februari 23, 2009
Hur stressad får man vara?
I morse mötte jag en tjej som borstade tänderna medan hon promenerade. men det är klart, hon kunde säkert sova två minuter till tack vare denna effektivisering.
Posted by swepett at 2:22 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
augusti 28, 2008
Allt blir mer spännande om man inte har hela bilden
På andra sidan av gården, mitt emot där jag sitter nu, skymtar jag en gata genom ett par fönster i en port. Sedan en timme springer med jämna mellanrum en polis förbi. Nyss kom en kille som puttade fram sin bil. Nu kliver en kille i blå jacka ut ur sin blå bil medan en kille i röd jacka viftar med armarna framför två poliser.
Det är säkert bara en vanlig trafikkontroll (välbehövlig på Ystadgatan!) men blir mycket mer spännande när man bara ser en väldigt liten del av den.
Posted by swepett at 2:39 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
oktober 26, 2006
Pensionen
Efter att ett antal orangea kuvert från PPM hade förblivit oöppnade till nästa kom, bestämde jag mig för att öppna det senaste i högen. Det såg rätt bra ut förutom ett val som hade minskat något enormt. Jag gick snabbt (nåja, man fick registrera sig och vänta på lösenord via snigelpost) in på nätet och ändrade det dåliga valet till ett fegare men som i alla fall gått bättre. Sen kändes allt bättre. Det var ett tag sedan, det kanske är dags att kolla upp allt igen. Jag är ju trots allt fortfarande ung.
Innan jag blev frilans med eget företag har jag frilansat mycket på a-skatt. Några små enstaka inkomster här och där, och alla verkar vara anknutna till olika pensionsbolag. Ibland trillar det ner ett brev där ett obskyrt bolag med ordet "Pension", eller i alla fall bokstaven "P", i firmanamnet glatt meddelar att den dag jag fyller 65, då kommer jag få 9 (NIO!) kronor i månaden i pension från just dem.
Jag har ingen aning om hur mycket jag sammanlagt kommer få i pension den dag jag fyller 65. Jag vet bara att jag kommer få pussla ihop en herrans massa små utbetalningar varje månad. Risken är att det kommer ett brav varje månad där det står, "tyvärr är beloppet för lågt för att betalas ut". Eller att min bank har infört en avgift på insättningar. En avgift som förstås överskrider de 9 kronorna jag ska få. Jag undrar hur mycket 9 2006-kronor är värda 2035?
Posted by swepett at 12:17 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
oktober 10, 2006
Växjö
Jag vet inte vad det är med Växjö men jag lyckas alltid göra klipp där. I Växjö har jag köpt dyra kläder för nästan inga pengar alls och jag har hittat CD och DVD jättebilligt. Till och med en tripp in på en helt vanligt H&M ger mer än ett besök på motsvarande butik här hemma i Malmö.
Det kan vara så att jag är så helt och hållet olik mot Växjöborna. Ingen i Växjö vill köpa T2 på DVD så jag kan plocka upp den billigt. Ingen förstår sig på Wallace & Gromit så jag får chansen till ett nytt klipp. Ingen uppskattar lyckan i att äga 30-årsjubileumsboxen av "Born to Run" så två DVD och en CD i lyxförpackning blir min för mycket mindre pengar än normalt. I en affär som sålde vinyl såg det ut som det var min vinylsamling till salu. I Växjö säljer man alltså sånt om man äger det. Jag har behållt mina.
Två andra saker är ovanligt med Växjö:
* De har en skivaffär där man kan gå rakt in och köpa bootleg-DVD:er. De står uppställda mitt i butiken i en galleria på huvudgågatan mitt bland de lagliga skivorna i affären. Jag som trodde att alla laddade hem sånt gratis idag istället för att betala överpriser för grumliga sjundehands-VHS-kopior.
* Staden har groteskt många gratismagasin för sin storlek. Fem räknade jag till den här gången. Den ena sämre än den andra. Och en av dem ganska bra.
