I wonder if this place, the world, would be a better place if everyone started telling the truth and be honest all the time. Or maybe even for a day? Would the world be a better place? I seriously doubt it. As a matter of fact, I think it'd be chaos. Total chaos. Politics aside (lying /exaggerating/spinning is a part of politics!), just everyday life would be impossible. If I were to say what I was thinking I'd probably be out of a job, not to mention sued for "sexual harassment" (as I understand it, even telling a woman she's the sexiest you've ever seen with your own eyes can be labelled as "sexual harassment" (and I work at a lawfirm right now so I'm not gonna push it). As I was writing this a friend of mine sent over a link to a pretty interesting list. "Things guys wish girls knew".
There is one or two things there that I don't fully agree with (like # 26), but it's a pretty interesting list. And if you think about it, what IF girls knew all those things? Would relationships be easier or would they just find other enigmatic things to argue over? Don't ask me though, I haven't been in a man-woman relationship for over a year. But who knows after this weekend...
Italians do it better
Perhaps it's just because I have this incredible need to fill my head with trivial and/or useless information, but I love VH1 "Pop-up Videos". I think the show is absolutely hilarious! You can always count on them to combine relevant trivia with something useful and then to finish off with something funny. Favorite so far is the pop-up version of "The Stroke"!
And speaking of irrelevant trivia - have you noticed the t-shirt in the background in Kelly Osbourne's version of "Papa Don't Preach" that says "Italians Do It Better"? I've always thought it was a homage to Madonna, and the fact that she actually did that song alot better than Kelly. But in the pop-up video to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" they pretty much zoom in on that T-shirt that Madonna is actually wearing in the video. So it was an intended homage, just not the way I thought. These are the kinds of irrelevant trivia I fill my head with. And that's why I stand a chance at Trivial Pursuit.
And speaking of irrelevant trivia - have you noticed the t-shirt in the background in Kelly Osbourne's version of "Papa Don't Preach" that says "Italians Do It Better"? I've always thought it was a homage to Madonna, and the fact that she actually did that song alot better than Kelly. But in the pop-up video to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" they pretty much zoom in on that T-shirt that Madonna is actually wearing in the video. So it was an intended homage, just not the way I thought. These are the kinds of irrelevant trivia I fill my head with. And that's why I stand a chance at Trivial Pursuit.
The melodyfestival
I hope everybody, atleast everyone in Sweden, saw the Melodyfestival finale last night? I actually liked it, especially the song that won. But the biggest reason I liked it was the hosts. Mark and Jonas. I don't know what it is about Mark Levengood, but he's got that Zen-like aura that Moby has. Just totally cool. And Jonas is absolutely hilarious! And both of them are pretty good at making fun of themselves and doesn't take themselves too seriously, a quality I like in people. Although Jonas could have done a better job of actually hosting the thing instead of just reading from a script, it was still one of the best ones I've seen. And let's just hope the Euro-wide finale is as fun as it was last year!
Absolute crap
A new "Absolute"-album has come out. If you don't know what they are, it's a collection of hit tracks with a common theme. Like "Absolute Country" or "Absolute Movies". This one should have been named "Absolute Crap". It's a collection of # 1 hits between 1995 and 1999. Britney Spears, Paradiso, Spice Girls, Vengaboys, Eiffel 65, E-Type and so on and so on and most of it is, what I consider, garbage music. Music without any distinct sound or anything. But I say most of it - Depeche Mode, Robert Miles and Cecilia Vennersten is also on it, but that's simply not good enough for a music collection with only # 1 hits!... or do I have a bad taste in music?
But I'm really digging Shaggy's "Ode to women"-song. And video. Who can argue with the first line "So amazing how this world was made, I wonder if GOD is a woman", especially if you're a Kevin Smith-fan.
But I'm really digging Shaggy's "Ode to women"-song. And video. Who can argue with the first line "So amazing how this world was made, I wonder if GOD is a woman", especially if you're a Kevin Smith-fan.
Freedom fries?
I just read something that ... well, in all honestly I shouldn't be surprised... but I was... go over to CNN and read this... I'm at a loss for words...
