Religion as mankind’s smartest invention
January 25th, 2012, 13:21 | 3 comments
There was a time when religion made me see red. This “opium of the people” that made them lethargic and mad – how nice wouldn’t our world be if it wasn’t for religion!
But that time was when I was 20 years old.
Then followed a period when I respected religion, since something practiced by so many people must have a point. I respected people’s need for ceremonies, but I still saw it as a need.
It wasn’t until recently that I started to admire religion as man’s greatest invention. I now look upon religions as philosophies rather than churches. What is a religion if not a distilled society – a way for humans to describe themselves and their experiences with the lowest common denominator in order to understand themselves.
This is most evident in the polytheistic religions. There were many gods, and each of them represented a typical story in the lives of humans. The stories functioned as a guidebook as for how to live. We make a mistake if we think that these people were “stupid” enough to “believe in” various gods. Instead, they were smart enough to make their abstract lives concrete enough to fathom. Just like we do today when we say that someone is a careerist and someone is a bohemian. Or a John Doe for that matter. We simplify and idealise.
In a way, religion is what makes us human, since animals don’t practice it. Everyone who, like myself, is hopelessly in love with humanity should hail our amazing capacity for abstract thought. Yes, I’m a religious man!
Not to be continued – I respect my own attention span.
Interviewed in Out
January 21st, 2012, 3:51 | No comments
I’m interviewed about my old project Destroyer in the February 2012 issue of Out magazine – click the picture or read the piece here (or buy the magazine for that matter; it’s for sale worldwide).
The article starts by citing some of the reactions to my magazine in Sweden: “This is filth!”, “It’s really, really disgusting”, etc. Out, which is the world’s biggest gay magazine, writes:
But these attacks were not from right-wing politicos – they appeared in the gay press.
I think this is called redress. 
Books I read 2002 – 2011
January 10th, 2012, 21:28 | 4 comments
Oh, what the hell… Here’s the full list of books I read in the last 10 years – from 2002 through 2011. Clickable, but not searchable. Enjoy. 
Books I read in 2011
January 9th, 2012, 0:43 | No comments
2011 was a great year. I published two books and one magazine. I learned Japanese quite fiercely, and went to Japan twice. And I probably had my most social year ever, meeting friends more or less every day, and partying quite hard!
However, I hardly read at all in 2011.
In fact, I haven’t read so few books since I was a teenager. It was a semi-conscious choice – I needed a break from the world of letters. But enough is enough!
I’ve included 2010′s graph above for comparison. (Read the 2010 post here.)
German politician does a Barbra Streisand
January 6th, 2012, 11:23 | No comments
I’m seldom impressed by the press, and I seldom laugh out loud when reading news articles. But today I was, and did!
Berlin paper Tagesspiegel has a story on politicians who, like the German president Christian Wulff, have attempted to tell the press what they should publish and not.
The first example is that of senator Sybille von Obernitz, whose press person sent Tagesspiegel this e-mail along with a photo of the politician:
When you publish photos, only use this one. You can delete all other photos from your archive. Thanks for your understanding.
Tagesspiegel writes in their article:
See for yourself why we don’t have any understanding – and which photos of the senator we found in our archive.
Yes, take a look at them here – the fun starts after about 5 photos.
I didn’t bother to read the other examples – I should be OFFLINE now! - but I just had to share how happy this article made me. It reminded me of how a free press should work: Always the sceptic, always mistrusting the power. If only power was acknowledged and criticised outside the obvious arena of politicians – I’m thinking companies, lobbyists, and NGO’s.
PS: The title of this post references the so called Streisand effect, where an attempt to silence something instead spreads it thousandfold.
Category: English, Politics
Tags: Germany, Streisand effect, Sybille von Obernitz, Tagesspiegel
Back to work
January 6th, 2012, 0:20 | No comments
I’m loving it.
Unpacking
January 2nd, 2012, 23:46 | 2 comments
Some of the stuff I got home from Tokyo this time around.
I ♥ Japanese food
December 30th, 2011, 17:10 | No comments
Food is one of the things I love with Japan – and hate with Germany. Here are some of the dishes I had during my December trip to Tokyo.
The first photos are from an “izakaya” that specialised in sake. I was taken there by a Japanese-American friend of mine, but only remembered to document our first course.
