♥ The medulla oblongata ♥

Serendipity

2008-04-30T08:11:00.006+02:00

I’ve been watching a lot of new TV-series lately and yesterday I was in a nostalgic mood and wanted to take a trip down memory lane. I thought The X-files would do the trick and luckily I found a recently uploaded torrent of the complete series on demonoid. Needless to say I resumed with downloading it.
However, one thing caught my attention: I discovered that one episode had been downloaded more frequently than the others so I decided to investigate. It turns out it was the episode where the FBI-agents encountered an in-breed family living in seclusion, hidden away from society (The X-files: Home, s. #4 ep. #3).
My hypothesis is that the increased interest in this particular episode was triggered by the recent, and highly publicised, events in Amstetten. If this is true one may re-evaluate the cultural impact of The X-files on public imagination which could still linger on as part of our collective subconscious, even long after the series have been cancelled. The most disturbing part is that the truth, evidently, is out there…

Reinventing the wheel

2007-09-07T18:32:00.000+02:00

In the year 1913 Marcel Duchamp created his first "Assisted Readymade", the "Bicycle Wheel". According to MoMA Duchamp told Pierre Cabanne that; "...when I put a bicycle wheel on a stool the fork down, there was no idea of a 'readymade,' or anything else. It was just a distraction. I didn't have any special reason to do it, or any intention of showing it or describing anything". MoMA's website also mentions that: "The Bicycle Wheel has also been cited as the first kinetic sculpture" (In a publication excerpt from: Three Generations of Twentieth-Century Art: The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1972, p. 48). Kinetic sculptures have since then evolved for almost a century, and in the case Theo Jansen's sculptures the notion of evolution of art is to be taken quite literally. These are best described with the aid of moving images, as in the video clip on TED. Jansen claims that; "5000 years after the invention of the wheel we have a new wheel". It all comes full circle - figuratively and literally.

Now that's irony

2007-08-04T00:59:00.000+02:00

As some of you might already know Swedish television have been running an infomercial proudly boasting about their teletext subtitling service (a campaign aimed at the hearing impaired).
I was recently fortunate enough to have an opportunity to try this service out myself. As I was watching a documentary (as fate would have it the program was about hereditary deafness) my sister started working on her sewing machine in the other room. Her boyfriend soon joined in with the racket aided by a hoover. This didn't present any problem at first since the spoken language in the docu was English, hence most of it was already subtitled (as is customary in Sweden). However, in the end of the show there was an interview with a Swedish professor at Karolinska Institutet. This part of the documentary was not subtitled. I thus saw this as an opportune chance to try out the teletext subtitling service. Unfortunately there was no subtitles in teletext available to this particular program.
That's irony for ya.

血液型 A+

2007-05-17T13:02:00.000+02:00

I donated blood for the first time yesterday (yes, I'm a bloody philanthropist) and learned that my blood type is A+. Naturally I knew nothing about these matters so I decided to look it up on the net. While I was trying to rummage through all the new information that popped up I stumbled upon an article about the Japanese blood type theory of personality. It turns out that the Japs believe that there is a connection between a person's blood type and their personality. This is actually a real theory - a real pseudoscientific theory that is.
According to the theory some of my best qualities include that I'm conservative, introverted and reserved. I would think that these particular character traits would make me a real ass-hole so there is obviously some differences between my and the Japanese conception of what's good. Since these are some of my better traits I'll leave out my less good characteristics.
Moreover, there is also a list of famous people with the same blood type as me, including; George H. W. Bush, Richard Nixon and Adolf Hitler. So, what do I have in common with these genocidal war-mongrels? I wouldn't know but I can't help but feeling at least a little offended by the fact that I might be associated with some of the most retched scum the western world has ever produced. By the way, did I mention that O. J. Simpson and Britney Spears also appear on the list?
Anyway, fuck it, the sheer fact that I came by this information because I donated blood should set my apart from these fucktards. It's not like I'm mother Teresa.

