Gunnar Bjursell's blog

Non à ACTA! Stop au Kraken!

2012-01-26T11:44:00.000+02:00

[faites tourner] ALERTE CITOYENNE: NON À ACTA... par partipirate

R.I.P. Théo Angelopoulos

2012-01-24T23:26:00.000+02:00

Gottröra airplane crash

2011-12-27T07:48:00.009+02:00

This day twenty years ago (27/12 1991) the Gottröra airplane crash occured.

A plane crashed outside the small town/village Gottröra in Sweden and - as seen below - the plane was divided into three parts but all the passengers survived, even though some of them were badly injured, one paralyzed, if I remember correctly.

This photo and others were cabled out around the world and the accident was described as a miracle, the pilots being hailed as heroes.
The pilots were not responsible for the accident but thanks to their professionalism, one could avoid a total catastroph.

Tidigare ministrar har rätt till miljonbelopp i pension

2011-11-19T21:53:00.006+02:00

Det är alltid intressant att diskutera pengar och ekonomi när man ser det i ett övergripande perspektiv.
Vi talar om kris i ekonomin, både i Europa, på många andra håll i världen och även i ett nära förestående perspektiv, i Sverige.
Nu bor jag i Frankrike som kan få sina tre A:n bortraderade men det är trots allt ett rikt land, precis som Sverige och även Grekland, trots allt tal om annat.

Ett återkommande inslag i dessa debatter på mikroplanet är de pengar som alltid finns att tillgå när det gäller bonusar för företagsledare, bankchefer och andra personer inom s.k. 'ledande funktioner' i samhället.
Varje gång blir människor lika upprörda när det hör talas om detta, som om det är första gången det sker trots att personer i samhällets ledande skikt alltid har tillskansat sig förmåner, utan att tillfråga andra - i fallet politiker, fråga sina vljare - om de verkligen kan sägas ha gjort sig förtjänta av dessa förmåner.
Självfallet har de inte gjort sig förtänta av dessa men om du frågar dem, så är de alltid värda de förmåner de med hjälpa av sina underlydande får sig tilldel.

Det har till och från diskuterats vad man skall göra med de pensionsbelopp som riksdagspolitiker har rätt till oavsett om de har nått folkpensionsåldern eller ej eller oavsett om de har annan sysselsättning eller ej.

Enligt det regelverk som ligger till grund för riksdagspolitikernas pensionssystem har en minister som slutat sin tjänst rätt till ett avgångsvederlag under det första året och därefter vidtar statsrådspensionen.
Storleken på sistnämnda är i sin tur avhängig den tid personen i fråga innehaft en minsterpost.
För att erhålla full statsrådspension skall man ha varit minister under tolv års tid. Den undre gränsen ligger på sex år.
Har personen inkomst fårn förvärvsarbete dras pensionen ned med motsvarande summa.
Statsrådspensionen minskar efter 65 års ålder då den tidigare ministern har rätt till ålderspension.
2005 infördes en regel som sa att en minister måste ha fyllt 50 för att få statsrådspension men denna regel gäller inte retroaktivt, varför de som inte omfattas av densamma i princip kan få statsrådspension vid 30 eller 40 beroende på hur unga de var när de tillträdde sina ministerposter.

I den artikel jag läste tog man Ulrika Messing som ett exempel.
Hon arbetade som statsråd i regeringen Perssons mellan 1996-2006 vilket innebar att hon hade rätt till en nästan full statsrådspension när hon avgick efter valförlusten. Hon var då 38 år gammal.
Den idag 43-åriga Messing kan kvittera ut 52 600 kr per månad fram till hon fyller 65 år.
Efter 65 sänks beloppet till 38 000 kr per månad, en summa hon kan få livet ut.
Tillsammans utgör detta 20 miljoner kronor som hon kan kvittera ut från staten om hon blir 85 år gammal.
Nu kan någon alltid invända att Messing och andra f.d. politiker, efter avslutad politikerkarriär, arbetar med andra uppgifter varför dessa summor räknas av mot de inkomster de har från de nuvarande, ordinarie uppdragen och detta är korrekt.
Problemet kvarstår dock på det rent principiella planet:
Skall endast politiker och vissa andra personer inom vissa funktioner i samhället ha rätt att ta ut en pension efter att man slutat en viss tjänst eller skall detta vara allom givet?

Många skulle framhärda att det rent samhällsekonomiskt inte skulle fungera om alla omfattades av detta system och det kanske är korrekt men dock av underordnad betydelse eftersom vi här talar om ett principiellt, filosofiskt, moraliskt dilemma och det måste bedömas som sådant utan hänsyn till andra parametrar.

Politiker har alltid sagt att de ägnar så pass stor tid och möda åt sitt arbete inom det politiska området att de borde ha rätt att dra sig tillbaka och njuta sitt otium lite tidigare, innan de eventuellt återgår till arbetslivet, men detta resonemang håller självfallet inte. De menar också att de eventuellt försummar utbildning som gör dem mindre kompetitiva på arbetsmarknaden men inte heller detta argument är hållbart.
Det finns ingen anledning att just denna kategori människor eller andra skulle ha förmåner som inte övriga yrkesgrupper i samhället också bör ges rätt till.
Detta inte ur ett in absurdum drivet rättviseperspektiv eftersom jag gott kan tänka mig ett segregerat system för distribution av det allmänna men då skall det ske utefter helt andra kriterier än vilken position i samhället den enskilde har. Jag kan alltså tänka mig en form av elitism men inte en som är knuten till var man i den hierarkiska ordningen befinner sig utan hur nyttig man kan anses vara inom det område man verkar.

I detta fall vore det dock klokt att inte ha ett speciellt regelverk som skyddar politiker utan istället tillse att det sker en rotation.
Med detta menar jag att man bör ha ett system som innebär att en politiker har rätt att sitta max två mandatperioder (åtta år) och därefter skall denne söka andra tjänster på den reguljära arbetsmarknaden, precis som alla andra löntagare.
Detta skulle dels leda till att den enskilde politikern får en mer konkret inblick i hur arbetsmarknaden fungerar, hur svårt det kan vara att hitta ett arbete och en insikt i att det politikeruppdrag man innehavt de facto varit en ganska bekväm och förslappande institution.

Jag har uppfattningen att en majoritet bland de svenska politikerna (gäller andra länders politiker självfallet) i stort endast ägnat sig åt politik i olika organisationer och politiska partier utan inblick i och utblick mot andra områden i samhället och detta är självfallet skadligt.
Det gäller alla yrkesområden. Jag anser att man skall tvingas byta tjänst efter maximalt tio år inom samma område, om så bara att man byter specialitet inom en viss sektor. Det skulle vara mer utvecklande för individen och ge honom/henne en större insikt i hur samhället och den egna verksamheten fungerar och dessutom leda till mer allmänorienterade och allmänbildade individer.

När det gäller politiker kan man självfallet tänka sig att de, efter att ha varit borta från politiken under kanske lika lång tid, alltså åtta år eller däromkring, skulle kunna återgå i det politiska livet om de så önskar.
Efter att ha befunnit sig utanför det politiska systemets skyddade värld under ett antal år, tror jag att vi kan få se långt mer insiktsfulla och erfarna politiker med en större förståelse för yrketslivets olika facetter. Detta skulle förhoppningsvis också kunna leda till bättre och klokare politiska beslut.

Vad gäller människors upprördhet är den något svårföreståelig
Det borde ju vara allmänt bekant att oförtjänta förmåner av skilda slag, har beslutsfattare och ledande personer i näringsliv och banker alltid sett till att tillskansa sig, oavsett färg på regering eller samhällssystemets utformning och ideologiska bas.
Skall man komma tillrätta med detta krävs argare, mer aktiva medborgare som förbehållslöst kräver att denna typ av privilegier upphör och det bästa sättet att visa sitt missnöje, det är att inte gå till rösturnorna valdagen.
Därigenom skulle man manifestera sitt missnöje på ett mer kraftfullt och tydligt sätt än någon annan metod. Det skulle tvinga politiker och beslutsfattare att omvärdera sin roll och det system inom vilket man verkar.

Parentetiskt kan nämnas att det land jag själv bor i, Frankrike, också har en rad olika förmåner av än mer uppseendeväckande natur.
Som exempel kan tas en minister i den franska regeringen (oavsett vilken kulör på regering, det ligger i systemet) som under sin tid har en egen bil med egen chaufför.
Då han eller hon slutar sin tjänst som minister eller fullt ut avslutar sin karriär som politiker, har de trots detta rätt att behålla både tjänstebil och chaufför - livet ut!!

(Foto pengar i plånbok kopierat från: http://bohuslaningen.se/image_processor/1.1375685.1317189482!/image/512779155.jpg_gen/derivatives/wide/512779155.jpg?maxWidth=468)
(Foto Ulrika Messing kopierat från: http://data.s-info.se/data_page/1749/images/101114_messing2_276.jpg)

Ivo Papazov, clarinetist

2011-11-10T22:15:00.005+02:00

Why this clarinetist? Because one of my "friends" on Facebook recommended him and regard him as one of the best within his field. Listen and judge for yourselves!

"Ingmar Bergman : une vie de théâtre mise en film"

2011-11-07T12:43:00.004+02:00

Si vous êtes un fan d'Ingmar Bergman - comme moi et ma femme Aurore - vous pouvez, ce soir à 19h, visitez Cinéma Balzac, Paris, pour l’événement ci-dessous:

"Ingmar Bergman : une vıe de théâtre mıse en fılm"

Soirée projection / rencontre. Une discussion suivra la projection du film En présence d’un clown sur le thème: « Ingmar Bergman : une vie de théâtre mise en film. »

D'Une leçon d'amour, À travers le miroir, Persona ou En présence d'un clown, le théâtre devient un thème constant du cinéma d'Ingmar Bergman; une pièce dans le film, des personnages acteurs, artistes, saltimbanques ou forains, une parodie du théâtre, un théâtre de marionnettes...

Quelle place donner au théâtre dans l'évolution d'un réalisateur de cinéma et quelles sont les expériences cinématographiques qu'Ingmar Bergman intègrera dans son théâtre?

Avec Bénédicte Acolas, metteur en scène et Sophie Marceau, interprète d’Une histoire d’âme, Jan Holmberg, directeur de la Fondation Bergman, Magnus Florin, directeur du département Dramaturgie au Théâtre Royal d’Arts dramatiques de Suède-Dramaten et Jean Narboni, historien et critique de cinéma. La rencontre sera modérée par Hervé Aubron, journaliste au Magazine Littéraire. Sous le parrainage de l’Ambassade de Suède.

