In my thesis I write about values. Both personal and organizational values. I'm trying to find a link between them and what that link might mean. The current financial crisis can also be connected with valus, or lack of them. If this is produced by the capitalistic system or other factors is hard to say. It's probably a mixture. Fareed Zakaria, host of the excellent CNN show Zakaria GPS and editor of Newsweek, discuss the state of capitalism in his long, but very interesting article, The capitalist manifesto. He finds several reasons for the current meltdown, and he point to the aspect of values in the change that now needs to happen:
Most of what happened over the past decade across the world was legal. Bankers did what they were allowed to do under the law. Politicians did what they thought the system asked of them. Bureaucrats were not exchanging cash for favors. But very few people acted responsibly, honorably or nobly (the very word sounds odd today). This might sound like a small point, but it is not. No system—capitalism, socialism, whatever—can work without a sense of ethics and values at its core. No matter what reforms we put in place, without common sense, judgment and an ethical standard, they will prove inadequate. We will never know where the next bubble will form, what the next innovations will look like and where excesses will build up. But we can ask that people steer themselves and their institutions with a greater reliance on a moral compass.
I've read another Bodil Malmsten book. I start them, like all other books. But then I keep going, every minute I get, I steal minutes from everywhere, just take them, from cooking, studying, music listening. Until its over, until I draw my fingers over the last page, feel the end of the story on the blank page. The other books I start, they take time, I have to force myself sometimes. But Bodil is like water for me, I can't stop drinking it. Every day in a Bodil Malmsten book is like a day in the desert, I need more water all the time. The other books lie there in my room in piles, read to be read, begging to be read. But they feel just like sand, and there is enough sand, in the desert.
Trying to keep up with what's new in the world of contemporary pop music? Chances are that you have stumbled over Discovery, a combination of force between a member of Vampire Weekend and a member from Ra Ra Riot. Both fantastic pop bands that released two of the best records of last year. So what happens when you combine these ingredients? Well, from the sound of the first three songs, a unstoppable combination of electro, sunshine, Justin Timberlake, R&B, Hot Chip and that feeling you can get on a warm dancefloor during a late summer night. So, yeah, looking for this summers soundtrack, look no further than Discovery. I dance inside my head everytime I listen to them
A few days ago I went to Sweden. To say that it welcomed me with open arms would be an over statement. It practically tried to blow me back to Denmark. And this is not a blog about me, but this is how it looked like. When Sweden rejected me. The total lack of drama in this picture, the total lack of illustration of the wind that blew. That, only makes it worse.
Back in Amsterdam. Summer outside, summer in the computer lab. I write about communication and read a bit about Apple, and it's lack of communication in New York Times. I never liked Apple, and when I finally invested in an Ipod one and a half years ago, it was a decision against my ideology. And even though I admit that the Ipod is the best portable music player I've had by far, I'm happy I'm not working for them:
Secrecy at Apple is not just the prevailing communications strategy; it is baked into the corporate culture. Employees working on top-secret projects must pass through a maze of security doors, swiping their badges again and again and finally entering a numeric code to reach their offices, according to one former employee who worked in such areas.
Work spaces are typically monitored by security cameras, this employee said. Some Apple workers in the most critical product-testing rooms must cover up devices with black cloaks when they are working on them, and turn on a red warning light when devices are unmasked so that everyone knows to be extra-careful, he said.
Apple employees are often just as surprised about new products as everyone else.
“I was at the iPod launch,” said Edward Eigerman, who spent four years as a systems engineer at Apple and now runs his own technology consulting firm. “No one that I worked with saw that coming.”
I read my Swedish newspaper on-line. Outside the window the Danish summer is walking down the road to the ocean with the sound of children and birds. I read this article (in Swedish) about the value of contemplating. The author, Ulf Eriksson, criticize the modern media system with its focus on interactivity and questions what impact it really has.
The interactivity media gurus talk about around the world, often framed as the clash between the 'old media' and the 'new media' is automated and makes no change. Eriksson claim that interactivity is becoming equal to action, to write, to comment, to discuss to make yourself heard and have an effect. He points out that the internal sensemaking process when consuming art, a construction and development of the internal world, without any need to expose it, is also an interactive process. And, when you have time to think about things, without the need to expose your opinion immediately, maybe it is here that wisdom is born. This is Eriksson standpoint.