Ett par byxor, en jacka och "Born to Run"-boxen blev det den här gången.
Posted by swepett at 11:48 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
oktober 7, 2006
Utan telefon i skogen
Vi är i Småland igen och slappar. Precis när tåget lämnade Malmö och någons telefon piper om SMS, något som för övrigt skulle ske var annan minut resten av resan, kom jag på att jag glömt min telefon hemma. Jobbigt. Nu tänker säkert någon klyschigt och pensionärsaktigt att jag minsann kan klara mig utan telefon och attt det är bra för mig att vara utan den. Stick och brinn säger jag. Jag behöver min telefon. Den är min kalender och kamera, den är min primära port till inkomsterna. Ni som behöver nå mig - snälla, skicka ett mejl! Vi har i alla fall bredband även i småländska skogen.
Min glömska innebär också att jag för första gången på länge är ute i flera dagar utan någon form av kamera. Känns också lite konstigt.
Posted by swepett at 11:57 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
oktober 3, 2006
Fet snigel!
Från Ilta Sanomat.
Posted by swepett at 7:59 EM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
november 2, 2004
Illegal campaign contributions to Bush
A bunch of students from Lund has contributed 2000-3000 SEK to George Bush's election campaign. Something which apparently is illegal. So why are they stupid enough to admit in one of Sweden's biggest newspapers that they are guilty? Geez!
And Bush's website is still not available from outside the US (apparently). Doesn't he want any votes from Americans living overseas?
Posted by swepett at 7:30 EM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
juni 24, 2004
Is it that bad for Italy?
This morning, only hours after Italy's ciao-ciao to the Euro 2004, I get a mail with the following offer:
Fly cheaper to Italy
Posted by swepett at 2:03 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
juni 23, 2004
Being in the wrong place at the right time
Two neighbouring countries play an excellent and exciting game of football and still everything manages to end good for both teams. Why am I sitting here at this moment when I am sure there are great parties in both Copenhagen and Porto?
BTW, I wish I could read Italian now. With a little help from the Babelfish though it seems as if the Gazzetta Dello Sport's readers thought tonight's game between Denmark and Sweden was rigged. Well, not even Italians can claim that after the game. That is if they even bothered to watch the game before they run off and cry like bad losers.
Posted by swepett at 1:07 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
juni 20, 2004
Credit where it's due
Niklas Dahlin has supplied me with a GMail account. I thank him. I can now also be reached at svante.pettersson (a) gmail (dot) com.
Posted by swepett at 5:06 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
juni 17, 2004
Simple Adventures for Everyday Living
Simply excellent: Simple Adventures for Everyday Living.
My current favorites: The Sound of Mail, Junk Mail Echoes, and Post-It Graffiti.
Posted by swepett at 11:53 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
juni 9, 2004
Gotta Love That Internet
I am sitting here wondering if I should see The Hooters (no, Eudora, that is a band name, not a bad word) tonight. I listen to an old show and surf the web to see if I can find something on the band today. I go to main song writer Eric Bazilian's site and find a diary entry from today, posted here in Malmö. I move on to the drummer's blog as suggested by Bazilian and find another note from today. I thought that was cool.
Oh, and I'm going to the show now.
Posted by swepett at 8:37 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Map Fest 2004
I've been here:
create your own visited country map
Posted by swepett at 12:23 FM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
juni 7, 2004
Celebrating the country
Lots of young girls run out on the field. There are stands around field filled with locals ready to celebrate their country. The performing girls all look the same, they all have ponytails on the exact same place on their heads, they are perfect, not too thin, not too big. They play with balls and they move around in a perfectly organised program. I'm surprised that they're not all blond. There are young women jumping around, there are small girls jumping around and we are even treated with an appearance from the elite group, The Chosen Ones, the finest specimens of girls the country has to offer.
Behind the girls are men in military uniforms ready to pass out flags to organisations who deserve them for the good work they've done the last year. Right in the middle of the presentation with the gymnastics girls, a military band parades by behind our backs.