Jan Holmberg

Magnus Florin

Jean Narboni

Hervé Aubron

(Photo Ingmar Bergman copied from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_azY67Y0GUOk/TPWpKh6WppI/AAAAAAAAAFM/HvjantO_Jvo/s1600/IngmarBergmanR_468x490.jpg)
(Photo 'Cinéma Le Balzac' copied from: http://www.salles-cinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cinema-balzac1.jpg)
(Photo Bénédicte Acolas and Sophie Marceau copied from: http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/2011/10/20/667ca4de-fb25-11e0-beb5-7c65df65bf5e.jpg)
(Photo Jan Holmberg copied from: http://www.filmnyheterna.se/upload/janholmberg140.jpg)
(Photo Magnus Florin copied from: http://dagensbok.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/images/authors/magnusflorin.jpg)
(Photo Jean Narboni copied from: http://medias.unifrance.org/medias/6/92/23558/format_affiche/jean-narboni.jpg)
(Photo Hervé Aubron copied from: http://www.moulinande.com/ceci/newsletter/herve-aubron.jpg)

Mon anniversaire et mon gâteau!

2011-09-29T22:21:00.003+02:00

Le gâteau est une œuvre de notre voisin, Daniel qui est le patron d'un restaurant qui s'appelle 'La Veillée' (2 Rue Ernest Perigois, La Châtre). Il est également pâtissier. Les framboises viennent du jardin de mon beau-père Michel.
Le soir nous avons mangé au restaurant 'L'Escargot' (Place du Docteur Vergne, La Châtre). Ci-dessous vous voyez l'entrée et le dessert. Malheureusement nous n'avons pas de photos des plats principaux.

Théophile Gautier 200 years

2011-08-30T07:00:00.008+02:00

Français:

L’année 2011 marque le bicentenaire de la naissance de Théophile Gautier.

A cette occasion, une association a été créée, à l’initiative de la Société Théophile Gautier et avec le partenariat des universités de Paris 3, Paris 4 et Montpellier.

Des personnalités du monde artistique, littéraire et muséal, ainsi que des descendants de Théophile Gautier, en font partie. M. Hugues R. Gall, Membre de l’Institut, en est le président d’honneur, Mme Anik Lesure, descendante de Gautier, en est la présidente.

L’association du Bicentenaire de Théophile Gautier 1811-2011 a pour action de susciter et coordonner les initiatives que les universités, les musées et autres institutions organisent en 2011.

English:

The year 2011 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Théophile Gautier.

For this occasion an organisation has been created, on the iniative of 'la Société Théophile Gautier' and with the participation of the universities (Sorbonne Nouvelle) Paris 3, Paris 4 and Montpellier.

Personalities within the artistic-, litterary-, and museum world as well as descendants of Théophile Gautier, participates. Mr Hugues R. Gall, member of the Institute is the honorary president, Mrs Anik Lesure, a descendant of Gautier, is the president.

For those of you not familiar with the works of Théophile Gautier (poet playwright, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic), this might be the occasion to get to know him more profoundly, not least as he was a very intresting author, difficult to classify and also a man with an interesting curriculum vitae in general. He was born the 30th of August 1811 and died the 23rd of October 1872.

Le conseil général présente "Théophile Gautier dans son cadre" au domaine de Sceaux - kewego
Jusqu'au 9 janvier 2012, les écuries du domaine de Sceaux accueillent "Théophile Gautier dans son cadre". Patrick Devedjian, le président du

(Image of Gautier as a young man copied from: http://poetes.com/gautier/images/gautier.jpg)

(Photo Gautier as a middle aged man copied from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HOp-GscOrjw/TTB-_fUwkcI/AAAAAAAABHw/_bD0HxkLow0/s1600/Theophile_Gautier.jpg)

(Photo Gautier as an elderly man copied from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Th%C3%A9ophil_Gautier_1856_Nadar.jpg/250px-Th%C3%A9ophil_Gautier_1856_Nadar.jpg)

The Norwegian International Film Festival, Haugesund

2011-08-16T20:19:00.001+02:00

Between the 17th and 24th of August we are visiting the Norwegian town Haugesund for the above film festival. Aurore visited this festival in 2000, during which she saw 63 films in 10 days.
We'll see how many films we will be able to see this time. Aurore probably more than me as she has got a press ackreditation, giving her a chance to see films before they are released publically - on the condition that she does not write about them on her blog dedicated to Scandinavian film. As being one of the - maximum - 5 most knowledgable about Scandinavian film in her generation, her blog - www.cineaster.net - is one of the best if you want to learn something about this subject. It's written in French but even if you don't understand the language, there are many trailers to look at and I think you will be able to appreciate and learn a lot about Scandinavian film anyways.
She writes about both older and recent films in order to explore and explain the development within the film making in "the North".

You will be able to follow her during her time in Haugesund and if the technology works, she will be broadcasting direct from the Amanda Awards the 20th, Saturday.

(The poster copied from: http://www.filmweb.no/filmfestivalen/multimedia/archive/00172/Plakat__500x700_pxl_172570m.jpg)

(Photo from the film 'Eldfjall'/'Volcaono' copied from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0ea2yfpUbg/TkERo8LwCcI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Xmpe0SL8jtY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-08-09%2Bat%2B10.52.36.png)
(Photo 2 from 'Eldfjall'/'Volcano' copied from: http://www.cineaster.net/wp-content/uploads/eldfjall_2.jpg)
(Photo 'Hodejegerne'/'Headhunters' copied from: http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/multimedia/archive/00083/_hodejegerne_jpg_83936d.jpg)
(Photo from the film 'Oslo 31. August' copied from: http://images.screenrush.co.uk/r_760_x/medias/nmedia/18/84/09/80/19725959.jpg)
(Poster with Pushwagner copied from: http://www.cineaster.net/wp-content/uploads/Pushwagner1.jpg)
(Photo from the film 'Sons of Norway' copied from: http://images1.variety.com/graphics/photos/WebImages/newsnor101.jpg)

Lucian Freud est décédé

2011-07-22T20:13:00.000+02:00

Le peintre Lucian Freud, est décédé à 88 ans à son domicile londonien selon son agent.
Arrivé en Grande-Bretagne en 1933 après la montée du nazisme, il était le petit-fils de l'inventeur de la psychanalyse Sigmund Freud.

Why a poor economical development in Greece?

2011-07-17T17:53:00.010+02:00

This question has been discussed for a long time now and we've followed the different debates and negotiations within the EU concerning how to solve the situation...but!

About a year ago - already then a vital discussion within Europe - I read an article about the fact that Greece is the most succesful maritime nation in the world! Nothing revolutionary about that but the important thing about this article is more that one haven't taken advantage of this in Greece.
In this article written by a Swedish economy reporter - Staffan Sonning (photo above) - we get to know something essential, namely that Piraeus outside Athens is a veritable power center within the shipping world and that the Greek merchantfleet is the biggest in the world, estimated to equal 18 per cent of the freight tonnage of the world!
I don't know if people in general are aware of this.
The quays in Piraeus are filled with big ships and this giant fleet has created a lot of billionaires, from the most mythic one, Onassis, to the latterday rich and the revenues has been prodigious.

One of the entrepreneurs interviewed in this article - a Konstantinos Calicamanis - told the journalist that if one owned a tanker the size of 200 000 tons, one earned 200 000 US $ per day - when everything was payed, that is to say net!
As a young man Mr Calicamanis studied in Sweden and has a background as part owner in several succesful Swedish companies.
Furthermore he told the reporter that there are people in Piraeus that owns 40-50 such vessels and you are able to work out how much they earned per day - it's amazing!
This would contribute to a good revenue to the state through the taxes they have to pay - but no.

If these ships are registered in Greece the tax they pay amounts to 4,25 per cent(!) not much at all, compared to other taxes imposed on the citizens.
In many cases however, their companies are registered in Cyprus and Panama, whereby they pay nothing at all!
This leads us to conclude that Greece is capable of handling their economical problems very much on their own, provided that the Greek government change their taxation rules and put a pressure on these shipping owners.
Unfortunately most politicians are much to interested in maintaining a good relationship with the wealthy people in a country as this facilitate for them to receive economic fundings in connection with elections, thus making them less inclined to act against this segment of the population.

The question is: Will the Greek government - beyond other economical measures - have the 'guts' to deal with the shipping industry and not continuously ask the European Union for money?
This remains to be seen but obviously the Greek government is able to do much more in order to straighten up the economy.

(Picture map of Greece copied from: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/greece/map_of_greece.jpg)

(Photo Piraeus copied from: http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.com/a-greece-travel/a-h-historic-destinations/piraeus/piraeus1_big.jpg)

(Photo Aristotle Onassis copied from: http://www.lecimetiere.net/images_site/2010/943602imageslvc977.jpg)

(Photo Staffan Sonning copied from: http://sverigesradio.se/diverse/appdata/isidor/images/news_images/3304/989130_520_300.jpg)

(Photo Géorgios Papandreous copied from: http://trupokarudos.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/papandreou.jpg)

Собор Василия Блаженного/Saint Basil's Chathedral/Cathédrale Saint-Basile-le-Bienheureux de Moscou 450 years

2011-07-12T11:17:00.012+02:00

The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (Russian: Собор Покрова пресвятой Богородицы, что на Рву), popularly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral (Russian: Собор Василия Блаженного) (or in Swedish the Vasilij Cathedral/russian: Собор Василия Блаженного), is a Russian Orthodox church erected on the Red Square in Moscow in 1555–61.

It was built on the order of Ivan IV ('Ivan the Terrible') of Russia to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan.
The original building was known as "Trinity Church" and later "Trinity Cathedral" and contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central church of Intercession. The tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local saint Vasily (Basil).
In the 16th and the 17th centuries the church, perceived as the earthly symbol of the Heavenly City, was popularly known as the "Jerusalem" and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the tsar.
Without going in to details one can say that this cathedral has become a symbol not only for Moscow but for the whole of Russia and as such it's at least as important as the Red Square or Kremlin and to the Christians of course much more important than any of the other buildings.

According to some traditions the architect Postnik Yakovlev was blinded by 'Ivan the Terrible' after finishing this church and this because Ivan didn't want him to be able to create a equally beautiful building again!

(Picture/painting of Ivan the Terrible copied from: http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/images/02themas/verschrijkkelijke.jpg)

(Picture/painting Saint Vasily/Basil copied from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Saint_Vasily.JPG)

(The Jerusalem Temple during Solomo copied from: http://jssnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jerusalem_solomon_temple.jpg)

Another day in Paris... Passeport part two

2011-07-11T18:52:00.011+02:00

La Grande Mosquée de Paris

As I had to travel twice to Paris in order to get my passeport, I took some photos this time too.

The first time I went to Paris I asked the personnel at the Swedish Embassy, if they could send my passport to the local 'City Hall' (La Mairie) in La Châtre, as they also issue passports but with the new 'safety passports' this was impossible. I had to return once more, et voila: Here I was.

On the same time it gave me an opportunity to meet my second 'first cousin first remowed', Elin Bjursell.
Now I'm not sure if this is the terminology in English but she and her sister Jenny - whom I met last time in Paris (29/6) - are the children of one of my cousins.
Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of her and not her sister either and this is a shame as they are both very beautiful and photogenic.

We went to the mosque - La Grande Mosquée de Paris - where we ate and drank, accompagnied by birds as the photos will reveal. Elin is working as a stylist (as you can see through the link on her name), Jenny is working as a make-up artist at Shu uemura in Paris.