The greatest conspiracy theory ever told

2007-04-01T07:49:00.000+02:00

In the beginning there were only pranksters... Almost 2000 years ago a man - later to be know as "the king of Jews" - in the holy land plotted against his country men and pulled the greatest April fools prank evar. He told twelve of his closest friend that he'd spoken to his father, Mister God (not Joseph). People started to follow him around and since he thought they were a great source for lulz he continued to feed his followers with dishonest (but harmless) claims about himself.
When he died one of his friends made a spin-of prank and told his friends that Gods son had risen from the dead and floated up to his father in the skies.
People however didn't realise that he was only kidding. Moreover, creating a new religion proved to be a very lucrative business. Soon a small circle of friends started a secret society called the Illuminati (later exposed by Dan Brown) to cover up the tracks.
Unfortunately this is not the end of the story. A musician - known as Elvis Presley (a k a "the king", clearly a member of the Illuminati) - meets with the U.S. president in 1970. Presley had made musical-propaganda to convince people that he was the reincarnation of the previous king. He was quick to realise that Richard Nixon had plotted against him and decided to leak some newly acquired information about Nixon to the Washington Post (causing the Watergate scandal). Hence, to cover up who leaked the information evil Wikipedia (the media) have edited out Nixon in the pictures from the White house visit.
Later, in 1977 Carl XVI Gustaf (the "king" of Sweden) - as the leader of the Freemasons (an organisation that evolved from the old Illuminati order) - decided to send Elvis Presley to their colony on the moon (as an inside joke).
Anyway, now you know the true story of why we celebrate the 1st of April.

Close to petarded

2007-02-14T18:34:00.000+01:00

The christian bible and its followers is a great source for lulz! The main cause is that there is a lot of retards and fuck-ups among the religious circle (e.g. The American president, William A. Dembski and pastor Ted Haggard to mention a few). Furthermore, some religious claims (such as the Muslim promise of getting 72 virgins as a reward in heaven and ID being a scientific theory) really brakes my balls. If you won't take my word for it check out the following comedians:

George Carlin, Lewis Black and Bill Maher

You might also have a look at some of my previous post:

Comic relief and In the lions' den

Extra extra

2007-02-06T14:32:00.000+01:00

Nerd in furry costume headbutts nerd-herder, nerd in superhero costume witnessed it all. Read all about it!

Awful puns and Star Wars references are plentiful!

Blue-movies on Blu-ray

2007-01-15T21:38:00.000+01:00

The struggle between the rivalling formats - HD-DVD and Blu-ray - has run in to yet another strange twist. Much to the delight of self-proclaimed experts in the blogosphere, that’s seizing the opportunity to sound like intellectuals. According to an article in Ars Technica the pr0n industry has decided to go with the less expensive HD-DVD format. This inevitability brought up the old format feud between VHS and BetaMax. A story nobody remember or care about. The fact that they didn't have an unlimited source of hardcore pornography in the 70's just by typing in a search on google doesn't seem to matter.
The story also hit the wire which seem to focus on that "Sony had ruled porn as unworthy of a Blu-ray license" in their follow-up. They too draw the conclusion that "[T]he porn industry [...] pioneered commercialization videotapes and the Internet". The fact that Blu-ray is superior to HD-DVD, and vastly inferior to the Internet, doesn't matter. If you feel out of touch and don't know shit about what kind of people it is who - seemingly - control the home entertainment industry, I suggest you read True Porn Clerk Stories.

Comic relief

2006-12-04T17:30:00.000+01:00

The comedian Michael Richards - known as Kramer in Seinfeld - goes on a deranged rant about white supremacy. This proved to be a very bad idea since he is a member of the chosen people. Hence, powers in the media have forced him to apologise to those who he offended.
This is not the first time a comedian flips out on stage, although this is the funniest. It's been documented that Bill Hicks also lost it at one time. However, in his case at least some members of the audience is still laughing in the end, plus the fact that he was a genuinely funny comedian and not some pathetic wash-up.
I've dug up a couple of TV-shows with Bill Hicks for your amusement. The first show is rather fun and his appearances at Letterman are alright. The last two shows are documentaries made after Hicks death (they're pretty lame).

Revelations (Channel 4, 1993) part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Some of his appearances on Letterman - 1, 2.

Totally Bill Hicks (Channel 4, 1994) part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Outlaw Comic (Trio, 2003) part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Drink and drive

2006-09-27T01:23:00.001+02:00

The fun way of doing it! If you're too chicken to drink and drive in real life you might want to check out this realistic simulation. It's based on Mel Gibson's accounts of what happened that hot summer night in Malibu that we've heard so much about. Fox & friends gave it two thumbs up in their review of the game. Furthermore, our friends at Fox claim that it's the most realistic thing on the market. I agree. However, even though it's phenomenally awesome computer graphics nothing can beat the real thing, but I guess this is the closest thing to it. If you want to know more about how to drive while intoxicated you could have a look at this instructional video.

