Biking

Morning on Tempelhof

May 18, 2013 – 08:48

tempelhof_180513

I got up early today and biked three laps on Tempelhof. I’m still weak from a cold so I didn’t want to overdo it.

It’s supposed to start raining at 9:

weather_180513

That’s why I decided to bike early, between 7.30 and 8.30.

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Swedish

De här plakaten är en könsstereotyp

May 16, 2013 – 13:29

Det finns en story på SR just nu, men man kan ju inte länka om man inte vill dyka upp på deras sida och ha en massa besökare som ska tycka till på ens egen blogg. Och det vill jag inte. Inte heller tänker jag nämna huvudpersonens namn eftersom hon då kommer googla sig själv, hitta hit och känna sig utpekad.

Men jag tycker artikeln illustrerar så tydligt dumheten i den svenska i och för sig gulliga (de menar ju ändå väl) besattheten vid könsroller. Alla svenskar (i alla fall de som kommer fram i media) tycker att könsroller är dåliga. Men ingen vet varför.

Inget kan få en rättfärdig svensk att reagera så resolut som när en ica-butik säljer pojk- och flickcyklar. SR berättar att en kund “har reagerat över plakaten och menar att det är en könsstereotyp.”

(Kan plakaten i sig vara en könsstereotyp? Jag trodde att betydelsen av könsstereotyp var vissa typiska/överdrivna karaktärsdrag; “den shoppande kvinnan är en könsstereotyp”, “den motorälskande mannen är en könsstereotyp”. Men här används alltså ordet som en beskrivning av något som främjar könsstereotyper. Det är litegrann som att säga att en sajt som sprider fördomar om invandrare i sig är en fördom. En webbsurfare “har reagerat över sajten och menar att den är en fördom. Eller att det är en fördom, om vi nu ska vara konsekventa. Ja herregud, de språkmässiga invändningarna i svenskarnas rättfärdighetsiver får vi betrakta som ett lyxproblem tillsvidare.)

Ica backade förstås – det finns inget annat man kan göra i dagens Sverige. Marknadschefen säger:

“Man kan få uppfattningen om att vi vill förstärka könsrollerna, men det vill vi absolut inte göra.”

Duktig pojke.

Sedan bildgooglar man den där kunden (eller kundinnan som tyskarna skulle sagt) som upprördes av denna fråga, och ser att hon har långt hår. Som de flesta kvinnor alltså.

Vänta nu …

Jag tycker den där kunden är en hyckleri.

(Dessutom är hon, eller har varit, medarbetare på SR, men det är ju ingen nyhet att medieföretag ofta intervjuar sina egna kolleger, så gjorde vi på Aftonbladet i alla fall.)

HAR DU ETT LIKNANDE SCOOP? HÖR AV DIG TILL RADIOLEAKS!

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Uncategorized

I logged into Facebook

May 16, 2013 – 12:20

For the first time in a week or so. That’s quite a contrast to opening a browser window, typing in “f” and hitting enter twice a minute or however often I used to do it.

The uninterestingness of the Facebook feed was insulting, which of course was the reason I decided to not log on for a while. I mean for how long can you try to pretend you’re interested in Stockholm dinner parties and feminism/anti-racism/gay rights slacktivism? What’s this, a fucking church? Old righteous ladies sipping their church coffee while all of a sudden caring immensely about textile workers in Bangladesh (but having already forgotten the Foxconn workers who built their iphone). Browsing Facebook is like watching old episodes of a sitcom you never even liked in the first place (maybe Roseanne), just for the convenience and zero-effort of it.

In other news, I’ve stayed off alcohol for 6 weeks or so. Not for any reason at all, but it feels unusual. Not the not drinking part, but to not want to drink.

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Japan

Anime: 男子高校生の日常

May 13, 2013 – 09:17

男子高校生の日常クリアファイル

I found out about 男子高校生の日常/Danshi koukousei no nichijou/Daily lives of high school boys at Tokyo Anime Fair, which I visited with my friend Freija in March 2012. That’s where I got those nice marketing クリアファイル (clear files). I just love those. The plastic. The design. The boys.

Each episode is made up of a number of separate comical sketches from, well, the daily lives of high school boys.

It’s an easy watch and quite entertaining, especially since I like realism. And when anime is realistic, it’s super-realistic; it says BOSS on the coffee cans, they eat their onigiri and 7-Eleven sandwiches on the riverbanks, and they order from colorful plastic menus at their local family restaurant. It’s almost like anime realism is a sport; how detailed can you go? I’m impressed when it even says “Campus” on the notebooks – if you’ve been to the stationary departments of Yodobashi or Tokyu Hands, you know what I mean. Since most Japanese’ lives look very much alike, it must be extremely easy for them to relate. For me, it’s the excitement of getting a peek into the extrapolated daily lives of the Japanese, paired with the thrill of recognising parts of it.

