Det Går Bra Nu

Above is the title from, perhaps, the stupidest song I have ever heard in my life. It never ceases to amaze me how the crummiest aspects of American pop culture seem to export so well. "Det Går Bra Nu" means "It Goes Well Now" and it is the Swedish incarnation of terrible hip-hop. I used to think that bad pop-punk was the easiest repeatable pop music genre and that is why it is so (over-) represented in the lower eschelons of what the rabble enjoy musically...I was overlooking the obvious pinnacle of poor taste in music, the cascade of nihilistic and consumerist hip-hop.

There is good hip-hop, and I am by no means the best judge of what is and is not good in this genre...my ear for this type of music is anything but fine-tuned. With that said, the untrained ear knows terrible when it hears it, and a lot of this is terrible...the only thing worse is the European hack-copies of it (there is good European hip-hop). This song is by a bunch of shaved-head Swedes and it is the only Swedish language music I have heard on MTV here (they play The Sounds a lot, Swedish of course, but they sing in English).

One more criticism about Nordic life. I am not one to criticize Scandinavian girls, until now...from a guy who comes from basically the capital of sunshine-summer-beach lifestyle I can say without hyperbole that fake tans almost always look terrible. Orange does not equal authentic, now a fake tan can be ok on the surface if done carefully (still no point and really adds nothing, we are now talking about "good" as in something short of bad...damage control basically). Being fair to the Nordics, they have no point of reference given the fact that there is no sun here...but I have never seen more bad fake tans in my life. A good rule of thumb, if it requires a light, lying in something that looks like a space-aged coffin, a spray or a cream then it is best to stay clear. I am not sure that Michaelangelo could paint that bronze on properly.

Solen skiner idag! It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. The snow is starting to melt, ice drifts were floating through the locks...beautiful sunset this evening. The city was nice today. I went to Kulturhuset, basically a center with an art gallery, a theatre and an opera. There is also a cafe called the "World News Cafe" with tvs showing a lot of different news shows and with like 100 different newspapers. I sat there and read for a while. Walked around and bought a American-British-Swedish plug converter. First place would not let me get it because my drivers license picture does not look like me...it was at this point that I realized that I have no picture IDs that resemble me now. I am struggling getting around with my Swedish and running into the "Swedish people talking to me in English" problem because I run out of things I can say in Swedish. I held up the whole line at the grocery store today because the girl asked me a question I did not understand but I would not let her explain it in English. It was kind of fun and the people were amused.

I did my first run today and it was a spectacular failure. There are no flat parts of my town except the bridge over the highway and inside the shopping center. I was hurting and I ended up coming in and doing 20 minutes on the stationary bike because of my poor showing. In a few weeks I will get better.

My roommate is an actress and she leaves town almost every weekend to go to film shoots. Next weekend she is going to be in Sodom too for a film shoot and staying right by my flat there (I have to go back on the 18th for a week or so). Maybe I will go check it out. Its Swedish language, low-budget stuff but interesting nevertheless. So the weekends are mostly just me and the kids, I mean the cats...but I feel like I have kids. One likes me, the other is being aloof but I think he likes me too. They are smart and mischevious...they can open everything in this apartment, doors, cupboard, refrigerator, drawers. They are also the only living things I can communicate effectively with in Swedish. My Swedish language ability is slightly worse than that of a cat!

So tonight me and the cats will watch "Donnie Brasco" I think. Tomorrow my roommates friend is coming over to take them for the rest of the weekend...I could have watched them, but I will not complain about a breather away from the kids. Next weekend one of my American friends might come up from London for the weekend...could be fun.

Tomorrows plan...wait around for the baby-sitter to come get the kids and then go to the city to read and try to make friends. Today making friends did not go so well because the book I had was so good and I had to be home by 6 pm to feed the children. Thats all for now...oh yeah, Arsenal beat Juventas in two straight matches to go into the UEFA Cup semi-finals. So its AC Milan vs. Barcelona (should be an awesome match-up!!!) and I do not remember who Arsenal is playing but I am pulling for Arsenal...they are my favorite club based entirely on their how cool their uniforms look.

I have two goals up going into autumn...get good at Swedish (write a decent dissertation is a sub-goal) and get dred-locks and a Jesus beard for my sisters wedding...I will wear a Phish or Grateful Dead shirt to the reception.