towel day!

today is towel day!

read more about it here. here's the extract from hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy about a towel:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.


this is the towel I'm walking around with today:



and yes, hhgtg is a book that should definitely be read. it's absolutely hilarious. the towel is the official pittsburgh steelers towel, and was sent to me by a dear friend last year, just in time for their win in the super bowl :)

I just had my first...

... strawberries! I think that means that summer is officially here, especially as I seem to have gotten my first mosquito bite as well.

got a letter from ericsson who apparently believe I deserve an ice cream:


who am I to say anything against that? ;)

and last football practice now until I return... and it seems as if I'm in. the coach said that it's perfectly ok for me to continue practicing with them when I get back, and that despite that I haven't played for so long and have a bit to go, there's something in me. yay!

off to bed now...

preparing for pilgrimage

on saturday morning, I will be leaving to go to israel, on pilgrimage. going on pilgrimage is a very special thing, a spiritual journey... and I don't feel prepared :(

naturally it is impossible to fully prepare for such a thing, but right now I feel that there's been so much going on that I haven't even had time to think about what's going to happen. all I know is that when I leave here on friday evening (going to my parents to stay the night), I'll have nothing else to worry about. I think when I get there I'll probably get more "into" it, but I'm hoping that I will be able to spend some time to actually get ready for it.

pilgrimage doesn't happen too often (last time was in '96), as there are usually many people from all over the world and one has to wait for about 5 years since last time after applying again. and then wait in line... there's of course the possibility of going on a 3-day visit, and last time I did that was in 2005. really loved it back then.

I did get to read a bit of the book Baha'i Pilgrimage while in norway:


although I only got about halfways through it, it was definitely a good start to things. I'm really looking forward to going, it's going to be great to be able to forget about all the worldly things and feel closer to God, praying in the Shrines and visiting all the Holy Places. I just hope the difference won't be too big when I come back...

I have my camera, going to take lots of pictures, and then hope to be able to put some sort of presentation or slideshow when I get back, possibly even at work. we'll see :)

a little bit of bragging :)

here's the report from tuesday's game: "Först gjorde Borna Safai ett riktigt klass mål. Likt Zlatan mot Ungern sköt han från dövinkel rätt upp i nättaket precis under ribban (fast från andra hållet). Minuterna senare hade Safai ett liknande läge men den gången gick bollen i stolpen. ... Sedan var det dags för Safai show igen och ännu en gång lekte han Zlatan. Klacken som mot Italien tog dock i ribban men vilka härliga tekniska nummer av Safai."

translation:
"first borna safai scored a real classy goal. like zlatan against hungary he shot from a dead angle up into the roof of the net under the bar (but from the other side). minutes later safai had a similar situation but this time the shot went off the post. ... then it was time for the safai show again and yet again he played zlatan. the backheel against italy went off the bar but what lovely technical numbers by safai."

:)

the birth of a new Faith

on this day, 163 years ago, in the town of shiraz in iran, the Báb proclaimed that He was the new Messenger of God, awaited by followers of all world religions. to us Baha'is, this day means the birth of our Faith.

here's what Baha'i World News writes about it:

Baha'i communities around the world celebrate the anniversary with special devotional programs and gatherings on the evening of May 22. Believers suspend work, and children and youth take off from school.

A 25-year-old merchant at the time of his declaration in 1844, Siyyid Ali-Muhammad became known as the Bab, which is Arabic for "gate." He said His mission was to prepare the way for a universal Messenger of God who would soon appear, as predicted in the scriptures of the world's major religions. One of the followers of the Bab, later known as Baha'u'llah, announced in 1863 that he was that Messenger.

Baha'is consider both the Bab and Baha'u'llah to be founders of their faith.

The Bab's declaration of his station was made in the city of Shiraz in what is now Iran. He almost immediately attracted a large following, which governmental and religious authorities found threatening. Some 20,000 of His followers were killed, and the Bab Himself was executed by firing squad in 1850 in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz. His remains are entombed in Haifa in a beautiful, golden-domed shrine surrounded by gardens on the side of Mount Carmel.