Jardin des Plantes et

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

When eating at the mosque we were accompagnied by House Sparrows.
To the left one of them trying to pinch the bread.
To the right his friend (wife, husband, brother, sister?),
wh has joined him, finishing the rest of the couscous

The pidgeon was not appreciated by Elin who shooed him/her off.

Roland Petit dead

2011-07-10T16:42:00.006+02:00

Roland Petit (photo above), one of the greatest dancers and choreographers of our time has died at the age of 87.

He was the son of the stylist Rose Repetto (photo above) and he created 'Les Ballets des Champs-Élysées' and 'Le Ballet national de Marseille' among other things he achieved.

He cooperated with Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Saint Laurent, César Baldaccini, Jean Carzou, Max Ernst, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely and others.
He also participated in a couple of French and American films (IMDb).

(Photo Rose Repetto copied from: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEKOaR_cY4U/TaneVYaydHI/AAAAAAAAAK4/YWfooI22ms4/s1600/Rose-REPETTO.jpg)
(Picture 'Dance à Paris. Ballets des Champs-Elysées' copied from: http://www.images-chapitre.com/ima2/original/738/33092738_6724915.jpg)

The autumn in Sweden and France - differences and similarities

2011-07-08T07:00:00.002+02:00

(Picture meteorological map of Sweden copied from: http://svt.se/content/1/c6/60/90/53/1p.jpg)

One day in Bangkok - sorry: Paris...Passeport part one

2011-06-29T21:23:00.009+02:00

...is not the title of a film (or song) but the 'short story' about me having to visit Paris in order to get my passport renewed.

This first time only for the photos, papers and fingerprints.
I don't complain. Paris is a fantastic town. On the same time I'm actually glad living in a small town like La Châtre and this for many reasons.

First of all it's very expensive living in Paris, if you don't want to live in a small 'studio' in the terrible suburbs, paying a rent that is sufficient for a three room apartment in La Châtre.
Secondly the town is rather filthy and malodorous, I'm sorry to say.
Thirdly the pollution from the cars - as in any other major town - is terrible. The scooter and motorcycle drivers are people you feel inclined to kill!

The advantages of having fresh vegetables and fruits from your own (or your father-in-laws) garden, is another advantage, not easily realizable either. There are fine markets, as we all know but it's however not the same.

Spending two weeks in the capital is though wonderful, giving you an opportunity to visit museums, exhibitions, concerts, see a lot of films, theatrical performances etc etc.
This time it lasted one day but I have to return once again in order to get my passport and we'll see what happens then.

During this visit I met one of my cousin Lars' daughters, Jenny, working as a make up-artist in connection with fashion parades.
The company where she is emplyed is Shu Uemura (176 Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Près).
I had planned to say hello to her sister Elin too (working as a stylist) but she was working in another town this day. Jenny and I ate a lunch and had a good time talking about this and that.

After this I only strolled around the town, looking at sites and people, memorizing streets and places and taking some (not so good) iPhone-photos (above and below):

(Photo boutique Shu Uemura 176, Bld. Saint-Germain 75006 Paris copied from: http://s.plurielles.fr/mmdia/i/84/9/boutique-shu-uemura-10532849wnelv_2041.jpg)

Billy the Kid for sale

2011-06-26T23:44:00.003+02:00

This photo is said to be the only one left of Billy the Kid and it was sold at an auction in Denver, Colorado for 2,6 million US$. The buyer is ancollector by the name of William Koch.

The photo of 'the Kid' is taken in 1879 (the year my grandfather was born) or 1880, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
Billy the Kid had given this 'tintype' or 'ferrotype' (a sort of photographic tecnhique) to his friend Dan Dedrick and since then it has passed on in his family, only displayed once at a museum during the 1980s'.

The photo above depicts left from right: Dan Dedrick, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

(Photo copied from this site: http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/billy-the-kid-sald-for-17-miljoner_6274938.svd)
(Photo William Koch copied from: http://www.staplenews.com/storage/post-images/Billionaire%20Bill%20Koch-%20The%20Brains%20Behind%20A%20New%20High%20School%20In%20Palm%20Beach.jpg?
__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1294213166115)
(Photo Dan Dedrick, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid copied from: http://www.truewestmagazine.com/jcontent/images/stories/June-2011/jun11_who_was_dan_dedrick_billy-the-kid.jpg)

Athene's Theory of Everything

2011-06-21T15:11:00.002+02:00

Is there such a thing as a theory of everything? I guess many thinkers, scientists, philosophers have argued that there exists or has existed such a theory but how can they prove that this is the case?
Take a look at this video and make up your mind:

Plus sombre que l'ombre de tes ailes...

2011-06-18T15:00:00.003+02:00

...is the title of a book written by the French journalist and nowadays writer Sébastien Acker, having lived and worked in Berry/Le centre for ten years.
He has always been a bibliophile and as young he read around 4-5 books per week.

When working as a journalist he became fascinated by Swedish and Scandinavian literature and specifically the crime fiction ('polar'), beginning with Sjöwall & Wahlöö.

Later on he continued to interest himself in other authors and more or less incidentally he came to write this book with the above name that - with a rough translation - means: "Much somber/darker than the shadow of your wings".

Acker has today (Saturday) visited La Châtre and La Maison de la Presse in order to sign his book. The photo below (published some days later in the newspaper 'La Nouvelle République') shows Acker in the middle - of course - and my wife Aurore to the right, carrying a box of cinnamon buns, something Acker had asked for and through a 'cooperation' between Aurore and me, he was able to enjoy these Swedish delicacies. Part of the deal with the cinnamon buns was that he promised to carry the yellow shirt of the Swedish football team and below you can see that Acker also kept his part of the deal. (The text in French under the photo)
(DÉDICACE. Sébastien Acker était à la Maison de la presse, samedi matin, pour dédicacer son premier ouvrage Plus sombre que l'ombre de tes ailes aux éditions La Bouinotte. Sébastien avait tenu son pari en revêtant le maillot de foot de l'équipe suédoise ; Aurore, une Castraise, mariée à un Suédois, venue faire dédicacer son livre, avait apporté des kanelbullars, brioches suédoises à la cannelle.)

The events in the book take place both in Berry/Le Centre and Stockholm wherefore Aurore contacted Acker through Facebook, in order to talk about Swedish and Scandinavian literature and parenthetically the links between me and the implicit main character in the book - not mentioned by name - Stieg Larsson, among other things.

The book circles around Léonard, a Parisian postman (always ringing twice?) who is a huge fan of Scandinavian crime novels but also a (very) private investigator, working for noone and nothing.
When having finished the reading of a world famous Swedish crime novel (guess which one), he becomes convinced of one thing:
To him it's clear that the author of this crime novel, dying before he get to see the success of his books, as a journalist threatened by the extreme right wing groups in Sweden, was murdered!
Léonard plonges into this certitude. How can it be that everyone believes that the author of this blockbuster actually died from a heart attack?
Our postman starts his first own major private investigation, flanked by Léon a disabled colleague.
To the Stockholm of Mysteries from Berry, the two men experience a surprising adventure, taking them from places like The Old Town in Stockholm to the province of George Sand, from The Blue Tower in Stockholm, where August Strindberg lived to Sainte-Sévère and Jacques Tati's 'Jour de Fête'.

Below an interview in French by Bip tv, (Berry Issoudun Première Télévision), where Acker explains a little about himself, his passion for Scandinavia and his own book.

Sebastien ACKER

(Photo cover copied from: http://livreaucentre.fr/files/2011/03/plus-sombre.jpg)
(Photo Acker and Aurore at La Maison de La Press in La Châtre copied from: http://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/indre/LOISIRS/Livres-cd-dvd/D-233-clic19)

Bloomsday 1904/2011

2011-06-16T18:45:00.006+02:00

Bloomsday is the name given to this day by those wanting to commemorate the author James Joyce and particularly his Magnum Opus (some would mention 'Finnegans Wake' perhaps) 'Ulysses' and the character Leopold Bloom in this very book. Leopold Bloom is the protagonist of Ulysses.

The event in this book toke place this very day in Dublin in 1904, or did they?
Bloomsday was 'invented' in 1954.

This is a very intresting book composed by different literary techniques and a kind of mind flow/stream of conciousness-writing, developed throughout the years by Joyce when teaching literature to his students - when not singing, drinking or writing.

Normally I dislike advices like: "The 1000 books you have to read before you die" or the like but in this case I would like to exhort you to read this book as it's a rather groundbreaking œuvre, not least stylistically.

Further reading: The James Joyce Center
Works by James Joyce The Guthenberg Project
Work by or about James Joyce World Cat.org

(Photo 'Ulysses' copied from: http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/joyceulysses2.jpg)
(Photo painting James Joyce by Brian Whelan copied from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/James_joyce_by_Brian_Whelan.jpg

Perfect People, Henric Aryee

2011-06-14T14:21:00.003+02:00

Henric Aryee is an artist who in this particular work, discusses the issue of beauty and the 'perfectionization' (my word, I think) of society and humans.
This aim for a perfect body, a perfectly beautiful person is something always having existed but since long, in the West, the perfect body/person is becoming very stereotype (or should we use 'cardboard'-like as we talk about art?), whether you go to Stockholm (where Henric lives), Paris, London, Berlin, Prague or any other city in Europe, the US and many other countries around the world.
Some indigenous civilizations has preserved other traditions, as in some African countries where a 'fat' woman or man is regarded as the ideal.
Henric is in need for money for his project and in the video he explains more around his work.

Darkness/Light/Darkness, Jan Svankmajer

2011-06-03T23:10:00.002+02:00

A fantastic film maker/animator, not as widely known as he should be, looking at his listing of works:

Personally, I've only seen his 'Alice' (at least as far as I can recall), an adaptation of Lewis Carrols' (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) book about 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. See parts of it below:

Michael Lonsdale et la médaille Grand Vermeil

2011-06-02T22:04:00.004+02:00

Michael Lonsdale - un des acteurs préféré de ma femme - a reçu La Medaille Grand Vermeil de Paris.

Michael Lonsdale reçoit la médaille Grand... par mairiedeparis

Michael Lonsdale (sur IMDb).

The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo

2011-05-29T15:49:00.002+02:00

As one can find (almost) anything on Youtube, I (and many with me) found this non-official, that now has become the official trailer of David Fincher's realisation of Stieg Larsson's books, beginning with this episode.

As being related to Stieg Larsson at distance (our common 'origin', the village Bjursele mentioned in the first book, chapter 19) and having participated in the Swedish films as an extra (the first two ones doing voice overs and in the third at a party at the editorial office), I was, however, not impressed by the Swedish versions.

I think that Fincher is a director able to make something very interesting out of the material.

Zdzislaw Beksinski

2011-05-28T14:30:00.003+02:00

Zdislaw Beksinksi is an artist I found through FB and one I like very much, the little I've seen of his works. Take a look and make up your mind about whether or not I'm 'right'!?

