per spective

ferdinand & the chainsaw massacre

2009-09-27T19:39:00.034+02:00

I would never make a good gardener, let alone farmer. Deciding on matters of life and death for plants and animals - naw, that would take some getting used to for a semi-sentimental fool like moi.

But since life has bestowed me a small cottage with a few surrounding square meters of what used to be a garden, I'd have to assume some minimalistic attitude of responsibility towards this Land of Mine. And since said cottage has been blessed with more trees than what's good for it (or its neighbours) I have established sort of a yearly tradition of inviting a team of arborists to "scope the problem".

They're real pro's, I'm mighty impressed. And scope they do, indeed. Three visits in as many years have reduced seven fairly proud trees into:
a) one pile of twigs being burnt in November
b) one pile of firewood being donated to neighbours
c) one tree stump

Well, maybe not that proud... This year's trio did in fact turn out to be marked by tree rot.

Still, I can't quite get used to Deciding. A pear tree finds a place to live, grows, delivers fruits and leaves for well over a century... and one sunny morning it gets chopped up in no time in a merry chainsaw massacre. Disintegrated into those three categories of remnants.
- Wham, bam, kindly pay at the counter!

I would never make a good gardener. In the words of good old Ferdinand the Bull:
- I think I'll just sit here and smell the flowers.

on frogs and trust

2009-08-28T23:59:00.006+02:00

It's been said that a frog placed in cold water that is slowly heated will not perceive the danger and will thus be cooked to death. Be that as it may, gradual changes are interesting and important. One such gradual change is the deteriorating social climate in our societies. We don't trust our neighbor anymore and - surprise! - he doesn't trust us either. This change has taken place within a few decades.

Not so long ago people hardly locked their doors. If they did the lock was primitive by today's standards and sometimes the key was put under the door mat. Today we get ourselves security doors and all sorts of locks and alarms. Why the sudden need for all these protective measures?

When I was a kid growing up in a suburb we used to walk to and from school. My Mom accompanied me for a week or two when I began school at age six - that was it. Nowadays a growing number of kids are being driven to and from school and my guess is that they are no more handicapped than we were. As long as the school is nearby, they could easily walk too but their parents don't want them to. Why is this? What are we trying to protect them from?

There's a well-known photo from Geneva in 1955 where a friendly-looking policeman is "guarding" a summit between U.S. President Eisenhower and the Soviet leader Khrushchev. I suppose he had a couple of colleagues back at the station as well. Just how many policemen are needed today to protect any EU summit?

A football game?

I'd say there's a trend emerging here and it's not a pretty one.

Maybe the frog would in fact jump out of the kettle. But what about us? Why don't I hear any debate at all about these changes which have taken place during the course of a couple of generations?

the happier meal

2009-07-30T21:33:00.004+02:00

I'm pretty impressed by McDonald's. Yes, that chain of restaurants. Granted, it's not the best venue for a candle-light dinner date. It's hardly a place for unique gourmet experiences. Their wine list is the shortest available on the market. Then again, they never claimed to be everything to everyone.

But the restaurant is clean, their opening hours are generous, the staff is friendly, the food is not expensive and - in spite of what we've been told and unless you're a vegetarian - they have plenty of dishes for a nutritiously balanced menu.

As far as I'm concerned there are three simple rules:

* avoid the soft drinks - we eat too much sugar anyhow
* stay away from the desserts - same reason
* nothing from the deep fryer

My respect for McDonald's goes way back. I'm old enough to remember those days when it was all but impossible to find a restaurant without guests smoking at their tables. Guess who were the first among Swedish restaurants to ban smoking? Yep. And that's what you would expect from a leader in quality, isn't it?

kids of all ages

2009-06-28T18:51:00.005+02:00

They say that kids have a different perspective on time. Rewards (or punishments) have to appear in close connection to whatever has been done or the kid won't be able to associate cause with effect.

But what about the rest of us?

Many of us lead a destructive lifestyle. We eat too much, exercise too little and some of us insist on smoking as well. Why? Well, the negative effects aren't immediately apparent.

Some of us ignore safety while driving. Speeds are too high, margin between vehicles too short. Generosity is not the first word that comes to mind on the E4 motorway. Why is this? Well, in all likelihood the risky driver won't directly cause a crash on this particular day. So, he seems to think, let's worry about tomorrow when that day comes.