I prepared a short devotional for it a while ago, so I thought I'd post it here:

This is 23 May, the anniversary of the message and Declaration of the Báb. It is a blessed day and the dawn of manifestation, for the appearance of the Báb was the early light of the true morn... Therefore, it is a blessed day, the inception of the heavenly bounty, the beginning of the divine effulgence. On this day in 1844 the Báb was sent forth heralding and proclaiming the Kingdom of God, announcing the glad tidings of the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and withstanding the opposition of the whole Persian nation.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

"O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily I say, I am the Bab, the Gate of God, and thou art the Babu'l-Bab, the gate of that Gate. Eighteen souls must, in the beginning, spontaneously and of their own accord, accept Me and recognise the truth of My Revelation. Unwarned and uninvited, each of these must seek independently to find Me. And when their number is complete, one of them must needs be chosen to accompany Me on My pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. There I shall deliver the Message of God to the Sharif of Mecca. I then shall return to Kufih, where again, in the Masjid of that holy city, I shall manifest His Cause. It is incumbent upon you not to divulge, either to your companions or to any other soul, that which you have seen and heard."

The Báb

"I am, I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person."

The Báb

"O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behoves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory. The very members of your body must bear witness to the loftiness of your purpose, the integrity of your life, the reality of your faith, and the exalted character of your devotion...
The days when idle worship was deemed sufficient are ended. The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity, can ascend to the throne of the Most High and be acceptable unto Him."

The Báb

going live

there's a special feeling about putting systems live. there are always questions like "will things work out? have we tested enough?", etc. this week we went live with two projects that I've been working on, pretty much ever since I started working here (no, we're not slow, we're thorough). one of them is a bit like my baby, so I really want it to go well. we'll see how the future evolves...

football, football...

... and more football.

game in the morning today, and we managed to win 2-1. not too good of a game, we should've scored a few more goals, but it wasn't all that tight in the end. I had the 2nd assist to our first goal, and scored quite a nice goal in the beginning of the second half. some of the teammates wanted to liken it to this goal by zlatan:

can't say I can agree with it though, it wasn't *that* nice... I did take the ball from our own half, ran past one guy and shot it up in the roof of the net, but not really all that impressive, I think. two minutes later on I had a very similar thing, but shot in the inside of the far post... really wanted a goal there.
and then of course, I was close to scoring the goal of the season. we had a freekick on the side, and from the end of the penalty box, on the volley I backheeled the ball, over the goalie, and... off the bar :(

well-deserved win though. had a few nutmegs or so too... :)


and then we have this other video also, which is just completely sick:

kafka on the shore

finished this book in about 3 days (~470 pages), although I didn't really intend to do so, it just happened. kafka on the shore is a very symbolical double-story about kafka, a boy that decides to run away from home on his 15th birthday, and nakata, an old man who spends his time and life finding lost cats.

the story of these two combine and connect, but they never meet, at least not on the physical level. kafka ends up traveling here and there, and while it seems that he is choosing where he wants to go, he's not really. a curse of his father is following him, and he ends up going here and there almost because of fate. and nakata is the type of person that does not know why he's going somewhere, but only knows once he's actually there. a very odd person :)

I really liked reading this book... it was the kind that I didn't want to read because I was afraid I'd finish it too early. the story is simple to get, but I think the symbolism is very difficult to grasp at times, especially as haruki murakami said this about it himself: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write."



I wouldn't say that it's a life-changing book, but definitely worth reading to think about things. nakata's attitude to life is very pleasing at times, he simply goes wherever life takes him at that very moment; he doesn't really live for the future, but very much in the now. maybe something more of us should?

I'm back

wedding was good, and it was also nice to meet up with some friends :) gonna try and put up the pics later on... finished a book as well, so I'll be writing about that and other stuff too, later on...

got a hectic week coming up, really looking forward to the end of it. hope to be alive by then!

go west!

and off to norway I am... time for another wedding (don't read too much into that ;)), so I'll be gone over the weekend. it'll be nice to meet up with the friends over there :)

here's a lovely pic to represent (not taken by me):

death on two legs!

yesterday was my first football practice for more than 10 years, and indeed I can feel it in my legs. don't think I've ever ran so much during so long, constantly.

but the training session was good, didn't really feel like I was too far behind the others. the only thing missing is a bit physical stuff, both stamina and speed. I scored a nice goal on volley in one of the exercises, and also a nice lob when we played (was meant as a cross, but don't tell anyone!). was put at left back, not really my natural position, but I think I did quite okay...

and afterwards the coach something along the lines of "pretty good for having played only amateur games for so long", so I guess that's a compliment :)

he told me to come to the next practices as well, and then we'll see what happens. so at least I'm not out, and it was a lot of fun!

a brief history of globalization

here's an interesting book I just finished, a brief history of globalization:



it's by no means a great/brilliant book that keeps you thinking for a long time after reading it, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth reading. alex macgillivray goes through the course of history, pointing out the important events of each "age", and some ground-breaking moments and key interests. there's a lot of information to try and digest, especially all the historical facts.

one thing I especially liked is that he is quite unbiased throughout the entire book (for/against globalization, if that now is possible), only some sarcastic remarks here and there, but mostly just tells of what happens, and how the world "grew smaller" throughout the years.

