Author Archives: jon

To Be A Giant

Posted on by

Some time after we had moved to our current accommodation we were contacted by the company who owns the flat, Familjebostäder, who wanted to send a photographer to take pictures (obviously) of Jo and Freya, for use in their adverts/website. I have never known how they found out about and decided Jo and Freya should be the models they were after, and it feels slightly creepy thinking about it, though I’ve no doubt the methods used were above board, and no spies or hidden cameras were used.

Despite our foreknowledge it was still a pleasant surprise going to their site and seeing us (I say “us”, even though I was not asked to appear, not even in the background, under a bed, out of focus). Freya, however, being used to seeing digital pictures of us all on the computer, and not really understanding the concept of the Internet, was unmoved by the whole thing. Until the large-scale version came along, that is.

A few months ago Jo was again contacted by the FB(I), this time wanting to know if they could employ one of the pictures in a larger format. Jo was okay with the idea, thinking it would probably be a couple of metre-high indoor advertisements that’d be easy enough to miss or (mis)take as part of the surrounding scenery.

A 7-metre high hanging is currently emblazoning the FBI offices in Stockholm. Not quite what Jo had imagined when she gave the okay; in fact, very few (minus egomaniacs) could have foreseen the enormity of the end result. Even Freya was (quietly) impressed.

Class 5s’ Special Week

Posted on by

Back to work today, after a week’s respite, and I can’t say I’m particularly happy about the prospect. I was, however, quite interested to get the 5th year’s National Test underway, as I’d been planning their week for a while now.

We started with a light breakfast in the dining room at 08.20 this morning. About 25 of the 40 children turned up, to munch their way through cheese sandwiches (I should be, and am a little, pleased that they got anything to eat, a fair number of them not having breakfast at home), but it did seem a bit on the stingy side. No milk to drink (what am I saying!), and no thought for those who are allergic to milk products.

We then went for a quick 10 minute walk up the road, and up the hill. The idea was that this would give the pupils some fresh air and exercise to get the brain working, as well as having time for them to ask any final questions about the day/week, rather than having them ask in the classroom just before the test.

The actual test (part one of five) and accompanying papers took the whole of the morning, as planned, and I think it all went quite well. The aim of this “special treatment” before the exam, which they shall get tomorrow and Wednesday, is for them themselves to feel a bit special, that this is “their” week. Even if they do not do as well as they’d hoped (which most of them will), the whole experience should be an enjoyable one.

I’m not looking forward to the paperwork created by 40 tests, which just comes at the worst time. Classes 1 – 5 are just starting their parent-talks, which requires me to write something meaningful about the 150 children who have English with me.

Playing Videogames May Decrease Your Time Spent Reading

Posted on by

One of the small pleasures in life is flicking through the adverts that regularly appear in our postbox. Most of all I look forward to the newspaper-format electrical goods chainstore ads, of which there are a number.

It was during one such instance of paper perusal a few days ago that I chanced upon a page dedicated to the next generation of games consoles, the Wii, PS3 and XBox 360.

The PS3 was at the top of the page, despite (or, perhaps, because of) its higher cost and low sales figures. Although I have no plans to buy a PS3 (the XBox would be my inclination for a second system), I read the accompanying blurb, which, translated, went something thus:

“The PS3 is a very powerful games machine. It has a powerful cell-processor that can be up to ten times more powerful than other processors. It has a powerful RSX graphic chip…“, blah, blah, blah.

The XBox 360, without a single adjective in its blurb, is 1000 crowns cheaper. This, in my mind, gives the word “powerful” a value of about 250 crowns (£20). I only hope this is the writing of a Sony fanboy madman, whose last task at work in the real world before being carted off to make small strips of metal out of larger strips of metal was to sell the PS3 to the ignorant public, one that is apparently swayed by the repetition of powerful adjectives.

And another thing, while I’m being facetious: making a statement that the PS3’s cell processors is “up to ten times more powerful than other processors” is irrelevant. Firstly, because no-one who plays videogames should seriously give a rats arse; secondly, I could write an advert about the N64, stating the same about its 93.75MHz processor (comparing it to, say, the first generation of games machines, for example); thirdly, I’ve forgotten.

So, if I were to take away the extraneous adjectival usage, along with any flimsy filler statements, the above PS3 blurb would go something like this:

“The PS3 is a games machine. It has a cell-processor and an RSX graphic chip.”

Were I really harsh, I’d take away the obvious words and any techno-babble that hints of trying to impress, leaving:

“The PS3.”

Sadly, not even a proper sentence, but I’ll allow such a grammatical faux-pas on this occasion. Still, such logical editing wouldn’t make my advertisement reading past-time as enjoyable, though I’d get through a hell of a lot more adverts.

Fretting Over A Game

Posted on by

I am, as it is well-known, less fanatical about rock music than the average person. I don’t really like a great deal of guitar music in general, actually, with certain exceptions (thinking Pink Floyd as an immediate example). That said, I have mellowed with age, and I can find myself humming along to the occasional riff, or appreciating a wider variety of music than I once did in my predominantly synth youth and early adulthood.

That said, I did actually mess around with a guitar or two in my music making heyday. I even played bass in a rock n roll band when I was 15, playing in pubs and talent contests (well, contest). I think my interest in guitars grew only as Martin L Gore became proficient, and, after I saw him playing some groovy country stuff in one of Depeche Mode’s documentaries, I suppose I deemed it okay to be seen with one.

Recently, it has not only been okay to be holding a guitar, but fantastically entertaining; I refer, of course, to Guitar Hero 3 on the Wii.

We went out and bought the game plus 2 guitars when Chip was over to celebrate my birthday a few weeks ago. The £100 purchase seemed a bit steep, and I got pangs of guilt at splashing out so much on one game, though I knew I simply had to have two guitars to get full enjoyment.

Since then we have had a number of different people over to try it out, with further plans to make it a central reason for inviting other friends over in the near future, and my current week’s holiday has so far seen a number of solo sessions taking place. I am, in short, hooked.

There are enough tracks in the game to make it interesting, and enough strong tracks to make the absolute dire offerings bearable, if not enjoyable. It has also opened me to bands that I had previously not been giving a chance to, with tracks like The Who’s “The Seeker”, The Killer’s “When We Were Young” and Heart’s “Barracuda”. I find myself mumbling the riffs or various vocal lines from these songs more often than is absolutely necessary or healthy, but I’m happy with my condition.

A Much Needed Holiday

Posted on by

A week’s holiday could not have come at a better time. This last week I have felt the stress of working in a school that has rules, but no set of consequences for breaking them. After putting up with a whole deal of lack of respect I am finally away from it all.

Once again a long period has gone by without my posting any entries. It’s not that I’ve not had any decent ideas to write about, rather an inability to formulate myself and a feeling of having so little time to do it. I suppose the second explanation of my absence from the blogging world is due to stress, and I hope to rectify that in part over the next few days. I shall, as much as possible, become a single-task being, concentrating on one task at a time until I feel that task is complete.

And with that I shall finish off this entry and go and make the bed. Oh, sweet holiday, how I have longed for you!