Lacan and film theory

2006-09-13T13:24:00.000+02:00

The Slovenian author Slavoj Žižek, known to many as a "rockstar-philosopher", have recently been involved in creating a three part documentary researching films from a psychoanalytical (Lacanian) point of view. It's been aptly named The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (Sophie Fiennes, 2006). He notes, among other things, that:

We are basically watching shit, as it were

There is a blog devoted to Žižek with a lot of information about this documentary, it also links to a transcript filled with entertaining quotes.
He's previously been involved in a number of different projects including candidating for the presidency of the Republic of Slovenia! This and much more is explored in a documentary about him simply titled Zizek! (Astra Taylor, 2005). A IMDb-user giving his two cents about the documentary in the "user comment" space writes that:

Slavoj Zizek is one of the stars of Theoryworld, and deservedly so. He mixes Lacan and Marx with a seasoning of pop culture to analyze how we construct meaning - and reminds us that our understanding is often far from rational.

If you feel intrigued and would like to get a taste of what he is all about you might check out part of one of his lectures titled "Love Without Mercy". You might also read an article (in Swedish) about him in DN.

911

2006-09-11T22:01:00.000+02:00

Recent controversy regarding the terrorist attack on the WTC towers has surfaced in Swedish media. The two major morning papers DN and SVD both have articles about Loose Change 2nd Edition (Dylan Avery, 2006). This is obviously another piece of tripe made by a basement dwelling computer nerd (similar to William "christian crazy fuck" Cooper's bestselling book Behold a Pale Horse).
However, if you don't buy in to the official story and/or if you're interested in conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11 you might want to check out The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw (Barrie Zwicker, 2005). It actually has some convincing arguments and it mentions references.
If you feel that the evidence pointing towards the official story is sufficient you might be interested in watching The Hamburg Cell (Channel 4, 2004), a British docu-drama based on evidence (such as court transcriptions, video footage etc.). It's about the hijackers who flew the planes on the fateful morning of September 11th.

The goggles, they do nothing!

2006-08-29T21:59:00.000+02:00

The top 5 pictures that characterises internet...

Edit: If you liked that one I'm sure you'll appreciate this too.

Second Edit: Ah, sweet sweet internet!

Perpetuum mobile

2006-08-28T21:56:00.001+02:00

I just found out about a new claim of having invented a perpetual motion machine. The company behind this "revolutionary free energy technology" is called Steorn. They assert that their invention will provide "[the] world with an infinite supply of clean energy for all" . Besides the fact that this violates the laws of physics the people of Steorn do not provide any blueprints (allegedly Pat. pending) or evidence (theoretical or otherwise) of what kind of machine they've built (well, they haven't built it yet but I'm guessing that according to the people behind this farce this is just a technicality). In fact, they don't really go in to detail on how it is supposed to work. I think the website mentions that it has to do with magnetic fields or something. However, this is just pure BS and I don't think I have to go in to detail about their ludicrous claims. Alas, I think it's a shame that this is making a mockery of real science...

Mike the Headless Wonder Chicken

2006-08-23T23:56:00.000+02:00

I watched The Natural History of the Chicken a few days ago. Between all the general nutters and borderline-psychos there was a segment about Mike the headless chicken. I heard about this story a few years ago and thought it was an urban-legend. However, I was proven otherwise. There are numerous sites on the Internet about it. Google it if you feel like learning more about it.

3-D

2006-07-19T18:58:00.000+02:00

As we all know Superman Returns will be released in IMAX 3-D. It's advertised as the first live action feature shown in this format. The Polar Express was however released as "An IMAX 3D Experience" before Superman, alas it was purely Computer Generated Images, i.e. crap. On the other hand, Superman was filmed in 2-D and later converted in to 3-D. This means that half of the frames are created digitally which, technically speaking, makes it half "live action" and half CGI. Considering that most of this film, as most other Hollywood films (in a broader sense), is an orgy in CGI-action it leaves little place for so called "live action".
Read more about past attempts to lure people to the cinema with the promise to entertain the senses (article written in Swedish).