I was surprised to read two references to the Baha'i Faith in the book, one about how it spread in the end of the 19th century, and another telling how the believers in iran are essentially without rights. I don't have the book available now, but will write those two parts here later on.

it's an interesting book, well worth reading. if nothing else, it helps one to brush up on the history, and it's always good to know what's been happening in the past, as it might be an indication of what'll happen in the future...

football update

talked to the coaches last week, and again today. they say their squad is quite full, and considering I haven't played any organized football for many, many years, it's understandable that they weren't too excited about having me. but, I'll go down to the training tomorrow and see what happens...

video on the House of Worship in chicago

in relation to the Baha'i House of Worship in wilmette being nominated as one of the seven wonders of illinois (read here about it), abc made a short report about it. check it out here.

tip for students

I know I'm way too young to give anyone advice for life, but I suppose I might give it a try at least. take it as you wish :)

as a student, everyone told me to enjoy my time as it would never come back to me. I never really quite understood what that meant, because life goes on, we mature and become different people and enjoy that. but now, when I've started working, I've realized what was meant.

I was never much into the student activities during my time at uni. they were mostly different parties here and some other stuff, didn't bother to spend too much time to find out what more there was. so why was the time as a student so special? what was it that I enjoyed?

one simple word: freedom. life as a student is so much different from working life, as you can very much set up your own schedule (with some respect to lectures and classes). that's not possible when working, as it's usually quite fixed working hours, with perhaps a little bit of flexibility.

as a student, I was able to make quite many trips to here and there, meet up with friends, do quite a lot of sports when it suited me, and take some time off when I needed it. with 5-6 weeks of vacation per year, there really isn't the same now.

nowadays it's not really possible to stay up or out for too long during weekdays. with work coming up the day after, it's usually time to say good bye at around 10-11, to be able to go home and sleep. that did not really happen as a student...

student life is of course about studying and preparing to become a person that can give back to society, as a way of worship:

"It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation -- such as a craft, a trade or the like. We have exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship of the one true God."

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 30)

however, I think it is important to really appreciate the time and opportunities one has during that time. so what I mostly want to say, for those of you who are still reading this far, is to enjoy the freedom you have as a student, make up your own flexible schedule and really make the most out of it. because it might not come back in the same way again...

kids and monsters...

... are so cute! :)

I just watched monsters inc. (yes, I'm lagging behind a bit...) and all I can say is that it was so incredibly cute! well worth watching :)

I hope I'm not too old for it...

eurovision song contest, part 2

sweden finished 18th in the eurovision song contest final on saturday, and suddenly everyone in sweden says that it's a scandal and that we no longer should care about the competition. and why? because they realize that everyone is voting for their neighbors. we've known this for more than 10 years, it's so obvious... here are a few examples of countries that vote for each other:

the scandinavian countries

the baltic countries

france/cyprus/malta

germany/turkey

benelux

spain/portugal

ex-yugoslavia

and that's pretty much how it goes... it's always been like that.

are you inspired?

do you want to be inspired? check out inspired.org.au and be inspired!

a really good idea of a site with devotional programmes, inspired by texts from different religions. as for now there are only the texts, but music and visuals are also to be uploaded. looks really inspiring!

how often do you think of football?

from today's aftonbladet: a survey was conducted with 2000 english football fans with this question: how often do you think of football?
the average supporter thinks of football every 12th minute. the most fanatic 7% thought of football every minute.