Excentric behavior
I just read in the paper that the very pregnant Catherine Zeta Jones is going to have an ambulance standing by outside ready to go during the Oscars. And they called it "diva-like" behavior. That, combined with what I was talking about yesterday, made me think - do rich and successful people get more eccentric when they become rich and successful, or does it just show much more do to the increase of resources they can put into it? Or are they just normal people, with normal behavior, that is just blown out of proportion by the media? In this specific case I think it's #2. 'Cause any normal parent in the world, human or any other animal, would use all their resources to protect their offspring. If that means fighting off a wolfpack or paying to have a private ambulance stand by just in case, the basic animal instinct is still the same, to protect the offspring. But that's just in this case ofcourse, then we have J-Lo's weird obession with white-ness that is just beyond me...
Michael Jackson
Another topic of conversation today is Michael Jackson. After the recent documentaries about him and how he chooses to live people have really dissed him.
True, the guy seems eccentric. True, some of the stuff is weird. True, it's not normal to share your bed with children. But come on, can't we find anyone who's actually doing something illegal and dig into him/her instead? Like everyone in showbiz doing drugs, or politicians trying to evade tax or something? After all b.s that's been written about Jackson it's hard to take anything seriously. From that ogygen tank story back in the 80's to that Voodoo-ritual he went through to have some people offed... yeah, right... I'm not one to accept anything written anywhere to be fact. The only one undeniable fact is that the dude has made awesome music in the past 20 years! Although the most recent music hasn't been that much to my liking, the amount of great music forgives any kind of eccentricities (that one is for the people who say my spelling sux!). Until he's actually tried and convicted in any court, it's all b.s to me. Let's quote the great man himself, from "They Don't Care About Us":
True, the guy seems eccentric. True, some of the stuff is weird. True, it's not normal to share your bed with children. But come on, can't we find anyone who's actually doing something illegal and dig into him/her instead? Like everyone in showbiz doing drugs, or politicians trying to evade tax or something? After all b.s that's been written about Jackson it's hard to take anything seriously. From that ogygen tank story back in the 80's to that Voodoo-ritual he went through to have some people offed... yeah, right... I'm not one to accept anything written anywhere to be fact. The only one undeniable fact is that the dude has made awesome music in the past 20 years! Although the most recent music hasn't been that much to my liking, the amount of great music forgives any kind of eccentricities (that one is for the people who say my spelling sux!). Until he's actually tried and convicted in any court, it's all b.s to me. Let's quote the great man himself, from "They Don't Care About Us":
Tell me what has become of my rights? Am I invisible because you ignore me?
Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame
They're throwing me in a class with a bad name, I can't believe this is the land from which I came
You know I do really hate to say it, the government don't wanna see.
But if Roosevelt was livin', he wouldn't let this be, no, no
US vs Iraq
I know I've been avoiding the biggest world issue today by totally ignoring the Iraq-issue. But I'm actually not sure on which side I'm on - pro or con. The pacifist in me says it's wrong, war only leads to death & misery and there's gotta be another way. The anti-Bush in me says that's it's partially his fault, he's painted himself in a very tight corner so he can't NOT go to war. Then we have the fair-player inside me that hates what Saddam is doing, pushing the limit of what he can get away with and playing everyone against the states and cooperating at the very last minute and b.s like that. But going along my rule of conduct that "Don't expect anything from someone else you can't deliver yourself" I'm almost on the side of Iraq. 'Cause think about it, what has Saddam done that the US hasn't?
They are supporting terrorist. Probably, but so did the US during the Soviet vs. Afghanistan war, as well as Iraq vs. Iran war and they're still supporting the anti-Saddam rebels in Iraq.
He's killing his own citizens. True, but so does US only they call it "capital punishment" and Bush is a big supporter of that. They try to develop nuclear weapons. So did the US 50 years ago.
They have weapons of mass-destruction. The US has the biggest arsenal of them all! They refuse to inventory their weapons arsenal and cooperate with the arms inspectors. And exactly what would the US say if someone tried to inventory their arsenal? Iraq isn't cooperating with the UN. Neither is the US right now, and have they yet paid off their huge debt to the UN? Have they signed on the UNICEF resolution about children's rights?
