25 februari 2011

Lovely day, drunken evening

Annabel and I have been very ambitious and managed to get up at a very early hour to enjoy a good session of morning yoga. or something... No it was very nice, problem was that I think the both of us were fairly hungover from the night before. Very pleasant evening with sparkling wine and sharing of nice little treats from a bakery, thank you Sara!, followed by a trip to Sydskånska to enjoy well-filled wineglasses for little money and a difficult musicquiz. Best thing with having people with no bar experience is that they have no idea on how much wine to pour in a glass! Very good value. To think if it, that day was a great day, yoga followed by a trip to the botanic garden, absolutely beautiful, made me want spring and sun and heat and blooming flowers and trees and singing birds uh. summer...
*längtar*
Here are some interesting articles, first on luxury electric car and second on Obama's high speed rail plans for the US...
http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3437
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/mc-pa-biden-transportation-20110208,0,4182967.story

Just watching Parlamentet with my dad and little sister, amazingly enough we haven't argued... yet. Enjoyed a really nice dinner and a fun family game session, good evening. Tomorrow is an early morning to catch a plane to *drumroll* London!! Wooo!

23 februari 2011

Time to get serious people!

Ok guys, this isn't working anymore, it is time to take out the big guns; our voices. This is a very short video that explains all you need to know.
What you can do then...

  • most importantly: refuse to eat bluefin tuna. If you love sushi like I do, ask them to replace the tuna, and if you have the guts, tell them why you don't want to eat bluefin tuna and encourage them to stop serving it
  • inform everyone you know about the issue; knowledge is power and can do more than you think. Individually we can do a little, together we can do a lot (cheesy I know!)
  • write to the ICCAT (Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and ask them firmly to take their responsibility in the protection of the oceans. It doesn't even take two minutes out of your time...
  • You can also write your embassies to push this harder
  • You can join movements such as Greenpeace, Howtosavetheblufin.com etc
If you have anymore ideas how to help please share it!

Sea Shepherds

Whether you like the methods of Sea Shepherds or not you can't deny their results...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/5-ways-sea-shepherds-controversial-methods-are-changing-the-world-for-whales.php

22 februari 2011

A steak for everyone?

On the swedish, svtplay.se, you can watch a documentary, similar to food inc but focused on the more parts of the world. Brasil is quickly becoming on the the largest exporter of meat. As the meat production increases the rainforest is decreasing to beome pasture. When the land is ruined it is cheaper to chop down more rainforest than to regrow the grounds...

Scientists are researching ways of cutting the impact on environment caused by cow's breathing of methane and pigs pooping fosfor. Methane is one the biggest contributors to global warming and fosfor is essential for all life and plants but in excess it causes too much plant growth, especially of algae which then makes the water cloudy and blocks the sunlight from entering into the water. The dead algae also takes a lot of oxygen to break down forcing animals to move from the area and lots of other biological bad processes go down. The UN resently published a research showing that meat production stands for 18% of the greenhouse gases.

A Belgian environmentalist introduced the campaign of one meat free day a week and the concept is constantly growing! Visit the UK website sponsored by Goodlife and start experimenting with vegetarian food. You'll be surprised by the opportunities!

21 februari 2011

Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture

The most inspiring talk about biology, architecture and engineering! How to go from a linear resource usage to a closed loop, taking advantage of all nature has to offer. Pawlyn sees opportunities with every process and substance rather than obstacles, it's a very refreshing point of view!

Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture | Video on TED.com

There are so many options and opportunities out there for us to discover, I feel we live in a world of change, nothing is impossible and an increasing amount of people are starting to see the vast possibilities. We need to have faith in ourselves and the nature, it's important that we do not give up in finding solutions to our growing problems... Everything is an opportunity!

Julia and I decided to meet 7.30 this morning for yoga before heading back to my place to eat a very pleasant breakfast, so nice with company! Lone came over for lunch as our lecture was cancelled and now we're about to hed out for a walk in the half-wonderful, very cold weather, and then it is back to the books on the schedule...

