds there are going to be waves in Jurkalne, Latvia tomorrow and I am going to be riding them if everything goes as planned(when does that happen).

Then Berlin. What can I say my heart is there.

Sir Rushdie

Well this little bit of news is bound to become a firestorm of protest and violence in various places around the world. Salman Rushdie, 'Controversial' writer, has been knighted by the English monarchy. Considering that he is one of the most loathed people of all time in the Muslim world, this is a very interesting turn of events in the world at large.

The man is an incredible writer and his books are absolutely amazing. Why the hatred then? 'The Satanic Verses' which was published in 1988 was banned in many countries after it was accused of mocking Muhammed('The Prophet'). Rushdie was then forced to go into hiding after a bounty was placed on his head by various groups and he is wanted dead by the Iranian government.

Its wonderful to know how very tolerant of free speech these people are that call for his death. It was also nice to see England do its own thing despite it not being so popular with certain areas. Then finally what kind of religion/culture can call themselves righteous and then want to kill someone for writing a book that they didn't agree with? How many of the protestors/clerics have read the book?

Jens Lekman(or how swedish indie was saved)

I don't know how many of you have heard of him. His name is Jens Lekman. You can buy the albums on Itunes as far as I know. Do it if you like good music with clever lyrics. I know we're known for Abba and other such schlager acts but this is absolutely amazing and I am hooked so bad that I am sitting up at 1:30 in the morning listening to the songs that some people have posted on MySpace. Jens Lekman is Amazing.

Stockholm Derby

For those of you who read this blog you know that I've been to a few of the Hammarby(A Stockholm Football club) matches this last year. It turns out that this coming tuesday is the Stockholm Derby between Djurgården IF and Hammarby IF. For anyone who understands a European rivalry, they will understand that this kind of match can deteriorate into madness and bloodshed. Hopefully that won't happen where I'm sitting on the 19 of June at Råsunda. To make matters worse Djurgården is number one in All-Svenskan and that makes this even more of an important match. Hammarby(Vi är Söder!) is going to demolish Djurgården.

Berlin, Berlin, what can I say?

I think that when travelling you can only plan so much. No matter how much you plan however, the best parts are still the random things that happen when you least expect it. An example would be the Kennedy Museum in Berlin. Its located next to the Brandenburg gate(in Pariser Platz). It turns out that the day I was there it was also JFK's ninetieth birthday. That meant free entrance and free champaigne(never one to turn down a free drink).

I think its always hard for me to travel and be around other tourists. The smiling faces at Checkpoint Charlie were hard to swallow. That people have made a conscientous decision to make money off a tragedy is a bit rough(of course this is opinion and not straight fact). But to be honest of all the cities that I've been to I would have to say that the tone and attitude in Berlin was the most amazing so far. I just wish I could speak German. Where I stayed in Kreuzberg was also incredible. The cafe's and bars. Drinking beer in the parks. A lot of memories. I will be back.

Surprise Surprise

It looked good. My health that is. My arm was out of the cast and I'd started getting it back in shape. I had a ticket to Berlin and all was well in the world. Then on friday fever, burning fever. Saturday comes and while looking in the mirror I noticed several little red dots on my body. Hmm.

Turns out I have Chicken Pox for the second time in my life. What can I say when things are good here, they're good.

Not that much going on....Honestly

Well I guess that that is really wrong. Things are happening all over the place. Everything is in bloom and green, but you don't come here for the weather. As far as musical news goes the Beastie Boys are coming to Gröna Lund(a theme park in Stockholm on the waterfront). That may well be one of the highlights of the coming summer. Otherwise I'm trying to recuperate my arm and need to start looking for a job to make some money. I need to buy a computer and hopefully have a little money for travelling this summer(late july/early august).

In other news I'm going to Berlin for five days next friday. I've only been to Frankfurt in the past and my friend in Berlin has guaranteed me that in comparison Frankfurt wasn't jack. I think I'm inclined to believe that.

The Baltic Tango (For Estonia)

There is this news item that got everyone's attention these past few days; the removal of a Russian(Soviet) war memorial in the capital of Tallinn, Estonia. Its provoked outrage and hate and by this point maybe even tears. Having lived in the Baltics for seven years I would like to say a few things about this event.