So I really think they should be trying to solve their own problems instead of trying to start a war noone wants and they can't afford. But that's just me.
They are supporting terrorist. Probably, but so did the US during the Soviet vs. Afghanistan war, as well as Iraq vs. Iran war and they're still supporting the anti-Saddam rebels in Iraq.
He's killing his own citizens. True, but so does US only they call it "capital punishment" and Bush is a big supporter of that. They try to develop nuclear weapons. So did the US 50 years ago.
They have weapons of mass-destruction. The US has the biggest arsenal of them all! They refuse to inventory their weapons arsenal and cooperate with the arms inspectors. And exactly what would the US say if someone tried to inventory their arsenal? Iraq isn't cooperating with the UN. Neither is the US right now, and have they yet paid off their huge debt to the UN? Have they signed on the UNICEF resolution about children's rights?
So I really think they should be trying to solve their own problems instead of trying to start a war noone wants and they can't afford. But that's just me.
24
Today, 24 reminded me of why I started loving that show! You might remember a couple of months ago when I got so hooked by it I downloaded it all from the Net. Well, when the second seasons started, the first thought was "how are they gonna top that!?". And at first they didn't. At first it was really bad and the entire sub-plot of Kim hiding in dumpsters again felt very old. But today's episode, #15 (10pm-11pm), was absolutely amazing. Very, very well written, very well executed and intercut between the different people talking with everyone, and at the end... watching that bomb go off was just ... frightening ... and the president talking about going to war, given the current political climate in the world ...
(hope I didn't spoil the second season two much, but saying that the bomb goes off doesn't say much!)
(hope I didn't spoil the second season two much, but saying that the bomb goes off doesn't say much!)
I'd Rather Not Talk About It?
How come that as soon as a person hints at having something really bad in their baggage that they'd "rather not talk about", that makes them 10 times more interesting? I don't know if that's just me or what, perhaps I've lived such a sheltered life that I can't really complain, but as I was watching the "oh my god, I can't believe this fairy tale" girls on "Joe Millionaire" I started noticing the woman who made the least ruckus. And then during one of their dinners she went on the defensive that she'd rather not talk about this and that and being totally different than everyone else and she very quickly moved up to my top spot for that show's winner 'cause she was just so down to earth and unpretencious!... and after seeing some more episodes of it it's looking pretty good for her :)
Another thing about "Joe Millionaire" I really like is the editing! I'm a pretty good observer and obviously the producer and editor was as well because it's really nicely put together. But unfortunately it suffers from something alot of shows like this suffer from - extended and extensive amounts of replays. Like before a commercial break we see what will happen in the next segment and after the break we saw what happened in the previous one. It's like they only have 30 minutes of material but an hour to fill. And that's kind of annoying.
And I'll end this with a slam-dunk, "not so bright"-metaphore - "He's not extraneously intellectual". LOL! If that's not spinning, I don't know what is. :)
Another thing about "Joe Millionaire" I really like is the editing! I'm a pretty good observer and obviously the producer and editor was as well because it's really nicely put together. But unfortunately it suffers from something alot of shows like this suffer from - extended and extensive amounts of replays. Like before a commercial break we see what will happen in the next segment and after the break we saw what happened in the previous one. It's like they only have 30 minutes of material but an hour to fill. And that's kind of annoying.
And I'll end this with a slam-dunk, "not so bright"-metaphore - "He's not extraneously intellectual". LOL! If that's not spinning, I don't know what is. :)
Am I Bothered?
Another thing I'm getting quite tired of are the constant updates about how the swedish hockeyplayers are doing in the NHL league! I like hockey, it's one of the very few sports that I actually follow. And we have our "elite series" here in sweden, and if some player has a great season he's bought and transferred to NHL. You may call that a sell-out or whatever, I really couldn't care less about that. But what I do care about is when the first thing they do in the mornings sports news is reporting how many points each swedish players in the NHL league scored (if any). I really couldn't care less about how many assists Forsberg got, or if Markus Näslund is the top scorer in NHL! Either I am not patriotical (that is actually a word!) enough, or perhaps I just don't see the point of it? I think the top news today, especially in hockey, should have been which teams managed to advance to the playoffs in the swedish elite series, but that's just me.
