#links course Sweden

[fotovendo]

New Post has been published on https://publicgolfcourses.org/public-golf-courses/lundsbrunn-golfklubb-public-golf-courses-in-vastergotland-sweden

Lundsbrunn Golfklubb - Public Golf Courses in Västergötland, Sweden

Discover the best public golf course in Västergötland, Sweden at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb. the club offers brillant facilities, among others. Play public golf courses in Sweden at a very privileged location at reasonable prices.. Locate and play your preferred golf course with confidence at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb.

Contents

1 Where’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb located?

2 Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Information

3 What’s are the Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Facilities?

4 How many holes does Lundsbrunn Golfklubb public golf course have?

5 What’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb address?

5.1 Contact Lundsbrunn Golfklubb

6 How much does it cost this golf course at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb?

7 Book a public golf course today!

8 Best golf courses in Europe

8.1 Public golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden

8.2 Some ways to have more fun playing golf at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb!

Where’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb located?

Check this location to find where you can practice golf in Sweden. Lundsbrunn Golfklubb offers a wide range of accessories, apparel, and footwear for men, women, and kids… You can also find golf course information, including real-time availability, at the club.

Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Information

Who doesn’t like a good game of golf? Here at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb, you will enjoy playing golf in a exquisite ambient, which is what everyone wants in a golf course in Sweden.

What’s are the Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Facilities?

For more information, please contact the Club https://www.lundsbrunngk.com.

How many holes does Lundsbrunn Golfklubb public golf course have?

Course Name: 18-hålsbanan

Courses: 1

Holes: 18

What’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb address?

Address: Häljemon, 533 72 Lundsbrunn

Airport: Trollhättan-Vänersborg Airport

66.6km

Contact Lundsbrunn Golfklubb

How can I contact this club? See phone & mail details below:

[sociallocker id=”5402″]

By phone: +46 51157560

By mail: kansliet@lundsbrunngk.com

[/sociallocker]

How much does it cost this golf course at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb?

Green fee rates & variable rates subject to course occupation.

Book a public golf course today!

To make a booking at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb, simply fill in the form below.

Best golf courses in Europe

Find the best golf courses near you at a fair price! These are the best public golf courses in your area. There are many golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden where you can book tee times and find directions to the course. List your course in Sweden for free:

Public golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden

There are roughly 50,000 golf courses in the world, with around 5,000 of them considered public golf courses. If you’re planning a trip to another country and want to find a golf course to play at, it is safer to choose one of the public courses.

Some ways to have more fun playing golf at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb!

[iosandroidwindowsapps]

New Post has been published on https://publicgolfcourses.org/public-golf-courses/lundsbrunn-golfklubb-public-golf-courses-in-vastergotland-sweden

Lundsbrunn Golfklubb - Public Golf Courses in Västergötland, Sweden

Discover the best public golf course in Västergötland, Sweden at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb. the club offers brillant facilities, among others. Play public golf courses in Sweden at a very privileged location at reasonable prices.. Locate and play your preferred golf course with confidence at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb.

Contents

1 Where’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb located?

2 Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Information

3 What’s are the Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Facilities?

4 How many holes does Lundsbrunn Golfklubb public golf course have?

5 What’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb address?

5.1 Contact Lundsbrunn Golfklubb

6 How much does it cost this golf course at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb?

7 Book a public golf course today!

8 Best golf courses in Europe

8.1 Public golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden

8.2 Some ways to have more fun playing golf at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb!

Where’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb located?

Check this location to find where you can practice golf in Sweden. Lundsbrunn Golfklubb offers a wide range of accessories, apparel, and footwear for men, women, and kids… You can also find golf course information, including real-time availability, at the club.

Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Information

Who doesn’t like a good game of golf? Here at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb, you will enjoy playing golf in a exquisite ambient, which is what everyone wants in a golf course in Sweden.

What’s are the Lundsbrunn Golfklubb Facilities?

For more information, please contact the Club https://www.lundsbrunngk.com.

How many holes does Lundsbrunn Golfklubb public golf course have?

Course Name: 18-hålsbanan

Courses: 1

Holes: 18

What’s Lundsbrunn Golfklubb address?

Address: Häljemon, 533 72 Lundsbrunn

Airport: Trollhättan-Vänersborg Airport

66.6km

Contact Lundsbrunn Golfklubb

How can I contact this club? See phone & mail details below:

[sociallocker id=”5402″]

By phone: +46 51157560

By mail: kansliet@lundsbrunngk.com

[/sociallocker]

How much does it cost this golf course at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb?

Green fee rates & variable rates subject to course occupation.

Book a public golf course today!

To make a booking at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb, simply fill in the form below.

Best golf courses in Europe

Find the best golf courses near you at a fair price! These are the best public golf courses in your area. There are many golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden where you can book tee times and find directions to the course. List your course in Sweden for free:

Public golf courses in Västergötland, Sweden

There are roughly 50,000 golf courses in the world, with around 5,000 of them considered public golf courses. If you’re planning a trip to another country and want to find a golf course to play at, it is safer to choose one of the public courses.

Some ways to have more fun playing golf at Lundsbrunn Golfklubb!

[une-sanz-pluis]

From a very early time in Syon's history, perhaps from the very start of its history, the duchess of Clarence was a supporter and benefactor of this royal foundation. Most assuredly, the Bible that the duchess purchased for the brothers was only one of many gifts to the abbey as an expression of gratitude for all the spiritual benefits, as described in the papal register entries, which she received from the Bridgettines. Perhaps the most important aspect of her relation with Syon was a long and close association with Symon Wynter; if not her confessor, he was at least a spiritual counselor to the duchess and sufficiently attentive to her spiritual welfare to encourage devotion to Jerome. In return, she was asked to encourage others of her acquaintance, both laity and religious, to join in the devotion to Jerome by permitting them to read and make copies of the life written by Symon. In the course of doing so, the duchess would have been helping to establish a reputation for the abbey and its works among those whose good offices might be of value to a foundation that in the 1420s was not fully assured of its continuance. If the repeated copying of this life of Jerome and its eventual printing by Wynkynde Worde are an indication, the good that accrued from the duchess's support for Syon endured well beyond her lifetime. The duchess's benefactions, of which her literary patronage is an important aspect, should probably be seen as part of an ongoing Lancastrian, perhaps specifically Beaufort, tradition of support for Syon and, by implication, for Syon's contributions to vernacular devotional literature. A half-century after the death of the duchess of Clarence, Lady Margaret Beaufort was continuing that tradition and, consciously or not, also continuing her grandmother's efforts as literary patron and publisher. In doing so, she seems to have seen the new printing industry as an ideal means for encouraging the good works of Syon and extending their benefits beyond what a reliance on its own scribes would have permitted.

George R. Keiser, "Patronage and Piety in Fifteenth-Century England: Margaret, Duchess of Clarence, Symon Wynter and Beinecke MS 317", The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. 60, No. 1/2 (1985)

[shamiamja]

Help Jamal Shamia family

Jamal Shamia, Iam a criminal lawyer, lam suffering of many diseases hypertension and diabetic mellitus and Muscle spasms and always got shocked and coma .

Unfortunately, I was injured in the war and suffered a very serious injury, which was a blood clot in the hip joint area, which caused him many infections and the infection spread in the area. is currently in Gaza, and my home was destroyed at the beginning of the war. We have lost security and peace. We have witnessed how a single rocket can destroy your entire life, both your past and your future. Our dreams have been shattered. Now the future is unknown and dark. There is no home, no basic life essentials, no job. We are now seeking to leave this country for a life abroad and to obtain security. We estimate our loss to be at least $50,000 to rebuild a home and start our lives anew.

My wife, Mufida, is 62 years old. She traveled before the war to have surgery on her eye alone, and now she is stuck on the Egyptian side. She has no breadwinner and needs many medications and medical supplies.

After that, she suffered a broken hand due to the lack of necessary care for her. I want to collect money to go to her and support her.

Rasha Jamal Shamia and her husband, Khalil Abu Samaan, have two children, Mira and Omar. They have been forced to flee their home in Gaza City and are now living in a tent in Rafah, far from everything they once knew. Their home, their children’s education, and their future—everything is gone. Their days are filled with fear, and their nights bring no rest. The constant sound of bombs haunts them, and they have no way to provide their children with the life they deserve

Ahmad Jamal Shamia resides in Gaza and is a third-year student in dental school. He lost his education due to the devastating war in Gaza. He was studying at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, and his home was destroyed in the war. He is currently suffering from moving from one temporary shelter to another. Ahmad was a diligent, ambitious, and creative student who ranked first in his class. He didn't limit himself to what he learned in university. He attended courses and workshops online with Egyptian doctors to learn more and excel in his field. He always sought excellence and worked hard for it, and he loved helping all students.He now needs money to continue his education, which will cost him a lot of money since he will complete his studies in Egypt.

Vetted by:

Gazavetters no.#82

@90-ghost here

My link

PayPal account:

@sylvianritual @ana-bananya

@aristotels @bixlasagna @bonesashesglass @blackprinter @buttercuparry @briarhips @cagandante-communistoide @crimsaph @crispyartdev @determinate-negation @distillatoria @dontbelasagnax @dlxxv-vetted-donations @deepspaceboytoy @distillatoria @evilreceptionist @ehksidian @e @fr0ge @freeshfries98 @feluka @fromjanna @f3l1c1af0x @greenwingspino @group-oc-tournament @gottfried @garden-of-vegan @hojanaranja @ip2lb @jacksonharries @khanger @kibumkim @lishadra @lightning-in-your-teeth @mangocheesecake @mobileleprechaun @oursapphirestars @omegaversereloaded @phantomofthetacobell-blog @primmsfairytale @paper-mario-wiki @pcktknife @sayruq @soullesscoyote @sanleigh @spacefunclubs @tilltshift

[four-ravens-in-a-trenchcoat]

Fuck this shit

Now Sweden gives thumbs-up to chat control 2.0, an awful proposition which would require digital communication providers to allow government access to encrypted private messages ("but only photo, video and links now :):):) not literally every digital communication you do :):):)"). This is a massive invasion to personal integrity, a fucking data security risk and an "'accidentally' surveilled the groups I like to opress or my political opponents a bit, oops" risk, especially in the more authoritarian countries. All to find, you know it, child porn and grooming (this will of course not catch teens sending consensual nudes, vacation pictures of babies on beaches sent to family members or normal porn and waste massive resources on scanning and processing "suspect" content).