No, this isn't Nürnberg 1939, this is Malmö, Sweden, June 6, 2004.
There has been a lot of talk about how we need to use our national day to celebrate our nation, not just celebrate the flag, as the name has suggested before. Now that people have their national day, the discussion has turned to whether this day should be a public holiday or not. And if it should be a holiday, which holiday do we have to give up? We can of course not afford to let people stay home an extra day from work.
But is this the type of celebration we wanted? I am sure people in their 60s and 70s recognised a lot from when they were kids but to me, these kinds of organised exhibitions of streamlined youngsters and military parades reminds me of nothing but Germany during the second world war. That is not a kind of celebration I want to see each year. The newspaper ads for this event, the local official celebration of Sweden's National Day, even had a little note at the bottom of the page saying, we especially welcome our new citizens. What about the ones that aren't citizens yet? What about those who are citizens now but still have memories about what was about to happen when the uniformed people marched up their old home town street?
Believe me, I am usually not that sensitive when it comes to integration and nationalism debates in this country. A lot of people here are interested in that sort of thing and there's a lot of talk about it. I tend to stay out of it though. But this time, I felt uneasy.
And I have to return to those gymnastics girls. They are called Malmöflickorna (The Malmö Girls) and you can see them above, doing their thing. There is something scary about that sort of well-organised behaviour by a big bunch of people looking almost exactly the same. If you don't get the German feeling I expressed above, you at least start to think cult. And those ponytails? I wish so I was a fat lesbian chick with short or no hair. I would join the cult and see how long it takes before I get to know, in one way or another, that I don't belong in their exclusive group. I would surely never reach The Chosen Ones.
Posted by swepett at 11:26 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
maj 16, 2004
Malmö-Reykjavik-Baltimore
The great US road trip of 2004 finally got underway on May 16 and after a quick stop in Reykjavik we flew over the icy parts of Greenland pictured above before entering Canadian and later US air space from the northeast.
Something that always surprises me when I fly over the Atlantic is how hungryI get all the time. I eat and eat but is still hungry. I don't know if it's some kind of stress that the body is exposed to when flying or if it's simply that my body expects food at certain hours in my home timezone.
After arriving in Baltimore, we were bused to the car rental center where we picking up our rental car. We had ordered a Dodge Stratus or similar and it turns out the similar was a Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Edition, a car Emma has been dreaming about at home since the model was first introduced. The first lucky coincidence of the trip.
A short confusion as to which way the Ramada (where I even found another great invention as soon as I stepped into the bathroom!) was at followed after picking up the car but once we reached the hotel we were happy to see that the restaurant was open. A burger and a beer in a booth of course, The American Way, and then off to bed. Not healthy but healthy is not what the United States of America is about, is it?
Posted by swepett at 11:15 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
maj 10, 2004
Another reason why I love Letterman more than Leno
Dave the Brave - Stupid President Tricks can only be seen on Letterman
Late Show has the brass balls to go where the cowardly White House news corps and corporate suck-up Leno fear to tread: presenting Dubya in all his dumb-ass glory.
Unlike Leno's Tonight Show, which is owned by NBC, Letterman's Late Show is owned by Dave's company, Worldwide Pants, which affords him near-total immunity from corporate pressure.
Posted by swepett at 12:46 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
maj 3, 2004
World Press Freedom Day
Posted by swepett at 2:27 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
april 29, 2004
Movie Fest 2004
We saw "Along Came Polly" for free today, courtesy of The Swedish Union of Tenants (that sounds pretentious!). Now, already that was pretty nice since it actually was a damn funny film that I would probably never had paid for. But, in a little competition they ran before the movie started, I won four free movie tickets! It was one of those deals where the guy up front said, "And the winner is ..." and I jokingly said "Svante!" just before he also said Svante. Pretty unreal. A good ego boost also to go to the front and pick up my prize in Malmö's biggest movie theatre, one of those old classic ones, far away from the boring multiplexes they put up everywhere these days.
