It Is Done

The title are supposed to refer to the death of Jesus at the cross. you know the John 19 passage 30. Depending on translation you get different wordings. Some say it is "it is accomplished" or "it is finished" or something like that. I think "it is done" was used in The Passion of the Christ. I don't know, I've never seen the movie.

Anyway, I put it there to refer to the fact that I finally sent in the home-exam of public management and politics or whatever it is called in english. Two weeks frustrating reading of something that it impossible to define. Questions that has unlimited answers, but only 10 pages to write on for the 6 questions we have. I could have been satisfied with 6 pages, and then I ad and ad and ad until I'm on the breaking point. And then I look back, and I don't know if I answered the questions correct or if I interpreted the book the way it was supposed to be. I just write on knowing nothing. It will be fun tomorrow when we have a seminar on the exam. Oh the joy.

It doesn't help that I have a cold again. Throat is dry, head feels empty while the nose is both clogged and running. And the snow lies deep outside and no end in sight. At least I haven't anything until 1 o'clock tomorrow, but maybe it would be better to spend 8-12 beginning to read the other batch of books till the International politics course?... I probably need therapy to leave the University. That will never be done.

Apologize

Some of you that have met me in Washington might remember me talking about the fantastic Swedish communication systems, railroads and such stuff. That our system could stand any weather and hardship. Well, apparently all that was a lie. So, this is somewhat like an apology to all who heard the rambling about the Swedish greatness I told everyone. Of course I wouldn't leave complete walkover so I will push the blame further to the Social Democrats who filled me with nationalistic pride and the belief that we were the greatest country of all time. They have betrayed me. They have pushed me so far to the right I don't know who I am anymore.

As you probably understand the snow still lies deep. Around one meter, -20 degrees celsius and constant snowing. Since December. I'm so tired of this. Where's the warmth, the bare ground and flowing of water as the snow melts away? Where is the spring sun rejuvenating us? Of course, by some coincidence it has snowed since I cut my hair so it might been my fault... in some twisted reality. So when I'm already apologizing I might do it for this as well. Hey, who know, it might get warmer after this.

Doin' The Omoralisk Schagerfestival '10 (2)

Missed last week, so no harm done. Watched today though. The only thing that heightened this mess of entertainment was that I and a friend more or less bashed over MSN. Somehow he even guessed the 4 songs going to the next phase. I only got 3. So I haven't the best perception on what the Swedish music taste is like, probably for the better. Noting can describe Melodifestivalen better then "the music for tone deaf and entertainment for the blind". For some reason the middle acts are better. I would give the credit to the fact the acts are longer then 3 minutes. They have the time to evolve, beginning silent and small till it raises into a crescendo rapidly speeding forward. Of course if we open up for longer songs, that would probably open up the floodgates to hell.

What else is happening? The home-exam is going forward. i think I actually have decent idea on all the questions. So it's back to the library tomorrow... on a sunday. That's not the worst thing. The worst is the damned snow. It has bee snow on the ground since December. They are plowing night and day it seams but to no avail. More blizzards on the way and if that wasn't enough the temperature is falling below 20 degrees celsius. Those 2 degrees celsius increase in temperature that all climate researcher warns of would be much welcomed.

Poets and Madmen

Annual general meeting for SVIK today to elect a new board. Seems to be a decent one. Of course they usually has to be as we only seems to get required numbers of volunteers to ask for a place at the board. So if it isn't there isn't much to do.

Anyway, I'm sitting with a home-exam in public administration and politics. What it is about? Something about Urban politics, public management and financial theory... I have no clue. 6 questions and no one have any idea what we are doing. It doesn't help that I got the last two books today with one week left to read and then answer questions like "from a social constructivist point of view, what was the points the author highlighted in the book". The book being Remaking Governance with Janet Newman. If anyone out there has any idea, please send a comment.

I'm of course not the only one feeling like this, most people from the course are in a thick mist of anxiety. You can touch it as it breeds as we ponders these questions. Insanity and despairs creeping ever closer, gnawing on our minds and sending us twirling into a pool of hopelessness. You feel alive and dead at the same time, clinging to the light at the end of this gruesome tunnel where you get sent into a purifying fire and then reborn and leaves from the ashes and enter the next subject: International Politics.