Did I mention this sucks yet? They didn't even ask the government people supposed to decide our stance on EU politics, just the justice committee. During a single meeting, no debate. Sweden's desicion means a larger probablility that this passes in EU.

And you know what? Two parties which my views generally align with, who before the election NOT EVEN TWO WEEKS AGO, one of which I voted for partly because of their stance on this (no to mass surveillance, personal integrity is important) BOTH DID A 180 AND VOTED FOR CHAT CONTROL. One thing if parties I don't like and don't vote for do this, but I trusted these fuckers to have at least a little backbone/common sense. Also why did the nationalistic and generally shitty party SD vote no to this. Why do only they and C think this is a bad idea.

In other news, I've written to my first representative today to express my disappointment. I hope this doesn't pass silently.

[yet-another-greek-myth-gay]

Once again sitting here thinking about how, for all the remorse August felt about the video, for how shitty of a person he felt like he was for posting it, for all his efforts (however subpar they were) to try and apologize to Wille about it...Simon never got a fucking apology.

Which makes sense, and shows how, at August's core, he's still an elitist, superior prick, even if he's more cognizant of his flaws and more uncomfortable with them than he's ever been. He could not be bothered to apologize Simon, doesn't even have the thought cross his mind—why? Because Simon's a nobody. Simon has no power. Like, let's be clear, August has fucked up his life irreparably. There is literally no future where the video will not haunt Simon. (I read a great fanfiction I have to find the link for, where Simon says that he was fucked the minute August hit "post," no matter what Wille said or did, and like...yeah.) That shit was all over the news in Sweden. We see, already, people recognizing him out in public. Beyond even just the emotional turmoil that comes with that video existing, we see, through the posting of his address and the rock through the window, that its existence physically endangers Simon. Even if Simon were to leave the country, move somewhere new and try to start over, it would take one google search of his name to uncover that blight on his life.

That's not to say that Simon couldn't process its existence emotionally, or that he won't be able to lead a happy, fulfilling life with the video existing, because he absolutely can and will! It just incenses me that not once in August's journey of feeling this guilt and shame over the video, and reaching some sort of understanding and peace with Wille, does he once consider giving Simon any sort of apology. (The settlement doesn't count, of course.) It makes sense for his character, and Simon probably wouldn't have accepted the apology, and by no means should be expected to, but the fact that he didn't get one still makes me so angry.

[scotianostra]

May 17th is Norwegian Constitution Day or Syttende Mai as its known in Norway.

A wonderful spring holiday celebrated with red, white and blue ribbons, national costumes and waving of the Norwegian flag, the three colours are everywhere in Norway at this time of year.

It’s a day Norwegians all over the world take off to celebrate and marks the historic signing of the Constitution in 1814, the year Norway gained its independence from Sweden, which was fully realized in 1905.

In every city, town and village in Norway, children and adults alike express their cultural pride by marching to the bright music of school bands, celebrating the joy of springtime and honoring of those citizens who created Norway’s constitutional government, founding her independence.

Especially popular is the Children’s Procession that brings every child out in their best clothes or national costume.

In Edinburgh the Norwegian community celebrate Syttende Mai too.

Edinburgh’s celebrations include the Norwegian Scottish Society dinner, after a reception at the Norwegian Consulate’s residence.

Each year Norwegian students in Edinburgh hold a breakfast at Prestonfield House followed by a parade along Waterloo Place and onto Princes Street. At the boom of Edinburgh Castle’s One o’ clock gun, the pigeons fly and the parade begins!

Tonight expats and guests gather at The Royal Scots Club Abercromby Place for a celebration dinner held by the Norwegian Scottish Association. The association was founded in Edinburgh in 1966, and has enjoyed over 50 years of Norwegian-Scottish friendship.

Norwegian Scottish Association roots lie in a much older friendly society, one rooted in the shared experience of Norwegians and Scots during the Second World War. Founded in Dumfries in 1941, the Scottish Norwegian Society brought Scots and Norwegians together in difficult times. Having escaped the German occupation of their homeland in 1940, around a thousand Norwegians had come to be stationed at various times in Dumfries, and it was not long before the idea of a formal society was begun.

Of course our history with Norway goes back centuries, Northern Scotland, was, at one time, a Norse domain and the Northern Isles experienced the most long-lasting Norse influence. Almost half of the people on Shetland today have Viking ancestry, and around 30% of Orkney residents.

Many agree that there are many points of commonality between the Norse character and the Scottish one that leads to a sense of kinship between the two countries, even for those living much further south in Scotland, where Viking influence did not reach. Words like bairn and muckle made their way into Scot’s language via the Norwegians.

I touched upon the links during the second world war earlier and have posted before about the Shetland bus which provided a transport link between the Shetland Islands and occupied Norway. Many Norwegian refugees fled their occupied home with the help of Norwegian sailors who undertook daring, high-risk trips across the North Sea. The whole episode became emblematic of the friendship across the seas.

More recently Edinburgh’s Zoo also has a strong connection to Norway as it is home to a very special resident. Sir Nils Olav III is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King’s Guard. The king penguin’s rank has been passed down through three generations since 1972. Knighted in 2008, he even received a military promotion in 2016 with the brigadier title bestowed upon him in a special ceremony at the zoo.

The Zoo’s link with Norway originated in 1913 when arctic explorer Roald Amundsen presented a penguin to them on their opening. Once a year the penguin inspects soldiers from Norway’s King’s Guard.

Edinburgh's Syttende mai parade – the 17th May or Norwegian Constitution Day parade traditionally takes place along the capital's main thoroughfare, Princes Street. At the boom of Edinburgh Castle's 'one o' clock gun', the pigeons fly and the parade begins!

Pics are from last ears parade.

[deep-hearts-core]

The Competitive Barbershop Music Explainer, and Why More of Tumblr Should Be Obsessed With It.

I've been threatening this for now almost a year, so here it is. You probably have an idea in your head of what a barbershop quartet is: maybe you’ve seen The Music Man, or possibly the Louie Zong Hatsune Miku song. But barbershop exists as a hobby these days, too, and there are parts of it that are deeply cool and nerdy. Some of you--gasp--might actually enjoy it. 

What the hell is barbershop music?

Barbershop music got its name from the Black barbershop social space out of which it evolved. In the early 20th century, groups of guys would get together and harmonize as a way to pass the time. The style later got appropriated into white culture (I’m going to come back to this, keep reading) and evolved into what most people think of when they hear the phrase “barbershop quartet”. 

Barbershop got a lot less popular after the 1960s or so, but it’s not gone! Today, it’s overseen primarily by the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly the Society and Preservation for Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, but… that’s long…), which organizes contests and codifies the “rules” of what barbershop is and how it’s different from other a cappella. Those rules are mostly music theory stuff, which I won’t go into here for fear of boring people, but if anyone is curious my askbox is open :D 

It’s not just quartets, either. There are also choruses that sing in the same four-part style, following the same music rules as the quartets, and they compete too. This is how I got involved.

Why is Tumblr supposed to enjoy this?

Reason #1: The competition. I’ve been on Tumblr for several years, and do you know what we love? Ranking things, picking favorites, and watching talented people do their thing. It’s actually kind of similar to Eurovision--there’s a jury and a points system, and people get mad about it every year; there’s a qualifying round and a nerve-wracking calloff; it’s even international! BHS operates in the US and Canada, and most competing groups are from here, but there are sizable scenes in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and Aotearoa, as well as smaller organizations across Western Europe and beyond. The Japanese organization held its first ever competition this year! Regional contests happen all over once or twice a year, culminating in the international competition the first week of July, where quartets and choruses battle it out to be the best of the best. People have favorite groups and try to guess where people are going to place each year. If you’re me, you can even do the Eurovision fan thing and overanalyze the running order. 

Reason #2: The talent. Listen, many of these people are incredibly talented singers. Take The Clementones from Denmark, for example, who delivered amazing Addams Family character work this year. Or Smoke Ring, the New York City-based quartet trying to singlehandedly make barbershop sexy again. I could give you so many examples of singers who can hold long notes forever and ever, but I’ll show restraint and only link two: Vocal Spectrum and Midtown. And of course I have to link this fucking amazing Hunchback of Notre Dame medley. Many singers also arrange songs specifically for their own groups. If you’re a music nerd in any way, this is for you.

Also, if you enjoy niche subcultures or #hobbydrama, there’s so much to rotate in your brain. This is part of what hooked me initially. 

But it's racist/culturally appropriated!

Well, you’re not wrong… but so are a lot of things. Bear with me for a second. I'm not going to come out and blindly defend the history and say oh there's nothing wrong with the organization we can't blame them. The organization was segregated for a long time. Women were only allowed to join as full members in 2018. The Black origins of barbershop singing were actively obscured by SPEBSQSA for decades and have only recently become well-known to most members. Hell, when the BHS went co-ed a splinter organization formed to try and keep the hobby all-male. There is bad history.

BUT. People are trying. There's a sizable contingent of young queer people who do well and become well-connected within BHS--including Smoke Ring, who I linked above. They’re causing a nonzero amount of controversy and are visibly queer and something new and unapologetic about that. More and more nonwhite people are joining and finding success competitively. Academics on the subject actively spread the history that barbershop is a Black genre, and this is increasingly common knowledge especially among young barbershoppers. The most successful barbershoppers in Aotearoa (BHNZ) are predominantly Māori and Pasifika. The BHS board, while they do not have any real understanding about how to execute this at all, does at least want to reckon with the history and is, in theory, trying. For all its many, many faults, there are good people here who are making change.

Ok fine, you've got me. Now what?

Go click on all the links in this post and then let the YouTube algorithm do its work. Also, send me asks! I can go on about this shit forever and ever.