Marisol Valles Garcia, a brave woman!

2011-05-23T17:30:00.004+02:00

I think it's more than appropriate to pay some attention to the 21 year old Marisol Valles Garcia who took a job noone wanted, as the chief of Police in the northern parts of Mexico.
She was just a criminologist student but yet she took up the fight against the drug cartels - til now.

Recently she fled to the USA with her family because of the deadly threats towards her and her family members:
It's either "silver or led" ("plata o plomo") as the Mexican drug cartels said, meaning that either she take bribes and work for both the police and the cartels or she will be killed.
She refused to take bribes and the threats became worse.
Her predecessors were tortured and beheaded.

Yet she didn't focus primarily on the cartels but tried to work in a proactive way, employing female unarmed polices, working among the poor and young, influencing them to stay away from drugs and the cartels.

I can understand her decision and on the same time, this displays the fact that one have to crush these cartels, using non legal methods as legal methods are of no use when fighting this kind of criminality.
Mussolini succeeded in fighting the Italian mafia. Why not look at what kind of methods he used.

(Photo Garcia copied from: http://www.cbsnews.com/i/tim/2010/10/21/marisol-valles-garcia_370x278.jpg)

The Schock Doctrine

2011-05-22T10:32:00.005+02:00

A form of adaptation of the book by Naomi Klein where she talks about the economical doctrine implemented by some political leaders and supported by many economists in the world.

In this film we are presented her side of the story but an equally important side as any other.

The Christian Gene!

2011-05-21T11:00:00.000+02:00

I found this on Youtube and it's quite an amusing 'antidote' against those people/scientists (yes they are humans too, I think) trying to find the genetic ground for homosexuality or any other human behaviour.
This is dedicated to fundamentalistic Christians:

Skotten i Ådalen/The Ådalen Shootings

2011-05-14T18:08:00.007+02:00

This day, 80 years ago, the so called 'Ådalen shootings'/'Skotten i Ådalen' took place in a sawmill district with the same name in Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, in the northern parts of Sweden.

The background to this event was an industrial conflict concerning pay reductions at the pulp factory at another plant at Långrör.
This lead to symphaty strikes at other plants and the owner of the Graninge company in Ådalen hired 60 strike-breakers/'finks'/'scabs'.

The workers started a peaceful manifestation after having stopped all work and the 14th they started to walk towards Ådalen where the strike-breakers were lodged.

Police and military came to the site, ordered to defend the strike breakers but at first they couldn't stop the protestors and as they thought that they wore weapons - the protestors had earlier thrown stones at the police - they started to shoot, killing five persons.

The strike-breakers were, by the County Administrative Board, prohibited to work and the aftermath toke on national dimensions, dividing the political parties in those calling this "murder" (the left wing parties) and those calling it 'justifiable self-defense' (the right-wing parties) in order to defend both the strike-breakers and the police and military.

Bo Widerberg in 1969 made a film telling his version of this story: 'Ådalen 31'.

(Foto Ådalendemonstrationer kopierad från: http://svt.se/content/1/c8/02/42/45/05/aadalen370.jpg)

Almstriden/The Elm Fight

2011-05-12T07:00:00.011+02:00

For those of you not familiar with the above Youtube-sequences from the 'Elm-fight', I can tell you that this is one of the cornerstones in the Swedish environmental movement.

When the politicians in Stockholm in 1971 decided to build an entrance- and exit to the new subway, situated in the park of Kungsträdgården, they faced a unanticipated protest storm.

People 'occupied' the trees and police was called in to deal with this but the protestors did not surrender and in the end, the politicians had to change their decision.

The incident got worldwide coverage but some people around the world found it hard to understand the engagement displayed by the people living in Stockholm and Sweden concerning this issue.
It became a proof of the fact that the environmental movement was marching ahead and that issues around our daily environment, was becoming more and more important.

Even if you don't understand Swedish, the short sequences above speaks for themselves.

How fascism was rooted in the USA - for ever?

2011-05-07T22:22:00.001+02:00

Easter bunny problems

2011-05-07T16:23:00.001+02:00

The School in Finland - Best in the World!

2011-05-04T16:34:00.000+02:00

According to one of PISA's (Programme for International Students Assessment) studies about schools in the world and their quality, Finland recently came in first place.
Different studies use different variables and I don't know the exact ones used in this case but the list looked like this:

1. Finland
2. South Korea
3. Japan
4. New Zealand
5. Australia
6. The Netherlands
7. Switzerland
8. Estonia
9. Germany
10. Belgium
11. Poland
12. Island
13. Norway
14. Great Britain
15. Denmark
16, Slovenia
17. Irland
18. France
19. OECD average
20. USA
21. Hungary
22. Sweden
23. Czechia

Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive or Dead many years ago?

2011-05-02T12:00:00.002+02:00

As so often in connection to events like this - in this case the death or supposed death of Osama bin Laden (Usama bin Laden) - a lot of theories around what is true or not starts to circulate.

According to some commentators, Osama bin Laden died already in the attacks towards the Tora Bora caves in december 2001.
Why this wasn't announced is said to be related to the overall geopolitical decisions within the USA and President Bush's administration and its wish to have a 'diabolical' opponent in order to justify the military spendings and decisions of interventions in different parts of the world.
This whether or not these interventions are aimed at trying to capture Osama bin Laden, defeating terrorism, defending democracy or just spreading the power of USA in the world, taking advantage of different natural resources or any other riches these countries can offer.

On this level the USA is not acting differently compared to other major powers or even small countries in the world, it's just that the impact is often greater as the USA - up til this point - has been and is the biggest and most powerful nation in the world.

American USSR is a site that claim things about the hunt for Osama bin Laden that are contrary to the US Government information and they offer different kinds of 'proofs' for their theories.
Their aim is to 'reveal' the lies and treasons presented to the people of the USA by the US Governments through history. As it says on their site:
"An Extensive Archive of America's Hundreds of Lies, Treacheries, Wars, False Operations, Torture, and Murders".

On the other hand one must ask oneself if George W. Bush really would have omitted telling the world of the death of Osama bin Laden, as it, in this case, occured during a moment during the Bush administration when the USA still had a lot of compasion and understanding for its actions all around the world.
Therefore I question this theory as well.
President Bush could well have argued for the continuation of his 'War Against Terrorism' in the same way as President Barack Obama does now.

One thing one can say is that the burial of Osama bin Laden at sea, offers no real possibility to identify him.

On the other hand, Osama bin Laden - as has been stated by many others - is more important as a symbol for both the USA and the loosely knit 'terrorist organization' Al Qaida/Al-Queda.
Those men and women being convinced that they are fighting against 'the Great Enemy'/'The Great Satan' - the United States (and its allies) - will of course continue, under different kinds of leaderships all over the world.

The overall symbol for Al-Qaida, is at this moment the 'second man' after bin Laden - maybe the brain behind all that has been done in the name of Al-Quaida - namely Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The photo above is according to most sources a fake made in Photo Shop.

Burqas with a 'National Identity'. The solution to the 'Burqa discussions'?

2011-05-02T11:47:00.003+02:00

Funny hats or Silly Walks? The Royal Wedding in England.

2011-04-30T12:06:00.000+02:00

Ludwig Wittgenstein

2011-04-29T07:00:00.002+02:00

This day in 1951 one of the most interesting and maybe hard to understand-philosophers died, Ludwig Wittgenstein.

During my theological studies I of course came across the ideas of Wittgenstein and some extraits form his works, notably 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'.

I'm no specialist in the thinking of Wittgenstein but he was a fascinating intellectual and many are the stories around him and his very few friends, among whom we find Bertrand Russell, of course.

One of the most funny but also perhaps misleading anecdotes is the one when Wittgenstein and Russell discussed what we actually are able to know and perceive as human beings.
This discussion is - according to Russell - said to have ended with the two philosophers arguing whether or not there was a rhinoceros in the room, leading them to crawl around the room looking for it.
This is taken from my memory, wherefore I can't promise that it's correct in detail.
Many people regard this story being idiotic and as such something that confirms that philosophers are dealing with questions of no common interest at all.
Personally I think it shows the contrary!

I share with you some Youtube-sequences displaying Anthony Quinton and experts discussing Wittgenstein and his thinking and writing.

(Photo Ludwig Wittgenstein copied from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ECYmNJDRuk4/TaQJq3ssfDI/AAAAAAAACU8/52ejiK2-tI0/s1600/wittgenstein-buona.jpg)

Vasaskeppet/The Vasa Ship

2011-04-24T07:00:00.005+02:00

This day, 50 years ago, the royal combat ship Vasa (Vasa ship/museum site) - or the ship that was designed for combat but only succeeded in making 1,3 km in the harbour of Stockholm - was salvaged from the bottom of the sea at the inlet of Stockholm.
There it had been dwelling for 333 years (it sank the 10th of August 1628), almost intact, thanks to the cold water with its special quantities of salt balance.

This ship has become one of the most 'inspected failures' in the world, with more than 1,1, million visitors per year. Only the open air museum Skansen in Stockholm receive more visitors, among the museums in Stockholm.

The ship was built during the reign of Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden) and was meant to become the finest and greatest war ship in the Swedish Royal Navy and (one of) the most important flagship(s) in Europe.
Vasa was one of the heaviest armed ships in the world at the time and it was designated to be used during the Thirty Year's War. It had 64 canons.

When it sank it had 150 men aboard and more than 30 drowned.

It was forgotten and it was first when the amateur historian Anders Franzén (1918-1993) started looking for it, that it became known to the public. He nourished a dream to salvage the old ship and so he did.
Another important person was Per Edvin Fälting the divers forman, besides all the men and women involved in the practical work.

At first the government and members of the parliament and different institutions, were sceptic towards Franzén's ideas as they saw him as a treasure-hunter but when he succeeded finding sponsors - among them king Gustaf VI Adolf memorial fund - they became more interested. Later on the Wallenberg fund also contributed with money.

It was though after the ship reached the surface that the politicians really understood the potentials of this shipwreck.

Le Batteur by Patrice Leconte

2011-04-23T22:39:00.002+02:00

This small filmic episode I found through one of my friends on Facebook and it's quite an interesting philosophical or purely human, compassionate reasoning around a percussionist participating in the performance of Ravel's 'Boléro':

Annalisa Ericson död

2011-04-23T16:48:00.004+02:00

Annalisa Ericson was a Swedish actress and dancer, participating in both light comedies as well as more dramatic roles.
She started off as a ballet dancer at a very young age but later on continued to educate herself to become an actress, first and foremost at theatres and in reviews but later on in films.

One of her most famous roles was that in the film 'Blåjackor' (or 'Sailors'), originally an operetta (light opera), where she danced with the actor Nils Poppe in some of the most famous dance scenes in Swedish cinema. Sometimes they were referred to as the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of Swedish film.

Library card in La Châtre

2011-04-13T16:56:00.008+02:00

Now I've got a library card at the Library in La Châtre/Bibliothèques de la Cdc La Châtre, Sainte-Sévère:

The first books I loaned were: 'Légendes & Diableries du Berry' (Gilbert Laconches), 'La Petite Fadette' (George Sand) and...

