Kazuma Ikezawa action figure

February 2nd, 2012, 12:49 | 1 comment

The main character in Summer Wars is Kenji Koiso. He’s 17. But it was Kazuma Ikezawa, a 13-year-old side character and computer hacker, who was made an action figure by Alter (or their male line Altair) last year. I happened to come across it in a small otaku shop in Akihabara in December 2011.

I guess I never fully understood the obsession with action figures until I found this one. Or when it found me. Or shall I say when he found me? :P

What a beautiful craft by sculptor Sen-U Tanaka!

I did buy some smaller action figures before, mainly from Ashita no Joe and Sailor Moon. But never before did I happily pay over 6,000 yen for an action figure. Hello otaku world!

Category: English, Japan, Personal
Tags: , , , , , ,

Religion as mankind’s smartest invention

January 25th, 2012, 13:21 | 5 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.

Category: English, Esoteric, Personal
Tags:

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. ;)

Category: English, Personal
Tags: ,

Books I read 2002 – 2011

January 10th, 2012, 21:28 | 6 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. :)

Category: Culture, English, Personal
Tags: , ,

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.)

Category: English, Personal
Tags: , ,

Back from Japan

December 21st, 2011, 10:30 | No comments

I’m back from my second Japan trip – 10 days in Tokyo. I’ve had so much fun and been so busy that I haven’t had the time to blog or upload photos during the trip. But I’ll make some posts in the next few days.

I’m now in Stockholm, spending each night on a different friend’s couch – a great way to meet and catch up.

More later!

Category: English, Japan, Personal
Tags: ,

Important reminder

November 6th, 2011, 20:08 | No comments

 

Repeat after Nas:

I know I can
Be what I wanna be
If I work hard at it
I’ll be where I wanna be

Category: English, Personal
Tags:

I ♥ Steve Jobs

October 6th, 2011, 6:51 | No comments

I just read the shocking news from a mangakissa in Morioka. So I changed into something more appropriate. Rest in peace, darling.

Category: English, Japan, Personal
Tags:

I ♥ noise

August 7th, 2011, 13:15 | No comments

There is a lot of noise in my new area. My apartment faces the street – a four lane boulevard full of cars most times of the day. In the night, loud music from tuned BMW’s mix with police sirens and shouts. On the weekends, honking wedding caravans. When I had just moved in, I thought people were fighting when I heard screams on the street, but it was just the Turkish fruit and vegetable dealers who shouted out their prices, as they do every day in the hour before closing.

I love it. Because I love noise. It makes me feel less alone.

Hugo Macdonald writes in the July/August 2011 issue of Monocle:

There’s no denying that cities are noisy places, but there’s a difference between noise and sound, and it’s possible to measure the quality of life in a city depending on whether its din veers more in one direction than the other.

Screeching sirens, car horns and alarms, hiphop on full volume in convertibles, public shouting matches and drunken roaring are all noises that convey a crime-ridden, angry population keen to be heard in whatever way possible. Church bells, the tring of bicycles and the gentle hum of chatter and laughter suggest a city with a healthy street culture and a happy population, enjoying their city – not fighting to be heard in it.

Yes, I know that Monocle is a lifestyle magazine which deals with ideals, I know they chose Helsinki as the “most liveable city” and that their editor is in love with Stockholm. But still, who wants a “healthy street culture” – honestly? Or a “gentle hum”? I prefer the hip hop anytime, but I guess I always had a soft spot for the crime-ridden.

Shortly before I left Stockholm, I saw this “quality of life” campaign from the city:

It reads: “Robert sleeps without noise.” That image so brilliantly summed up everything that I found boring with Stockholm that I had to take a photo of it. I sometimes use it as a reminder of what I love with Berlin. No, we don’t sleep without noise in this city. In fact, we hardly sleep at all.

Category: English, Personal
Tags: , , ,

Reaktion på Bonintervjun

April 19th, 2011, 8:00 | 1 comment

Helsingborgs Dagblad har recenserat nya Bon. Recensenten Johan Malmberg skriver bland annat:

Den enda text som frångår det småputtrigt självanalyserande (till skaran hör också Jonas Hassen Khemiris samtal med Jonathan Safran Foer) och bränner till är Luis Venegas intervju med Karl Andersson, mannen bakom bögfanzinet Destroyer som konsekvent pryddes av avklädda pojkar. Hans motivering till pojkbilderna är dubiös, men poängen att bilder av väldigt unga flickor inte alls väcker samma reaktioner som pojkbilder är förstås relevant.

Är det här jag ska skriva någon fyndig kommentar till ovanstående citat, så att det så att säga inte blir hängande i luften? Okej, vad sägs om: “Ser man på, det verkar ju nästan som att …” Hm, vad ska jag skriva nu? Det verkar ju nästan som att … Eller kanske en krångligare formulering innehållandes en negation: “Om det inte vore för xxx skulle jag nästan yyy.” Ja, det blir väl bra? Nu gäller det bara att fylla de fina formuleringarna med innehåll, en alltid lika svår uppgift. Eller jag kanske ska inleda med ett tillbakalutat “Man kan notera att …”? Då avslöjar jag liksom inte att jag egentligen blev superglad över att se mitt namn i tidningen, utan jag håller en distanserad och lätt blasé ton. Kanske göra lite Wikipediaresearch och koppla till något som ingen vet vad det är: “Som solipsisterna brukade framhålla: Det är alltid den som …” Ja, vadå? Om jag var en vanlig kille kunde jag skriva “word!” och om jag var en vanlig tjej i Bagarmossen kunde jag skriva “hepp!”. Men nu är jag ju en bög i Berlin. Jag kanske borde skriva något bitchigt? Så där bögigt liksom, fast ändå med en intellektuell touch? Typ: “Jag säger som Golda Meir: If it ain’t xxx it ain’t yyy.” Kanske pilla in ett “honey” också. Det blir väl en härlig slutkläm? Jajaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Category: Culture, Personal, Swedish
Tags: ,


Older posts »