I've thought a lot about wisdom lately. And even though I think there is room for both the automated interactive nature in 'new media' and the contemplative process that art can bring, its nice to hear a voice against the wall of interactivity that we are bombarded with in the media. 'Reigning has always been about keeping people busy, to constantly turn their attention outside so that they cannot shelter their experiences but let them slide away in all directions instead.' (my translation)
Today I went to Sweden. I stayed four and a half our, it was windy and everything was closed. Saw a giant skyscraper (Turning Torso), it was cool, then it rained and was windy and then we had some cinnamon buns and Swedish coffe. People talked with weird dialects. Everything was still closed, its the day after Midsummer the woman in the Tourist Information told me. I got a Dagens Nyheter and this weeks Newsweek, the we took the bus back over the bridge, to a sunny Denmark. We looked back and saw Sweden, in clouds and empty.
Airportline is in Copenhagen. Jumped on a Norwegian flight, and some of you might think that this should mean that I am in Norway, but it doesn't. In Denmark there are Danish people, and even the locals make fun of their own language the way we Swedish people do (it sounds like Swedish being spoken by someone having a hot potato in his/her mouth). Unfortunately they also still talk about the Denmark - Sweden football game a few weeks ago. Otherwise Copenhagen is nice, already tried a kebab in Norrebro (Copenhagens answer to San Franciscos Mission District, Amsterdams East, Berlin's Kreuzberg and yeah, all the other immigrant areas also populated with hipsters and students around the world) and saw that Mermaid. At some point I will make sure to visit one of my favorite restaurants ever, at least that's how I remembered it when I was here, maybe 16 years ago. Now: instant coffee, rain showers and some work.
I went to Eindhoven. I was part of the morning commute, it felt strange. Bought the International Herald Tribune and read the business section, fell asleep before we got to Utrecht. In Eindhoven I sat in a corner office on the 12th floor. Talked with people about working, they answered, explained, thought about what it meant to them. They went and came, I sat there, with my paper and an orderly pile of coffee cups. My eyes looked tired but my brain was sharp. No need for a power nap. No time for a power nap. One of my interviewees had been in Stockholm; it consists of nine islands he told me. That might be right, I answered. Another person told me the best thing with Amsterdam is the train ride back to Eindhoven. They're quite funny, the people in Eindhoven. But the buses have cameras that show how you look like when you sit in a bus in monitors. Felt unnecessary.
About song about buses. Or the lack of them. Or something completely different. Arctic Monkeys - No Buses
I took a power nap, but there was no power in it. I made pasta but there was no enough tuna in it. I was gonna blog about a nap, but my sister was ill, so I had to feel sorry for her on Skype. I played floorball but managed to miss the goal too many times. Taking a power nap and not getting power, that lacks purpose. Without the power, its just nap. Sounds childish. Young people nap for power, we're not interested in napping just because it is comfortable. I power nap when I have to, and I have to alot. And lately, I wake up without power, the foundation is missing. Its frustrating. At least I have Swedish coffee (see picture). It is suppose to be brewed in water between 92 and 96 degrees according to the box, I preffer 100 degrees, just because it's a great song by Shout Out Louds. And because it's more extreme. Power coffee. When there is no power in your nap.
Mother Airportline brought Swedish newspapers and a book by Bodil Malmsten when she came. She didn't think of this herself, I ordered her to do it. Or asked kindly. It's hard to order my mom to do anything, she is Finnish, they are not people who easily obey. They fought the Russians while the Swedes lived in their socialist dream.
Bodil Malmsten is one of the most inspiring authors I know, everytime I read her I want to write, and everytime I start writing I have to face the fact that her world is so much bigger than mine, and her Swedis prose is so much more poigant than mine. Maybe because she is older, and wiser. In a recent blog post she writes: 'I have to learn not to write. I already know how not to be able to count.' (my disturbingly poor translation).