Push

As Greece is crumbling over the weight of the economic crisis and its deceits some prophets of economics spell the doom for the Euro. Being just a beginner in economics I would call bull****. The poorer nations wouldn't dare leave, the Germans can't as they are more or less the head of the Euro and... well, the French I don't know. I think they even benefits from this. The Euro plummets compared to the others currencies which means that the Eurozone export goods become more competitive, better tourism and whatnot. No currency speculations that plagued Sweden and many other countries in the early 90's. Of course I would prefer if someone put an external controlling on the Greek economy until they have recovered and check it afterwards so this thing doesn't happen again.

Also, I don't see why everyone is so skeptical toward the Euro. It's the best thing the EU has made. By putting it away from the politicians and give them the goal to keep inflation around 2% without the possibility to devalue or other things, they can't make the people poorer. It's a central bank far away from populistic politicians that destroys the long-term wealth of nations for a short-sighted political gain. Everything has to do with restpructioning of organizations instead of short-cuts to make a non-functional product seem to be worth it. It's just an illusion of wealth as the people gets poorer inside their bubble when people outside the border gets richer. Damn, I sound like a hard-core right-winger.

Another thing, it seems the Winter Olympics has started. At the moment it appears we got 1 gold medal. I missed that, but I got to see the Swedish Carling team for men. And the only reason I saw that is I actually studied together with one of them in Economics and law science. And they beat the ruling champions of Great Britain. Should probably start paying attention to that. Of course, it's somewhat boring. They throw a stone, scrub in front of it hopping to be alone in a circle. It gets somewhat better if you put on the song Push by Ronnie James Dio. It's awesome.

Call of the Wild

So I went out yesterday. A really wise decision. I needed to get away from the home-exam and the essay and everything else for a while. Of course not everything was a walk on roses. First, stupid as I was, I walked up to Campus on my usual route. Take the small path into a wooded area to cut some distance. First reaction is good as it seems they had cleared a path thru the snow. So I walk up the road, but the path doesn't take me on my usual route so I walk away from the cleared path thru the snow. In shoes that barely use in winter. I wade thru the snow and realizes, I don't have any retroreflectors which means I should probably stay of the road with the cars passing by. So it's onward thru the snow. When I finally reaches my destination I'm wet, physically exhausted and has snow in my shoes. Good start.

Of course it became better from there. A lot of new people to socialize with. Made even better with the fact that I only knew three from before, which meant I had to talk to other people. A lot of teachers students for some reason. Met someone who had been at the Washington Semester program spring 2008 and have had the same teacher as me. That was awesome. Didn't know the guy, we somehow ended up talking in this awkward talk to find something to talk about. And somehow we slipped into that conversation and that was really fun. God, I really miss the Washington Semester students.

Of course this party made me miss Melodifestivalen, but who cares. Much better music at the party. It was also talks about politics, I(A)ron Maiden, who should clean up after the party and the eternal question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time:

"What will you be as a political scientist?"

And to that, there is no true answer. You can become everything and nothing. You have the knowledge of everything but you still know nothing. You have the potential as a politician, half-economist, half-lawyer, philosopher, white-collar worker, diplomats and so on. You become the shadow that controls all humans without them knowing. You decide the agenda, you put the words in the politicians mouths. We are the TRUE ruling class of the WORLD! *ahem* If you want to that is, I would be happy to live in the library and learning for the rest of my life. Knowledge is the true POWER of the world! *Whack* Ouch, I should stop rambling now.

Aces High

I think I've reached the breaking point. After more then a year of fighting a losing battle against my addiction to chocolate and other things, I've think my body have had it. I've lost control, the economy been left unchecked to feed an ever growing self-destructive force without end, my physical condition detoriating with uncontrollable speed and leaving me on the mercy of my weakened immune system. But no more! It's time to take a stand, to fight this enemy of mine. I shall fight it at the supermarket; I shall fight it as it falls in my hands; I shall fight it as it pass my lips and teethes; I shall fight it as it's passing my food processors; I shall NEVER surrender (I know it's a lame rip-off of that speech, but it's a good speech)!