Here are some more suggestions for you:

the chorus performance that first got me interested

Panic! at the Disco but it’s barbershop

these guys also do Spiderman! 

girls who will step on you and you will like it

the air raid warden song from that one tumblr post

air raid warden guys sing about ducks

totally not never gonna give you up. what? what are you talking about?

the first ssaa group to medal in bhs have since changed their lineup but this performance reigns eternal

And if you like to sing, see if there's a chorus (click here for SSAA only) or chapter nearby. I won't get preachy and say you'll have a great experience no matter what. Sometimes people suck; I have the luck to live in a major city on the East Coast and I can say with reasonable confidence that not everyone is going to be as chill as my people are. However, this is such a small space that everyone will be excited about a new person coming in and will likely give you a little leeway. 

I've only been doing this for a year and a half, but I can easily say that I love it and it's changed me. So, even if you scrolled to the bottom of this post rolling your eyes because I should just shut up about this already, thanks for listening. <3

[mrchiipchrome]

Hi prompt 32 with Fridolina Rolfo please if you are still taking prompts

prompt 32. -It’s you and me, always forever.

If you want to request, there's a prompt list linked in my masterlist.

------------------

“KANELBULLENS DAG PEOPLE, NATIONAL HOLIDAY! You get a cinnamon bun, and you get a cinnamon bun, and the biggest one is for you my love.” You enter the Barcelona locker room hollering in Swedish, a large paper bag in your hand. 

Handing each woman in the room a cinnamon bun, they each quietly thank you, some pressing small (or in Pina and Patri’s case, really sloppy) kisses to your cheeks. The steam floating off the baked goods gives the women an indication of their freshness.

Placing the last and biggest one in your girlfriend's hand, you can’t help but watch as her entire face lights up. 

You had both been missing your native country a little extra lately, and celebrating the holidays that were so important to the swedes always reminded you of home. 

It was especially fun to see the confused expressions on your teammates' faces whenever you burst into the room with traditional clothes on or different types of homemade sweets in your hands.

“Not that I’m not appreciative of this, but why did you get us cinnamon buns?” Lucy asked you, face full of joy and simultaneous confusion. 

“Ohh, in Sweden there’s a holiday called kanelbullens dag where we just eat cinnamon buns. The day actually originates from this company who in celebrating their 40th anniversary made a day solely for cinnamon buns.” You tell the team in between bites of your own cinnamon bun.

“So, you just have a day for eating cinnamon buns?” Mapi asks, still confused about the whole thing.

“Yeah pretty much” You reply, the crunching of the sugar pearls filling the room. As you look around the room, you see everyone eating their cinnamon rolls happily and you can’t help but be filled with joy.

The joy that the cinnamon filled bread always brought to everyone back home extended out to the locker room and you couldn’t help but smile. Smile at the childish expressions filled with satisfaction and genuine happiness.

You get pulled back into reality by your girlfriend placing her legs across yours, the woman sending you a smile sweeter than the treat you’d just finished.

“Tack älskling, det var verkligen fint av dig att göra det här.” Frido tells you, the beautiful smile lighting up her face in that delightfully unique way. Leaning your face closer to hers, you bring your thumb up to the corner of her mouth, wiping away the little cinnamon that rested there.

You lick the sugary sweetness off your thumb before telling her,

“Du vet att jag älskar dig, visst gör du? Det klart jag kommer göra saker för att göra dig glad.” You tell her softly, only so that she can hear you. The others didn’t need to know, they’d only tease you for being whipped.

“Jag älskar dig med” She confesses, planting a loving kiss on your forehead before getting ready to walk out of the room. 

You catch her hand in yours before she can move too far away from you. Pouting your lips, the blonde quickly gets the hint and gives you a passionate kiss, on your lips this time.

After she pulls away, you keep her near to press a few more pecks to her lips.

“Baby, it’s you and me, always forever. I’m yours until the end of time, it’s my only mission to make you smile.” You whisper against her lips, the blonde’s cheeks darkening several shades.

You would run across the universe and back if it meant you could get your girlfriend to smile just that much more.

-------------

Translations:

Tack älskling, det var verkligen fint av dig att göra det här. - Thank you darling, it was truly sweet of you to do this.

Du vet att jag älskar dig, visst gör du? Det klart jag kommer göra saker för att göra dig glad. - You know that I love you, right? Of course I’m going to do things to make you happy.

Jag älskar dig med - I love you too

[b-skarsgard]

According to graphic designer Nikola Prijic, Bill Skarsgård himself submitted an excerpt from an H.P. Lovecraft poem titled “Despair” — a fitting match in all sorts of ways for 2024’s “The Crow” — as something his character Eric might have tattooed on his body. Prijic took the stanza from the poem that begins with “Evil wings in ether beating” and ends “in a cloud of madness,” laid it out in Procreate, and designed a custom stencil version that could be applied to Skarsgård’s back while shooting the Rupert Sanders film.

Rupert wanted his version of Eric to be a more modern version so he can resonate with the audience, with the kids today, so that’s why he looks like all these rappers that were really popular a few years ago,” Prijic told IndieWire. “He wanted to portray this guy who has been through a lot, who had this troublesome childhood, drug problems, alcohol abuse problems.”

“The Crow” wants to create that impression in a couple of different ways. Prijic cited Lil Wayne specifically as a visual reference for Eric’s more ornate tattoos, but he also wanted the number of tattoos to have a quality all their own. “He has a lot of shitty homemade, you know, ‘me and my friends are high and drunk’ tattoos,” Prijic said. “Some tattoos are really nicely done, but you have layers upon layers, this scratcher-style, homemade, I’m just doodling with a needle on my arms tattoos, and he’s probably letting his friends do the same.”

“The Crow” certainly doesn’t suffer from a lack of bleeding, and the graphic design team and makeup team worked together to make one particular tattoo application look as painful physically as the impulse is emotional. “I always have to stick [my design] on a model in Photoshop and it helps me a lot. You get the opinion of the makeup artists and the director and then of course the actor, because if he doesn’t like it, you have to change it,” Prijic said.

The process was very collaborative with Skarsgård, who, in addition to the H.P. Lovecraft quote, asked for a zip code for a neighborhood in Sweden as a tattoo. It has nothing to do with Eric (who likely goes to the Afterlife before he leaves the United States), but it is this tiny bit of meaning encoded in a movie tattoo.

read the full article at the link

[negativeyield]

if i die before I bake

Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Swiss (Ghost Sweden Band), Phantom (Ghost Sweden Band), Dewdrop | Sodo, Rain (Ghost Sweden Band), Mountain (Ghost Sweden Band), Cumulus (Ghost Sweden Band), Cirrus (Ghost Sweden Band) Additional Tags: Recreational Drug Use, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, green out, Pack Cuddles, Crack Treated Seriously, well this was meant to be crack but it kind of veered away from that, Guilt, Marijuana, Panic Attacks, Vomiting, Swiss is fucking zooted Summary: Phantom bakes some homemade edibles for Swiss, but messes up a vital measurement.

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“Hey Mountain,” Phantom said, appearing at his bedroom door. “You went on that weed run yesterday, right?”

The drummer was lying on his bed, idly scrolling through his phone. He rolled to his side to look at Phantom, nodding his head toward the dresser. “Top drawer. You having a smoke?”

“No, I’m gonna make some brownies,” Phantom grabbed the bag. “I accidentally took the last of Swiss’s edible he got in Amsterdam. Told ‘em I’d go to the dispensary with you... and then forgot... so I'm just gonna make some.”

Mountain chuckled, “Have you ever baked anything in your life?”

“Of course I have.”

Phantom had not. But how hard could it be?

“Okay, well if you want some help, let me know. I'll send you the link to the recipe we usually use.”

“’kay. Thanks Mount,” he said and made his way back to the kitchen.

Phantom had watched Swiss or Mountain make edibles on a few occasions, but he pulled up Mountain's recipe. He quickly realized it was a little more complicated than he thought. There was pre-baking, and making a butter, and making the brownies from scratch? Phantom looked at the box mix he found at the back of the pantry. It would have to do.

Soon, the kitchen was a wreck. Measuring cups and bowls were everywhere as Phantom filled their shared space with aroma of baked cannabis. It brought some of the other ghouls out of their room to investigate his baking endeavor.

“Fucking hell, Phantom, what are you doing in here?” Dew was the first to appear as Phantom took the roasted leaves out of the oven.

“My best,” Phantom wiped away some sweat from his brow, glancing at Dew. “This looks much easier when Swiss does it.”

Dew chuckled, hopping up to sit on the counter and watch.

“That’s because Swiss has seen every episode of Great British Baking Show and thinks that makes him star baker.”

Phantom threw some butter in a saucepan and started to combine the components of the brownie mix.

“I believe it. This shit is harder than I thought.”

Dew chuckled, jumping down from the counter and ruffling Phantom’s hair on his way out the back door. “Just follow the instructions, you’ll be fine.”

Phantom sighed, returning to his project.

Cumulus and Cirrus also came by, taking a few finger fulls of leftover batter after Phantom had his bake in the oven. Mountain came by briefly while he sat in front of the oven watching them rise.

“Looks good, Iron Chef,” he smiled, patting him on the back. “Did you make them with or without walnuts?”

“With.”

“Oh fuck, yeah. Be sure to save me one.”

Phantom smiled, feeling a bit better about his baking skills. When the brownies finally came out, they looked just like the ones the others have made. He cleaned up while they cooled, and delivered a generous piece to Swiss’s room for when he returned. Phantom thought about also enjoying one, but a text from Rain about a quick rehearsal tabled that plan. He cut himself a small sliver just to test out the taste, satisfied with the fudgey texture and gooey taste.

“Something is still missing,” Dew tapped his chin. They had spent the last hour and a half rehearsing some new bits for the rituals and testing out a few riffs. One in particular was giving them some trouble. “Maybe we should get Swiss down here. See if he has an idea or if adding a fourth balances it better.”

Rain put down his bass. “Yeah, I’ll go find him.” He left the practice room and headed toward the living quarters. In the meantime, Dew and Phantom continued to run through the bridge of the song.

Suddenly, rapid, running footsteps echoed up the hall. Both of the ghouls turned to find Rain looking pale and panicked.

“Something's wrong with Swiss,” he said, motioning for them to follow. They put their instruments down and ran to Swiss’s room. Phantom could hear the sound of retching from the hallway, which eerily stopped the moment they got into his room.

They found Swiss slumped beside the toilet, eyes unfocused as he barely registered Rain and Dew dropping to his side.