...'Doppler' by Erlend Loe, an author I listened to at Akademibokhandeln in Stockholm a couple of years ago, when introducing this very book.

(Picture of 'Légendes & Diableries du Berry' taken from:http://r.kelkoo.com/r/fr/3012701/5101/90/90/http%3A%2F%2Fpmcdn.priceminister.com%2Fphoto%2F684470783.jpg/JDe3BuiTWdpjEmpT9vxpFYYazU8WOlK1BZnq4gfSyMc-)
(Picture of 'La Petite Fadette' taken from: http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/ZoomPE/9/1/7/9782070424719.jpg)
(Picture of 'Doppler' taken from: http://www.mediatheque-noisylesec.org/lf/wp-content/uploads/erlend-loe-doppler.gif)

Garizim and Johannes Hellman

2011-04-10T22:57:00.002+02:00

I'm posting these pieces (above and below) of music as Johannes Geworkian Hellman is going to visit us the 14th and 15th of April.
Johannes is a member of the 'folk music' group Garizim.

We met Johannes a couple of years ago at the Medieval Restaurant, 'Sjätte tunnan', in the Old Town in Stockholm, where he used to play sometimes.
He is one of only seven or eight professional 'hurdy gurdy' ('vielle'/'vevlira')-players in Sweden and in order to develop his skill he is now - thanks to a scholarship - travelling through some countries in Europe in order to meet other musicians, play with and learn from them.

These recordings are not technically brilliant but it might give you an idea of the music they play. It's 'folk music' with a modern touch.
In a couple of weeks they will release their first CD and the 27th of April they are going to play at 'Stallet', Nybroplan in Stockholm.

Japanese earthquake and its consequences

2011-04-09T23:40:00.001+02:00

R.I.P. Sidney Lumet

2011-04-09T22:51:00.002+02:00

I guess that most of you have seen one or more films by Sidney Lumet and I also believe he is so well known that I don't have to introduce him to you.
He was by some called a "actor's director", somewhat of an honorary title one can say.
He made more than 50 films during his lifetime.

Below I publish some trailers/teasers displaying some of his most well known œuvres.
If you prefer other films by Lumet, films you might think are more important than these, let me know.

12 Angry Men

Long Day's Journey Into Night

Murder on the Orient Express

Dog Day Afternoon

Serpico

Daria Endresen - an interesting photographer/artist

2011-04-04T11:28:00.005+02:00

Frida Und Die Schmetterlinge

Dans Les Tenebres (2009)

Eva (2010)
Closing In (2008)

(Copyright: Daria Endresen)

I found these pictures on FB if I remember right.
They are - I think - very beautiful, dreamlike photos, combining an almost chirurgical approach with a very innocent and austere and at the same time, sensual depiction of the body, combined with a surrealistic execution.
Somewhat reminding me of renaissance paintings with a 'medieval frankness'.

Nuclear tests 1945-1998

2011-04-03T14:30:00.002+02:00

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan's nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea's two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).

Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen.
Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing"the fear and folly of nuclear weapons." It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.

Rock-Ragge död

2011-04-02T18:28:00.002+02:00

For most of you, not being Swedes or having lived in Sweden, 'Rock-Ragge' might be a name that sounds somewhat strange and I fully understand.

He was actually one of our first 'rock icons' in Sweden becoming nationally known in 1957 when he played with his first band 'Rock-Ragge and his Four Comets'.

He died from cancer.

Bashar al-Assad, the next tyrant to fall?

2011-04-02T11:33:00.001+02:00

(Photo taken from:http://www.islamicmediacity.com/cms_files
/news_images/1180036554.jpg)

Hopefully - for those people who strive for a democracy, being tortured and ill-treated by the dictator - al-Assad will be the next tyrant to fall!

We have seen him address the Syrian people and the Parliament and in connection to this also seen a big 'horde' cheering when he appeared.
History has learned us that it's not at all hard to gather people around a dictator making them praise him (or her) in public, as the alternative often is to be tortured or/and killed.

I'll hope that the opposition will get all the help they need. The world have had enough of dictators, we need a new start and developing the democracy is not at all such a bad start!

Homer Simpson and my wife...

2011-04-01T10:56:00.006+02:00

This reminds me very much of my wife when she is free from work!
Well, she doesn't look like Homer Simpson, luckily enough but she loves our bed almost as much as Homer loves his!

Strindbergs dramatik i 'högläst' form!

2011-03-30T09:34:00.001+02:00

Detta är ett event som tillkommit till följd av 100-årsminnet av August ('Ågust') Strindbergs död, nästa år, 2012.

Teater-och filmföreningen KLASSEN har skapat detta projekt och man bjuder in skådespelare som deltar i offentliga läsningar av alla Strindbergs pjäser. Efter dessa läsningar utbryter - förhoppningsvis - samtal kring det man hört och kring Strindberg som dramatiker.

För mer information se: http://www.filmochteaterklassen.com/

Gustav III

2011-03-29T11:43:00.005+02:00

(Picture taken from: http://danielsundstrom.se/wp-content/uploads/Gustav-III1.jpg)

This day in 1792 the Swedish king Gustav III died from the wounds he got when shot by Jacob Johan Anckarström.

I will not go into the details concerning his death and the history around the conspirators as this is well known data.
What I would like to say is that Sweden, from a cultural point of view, is in need of a person like Gustav III today. This as culture in all its different representations, is seen only as something 'supplementary' to other 'more important' areas in society.
Our politicians today don't understand that culture is the single most important factor for the development and survival of our society(ies).

Of course I'm not in favour of the despotic traits in his person and the fact that he was a dictator and of course he was rewarded prices from institutions he had favoured, almost making him look like one of the foremost artists at the time, something he was not (compare despots as Kim Jong Il and others) but his interest in and promotion of culture in all its prevailing diversity, is something we would need today.
He continued and supported the ideas put forward during the Age of Liberty and thereby founded or promoted institutions as The Royal Swedish Academy of Music, The Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, The Swedish Theatre, The Royal Swedish Opera, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Swedish Academy, The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.

I know that the interest and support for the culture - as with Louis XIV of France - lead to that the poor was neglected but Sweden of today (and France) can afford both a rich cultural life and support for the weakest in society.
Unfortunately the Swedish governments - whether 'left' or 'right' - neglect both.

The Swedish political leaders today are to nonliterate to realize the importance of culture and the Royal family are concentrating most of their work on the promotion of technique, industry and the more 'classical' export areas in Sweden.
The king is no Gustav III.

This might change when an intellectual person comes to power in Sweden but will this ever happen?

Wenche Foss död

2011-03-28T20:35:00.000+02:00

Svenska:

Den norska skådespelerskan - och i Norge känd som den stora divan - Wenche Foss avled idag.

English:

The Norwegian actress - and in Norway known as the great 'Diva' - Wenche Foss died today.

My recording together with Lord Shades

2011-03-27T23:49:00.001+02:00

This Sunday I made a recording together with the doom metal band Lord Shades and one of my french friends in the band, Alexandre Imbert. They needed an 'opera voice' or as closely as possible and as Alexandre had heard me sing before, he asked me if I would like to participate and I said yes.
I'll add some photos but first some of their tunes:

They Call It Myanmar

2011-03-25T23:49:00.002+02:00

Shot clandestinely in #Burma over a 2-year period by filmmaker Robert H. Lieberman, this film provides a rare look at the second-most isolated country on the planet.
It lifts the curtain to expose the everyday life in a country that has been held in the iron grip of a brutal military regime for 48 years.

Swedish and European environmental policy

2011-03-25T11:00:00.009+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.politikerbloggen.se/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/andre.jpg)
Andreas Carlgren

Sweden is always best?!
According to this as well as former Swedish governments, the environmental policy in Sweden is always on the front edge and much more developed than in other countries both in Europe as well as the world. Is this correct?
No, of course not.

We can naturally find areas within the Swedish environmental and climate policies, having developed in a better way than in other comparable countries but on the whole there are no reasons being more proud over the work carried out in Sweden within this domain, in comparison with other countries in general.

Not long ago representatives for the current Swedish government wrote in one of the leading newspapers in Sweden that they are 'pushing the environmental policies forward' within the EU, describing themselves as being one of the leading parties within this work.

The Minister for the Environment in Sweden, Andreas Carlgren, states that his goal is to diminish the emission of greenhouse gases with up til 40%.
According to other documents, commented by the opposition parties recently, the ambition has been and is limited to a recuction of these emissions by 27% between 1990-2020.

(Photo taken from: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41785_305608429284_2805065_n.jpg)

During the negotiations within the EU, Sweden has also advocated that they want the European countries to have the opportunity utilizing the reduction in greenhouse emissions, emanating from the developing countries, as if these reductions emanated from Europe!
The idea behind this must be that they regard themselves - through the environmental policy and lobbying work - as being the origin of these reductions in those countres?

That would however send a signal to other countries within the EU - and the USA - that there's no need working to hard in reducing the emissions in our own countries - as this could have negative consequences for the industry and its immediate profitiability - as one can use other countries reductions and include them in ours.
On the same time one hereby make the industries within the EU, think that it's not at all profitable to reduce the greenhouse gases and thus they feel free to continue as before!
If this is the substance of the Swedish policy and that of EU, this will lead to extremely negative consequences from an environmental perspective.

The Swedish Minister for the Environments, claims that he wants EU to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases with up til 30% but according to the political opposition, he has only said that he wants to create the prerequisites for such a policy.
What is correct or not, I can't say.

On the whole one can conclude that Swedish politicians, whether they are 'left', 'middle' or 'right':
1. always have claimed that the Swedish environmental policies are better than the same policies in most comparable countries in the world and
2. they have always been wrong.

This video was released a couple of years ago presenting the environmental ambitions within the European Union but is in my opinion a naïvely positive view of these ambitions, seen in relation to the results and the ongoing European and global negotiations.

50 years of Protecting Europe's Environment

The Official Year of Volunteering

2011-03-23T17:16:00.002+02:00

(Picture taken from: http://europa.eu/volunteering/sites/default/files/imagecache/image_slideshow/newLogo_eyv.jpg)

The European Commission has decided to propose that 2011 be designated the 'European Year of Volunteering'.

The Council is expected to endorse this decision, after the European Parliament has been consulted, by the beginning of next year.

By dedicating 2011 to the topic of volunteering one want the member states, regional and local communities and civil society to achieve the following objectives:

1. Work towards an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU;

2. Empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering;

3. Reward and recognise volunteering activities; and

4. Raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.

The Commission expects that the European Year of Volunteering will lead to an increase in volunteeringand to greater awareness of its added value, and that it will highlight the link between voluntary engagement at local level and its significance in the wider European context.

These aims are good but of course one can see both negative and positive effects of the endorsement of voluntary work.