There is cinnamon buns on the left; Marabous on the right; in the center sweet delicious "Semlor" with it's sweet bread, fluffy whipped cream and amazing almond paste; everything backed up with rivers of sodas washing over me. My defenses have been eroded and the former strength has disappeared. Long gone is the autumn 07's record high in strength and stamina. All that's left is the immune system. The elite guards of my body ever watchful on intruding bacteria's and viruses, but alas, even they are vaining. Defenses stretched thin and backed up with vaccine to combat endangering threats. Cut expanding polices regarding non-essential food, heighten stimulus's regarding physics, like taking a walk for god sake and also some exercises. I'm gonna die by a heart attack before reaching 40 if this keeps up.

What do you mean I watched the Lord of the Rings and listened to Iron Maiden too much?

Power of Words

So it's time for home exam for 2 weeks now. Fun, isn't? So it's time for 8-17 in the library until the last week with 8-18/20. I really gonna hunt that place when I'm dead. Unfortunately there's a lot of more people around now with all the new classes starting up and all the unemployed. So everything pretty much noisy. Of course we are also to blame for some of it, but we have been there for 4 years so I call free card. Respect your elders and all that. Elder is of course relative as I'm still only 22. Others are a bit older. You can't see that though. Most people dress up like they were 12 years old... or that might just be my dislike for younger people.

Greece is still in the news. I still say we might kick them out. Of course, the Treaty of Lisbon only states that if your country want to leave the Union they ask some EU institution and then make some national thing and they can leave willingly. On the other hand, it didn't say anything about being forced to leave. Show some political strength. Expel liars and deceivers and bring the EU as a force of justice against these atrocities. Strengthen the social capital between nations, institutions and people. The Euro must survive to stabilize the monetary market and take away the power from the politicians so that they can't impoverish their people for short-term political gain.

And last, a funny comment made in a Newsmill article. The article is about the need to strengthen the Swedish foreign forces up to 5000-10 000 soldiers. Anyway, some people argue against it, some better then others. Especially one in particular. Begins with saying that you never can trust a soldier and then cities Eisenhower's speech about the "military-industrial complex". That is, he's citing GENERAL Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower, the Supreme-commander of the Allied forces in Europe from D-day until the fall of Germany. Yes, Ike made a valid point, and the intentions of the writer was surely good (or not), but the wording mind you was horrible. This proves one out of two things, either he didn't knew that Eisenhower was a general which shows a lack of knowledge from the writers part. On the other hand, if he knew, he didn't think over his wording showing a lack of knowledge in understanding what he wrote. Either way, I win and I'm smarter then him. What do you mean it's just semantics? Come on, give me that one, it was an open goal for crying out loud!

Dreamscape

So I have now watched Melodifestivalen and I feel somewhat disgusted. The thing starts with darkness, then smoke and suddenly one by one three old veterans charges in in silver dresses that only covers the upper part of the body charge in to Holding out for a Hero. I need some painkillers to take away the strain put on my senses. Onward with boring jokes, barely listenable songs and uncharismatic hosts. With the exception of Dolph Lundgren. He knows he's completely out of his league and makes fun of himself. Of course he only appears live at the this and the last show. The rest of the time he gonna find a "saboteur". It's funny in a way, but they did something similar 2 years ago, then the culprit was Lasse Berghagen. So that would be one of my first guesses just for the sake of continuity (of course it's a bit much to ask for that here but still). Otherwise it must be some Norwegian of some kind working for SVT or such.

If that show wasn't a WTF moment my dream I had was. Settings changing all the time between a beach, some houses, my old school and whatnot without any decent explanations. If that wasn't enough I somehow could fly. Yeah, I'm serious. I stared running, stretched out my arms, felt the wind pulling and then lifted my legs up in the air and flew. I must have flashbacks back to Super Mario 64 or Peter Pan. And some black boxer was there too, had to pull me down on the ground one time. That's one of the most absurd dreams I had for a long time. Maybe not as absurd as the black and white cartoon style from the 40's with Dennis the menace appearing for some reason. People turning to dogs by eating some kind of food. It was a really messed up nightmare. Sweet Dreams everyone.