“Swiss,” Dew cupped his cheeks, trying to get the dazed ghoul to focus on him. “Swiss!” The only sound the ghoul made was some weak whimpering. The most he seemed to move was when he’d start to gag and lurch toward the toilet. Rain sat beside him, rubbing his back and looking at the others with concern.

“What do we do?”

“What is even wrong with him? He's sweating like he's back in the pits, but he doesn't feel feverish,” Dew said, hugging his arms across his body. “Food poisoning?”

“I don’t know, Dew, he’s pretty out of it.”

“Is he on something?”

Rain shrugged, “we just got back right before we started rehearsal. He didn’t have anything when he was with me.”

Suddenly, it dawned on Phantom. He looked back at the place he left Swiss’s brownie.

The plate was empty.

“Shit,” Phantom turned back to the others, suddenly starting to panic. “Shit, I made brownies earlier. Swiss had one.”

Dew’s eyes widened “How big?”

Phantom estimated with his fingers. “Not bigger than what Swiss has given me before.”

“Did he eat more than what you brought him or something?”

Rain stayed with Swiss while Dew and Phantom rushed to the kitchen where Mountain was coincidentally opening the pan of brownies.

“Mountain, wait!” Phantom yelled, startling the drummer into dropping the plastic knife on the ground.

“What?”

“Swiss is sick. Maybe because of the brownies,” Dew explained. Phantom grabbed the pan, sighing in relief to find only the piece he cut for Swiss missing.

“He only had what I gave him.”

“Well what was the dosage?”

“Whatever the instructions said, Dew, I don’t know!”

The room started heating up with Dewdrop as the epicenter. “Phantom, you saw Swiss— this is not the fucking time for I don’t know, I need some fucking number—”

“Guys,” Mountain yelled over them, the bag of weed, that now had a sizable dent in it, in hand. His face was especially serious. “Phantom, where is the extra butter?”

He stared at Mountain blankly. “What do you mean?”

“You followed the recipe I told you? Pre-baked the amount you usually see Swiss and me make, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then where’s the leftovers? The recipe is for triple the amount of butter you should have used.”

Phantom suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. “I-I didn’t know that.”

“Shit,” Mountain cursed as Rain called down the hall for more help. Mountain went running, leaving Phantom feeling numb and a majorly heated Dew.

“I thought you were following the instructions,” Dew said, his eyes starting to flicker red, like embers in a fire trying to kindle.

“I was, but I was looking at the butter recipe Mountain told me to use and also reading the back of the brownie box and— and, I guess… I guess I got confused,” Phantom ran his fingers through his hair, tugging on the roots. Dew huffed, turning to go back to Swiss’s room. When Phantom started to follow, the fire ghoul whirled around, eyes fully glowing now.

“You’ve done enough, Phantom. We’ll take care of him.”

He left Phantom standing awkwardly in the hallway, his guilt feeling like a tight wire wrapped around his neck. He stood there until his anger kicked in. Phantom marched into the kitchen, grabbing the pan of brownies and slamming them into the trash can with such force the metal pan bent at a ninety degree angle.

He was angry at Dew. At the fucking instructions for being confusing. At Mountain for not telling him when he was leaving for the dispensary. Really, he was just furious at himself. How did he possibly think that much weed was supposed to go into one batch of brownies? What kind of idiot didn’t double check the recipe when making an edible?

Phantom banished himself to his room, throwing around a few things before collapsing on his bed in a fit of guilt-soaked tears.

Rain think he preferred it when Swiss was vomiting.

After the last time he hugged the toilet, just as Phantom and Dew went to check the kitchen, Swiss had a moment of improved coherence.

“Rain,” he mustered, spitting into the toilet. It was a relief just to hear him have some sort of orientation to what was happening around him. That relief was quickly thwarted by what followed, “I don’t… feel… good,” he said, his voice slurring and slowing. Rain had to lunge to catch Swiss’s dead weight as he suddenly collapsed.

“Fuck!” he yelled, pressing two fingers to his neck. Ghoul vessels did have heartbeats— usually slower than humans— but present. Even for a ghoul, though, Swiss’s was faint. “Dew! Phantom! I need you!”

To his surprise, Mountain was the first to arrive at his aid, helping Rain pull Swiss out of the bathroom and into the more spacious bedroom.

“He just passed out,” Rain said, obsessively checking the pulse points in Swiss’s neck and wrist.

“He’s greening out bad,” Mountain sighed, looking up at Rain with dismay. “Phantom fucked up the edible ratio. It won’t kill him, but we need to watch him until he comes down.”

Swiss’s eyes finally fluttered open again. Still unfocused, and even more out of it than before. Dew appeared at the door, chest heaving with anger. Phantom was nowhere to be found. Mountain took one look at Dew and shook his head.

“Out.”

That didn’t help Dew’s fury. “Excuse me?”

“You’re hot right now. You know he gets sensitive to emotions when he’s high, and right now the last thing we need is him panicking when he can barely comprehend why he’s panicking. You can come back when you cool off.”

Dew looked like he wanted to bite off Mountain’s head, but he did back out of the room.

“Mounty,” Swiss muttered, briefly focusing on the earth ghoul’s face. His hand limply waved, and Mountain grabbed it from the air and squeezed.

“Hang in there, bud. You’re gonna be okay.”

Swiss felt like he was dying.

Or locked in some shadow dimension. Either was possible.

Maybe this was the purgatory thing he’s heard so much about. A land between heaven and hell. It would explain why he felt like the world was melting between his fingers while also feeling like he was floating. He was burning hot and doused in sweat, but also wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in blankets.

A lot of contradictions. The only thing Swiss was sure about was that his stomach fucking hurt.

His head was in the toilet again. Throat burning. A hand rubbed his back and he tried to focus on that instead of the sour taste in his mouth.

Then darkness.

Maybe he was dying.

Sometimes he’d hear some voices. Muted, warped voices he could hardly identify.

One came through clearly. Swiss couldn’t quite identify what was being said, but he knew it was Mountain.

Mountain sounded upset. Swiss frowned working hard at trying to focus on the slow moving blobs around him so he could find Mountain.

A warm hand took his.

Fingers tinkered with his hair.

Touched his blazing skin.

He hoped he wasn’t sick.

They would also get sick if that was the case.

“You can sleep, Swiss miss.”

“We’ll keep you safe.”

Swiss didn’t want to sleep. He was exhausted to the point he couldn’t move, but sleeping seemed like something he wasn’t supposed to do. Like he’s fully succumb to the darkness.

Like he’d wake up in the pit.

His throat suddenly felt tight. Fingers tingled. He tried to suck in more air, but his lungs were sluggish. Slow as the rest of him. Swiss fought, feeling his body being turned. Being lifted and then put down again—

“I don’t wanna go!” he tried to scream, but only parts of it made it to his mouth.

Pressure on his cheeks. A hand on his chest. Swiss’s vision dotted for a few moments before realizing Rain was nose-to-nose with him, his ocean blue eyes pleading for something Swiss couldn’t hear over the sound of ringing in his ears. He looked at Rain’s lips come together and split in the shape of the word breathe.

I’m trying, he wanted to say, but he had no breath to do it.

Rain pressed on his chest. Tapped a pattern that Swiss took to mean as cues to breathe in and out. He tried— and struggled— to follow them at first, but soon fell into rhythm. He felt his body start to relax. His fingers regained feeling. Swiss felt the air fully inflate his lungs, hold, and exit with a slow whoosh.

Slowly, he faded into sleep.

Swiss woke up feeling like he had been dropped in boiling water. He was drenched, the feeling of his clothes on his skin making him nauseated all over again. Feeling a little more mobile, Swiss grabbed at his shirt, trying to ease it over his head.

“Woah, woah, woah, what’s wrong?” a voice asked. Dew's voice. 

“’m fucking hot,” Swiss said, back, trying and failing to make it over his head. Frustration started making him upset, and he took a break from his shirt and clumsily pulled at the drawstring of his sweatpants instead.

“Okay, let me help you,” Dew whispered, swatting Swiss’s hands away. Swiss stood still as Dew dropped his pants and helped pull his shirt off. The cool air on his burning skin was a relief, but Swiss still didn’t feel comfortable. He grabbed his underwear, but Dew caught his wrist.

“Those too?” he asked hesitantly.

Swiss nodded, trying to jerk out of Dew’s grasp, but being unsuccessful. Dew sighed and released him, and Swiss finally felt at ease.

He stood there until his body temperature felt normal again.

Then he realized he was fucking freezing. He slumped back on the bed, grabbing as many blankets at possible while Dew watched him, dumbfounded.

“Cold now, Swissy?”

“Freezing. Cuddle me, Dew?”

The fire ghoul groaned, and something landed on Swiss’s face.

“Okay, but you have to put your drawers back on.”

That seemed like a fair exchange. Swiss slipped on his underwear and opened his arms for Dew to come warm him up. The fire ghoul dropped into Swiss’s arms, muttering something about how he “better not puke on him”.

Swiss’s throat was dry when he woke up again. HIs room was dim. Less chaotic than before. Swiss tried to roll to his back, but found something blocking him.

Or someone.

“Swiss?” a soft voice asked, moving so he could plop onto his back. It was Mountain staring down at him with concerned hazel eyes.

“I’m falling off the bed,” Swiss muttered, weakly trying to shove at the massive drummer. Mountain’s concern shifted to mild amusement, and he gave Swiss some more space.

“Just making sure you don’t aspirate, Swissy.”

Satanas, his head was pounding. Swiss flopped down on Mountain’s chest, finding some comfort in the feeling of his heartbeat under his cheek.

“Is he awake?” Rain asked, walking in with Dew in tow.

“He is,” Swiss answered. “He is also so fucking thirsty.”

“Good,” Rain handed him some brightly colored drink. Swiss stared at is suspiciously until he explained. “Electrolytes.”

“Oh. Thought you were trying to poison me,” Swiss muttered, and slowly sipped at the cool beverage.

“That would be Phantom,” Dew muttered, quickly getting an elbow to the ribs from Rain. Swiss looked at them, confused.

“What about Phantom?” His bandmates looked at him and then one another. Swiss couldn’t tell if it was guilt or pity, but he didn’t like it either way. “Whatever it is, fucking tell me.”