On the one hand we have to ask ourselves why every kind of work we engage ourselves in have to be compensated economically, on the other hand the question is: Who will engage themselves in voluntary work? Politicians, decision makers, people working within the bureaucracy, the bank managers?
No, of course not, only those who already are poorly paid, lacking the wages they ought to have if one take into consideration the importance of their work etc.
These people are already working voluntary, through the fact that their wages/salaries is correlated to the kind of work they perform.

In France there are a lot of voluntary work done by people within voluntary organisations and quite a number of people are engaged in voluntary work also in Sweden, though less.

In this case I get the impression that the governments are trying to revaluate the voluntary work, officially that is to say, in order to take advantage of people and thereby not having to compensate them for doing this kind of - often - very important work.

R.I.P. Liz Taylor

2011-03-23T15:48:00.003+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://celebrity-pics.movieeye.com/celebrity_pictures/Elizabeth_Taylor_402355.jpeg)

(Photo taken from: http://earsucker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Elizabeth-Taylor-hospital.jpg)

Literature about Japan/Litteratur om Japan

2011-03-22T15:00:00.003+02:00

In 1995, the physical, social and maybe psychological landscape of Japan was transformed by two events:
The Kobe earthquake, in January, which destroyed thousands of lives, and the poison-gas attacks in the Tokyo subways in March, during the morning rush hour.
These two events made Haruki Murakami abandon his life abroad and return home.

The subway attack led to his book 'Underground' where he made a kind of journalistic investigatoin, interviewing 60 victims and 8 members of the Aum group.

The earth quake led to the above six stories, all enacted between the natural catastrophy and the terrorist attack.
The main characters normal day-to-day-life is turned upside down and Murakami discover a lot of human positive trait of characters, not so visible before these catastrophies and it's these human reactions he is describing in the book.
Japan is now living through an ever bigger catastrophy - something that will lead Murakami to penetrate the same questions in another book?

'Trollsländans namn' är titeln på Monica Braws bok och det är också ett gammalt namn för Japan.
I denna bok presenterar Monica Braw (fil.dr. i japansk historia) ny forskning och egna reportage om kejsare, samurajer, munkar, kvinnor, bönder, stadsbefolkning och poeter.

I denna bok vill hon bl.a. visa att bilden av "det stängda Japan" under 250 år är en sanning med modifikation; att Japnas utveckling inte har varit isolerad utan alltid nära förbunden med omvärlden; att samhället sjöd av förändringar och förhoppningar även under den s.k. Tokugawa-tiden, då shôgun, samurajledaren regerade.

Boken ger enligt förläggaren ett vidvinkelperspektiv på Japan och japaner alltfrån stenåldern till Meijirestaurationen 1868 och detta kanske resulterar i en ny Japanbild hos den breda allmänheten?

I denna bok visas upp en rik bildskatt med fotografier tagna av japanska fotografer från Japan daterande sig till slutet av 1800- och början av 1900-talet.
Samlingen inköptes av Ida Trotzig 1917-18 på uppdrag av Etnografiska museet och skildrar det dagliga livet i Japan från olika perspektiv.
samtidigt den enormt stora förändringen som ägde rum under åren kring dåtida sekelskifte.

Japan, the world and the nuclear power

2011-03-22T14:04:00.001+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/world/asia/17nuclear.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss)

This is Fukushima in Japan and as we all know, the consequences of this terrible accident are yet to be seen.

As always when there are problems with our nuclear plants - whether it's in Japan, France, Sweden, the USA or elsewhere - the aim of the work carried out by the representatives of the different authorities and governments, is to 'calm' the population.

Most of us understand that the problems with the nuclear power and its use all over the world, are greater than the authorities will let us know. How do we know this?
Historically all incidents or deliberate use of nuclear power, for civilian as well as military use, have been surrounded by mistakes and false information.
This goes for the tests made in connection with the Manhattan Project and Robert Oppenheimers role in that destructive work as well as for the three great incidents I've illustrated in this blog, namely Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl/Tjernobyl (1986) and now Fukushima (2011).

We have to remember that the nuclear power is the most toxic energy source man has ever invented and that the problems both in extracting uranium all over the world, erecting and running nuclear plants have lead to great and permanent destruction of many areas in the world.

Another factor that increases the risks for 'misinformation' is of course the fact that behind this industry there are billions and billions of dollars, euros invested, making some people very rich - not least decision makers - and others poor and deadly sick.

Unfortunately most people - when there are no reports of incidents or accidents in connection to the nuclear power - react as the man who falls out of a window from a skyscraper: So far nothing has happened.

Not least a couple of years after an accident like this when people in countries not directly affected by the accident see their everyday life continue as before the accident, they tend to forget and believe that everything is alright, not thinking of those being killed and injured for life and not knowing the long term effects for the earth as a whole.

Man might be intelligent but it's not 'traditionally' intelligent people we first of all need, it's intellectuals, reflecting more deeply on issues of importance for the survival of all living creatures on this earth, without being bound by the consumer society-dogma.
Intelligence is measured along extremely narrow parameters, related to a natural scientific perspective and those people are seldom intellectuals but very often they possess an almost fanatic attachment to an overall scientific paradigm, making them very rigid and fundamentalistic in their thinking and outlooks.

I hope that the leaders in some countries in the world will start to reevaluate the use of nuclear power as the main source of energy in the modern society, as this is not the last accident we will witness and probably not the worst either.

People being in favour of nuclear power are so because of economical reasons, and thereby they also neglect all the suffering and problems the nuclear power has caused humanity and we can only mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki as two very obvious examples.

President Sarkozy has declared that France will not leave the nuclear power as the main resource for energy extraction in order to sustain not least the industry and its very energy consuming processes. One have to remember though that Sarkozy in fact is a lobbyist for nuclear power as he, before becoming the president of France, held a position within the nuclear industry and its lobbying organisations.

Look at these pictures and put yourself in the position of those affected by these catastrophies and if you still think that those 'sacrifices' are negligible in comparison to the positive sides of nuclear power, then you are more cynic than the most cynic!

Three Mile Island

(Photo taken from: http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/main_dykstra_0324.jpg)

Tjernobyl
(Photo taken from: http://pripyat.com/sm/site/news/uploads/2007/04/12/1641_1.jpg)

The Trenches, Claude Cloutier

2011-03-21T11:15:00.001+02:00

I found this animated film about an attack on Canadian soldiers during WWII, made by Claude Cloutier, combining archive footage with animations. Made in 1991.

Ingmar Bergman exhibition Berlin

2011-03-20T12:00:00.001+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://img.listal.com/image/445213/600full-ingmar-bergman.jpg)

Ingmar Bergman. Truth and Lies is the title of an exhibition at Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen in Berlin

The interesting or problematic part in this, is that this exhibition is held in Berlin - not problematic per se - but no Swedish museums or institutions seem to have been interested in taking over the exhibition when it ends the 29th of May!

Surprising? No, not at all, as Ingmar Bergman - as well as many other great Swedish cultural personalities - tend to evoke more interest abroad than in Sweden. This probably because - in the case of Bergman - his films deals with emotional, intellectual issues, questions about belief and 'non-belief', life and death, what is important in life and what is not, how different psychological developments in a persons life also affect his or her life and the life of others, in short the characters in Bergmans films are preoccupied with the intellectual questions concerning from where do we stem, why and (whither) where are we heading? These kind of questions does not appeal to a society as superficial as the Swedish, unfortunately.

Those interesting in getting to know Bergman better - or at least his works - can choose between 130 stage productions, 42 radio productions, 23 television plays and 39 movies/films and if this isn't enough there are a number of documentaries on Bergman.

The exhition in Berlin started January 27 and continues til 29th of May, 2011.

(Photo taken from: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2007/07/31/gal_ingmar1.jpg)

The Super Moon

2011-03-19T23:53:00.001+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/1.2371738/i-natt-ar-supermanen-har. Photographer Jan Wiridén)

Tonight the moon passes the Earth at a distance of 356 578 kilometres, closer than anytime since 1992.

In connection with this kind of phenomena, there have been great natural catastrophies reported but some scientists say that this is not at all as closely related as one might think.
However, if there are some turbulence in the geological activities somewhere on earth, a 'giant moon' like this might be disengaging factor, others say.

We'll see about this...

Sweden: No we don't want to participate...!

2011-03-19T23:02:00.002+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://corruptio.blog.com/files/2010/11/carl-bildt-alcatraz-2010.jpg)
Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister.

Once again Sweden stays outside a conflict when - as in this case - the USA, France and some other countries have decided to intervene in the conflict in Libya.

This is a very common way to act when it comes to political decisions concerning international engagement where Sweden is asked to participate, or from a purely humanitarian standpoint, should participate. It dates back to WWII as we all know.

Throughout decades Sweden has sold weapons to many countries around the world, including those who are involved in a military conflict, though the legislation concerning arms-export forbid the selling of weapon to countries involved in an armed conflict.

On the same time Sweden has always tried to stay out of immediate 'trouble' by not engaging our military in rescue operations or, as in this case, the support of democratic movements in a country.

There are Swedish military in Afghanistan but this is an exception from the rule.

We will wait and see, is the recurring 'mantra' from Swedish governments!
Waiting for what? Godot?

Stefan Jarl 70

2011-03-18T11:04:00.006+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.gp.se/image_processor/1.391195.1276511182!/image/
4216980332.jpg_gen/derivatives/wide/4216980332.jpg?maxWidth=440)

One of the most interesting Swedish film makers/directors today turns 70!

It's positive to see that some of 'the older generation' beginning their careers in the late 1960's is still going strong.

For most of you he is best known for his trilogy about the drug addicts 'Stoffe' and 'Kenta' in the films 'Dom kallars oss mods' ('They call us misfits'/'On nous appelle les mods', 1968); 'Ett anständigt liv' ('A Decent Life', 1979) and 'Det sociala arvet' ('Generation to Generation', 1993).

Besides this he has made a great number of very interesting and thought-provoking films, the latest one 'Underkastelsen' ('Submission', 2010), is a film about the environmenal- and health problems connected to all the chemicals surrounding us in our daily life, affecting our bodies (and minds?)..

In Sweden Jarl has been seen as somewhat controversial, not least among politicians and the bureaucracy, as is the case with the Swedish director Roy Andersson.
This because both of them have criticized the Swedish society and the way it has developed, not least throughout the 'Golden Years' - the first decades after WWII - under the Swedish Social Democratic Party.
Doing so is anathema in Sweden, more during the 1960's til 1980's perhaps but still the political leaders want the Swedes to believe that they live in a Schlaraffenland and everyone criticizing this image is almost Persona Non Grata!

Congratulations Stefan Jarl!!

R.I.P. Michael Gough

2011-03-17T17:06:00.002+02:00

Säkert slutförvar för kärnbränsle? Det vet vi om 100 000 år!

2011-03-16T17:52:00.003+02:00

Kultur gör hjärnan friskare

2011-03-16T10:32:00.003+02:00

Ett inslag i Nyhetsmorgon med min namne och kusin Gunnar Bjursell samt artisten, sångerskan, körledaren Caroline af Ugglas.