Fun & games

2006-07-11T07:48:00.000+02:00

I read an article on Super Columbine Massacre RPG and decided to download and try it. I reckon most people in the media have either thought it's horrible or hyped it because it's retro. But there might be something to it, one can't help but feeling a bit nostalgic when confronted with the 90's style of the game. It sort of looks like Final Fantasy but shittier. However, one does grow tired of it quite quickly. If you're in to boring but controversial games I'd recommend a visit to the Border Patrol. It's got mediocre entertainment value and it's highly racist. Have fun.

WTF

2006-07-08T22:01:00.000+02:00

When I was about to pick up my laundry I found a note stuck on my machine that read: "One of my socks is missing and I want it back!!! Please return it to [address]". At first I just thougt "what a fucking looser". However, I suddenly felt how anger replaced my empathic feelings towards this idiot and I was compelled to reply: "Dear imbecile, I don't give a shit about you and your exclamation marks. Go fuck yourself you doss cunt!!!".

TPB might be in deep water

2006-06-21T19:59:00.000+02:00

The Swedish Maritime Admin- istration have instituted proceedings against The Pirate Bay for having torrent files linking to nautical charts on there website. First I thought it was a joke. It is however apparent that the Administration wants to earn cold hard cash rather then saving lives at sea. One of the spokeswomen claims that they're only trying to point out that they don't think it's "okej" that they loose money on illegal file-sharing. One might think that they don't have their priorities straight but what do I know. All I know is that they wont get far with this. You can read more about the story at Dagens Nyheter's website.

Arty farty

2006-06-20T17:07:00.000+02:00

There was a TV-program called Kazakhstan Swings (More 4) which I saw yesterday. It featured some of the greatest artists working in the former Soviet satellite state Kazakhstan. Somewhere between the enormous concrete buildings and the flotsam and jetsam people below on the streets there seems to be a scene for modern art. This show reminded me of a of a series previously aired on Channel 4 called ArtShock (The show Is bad art for bad people in particular). However, ArtShock focused mainly on western artists. One artist represented in Is bad art for bad people was Paul McCarthy who's art is also exhibited in Moderna Museet during this summer (McCarthy at Moderna in English/Swedish). Dagens Nyheter had a piece about the exhibition (In Swedish: article/interview).

Have Toothbrush - Will Travel

2006-06-19T12:53:00.000+02:00

I returned home from the Hultsfred music festival yester- day. In short, the festival is all about teenagers getting pissed. I guess the best way of describing the general festival feeling is to present the two major groups of people attending: punters with bad hygiene mixed with sixteen year old technical virgins. Words like desperation, teen angst and sexual frustration come to mind.
Main activities include trying to get out of the sun while wading around in trash up to one's ankles and avoiding fucktards who's trying to throw faeces at you. In fact, it could be summed up in one acronym; SNAFU.
The worst thing is that I kind of like it. The last day was a real clusterfuck though. People were sober and went away from the camping area to see shit bands like Lordi.

Swedish television

2006-06-14T21:48:00.000+02:00

While taking a dump I picked up one of the many magazines that are spread around on my bathroom floor. I found an article in a paper called Teknik & Människa that I thought was rather interesting. It was about a film-review show known as Filmkrönikan, which is broadcasted on Swedish television (SVT).
First of all, SVT is a public service channel and it covers a great range of diverse subjects. Many of their shows are intelligent and fascinating. In fact, all other channels are crap in Sweden. Second, since it is public service they have to appeal to various different social groups. All other TV-channels totally neglect the minority groups and people with special interests (e.i. the other channels are commercial rubbish).
Anyway, the article criticised this particular show because it is retarded. It also quoted an article in Film & TV that basically read:

We cineastes would appreciate suffering in silence rather than to be part of the miserable coverage that Filmkrönikan stands for.

The magazine argued that SVT have other excellent art shows that cover music, galleries and other art forms. So why should not the art of filmmaking get the same treatment?
I agree with their opinion, the show has degenerated rapidly. Besides, the new reviewers are a bunch of irritating nerds. The show lacks analysis and clever observations. Part of the reason is the uncharismatic personalities that the presenters have. Although, I believe the main reason is because the show is supposed to appeal to the youth and popcorn loving idiots.