However, since there is no overall story in 男子高校生の日常 (since it consists of shorter shetches), I never really got hooked on the series, never longed for the next episode.

I also thought the boys’ voices sounded a bit too old, as if a bunch of guys my age were voicing the teenage characters. Which seems to have been the case (see the list of characters below). I guess not all anime can be voiced by actual 14-year-olds.

 

Tadakuni

Tadakuni (タダクニ)

  • Age: 15-16
  • Height: 170 cm (5’7″)
  • Voiced by Irino Miyu (入野 自由), age 24

 

hidenori

Tabata Hidenori (田畑 ヒデノリ)

  • Age: 15-16
  • Height: 175 cm (5’8″)
  • Horoscope: Virgo
  • Voiced by Sugita Tomokazu (杉田 智和), age 32

 

yoshitake

Tanaka Yoshitake (田中 ヨシタケ)

  • Age: 15-16
  • Height: 172 cm (5’7″)
  • Horoscope: Virgo
  • Voiced by Suzimura Kenichi (鈴村 健一), age 38

 

president

President (会長)

  • Student Council President of Sanada North High.
  • Voiced by Ishida Akira (彰 石田), age 45

I’m at episode 8 of 12 now, watching an episode each night, sort of. And I love the ending theme. It always makes me smile:

Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba!

男子高校生の日常 is extremely popular in Japan and was voted the best anime of 2012 in a recent internet poll. Which also adds to my excitement; to watch something mainstream for a change!

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Uncategorized

It is late morning freelance

May 9, 2013 – 17:59
  • I get up slowly 30 minutes around 7:00 am eyes awake.
  • After you take a shower, and wearing loose clothes and shaved face.
  • Room is noisy immediately niece say baby wake up.
  • When dressing daughter sister also quieter.
  • While drinking coffee, I will send to write a reply quickly read new mail.
  • Efficiency was important when I was working in the magazine, but life of freelance because it is more free, I was a little lazy.
  • Work if you are not accustomed to must end during the day, I would work and work hard, but if there is no deadline, it will bother.
  • It is late morning freelance.

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Japan

If Japan was in Europe, it would be south of Germany

April 25, 2013 – 11:02

Map of latitudes of Sweden, Germany and Japan

To be honest, I thought it was further north. Now it’s like the Italy of East Asia (Hokkaido being Lombardy), which makes sense weatherwise.

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Japan Japanese

弱虫ペダルのアニメを待ってるんだよ！

April 23, 2013 – 19:39

yowamushi_pedal

去年の十二月に上野の本屋で偶然に弱虫ペダルの漫画を見つけて買った。自転車乗るのが大好きなので、その漫画が自然に好きだった。今、アニメを待ってるんだよ。

それに、友達は「茄子 アンダルシアの夏」をおすすめした。あのアニメも面白そうだね。

二月に四方山哲さんの同人誌の「自転車男子に花束を」を読む事が出来た（リンク）。辞書の必要があったけど、出来たよ。^^

今夜アニメの黒子のバスケを見るつもりだね。

一緒に走ろう！Let’s ride on a bicycle together!

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Japan

Japan vs the West: Women in parliament

April 21, 2013 – 11:22

Female represenation in parliaments in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, China, Japan and the United States, graph

I played around a bit with Google’s graphs, and realised Rwanda has surpassed Sweden in having the biggest proportion of women in parliament.

Apparently China has a bigger proportion of women in parliament (or equivalent) than the US, always had.

And Japan is at the bottom of the chart, not very surprising since the country scores a 95 on Hofstede’s masculinity index.

Link to this graph.

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Politics

Escape from Camp 14

April 19, 2013 – 10:28

Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

I just finished reading Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden (after hearing about its Swedish launch), about Shin Dong-Hyuk, the first North Korean ever who managed to flee a labor/prison camp where he had been born.

It’s an extremely moving and important story. I can’t comprehend why the UN or US or some joint force hasn’t invaded North Korea to abolish this terrible system that is the closest you can come to the Nazis and the concentration camps today. Why was it so important to get rid of Saddam or similar dictators, when an estimated 200,000 North Koreans are abused, tortured and starved to death in these camps? It’s unusual to reach age 50. Though the full scope of the camps, and North Korean life at large, is of course unknown to us. Hopefully this book can raise some awareness.

This interview with the author at WSJ is a good background.

Here’s an interview with Shin:

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Japan Japanese

イナズマイレブンGO vs ダンボール戦機WのBD！

April 18, 2013 – 18:11

アニメイトによると、僕は盛岡市で見た映画のイナズマイレブンGO vs ダンボール戦機のBDが二ヶ月間ぐらい後に発売しそうだ！買うつもりだよ。

盛岡の映画館だった：

P1080818

映画の前に「NO MORE 映画泥棒」が見せられた：

P1080825

Youtubeで見つけた：

そして、コミケで会ったよvv：

20121230_122705

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