As a society, we know pretty well by now that our lifestyle is not sustainable. In a matter of a generation or two we're in for pretty drastic changes. Now, will any politician talk straight about climate change in next year's general election? About not flying unless necessary. About choosing local produce at the supermarket. About that car of ours. Hardly a vote-winner.

So, how grown-up are we in fact?

legally yours

2009-05-28T21:29:00.004+02:00

A funny thing happened on the way home. I was pleasantly surprised by our bus driver. We got a smooth ride, very professional indeed. A conscientious, planned style behind the wheel. And not only that - it was perfectly legal. Imagine that! Speed limits where adhered to all the way. I had given up on that ever happening on an SL bus. This guy should have a medal and he could certainly teach his colleagues a thing or two. Oh, and one more thing. We did arrive on time.

with love from Luleå

2009-04-21T22:33:00.003+02:00

Somewhere in a unique land of fear, yearning, death and love, writer-director-actor Staffan Westerberg has done it again. With Selma och Ågust at Stadsteatern, this remarkable man together with a capable ensemble of actors and musicians once again captures our imagination, dancing along the abyss from the women's restroom at the Nobel Banquet to the nursing home where nothing matters any more (and, as if that wasn't enough, they're serving pancake tomorrow - "don't mention that dish!"). Smiles and tears and standing ovations. Theater simply doesn't get any better than this.

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tilt

2009-03-23T11:57:00.007+01:00

The Earth's axis is tilted roughly 23° from the orbital plane. That's why we have seasons. Beginning last Friday, the northern hemisphere tips toward the Sun. More daylight, more warmth, more mosquitoes.

Parts of the landscape are pretty tilted as well. My cottage happens to be situated in a slope, an observation which reoccurs whenever I have to pull the lawn mover around. Or, indeed, at spring time. Snow turns into water and - ever since Newton - water (as well as an apple) ends up at the bottom of hills - having first flown by my house of course.

Consequently, spring is the time of year when the mind is tilted towards warmer activities including shoveling around parts of the garden into its rightful positions after being relocated by an improvised creek which once again decided to materialize on that tilted land of mine.
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radio douze points

2009-02-28T23:20:00.004+01:00

It's all in the assumptions. Public service television assumes that they have to chase viewer ratings just like commercial channels.

So they take a classic music event like the EuroSong qualification, Melodifestivalen, and chop it up into bits and pieces. Away goes the orchestra. And so we find ourselves, week after week, left with a ragout of first chances, phone votes, second chances, sing-back, duels, infantile hosts and international jury selections.

No, I'm not saying music was necessarily better in the old days. I'm saying there's a lot of good music today which disappears in this chaotic format. Fortunately, radio has been invented.
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life after a date

2009-01-09T21:59:00.004+01:00

Got my first camera back in October 2000. I was heading for my second Italian vacation and didn't want to come back empty-handed again. Photography seemed technically complex and just too difficult so I hadn't developed (!) an interest before.

Lucky coincidence #1: Enter the era of digital photography.

Now that did seem a whole lot simpler although quite costly. You don't want to know what I paid for my first equipment, a point-and-shoot with a memory capacity of 64 megabytes. So I finally decided to have a go at the photogenic hobby. My mindset was that of a beginner and rightfully so. I was aiming to document family, vacations, the cottage, ordinary stuff. Printed copies and created albums. No need for a computer just to look at my photos. Oh no. I superimposed dates on all my photos to keep track of them. Worked like a charm.

My interest grew. I paid another fortune for a few additional memory sticks, began traveling extensively within Sweden and spent lots of time snapping photos. In early 2005 my camera was literally worn out. It had served me well but after more than 10000 shots under all sorts of conditions the quality began to fade and it really sounded tired. Or maybe I was beginning to require more? Probably a bit of both. So I got myself another compact. Still a simple model (mind you, a lot cheaper after 4+ years). After all, I was just a beginner.

Together with a couple of friends I began photo-walking through Stockholm and the idea came up to somehow showcase the results of our efforts.

Lucky coincidence #2: Blogs were emerging as a simple yet powerful medium.

And so pixels was born in October 2005. Now I had a mission. I should learn more about my home town, write, snap photos and present them on a regular basis together with our team. A great way to improve my skills while having fun. Some folks asked about that superimposed date. But it stayed. After all, I was still a beginner so it didn't matter.

Another 10000+ photos later I'm into my ninth year of photography. Someone noted that I'm not exactly a beginner anymore. She did have a point. Now, what I don't know about photography could fill a library. I never attended a course, never read a book on the topic. I haven't even tried using a system camera, let alone owned one. But I like to play with light and colours, angles and movement. I'd like to learn how to take more artistic photos. I no longer confine the results of my excursions to the private album. I enjoy publishing photos on the web, getting feedback and new insight.