“He’s usually pissy when he’s almost down,” Mountain said as though Swiss wasn’t sitting right fucking there.

“Think he’s good enough to tell him?” Rain asked.

“For fuck’s sake,” Swiss pinched the bridge of his nose. Rain placed a hand on his knee.

“Did you eat the brownie Phantom baked for you?”

Swiss slowly dropped his hand, the realization of his pre-nap snack hitting him the moment Rain said it.

“Yeah… it was good, but I’m guessing maybe a little too much?”

Dew scoffed. “At least triple the dose you usually do.”

That certainly explained why he felt like he was on a different plane of existence earlier.

“Damn. Uh, how bad was I?” They looked at each other again. That, and the fact they looked exhausted pretty much answered his question. He also realized Phantom wasn’t among them. “And where’s Phantom?”

Dew pressed his lips together. “I, uh, told him to stay out of the way.”

From the way Mountain and Rain exchanged a glance, Swiss had a feeling it was a little more than that. He sighed, pushing himself up to try and stand, but a rush to his head made him topple right back down.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Dew asked.

“To see Phantom. Make sure he’s not beating himself up over this.”

“You can barely stand still!”

Swiss looked at Dew. “Then go get him!”

Dew looked at Rain, who shook his head. The usually calm water ghoul looked at Dew sternly. “I’m not the one who yelled at him. Go fix it.”

With a groan, Dew departed. Swiss laid back in his bed, focusing on a singular point on the ceiling until the spinning stopped.

“Hey Rain?” he asked after awhile.

“Yeah?”

Swiss ran his hand over his bare chest and thighs. “When did I strip?”

He chuckled. “A few hours ago.”

“Why?”

“Dew said you wanted cuddles.”

Swiss sat with that for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah... that checks out. Can you grab me some clothes, please?”

Phantom wasn’t sure what to do. He snuck down near Swiss’s room a few times to try and gauge what was going on, but couldn’t quite get a complete read. Things seemed to calm down at least. Less sounds of vomiting. Rain, Mountain, and Dew had begun to take shifts of just one or two of them staying with Swiss at a time. Phantom wanted to assume the best, but he still felt his worst.

So he shut himself in his room. Lights off, so his main source of light was the glow of iridescent constellations on his ceiling.

Swiss had helped him put those up. And Phantom had basically poisoned him. What a good packmate he was.

Because he wanted to torture himself, Phantom looked back at the recipe for the butter. Sure enough, it clearly called for almost four times the amount of butter he used— if he had just fucking read it correctly, Swiss wouldn’t be spending the night worrying about choking on his own vomit.

Hot tears ran down Phantom’s face. Though he had formed some great connections with the others, he was still so new. Would they send him away after this? Would any of them trust him again? He ruminated on these increasingly destructive thoughts until there was a soft knock at his door.

“Phantom?” Dew said through the door. “You in there?”

“Yeah,” called, his voice raspy from crying. The door opened slowly, and in came Dew. He was much less angry than usual, but still seemed a little peeved. After taking in the dark room and Phantom curled up on his bed, his face softened.

“Hey…” Dew said, sitting on the edge of Phantom’s bed. To his surprise, the fire ghoul reached out and put a warm hand on Phantom’s calf. “Swiss is okay.”

“He is?”

“A little loopy still and post-high cranky, but yeah. He’s asking for you.”

Phantom bit his lip, curling more into himself. “He’s pissed, isn’t he?”

Dew’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Swiss? At you? Not at all.”

“You are.”

Dew sighed, pressing his fingers together in his lap. “I was. But, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I was mad and… and scared. Really scared.” Dew looked at him with with this sad expression. “Sorry for taking it out on you.”

Phantom finally sat up, pulling Dew into a hug before he could protest. The lead guitarist hugged him back, pinching his cheek as they pulled apart. “I hope you know you’re banned from baking, though.”

“Fair enough,” Phantom said, smiling for the first time in hours.

They went to Swiss’s room where Rain and Mountain were perched on his bed with them. When Phantom entered, they grew quiet, and started to move out of the way. Swiss opened up his arms.

“C’mere Phantom,” he said with a grin.

All the stress of the last several hours of soaking in self-doubt and guilt came tumbling down at once. Phantom practically tackled Swiss as he dove into his arms, reveling in the joyful laugh the multi-ghoul let out as he squeezed Phantom tightly.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Phantom said into Swiss’s shirt.

“Don’t be, Twinkle Toes, that brownie was fucking fire. Perfect ratio of gooey, but not underbaked. And truly flattered you thought I could handle that much THC.”

“It did seem like a lot…”

“I fuckin’ bet,” Swiss chuckled. “It’s okay, though. I’m good. Sometimes I need a green out every so often. Keeps me humble.”

“Also freaks us the hell out,” Rain said. Swiss pressed his lips together, almost like he felt guilty about being basically incapacitated. He reached out toward the others, and Phantom felt the bed dipped as Rain joined the huddle. Mountain and Dew soon followed, encapsulating the two of them in their body heat and weight.

“Thanks for taking care of me, you guys.”

[omarera]

Below is a long text. The reason I share this is that I think the article below gives a great insight into Swedish culture and debate climate and views of celebrities taking stands in political issues. I think it is a good to read for those who demand the Swedish cast to actively speak out on different political issues.

It also touches upon Sigge and Alex podcast. I am frustrated to see the polarization and cancel culture and also the narrative of Sigge as a Zionist based on that he followed some Insta accounts. And also Edvin and Felicia being labeled Zionists by association. Maybe the article can give some perspectives.

Sigge Eklund is a provocative person, and his and Alex Schulman’s pod is both popular and controversial. You kind of either love them or hate them, or both. They are both authors, both outspoken what I would call leftists, Alex for example write columns that are very leftist. They are also quite full of themselves and can be very condescending to others and also take ideas and concepts to extremes to prove points. Their takes are often debated. There is a bit of irony in that they have received criticism for not standing up for Israel and stated they were against Hamas attack and now Sigge also being accused of being a Zionists. Sigge is criticized from both sides.

With that said, below is a translation of an article from SvD, one of Swedens large morning papers. It discusses Swedes silence. It shows how celebrities that do speak up are treated in Sweden. Let’s just say they are shot down. Swedes don’t have a tradition of appreciating celebrities to speak up on subjects they are not fully educated on. It’s so easy to get lost. But also that we need to talk about but it’s so damn difficult.

The article below is from Nov 25th 2023. It’s also important to consider when reading it. I still think it showcase Swedish culture really well and our debate climate and view on celebs speaking up and how polarized and infected and hard the long ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict (now genocide) is for us to discuss.

link to article it’s probably locked for non-subscribers.

“That's why I keep quiet about the war"

During a dinner Björn Werner (the author of the article) was at recently, the question came up. The one that not only cuts through the public debate but is strong enough to tear apart friendships and social nets and relationships.

Alex Schulman's voice chokes with anxiety. He stabs himself. And stakes himself again.

"It freezes me now when I hear you're going to talk about it."

Now it must be done. Sigge Eklund has taken the plunge. They will talk about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

It's fast. Just a few minutes. A gentle ripple in a podcast of over an hour. Like few others in public Sweden, the two men are otherwise always carefree open with what they think and feel. Bridges to important colleagues, friends and acquaintances are burned in every other episode. They do everything for the content. But not now.

It is at the very beginning of the war. Barely a week since Hamas kidnapped women, children and the elderly and brutally murdered 1,200 Israelis. Israel's intense bombing campaign has only been going on for a few days. Nevertheless, the Swedish debate about the Israel-Palestine conflict is so feverish that the two seasoned authors and media men prefer not to talk about it.

"I hardly think it can be done without arousing so much hatred that in the end it won't be worth it," Schulman continues.

Eklund basically agrees:

"I've really felt at a loss for words," he replies and goes on to explain that it's not because he doesn't have anything to say, but that he himself doesn't know exactly what he's going to say once he starts. The feelings are too strong.

It is, of course, easy to call the podduo cowards. That they want to wriggle out of this deeply polarized conflict without clashing with anyone – whether listeners or advertisers. But in that case they are not alone.

There are many who, for social and understandable reasons, avoid the question. The price of taking a stand can be very high. For one thing, what one says can be taken out of one's mouth and reshaped into something grotesque and ugly. For one thing, the risk of losing control over one's own emotions is great. Then it is easy to end up wrong. To say wrong.

An abyss you like to avoid thinking about and talking about, if you can.

During a dinner I attended recently, the question came up. Someone admitted that he "sympathizes with Israel's cause here." Another then raised his hand: "I don't agree with that, and I think we should leave it like that, so it will be nicer." The entire table nodded in agreement. Everyone exhaled. A similar dynamic exists in the group chats I'm in, which have morphed from lively, fun conversations to cautious, polite flirting. Everyone sees the dark clouds towering. Nobody wants to see the rain fall.

A lot of this depends, I think, on the complexity of the situation. The vast majority of people outside the Israel-Palestine conflict are touchingly in agreement that it is terrible for all innocent people to die, regardless of nationality. It is all the more difficult to navigate beyond this single, self-evident opinion. Because one needs to have one after all. In everything else it is more difficult. They are looking for a scapegoat. The violence can't just happen? It must be someone's fault. Demanding a ceasefire also leads to the natural follow-up question: and then?

In both the issue of guilt and in the conversation about the future, dangers lurk wherever you turn: those who rush forward without a map and compass risk quickly running into both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic cuts.

Not that it is necessarily easier for those who actually take the time to read up on the issue. Is it about a multi-thousand-year European oppression of Jews? That Arab leaders have consistently refused to accept Israel's existence since the UN proclaimed the state in 1948? Is it the fault of the many Jewish settlers who drove Palestinians from their homes? Arab countries that in turn expelled Jews from theirs? That Palestinians by both Israel and Arab countries are used as a real political playing cards? Netanyahu? Hamas? It's just a matter of choosing. Everything is right – at the same time.

Whatever you think, however educated you are, there is always a weighty opinion that speaks for the opposite of what you have come to.