Posted by swepett at 11:52 EM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
april 16, 2004
Ouch! That's gotta hurt!
May 28, 1911. Malmö Public Sports Association (MAI) is hosting an international competition and Hugo Svensson, the local hero of the pole vault is getting ready to make the home town proud. The bar is at 3.28 metres (10.76 feet), the highest anyone in MAI has jumped.
Hugo starts running towards the bar. He is in total concentration and has trained all winter to break this record, become the hero and impress both his mom, his girlfriend and his dog. The sweat glues the pole to his hands. His feet hit the sand on the ground. It's soft, you get a good bounce in your step, but still pretty hard. The pole hits the ground, the momentum of the running speed helps Svensson up into the summer air. One metre, two metres, three metres and 28 centimetres more. Hugo feels the bar touch his back but the second he is over, he know he has made it. Hugo is very happy while he is falling to the ground on the other side of that pole thingy that he has tried to conquer for the last months. He sees his dog come running for him, he sees the girlfriend get a tear in his eye and he knows his mother is happy, even though she's at home and TV can't see the jump on TV, simply because the TV hasn't been invented yet. If Hugo had had eyes in his neck he would see the earth getting closer and ... *THUMP*
Mr. Svensson above is falling from 3.28 metres and straight into the ground. Think about it again, people. How many casualties were there in the pole jumping world before someone invented the padded sack they land on these days? The high jump doesn't look like a picnic either. Don't try this at home, kids.
Posted by swepett at 3:53 EM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
april 7, 2004
New background image for the mobile
On Sunday I finally got my mobile back from service. Since then I've wondered about what I would want to have as background. I chose my favorite picture by Storm Thorgerson, "Tree of Half Life".
Posted by swepett at 4:51 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
april 5, 2004
Ingvar Kamprad richer than Bill Gates
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/05/1081017064144.html
Posted by swepett at 2:15 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
april 4, 2004
Sound Engineers vs. Musicians
On March 17, I did a show with Swedish folk music band Ranarim. The instrumentation of this band is probably what a lot of sound engineers would consider tough. Acoustic hollow-bodied instruments with not that much level being produced by themselves, in this case acoustic guitars and key harps (nyckelharpor). Could be feedback heaven if you play too loud and don't have the right mics.
Usually people just show up with these kinds of instruments and ask, "do you have a good mic?" You stick a condenser on them and gain up way too far for your own good, just to get something to work with. Some of the instruments I'm thinking of (not necessarily the ones Ranarim used) aren't even made to have a loud sound and are certainly not made to be played together with a 21st century rock band! Then the musician asks for some monitor, "no, more, more, a little bit more, just a bit, no still too soft, yes, a bit more please" - WHEEEEEEE! You tell them that you can't give them more and then the big lecture starts about the problems you get when the drum set next to them is banging away louder in their mic than their own instrument. Oh, and the way the instrument is held together with where they want their monitor makes the mic point just about straight into the monitor as soon as they move away from the mic.
This gig was different. The musicians showed up with their own mics that they know works particularly good on their instruments and they apparently had a bit of knowledge about getting their sound out to the crowd. If you are going to play concerts, it doesn't stop with your instrument. You should look into mics and how to get a good sound out of your instrument. Bring me some good ingredients and I will cook up a good soup. Ranarim's ingredients were world class. Good knowledge about the weaknesses of their instruments in the live situation, good, even levels when changing instruments and a good sense of dynamics. And some good music.
A while ago, me and a colleague discussed if professional musicians who go to the finest schools get to learn anything about the technical aspects of performing. I know that most of them get to learn a thing or three about recording but I doubt there is much talk about the live performance. Maybe it's time to put "soundcheck" into the curriculum of the music colleges and high schools?
But isn't the sound engineer there to make the musicians sound good? Yes, but there are two things to consider:
1. Sound engineers are not magicians. We have laws to abide. No, not just local environment regulations about sound levels that no one will monitor anyway, but laws of physics no sound engineer or musician can change. Stick a microphone into a speaker and turn it up and you will get feedback. (Recommended listening: Steve Reich's "Pendulum Music")Whisper into a microphone with a drum set behind you and you will hear more of the drum set than the voice in the output of that microphone.