It's Been A Year!
Payday here in sweden again. And that's usually something to look forward to. Because for one day, or maybe even a week, you feel almost rich. Then all bills are paid and you're snapped back into reality again.
But this payday is one I have been dreading. February 25th... a day that will live in infamy for me and my friends. Because it's exactly a year now since my best friend passed away. It's a year and two days since I was egoistical enough to go to a dinner at Fridays when my friend really needed me at home. It's a year ago... and I have the same feelings I had 6 months ago - first a sense of "is that all" followed by a "it feels like yesterday". 'Cause it does, I can still remember those weeks as if it were yesterday. And this afternoon we're suppose to have a meeting back at work, but I really can't work up the effort to go there, I feel like handling it the pathetic way - go to the nearest bar and have a couple of beers.
But this payday is one I have been dreading. February 25th... a day that will live in infamy for me and my friends. Because it's exactly a year now since my best friend passed away. It's a year and two days since I was egoistical enough to go to a dinner at Fridays when my friend really needed me at home. It's a year ago... and I have the same feelings I had 6 months ago - first a sense of "is that all" followed by a "it feels like yesterday". 'Cause it does, I can still remember those weeks as if it were yesterday. And this afternoon we're suppose to have a meeting back at work, but I really can't work up the effort to go there, I feel like handling it the pathetic way - go to the nearest bar and have a couple of beers.
Norah Jones
Remember back in october last year when I mentioned my two favorite tracks at the moment, one of which was Norah Jones? Well I guess I must have atleast some good taste because she got 5 Grammy's! Five :) Congrats!
Joe Millionaire
As you may know I've come to hate... loath... reality shows, or docusoaps. I'm so totally tired of them. But keeping up my "like to be proven wrong"-theme I gave another show a chance to prove me wrong. "Joe Millionaire". The very talked about show in the states that took a $19.000/year construction worker and turned him into Mr Slick that had just inherited $50 million and was looking for a woman to share his life and money with. At first I thought it sounded really unfair to the chicks who thought they'd hit the jackpot, only for the guy to tell them "hey, I've got no money" but after seeing two episodes... shit, those girls seem to deserve it. You may have picked up on the fact I love women, but in this show they've really been able to bring out the worst in them. All the back-stabbing, catfights and "does my ass look big" was there. I ended up hating every one of them... except one, but that's because I have a thing for chicks in charge... And then Jay Leno proved once again why I never watch his show (except when I zap through the channels). He compared the "sorry babe, I'm actually not rich" to the reversed role for a woman to tell a guy "sorry, these breasts aren't real". I mean, common?
I'm certainly not one for breast size, and I'm very confident no other guy anywhere has ever fallen in love with any woman because of her breasts! Although I'm not sure how many women have fallen in love with a guy's money either, but I still didn't like the comparison! I guess because both of them makes us sound primitive and goes back to the old animal instincts inside everyone - "a female is looking for a male that can provide for her and her offspring" and "a male is looking for a female who can nurture his offspring". Oh well, I've never been one for animal instincts, I'm totally defying the instinct for breeding!
I'm certainly not one for breast size, and I'm very confident no other guy anywhere has ever fallen in love with any woman because of her breasts! Although I'm not sure how many women have fallen in love with a guy's money either, but I still didn't like the comparison! I guess because both of them makes us sound primitive and goes back to the old animal instincts inside everyone - "a female is looking for a male that can provide for her and her offspring" and "a male is looking for a female who can nurture his offspring". Oh well, I've never been one for animal instincts, I'm totally defying the instinct for breeding!
Soul-searching
After the recent days of soul-searching I realized that there are alot of fundamental things I preach that I actually do exercise as well. The three most important ones are :
1) respect for other people, other religions and other opinions. Some people have mistaken some points that I've been making when discussing things that they think I'm a racist and/or immigrant-hater. But I'm not, and every time that happens I have to point out that my mother is an immigrant. And when I started working at a fast-food joint (Clock) when I was 15 at least 50% of the people I was working with were immigrants. So if I was a racist, I'd be one lonely loser!