The situation is bizarre. Despite the fact that there is a terrible conflict going on where innocent children are killed daily, it is therefore a socially viable, perhaps even wise, strategy to just keep quiet.

the public also has results on how it goes for those who speak first and think later. When 160 celebrities signed a petition to stop the bombing of Gaza, they came under fire for not showing the same commitment during Hamas' massacre of Israelis. Artist Stina Wollter's star now appears to be falling after she mixed up her commitment to Palestinian children with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. And the competence of the Green Party's Märta Stenevis is being questioned because she liked Stina Wollter's (not entirely clear) apology.

It is quite unusual for external events to cut so deeply into interpersonal relationships. Not least in the consensus-seeking country Sweden, which is otherwise known for its lukewarm political temperament. While the 1968 movement in Paris led to street battles between students and police, the student movement in Stockholm occupied its own union building. When Sweden, after 200 years of non-alignment, joins NATO, everyone just sighs amicably. The war in Ukraine has, if anything, acted as a unifying force, where people from left to right could confidently state that the world in this particular case really is black and white.

But there is a force in the Israel-Palestine conflict that is strong enough to tear apart the social net and relationships. Partly because of the horrific images we are all exposed to, but also because of the historically deeply infected nature of the issue. It's all starting to resemble the climate of debate in Britain about Brexit, which went to such levels that the prestigious British etiquette magazine Tatler raised the topic as one of twelve things you absolutely should not talk about at the dinner table.

Anyone who puts their faith in the ability of public discourse to unravel complex events also has nothing to gain from the issue of Israel-Palestine. The ongoing debate has quickly degenerated into a hopeless meta-debate about who thinks the most "wrong". The amount of constructive, well-read and nuanced posts that have been put forward since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel's subsequent bombing of Gaza can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Expressen's Per Wirtén succeeds, through a combination of solid humanism and understanding of the matter, to tackle the subject in a dignified way. Another is SvD's Elaf Ali, who from his personal perspective testifies to the polarization in the Swedish debate.

But - the more texts are about things that could just as easily take place at a dinner with a lost footing. There and in social media, the waves are high. Are leftists anti-Semitic because they react more strongly to Israel's attacks than to Hamas? Are right-wing debaters really Islamophobes, because they so fervently defend Israel while at the same time advocating cooperation with the newly anti-Semitic SD?

Who is foolish enough to stick their head into this hornet's nest willingly?

Maybe Alex and Sigge are doing the only reasonable thing. Despite one's instincts screaming to react when news of dead children sweeps by, there is not much to say �� because hardly anything can be said without being taken as revenue for something else. But the question is whether it is even possible to be silent. According to today's twisted logic, there is also something to be said.

Shortly after "Alex and Sigge's podcast" was published, the right-wing comedian Aron Flam responded to X (recently on Twitter): "So Alex Schulman cannot condemn murder, torture and rape? Hard to say anything about murdering women, young, old, pregnant, babies? Speaking. He who is otherwise so full of goodness.”

And it hasn't stopped there. In a later episode, both podcasts return to the consequences of not taking a stand. Their social media inboxes are overflowing with anger.

Swedes are one of the world's most educated peoples, and at least until very recently formally non-aligned. The majority have few personal connections to either the millennial suffering of Jews or the Palestinian people's quest for their own state formation.

If even a remote, frostbitten nation of newly urbanized farmers can't pull themselves together, who can? If even we can't talk to each other, then who can?

[overtrred28]

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part nine]

Words; 2.9k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing, mentions of injury (no blood)

A/N; i kinda forgot to upload this earlier sorry

masterlist

Astrid was diligent with the slow and gentle rehab she had been doing, wanting to be better for the next Matildas camp only a month away now. It had been just over two weeks and she had been advised four to six for total recovery, but she was itching to be part of that squad against Canada, even if she only got a few minutes of playing time. 

She worked with the physios everyday to bring her strength back up in her ankle, eventually being able to walk around without the boot after three weeks and Astrid felt good. Without there being any tears or extreme damage to the tendons or ligaments, the time frame had just been an extra precaution because of her high intensity exercise and sport, wanting it to heal undisturbed as much as it could before she jumped back into football. 

By the time this next international call up was here Astrid had just begun jogging again on the pitch, passing the ball between her feet and it was like she was a different person than she had been for the past 6 weeks. She had formed a new appreciation for being able to play at the level she was and getting to do it with her best friends at a club that motivated her. 

The time had come and Astrid had never been more excited to go on a camp, the senior players who hadn’t been there for the last camp returning, the squad back together again to play against Canada. They had all made sure to check in on Astrid after hearing about or seeing her injury, encouraging her to keep going and get back onto that pitch, knowing how useful her skills are when up against tough opponents. 

The games were in Australia this time, meaning Astrid was finally going home for the first time since moving to Sweden, and her parents promised they would be there to cheer her on at the Sydney game. 

After a long day of travel the sweden squad, plus Mini and Harper, were so happy to be back on aussie soil and head straight to the hotel. The car ride from the hotel was full of chatter, all of the players trying not to fall asleep, aiming to hold on until bedtime. The car pulled up and they started getting out of the car, going and collecting their bags from the boot to take inside. 

They received their room numbers and went to drop their bags off, the rooming changing again and Astrid finding herself rooming with Kyra for the first time. 

“This one's mine.” Astrid placed her backpack on the bed closest to the window. 

“Oh so if someone comes to murder us they can get me first?” Kyra stood in front of the other bed, looking at the distance between the door and where she would be sleeping.

“Not what I was thinking, but sure.” Astrid shrugged with a smile. “Come on, let's go to dinner before they eat all the food.” She walked to the door with her phone and keycard, putting her arm out for Kyra to link her own. They left the room, skipping arm in arm down the hallway to the lifts, laughing as they almost tripped about seven times. 

They found their way to the room that had been turned into the team dining room, being easily directed by the noise coming from the girls in there. When they walked in it seemed they were the last to arrive, not surprising of course, the pair known for being late to things all the time. 

“Look who decided to show up.” The room quieted down as Sam spoke loudly, walking up next to Astrid. 

“Oh Sammy, you know I like to make an entrance.” Astrid smiled at her, parts of the room laughing before they pulled each other in for a hug. 

“How’s the ankle?” Sam asked as they stood together. 

“Yeah a lot better definitely.” Astrid nodded, looking down at her taped ankle. 

“Good.” Sam smiled. “Go and get something to eat, kid, catch up more later.” Sam nodded her head in the direction of the buffet, Astrid turning around, instantly spotting Kyra walking away with a full plate, both laughing as they made eye contact. 

Astrid grabbed some food and went to sit at the table where the “original trio” and Steph sat, slotting between the two Arsenal players. 

“Asteroid!” Mackenzie all but yelled across the table, reaching across for a fist bump which was returned with a smile from Astrid. 

“Hey chicken.” Steph spoke from beside her, Astrid instantly rested her head on Steph’s shoulder. 

“Hey Stephy. How are you?” Astrid moved her head to look up at Steph. 

“I’m good, how you feeling?” Steph squeezed her shoulder. 

“Real good.” She smiled and then began eating, catching up with the other girls on the table, hearing all about their time off and where they spent it. 

The team had a mini bonding night, deciding to put a movie on the projector in the dining room before they all headed off to bed. Those with movie suggestions wrote them down and they were placed into a hat for a random draw. 

“And the winner is…” Sam shuffled her hand around in the hat. “Hannah Montana The Movie?” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“YES!” A shout was heard and everyone turned their heads. Astrid had shot up from her seat, very happy her favourite movie had been chosen. 

“Were you not like a baby when this came out?” Caitlin asked the youngest member. 

“I was five.” Astrid calmly spoke. A few gasps came from the room, a lot of the players again shocked at how young she really was compared to them. “Enough with the questions, it’s movie time.” She had taken control of the remote, searching for the movie and pressing play. 

Throughout the movie everyone could hear Astrid singing along, dancing in her seat and even mouthing most of the script, a few of them filming her from behind. Then came the scene in the barn and ‘Hoedown Throwdown’ began to play, Astrid let out a small squeal before standing up at the front of the screen.

She began to do the choreography while facing away from the screen, she had learnt it off by heart from the amount of times she had watched it. Everyone sat in shock as she did the dance with precision, not knowing she had it in her. 

When it was done she took a bow, the group cheered and clapped loudly as she sat back down next to Charli and Kyra. The room went silent again, all paying attention to the rest of the movie. 

“Nice dance moves.” Kyra leant over and whispered to Astrid after a while. Astrid just shook her head and giggled. 

The movie finished and to most people's surprise they enjoyed it, something lighthearted and fun to watch before bed. Most of the girls were very tired after travel, Astrid thought she might be too but I guess the excitement of the movie brought her energy back. 

Everyone began to stand, stretching out their limbs while the credits rolled, all watching Astrid who was still dancing around to the music in front of the screen, singing loudly along to the words. 

The music stopped abruptly and so did Astrid’s dancing. Having enough with the upbeat song and Astrid’s energy, Mackenzie had found the remote and turned off the screen. 

“I wasn’t done.” Astrid whined to the taller girl. 

“Yeah you are, bedtime little one.” She patted Astrid’s head and laughed at her pout and eyeroll. Mackenzie headed for the door, Kyra coming over to push Astrid along and drag her off to their room for bed. 

As per usual, when she was done getting ready for bed, Astrid’s head hit the pillow and she was out like a light, the aftermath of long travel taking control and she fell straight to sleep. 

The next morning after getting ready, Kyra and Astrid headed down to breakfast with a little more energy after having slept a decent amount of hours, ready to begin training with the team. 

The first match was still two days away so they had some time to work with each other after months apart now that everyone had arrived. But playing with people on the same club team definitely helps in creating rhythms and relationships on and off the pitch. 

A quick gym session was first up upon arriving at the stadium, everyone working individually on what they needed to before proper training. Astrid was quick to take control of the music to play over the speakers, waiting to show off the playlist she had accumulated. It did feature a lot of Taylor, Hannah Montana and One Direction but she also added plenty of 2000s, 90s and even 80s songs into the mix for everyone to enjoy. Safe to say everyone was happy with Astrid being the DJ after seeing everyone sing or at least bop along to many of the songs. Maybe she would become the team's newly appointed DJ.

They finished in the gym and moved to the pitch, Astrid chatting with Caitlin while they walked out, catching up more than they did last night and Astrid asking about Arsenal and what it was really like. She parted ways with Caitlin after spotting Charli who was chatting with Kyra, Mini and Alex. She ran over and practically jumped on her, gripping the blonde's shoulders who let out a small scream at the impact. 