2. As a musician, you probably expect some kind of musical knowledge from your sound engineer. To be able to give your music a good mix, I need to know some things about music. Is it too much to ask if you find out a bit about my field as well then? If you're too creative to bother with technical crap, then a bit of respect will go a long way. If I say something isn't possible, please trust me. I will trust and respect you.
It's common among engineers to say bad things about musicians. I've also heard a lot of musicians call engineers bad things. I don't get that. We need each other and a better job can be done if we work together.
Posted by swepett at 2:26 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
april 1, 2004
ZuperZlatan!
Sweden-England: 1-0. Sorry, Svennis.
Posted by swepett at 12:52 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Entertainment Highlights in History Apr. 4-10
Google News sent me this:
1968: Syd Barrett left Pink Floyd.
1975: Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple. He went on to form his own band, Rainbow.
Not everyone would consider those things highlights...
Posted by swepett at 12:45 FM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
mars 26, 2004
Smart
I just registered at musicalmystery.com. After registering, I got the following message:
You are now registered and ready to play. Your email and password details have been emailed to you.
My email address has been mailed to my email address? Gee, thanks!
Posted by swepett at 12:52 EM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
mars 19, 2004
Friday Five
If you...
1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
Everything. Greek, Asian, Italian, Swedish, you name it. You would find really cheap stuff and really good expensive stuff. How come most restaurants are fcoused on just one price range or type of food?
2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
Records and books.
3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
Non-fiction. Maybe a biography about some interesting person.
4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?
Music and arts.
5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
Contemporary classical jazz funk metal ambient electronica with some ethinc flavours.
Posted by swepett at 12:20 EM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
mars 17, 2004
Ferris wheel at night
Malmö is now the proud owner of the biggest Ferris wheel in northern Europe. I wonder where the border between northern and southern Europe is? Probably round about where the bigger Ferris wheel lives.
They have been building this the last week and on my way home from a gig tonight, I saw it lit up for the first time. Pretty massive.
Posted by swepett at 11:27 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
mars 16, 2004
Janet Jackson
BBC reports that Janet Jackson is about to be allowed back onto US TV. The oh so friendly people at ABC, who are letting Jackson back on the air, says, "At some point, freedom of speech needs to be remembered". Earlier in the article we read that the show will be on a five second delay to prevent a repeat of the Super Bowl incident.
Being from Sweden, the land of naked people everywhere, I think everyone in the US media is overreacting on the Super Bowl thing. Overreacting might be one thing but how stupid are ABC if they think Janet Jackson will do something similar now that she comes back on TV? After the negative attention she got the last time? Let's see, what could she do to top the last performance? Rip off all her clothes? Does ABC really think she would do that?
Jackson is scheduled to be on Letterman soon. That should be a hoot. And no, I don't think she will rip her clothes off there either. And Letterman's show is not even live.
Posted by swepett at 4:28 EM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
mars 15, 2004
Washing windows
Washing windows must be one of the most interesting and rare things one can do these days. At least it seems so from the looks you get when you do it.
I just finished washing four of our windows, the ones toward the park. Facing the park and the streets, they get really dirty and it didn't help that some funny kid threw an egg on one of the windows the other day. And of course, spring is here and the law requires you to have your windows cleaned within a week of the arrival of spring. Or something.
All the people who pass by stare at you and make funny faces. The women look suprised and giggle and the men look shocked. Arabs and Asians walk by, all of them look at me with strange expressions on their faces. Is it that a man shouldn't be doing things like cleaning the house in their eyes? No, there's a Swede who also can't stop looking at me, even though I stare back at him with my famous evil eyes. He doesn't seem to be much older than me, surely he must used to cleaning at home?