This year I want to take the next step. Start experimenting with slightly more sophisticated equipment. Reaching out to a wider audience. Oh, and that superimposed date? Would you mind if I skipped it? In fact, I did on January 1.

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new proven effect

2008-12-21T22:18:00.002+01:00

Coca Cola Light appeared some 25+ years ago and is still with us. During all these years it has been constantly reinvented. Whenever you buy a can, be sure to notice that this is in fact a new, improved recipe. Even the name changes. Light, Diet, Zero, yada-yada. Coca Cola is one of the most successful brands in our time. Why the company would tarnish its reputation with this constant experimenting is beyond me.

The conservative Swedish moderate party has decided to ditch most of its traditional views. Instead they have started to "listen". Out of this listening comes a mainstream political agenda, designed to win elections. Yesterday's convictions didn't bring about success so let's get ourselves some new ones instead.

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others" (Groucho Marx)

Which brings me to my toothpaste. I'm relying on an old brand which has been around forever. Well, for ages at least. No, not my tube. The brand. Please pay attention. On my current tube I read "new proven effect". Whether it's a good or bad effect, who proved it and why this vintage brand would need new effects at all isn't immediately clear to me but I'm sure there's a lot of marketing communication theory behind this kind of blurb.

So, what's all this about then? Change we can believe in?

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stop wasting my money

2008-11-21T22:15:00.003+01:00

Why on earth is Stockholm City Council the main sponsor of our local philharmonic orchestra? Their mandate is about health care and public transportation for well over a million residents. OK. We've got good health care and good public transportation but there are so many in need in this city, so many holes to pour additional money into.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the local philharmonics. In fact, I'm a regular visitor at their concerts and have been for a quarter of a century. But let me pay for my own tickets and concentrate on your core business, dear city council.
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too much of a good thing

2008-10-13T19:39:00.004+02:00

When we bought the cottage some 40+ years back it was basically an old apple garden. We were told that no one had taken care of it for decades and so it looked. So half of the trees were cut down and the rest were given the responsibility to decorate the premises.

Now, back to the future.

I suppose these trees are approaching the age of a hundred years but they don't show any signs of fading away. Granted, the "decorating" functionality is limited. But they do produce apples. Good apples. Lots of apples. Ridiculous amounts of apples, in fact. So friends and neighbors get their share, we eat apple cake as often as we can and fail miserably at consuming this fruit, most of which ends up being disposed of among other garden waste. Animals, big and small, can look forward to their standard cuisine during the winter.

Bon appetit.
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packing one's belongings, to be continued

2008-09-02T22:52:00.002+02:00

Why does packing take so long? Assembling some everyday things for the kind of domestic trip I've done so many times. No kids, no animals, no nothing. Just my stuff. Some clothes, some music to go, something to read. How difficult can it be? I spend a week thinking about it. A day preparing for it. And finally another day actually doing it. The packing. And at eleven pm the darn suitcase is still not ready. Camera batteries not yet charged. Do I bring the umbrella or not? Oh, probably. But it doesn't fit in the briefcase (well it does but not with my laptop in it) so I'd have to stove it away in the big one. Which obviously won't be around when I actually need the umbrella. Gah! And it's so boring. I'll do some blogging instead.

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likewise

2008-08-01T07:01:00.001+02:00

A paradox can be an apparently true statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or it can be, seemingly opposite, an apparent contradiction that actually expresses a non-dual truth...

Ehm well, OK thanks Wikipedia. I think I'll try to elaborate myself.

Here are a few apparent contradictions I've noticed.

More people than ever carry photographic devices. Still, as a photographer I'm more often questioned about what, who and why.

More people than ever choose to interact socially over the web. We like to leave digital footprints in discussion groups, blogs or social sites. Still, there is an increasing anxiousness on the part of citizens that the authorities are able to track our activities, listen in and profile us.

And of course, an old favourite: More people than ever complain about not having enough time. And yet, thanks to all sorts of modern inventions life has never been easier. When was the last time you had to carry drinking water from the well to your home?

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mitigating by Sveavägen

2008-07-27T22:51:00.005+02:00

How's this for irony?

