Just a short post today. I was working out yesterday and I went running in the running machine down at the Gym. Good after all the holiday eating.

Hjalmar Bergman

I'm reading an old book from the 1920's, "The boss, Mrs Ingeborg" by Hjalmar Bergman, and it's interesting to notice how well the writer describes women. He gets underneath their skin in an almost scary kind of way. He wrote the book in his forties and it's remarkable how the book deals with older women as its main characters. They are described, not as in today's society, as being ready to die, but are in every way lovable and nice. They are almost devine. The style feels for modern reading a bit old fashioned, but I see clear links to works by Flaubert and Maupassant. Again, a book is a result of its time, and since I like to read about old times, I give this one high marks.

Dead Scared

I saw a DVD movie yesterday, "Dead Scared" by Rolfe Kanevsky. The movie is a comedy/horror about a few young kids that are about to get accepted in their american "Fraternity" and what they have to do to be just that. The level of the jokes was not high enough for me to take this completely seriously. I laughed, though, when one of the male characters, dressed as a dog, was trying to seduce a female counterpart, and he said something about "playing and hide the bone" and she replied "I think I've already found it!". In total, I recommend the scriptwriter/director to grow a few years older before he thinks about making his next movie.

I'm going home to my parents later today. It will be nice to finally have some time for my books and I really look forward to this. I'm sorry that I will not post anything until Tuesday.

Del Amitri

I listened to an old album by Del Amitri yesterday, "Change everything". It had been a while since I last listened and I must say that the production is boring and that the general impression of the album is that it's not a good one. Having said that I was positively surprised when the album was almost over and the first chords of the last song began, "Sometimes I just have to say your name". This sounds exactly the way Moneybrother always wanted to but never dared. It would make a perfect cover for him either in Swedish or in its original language to top his otherwise good performances. I think I'm going to tell him this.

Show me love

I watched an old DVD yesterday. I saw "Show me love" from Lukas Moodyson with Alexandra Dahlström and Rebecca Liljeström. The film is about a small town in western Sweden, about the kids who live there, about their dreams and how they're desperate to get out. So desperate that they might do anything to make it. The film is, I think, Lukas Moodyson's first and I think his best. The dialogue flows smoothly, the characters are nicely described and when the film is over there is this positive feeling that overwhelms you. Perhaps the movie is more about Lukas' own youth than the kids in the movie. Nevertheless, "Show me love" is one of the true classics of Swedish contemporary films.

A simple crime

I'm reading a book by Theodor Kallifatides, a Greek immigrant who came to Sweden in the 1960's. Although he speaks Greek as his mothertongue he still manages to write books in Swedish. It seems as though the first part of the book was a badly sketched copy of what native Swedish crime writers usually are doing very well, a good plot with good descriptions of both people and places. I was indeed tempted to throw the book away, but after 150 pages or so something happens. The language becomes better and more descriptive. Not only that but the book also begins a philosophical discussion about the justice system. A discussion which puts Kallifatides amongst other contemporary Greek thinkers like Georgios Karavanas. In all I can't help but thinking that he had the first part lying round in his computer and that he simply finished the book off one day when he felt inspired.