In her book Kom och hälsa på mig om tusen år (Come and visit me in a thousand years) she writes (again, my poor translation) about reading, writing and Samuel Beckett. 'Becket was what he wrote, he wrote what he is. There is something I've learned through the years, through all my reading, all I've read and forgotten, one thing has become clear - it's not the book your reading, its the author. No matter how little the author thinks she or he is writing about him or helself, it is about him or helself that the author is writing.'
I've never read Samuel Beckett. I doubt that he would have the same effect on me as Bodil Malmsten.
See The Reader. Its a movie about reading, and not being able to read, and what dramatic impact this can have on a persons life. It's also about love, Concentration camps and a trial agaist female guards in the SS. Some people don't like it, but you should not listen to them. Mom and son Airporline saw it yesterday. After seeing the World Press Photo Exhibit with all its war and conflict pictures before.
'Your not escaping reality in Amsterdam' I told her over some Thai food afterwards. She laughed. This laugh could mean: A, my son is crazy. B, my son has a point. C, I'm not sure what he is talking about so I will laugh and pretend I do understand what he is saying. D, this beer makes me laugh.
Mamma Airportline is in town. Hard drugs, The World Press Photo Exhibit and classical music is on the agenda. Ok, you can take away the drug part. The rest is true, and so is the rain that keeps falling. I hate walking in the rain, but that is what I will do. Cause according to some people, if your mom want to walk in rain, you, as her son, also have to walk in rain. So I walk in rain, cause thats the kind of son I am.
The was an article I read in the International Herald Tribune about women in the US being less happy even though they are more free, wealthier, can leave abusive relationships, have higher education ect. I was gonna link to, but its not online. Instead I give you a brief summary:
In the 60s women reported to be generally happier than men, now it is reversed. The article was based on the findings in the research paper The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness. Common beliefes behind this trend, such as the decline of the two-parent family and increased work load are, according to the articles author Ross Douthat, not enough to explain this trend. After this his discussion mostly revolve around the idea that giving women more time for children and family is crucial to reverse this trend, I guess all modern women come with a baby these days, at least so it seems. The reseach paper itself might come to more interesting conclusions, from Mr. Douthat's article I take the following:
The feminists will see evidence of a revolution interrupted, in which rising expectations are bumping against glass cielings, breeding entirely justified resentments. The traditionalists will see evidence of a revolution gone wry, in which women have been pressured into lifestyles that run counter to their biological imperatives, and men have been liberated to embrace a piggish iresponsibility.
She was alone on a big stage. A small woman with a big voice. And we all stood still and quiet cause we didn't want to miss any of the words. She was Regina Spektor and we were the audience of the Way Out West festival in Göteborg. Regina has one of the pop worlds most fantastic voices, and she's written one of the most beautiful love songs ever, Samson. Now she's back with a new album, the first single is called Laughing With, a beautiful piano song which has caused some debate concerning what it is about, is it against atheists, is it critique of people who make fun of religion? Maybe the signature hicklimn on youtube says it best:
essentially a critique on people rather than a claim on the existence or non-existence of god. It's just commenting on the fact that it's very easy to dismiss god when you don't really need him.
I fell asleep in my bed. I was gonna do other things. But I fell asleep. When I woke up I decided that I needed a belt. I biked in the sun with My Morning Jackets album Z in my ears. I looked for Joyce Carol Oats diary in a book shop, and I bought a belt and tried to find a bar that would show Sweden - Denmark. The cobble stones rattled under my bike when I went around the city. I love that sound. Gave up on the football game and bought a small bottle of whiskey instead. Someone called me, he had found a bar which would show the game. Now I'm home, and I feel like sleeping again.