The next pictures are from a cheap lunch joint in Akihabara – I went there with my Swedish friend Petter and his Okinawan friend Mikayo.
Rice balls from Seven Eleven – my favourite!
Then lots of small dishes that me and my friend Hideki were served at an exclusive restaurant with traditional Japanese food. Aren’t they beautiful!
A bean burger from Freshness Burger in Shinjuku – I had two of those in one night.
And the last shot from our trip back to Europe – Petter of course managed to upgrade us to Economy Extra, where they kept the Champagne coming…
Partying in Shinjuku 2-chome
December 24th, 2011, 20:08 | No comments
Or actually, we were working – shooting my friend Petter’s new music video on the streets and in the bars of Shinjuku ni-chome. I was head of cinematography, which basically means being the cameraman. Met lots of fun people, some of whom I hope to see soon again. The music video (or PV as they call in in Japan, for Promotional Video) will be released in February or March probably. It will be quite fantastic.
Att (inte) åka buss i Stockholm
December 23rd, 2011, 11:57 | 1 comment
Man läser en skylt vid busshållplatsen om att det inte går att köpa biljett på bussen.
Så man försöker köpa en sms-biljett, men det fungerar inte eftersom ens mobilnummer är tyskt.
Så man provar med sitt nyinköpta svenska kontantkort, men det fungerar inte heller eftersom kortet är spärrat för betaltjänster, och just där vid busshållplatsen har man inget nummer till mobilföretagets kundtjänst för att be dem ta bort den spärren.
Man läser att man kan köpa biljett i automat, men någon sådan syns inte till.
Man läser att man också kan köpa biljett hos en “ticket vendor”, men vilka dessa är har man ingen aning om.
Så man gör en överslagsräkning: Gå åt ena hållet och hoppas på att hitta ett 7-Eleven eller var man nu kan köpa biljetter. Eller gå åt andra hållet. Man har två tunga resväskor. Andra hållet är från Tjärhovsplan till Slussen. En station. Nedförsbacke.
Så man går.
Och köper en biljett för 36 kronor i en automat vid Slussen där man ska på tunnelbanan.
Allt är frid och fröjd igen!
Varför skriver jag detta rätt irriterade inlägg? Jo, dels för att visa att biljettsystemet inte fungerar tillfredsställande för dem som kommer till Stockholm från andra länder och med tungt bagage. Dvs turister. Systemet kräver antingen planering eller ett svenskt mobilnummer.
Och dels för att visa på något större som går att iaktta i det mindre: Min vän berättade för mig att man sedan någon månad tillbaka måste registrera sitt kontantkort om man ska betala med det. (Mycket riktigt: Exakt 15 timmar efter att jag försökte köpa resan fick jag ett sms från Comviq där de bad om mitt personnummer i utbyte mot att bryta betalspärren.) Detta för att förhindra penningtvätt.
Min fråga är då: Vem tror att någon bedriver penningtvätt genom att göra sms-betalningar på 36 kronor eller liknande småbelopp?
I själva verket handlar denna reglering förstås om att man vill ha kontroll på vem som använder kontantkorten. Egentligen är det förvånande att man fortfarande får använda dem anonymt. I Tyskland måste man sedan länge registrera sitt kontantkort, och det är knappast förvånande att detta nu sprider sig till Sverige också.
Men varför kan man då inte köpa en biljett på bussen i Stockholm?
Jag ringde SL:s kundservice för att fråga. Telefonisten bad mig vänta medan hon tog reda på svaret, som var: För att få bort kontanthanteringen och därmed rånrisken. Ett argument jag köper. Om det inte vore för att man inte heller kan betala med kort (vilket man t ex kan på Flygbussarna, som inte har någon kontanthantering). Jag frågade därför varför man inte kan betala med kort. På detta hade telefonisten inget svar, men hon gissade att det var för att det skulle ta för lång tid.
Mitt förslag till SL: Lista åtminstone de närmaste biljettförsäljarna vid de busshållplatser som saknar biljettautomat.
Nu har jag köpt remsa.
Recent blog posts
- Religion as mankind’s smartest invention
- Interviewed in Out
- Books I read 2002 – 2011
- Books I read in 2011
- German politician does a Barbra Streisand
- Back to work
- Unpacking
- I ♥ Japanese food
- Partying in Shinjuku 2-chome
- Att (inte) åka buss i Stockholm
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