2) Protecting the freedom of speech. Although there aren't that much I can really do about that, and it does go hand in hand with point #1. Yesterday I saw a little VH1 special featuring "Madonna's Greatest TV Moments", and it featured some people who had a lot of problems with some of her videos (like "Erotica" and "Like a Prayer") and how immoral she was. I dunno about you, but that's one thing I've always liked about her. Not that she's immoral, but that she does what she does regardless and is allowed to.
3) Appreciating the moments. The people that work with me are probably laughing as they read that because I've become quite the little effectiveness-specialist (Borg-like!). But that's at work, and even then I can take a little pause to enjoy a moment. But even if I'm stuck in a traffic jam or interrupted at home watching a movie by a black-out, I'm still able to make the most of it. And oh, I still don't have a watch :)
1) respect for other people, other religions and other opinions. Some people have mistaken some points that I've been making when discussing things that they think I'm a racist and/or immigrant-hater. But I'm not, and every time that happens I have to point out that my mother is an immigrant. And when I started working at a fast-food joint (Clock) when I was 15 at least 50% of the people I was working with were immigrants. So if I was a racist, I'd be one lonely loser!
2) Protecting the freedom of speech. Although there aren't that much I can really do about that, and it does go hand in hand with point #1. Yesterday I saw a little VH1 special featuring "Madonna's Greatest TV Moments", and it featured some people who had a lot of problems with some of her videos (like "Erotica" and "Like a Prayer") and how immoral she was. I dunno about you, but that's one thing I've always liked about her. Not that she's immoral, but that she does what she does regardless and is allowed to.
3) Appreciating the moments. The people that work with me are probably laughing as they read that because I've become quite the little effectiveness-specialist (Borg-like!). But that's at work, and even then I can take a little pause to enjoy a moment. But even if I'm stuck in a traffic jam or interrupted at home watching a movie by a black-out, I'm still able to make the most of it. And oh, I still don't have a watch :)
Live As I Say, Don't Live As I Do
You mind if I go really deep here for a while?... I don't live like I preach. In my conscious mind I'm this reckless, "let's go for it", "take a chance", "you only live once" and "what's the worst that could happen" kind of person. If you ever ask my advice you're bound to get either of those quotes. And I like it. But I don't live by it myself. I'm way too boring, predictable, routiny (no, that's not a word) kind of person who takes the safe route, who doesn't upset the status quo. I don't like it, but I've come to face it, that's who I am. I wanna change it, my mind wants to but I really can't.
Prove Me Wrong - I Dare You
I'm one of those people who can take, and actually appreciate, being proven wrong. I don't know if it's because of my "I have to constantly learn/discover new things"-drive or what. Most recently it was UIP who proved me wrong! UIP is a movie distribution company here in Sweden. They distribute movies for Paramount amongst other. And Paramount make the Star Trek movies. So we have to be friends with UIP. And last weekend we got a preview screening of the new Star Trek movie, "Nemesis". That was a pretty nice surprise, but what wasn't such a nice surprise was the bad quality of the translation in the subtitles. It was pretty obvious that guy wasn't a trekker. So we complained about it, but so what - what's done is done, right?... wrong! They invited 3 of us to come to their office and go through the movie and correct everything we felt was wrong and to suggest what should be there instead. I never thought they'd do something like this, I was under the impression that that kind of thing didn't happen... "re-subtitle a movie just because the die hard fans don't like it"... but it did. Now of course they have to live up to the challenge and actually change it before the real premiere.
Another nice surprise I got, this one also in the realm of flexibility, was when I was putting together a server for one of our customers. I've been tinkering inside computers for about 13 years now, and there are some facts you just have to accept - changing/adding CPU's is a mess, changing/adding power supplies is a mess and putting in hard drives is easier said than done. The computer manufacturers have put in a lot of work to make it easier for us, but I've never been impressed by it. Until yesterday when I was putting this HP/Compaq 380 server together. I was suppose to add a secondary CPU, add a redudant power supply, insert 3 extra fans and put in 5 hard drives. Guess how long that took?... less than 15 minutes. And everything worked right off the bat. So I guess I owe a big thank you to some engineers at HP/Compaq for thinking a couple of extra steps - nice!