Me, myself and I out and about. Strolling, in particular, looking for brilliant photos to snap. Sveavägen, Stockholm, in the middle of a warm summer night. It's darkish, like it should be around midnight at the end of July. The stony pathway leads me behind a pond. Neon lights reflected in the water. Nice. Looking to my right. Looking to my left. Looking in every possible direction except where I'm walking. The dimly lit stony pathway has a certain inclination and here's a step. Or, to be precise, there was a step. Me did not notice. Now me notice. This is not your average stumbling. The world turns roughly 90 degrees as I'm falling like a log. This wasn't part of the plan. No, I would have remembered that. Wasn't even in the fine print. Now, one thing which definitely was part of the plan is that my camera has been tied to my wrist. I wouldn't want to lose it. And guess what? After a second of falling (not particularly gracefully) I land on my right hand. With the camera in it. To be precise, I land on the camera. It's being smashed onto and scratched along that stony surface as my less-than-discreet weight follows on top of it all.

So there you go. I tie the camera to my wrist for protection and end up crashing on it. Mitigating one risk sometimes creates a new and possibly greater one...

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from Jörn with love

2008-07-01T07:01:00.002+02:00

I keep returning to Inlandsbanan. This old railway is surrounded by lots of good news these days. Record crowds are booking the tourist trains. A proposal for electrifying the southernmost part is turning into an official study, complete with EU funding. And the previously closed line between Jörn and Arvidsjaur just might be reopened after twenty years.

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SEK 14, so what?

2008-06-22T21:09:00.003+02:00

The price of petrol goes up, like any summer. So what? It's not high enough. Take a drive at rush hour, just look at all those cars and see what kind of effect this price has. None whatsoever. Watch how people drive on a highway. Their speed, their distance to the vehicle in front of them, watch those red tail lights flickering. Most drivers could easily reduce their petrol consumption by 10-20 percent by driving smoothly. Why don't they? Because they don't care. Apparently, petrol is still way too cheap.

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fett grymt

2008-05-20T21:01:00.002+02:00

Languages are mysterious things. Words find new meaning. A highly negative word becomes a term of adoration.

We just got ourselves a new word for being cool, outstanding, brilliant.

We found "grym" which used to mean "cruel". That's right, cruel like in cruelty to little creeps.

du är så grym - you're simply outstanding

Not necessarily cruel, though. Or does that matter anymore? A language and how it evolves probably says something about us and our time. Finding out exactly what it says is left as an exercise for the reader.

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Silvio is back

2008-04-15T20:57:00.004+02:00

I attended a big rally in Rome some years back and I can still hear the ladies standing next to me (alright, not the youngest ones) shouting "Silvio, Silvio" at the mere thought of Him appearing. Which he didn't. But you've got to hand it to him, this is not a politician without magnetism. Not surprisingly he has once again won an undisputed victory for his coalition in the national elections so it'll be Prime Minister Berlusconi again although he'll remain "Silvio" to his devoted fans.

Most foreign comments are rather negative. He's not serious, he's incompetent, we're told. Let's take the "competence" matter. As far as I know his recent government remained in power for five straight years between ordinary elections and this had never happened in post-war Italy. That's sufficiently serious and competent in my book.

Berlusconi is an eccentric person. I certainly wouldn't endorse everything he says and does but then again but I wouldn't do that for any politician. Facts remain, the Italians put their hopes once again in this media mogul, he will have a strong power base in the parliament and the economy will need some tough measures. Let's see what happens. It won't always be predictable, it will never be boring.

Silvio is back.

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living daylights

2008-03-31T21:48:00.001+02:00

My old pager handles Daylight Savings Time by itself, automatically adjusting on the minute. Then I got my previous cell phone which handled this automatically but only after first asking me for confirmation. Then I got a new cell phone. It hasn't got a clue and I'm back to manually setting the time twice a year. I wonder what kind of progress we'll have next time.

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if you don't like the song...

2008-02-26T20:42:00.003+01:00

I wonder what it is about the yearly Eurosong qualification race that generates such a lot of negative vibes with many citizens. There are plenty of examples but this was particularly evident with the entry "I Love Europe" with Christer Sjögren in the first round. The song immediately qualified for our national finals so obviously I'm not the only one appreciating it. It did get a lot of votes.

But that was not the only thing it got. Lots of negative remarks about not just the song but the singer as well, not to mention the senile segment of the population who allegedly constitute his fan base. The commentator in our national public radio seemed to enjoy this and did nothing to provide a bit of balance. This artist happened to be the most senior one in the contest. In another country that might have generated a bit of respect. He also happens to be the most qualified vocalist and has more experience than his competitors have between them.

