Thursday, May 10, 2007

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...

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

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.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

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.

Monday, May 07, 2007

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.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

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!