I'm closer to the second category...

tired

so, after a weekend with football courses (leadership yesterday and understanding the game today), I'm really, really tired. yesterday we had about an hour of practice, and I felt that it wasn't enough for me. so I went and did some sprints and jumping up stairs. was quite tired once I got back home.

today, we had even more practice, I think a bit more than 3 hours, possibly even 4. and I tried to really give my all all the time, so my legs are really tired now.

the reason we had the practical stuff was so that we got an understanding of how the exercises were to be performed, and also to get a lot of tips on how to show it to our kids, and what can be improved. naturally, I think I learned quite a lot of football stuff myself as well.

the courses themselves were good, and as last time, I feel I picked quite a lot of stuff that I can use for our practices, and hopefully make them more fun.


it's soon time for me to go to bed. gonna be at work at 4.30 tomorrow, to wrap up some things before we meet up at 5 to go to one of the packing rooms. not as much as last time, this time we'll probably just be there for an hour or so, to check a few things. but we'll see...

easy-to-make nachos

here's a recipe for some really nice and tasty nachos, very easy to make. you need:

nacho/tortilla chips

taco/salsa sauce

tuna/ham/meat (mostly anything goes)

cheese

1. take a plate, cover it with chips
2. put the meat on the chips
3. put some sauce here and there
4. cover with cheese
5. if you're really hungry, you can make two "floors", just repeat the above steps.
6. put in the microwave, about 1.30-2 minutes

here's how mine looked from today, also the first official picture with my new camera:


very easy and quick, and very tasty!

laundry events

so I tend to be a bit absent-minded or weird when it comes to me and laundry. here're a few events:

once all my dirty clothes were literally only black and blue

I split up the white and the colors, put them in different machines... and put the powder in wrong machines :-/

I brought my "laundry bag" up to bring some more stuff down to wash. unfortunately, I brought the powder up with me too...

fun at work!

I honestly never thought I'd have as much fun at work as I am having with my coworkers. at lunch and during work, laughter and jokes are never far away. we also have a partyhat that acts as a sign if someone has done something exceptionally stupid. voluntary to put on of course, and now it seems to be constantly stuck at my desk for some reason... ;)


this week we've had a few mishaps, but they've all been taken in good humor. I happened to come upon an error in a configuration file that was done by another coworker about 3.5 years ago, and in the description when I checked the file in, I actually wrote (with ish permission): "Fixed property dependency for [filename], better than [coworker's name]' solution á la 2003."

and then there was also an accidental deletion of an entire folder on one of our servers... good thing that we had a backup :)
he did get some comments for a few days... ;)

tuesday's gone...

another devotional at my parents' on tuesday. and again I'm so happy that I went. we were 7 people, each reading twice, with some nice music in between. and when I closed my eyes and just listened to the others reading, I totally forgot where I was sitting. it was really as if I was somewhere completely else, recharging my batteries. as I said before, I have to get this going at my place, even though in the beginning it might only be for myself. it's really soothing.

I have worked on finding texts for a few topics, and will probably post them here once in a while (unity and prayer. if you have any special requests for topics, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

eurovision song contest

the semifinals for the eurovision song contest were yesterday, and it really sickened me. many of the "performances" reminded me of black eyed peas' song my humps, with barely dressed women shaking whatever they had. it was border-line porn. and supposedly, there are some others that are even worse who are in the finals. they are trying to hide their incapability to sing with some distractions.

of course, not all countries performing had stuff like that, and there were some that were even quite good. although needless to say, it is very much not my style of music.


in other news, I got my camera yesterday. it looks good, only took two pictures to try it out (deleted them afterwards), but the quality of them seemed really nice. it's not too heavy and sits comfy in my hand. I'm happy with it!



only one word left to say about it: sexy!

more on climate change

here is a very interesting article on climate change on neptune. mars is also getting warmer.

basically the warming of neptune is related to solar activity, and this seems to be very similar to the pattern of how the earth is warming up. claiming that humans have something to do with the warming up on neptune is, in their own words, "an astronomical stretch, to say the least."

I'll try and write a bit on my take about it all later on.

another phone questionnaire...

so a girl calls me up from another advertising company, and this time they want to interview me about washing powders and snacks. how they are related I have no idea...

anyways, so first I was asked to mention a few washing brands (how many do I know???), and then also if I recognized a few others she mentioned. and then if I had seen any commercials by any of them recently (I *always* swap when it's time for commercials), and also if I recognized when she described a few. naturally, I didn't...
lastly I was asked what I thought about their pricing, if it was overpriced, normal, good price, etc... when it comes to these things, I'm the kind of person that simply buys what I need, can't really be bothered checking and comparing prices.

repeat the same procedure for snacks, although I did know a bit more about them. lastly she asked me if there were any kids under 15 in my household... hmmm...

unity

a few quotations on unity:

In every Dispensation, the light of Divine Guidance has been focused upon one central theme.... In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God, and the distinguishing feature of His Law, is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

- - - -

The reality is that there is only the one human race. We are a single people, inhabiting the planet Earth, one human family bound together in a common destiny, a single entity created from one same substance, obligated to "be even as one soul."

