I’ve been itching to write lately, but haven’t felt comfortable reviving this blog yet again. I think it’s time to let this dead horse rest in peace and move on to greener pasture, with new horses to flog. The pasture in question is a new, pseudonymous blog that I won’t link to directly. Although I’m not going to any great lengths hiding my identity, I don’t want my name (which is unique in the world or at least on the web, so far as I know) attached to it.

So! Those of you who are interested in reading my random ranting - the topics of the new blog should be more or less the same as this one - please leave a comment with a valid e-mail, or e-mail me directly, and I’ll get back to you with the url!

Last night I went to a social gathering for Humanists. There was a new member there, an iranian woman, who took a few minutes to introduce herself and suggest that we should reach out to exile iranians and other immigrants, whom are often intellectuals and non-religious. It’s an interesting topic that I won’t spend more time on now, instead I would like to recount a funny anecdote she shared.

She is a teacher in one of the Stockholm suburbs that has the most immigrants. Her pupils are mostly muslims, with some christians thrown into the mix. And no, their parents obviously have absolutely no qualms about imposing labels on them. And the children propagate the labels happily, asking each other “Are you muslim? Are you christian?”

At one point, one of the children asked her, their teacher, “What are you?”. Something like the following exchange ensued:

Child: What are you?

Teacher: I’m sorry?

Child: What are you, are you muslim?

Teacher: No, I’m not a muslim.

Child: Are you a christian?

Teacher: No, I’m not a christian.

Child: But then what are you?!

Another child: I know what she is! She’s Swedish!

Oh, this is gold. It encapsulates one of Sweden’s greatest strenghts and faults in one. Religion has become such a marginal part of Sweden that it’s barely visible at all anymore. This is nice. But, it’s also the case that if you have any opinion at all on religion, you’re automatically too hardcore. Sure, people think deeply religious believers are a bit strange, but the converse is also true: If you take a stance against religion and other nonsense, you are a fundamentalist. Even simply calling yourself an atheist is a bit too strong.

No, the acceptable stance for a true Swede is … nothing. Don’t be a christian, don’t be a muslim, don’t be an atheist - just be Swedish…

sweden, atheism, religion

Someone has probably already done this, but still.

Image stolen from the interwebs, inspiration found in The Ancestor’s Tale.

mass extinctions, biology, kanye west

Reading The Ancestor’s Tale.

I have now learned sometihng so shocking that I am still reluctant to beliee it, but it looks as though I am going to have to. Hippos’ closest relatives are whales. The even-toed ungulates include whales!

This makes me think. I was not whatsoever surprised to learn this. And certainly not shocked. I wonder when the day will come that a cladistic revolution like this one will actually stir me into a deeper reaction than “Oh? That’s interesting!”. And I wonder what’s preferable? Being so open to new thoughts, new evidence, that nothing shocks you? Or getting a little more set in your thinking, so that your world might actually be fundamentally shaken occasionally, as science progresses?

I wonder if it’s a generational thing; maybe people my age are so used to the world ever-changing, having seen technology like mobile phones and the internet evolve from bulky simplicity to exquisite complexity as we were struggling through puberty, that we’re unable to even feign surprise. Or maybe I will eventually grow up. Maybe the next time the tree of life sees a significant change I will be shocked.

Time will tell.

evolution, biology, science

Today is Blasphemy Day.

I have no original blasphemy to contribute with, because all the clever things have already been said. Here’s a few samples.

There’s plenty more, but I think more than three videos in one post would be overkill. By the way, isn’t it odd how all my favourite comedians seem to be atheists? Is it the case that I find people more funny if they agree with me, or is it the case that intelligent, clever people are more likely to be atheists? I mean, frankly, I can’t remember having heard a funny comedian admit they believe in god.

blasphemy, religion, god, atheism, comedy

The other night, I had a dream in which I was visiting the US, where I met Sarah Palin. She brought her daughter into the room where we were conversing - her daughter was called Britney Spears and looked exactly like Hayden Panettiere - and asked me if I couldn’t hang out with her for the day. After all she led such a stressful extraordinary life and it would be nice for her to spend some time with a young woman her own age. An extraordinarily ordinary day.

