Engelberg
Leave a Comment Posted on March 14, 2008
Busy living.
3 Comments Posted on February 2, 2008
One of those life-defining moments
10 Comments Posted on July 25, 2007
There is nothing to be said about this image, except that everything is wrong about it. Frankly, I’ve never seen a photo as terrible as this one. But like with all disgusting things, it’s impossible to look away.
And yeah, that’s Richard Stallman. And yeah, this photo is copyrighted.
© Copyright Gabriel Hase, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Between, whoever thinks I posted this photo with anti-RMS intentions: get your acts together! Richard is da man. And I’m a FSF member. And I love Emacs. BUT: The image is bizarre. That’s obvious. Now, get on with your lives. And stop emailing me, suckers.
Geneva’s finest
5 Comments Posted on June 30, 2007
Summer in Geneva
2 Comments Posted on June 28, 2007
Carlos, a friend of mine, just sent me these pictures. They’re taken the night of the 17th, and shows the central parts of Geneva. This was the same night I wrote the post with the title ‘Deranged’, and probably the only time I can honestly say I woke up by the sound of thunders.
Paganism and Dekadenz in Nice
7 Comments Posted on June 24, 2007
Update! Scroll down for exclusive footage featuring the Three Tenors as you’ve never seen them before.
I’m not sure you all know, but I’m a member of the Swedish gentlemen’s club “Dekadenz”. The club arranges regularly invitation-only events all over Europe. This Midsummer, it was time for Nice, and the French Riviera, to give us what we deserve: la dolce vita. Damn it, we even had royalties around… Tsar Gustaf and wife was there! A smashing hit, that’s what it was. Thanks guys!
Deranged
2 Comments Posted on June 17, 2007
This is how I look after running 20 minutes through Geneva’s godforsaken weather. Good thing je vais à la plage in just a couple of days.
“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.”
7 Comments Posted on June 6, 2007
Today is the national holiday of Sweden. A dude — Gustav Vasa, I might add — was crowned king this day back in 1523, or so. He threw away the Danes and unintentionally gave rise to the oldest, the longest, and the biggest cross-country ski race in the world. Even so, Swedes are generally not into flag-waiving.
We should be proud of that. In my world, it’s hinting that Sweden is a progressive and heterogeneous country.
In some sort of celebration of anti-patriotism and open-mindedness, I decided to put the commie-brick I’m currently reading (see column to the right) aside in favor of a biography of Oscar Wilde. Ever since stumbling upon the funny quote “work is the curse of the drinking classes”, I’ve wanted to read something about him.
OMG! Enough of this pretentious crap. Quickly, look at these superficial pictures from Valencia instead!
Did they vacuum clean?
3 Comments Posted on May 21, 2007
…that’s the question. Because, my flat surely seems like a brand new place after my sister and her fiancee left for Sweden. 
Since I have plenty of things to do tonight, I won’t give you a detailed account of the weekend’s many events and adventures. No, you’ll have to settle with knowing that we had fun, loads of it. But don’t just take my word for it, look how happy Rickard is down at the Perl du Lac.
On Saturday, we didn’t waste any time. We did however, get wasted. Well, at least Rickard and myself. Starting off on Le Brasseur, downing the biggest can of beer my dear sister had ever seen, we rapidly ended up on the inevitably path — quoting Hercule Poirot — to the “degeneration of the mind” that is far too familiar to many of us: namely, the sing-a-long-evening at the local Irish pub.
“But what about Friday?” — I’m sure the attentive reader wonders. Well, on Friday we… walked. And after that, we walked some more. And in the meantime, we passed by the UN building, and its many fountains, the American Mission, and its angry shouting guards, the Botanical gardens with its Peacock bird. Eventually, we reached Lac Leman, cashing in on the long detour by enjoying Geneva’s beautiful lake-side slowly revealing itself.
Oh, and before I forget about it, we went to France as well. We took the boat from Nyon to Yvoire, an old village with a cozy medieval air over it. Before taking off with the boat, we had time to stroll through Nyon.
The picture to the left shows one of those futile attempts to use the camera’s self-timer function. To the right, Rickard is gazing out over the area exactly the way the Romans might have done it after founding the city.
For all savvy Tintinologists, this place is well-known for hosting big parts of the plot of the Calculus affair. Richard and I, both proud owners of the complete newly released Swedish updated translation of the whole Tintin series, decided while downing our tasty gelato (Italian icecream) to react one of the highly interesting scenes from the magazine. Namely, the one below. Hergé would have been proud, I’m sure.
On Sunday night, we finally got the chance to literately dig into Swiss food — yes, you guessed it: cheese fondue! Mandatory stuff for any visitor to Switzerland. Heléne, that includes you! 
Further on, I don’t like to point of the obvious, but just to avoid confusion: we’re looking stupid on these pictures. That was the idea, OK?
And last, but certainly not least. We stalked down Kofi Annan and his Swedish wife! He was eating lunch at the restaurant on Rosseau’s island. I agree it’s embarrassing and shameless, but in the heat of the moment, who can resist good ol’ celebrity spotting?
So everything was perfect? Well almost, the only downside I can think of was the Indian family pictured to the right. 
Although I’m sure they’re great people, they apparently used some voodoo magic on Heléne’s and Rickard’s camera wiping out all of their photos. Rickard must have ran out of karma after secretly paparazzied them.
So, I’m waiting for an invitation to the Strawberry Day. What is taking you so long? 
Fool around the clock tonight
3 Comments Posted on May 15, 2007
I just came in from some running. I’m loosely following a marathon-preparation program. It’s quite intensive — I’m running five days a week, with a weekly increase of roughly 10% in accumulated mileage. Though almost too tough initially, I really got into the whole thing after a while. I’ve now reached the point where I actually want to go out and exercise. A totally new experience for me.
However, quite early on during tonight’s fartlek (Yes, it’s an English word!), I managed to do something with my right ankle. It slowly became very stiff, until it got to the point where I barely could put any weight on it. A few minutes later, my whole right leg, from hip to ankle, exploded into the most furious cramps I’ve ever experienced. Naturally, I crashed together on the asphalt as a piece of meat. Naturally, I was right next to Geneva’s touristy Flower clock when it happened. Naturally, people rushed to my “help”.
Although I make a fool of myself pretty much every day, this felt like a record.
Other life-altering events lately include a session of amusingly serious pub golf, boosted by real clubs and the appropriate clothing, as well as last Saturday’s (free!) wine degustation in the area around the small village of Setigny. Seven hours of grape-goodness and four (or was it five?) splendid vineyards paved the way for an awesome Eurovision-evening at Carlos’ and Tom’s.