Bahá'í International Community

- - - -

The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.

Báha'u'lláh

- - - -

"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."
Whatsoever hath led the children of men to shun one another, and hath caused dissensions and divisions amongst them, hath, through the revelation of these words, been nullified and abolished.

Báha'u'lláh

- - - -

The purpose of religion as revealed from the heaven of God's holy Will is to establish unity and concord amongst the peoples of the world; make it not the cause of dissension and strife. The religion of God and His divine law are the most potent instruments and the surest of all means for the dawning of the light of unity amongst men.

Bahá'u'lláh

- - - -

Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day be achieved. Verily this is none other but one of the wonders of this wondrous age, this glorious century. Of this past ages have been deprived, for this century -- the century of light -- hath been endowed with unique and unprecedented glory, power and illumination. Hence the miraculous unfolding of a fresh marvel every day. Eventually it will be seen how bright its candles will burn in the assemblage of man.

Behold how its light is now dawning upon the world's darkened horizon.


The first candle is unity in the political realm, the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned.
The second candle is unity of thought in world undertakings, the consummation of which will erelong be witnessed.
The third candle is unity in freedom which will surely come to pass.
The fourth candle is unity in religion which is the corner-stone of the foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendour.
The fifth candle is the unity of nations -- a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland.
The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one race.
The seventh candle is unity of language, i.e., the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be instructed and converse.

Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realization.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

- - - -


O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God!
Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord.

Bahá'u'lláh

- - - -


The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.

Bahá'u'lláh

started out so well...

... and then went straight to hell :(
our football game today is something that I just want to forget... I had two good chances in the beginning, a backheel that went just outside, and then a half one-on-one with the goalkeeper that I didn't manage to finish off. and then it all just broke loose... in the end we lost 6-2, and I had 3 more quite good chances in the second half to score (a header just outside, and a ball off the post). but all in all, we played really, really badly. I'm not happy.

but. I'm going to start playing football. I'll look into it at least.

are you read to rum... ripple?!

not really sure how I stumbled upon this, but it seems to be a really good idea. ripple.org is simply a site to help you help others, by the age-old devise that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. with a simple click you can provide water, food, education and money to the needy, through the help of sponsors: "If ripple had as many users as MySpace, we could raise up to $2 billion a year."


check out their site, read more, and click regularly. it doesn't take much time and effort from your part, but to others it can be a life saver. I also added a little button to the right so you can easily click from here.

I *so* want to read this article...

the nation has a very interesting article on climate change.

headline: Is Global Warming a Sin?

here's the introduction:
"In a couple of hundred years historians will be comparing the frenzies over our supposed human contribution to global warming to the tumults at the latter end of the tenth century as the Christian millennium approached. Then as now, the doomsters identified human sinfulness as the propulsive factor in the planet's rapid downward slide. Then as now, a buoyant market throve on fear. The Roman Catholic Church sold indulgences like checks. The sinners established a line of credit against bad behavior and could go on sinning. Today a world market in "carbon credits" is in formation. Those whose "carbon footprint" is small can sell their surplus carbon credits to others less virtuous than themselves.

The modern trade is as fantastical as the medieval one. There is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of carbon dioxide is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend. The greenhouse fearmongers rely on unverified, crudely oversimplified models to finger mankind's sinful contribution--and carbon trafficking, just like the old indulgences, is powered by guilt, credulity, cynicism and greed."