De diskuterar kulturens inverkan på hjärnan och hur sistnämnda påverkas positivt och utvecklas med hjälp av olika kulturella uttryck - och intryck.

Dalai Lama retires?

2011-03-10T16:45:00.004+02:00

Dalai Lama recently declared that he will put forward a proposition that allows him to withdraw from the political responsibility in connection to the next meeting with the government-in-exile in March this year.

Next summer Dalai Lama - or Tenzin Gyatso - will become 75 and he has for long stressed the importance of creating a government of younger politicians, elected by the Tibetan people.
This might be a move in order to give the movement more strength and credibility among the Chinese leaders but also worldwide as some influential debaters oppose the religious leadership, as this would become a sort of theocracy, not in accordance with modern, democratic rules.

If the government-in-exile is 'converted' into a regular political body this might give them a greater strength and a formal status or position in the eyes of the World Community.

I doubt that Dalai Lama will leave the international scene, he will just concentrate on other tasks related to the liberation movement, aiming at an independent Tibet, free from the dictatorial rule of China.
On the other hand, Dalai Lama has himself been accused of trying to create a very top-down society with himself as both spiritual and political leader and this has caused negative publicity.
Now he can fully concentrate on the spiritual side, as important as the political I would say.

Representatives for the government-in-exile says that it might be difficult for some of them to accept the stepping down of Dalai Lama as the political leader and China says this is just a "trick" to fool the world.
They argue that the Lama will continue to act 'behind the curtains' and that nothing will change and as the Chinese government looks upon the Lama as an extremist - or why not a 'terrorist', using the now common word for all kinds of uprising, whether or not legitimate - they want him out of the way, declaring that the Chinese government are to decide who should become the next Lama. The Chinese government wants to decide who is the 'legitimate' lama, not leaving it to the religious community or the people.
This might lead to a situation with two religious leaders, one sanctioned by China, the other by the religious community and the people: 'Divide and Rule'!

Dalai Lama has now lived in exile since 1959.

Julian Assange and the Swedish (in)justice?

2011-03-10T12:55:00.006+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://cohnwolfe.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/julian_assange.jpg)

What can one say about the affair with Julian Assange and the Swedish judicial system?

First of all the media reported that the police interrogator leading the investigation concerning the accusations against Julian Assange for sexual assault, is a friend of one of the two women in the case.
According to an article in the Swedish newspaper Expressen, the contacts between this investigator and the women accusing Assange for sexual assault, dates back to April 2009, sixteen months before Assange was reported to the police for, amongst other things, sexual assault or rape.

On the Facebook-page of the very same female interrogator, she described Assange as an "overrated bubble ready to burst", when at the same time praising the lawyer of the two women.
What one can say about this is that the aim of objectivity that is a prerequisite for every person working as a police officer or interrogator, has not been prioritized in this case.
What she might think of Assange as a person is one thing and she is of course free to regard him as the 'scum of the Earth' if she wants to but in that case she should not lead the investigation but resign and let someone else take over.

Even worse is of course that she publicly expresses her opinion on Facebook, one of the most influential social medias in the world! This should clearly discredit her as an interrogator.

This incident - among others - lead Assange to proclaim Sweden as the "Saudi Arabia of feminism", within an overall political framework. This not least since the police interrogator and the women in question know each other through the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

It's also obvious that there are close connections between the police interrogator, the woman and their fellow party member and lawyer (former Minister of Justice in Sweden), Thomas Bodström, the latter with a great interest in the Assange case through his law firm - and Bodström is not siding with Assange!

To make this story short there are other evidence in this case exposing the fact that the women have had many and profound contacts long before they accused Assange for sexual assault, that the police interrogator was the first police to perform interrogations with the women when they reported the alleged sexual assaults, and this in spite of the fact that she was a friend of theirs.

The police interrogator has refused to comment on all these accusations and instead she directed the questions posed by the newspapers to a police officer in charge of information.
The latter didn't want to comment on "rumours" and said that he didn't know that the police interrogator and the women where friends. He did not say that he was going to look into the case either.

This question has been discussed for a long time and many commentators reflect upon the fact that the accusations of sexual assault appears in connection with the ongoing processes against Assange concerning the Wikileaks-case.

What is true and what is not?
As always this is hard to say as a bystander but if Assange has committed the alleged assaults, he should of course be held responsible for this.

The police interrogator and her friends, on the other hand, are however convinced that it's always men who define whether or not - in a case like this - it's a question of sexual assault and Assange on the other hand claims the opposite (note the commentary above).
For the bystanders this is, of course, impossible to comment on.

The only thing one with certainty can say is that the police interrogator - with her bonds to the women and Thomas Bodström - should resign from the case.

Concerning Wikileaks, I think on the one hand that the work done within this informational site is very important for different reasons, not least in order to make important information more transparent to people all over the world.

On the other hand the information being 'leaked' could of course cause problems for individuals and countries, problems that does not help those people it should or could help.
That is if one of the ambitions with the work done by Wikileak is to make clear the strategies of different countries in relation to the civilian population in order to help the latter liberate themselves from corrupt regimes or being given the tools to look through the line of policy in a certain country, democratic or not.

As I haven't read many documents being published through Wikileaks, I can't say much about it and neither can anyone else.
The amount of documents are to great for any individual to grasp but in principal I support the work being done by Wikileaks.

I'm however not naive, thinking that Assange is an idealistic protagonist for the 'Truth', as such people doesn't exist, but the principle, in making the political strategies of different countries - not least concerning weapons-sales and other destructive ingredients in a certain society - publically known, is something I'm in favour of.

The documents being released must however include every country in the world and not least dictatorships if it should serve any meaningful purpose.

La Châtre-Châteauroux-Paris Austerlitz

2011-03-06T13:30:00.001+02:00

Today I'm leaving La Châtre at about 2.15 p.m. arriving at Châteauroux 2.45 p.m. and leaving with the train from their to Paris/Austerlitz at 3 p.m. arriving Paris around 5 p.m.

I'll take the Metro to Cluny La Sorbonne and from their I walk to 13 Rue Victor Cousin and Le Cinéma du Panthéon for Ciné Nordica.
More informaton about this film festival you find at our blog Aurore & Gunnar.

(Photo taken from: http://chatre-comcc.ffct.org/Vue%20g%E9n%E9rale%20de%20LA%20CHATRE.JPG)

(Photo taken from: http://www.aboutfrenchproperty.com/cities/pictures/chateauroux.jpg)

(Photo taken from: http://de.structurae.de/files/photos/2018/paris/dscf0883.jpg)

Exhibition London's Brick Lane: QUEEN

2011-03-04T22:58:00.002+02:00

One of my all time favourites among rock bands!

From a text about the exhibition:

A new exhibition opens in London's Brick Lane, the first five years of the of one of the worlds greatest rock band Queen.

This major retrospective exhibition celebrates the formation and first five albums of one of the most exciting, glamorous and influential bands in global musical history.

'Stormtroopers in Stilettos' is the first ever major Queen exhibition and takes place in a huge warehouse space in the heart of London's East End at Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, opening on February 25th, closing on March 12th.

Disorder was invited to the press night and the exhibition... and a good, boozy night was had by all!

Swedish comedian Lasse Eriksson dead

2011-03-04T07:49:00.000+02:00

This is a presentation of the Swedish comedian/artist Lasse Eriksson, introduced to those of you who don't know him, by a friend of mine, Björn Jakobsson (Björns Blåa Blogg).

Below an interview in Swedish where he talks about a book he has co-written or edited:

Olof Palme dead 28/2 1986

2011-02-28T23:25:00.000+02:00

Obama behind the changes in the Middle East?

2011-02-26T13:14:00.004+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/politique/
elections-americaines/candidats-investiture/images/ObamaBarack2.jpg)

When the countries in the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula now are shaken by protests against their corrupt, despotic dictators many commentators believe that the USA is working hard in the coulisses.

This not least as 'the Super Power' USA (today not entirely the only super power) have had - and still have - economical and military interests in many countries in this region.
This goes for Egypt and Yemen as well as many other more or less dictatorial states.
In Tunisia the situation was different as this country is of no greater interest to the USA and as Tunisian leaders haven't been to interested in collaborating with the USA.
In Yemen the USA is leading a (or 'the') war against terrorism and the support for Egypt dates back to the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Anwar El Sadat succeeded Gamal Abdel Nasser as the president of Egypt.

When president Mubarak declared his decision to resign or his intentions to reform the country, many commentators said that the words he used was a copy of what president Barak Obama earlier had said and that this should indicate the intervention by president Obama.

The USA does have intrests in Yemen too and there we saw president Saleh declare that he intends resigning in 2013.
We have seen that the USA:s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to a great extent also have been involved in the development in Jordan.

If the democratic changes to a certain degree is due to the 'behind the scenes'-work by the USA, this could be seen as their obligation - and other democratic countries as well - as the turmoil in these countries to a great extent is caused by the policies among democratic countries in relation to the Middle East.

As we all know the policies among all democratic countries in the world, is not first of all aimed at helping poor people or people suffering under dictatorships, it's to gain geopolitical and financial control or access to other countries, their natural values, their markets.
If this is best done by transforming them into democracies, one try to promote democracy but if the status quo is the best way of gaining economical advantages, one prefer this tactic.
Pragmatism is the foremost ideology in all democracies - and non-democracies, as we know.
This goes for the USA as well as for the countries in Europe and elsewhere.

It would be interesting to see if the USA will proceed by influencing the corrupt dictatorship of Saudi-Arabia, overthrowing the dictators ruling this rich country, transforming it into a democracy.
In the case of Saudi Arabia, we know that many countries have benefited from the fact that it's a dictatorship, having prevented the surrounding world to 'disturb' the 'interior stability' (no dictatorship is stable more than superficially as a result of military- and police terror) as the country is one of the most important providers of oil and the oil is of course - in accordance with the cynical approach in politics - more important than the life and well being of the citizens of Saudi Arabia.

In what way will the USA and president Obama be able to influence the leaders in Israel and Palestine, making the relationship between those two countries more stable and non-violent?
In my opinion one have to discuss with those groups within the two countries, that are slightly less indoctrinated by a historical-religious and geopolitical luggage.
The question is if this is possible.

Many countries in the region are also very critical against the USA and this is often understandable, taking into consideration the impact the American politics have had in this part of the world.

Finally one can establish that the uprising in the region, superficially, seem to be a result of the direct reactions and actions by the 'ordinary women and men' on the street, not the result of the work carried out by diplomatics or political leaders of the world. What is hidden underneath the surface is of course harder to discern.

If president Obama and the USA wishes to continue being an influential force in this region, they have to start by killing their darlings, beginning with e.g. Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Yes, you should go!!

2011-02-25T23:55:00.000+02:00

Saad Hussni, Mark Zuckerberg, FB and censorship

2011-02-22T22:45:00.027+02:00

In a time when people all over the world - not least in the Middle East - living in dictatorships, are trying to overthrow their leaders in favour of a democratic society, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg (as the most well-known representative of FB) are heading the other way.