Jesus was a tosser

2006-06-12T00:20:00.000+02:00

I received an e-mail a few days ago from a friend of mine. It said something like; "intelligent people like yourself might find this interview with Sam Harris interesting. He talks about his new book 'The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason'". It's obvious that my friend has great rhetorical skill, as my ego grew I knew that I had to read it.
I have to admit that I greatly appreciate and sympathise with Harris's point of view. However, a question that is raised in the interview - regarding peoples reactions to the message in the book – is it a matter of "preaching to the converted"? I don't know whether this will change anyone's mind about religious superstitions but I personally find it interesting. Maybe I'll even have a look for the book at the library.
Here's a quote from the interview:

The people who have their hands upon the tiller of civilization are just not thinking, speaking, or allocating resources in the ways they must if we are to avoid catastrophe. The fact that we elect presidents who waste time on things like gay marriage, when the nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union lie unsecured […], is emblematic of how disastrously off course we are.

It is always highly enjoyable to read a bit of critique towards politicians such as George W. Bush, the man whom embodies the expression "being at the wrong place at the wrong time". Bush, like many other high-ranking politicians, is posing a threat to the modern world when it comes to motivating their policies. This is sometimes linked with religious beliefs e.g. when it comes to abortion policies and stem cell research. These questions are kind of trivial but they capture public imagination. There is also a clash between common sense and the second religion in the western world, capitalism. People in general don't give too much attention to questions that relate to choosing between our shared environment and cold hard cash. When it comes to choose I'm sure that the all might dollar always wins.
Sam Harris also writes a weblog. His latest entry, called "There is No God (And You Know It)" is part of "An Atheist Manifesto" which will be published in December on Truthdig. Here is a small excerpt:

[A]ny God who could concern himself with something as trivial as gay marriage, or the name by which he is addressed in prayer, is not as inscrutable as all that. If He exists, the God of Abraham is not merely unworthy of the immensity of creation; he is unworthy even of man.
There is another possibility, of course, and it is both the most reasonable and least odious: the biblical God is a fiction. As Richard Dawkins has observed, we are all atheists with respect to Zeus and Thor. Only the atheist has realized that the biblical god is no different.

Note that Harris is referring to a statement made by Richard Dawkins in "The Root of All Evil" (Channel 4). Dawkins has wrestled against the same ignorance as I think Harris is getting ready to confront. Moreover, Dawkins compared religion to a virus in The Root of All Evil which inflict the young. I believe the point is that religion contains dangerous elements, in both Harris and Dawkins texts. I think this degenerative epidemic is more evident when juxtaposed to out of date myths and superstition.
Here is another quote from the interview:

Just imagine how different it would be if every time a person in a position of power used the word "God," the press responded as though he had just used a word like "Poseidon." Our conversation with ourselves would change very quickly and very dramatically. Imagine someone opposing stem-cell research on the floor of the Senate with a statement like, "life is a gift from Zeus himself. No man should meddle with it." […] [T]he people who invoke God in public discourse are either speaking in empty platitudes or making some very suspect claims about the nature of the world, or about the character of their own experience. We should demand that they start making sense, and if they fail to make sense, we should stop listening to them.

The fat of the land

2006-06-08T01:41:00.000+02:00

I recently viewed a show called Tax the Fat (aired on More4). Just like the title suggests it explores the possibility of introducing a tax for being fat. This idea is put forward by Times columnist and restaurant critic Giles Coren who argue that health care for obese people - among other things - are costing the British taxpayers billions of pounds every year. Coren asks if the introduction of a tax for being a lard ass is a reasonable course of action that could solve the obesity dilemma.
This is obviously a highly opinionated documentary with strong personal polemic which may provoke many. On the other hand, I believe that this is a valid question. Most countries have taxes on tobacco and alcohol. This is in part because these products may cause damage to individuals health but it is also enforced to discourage people from buying things that are not good for them. Why should it be any difference between such products and the one's that make people fat? Giles Coren's answer to the problem was to tax individuals according to their BMI. I would deem his approach as a bit unrealistic. Are taxmen supposed to run around with scales when they're checking people’s taxes? And what happens if you are caught cheating on your tax return? People could always claim that they have gained a few pounds after filling in the tax form. Also, let’s not forget that one cannot tell whether a person is very muscular or just a regular fatty using the BMI method. Athletes usually have a very high BMI.
I think it would be more efficient to have a tax on fat food just like the one they have on fags and booze. Even though he does mention this possibility he quickly discards the idea. However, I think this might be part of the solution. Increase taxes on sugar and use the money collected to subsidise vegetables and fresh fruit. How hard could it be? Fat people are addicted to sugar. Take away candy, cakes, super size cokes and whatnots from them and just let them sweat it out. Since fat people usually are white trash (i.e. poor and inbreed) these subsidise might be an incentive to them.