I really like the second paragraph. unfortunately, the article is for subscribers only :(

this guy can stop playing football

he's only 19 years old, but has probably already scored the goal of his life. 4-0 for göteborg against örebro, yesterday. bear with the swedish, the goal is lovely:

his name is andres vasquez.

the monthly monthly, part 4

time for it again!

spring cleaning
the day of my 4th month here coincided with spring cleaning for our building. decided that I'd help out by sweeping the parking and stuff just outside (had a list to choose from), and despite my finger being swollen I managed. went a bit slowly at times and with a few rests, but turned out well in the end. was nice to see a few of the neighbors, and despite setting four hours of planning for it, it only took us two hours to basically get it all done. so that was good.

dishes
a friend of mine said that every guy needs a dishwasher. I added "or a wife". unfortunately, that's true... I thought I'd manage, but it's all the time playing catch-up. have to be able to set aside some time to finish it all up and then start from the beginning. can't have it the way it is now :)

shopping habits
I think it must be kinda strange to see me go grocery shopping. since I don't really do any big shopping sprees, the stuff would get too old if I did, I only buy what I need for then and 2-3 days forward. this means that my shopping lists are quite strange, to say the least. orange juice, bread, and toilet paper. or chocolate, cheese and pasta, etc etc. you get the point :)

routines
it's kind of interesting to see how my evenings and weekends are passing by. it's become pretty much the same now, since there is always football practice on monday and wednesday evening, and usually at least one game per weekend. in addition to that, I try to do my own sports (basketball, football, squash, etc), and some mornings I go to the gym for a bit of workout (stairmaster!). the remaining evenings are usually for watching sports on tv or meeting up with some friends. although I sometimes wish I did have a few more evenings free, I don't mind this. got invited back over to my parents tomorrow as well for dinner, and I can't really say no to that, can I? ;)
although I do wish I could arrange more time for reading. I'm reading on trains and subways and whatnot now, but I feel it's not really enough. want to do more. we'll see how it turns out.

so I just ordered a new camera...

after a lot of ifs and buts, I finally decided to get my camera. was planning on getting it sooner or later, was hoping for the price to go down a bit, but then a friend of mine said something that's actually a really good thing to live by: if you're going to do something sooner or later, you might as well do it right away. it's so simple, but still so true! good thing to remember and try to live by :)

which camera did I go for? canon's ixus 850:


I like it, even though I haven't tried it. I wanted something good and small, and my choice fell on the ixus series. it looks good, it's light-weight, and it takes good pictures. it seems fast, has good zoom, and seems easy to use. obviously the specifications are good. after reading quite many reviews and comparisons, I'm actually quite satisfied with my choice, and I'll probably be recommending it to anyone who asks me.

I also bought a memory card, 2 gb should be enough:


the nice thing about this one is that it can be folded and then used as a usb stick. this means no extra cable to connect the camera to a computer, it can be easily done with just the memory card. costs a little bit more, but still, it's sexy!

gonna be a few days until I get it, but should hopefully have it already by the end of this week. gives me some good time to get used to it and have fun with it.

funny incident

watching football and chatting with a friend on msn. conversation goes like this:

friend says:
yes
freekick alves

I say:
chevanton...

friend says:
yes, but alves takes it
or should take it

I say:
in that case he's shaved

friend says:
chevanton takes it
but alves should take

I say:
mmm

friend says:
because cheva will miss

I say:
sure
alves missed open goal

friend says:
OH

I say:
hahahaha

friend says:
omg
wtf
hahhahaha

I say:
pwnd

friend says:
re contra golazo


chevanton scored a really nice free kick goal... funny :)

really cool sound clip

virtual barber shop. really cool clip. only queen used to play with stereo as much as these do. download it here. but! listen to it with headphones!

my hand looks like...

... a war zone:


so... ring finger: sprained, after basketball yesterday. taped it together with my long finger now, so it's a bit slow to type...
palm: from football a week and a half ago, was tripped. the green stuff is from today's football.
scratch next to thumb: basketball yesterday. dunno how...

lovely barbeque today... loads of people, good football, and excellent food. here's a pic:

I'm not sure what to think of this...

what do you say?

played some basketball today, and it went really, really well. did some nice passes and goals, and also had some really good blocks. unfortunately I sprained my finger around the end of the games, so now it hurts a bit :(

staying at home in the evening, pretty much just gonna relax. was hoping to be able to do something, but my finger is a really good excuse to just lie in the sofa :)

climate change

been reading a lot about climate change, and trying to make up my opinion on what I think. unfortunately, it seems to be quite difficult. one side is making an argument, the other side counters it with some proofs, and then those proofs get shot down by something else. the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that it is in fact getting warmer. why, how, how much and what will happen when is still up for debate. I know one thing for sure, any scientist or journalist that write about catastrophic events happening tomorrow is most probably lying and only looking for headlines. because really, how interesting is it to hear someone say "oh, it's just going to continue slowly like this for a while, and then we'll see what happens"?