“Heyyyyy, Cha Cha.” Astrid peaked her head over Charli's shoulder who shrugged the girl off and began walking away from her with a smirk. “Ruuuude.” Astrid yelled at her as she followed behind to where everyone congregated. 

“Alrighty ladies, you know the drill.” Assistant coach Jens yelled out, indicating it was time to begin their session with a jog to warm up. 

“Ughhhhh, I hate this.” Astrid panted out halfway during the jog. “Can I be done yet?” She yelled as they passed the coaches. 

“Does your ankle hurt?” Jens raised a brow. 

“No.” And she kept going, picking up her pace to make it finish faster. She all but crumbled to the ground once she reached the end of the jog, having not run that much since her injury. 

“You good there?” A body covered the sun that was shining over her eyes. 

“I am now.” She smiled at Kyra who was extending an arm to help her up. 

Jens called them over to where they had now set up the circuit for the drills. Astrid liked this part a lot better than the initial jog, ready to hone in her skills and get back into her rhythm of passes and shooting goals. 

They had gone through their regular training drills before moving to work on separate skills in groups of their field positions. So tragically Astrid and Charli had to part ways, Caitlin dragging a pouting Astrid towards the group of forwards and Charli waving dramatically as she walked backwards to the defenders. 

After weeks of just doing small passes to build back up, Astrid was finally able to begin shooting goals again; the main thing she loved about playing football. One of the coaches would pass a ball to the running player and then they would shoot it in, aiming for a different part of the net each time. The goalkeepers had joined them to practise blocking the goals, Astrid was holding the lead against Sam for how many they could get past Lydia. 

“OHHHHH. Another one! And with the left foot!” Astrid ran with outstretched arms after she slotted another ball past Lydia, bringing her total to 6 and Sam just behind with 5. “She’s back and better than ever, baby.” Astrid circled Sam, the other forwards watching and laughing at her antics. 

“Piss off.” Sam shoved the younger striker away, taking her place to accept the next pass. With bad luck to Sam, Lydia had just tapped it away and then the whistle blew to signal the end of drills.  

“Sucked in, oldie.” Astrid whispered as she skipped away to the sideline.

“Get back here you little shit!” Sam huffed and began chasing the girl with a smile on her face, Astrid panicked and began running. 

“STEPHY! SAVE ME!” Astrid screamed as she approached ,the defender turning her head to see Sam chasing after Astrid. Astrid made it to the vice captain and stood behind her panting, hiding from the other captain. 

“Enough you two.” Steph put on a stern voice and looked between the two players. 

“She called me old.” Sam pleaded, going to speak again but Tony had interrupted her from further down the sideline. 

“Alrighty, scrimmage time.” The team began walking closer to him, taking a drink and breath break. “Sam and Steph, come and select your teams.” He tossed the red bibs to Sam for her team and the yellow to Steph. 

They had chosen their players, taking the defenders, then midfielders and finally their forwards. It was down to the two youngest forwards, Mary and Astrid. Steph got first pick so it was up to her, and knowing the passes Kyra and Astrid can make, it wasn’t hard.

“Astrid, you're with me.” Steph beckoned the girl over to her team, glad that it consisted of herself, Steph, Kyra, Charli, Lydia, Cortnee, Clare W, Mini, Alanna, Princess and Tameka. Sam’s team had Caitlin, Mary, Larissa, Emily Van Egmond, Emily Gielnik, Courtney, Aivi, Macca, Alex and Clare P. 

The game began and Sam’s team took good possession straight away but the defence between Charli, Alanna and Steph was strong. 10 minutes in and Kyra had stolen the ball from Larissa, running with it until she could see Astrid making her way into free space further up the pitch. Kyra booted it into the air, ending at Princess who hit it with her chest towards Astrid, right foot ready to catch it.

The tip of her boot brought it to the ground so she could steady her footing, quickly sending it towards the goal through Mackenzie’s still legs, thinking she was going to send it higher like usual. The net rippled and the young player cheered, running back to her position with a high five to her teammates as she went by. 

Tony blew the whistle to indicate the end of the match. It had ended in a 2-2 draw, everyone going around and high fiving each other. 

“Good game, Astrid.” Sam smiled at the young striker. She wouldn’t admit it outloud but she did think maybe one day she could give her a run for her money, seeing a lot of herself at that age in Astrid.

“You too, Sam.” Astrid gave her hand a shake and a clap on the back as they began to walk to the side for a drink. 

“Alright everyone in.” Tony’s voice carried through the team who began walking over to form a loose huddle, too hot to make it tight. “Well done today, very impressed with everyone’s efforts. Even after not playing altogether for a while you showed that no matter what you are a strong team. Off to recovery and then the day is all yours, I’ll see you tomorrow for match day minus 1.” Tony nodded with a smile. Everyone clapped before they made their way inside and headed straight for the cold pools. 

Astrid was the first one in the pool, loving the cold water from growing up at a beach during the winter, going for swims no matter the weather. Everyone else of course thought she was crazy to enjoy the cold water and her eagerness to get in it. 

The next day at training looked very similar to the day before but the physios had been keeping an eye on Astrid, being so soon off an injury. She felt great, really. It didn’t hurt and her ankle felt strong, continuing to work and train to be a sub for tomorrow's game. 

An early dinner of their usual pre-match pasta night was followed by an early bed for all the players, especially for those who had travelled from overseas all but a few days ago. Everyone bid each other goodnight before retiring to their rooms. 

Kyra had called the shower first, knowing from the previous night how long Astrid really did take on her skincare. Once they were both finished and had set an alarm, they lay in their separate beds, room silent, spare the aircon blowing softly. 

“I think you’ll start tomorrow.” Astrid spoke, turning in her bed to face Kyra’s. 

“Really?” Kyra also shifted, finding Astrid’s eyes in the dark room. 

“Yeah, I mean you’ve been working really hard and I think they can tell.” Astrid smiled softly at the girl. 

“Thank you.” Kyra also smiled even if Astrid couldn’t really see it. “I think Tony will put you on, make use of your ‘super-sub’ reputation again.” Kyra let out a soft laugh. 

“Maybe.” Astrid shrugged under her covers. 

“Definitely. I’m calling it right now.” Kyra turned to lie on her back and look up at the ceiling. 

“Fine. But if you’re wrong, you’re buying me a coffee.” Astrid copied Kyra’s shift in movement. 

“Deal. But if I’m right, you buy me a coffee.” Kyra spoke again. 

“Okay.” Astrid’s voice was barely above a whisper as she felt herself drifting to sleep. “Goodnight, Ky Ky.” She spoke one last time before letting herself fall into the pillow. 

“Goodnight, Stargirl.” Kyra took one last look at Astrid before shutting her eyes and falling asleep herself, a soft smile etched on her face. 

to be continued...

[lurking-latinist]

re: these tags

THAT'S SO COOL AHHHH!! good for you aubreyad community stays winning

[introducing this with a disclaimer in case i'm wrong about everything: i am only halfway through the series rn (just about to finish 10) and also am but a mere undergrad classics major who has yet to even declare said major and I probably don't have the right to be yapping about propertius. nevertheless i shall.]

anyway i have been growing persistently more insane about diana's proximity to a Lot of classical imagery, like how her first appearance in post captain is literally during a fox hunt + all the gender stuff she has going, obviously linking her to mythological diana (and artemis if we're going to conflate the two) but your take has sent me in a whole new direction with that-- because she doesn't actually really embody the artemis archetype all too much overall (an emphasized character trait being that she's notably Not Chaste) EXCEPT in relation to stephen, w/ whom her relationship is much more brotherly than it is sensual i guess?

which would align very well with your idea of diana as elegiac puella-- sort of in a way being mythologized by stephen-- resulting in the reader actually being able to see two different manifestations of her character (one through the eyes of an omniscient prosaic narrator and one through the perspective of stephen as a "poet" figure). and i just think that's neat.

my latin class has also been looking at a few of propertius' love elegies and, at least to me, they read a lot like if stephen 1.) hated himself significantly less and 2.) were less indecisive in writing about his Feelings?? 1.8 (and all of the poems concerning cynthia moving/traveling away and propertius being all moody about it) is very reminiscent of the arc from post captain to the surgeon's mate imo. 1.12 is also Literally Him-- "cynthia prima fuit cynthia finis erit" can be compared to stephen's poetic catastrophizing about how his life is Literally Over and Love Is Dead when he believes to have fallen out of love with diana!?!? i'm going to lose my mind.

sorry for dumping all of this on you unprompted and also sorry for the fact that it probably does not make sense. peace and love

if undergrad classicists don't talk about propertius literally WHO WILL. (genuinely my currently-being-written phd dissertation chapter is based on an idea I had in the class I read propertius in freshman year. never feel like you're not a 'real scholar' or something yet, because you honestly never do become something different, you just keep reading and talking and this is what we do! there's nothing realer than this!)

oh wow that's really well put--we kind of get to see her from an omniscient-narrator perspective and through the eyes of her lover who is Not Being Normal About Her. very nice!

yeah I keep reading bits of propertius and being like "hmm is po'b going to quote this one I wonder." (he doesn't mostly but I keep thinking he should. because I want the aubreyad to be denser and less accessible I guess? :P) there's a lot of catullus woven in too of course - I associate Catullus 72 with the 'falling out of love' arc (my dude that is not what falling out of love looks like).

oh gosh yes 1.8 -- that was one of the things I was trying to describe to Distinguished Classicist, the way she's so -- what's the word I want? not volatile... she disappears. she's constantly Gone. you turn around and oops, she's eloped to Sweden. (honestly though if Cynthia and Propertius could manage to have *fake* revenge affairs that would actually be *great*, for them that would be an improvement.) Gareth Williams (in a chapter called, amazingly, "From Grave to Rave") describes Cynthia as "ever only elusively visible in the narratological mist" and I feel like that's a bit what's going on with Diana. For her there's a genre element as well--she's a woman in the Men Going to Sea books, and even though the Aubreyad gives way more time to women than the average Men Going to Sea book, the fact is the camera frequently simply isn't on her. We see far more of Stephen thinking about her, hearing rumors, etc. than we do of her actually being on the page. Now in elegy nobody seems to be quite fully on the page, we only get "fragments of story" as Genevieve Liveley and Patricia Salzmann-Mitchell say (excellent collection by that name btw, I recommend checking it out if you're at all interested in narrative and lyric/elegy). But Diana manages this while being in a novel, which is impressive to me.

yeah stephen as a character is a lot more... self-reflective? than propertius' speaker. for one thing he's in a novel, I think, so he can actually... have a series of contiguous experiences. he's also a compulsive diarist which is helpful for self-reflection I guess. and more mature, like, as a human being, than propertius' speaker, who apparently does nothing with his life except be in love and write poetry, he doesn't exist outside of as a poetic voice whereas, again, stephen benefits from a third-person narrator and has medicine and spying to do and so on. also he's Catholic.