Russia is arguing that this monument represents the Russian(Soviet) soldiers who died liberating Estonia from Nazism. I'm calling bullshit on that. Russia and Germany were bedfellows before they were enemies and they'd already worked out who was going to get Estonia; and the winner would have been Russia. Russia can tell the rest of the world that they liberated Estonia from Germany, but what they don't tell you is that they didn't leave until 1991. That makes it an occupation, which is the same thing as the Nazis were up to. Yes I just compared the Nazis to the Soviets(Russians) and I'll do it again if I have to.

The next question then is who was worse? I'll go ahead and say the Soviets. In the end due to their failed communism and autocratic state, more Estonians(and Baltic people) than under German rule in World War II. Then after that there is the question of Russian people in the Baltic and their treatment. First off in most countries and Europe as well as the United States, a person isn't permitted to attain citizenship without being able to speak the language. Most Russians in the Baltics have showed a complete lack of interest in integrating in their new countries and when they were part of the Soviet Union they showed no interest at all in their new homes. The Russians that live in the Baltics were mostly imported after World War II. This is a very old trick by a conquering nation, you add your people to the country's demographics and that way prevent it from becoming a terror hot spot. Of course you have to make room for these people so you send the locals to Siberia.

In the end what really is amazing is that there are still Soviet(Russian) monuments left in the country at all. Maybe even more amazing is the Baltic peoples ability to forgive and not throw the former conquerors out of the country. If a sovereign nation wants to pull down a monument to occupation and near genocide then they have that right and the west and the Russian government have no right to say anything about it.

Because no one says it better than someone else...

A few classic lines from a classic:

A true friend stabs you in the front.

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.

I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability.

--Oscar Wilde

The Wednesday Warning

So with any luck the cast will be off some time next week. Stockholm is starting to bloom and everyone is out and walking about in all the latest spring fashions. Its so beautiful and all I want to do is skate and not wear this cast around. Anyway so while this cast thing has been going on, I also ran out of contacts so I've been wearing glasses for the last two weeks which I haven't done since high school. I could also use a shave really bad. As for the hair its still growing. Here's hoping I can find a job so that I can scrape up some money for travelling.


On a more serious note....I think everyone has heard the news by now. There's been a tragic event in the city of Blacksburg. I would like to offer my condolences to all the affected family and friends.

For Mr. K. Vonnegut

Some of you will know that I was very sick a few years back. That during that time there were moments when all I had left was fifty dollars in my bank account and a long drive to Jacksonville. I spent two weeks in bed reading and during that time I found something that made a difference. Thank you Mr. Vonnegut for your insights, your absurd characters, and your beautifully minimalist prose. You're one of the things that got me through that time.

To anyone reading this, if you haven't read any of Kurt Vonnegut's books then please take the time and do so. It will be worth every sentence and minute spent.

Or as he himself would say about his own life: So it goes....

A certain written word

A certain South African blogger is known for putting poetry on his blog. Usually its pretty good. I thought I'd put some on here today because there really is nothing else going on.

David Kirby is a professor at Florida State University. This is a nice verse of his.

Dead Girl Takes Packet Boat to Provincetown

Awaiting a long drawn out Spring

So with this global warming thing on the tip of every one's tongue and the back tail of every conversation, I present the city of Stockholm. A million and slightly more inhabitants, busy busy bees, moving back and forth on a daily basis. This is where the weather enters the stage right. Its been uncommonly warm and nice for an early April. Its nice and its alarming all at the same time. The weather bears striking similarities to the early trace feelings of love. The buds on the trees aren't ready to burst forth in shades of green and the flowers are a ways off. But the smell is in the air, but alas I won't be here next year.

Next year I'll be in a small university town about a half hour by train from Copenhagen. Visitors welcome. See everyone in Lund.

so a lot has happened

It turns out that the guy who's job I was covering finally got out of jail and so therefore I am now once again unemployed. Spring is here in someways. The sun is shining and its inspiring. So inspiring that I decided to go skateboarding the day after I lost the job and then proceeded to break my arm. A lot of time in the hospital and then I finally went home(no operation). Of course before passing out in bed I decided to check email and then I found out that I have been accepted to the master's programme that I had applied for.

That means that sometime in August I will migrate to southern Sweden and the city of Lund will be my new home for the next two years. Now all I need to make all this so much better is to wait four weeks for the cast to come off. The hour hand always moves slower when you're looking.

Ladiesmen and gentlewomen...Uh or uh....