Then it hits me that I might be the first one they see this year doing this. Maybe I destroyed the day of these people because they realised it was time for them to go home and take care of their windows? It takes a while getting used to the season changes here in Sweden. When the ice comes, people drive off the road because they get surprised each year. When spring and warm weather arrives, people sweat in their warm clothes for a couple of extra days because they are surprised again. Or maybe they just don't believe themselves? "Oh yeah, it's nice now but I am sure it gets worse soon!"
Posted by swepett at 3:37 EM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
mars 12, 2004
The Day After Tomorrow
Aaaaah! Another wonderful disaster movie coming up! Can't wait for The Day After Tomorrow!
Posted by swepett at 11:11 FM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
januari 27, 2004
Holocaust Memorial Day
Posted by swepett at 1:28 FM | Comments (0)
januari 19, 2004
And then you wake up ...
Oh, well ...
Posted by swepett at 3:42 EM | Comments (1)
Winter!
Ah, it's snowing! Lately I've realised that I miss winter. I mean real winter, with snow and even though it is cold, not cold in the way we have down here. Our winter is months of biting wind and mostly no snow. Plenty of rain. From left or right, rarely from above. And that damn wind. We may have temperatures around +5C but it always feels worse than up north where they have real winter and maybe -15-20C.
But now it's snowing. From the right though...
Posted by swepett at 1:35 FM | Comments (0)
juli 18, 2003
Back into blogging
Ok, let's see if we can get this going for real this time.
Woke up 3 AM this morning with a brutal pain in my stomach. Tossed and turned and sweated until about 1 PM when it went away without any nasty side effects. File under "weird".
Cds played:
Alanis Morissette - Cologne, Germany July 8th, 2003
Alcatrazz - Dangerous Games
Queensrÿche - Hear in the now frontier
Queensrÿche - Promised Land
Queensrÿche - Q2k
Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
Alliteration of the day: Pill popping punk. (David Letterman)
Posted by swepett at 11:29 EM | Comments (2)
juni 16, 2003
Monday
CDs played:Pelle Ossler - Den siste som kom ut
Uncut - Born to run 2003 Vol. one
Duran Duran - Greatest
Warner Music Sweden - Summer 2003
Posted by swepett at 5:51 EM | Comments (0)
juni 15, 2003
Back home
CDs played:Sonically Speaking vol. 12: juni 2003
Danko Jones - Hultsfred 020614
Posted by swepett at 5:50 EM | Comments (0)
juni 14, 2003
Hultsfred, day three
CDs played (in the Sonic tent):Various sonically speaking compilations
Moneybrother - Blood Panic
The Hidden Cameras - Smell of our own
Shows seen (more or less):
Christian Kjellvander
Timbuktu with Damn!
Fireside
Raging Speedhorn
Audioslave
Miss Universum
Har Mar Superstar
The Hives
Strapping Young Lad
Union Carbide Productions
The Ark
Gaffaman
Flint
Posted by swepett at 5:49 EM | Comments (0)
juni 13, 2003
Hultsfred, day two
CDs played (in the Sonic tent):Various sonically speaking compilations
Moneybrother - Blood Panic
The Hidden Cameras - Smell of our own
Shows seen (more or less):
Regnbågsrummet
Stefan Sundström
Counting Crows
Boban Markovic Orkestar
Prong
Queens of the stone age
Sparta
José Gonzales
Radiohead
The Datsuns
The Streets
Posted by swepett at 5:47 EM | Comments (0)
juni 12, 2003
Hultsfred, day one
CDs played (in the Sonic tent):Various sonically speaking compilations
Shows seen (more or less):
Badly drawn boy
Kitty & the K
Elin Sigvardsson
Marit Bergman
In flames
Vijaya
Dave Gahan
Turbonegro
The Raveonettes
Emmon
Posted by swepett at 5:45 EM | Comments (0)
november 13, 2000
First post ever
Ok, so let's see what I can do with this. Today, one of my missions is to find "Machina2", the album Smashing Pumpkins released on the net and actually urged people to spread as much as possible among fans. So far, it's easier to find illegal music on the net than legal music. Weird.