In the lions' den

2006-06-06T20:34:00.000+02:00

Apparently a guy in Kiev got killed after climbing in to the lion pit at a local zoo. It goes without saying that this - even though it is probably a great tragedy for those involved - raises a bunch of questions like: "why the fuck did he do that for? Isn't that just a bit daft? Was he begging for it?". I think most people can agree that it's not exactly the brightest thing to do.
However, according to an article published in one of the major Swedish newspaper's website the man thought that God wouldn't let the lions attack him. This is tempting fate, to say at least. I mean come on, couldn't he have tried something a bit less life threatening before putting his life on the line. How about placing a bet on your favourite soccer team or hitchhiking. Well, to be honest the latter might such a good idea in eastern Europe but you get the point.
It seems to me that religious fanaticism often has bad consequences. Look at history, Jeanne d'Arc thought God was on her side. And what happened to her? She got burned at the stake!
On a lighter note I have found a nice little video snippet of Ricky Gervais poking fun at creationism and the book of Genesis. Unfortunately the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired.

When the shit hits the fan

2006-06-05T13:25:00.000+02:00

Most people generally regard George W. Bush as a slightly dim-witted person, he is after all of Swedish decent. Everyone knows that he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and that he doesn't care about black people. But what people don't know of is the fact that he is also responsible for global warming. In the BBC documentary Climate chaos: Bush's climate of fear the evildoing's of the Bush administration is revealed and it shows that George W. Bush is even more evil than previously thought.
British television has devoted a lot of thought to the global warming issue recently, one might call it; Climate Chaos Season. Sir David Attenborough has made a new series about it and he also appears in the Wildscreen festival opening debate entitled The Selfish Green. Another notable participant in the debate is Richard Dawkins (the author of "The Selfish Gene"). Dawkins have written several other books. Bush doesn't like reading though. In fact, he has even stated that: "reading hurts my head". Dawkins (aka "Darwin's rottweiler") is also a devoted atheist. Bush is not. This brings me to the conclusion that: Dawkins - good. Bush - bad.

¡Adiós Muchachos!

2006-06-04T15:43:00.000+02:00

This was my last entry in Myspace:

I was a bit sceptic towards Myspace from day one (as seen in my first blog entry). I've come to realise that Myspace is indeed one of the most annoying places in the World Wide Web. So, I've decided to ditch this place. However, you can still find me at The Medulla Oblongata. I'm also adding a list from Encyclopædiadramatica with in-depth insights about Myspace.

List of groundbreaking innovations
* Autoplaying video clips in profile that never work properly and have to spend 5 minutes disabling.
* Autoplaying music which inevitably starts by surprise at maximum volume.
* Eye-searing color schemes that makes people's text impossible to read, and you'll have to highlight everything in order to read it easier but then realize that it's all shit nobody cares about.
* Dialup user patience initiative - the bigger the whore, the more hours the page will take to load on dialup.
* Sitewide custom of sending friends requests to strangers without ever contacting the person beforehand.
* People pretending to be television or movie characters, which has never been done before anywhere.
* People who add the fake television or movie characters to their friends list and say "OMG lewk I em phreands with Morpheus LOLZORZ OMG!!!!!!!!!!!111
* Is always b0rked when you want to use it. Always.
* Patented "browser crash upon visit" technology.
* Fun "click the stop button" game on every visit!

Crime and punishment

2006-06-04T14:00:00.000+02:00

Originally published Friday, June 02, 2006.

I was probably in a drunken haze when I found these passages quoted below. They're from the web edition of the Swedish morning paper Dagens Nyheter. If you feel like reading the whole article I'd like to mention the fact that it's very tedious, I have no idea how I got through it in the first place.

