It's official - I'm not on the guest list!
Sunday, December 19, 2004
twilight & the beehive
The Twilight Samurai,Tasogare Seibei, is a beautiful, well written and slightly melancholic chambara movie made by Yoji Yamada. Hiroyuki Sanada (known from Ring and The Last Samurai) and Rie Miyazawa are both excellent in their leading roles as the samurai widower taking care of his two daughters and his childhood love who has divorced her violent and drunken husband after years of abuse. This low key drama is set in the mid 19th century, a time when the Japanese society went through dramatic changes. It's very different from its Chinese counterparts, Hero and Crouching Tiger. Not as spectacular. This movie is more like the great drama movies that came out of Europe and the US during the 70s. More realism than spectacular escapism. This doesn't mean that I don't love spectacular escapism, it just means that I think that more realistic movies also can be good. This one sure is. It's yet another example that shows that Japanese cinema is the most interesting in the world right now.
Back in 1987 David Sylvian released his third solo album, Secrets of the Beehive. Not much to say about it. It's one of the most perfect albums ever created. Very elegant string and brass arrangements, often made by long time collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto and haunting melodies with great lyrics. The songs are slow with a melancholic atmosphere and a very cool jazzy groove. A masterpiece.
snow
Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! The snow is back in Fiskis. Me and my red plastic sledge will have plenty of fun!!
skeppsbron
I'm not really sure if I'm having a nightmare here or if it's just a slight case of bad taste... Scary!!!
aceed!
Nader, Fred, Albion & Me went out after work. Celebrating the success of our new socialist way to do our work at the restaurant. Like four f*ckin' musketeers. Socialism is so much more fun! Sadly Fred & Albion passed out and only Me and Nader managed to stay awake. We went to Isolee and Berns. Loads of free booze. It's a miracle that I'm still alive... Hasta Siempre!
Saturday, December 18, 2004
lights
New christmas decorations in the restaurant. Tasteful... I can actually feel the christmas spirit just by looking at them.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
idioten 1.1
Janne Björklund... hehe... Nämn aldrig hans namn i min närhet. I alla fall inte om du vill slippa höra mig gnälla, muttra och skrika i minst en halvtimme om alla hans idiotiska uttalanden och idéer. För det första, har Janne "Disziplin" Björklund någonsin arbetat på en skola? Jag har jävligt svårt att tro det. Hans populistiska skitsnack kan kanske lura skrämda nyhetsknarkare, men jag blir bara förbannad. Vilken jävla idiot! Han bara snackar om disciplin, ordning & reda och betyg. Har aldrig hört honom nämna ordet pedagogik, knappt ens ordet utbildning. Det säger en hel del om Volkpartiets skolpolitik. För dem är skolans primära uppgift inte att lära ut, den är att sortera ut A, B & C barn. Precis som på den gamla goda tiden. Då visste ju folk sin plats. Skomakare bliv vid din läst! Istället för att anpassa utbildningen efter de enskilda elevernas behov och förutsättningar ska vi gå tillbaka till allmän & särskild kurs. Vissa barn är ju korkade. Det är bara att acceptera. Andra saknar motivation och det är ju inte skolans sak att inspirera och motivera. Så är det bara. I alla fall i Folkpartiets Sverige. De vill ha en skola som producerar fler lågutbildade som sedan kan förvandlas till lågavlönade. Jannes & hans vänners barn är särskilda, de är framtidens elit, framtidens ledare! Andras snorungar får nöja sig med att vara allmänna. Det behövs ju en massa hembiträden nu. Då är en hög utbildning bara ivägen. Sånt kan ju få arbetarna att börja ställa krav och ställa till med bråk. Usch!
Janne snackar om att Sverige satsar mest på utbildning i världen. Ändå är resultatet dåligt. Enligt Janne beror detta på bristen av disciplin och avsaknaden av betyg i den Svenska skolan. Men hur mycket av dessa pengar går egentligen till just utbildning? Vi får aldrig reda på hur mycket av skolans pengar som går direkt tillbaka till kommun och stat i form av lokalhyror. Skolorna måste ju betala marknadsmässiga lokalhyror. Det brukar bli ganska stora belopp. Frågan är ju vart skolans pengar tar vägen? De går inte till lärarna, det vet jag. Deras löner suger. De går inte till nya läromedel, sådana ser jag alltmer sällan. Så vart tar då pengarna vägen? Jag vet inte. Men det skulle vara väldigt intressant att få ett svar. Någon där ute som har en idé?
Monday, December 13, 2004
tennis and ping pong
Tennis and Ping Pong? Am I out of my f*ckin' mind? No. Not this time. I've just read Tim Adams book Being John McEnroe and watched the Japanese movie Ping Pong. Both combines art, psychology, drama and sports in a really original and entertaining way. Tim Adam's book is such a must read for all sports and litterature fans. It's both funny, emotional and exciting. Especially the parts that describes the relation between John McEnroe and Björn Borg. I remember the Wimbledon final back in 1980. Me & my family were at my grandfathers house just north of Helsingborg. He really loved to hate Mackrrån as he used to call McEnroe. We were all screaming and shouting in front of the TV during the game. It was such an exciting game. A game that Borg finally won after 5 tough sets. Tim Adams book brings me back to those times and manage to make the life of John McEnroe to something that concerns us all. How the hell did he manage to do that?
The movie Ping Pong is based on a manga by the ultra talented artist Taiyo Matsumoto. That and the fact that the movie script was written by award-winning screenwriter Kankuro Miyafuji is probably the reason why this movie about ping pong works so well. It's so much more than sport. It's a bit like a surreal ping pong version of Rocky! Can it get any better than that? Now I only wish that VIZ would translate Matsumoto's Ping Pong books to english and publish them. Damn you VIZ!
gentlemen take poloroids
Gentlemen Take Poloroids by Japan is one of my absolute favourite albums of all time. It has been so since I bought it back in -81. The songs have a melancholic almost eerie feel to them. Mick Karn's bass play and Steve Jansens drumming give them a weird hypnotic groove that I never heard anywhere else. The album is now available with some really good bonus tracks, among them Richard Barbieri's (who now plays with Porcupine Tree) fantastic instrumental piece The Experience of Swimming. Other songs that stands out besides that and the title song, Gentlemen Take Poloroids are Swing, Methods of Dance and Nightporter. But all tracks are great. This album also gives a good hint about David Sylvian's future solo career. His unique vocal style is already perfected on this, Japans fourth, album. It is hard to exaggerate the impact this album had on me back in the early 80's. It's the soundtrack to so many of my best memories from that part of my life.
Sunday, December 12, 2004
maria & me
Me & Maria took a trip out to a surplus store in the middle of nowhere. Maria bought loads of stuff and I bought tongs and a shoe brush. That's what I call professional shopping!
night train
The last train leaves Fiskis. Another tough work day is over and I'm dead tired. Zzzzzzz....
santa
Merry Smoking Christmas sucker! The Zucchero Santa takes a smoke before he falls a sleep on one of the tables. Too much beer and Fernet. Loser!
pastaman
This is pastaman Nader showing of with some of his desserts. Excellent stuff! But he's talking crazy talk all the time. Don't understand him. Just a lot of "ducks", "maxi trendy" and "pasta" in his vocabulary. Weird. But he makes great food!
gülbeden
Had an interesting cup of coffee at Skåningen. Me, Gülbeden and two of her sisters sat outdoors in the cold and Gülbeden gave me her cool face. She told me lots of stories about her adventures in Japan and Falun. I was totally impressed! She's like a female Robin Hood!
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