Downfall.

MTV European Music Awards 07 from Munich: An interesting study of the latest cultural train wrecks. Take Amy Winehouse, for instance. Winner of this year’s Artist’s Choice Award, she was only able to utter a simple “thank you” when receiving the award on stage and both sounded and looked high as a kite while she slurred through her live performance afterwards.

They’re tryin to make me go to rehab
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back
You wont know, know, know.

I aint got the time,
And if my Daddy thinks im fine,
He’s tried to make me go to rehab,
I wont go, go, go.

Perhaps there are some very subtile intellectual message hidden somewhere in her lyrics, but I doubt it.

So why am I watching MTV EMA 07? It’s all about work. We should get VIP tickets to next year’s after party for this.

Swedish.

My all time favorite Swedish band Kent released a new album yesterday. As with all their releases since “Isola”, I bought it blindly without listening to it. I usually tend to listen to music before I buy to avoid any surprises.

I’ve now listened through their new album, “Tillbaka Till Samtiden”, 10-12 times and I’m thinking I should’ve listened to it while in the record store before I put my hard earned dough on the counter, because it’s an album with a few unpleasant surprises. Kent has been moving slowly downhill since “Vapen & Ammunition” and this album is another leg on their journey to the Valley of Bands That Just Lost It. I guess Live will be happy to get some company down there.

All right, it’s probably a bit unfair to say that they have been moving continuously downhill since “Vapen & Ammunition” because their previous album, “Du & Jag Döden”, was pretty good and that leaves just “Vapen & Ammunition” as a downhill album, so I guess what I’m trying to say here is that “Vapen & Ammunition” was a not that good by Kent standards and the same is the case for “Tillbaka Till Samtiden”.

This is why I’ll never get paid to write anything about music.

No Music For You!

If you have the faintest interest in music, the music industry or maybe even economy you probably know that the crazy Brits in Radiohead released their seventh album, “In Rainbows” yesterday.

Even though the fans have been waiting for over four years since “Hail to the Thief”, what’s really special about this album is that the download version is available at whatever price you as a punter feel it’s worth. Personally I think that you should be able to decide what the album is worth after you have listened to it, though.

Anyway, it’s a great idea, and lately we’re seeing more and more artists leaving their respective record companies to start distributing their music independently. But all the artists you hear about that do this are big names in the industry - they’ve got all the money they’ll ever need anyway. How will new bands and solo artists do without the record companies and their huge marketing budgets? Continue reading "No Music For You!"

One Step Forward.

I’m impressed.

Only one week left now and I’ve been running every other day for a month. The most interesting thing is that I’m actually seeing some progress. I run the route faster; I’ve cut the time down by around 40 seconds - not much, but I’m only running a mere 2.5 kilometers each time. My average and max heart rate is also decreasing, and for some reason I’ve gained about a kilogram.

In a world where you see talk about the dangers of obesity every day and where the average American is getting so fat there is a real chance the world will tip over any minute, you’ll probably think that gaining weight is not what I wanted in the first place. But I’m a bit underweight, of all things, and gaining weight - in the right places - is a good thing for me. No, I’m not hoping I get bigger breasts. Continue reading "One Step Forward."

Friday Again.

Here are some random fragments from my weekend:

Yes, it’s Friday again. Yesterday I traveled with Kjetil to Stockholm to see The Police. The concert was great, so was our hotel, which was located just 50 meters from the entrance to the venue.

I’ve also been running as planned, my average heart rate is still decreasing together with the time I use on the route. I plan to run the same route for another week and then extend it with a kilometer or so.

On Tuesday I got my new internet connection hooked up. At least there was a guy in the apartment who checked that the connection with the network central worked and I got the modem by mail. I’ve not had the time to check the actual connection yet, but I assume that it’s working. By now life should have taught me that I shouldn’t assume a damn thing, but I’m a slow learner.

The new internet connection presents me with a network problem. The old connection came through the cable TV outlet in the living room. Very convenient because it’s close to my Xbox and VBOX. The new connection, however, comes through the phone outlet in the hallway. So now I need a way to get a wireless connection from the hallway to the living room. Initially I thought a wireless access point in the living room would do the trick, but it seems like most of them come without Ethernet ports or just one if you’re lucky, and I need at least two. Maybe it will solve itself if I introduce a switch.

The home network is this weekends challenge. Along with getting a decent haircut.