I love the "Catullus-and-water" line, it's like O'Brian just put in a little wink to those of us who would notice this, like, "yes I am doing this on purpose." All in all I've pretty much defaulted to assuming that O'Brian is doing things on purpose. although he did forget Babbington's first name that one time and retconned it very awkwardly

[jokeroutsubs]

Špancirfest and Joker Out: Interview with Kris for Radio Maribor's 'Musical radiogram'

On 1.09.2023, Slovenian radio station Radio Maribor broadcasted a program about Špancirfest in Varaždin, where Joker Out opened for Franz Ferdinand. The program also featured an interview with Kris Guštin, which you can listen to in the audio file above, or at this direct link from 28:30 to 38:00.

English translation below:

This is the radio show 'Glasbeni radiogram' ('Musical radiogram') in which we checked how our Eurovision representatives are doing. A few months after Eurovision we saw them on the main stage of a Croatian music festival "Špancirfest" where they performed as the opener for the group Franz Ferdinand. We spoke to the guitarist, Kris Guštin.

Kris, today I caught you at the concert in Varaždin, how are you feeling after the concert?

Kris: Well, I'll say unbelievable, for multiple reasons. Because, well, for us it's always surprising and an honour when we come abroad, even if it's just across the border, that people come to our concert and especially that they sing our songs in Slovene. It's incredible, on the other hand, this is the first time we opened for a... global name, global stars. Up until now we were openers only for Yugoslavian bands, which is of course an honour on its own, but today was the first time we introduced ourselves as an international opener. So a great memory for sure.

Have you met Elvis Costello in person or only through a video chat?

Kris: Unfortunately only through video chat, I'm pretty sure that since the collaboration happened he hasn't crossed the Atlantic ocean, so there hasn't been any time.

It seems that after thirty years, this border for musicians between Slovenia and Croatia finally opened.

Kris: Yes, it seems so, although we don't want to say too much right now because everything is still new. We need to know how this is going to work in the long run, but we couldn't be on a better track right now and that's what's currently guiding us.

In Croatia you have two concerts coming up in Zagreb, concerts in Rijeka... it seems as if this concert in Varaždin is the perfect springboard for Croatia.

Kris: It's true, we've never preformed in this part of Croatia, but I'd say the perfect springboard for us was at Šalata in Zagreb, where we opened for Buč Kesidi. I'd maybe say that it wasn't so much of a physical springboard, but it did change our perspective, as we saw and realized for the first time that we can attract an audience in Croatia and can afford to have a concert such as Tvornica kulture, which was something we were scared to do before.

With Slovene lyrics?

Kris: Also with Slovene lyrics. We do currently play all of our songs in Slovene, except for the two songs which are already in Serbian

It seems like yesterday when we played your song for the first time on Radio Maribor. A few months later you won at the festival Frišno/Fresh. This year Frišno/Fresh is coming back, but this journey has been, there are no other words than just unbelievable, dreamy.

Kris: By all means, the first Frišno/Fresh was a nice memory for us. At that time, our song was performed by a big band for the first time. Winning was a great honour as well, of course. I can also say that just today I voted for new nominations for Frišno/Fresh.

Should we reveal who you voted for?

Kris: I mean, I don't have any reservations about it if you don't. I voted for our really good friends and excellent musicians, MRFY, because 'Tobogan' ('Slide') was definitely one of the best songs from last year.

I talked to your audio engineer, Sandi, about how concerts at home or close to home are different from those abroad. You were in England, concerts in Sweden and elsewhere in Northern Europe are still to come.

Kris: I am going to say that the audience abroad is different in the sense that even if they don't know you, they gladly and really quickly give you a chance and they listen to you. If you have something to give, they figure it out quickly and they take it. On the other hand, maybe we dare to do more on stage, we go out of our comfort zone, because we are put in an unknown situation and it brings out our animalistic side, our more energetic selves.

A lot of times it seems that the home audience can act stepmotherly.

Kris: Well, not on our concerts. I think that for us, Slovene audience is always great and irreplaceable, for sure. I can't really say which one is my favourite, each has their own charm.

Now a guitar question, we are both guitarists. Sandi told me that when you are abroad, a long way from home, you rent at least the amplifiers. But playing on your own amplifier is still the best, no?

Kris: Definitely, performing when we can provide all of our gear is the best. This is sadly not possible abroad because of the flights. But we are lucky to be playing on relatively standard gear, which we can get anywhere in Europe and everywhere really. These are Fender, Vox amps and Ampeg for the bass, so it's not like we are suffering abroad because of this.

You could say classic gear, for a modern sound.

Kris: Yeah, we've always kind of gone from retro, from retro stuff, to modern sound.

You're about to play a sold-out concert in Stožice; Stožice may seem like a small milestone from the outside, when you've already conquered international stages.

Kris: Maybe it looks like that at this point, but we definitely don't see it that way. Stožice is the biggest thing an artist can achieve in Slovenia, apart from the Bežigrad stadium, which is unfortunately no longer available.* And the fact that at our age, at a relatively young age, as a young band, we managed to sell out this venue, is an incredible achievement for us, regardless of what's happening abroad. It's a great honour and for two, three months now, since I've realized that it's coming around the corner any minute now, I've been waiting impatiently for the moment when we can finally go on stage.

You yourself grew up in Ljubljana or close to Ljubljana. What would it really mean to you, to perform in the Bežigrad stadium?

Kris: There has been talk for years about its revitalisation, the reopening of the stadium, especially for cultural events. It really is such an iconic place, where, let's say, world famous names have performed, but also Slovenian ones. In fact, the Bežigrad stadium is of particular importance to me, because I don't just come from Ljubljana, I come from Bežigrad, and the Bežigrad stadium is definitely the most important symbol of our city's district. We are all very attached to it. And I have to say that I feel really, really sad because for us, for me and for Bojan, who are proud to call Bežigrad home, there is no longer an option for us to perform there.

If you were here today as a listener, and not as Kris Guštin, if you were just a listener from Bežigrad, who would you come to listen to, Franz Ferdinand or Joker Out?

Kris: Yes, definitely Franz Ferdinand. I've asked myself that a number of times. If I had heard us play, and I weren't in the band, whether I would have liked it or not. When we make music I love it, but you never know what it would be like on the other side. Franz Ferdinand are, of course, a legendary band, even if we didn't really listen to them that much, they've influenced our sound because they're one of the main creators of the British sound of the twenty-first century.

Franz Ferdinand are, I mean, famous, but with every new album, even though they haven't released a new album for five years, still modern; despite, let's say, adding an electronic sound, they're still authentic and you can still hear their sound, can't you? How do musicians manage this? Your third album is coming up soon. How to maintain your sound, but still be progressive, different, modern?

Kris: It's hard for me to give one single answer to that, because I don't really know myself, what is the deciding factor. I think it's easier to stay true to what you've always done, and it's harder to upgrade it every new album, every new cycle. We're always trying to push ourselves out of our shell, out of our comfort zone, with every new single, with every new album, that represents a new chapter in our sound. And here we are, we were in the studio two weeks ago, and we recorded a new single, which is going to be quite different from the previous tracks, and we've also indulged in some new instruments.

Kris, thank you.

Kris: Of course, thanks to you too.

*Bežigrad is one of Ljubljana's districts. The stadium in Bežigrad is the oldest stadium in Ljubljana, built by famous architect Jože Plečnik, and used to host Slovenian national football team's matches, as well as musical and other events. It's in need of renovation, but due to disputes about the current owner's renovation plans, it has been closed and falling apart since 2008. In 2003, Slovenian band Siddharta famously performed a concert there for an audience of about 30,000 people (in comparison, the Stožice arena has a capacity of about 12,000 people).

Translation cr: drumbeat, @joyridinglove, and another member of jokeroutsubs

[paikothecateater]

Who would the nordics main in Mario Kart?(wii or 8 or both) also what would be their favourite tracks?

Coincidentally, I happen to have both, so I'll give answers for both versions of the game.

Denmark:

Wii: he mains bowser, his favourite vehicle is the flame runner and his favourite track is Koopa cape.

8 Deluxe: he mains Dry Bowser, I literally do not care enough to mention his favourite vehicle combination (seriously why do we have to complicate everything) and his favourite track is electrodome.

Sweden:

Wii: he mains Toad, mainly because of the funny voice, favourite vehicle is the wild wing, favourite course is Wario's gold mine.

8 Deluxe: I have the sneaking suspicion he'd main his own Mii, but I also think he'd main Tanooki Mario. His favourite course is Excitebike arena.

Finland:

Wii: he mains baby peach and he's the only one allowed to use baby peach because he's not as good at the game as the others, favourite vehicle is the Magikruiser, favourite course is mushroom Gorge.

8 Deluxe: Cat peach, Baby park.

Norway:

Wii: you cannot convince me this guy doesn't main waluigi. Flame flyer because apparently bikes aren't cool enough for him. His favourite course is maple treeway.

8 Deluxe: Link, music park.

Iceland:

Wii: Rosalina, shooting star, rainbow road because he always wins.

8 Deluxe: King Boo, tick tock clock.

Their preferred Wii battle mode is coin runner, with Funky Kong stadium as the common favourite track.

The favourite 8 Deluxe battle mode is a unanimous renegade roundup with the favourite track being Luigi's mansion.

The team division is usually as follows:

Blue team: Norway, Denmark, Finland.

Red team: Sweden, Iceland.

I literally love this type of question, thank you for listening to my yap session.