20 februari 2011

Acumen Fund

I love TED, so many great talks! Here you can watch Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund, an organisation that invests, with patience, in poverty-struck areas and societies to help them improve their life situation. They "combine business and philanthropy to break the cycle of poverty." It is a very inspiring talk, don't miss it!

http://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_novogratz_inspiring_a_life_of_immersion.html

I just made the best soup, so good and so simple and cheap. I needed to do something with my carrots and potatoes so I thought I'd just make a soup, last time I tried carrot soup it didn't go so well... But this time, yummy! Just carrots, potatoes (about 1/3 potato), stock, cream, salt, white peppar and blend it really smooth. I was looking through my spices to see what else I could put in it cause it felt really boring but when I tried it I just didn't want to ruin it... mmmmm

On the subject of food, yesterday we went to Julia's house and everyone just brought some ingredients, we put it all on the table and started brainstorming. The result was a culinary sensation! Lots of different dishes finished by a berry pie with lemon and vanilla whipped cream... Success!
Thank you for a great night and for all of you who think vegetarian food is boring, you don't know what you are talking about...

Thank you Cary

My interest in blogging has been going on a roller coaster ride and just the other day I was considering to stop. However, the next day my lovely friend Cary, whom I haven't seen since Paris, surprised me with a wall post saying she misses me and thanking me for beinging up important issues. I took it as a sign that even if I'm not totally motivated at the moment I'm still going to keep updating the world of issues I find interesting and important. Thank you for the boost Cary!

Here is a video of Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the US. She is inspiring, witty and powerful.



Quotes I find rather funny...
Not saying that the world would be better completely run by women, "if you think that you've forgotten high school" "guilt is every woman's middle name" "there's a special place in hell for women who do not help eachother".
I haven't read her full bio, but I know she's made some questionable decisions, which I guess comes with the office and even if she doesn't agree with them, she still has to stand up for them. She has however done a lot for women and I think she is a feminist with perspective. Except for the hell-thing, don't believe in hell and I don't want to get into religion...

17 februari 2011

Japan facing the ICJ

Australia is dragging Japan in front of the ICJ for breach of international obligations and resolutions concerning whaling, in the hopes of ending whaling for good, whether it is for "research" or commercial. Read The Australian, if you are really interested you can read the case from the International Court of Justice website here. The trial has not only caused Japan an embarrassment in global opinion and damaged Japan's profile internationally but it has also caused a rumble inside the country...
Japan has announced that due to environmentalist activists, the sea shepherds, the Japanese whaling fleet Nisshin Maru is abandoning the Antarctics. However, they'll come back as soon as Sea Shephers leaves... At the moment they're losing about $200 million every year thanks to activist activities. I say keep up the good work! Read the article on ABC news

16 februari 2011

Is Japan finally giving up?

It looks like the Japanese whaling fleet is cutting its season short after immense pressure from global opinion and activist groups like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherds. Is it true?! Well, we can only hope they've come to their senses and quit the "scientific research" on Antarctic whales...
Read the article in the Sydney morning herald here
Why'd you ever want to kill these amazing animals?

13 februari 2011

Linus move-in party















Wine, cheese and game

Yesterday I had no hangover. I'm paying for that today. With one the size of four hangovers...

Friday night was a lovely girls night in, we enjoyed a cheese platter, too much wine and an enormous amount of fun!


The game was hilarious, you had to act out a dialect saying a completely random sentence and the others had to guess. It was hard! You also had guess the profession, I had to speak like a farmer, the whole game is built on generalisations practically and with our very politically correct studies I love when you can be so completely politically INcorrect!