Doing the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '10 (1)

Finished watching the Return of the King, and I must say the magic has diminished since last I saw it. It becomes clearer that some changes made to personalities and certain events are someone else's take on the books. Sometimes it feels like certain events are omitted just to make way for technological advancements. Take the Army of the Dead that are pulled away till Minas Tirith. Why? The book just used them to scare of the pirates, then it was just up to Aragorn to rescue the prisoners on the ship and gather Gondors forces along the way till they reached the battle. Definitely more satisfying according to me. Jackson's movie feels more like a show-of. Of course they are good enough to watch. Of course there is some nuts out on the internet that doesn't make sense. I stumbled upon a discussion about the books vs films and someone blurts out that this person saw the movies as the "real" thing and the books adaptation of that! You do see the problems that causes? How can you say that? It doesn't make sense!

Away from that, the political news contains mostly the discussion about the Euros existence and the fate of Greece. Greece fabricated its numbers to join EMU and now have to pay the price. If not, people fear a dissolution of the Euro. So they have a broad base political solution for that, but the workers facing the cutbacks are to demonstrate and they all have important roles in society. You can't anything but feel sorry for them, but it has to be done. If I had anything to say I would push them out of the union until they have striated themselves up and then we can have a talk if they are worthy to re-enter. This would send a signal that cheating doesn't give your advantages and that if you don't handle your economy, you could be kicked out. It would also level the field between Greece and Turkey. The Turks feel like a better card then the Greeks at the moment.

To end this post, do anyone no which day it is? Yes you are right to say it is that time of the year again. It's the Swedish Eurovision Song contest, again. Another 3 months of worthless music and non-comedic sketches poisoning my eyes. And I have to see it to bash it here afterwards. Enjoy!

Return to Fantasy

One week since last time, mostly due to being lazy. Hope no one thought of something else. I got a box of movies this week so I been busy going through them on my PS3. And boy, those movies are great. The extended Lord of the Ring box, the animated Lord of the Rings and Kelly's Heroes. All for 350 SEK which roughly is around € 35 or $ 38. Still got Return of the King left, but that must wait till tomorrow, they are so long. In a good way, and a bad way. The good thing is that they have many nice details and such, but it also shows that it filled with a lot of filler material. If we compare the animated with the Jackson movies I feel that the animated is better for those familiar with the books and the Jackson for everyone else. I like both, but the Jackson triggers my interest for the civilizations, the details in armors and structures, story-wise it gets bogged down to many times.

And what do I mean by that? Love scenes and scenes of crying peasants. Especially in the second one. I know the children is to call on our sympathy and the horrors if they losses, but as I am in a conservative mood at the moment I say:

"meh, don't care. I want blood."

I know I'm horrible. And the "love scenes" (in a very loose meaning). Arwen is promoted to an almost secondary character when she just was a statist in the first and third book. If we cut her from the movie and made it more closer to the book I think we even could have got Tom Bombadil into it. These parts feels even slower than the Dead Marches section when I read the book and those are the achilles heal of the series. But I like them overall.

The Animated movie is also good and I really liked it. Unfortunately it's too short. If you have read the book you get everything, but otherwise some sections is just like "what the...?". You should read the comic based on that movie. It's a bit closer to the book, have the same art style as the movie. Unfortunately it ends as the movie, after Helm's Deep. The only bigger fault (except the need for more time) is Boromir. Just look at this picture:

The greatest human civilization dress their greatest commander in fur garbs and a horned helmet? Good grief. I can take Rohan looking like that, hell, I even missed that they didn't but Boromir? NO. Of course there is also moments when it just feels stupid. Before Pippin and Merry runs in to Fangorn the Uruk-Hai and Rohirrim led by Éomer stands ready for battle. A rohirrim runs forward, fires an arrow and get back in line, another one follows with a sword, rides in and gets killed by the orcs. THEN the rohirrim charges and slaughter the orcs. Why? Why that pointless show of? These things also exist in Jackson's movies. In the Fellowship at the end Frodo hides behind a tree, Merry and Pippin sees him and stands up begin to shout at the orcs who follow them. None of the orcs got the thought

"Duh, I wonder if somethings wrong when the small people wants us to follow them!"

If just one had stopped and started looking they might have ended it already in the first movie. I know I shouldn't get upset by plot constructed idiocy, but they are supposed to be the smartest orcs out there. I know the orcs are stupid overall but common! Anyway have a great weekend.