If you don't like the song, just say so and cut the crap. After all it's about songs and not about bad-mouthing the artists or their fans. Let's use this occasion to stay positive, enjoy the contest and appreciate the diversity in musical styles.

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the free lunch revisited

2008-01-18T21:28:00.000+01:00

Admittance to some national museums is free for youngsters but grown-ups have to pay a small fee. This is a more generous policy than has been in place over the years but it's still a reversal of the populist policy of the former government which introduced free entrance seven days a week for everyone. Swedes generally prefer the idea that someone else pays for everything (in case anyone wonders why we have the highest taxes) and this area is no exception. Complaints emerge from all corners of the political spectrum.

Why can't we have free entrance? I'll tell you why. Because resources are limited. Our national defense, our police force, schools and hospitals are sectors crying out for reinvestments. Whenever I enter a museum I can rely on the taxpayers subsidizing most of the cost for me anyhow. Why would it be unreasonable to pay a symbolic entrance fee? What does it cost to take the family to a hockey game? A movie? Do your own math and compare.

Recent statistics shows that fewer people visit museums these days. Possibly. Is that a problem? It probably means that some people passing by, looking for a toilet or visiting the café of the museum now go elsewhere. It probably means that those who do visit on average stay longer and see more. Is that a problem? It probably means that littering and vandalism will go down so the museums can concentrate on their mission. More curators and fewer guards. Is that a problem?

It's an old expression, valid none the less. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

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"stockholm by me"

2007-12-16T00:27:00.000+01:00

Photo blogs are a dime a dozen these days. I was old enough to understand I wouldn't become rich or famous and yet I started a bunch of new ones. What drives me?

I like words. I like writing. I want to write. I need to write. I keep writing wherever I am. Ask any colleague and they could tell you about endless emails on all sorts of topics. Writing, that's me. So what could be better than publishing? The web log is perfect for that. Simple, cheap technology, available to anyone these days. Yes, a web log. (At least one!)

Words are what makes me tick. Doesn't have to be my own words. I love being an "editor". The person who brings stuff together from several contributors into a seamless flow, tries to put it all together into something appealing to the reader. And then provides feedback. "Hey folks, next week we need something about this." The unsung hero of publishing, the editor. I'd love to become one and I'll keep on training as long as my friends allow me to... ;)

Last but not least I want to learn about photography. Getting those photos every month in very different circumstances is good training. After all, I'm not a very good photographer. But I intend to become one. Stay tuned for that...

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"stockholm by us"

2007-11-23T22:07:00.000+01:00

I'm not a very good photographer. That would take some talent and - besides - I got my first camera at age 39 so I consider myself junior in the area of photography. I do like snapping photos and given enough effort I'm able to find some nice shots once in a while. There are zillions of photo blogs in this world so one might wonder what would be the point of starting not just one but several new ones for Stockholm. Well, I wanted to and together with some friends I did.

First you need a topic which isn't already fully covered. Like Stockholm. There were a number of local photo blogs when we started in October 2005, some of them good but sometimes lacking in focus. They are mostly run by single individuals which means that when that person has other stuff to do the blog dies for a while (much like the one you're reading!) and when that person travels somewhere the blog is suddenly about an entirely different place. We wanted to "do" Stockholm, always Stockholm, very much of Stockholm and Stockholm in many different ways - since we're fortunate to be a team.

Then you have to find your niche. We noticed that many who publish their own photos put a lot of effort into the picture and then forget about the rest. Wouldn't it be nice with a caption, a comment, some clues on what went through the mind of the photographer? Yes, we said, and that would become our niche. Shouldn't be a novel but some words to go with the photo.

Spending many hours every week on this kind of a project requires a bit of motivation. I'll return to that topic another day.

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Svågertorp

2007-10-21T00:24:00.000+02:00

So I did get myself an autumn week in Scania after all. I deserved that! Beside delicious fish, warmer weather, more daylight and friendly people I got to see a bit of successful city planning. I'm talking about the railway station Svågertorp or Malmö South. Yes, it's a noisy and windy place but it's a commuter's paradise. At the intersection of two highways you have access to all sorts of regional train connections, be it to Kastrup or Lund, Gothenburg or Humlebaek. A thousand cars, maybe more, patiently wait for their respective owners who didn't have to drive into central Malmö for their train connections. Why can't we have decent satellite stations around Stockholm? Learn from Malmö and do it now, please!

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