Another nice surprise I got, this one also in the realm of flexibility, was when I was putting together a server for one of our customers. I've been tinkering inside computers for about 13 years now, and there are some facts you just have to accept - changing/adding CPU's is a mess, changing/adding power supplies is a mess and putting in hard drives is easier said than done. The computer manufacturers have put in a lot of work to make it easier for us, but I've never been impressed by it. Until yesterday when I was putting this HP/Compaq 380 server together. I was suppose to add a secondary CPU, add a redudant power supply, insert 3 extra fans and put in 5 hard drives. Guess how long that took?... less than 15 minutes. And everything worked right off the bat. So I guess I owe a big thank you to some engineers at HP/Compaq for thinking a couple of extra steps - nice!
Teeth are funny little things
Do teeth have a mind of their own? I think mine does! I haven't been to the dentist in about two years quite simply because I haven't felt anything wrong in that department for a long long time. And teeth are kinda like my job - the less it's noticed the better. But last thursday I got a mail from the dentist saying "time for a check up!" and I just shrugged it off with "nah, my teeth are fine!"... then on saturday as I was eating candy while watching "Star Trek : Nemisis" all of a sudden I got that annoying feeling you get when you have cavity. And it won't go away, so I guess I'll have to take her up on her offer and go for an examination, I just think it's real weird timing, it's like... they felt neglected! And so much for getting my economy back in order...
Not depressed
No, I'm not depressed, stop saying that (3 people have already!)! What do I have to be depressed about, I'm doing pretty fine. I've got my health, a steady job, my economy is almost under control and I'm not going through any heartache. That's more than any of my friends can say (I'm a dangerous person to know). But me - I'm doing alright. Although my mother would fill in "but you're still single, on Valentine's day!!".
But you know what? No biggy for me, I'm quite used to it. 'Cause now that I think about it, I've only been in one relationship that coincided with Valentine's. Ok, 1 1/2 but that's a completely different story!
And about that Jewel video - I know I've said that music should be music and not videos, and her music is great, and that track was pretty good. But I just couldn't help but to be disappointed over it because every video with Jewel have been... different, odd and deep in ways I probably don't understand, but this one??? Rolling around in bed in her underwear? Seen it, been there, done that...
But you know what? No biggy for me, I'm quite used to it. 'Cause now that I think about it, I've only been in one relationship that coincided with Valentine's. Ok, 1 1/2 but that's a completely different story!
And about that Jewel video - I know I've said that music should be music and not videos, and her music is great, and that track was pretty good. But I just couldn't help but to be disappointed over it because every video with Jewel have been... different, odd and deep in ways I probably don't understand, but this one??? Rolling around in bed in her underwear? Seen it, been there, done that...
Status report
One week and two days later, and what goodness do I have to report about? Not much, but here goes ; My female best friend's husband and daughter was involved in a serious car crash (that ended with them upside down), but doesn't have anything to show for it except a wrecked car. I'm not sure if that is bad or good news, but since they're OK I'll file it under "good". My american buddies are coming back to town tomorrow. This is surprising since it means they have been here 4 times in the past 12 months, and I haven't been over there once during the 6 years I've known them! And I can still be surprised by small little restaurants that serve great food ("Asperia" in southern stockholm, great Greek restaurant). So that's something to be glad over, right?
Compare that against ; two good friends are getting divorced (from eachother!), two really good friends are still unemployed, another friend with some bad news I can't talk about but it got me depressed, losing a space shuttle and the world is on the verge of war again. And on top of that - Jewel's latest video was more like a "Victoria's Secret" ad than an inspirational video! Yippi I'm so happy.
Compare that against ; two good friends are getting divorced (from eachother!), two really good friends are still unemployed, another friend with some bad news I can't talk about but it got me depressed, losing a space shuttle and the world is on the verge of war again. And on top of that - Jewel's latest video was more like a "Victoria's Secret" ad than an inspirational video! Yippi I'm so happy.
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