Despite the huge amount of wine consumation I woke up with the sun glaring in from the balcony so I open the door and sun tanned for the first time this year. So lovely and warm!
I even managed to do some work while enjoying the sun, then I met up with Annika in town and went for a stroll, it is amazing how Swedes light up as soon as the sun comes out, half the population must have been downtown on park benches or promenading down the street. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep my credit card in my wallet... It wanted to be used, it was screaming for some emptying, and it had good arguments... "You want it". Well, maybe it wasn't the strongest of arguments but it worked...
So I came home with an top perfect for spring evenings when the sun goes down and a bikini. I might have gotten a little bit ahead of myself but I can't wait for spring and summer!!

11 februari 2011

Can I have feminism back please?

-Hello, how can I help you?
-Hi, I would like to exchange this feminism, it has lost its meaning...

I used to be proud to call myself a feminist. Today I have to explain and defend myself. Mention feminism and many will automatically think you are a man-hating lesbian who ignore shaving. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the HBT-society, I love the gays. But give me back feminism! When did feminism stop meaning equal opportunities and equal rights? It's about equality. I do not hate men, in fact I'm inlove with a very manly man, I simply believe that women and men have equal rights and equal obligations in our society.

Rock classics

I've discovered that the best cooking music is probably rock... I've been making a vegetarian chili con carne and rocking away to random music on the rock classics radio, stirring the pot between my awesome air gitarr sessions! It's awesome!
I recommend all poor students (like me) to make this, it's delicious, it's healthy and it's really cheap.
I just make it with:
crushed tomatoes
tomato paste
quorn
corn
chick peas
kidney beans
and whatever vegetables and spices you want to throw in there. So easy!

I just have to mention that I have the cutest cousin! Every now and again she messages me and asks me what I'm doing. Sometimes she forgets to write from Sarah so she sends another texts just saying that haha, every time! She's adorable! Was looking for a picture but unfortunately I didn't find one =(

Time to get ready for the discrimination seminar... Wish me luck!

Bengt Frithiofsson

A faithful soldier in the armé of Bacchus, Bengan seduces the crowd with his wit and wisdom of the world of wine.
There is no one like him, with his windswept look and his love for the art of winemaking he intoxicates his listeners like a good vintage wine... He came into the room with authority and of course, a glass of red and began the lecture with an interesting simile. Like the lion hunts and kills the weak and the old of buffalos, wine kills off a number of our brain cells... But it kills the weak and the old so what does it matter?!

The weekend is coming up and I want to leave you with this advice. It is cold, it is dark, it is raining, but fear not the spring is nearing! Until then, take the time to enjoy a good bottle of red. Not just any cheap bottle but go for a really nice full-bodied wine filled with aroma and flavour! Enjoy it before it is time to go over to the rosés and the whites, cause in the cold winter evening, what is better than some cheese, good company and a bottle of red!?

09 februari 2011

Long overdue

My boyfriend reminded me that I have a blog today and my mum called to check on me cause I haven't written in so long so I figured this entry was long overdue...

Fynn's been here and it hasn't left much time for bloggin, none in fact. But to sum up the past week then:
It's been some days with great weather, Fynn found a little lonesome ski and decided to try out Lund's wonderful hills. (Probably the only hill in Skåne... So flat!)
 I kept working on the piano... The next session is also long overdue...
In the end of the week we made a visit to Helsingborg, walked about in the city for a while in the cold nasty weather before we decided a café was way nicer to hang out until the show at Wallmans was going to start. Despite seeing the show on multiple occasions I enjoyed it and so did Fynn! Unfortunately we had to split in the middle of the show to catch the last train to G-burg... Saturday we took the ferry out to Hönö and spent the day walking aroun the island despite the issued storm warning. It was a lovely very windy day, finished off by a very well-tasting fish soup, chess and my poor sweetie even agreed to play horse with my sister. I'm impressed!

Before going back to Lund after my mini holiday I managed to catch up with aussie Amanda for some sushi, Emelie for afternoon fika and old room mate and friend Farre to get my Marc Jacobs umbrella back. Just in time for the rain as well!

Back in Lund I feel like I'm drowning in reading yet I have spent more time learning about sharks than discrimination so far... Which ends this entry cause studying is long overdue...