We've seen this many times before on FB: Pages with an intellectual and interesting content are being shut down or restricted while 'intruders' whose only goal is to destroy certain pages by spamming them are able to continue their 'destructive work'.

This might be due to the fact that Zuckerberg is not an intellectual himself, nor his collaborators and this leads them to perceive people using FB as an intellectual forum for interesting discussions as a threat to their existence and ideas.

I will give you one current example:
One of my friends on Facebook is Saad Hussni.
I joined his group as he initiated a page dedicated to film, directors, actors and other topics closely related to these subjects.

On this page he has displayed images and information, including film clips containing data and knowledge about 'Le Septième Art'.
This has lead to interesting discussions, complementary information added by others, intellectual discourses concerning films/movies, actors, directors and how to use the media in different ways etc.
Included in these discussions were also related topics as literature and influences from artists (and their paintings), musicians and so forth.

During the uprising in the Middle East and other countries Saad Hussni also published photos of the dictators now being opposed by the people in these countries, discussing their imminent(?) fall.

A couple of days ago his account was shut down and through other friends he has forwarded information where he explains that FB has decided to shut him down due to the fact that he has published material that infringes the publishing rules and -regulations controlling the content on FB!

What have we been able to see that might be seen as an 'abusive misuse of the FB-rules'?
Some photos have shown naked actors (Oh' My God!) and others the photos of dictators in different countries in the Middle East, as related above.
The photos of naked actors are by no means offensive, on the contrary they are very 'prim' if I may say so.
I here refer to photos publically available with the consent of the actors.

If this is to be regarded as 'abusive' I would urge those responsible for Facebook to take a more thorough look into the pages where people try to discuss serious matters but being 'abused' by spammers whose only goal is to degrade and humiliate the participants.

As one example I can mention a page where one discussed violence and rape against women and where a group of men 'participated' by using arguments like:
"In my country we use women as toilets"; "Women should be 'held hard' and 'trained', otherwise they don't learn to obey..." etc etc.
When I tried to initiate a serious discussion, they answered with anti-intellectual arguments, with the only goal to destroy the page. Sometimes they tried to 'defend' themselves by saying that this was their way of joking! The administrators closed the page down.
Facebook and Zuckerberg did not act against these men as far as I know.
Maybe he and his collaborators share their point of views?

Could the publication of photos of the dictators constitute the principal ground for FB:s action?
In that case it means that Zuckerberg and his 'friends'/collaborators, don't wish to upset alternatively share the same views as those very same dictators?!

If this is not the case one have to ask oneself if Facebook more and more is developing into a world of its own with censorship of ideas that might upset or create tensions between FB and different governments, organisations or institutions in the world.

On the one hand it's necessary with a certain control of the content being published on Facebook, on the other hand the freedom of opinion has to be respected, otherwise FB in a strange way diverge from the rest of the publishing world - except in the dictatorships - and in that case I think we all should reevaluate our participation in this giant social forum.

If FB has any other arguments for shutting down the account of Saad Hussni, it would be interesting to see them published, if possible.

In accordance with many FB-friends (Saad Hussni's 5000 'friends' on FB among others), I consider it totally unacceptable that Saad Hussni's account has been shut down and demand that it will be reopened.
So far no acceptable explanation has been given to the closing down of his account!

(Picture of FB-logo taken from: http://beachandbay.com.au/realestateblog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/facebook-connecting-people.jpg)
(Foto/bild filmklappa kopierat från: http://www.jll.se/images/18.5c8a695612af48c70fa8000500/Filmklappa2+web.jpg)
(Photo Mark Zuckerberg taken from: http://www.linformaticien.com/Portals/0/2008/fevrier/mark%20zuckerberg.jpg)

Laila Westersund dead

2011-02-22T18:54:00.000+02:00

The Swedish singer, actress/comediènne Laila Westersund is dead. Well known in Sweden but perhaps not a name familiar to others than Swedes and people in the other Nordic countries.
The above example in Swedish unfortunately.

Journalisten Bert Sundström efter misshandeln i Egypten

2011-02-19T23:43:00.001+02:00

Smart women are dangerous?

2011-02-19T20:34:00.001+02:00

Inside Job

2011-02-18T19:29:00.004+02:00

The global financial crisis 2008 led to that millions of people lost their jobs, homes and savings and it costed society more than 20 billion dollars, almost resulting in a global financial meltdown.

'Inside Job' tells the story about how this could happen, displaying a villainous industry and its corrupted relations influencing every part of society, from politics and legislation to the academic world.

Some call this documentary 'shocking'. I don't!
This film can only be perceived as shocking if you live in a fantasy world, believing that there within the financial market with all its multinational companies, their banks, politicians etc. exists one single honest and serious person.

It's however an important documentary, displaying the very obvious fact that people within this sphere at an early stage in the process knew that the financial market was going to collapse. I knew it and I'm no economist.

Another important thing we get to see in this documentary is that you do seldom reach the top of an organization due to the fact that you're competent, on the contrary, more due to the fact that you're incompetent! Yet these people are awarded bonuses you don't deserve.

This have to do with the 'Peter Principle':
"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
This is very obvious in this case!

R.I.P. Hans Leygraf

2011-02-12T22:00:00.000+02:00

Homepage of Hans Leygraf

Susanne Bier and 'Haevnen'

2011-02-07T20:21:00.003+02:00

The interview is unfortunately done in Swedish/Danish but it's a way to learn those languages, if you're not familiar with them!

Listen to music with your whole body

2011-02-07T17:22:00.002+02:00

This video cut is from a combined concert and 'class' with Evelyn Glennie, a renowned percussionist who not only is a virtuoso on her instruments but also deaf, something that might seem incompatable to most people but obviously is not.

She 'listens' to the music through her body and this is what she is trying to explain to the audience.
She also underlines the fact that even if you are a hearing person, you don't perceive the music in the same way, not even acoustically. In a concert hall it depends on where you ar seated and this is something one might forget. Most people probably think they perceive the music in approximately the same way.

R.I.P. Gunnar Bergsten

2011-02-07T13:08:00.002+02:00

The Swedish Jazz musician (baritone saxophonist) Gunnar Bergsten is dead, a musician also performing with the group 'Fläsket Brinner', a group he co founded.

R.I.P. Per Grundén

2011-02-06T22:04:00.005+02:00

One of the foremost operetta (light opera) singers - Per Grundén - is dead.
In Vienna he's even regarded as one of the best operetta tenors of all time.
He also acted in Swedish theatres and films (IMDb).

R.I.P. Gary Moore

2011-02-06T21:33:00.001+02:00

R.I.P. Tura Satana

2011-02-04T18:42:00.002+02:00

Tura Satana was a Japanese-born American actress, debuting in a supporting role in Billy Wilder's 'Irma la Douce' but she's probably best known for her role in 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! by Russ Meyer (1965).

R.I.P. Lena Nyman

2011-02-04T13:45:00.001+02:00

R.I.P. Maria Schneider

2011-02-03T23:35:00.001+02:00

Le dernier Tango à Paris (Last Tango in Paris) was a film that according to Maria Schneider destroyed her career and left her traumatized for a long time.

It was especially due to the 'butter scene' where Marlon Brando 'fist-fucks' her (sorry for the bad language but this is actually what he does) with butter.
She had not been told about this scene before and she has told reporters that her tears in that scene was for real.

Maria Schneider declared that Bertolucci and Brando took advantage of the fact that she was young and innocent, trusting these two men and their seriousness, not prepared being used as a tool for their pervertedness!

Jussi Björling Centennial celebration

2011-02-02T07:00:00.003+02:00

Today we (should) celebrate the centennial of one of the greatest lyrical-dramatical tenors of all time, some would even say The Greatest - me for example!

Jussi Björling was born the 5th of February in Borlänge, a small town (almost) in the middle of Sweden but in the Church registers one find the date 2nd of February and Jussi himself always celebrated the latter date as his birthday, and therefore we do the same.
Through the link in his name you are directed to 'The Scandinavian Jussi Björling Society' and there you can find more information on him.

Below some pictures of this great tenor and ever further below some youtube-cuts with Jussi singing solo or duets.

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/1.htm)
Studio portrait from the 1930's

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/4.htm)
As Faust at the Metropolitan Opera 1939

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/7.htm)

Jussi as the Duke of Mantua, making his debut with the La Scala opera company,
at Palazzo dello Sport in Milano, August 1946

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/9.htm)
Metropolitan general manager Edward Jonhson, world-famous coloratura soprano Amelita Galli-Curci at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles 1948
after a performance of " Trovatore" where Jussi sang Manrico.

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/11.htm)
Robert Merrill and Jussi in a publicity photo promoting their duet-recordings of 1950 and 1951.

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/10.htm)
Jussi, in costume as Canio in "Pagliacci", and Dorothy Caruso
in the TV program "We, the people", New York February 16th, 1951.

(Photo taken from: http://www.jussibjorlingsallskapet.com/contents/bildgalleri/12.htm)
Jussi and son Lasse fishing at Siarö in Stockholm archipelago, 1951.

Jussi Björling - The Centennial Voice

2011-02-02T06:58:00.000+02:00

More of the same in American film 2011...?

2011-02-02T06:32:00.000+02:00

From The I Say-Team to the A-Team

2011-02-01T09:34:00.003+02:00

R.I.P. John Barry

2011-01-30T21:10:00.001+02:00

John Barry and James Bond:

R.I.P. Margaret Price

2011-01-29T10:00:00.001+02:00

R.I.P. Gladys Horton (The Marvelettes)

2011-01-28T14:16:00.002+02:00

Helena Henschen dead

2011-01-28T14:09:00.000+02:00

Global Warming

2011-01-28T11:16:00.001+02:00

(Photo taken from: http://www.streetartutopia.com/?p=1089)

Guldbaggen 2011 (The Swedish Oscar)

2011-01-24T22:54:00.001+02:00

Interview (in Swedish) with Alicia Wikander who won
the prize for best female leading role in the film
'Till det som är vackert'/'Beloved'.
Director: Lisa Langseth

(Photo taken from: http://kakan.se/b/joel.jpg)
Joel Kinnaman, best male leading role in the film 'Snabba cash'/'Easy Money'.
Director: Daniel Espinosa.

The below film won the prize as best film:

'Sebbe'.
Director: Babak Najafi.
We've seen it and liked it very much. Ought to have won more prizes.

Other films competing this evening:

'Himlen är oskyldigt blå'
Director: Hannes Holm

'Svinalängorna'
Director: Pernilla August

Best documentary:
'Ångrarna'/'Regretters'
Director: Marcus Lindeen

SAAB 9-5 Sport Combi

2011-01-21T18:10:00.002+02:00

Will this car help SAAB sell more cars or is it just another failure for SAAB, one in a row of many.

According to figures I've heard, SAAB hasn't earned any money one their cars the last 20-25 years!

Is this car adapted to the newest technology for reduction of carbon dioxide?

Officially SAAB will display their car at the International Motor Show in Geneva 3-13 March.