I'm not sure why. But lately I've become very nationalistic for a person not living in his home country. When I go to book stores I point out what books are by Swedish authors, I count H&M stores in cities I visit, and today I watched Robin Söderling play tennis in the French Open. It was a nerve wrecking experience, to say the least. Fernando Gonzalez fought with the referees while the sometimes erratic Swede kept his cool as if he was standing in the middle of a Swedish winter storm. It was a real tight match, mostly because Söderling only managed to break 5 of the 18 (!) times he had a break point, those who know tennis knows that it is difficult to win a match, especially against such a good serving player as Gonzalez, with those numbers. In the forth set it looked like it was all over for the fighting Sweden, but suddenly he came back from nowhere, breaking Gonzalez like he had just been waiting for it for the last two games but not really wanted to. After that it was all over and Söderling ran out as a comfortable winner, ending the game on his knees on the same clay court which Swedish tennis legend Björn Borg celebrated some amazing wins. Now Söderling, who previously bet the unbeatable Nadal, is looking at his first ever Grand Slam Final. On Sunday I'll be watching in Amsterdam while my room mate follow it more closely in Paris. And tomorrow there is more nationalistic opportunities as Sweden plays Denmark in the Word Cup Qualifier in football.
In pop culture news, I saw French popexport Phoenix yesterday. They were truly amazing. More about that later, maybe even some pictures.
Big day in Amsterdam today. The EU election kicks off and the atmosphere is pumping with excitement. EU flags are waving in the wind, Polish workers and unemployed Dutch men drink beer and hug each other in this celebration of the Europe wide democratic process. It is big, exciting and the pan European public sphere is on fire. Its like a monster truck show but with substance! Or as DutchNews.nl report:
Only voters in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Sweden are less interested in the election. Ireland tops the list with 66% of its poll certain to vote.
Two out of three Dutch voters polled said they had little information about the elections - the lowest percentage in the 27-country EU block. And 53% do not know the election will take place on June 4.
Yeah, can you feel the excitement!? Of course not. No one cares about this election here. In Berlin, were there were EU posters all over the place, Andrea Merkels serious face was hanging over the drugdealers at Kottbusser Tor claiming something about having a voice in Europe. The Amsterdam people probably does not care about this, they are more occupied with constructing the most expensive and most delayed subway in history.
And its a day for sitting and watching the world as the cold wind blows past the empty chairs outside the cafés that were filled yesterday. But we don't sit, cause we have things to do, meetings to attend, stairs to climb, elevators to stand quiet in. So we make our ways out on the streets, some of us with music in our ears, some of us with allergies which make our eyes tear in the wind. And we glance at each other at the stop lights, the wind whirling around our heads, we've stopped speaking, we're inside our own heads. And in mine, there is Alexi Murdoch and a song about moving a heart. It's softer than the wind, louder than the quiet elevator.
The secret behind Airportline according to the stars and ascendants. Read and enjoy. What is true and not true is for you to decide. This is what you become when you are born on the 8th of July at five in the morning:
The Ascendant is the sign which was rising over the horizon at the precise moment of birth and therefore, sets a strong tone for the persons life. Usually the Ascendant sign traits along with the sign the Ascendant ruling planet is in, as well as any planets in the first house, describe a kind of mask that people feel they must wear in order to impress others in some way; before they feel comfortable enough to be themselves.
Cancer ascendant Cancer There is a distinct part of your outer personality that expresses itself very much like a Cancer. You are emotional, personable and intuitive. You are dreamy, with a psychological nature that is oriented towards nostalgia for things past, towards your mother and your family. Your instinct and your need to protect yourself from the outside world are highly developed. Your inner life is rich, with a vivid and even unlimited imagination, a propensity to avoid all risks and to pursue security. You show your true face only to persons you can trust and you need the well being brought about by the nostalgia for the past. With this Ascendant, you come across as emotional, sentimental, restful, sensitive, loyal, enduring, protective, vulnerable, generous, romantic, tender, poetic, paternal or maternal, dreamy, indolent, greedy and dedicated. You may also be fearful, unrealistic, evasive, passive, touchy, anxious, dependent, stubborn, lunatic, backward-looking, lazy, burdensome, impenetrable and a homebody.
Today we're taking a car and going out into some forest outside Berlin. I hope its made of steel and rust. Yesterday was carnival, second hand market (3rd thing I must do when visiting a city) and conclusion at my sisters place with the movie The Butterfly Effect which I've never seen before. Very very good, and who knew Aston Kutcher could act? Maybe other people...
Tomorrow, after returning to Amsterdam, I will let you know who I am according to the stars.