Det går att stänga ner vilken myndighets webbserver som helst på det här sättet, säger David Lindahl. I det här fallet har det dock inte direkt drabbat det utpekade målet polisen kan fortsatt bedriva sin verksamhet, och utredningen mot Pirate Bay [...] Det finns ingen specifik lagstiftning om det här i Sverige som det finns i andra länder. Men det är ett brott, då de slår ut någon annans verksamhet, säger Anders Ahlqvist, kriminalkommissarie som jobbar med internetbrott.

Yeah right. Different soi-disant experts, one writer. You go girl!

Bamboozled

2006-06-04T13:59:00.000+02:00

Originally published Wednes- day, May 24, 2006.

I just finished watching the film Bamboozled (Spike Lee, 2000). I thought it was very interesting and I highly recommend it. Even though I'm not American (In fact, I haven't set foot outside the European continent) I feel that I'm pretty much up to speed when it comes to discrimination and injustice aimed toward African-Americans. Hell, equal rights were obtained as late as 1964. Since the film deals with stereotypes (pejorative portrayal of African-Americans in particular) it made me think of how the image of crime being related to race is exploited. I must admit that I'm not the first to recognise this, this issue have been addressed in both fictional and documentary film, e.g. in Bowling for Colombine (Michael Moore, 2002). However, I never enjoyed watching Cops (20th Century Fox Television, 1989-) so I honestly don't know that much about it. On the other hand I used to follow every episode of Oz (The Levinson/Fontana Company, 1997-2003). I don't wish to go overboard with trying to be "pc", but there is certainly a lot of stereotypical portrayals - regarding race - in media. Even though it might look a bit hypocritical I'd like to recommend a couple of "classic" films in the gangster-genre that contains this sort of material:

Colors (Dennis Hopper, 1988)

New Jack City (Mario Van Peebles, 1991)

Blood In, Blood Out (Taylor Hackford, 1993)

One might argue that these films focus on society rather than racial issues. I'll let you be the judge of that.

Conversations in a corridor

2006-06-04T13:57:00.000+02:00

Originally published Tuesday, May 23, 2006.

A french guy in my dormitory (or corridor as it is called in Sweden) moved out a few days ago. Before leaving he returned a couple of films and a mattress that he had borrowed from me. Naturally, since I'm a lazy-ass-motherfucker, I was fast asleep when he knocked on my door in the late afternoon. Crawling out of my bed in a mist of general confusion I contemplated whether it was worth getting out of bed just to say a last farewell. However, I figured that it was the right thing to do, he's a nice person after all. After wishing him all the best I realised that the mattress on the floor looked very inviting so I decided to have a seat out in the hallway rather than to go back to bed. No sooner was I engaged in a conversation with this yankee that happened to be there, next to my mattress. I think I said that I'm never going to get a job and that I would start stealing for a living, and of course that I thought that others should follow my example. Having precious little knowledge about stealing stuff (and working for that matter) I soon realised that I had painted myself in to a corner. This guy started talking about the Tragedy of the Commons and later called me a "depressoholic". I took it as a compliment - even though it certainly wasn't meant as one - and went on to talk about the tragedies in Palestine, war in Iraq and revolutions in south America. After a while I sensed that we were flogging a dead horse and I asked him if he had heard Gil Scott-Heron's song "The revolution will not be televised" (I sort of mentioned it on the subject of a documentary with the same title). He answered "no" which forced me to get back in my room, switch on the computer, open up iTunes and play the song. He left after a while and I got back to sleep.

Post-modern stress

2006-06-04T13:55:00.000+02:00

Originally published Tuesday, May 16, 2006.

There is only so much different influences that one could take. While writing this iTunes (set on shuffle) started playing the theme from MASH (Robert Altman, 1970) "suicide is painless". This didn't make me think of committing suicide. However, it did made me think about how we are bombarded with different messages and ideas most of our waken time. The headline above was intended to be a pun derived from post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm nevertheless quite certain that it's possible to suffer from post-modern stress. Moreover I'd like to entertain the thought that this might be something that's a common condition for people of my generation. So, what is post-modern stress? This might be a real condition or disorder for all I know but in my mind it stands for the problem with all the data we have to interpret on a day to day basis. We're being flooded with information from all kind of media which is crippling ourselves. I personally find it hard to do anything creative while there is so many things to analyse, breakdown, comment, criticise and evaluate. The term postmodernism (or "pomo" in slang) itself is difficult to pin down. I guess the best thing one could do is to not think about pomo stress.

