Archive for oktober, 2009
Visions of Mumbai
This a short film with images from Mumbai made by Mark Lapwood. It is called Eclipse and was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. Take time to watch it, it is stunning!
Trimurti
This is one of the pictures I show, when lecturing about Indias religions to Swedish college students. These are the three major Hindu gods. The beautiful Brahma to the left is the Creator. Vishnu in the middle is upholder of the universe while Shiva to the right, is the destroyer of the Universe. They are standing in lotus flowers, the Lotus is the national flower of India, and considered a holy symbol. The amount of details in Hindu god pictures are vast, I normally use the pictures as entry point for questions.
The fact that there are 3 main gods, 3 is a holy number in many worldviews. The Christian trinity, and the Hindu Trimurti. Which one was first, I do not know, I am just stating the similarities in worshiping 3 icons.
Ski tunnel
Posted by Johanna in Popular culture on oktober 21st, 2009
This can be reality in my Hometown Stockholm, Sweden according to Swedish news media Dagens Nyheter . A ski tunnel under the heart of Stockholm. Beautiful or what?
With or without my cell phone
Posted by Johanna in Global, Popular culture on oktober 20th, 2009
I have for the last couple of days managed my daily life routine without a functioning cell phone. For me, personall y,I went through the first phase of panic the first day I realised I was completely disconnected. During the second day I felt totally calmness. I checked my voicemail regularly and I was at a state of peace in mind with nothing to distract med from the here and now.
Having tried this I think that the cell phone is an element of stress for some of us. We need to constantly be available to answer both the ringing and the text messages. We are, as cell phone owners by many means required to answer. I provoked my surroundings for 4 whole days and some people got really frustrated. Why dont you get a new phone? I just couldn’t be bothered. So I took a hippy-time-out – without my cell-phone.
But now I’m back. texting and phone-ing as usual. But I strongly recommend everyone to take a break. Too much time is spent over addictions to technology – sometimes you need to reflect and take a step back. I can honestlty do not remember the last time I was without a cell phone for a couple of days.
Restaurant Culture: America
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on oktober 11th, 2009
It recently came to my awareness that in the Us there is a special type of restaurant called “BYOB:s”. BYOB means Bring Your Own Bottle. And you actually bring your own bottle of alcohol and you can drink it at the restaurant. These restaurant may not have a permit to sell alcohol, so they encourage the costumers to bring their own alcohol, you need to pay a special corkage fee, symbolically they will open your bottle and you pay for this service. Interesting restaurant concept, a piece of restaurant culture to you.
The myth of the Swedish amazons a 2009
Posted by Johanna in Popular culture on oktober 8th, 2009
Chinese news media are featuring a story about a famous but non-existing town in north of Sweden Shakebao, which is a name not sounding remotely swedish to me. Shakebao is the only town i the world ruled and populated by only women, a town where only women can enter and men who attempt to trespass are taken down by female policemen. According to the myth, the town was founded by a widow in 1820ies and the rules that apply are that the women who have left town to engage in sexual activity to able to pro-create the village, need a cleansing bath before returning.
I am happy to see an old fashioned amazon-society myth about my own country! Fun reading Xinua china!
