Having been working heaps recently on my research project and other uni courses and working music is always an essential for me. Came across this group on Spotify today, a mixture of classical and post-rock
And of course I have to mention Lykke Li's new single and the video. Love it.
melancholy in that brutal coldness of winter, bäst.
Happy International Day of Forest to your all! Let's not forget how wonderful forest is to us and to Earth.
Above is a sneak peek of my trip to New Zealand this Feburary. I'm still sorting out the photos so it may take a while before I can start uploading them here.
Topman online is having a 50% off sale at the moment. I picked up a pair of rubber coated skinny jeans (here) and this brown faux leather satchel (here)
Though I don't quite agree with the SVT release which said it was a 'knife-sharp' portray of current Sweden
It's a very realistic one, but to me not to the extent that would stab me bad.
I really wanted to try translate it myself for that reason (and now that I'm finished when I compared it to other versions online I still like mine better)
La Belle Epoque
kent
Original text: Jocke Translation: K. Solabis
I am the hand that holds the flag
I am the pickpocket at the Central Station (note 1)
I am the bomb in the terminals
in the bag that's been left behind
I am the first cold rains
I am the frost where nothing grows
I am that half year of darkness
in the land that god forgot
I am the teargas in the handbag
I am of the Ravekommissionen (note 2)
The xenophobic politics
I am the suicide statistics
I am the wilderness, the roofies
I am the jealousy, the alcohol
I am the the Payday Loan (note 3)
I am the battue on the playground
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
So we start all over again
I am the mist at the memorial
The wind on the bridge over the sound
I am the suspicious neighbours
fucking Finns, Norweigians and Danes
I am the knive in inside pocket
I am all the weapons we have exported
I am the soldiers in the villages
I am the land mines
I no longer vote in the election
I am the the Medodifestivalen (note 4)
I am those who walk into the walls
I am those who walk through the glass
I live in the biggest city
I give money to Save The Children
and my computer is full of pictures
that should have never been taken
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
So we start all over again
I am the hand that rocks the cradle
I am the State and the capital
I am the safety manual
Anonymous comments
I am the cyberbullying
I am the Big Mac that you're eating
I am mosques and cathedrals
I am the Bible and the Koran
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
All for all and one for one
So we start all over again
Notes:
1. It was Centralen in Swedish, which can just mean 'the centre' or, central station (or even more specifically it could refer to Stockholm central station). I reckon the latter fits into the context better
2. Ravekommissionen, I kept the original text here because it's a special term referring to a police force in Stockholm that deals with youth nicotine and drug usage
3. Swedish: sms-lånen, literally the SMS loan, it is comparable to Payday Loan in most English-speaking countries
4. Medodifestivalen. Wikipedia explains it better (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodifestivalen) and no, it's not Eurovision.
Ok I know most people in the Northern Hemisphere have seen it already and it's been featured heaps in most major film critic sites so nobody really needs my review. But anyway just a few words.
Saw this last week (15th Jan) at Dendy's special preview screening at Circular Quay (sorry for being so terribly late, have been busy, and lazy as always) and it was fantastic.
To be quite honest with you the directing was not really of my favourite style, but since it was kind of a biopic I think it did a pretty good job, as in dramatising and tailoring the story. The plot was clearly not of the creative and original type, per se, as it was based on the self-bio of the protagonist so there wasn't much room for making up a out-of-the-world intriguing plot. So yeah, if you find drama boring you can be well assured better off to look for another film that fills the time slot when you hit the cinema. However if you don't specifically hate this type of film I do strongly recommend this to you. It really does worth it.
The actors' performances were of course wonderful, there's nothing too much to say about it except that. Though I don't really think it was the kind of film can really showcases the actors, as it surely forces most focus on the story itself (and my bad again, since I saw it more than a week ago it's getting pretty faint in my head, apologies, I will try to update asap next time)
It's not a film that I would go mad about, but it was indeed a very fine piece that deserves recognition (and it did, which I'm glad about).
As for the theme, racism that is, I'm not quite sure how well it can do in tackling modern days racist issues but it's always nice to have productions that can somehow put in some positive thinkings to this messed-up problem.
12 Years A Slave will be in cinema from 30th Jan 2014 in Australia. (Though it seems like some cinemas have advanced screenings this couple of days)