This is a public service anouncement. The author Aron Hendrix, who is a.k.aed as Sven Josefson on odd days of the week, has turned 23 years old. A milestone? Hardly considering its just a day at a time with no real planning involved. An event worth celebrating? I worked the whole day and then had a beer after my shift, rode the subway home reading King Leopold's Ghost in Swedish, and now after 4 cl of Jaegermeister I'm writing this.

Andrew Bird on Sunday. Excitement is the word that best describes the feeling I have that is associated with this event.

Bob Dylan decided to do something unusual and now he's going to play three shows in Sweden. One of them at a club a block away from where I work. Of course the tickets were sold out minutes after they were available to the public. Oh well. Life goes on someone once said. I'd burn him in effigy if I knew who he was.

East vs. West

I'm stepping out on a limb here. Movies aren't to be taken to seriously is what someone has said in regard to the movie 300, which I haven't seen yet so that is the limb part of this. So its okay then to be historically inaccurate then? Its okay to portray an empire of the past as a group of warmongers and barbarians, I can't wait to see the U.S. portrayed in 200 years as a bunch of greedy racists who think of only one person me, me, me. Did I mention that the U.S. should also be portrayed as warmongers then? They always pick on smaller and weaker nations.

This concept is fairly common in the U.S. history that I have come in contact with; if the Greeks had lost then democracy would not exist. Your eyes would not be scanning these lines now. Fatalists! Ha, its nice to know that your entire existence hung on these 300 men. Otherwise you wouldn't be running the show today right? Its sad the Persians didn't win. Maybe the world would be a better place.

What is going on....

Due to a twist of fate I now have a full time job. If you happen to stop by Il Tempo Ristorante off Götgatan and order an appetizer or desert then four nights out of six I probably made it. It appears that the guy I replaced isn't leaving the Swedish penal system anytime soon.

On another event notice, and I'm sure anyone reading this is tired of these, there is a nice exhibition of Alphonsé Mucha at DansMuseet until the end of March.

Tonight on the subway I had an interesting experience. A three hundred pound Turk wanted me to try and understand how his epilepsy medication prescription worked. Once I finally convinced him that I had no idea he then proceeded to talk about football for the remaining part of the journey. Apparently this guy bets, not a lot according to the tickets he showed me, on all the Uefa cup games. He told me I should try it sometime. I think I'll spend my money on books instead. Which reminds me, I've been reading a lot of the Beat generation poetry. Highly recommended.

Derby Warning

I hope most of you reading this are aware of the recent problems concerning football in Italy. Well for those of you aren't fully aware of which games are dangerous and which ones aren't should think about this; is it a derby game or not. A derby would be a game played between two teams of the same city that are extreme rivals. Thats where the Italian(Serie A) police officer died and thats where the coach of Sevilla(La Liga) was knocked unconscious by a fan throwing an object(labeled missile by most news sources). Stockholm is also a city known for its violent derbies. Last year the derby between Hammarby and Djurgården was halted after 51 minutes of play due to fans storming the pitch and hitting a linesman in the head with a coin. So be ware of the derby! Then again Djurgården is going down this time!

Berns

Mr. Strindberg wrote a novel that deals with Berns. It so happens he wrote the Red Room(Röda Rummet) in 1879. Note to readers at this point; most of these facts are borrowed from a certain internet source for biased knowledge, otherwise known as Wikipedia so before you run off at the mouth to friends be sure to double check.

Anyway, back to the main event, Berns is still there in Berzelli Park in Stockholm. Its still a fancy get dressed up suit and tie kind of place. They also have fantastic concerts there. I saw Sufjan Stevens play there a while back. On March 27 there is a free show at Berns.
Eleni Mandell is playing. Listen to her profile songs and if I'm not working that night I'll see you there.

Working Man

Sven got a job. Hurray to working nights! Hurray to getting paid better than back in Tallahassee. This might be a shortlived hurra however seeing as how I got the job when one of the other cooks ended up in jail for two weeks(don't ask don't tell). Then today, or last night really was pay day. Everyone who works in Sweden had their checks hit their accounts last night and that means party.

When I got off at midnight the whole Slussen area was already packed. People so drunk it makes college towns look conservative. Then there was the misogynistic lover, presumably high on something that isn't green and smokable, trying to get aggressive with his girl at the station. He had her in tears and wouldn't leave. Thank God there were real men standing there making sure he kept his paws off her. Someone even offered to make sure she was home safe. All I could do was tell him to stop. I felt so ineffectual.