Dylan rules

Snökaos

2007-02-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

Det har snöat och snöat. Tidningarna skriver om full beredskap och snökaos. Det enda jag har lagt märke till är att det tar 10 min längre att ta sig till jobbet. Det har fallit hela 10 cm snö här i Göteborg. Herregud! Vad gnälls det för? Det är väl kul att barnen får åka pulka och ha sig. Det händer kanske två gånger per år här i denna landsända så var glada!

New suit

2006-11-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

I just bought a new suit. It's slimfit and very good looking. I think it's good for me to have decent suit. I'm going to a wedding 9 dec so I have to look good. It's kinda 60's style and I'm very satisfied.

2006-10-29T08:38:00.000-08:00

The minute Volver opens we know we're in for a strange ride. A rural cemetery is a hive of activity - women cheerily cleaning the headstones with almost festive enthusiasm. It could be a song and dance number, though we observe that the music is overlaid, the women aren't actually singing and, on closer inspection, the scene is strangely normal - if a little unusual. As Raimunda (Penelope Cruz), Sole and young Paula depart the gates, we are swept along into a fast moving story that cuts through moral boundaries with an unerring surety.

This film is mostly about women, girls sticking together across generations, separations and misunderstandings, bonding and being able to rely on each other. But, this being an Almodóvar story, don't expect a cosy little tale where people follow a yellow brick road to happiness; Paula's father ogles then tries to rape her and gets himself accidentally murdered, more and more dirty linen gradually falls out of the cupboard, and an exceedingly realistic ghost (played by Carmen Maura from Almodóvar's early success, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) provides a constant element of unpredictability. It is the first time Almodóvar has included a supernatural theme and he handles it with great panache.

Comedic elements are added not just by hiding the ghost under the bed, but by a scintillating script which includes gems from a quick-thinking Raimunda. "Are you hurt?" asks an ex-boss solicitously (there is blood on Penelope Cruz's neck.) "No," she answers gaily, "women's troubles," although we know he has disturbed her in the process of disposing of a dead body.

Her performance here is undoubtedly one of the high points of Cruz' career. She radiates from centre stage in most scenes, bouncing between being a wounded woman who puts on a dazzlingly brave face, to a dazzling screen icon as she slips into character when wooed by the local film crew for whom she is preparing lunch. Almodóvar also takes an occasional outing from a capable verité approach to show off cinematic artistry, with an unexpected overhead shot as Sole is surrounded by mourners, framing Cruz photogenically with mint leaves and cocktails, or zooming in to make the act of chopping red peppers a work of art that you almost want to frame and put on the wall.

Diversions are provided by moments of flamenco guitar (to which Cruz lip-synchs beautifully), the simple beauty of the old Spanish streets, and the hilarious interrogation by the friendly whore who doesn't know what Raimunda wants her to do (assuming it must be something sexual when it's not, although perhaps even more nefarious).

The plot develops with such dizzying speed you never know what's going to happen next, but as Almodóvar approaches his finale he ties everything up with Hitchcock-like revelations. Volver takes the fantastic and makes it seem not only believable but matter-of-fact. It is colourful, vivacious, and by turns full of warm comedy and deep, genuine emotion. If you only once see a subtitled movie this year, you could do much worse than Volver.

neighbours...

2006-10-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

I hate one of my neighbours. She's the most stupid person I could think of right now. Yes even worse than Bush and Saddam together. You probably wonder why.

She hates my son.
She's yelling out loud so I can hear her every evening.
She probably hate me as well.
She's complaining when my son is playing with his toys.
She knocks on my wall when I watch TV.
She makes me feel guilty.

dish washer

2006-10-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

At last, at last, I found my love at last!

Let me introduce my new frind; Bob the dish washer.

The times they are a-changing, finaly my kitchen looks like a normal one.

Thank you Björn for letting me by your dish washer for only 70 $!

fixing a gate

2006-10-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

As the handyman I am, I fixed my friend's gate.
Nothing more to say in that matter...
except when I'm not around it makes a big difference:)

mushrooming

2006-10-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was time again for the annual mushrooming. Markus, Josefine and me went to our secret place deep in the woods. It was raining a lot and we thought about giving up even before we started looking for those delicious chanterelles. But just when we arived to our our secret place in the woods it stopped raining.

The rest is already history. Markus found the first one within a few minutes and just after that me and Josefine found a whole army of them. We teased Markus a bit but he was still proud of that he found the first one. We continued looking and it was still me and Josefine that found most of the chanterelles. But it wasn't just chantarelles that we found. I can't remember if it was Markus or Josefine who found the wallet but it was very exciting.

Markus: Oh, we found and old wallet.
Josefine: Open it! Let's se whats inside!
Me:Oh it's old german D-mark coins! It must be from the second worldwar or something.
We have found an old Nazi treasure!

After a closer look we found out that the coins where from the early 90's and wasn't a Nazi treasure at all. We where a little bit disappointed but what can you expect when you're out mushrooming. We decided to have a coffe brake.

Markus was still disappointed because he hadn't found that much mushrooms and that the Nazi treasure wasn't a Nazi treasure after all. But Markus never gives up. It was shown that Markus was an expert founding the funnel-shaped chantarelles wich is so hard to find. And when we where finished Markus had gathered as much mushrooms that Josefine and me.

Heaven

2006-09-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you about "Heaven". If you haven't seen it you have to.

It's a beautiful film about Philippa, a Brittish teacher living in Turin. She finds out about a drugdealer selling drugs to her pupils and places a bomb at the drugdealers office but an innocent father with his two children comes to grief. She gets arrested by the Italian police and being told that she killed four innocent people. After braking down she comes to her senses and is ready to accept the sentence. But a young police is very impressed of the energetic teacher, who shows a strong devotion for her pupils, and falling in love with her. He helps Philippa to escape from custody and tries to win her heart.

This is the last film by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski. It was released after his death.

borgarklassens diskreta charm

2006-09-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

En riktig pärla av Buñuel !
Ett sällsakp med den borgerliga diskreta charmen försöker gång på gång äta middag tillsammans utan att lyckas avsluta. Gränsen mellan dröm och verklighet är svår att definiera och många absurda händelser avlöser varandra. En sanslöst rolig komedi som måste ses!

Människa utan hund

2006-09-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Jag har precis läst ut Håkan Nessers senaste roman, Människa utan hund. Mycket läsvärd, en av hans bättre romaner. Jag har läst alla utom de två första så det känns som att jag kan min Nesser. Det säger ju en del om vad jag tycker om honom också. Det värsta är abstinensen som kommer krypandes efter att ha läst ut en 500 sidor lång bok på mindre än en vecka. Det är bara att vänta på nästa bok...

Great day to start a blog

2006-09-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

Woke up this mornig it was a storm raging outside.
Had to go out fix something on my balcony.
My head was in a terrible mess and I just had the worst hangover.
Still I felt like starting a blog.