Indeed, Bristol-aka-Hayden-aka-Britney agreed, and besides, she would really like to go shoe shopping. I looked down on my own shoes, used up and worn but still comfortable, stating (somewhat self-consciously) that while I do desperately need new shoes, I kind of don’t have any money, and besides shopping isn’t really my thing. (Seriously, I need my mother there.) They laughed kindly at me and said that money wouldn’t be an issue.

I woke up before anything else happened. I don’t know whether I should be happy I woke up before the dream had time to turn even weirder, or sad that I woke up in time to actually remember it. And although I don’t believe dreams really mean anything most of the time, it would be fun to see what those who make a living interpreting dreams would make of this.

palin, dreams

I love stories that take real people and put them in impossible, outlandish situations. Basically, if you’re going to make things up, you might as well really go to town on it … but the story still needs to be populated by characters that feel, well, real. This is why I like Battlestar Galactica - and it’s why I like District 9, which I’ve just seen.

Apart from being visually stunning (albeit a tad too gory for my taste, but that’s easily overlooked) and having a heart-wrenching central theme of xenophobia, corrupt bureaucracy and greed, the movie really touched me simply because the main character Wikus is such an unlikely hero.

Yeah I know, we’ve seen that before. Since Tolkien did it everyone has to. But most Unlikely Hero-type characters are easily identified as heroes early on. I didn’t get that feeling from Wikus. In the beginning of the film he struck me as a bumbling fool at best, and a fairly unpleasant xenophobic bureaucrat at worst. A human like the rest of us, very sweet on his gorgeous wife, and generally nothing special. Then the script forces him through unimaginable circumstances to become a hero.

And that transformation took plenty of time and a lot of failures on the way. Right up until the very end he was driven by his own natural desire to solve his own problems before anyone else’s. He didn’t magically turn into a champion of good halfway through the film as is usually the case. On top of that, it’s not even clear that he IS a hero - it really depends on which perspective you choose.

So, all in all, District 9 proved to be a marvellously entertaining sci-fi flick which - unusually - actually managed to touch me deeply and get me thinking about a lot of stuff.

district 9, scifi, movies

So. It turned out that the light of the end of the tunnel was actually a freight train. The relationship I was in had undergone a steady decline over the past couple of years and since my last blog post back in february, I’d say the pace of deterioration increased quite rapidly. Of course, I was unable to see this at the time, being intent to the point of obsession to keep us together. But when the freight train finally hit me (mid-June, this was) and my “british beau” announced that he was calling it for us … well, I was miserable, of course, for weeks. But it’s getting better.

Getting good enough that I’m starting to feel like sharing my thoughts with the world again.

Don’t get your hopes up (assuming there’s anyone reading this having any hopes at all…) - I have no idea where I want to take this blog, just as I have no idea where I want to take a lot of things in my life right now. Chances are it will get quite introspective, but I promise I will try to keep the emo at a minimum.

Until next time, I shall be playing WoW, looking for a job, selling honey and pondering what love is and what it does to you.

When in a slump, it is nice to compile a list of things that make the light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s a few things I’m looking forward to:

The finale of Battlestar Galactica. With mixed emotions, of course - finale means no more. But I think it’ll be worth it.

Watchmen, the movie. I’m not one of those crazy fanatics who cry whenever there’s been a plot change when adapting a novel or graphic novel to the screen. Looking at the trailers, I doubt I’ll be disappointed.

Mass Effect 2. Because it will be awesome.

Spring. I want to know how many of our beehives survived the winter and start planning for the season’s beekeeping.

March 17. Just because.

Finally, with a hat tip to Steph at Almost Diamonds, have some nerdcore hiphop:

entertainment

Eluana Englaro, the comatose woman whom Italian prime minister Berlusconi declared “in the condition to have babies“, died a couple of hours ago. My immediate reaction was a sigh of relief and muttering, ironically, “thank god”.

Regardless of whether one agrees that she should have been taken off life support or not, the political circus surrounding the case was absolutely tasteless. Berlusconi is a pig both for getting involved in a bereaved family’s private life and for suggesting that a woman’s primary function is to have babies, and don’t even get me started on the Vatican (who has magnanimously announced that god will forgive Mr Englaro for wanting to let his daughter go).

My condolences to the Mr Englaro and any other members of the family. I hope they can finally get some closure.

eluana englaro, berlusconi, vatican, euthanasia