I just ate half a liter of ice cream...

oops :)
but it was tasty...

scandal! it's a scandal!

ask any kid on the street what it is that makes the weather warmer, and he will answer "the sun". ask an adult and they will probably say something along the lines of "global warming, caused by the greenhouse gases produced by humans". what is the truth?

I just saw a documentary that really made me rethink things, especially after seeing al gore's an inconvenient truth the day before yesterday (here). the great global warming swindle is a british documentary which produces the other side of the global warming story. with interviews of quite many scientists from renowned universities and graphs, they present their case. and it is interesting, to say the least.

the first issue that they deal with is the question if global warming is happening. next, what is the reason for it? third, why are we being told what we are?

in the 1970s, there were claims that we were on our way to a global cooling period and an imminent ice age. now we are being told the opposite. what is happening?
the answer they provide is that these are cyclical occurances in the normal climatic processes of the earth. there have been periods of much warmer climate (the medieval warm period, between 800-1300), which were generally considered times of great prosperity in europe. what is happening is normal and natural, and quite expected to happen.

needless to say, there is a lot of controversy in this issue as to what the truth is in regards to global warming. this documentary essentially disregards all human influence on climate, claiming that it's mostly solar activity and its influences on cloud forming that is responsible for the changes in temperature. carbon dioxide and temperature is only loosely related, and only in the opposite way than what has been stated - higher temperature causes more carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere, and sometimes with an extreme delay of a couple of hundred years.

and why? enter a few conspiracy theories... to start with, there is a lot of money in this industry, for the scientists, journalists and activists that have careers and professions that depend upon this. if scientists are writing a paper and relate it to global warming, there is a much greater chance for them of receiving funding for their research.
there are claims that much of the whole environmentalist agenda is essentially political and against capitalism, globalization, the US, etc etc. there are also theories that margaret thatcher used global warming to promote nuclear power.
and finally, what I found most disturbing, that the global warming campaign is used as a tool to restrict the developing countries from being able to develop. since non-fossil fuels (solar/wind power, etc) are so expensive and inefficient, a "luxurious experimentation", these countries have no chance of reaching up to the standards of the modern, developed countries. this is described as "the most morally repugnant aspect of the Global Warming campaign."


there is naturally loads of controversy in regards to this documentary. how much of it is true and truly scientific, and what is fabricated? read this for a good start, but I think everyone should see the movie and form their opinion...

(and the topic is of course from queen's song scandal.)

beyoncé concert

beyoncé is having a concert tonight at globen. if you're reading this and planning on going, drop me a call and we can meet up before/after. (no, I'm not going myself...)

this is not fun

we were 20 ppl at football practice today (even more last week), and that's just too much. it's virtually impossible to come up with any good exercises, and any transition takes a lot of time. some talking before each exercise gets started, and then some time-wasting afterwards. can only manage 2-3 per training session, and they're not particularly fun either... if this goes on, we'll probably lose a few players, and I really don't want that to happen. have to consult with the others and see if we can think of a solution.

summary of yesterday

so I didn't watch the movie yesterday that I said I would, but that's not too bad. I'll leave that to tomorrow. I got to pretty much wrap up one of my long-term projects, and got quite a bit further on another. had a couple of friends come over, so got to socialize a bit as well.
today I'm feeling happy, although I'm not sure why :)

the seven wonders of illinois

the Baha'i House of Worship just outside of chicago was voted one of the seven wonders of illinois. quite a nice presentation accompanying it, and a nice description too:

This 20-story temple, completed in 1953 and designed by French Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois, features a nine-sided dome and is surrounded by nine pillars featuring intricate carvings of symbols from the world's major religions in chronological order. Its interior features walls of exquisite lace-like ornamentation surrounding a sanctuary where guests all of faiths can pray and meditate. Visitors can also spend hours strolling the verdant grounds, which boast juniper trees, nine fountains, and two dozen varieties of flowers. The Baha'i House of Worship is open to all every day of the year.

check it out here, and go here for the official site.

1st of may

got the day off today, so time to rest and relax a bit. usually days like these turn into days of laziness and not getting much done, but today I'll be trying to work on a few projects that I've started but not gotten too far with yet. and then of course to see the movie. writing it here should make it easier to motivate myself, I hope :)