I'm being postmodern, before it's fashionable

Top ten films of the 80's

2006-06-04T13:53:00.000+02:00

Originally published Tues- day, May 02, 2006.

A friend of mine argued that there aren't any good films from the 80's. The guy challenged me to find five titles that could be considered worth watch- ing. I made a list of ten.

Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)

The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980)

Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell (Emir Kusturica, 1981)

Fanny och Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)

Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

Idi i smotri (Elem Klimov, 1985)

Barfly (Barbet Schroeder, 1987)

Nuovo cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1989)

On the subject of shitfacedness

2006-06-04T13:50:00.000+02:00

Originally published Monday, May 01, 2006.

Every year on April 30th people in Sweden celebrate that spring finally has arrived by lighting a bonfire. Yesterday I went to Uppsala to take part in the festivities and naturally I got drunk as hell. As a consequence I had a bit of a hangover when I woke up this morning. The first thing I saw was that my bedside lamp was knocked over and as soon as I started moving I realised that my body was covered with bruises. This made me feel a bit like Henry Chinaski, the autobiographical character in many of Bukowski's books. Usually I don't feel too bad when I'm hungover but I do get quite disoriented. While I was preparing some space on my hard drive I accidentally erased a folder with most of my music. I've spent most of the day trying to find a program that restores deleted files, alas with little success.

I guess the moral of this story is that one shouldn't fiddle with computers while hungover.

Bacon and American Atheists

2006-06-04T13:49:00.000+02:00

Originally published Saturday, April 29, 2006.

Since I've been tired I haven't been up to anything special during the day. However, while casually surfing the net I bumped in to an essay written by Sir Francis Bacon.

Bacon stated that "The contemplative atheist is rare" in one of the chapters in this essay. That might have been true during the Elizabethan era. However, I would argue that this statement could be questioned in present time. The only atheists that I think Bacon knew of came from the ancient times. He mentions a few so called "contemplative atheists" like Diagoras the Atheist and Lucian of Samosata. The latter might have been considered a pagan just like the the Indians Bacon is discussing from the newly discovered continents of the Americas (e.i. Native americans). Diagoras was a sophist and poet who denounced religion after being left unpunished by the gods for something he did. I'd say that there are some similarities with Diagoras thoughts and how people nowadays perceive paradoxes in - at least Christianity - religious teachings. However, there were a few atheists that Bacon may or may not have known of. An English dramatist, Christopher ("Kit") Marlowe, was accused of being an atheist in 1593. An interesting side note is that both Bacon and Marlowe have been thought to be the real author of William Shakespeare's plays.

I also stumbled upon an article on American Atheists web page. They argue that the expression "There are no Atheists in foxholes" was used inaccurately in connection to the war - I presume in Iraq - during an NBC broadcast. Interesting reading but I think that they might have missed the point of the expression, that soldiers in war are scared shitless and turn to religion in desperation.

I feel that I've wasted enough time on this subject now. Time to get something to eat.

There is a first for everything...

2006-06-04T13:46:00.000+02:00

Originally published Friday, April 28, 2006.

I've always been sceptic when it comes to websites like myspace.com. However, a friend of mine told me (actually she more or less forced me) to try it out. So here I am. I'm still not sure if I think it's worth wasting my valuable time in a place like this. This quote from Encyclopædiadramatica pretty much sums up the preconceptions I've had about this place:

Serving as a hybrid of Friendster and Livejournal, Myspace provides attention whores across the internets with twice the amount of tasteless self-promotion. It also functions as a "meat market" for pedophiles to search for secretly fat 16 year old girls and camwhores who take it in the ass*. Myspace is owned by The Devil, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News. As a program, it's a lethargically coded piece of shit. As a concept, it is a scourge on the entire human race and the epitome of western insolence.

*Note: once again Encyclopedia Dramatica knew this fact months before it hit the wire. Also blocked for access by Del Mar College, allegedly because of the amount of traffic the website generated, but higher intellectuals know that it is just the IT staff trolling the campus's fucktarded emo and scenester population.

Time will tell if this is true or not. I haven't decided yet...

About Myspace.com

2006-06-04T13:35:00.000+02:00

I've decided to abandon my previous blog on Myspace. There are numerous reasons but the main one is because the web page is a large pile of horse manure. However, I've used the "ctrl+c ctrl+v"-technique to save the entries I wrote.