the art of ageing

Someone on Instagram tipped me about this documentary on Swedish television about older women being absolutely fabulous and proving getting older does not in any way mean you have to get drab, grey and settle for a senior-mode or an inactive lifestyle. I never catched it on TV but it is still available on SVT Play (in Sweden only, with the title Pantertanter och krutgubbar: Mode) until August 6 - and I do urge you to watch it!

Because it's a great British documentary from 2013 - I remember hearing about it back then but it hasn't been shown in Sweden until now sadly -, showing 6 different, active women from the age 73 up to 91 that are absolutely aweinspiring and fantastic. It's called Fabulous Fashionistas and if you're able to watch it outside Sweden you really should.

Read more about the documentary here and here. None of the women had had plastic surgery and some of them showed that looking fabulous and stylish has nothing to do with money, charity shops, thrift stores and flee markets are great sources when you're on a modest budget.

Some truly inspiring 45 minutes of your life. Promise.

10 inspiring reads that will make you think, cry and laugh

Today this blog brings you very readable, watchable, cryable, laughable articles and such. Enlightening, saddening and heartwarming. Life.

~ Riches won't make you happier, but a greener economy will

~ Look up - you've probably already seen this one, but if not, you really should... "We're a  generation of idiots, smartphones and dumb people. When you're looking down, you don't see the chances you miss."

~ "Of all the ridiculous things the most ridiculous thing seems to me, to be busy..." - this piece on Kierkegaard and how we choose (as busyness is a choice) to live our lives (those of us who are free to choose in every sense) and unhappiness is really a very good read.

~ Cowspiracy - a documentary about the devastating impact the meat industry has not only on animal lives but also on the environment. I would not be able to watch it, but then again I'm certainly not the target group for it. Probably yet another movie that should be obligatory for animal flesh eaters to watch.

~ What would happen if the planet went vegetarian? - since I firmly believe this planet needs drastic rethinking about economy, how we work and live and basic income makes every sense on so many levels I only see endless benefits from a vegetarian, kind and compassionate planet. Not to mention much healthier...

~ Health benefits and therapy via gardening - obvious to some of course...

~ Vacations for animal lovers - oh, I want to go see polar bears, spot manatees, kiss cows, swim with pigs, see lemurs, visit cat cafés, and say hallo to tarsiers, go to a kangaroo sanctuary (saw the documentary the other month, what an amazing man...), howl with wolves and sleep with sloths...

~ Why introverts are like cats - absolutely spot on! Funny and so very true. Wouldn't you agree you other introverts out there?

~ Window farms - isn't this a brilliant invention?! Not sure were to put one since the cats would be a nuisance with it though...

~ The 100 most important cat pictures of all times - this is hilarious and the texts, I laughed until I cried. Imagine if people could pour energy into fabulous, mood-lifting things like this instead of being nasty internet trolls... And once again, cats teach us about life and living. Be prepared to be thoroughly entertained!

home

From the first glimpse I was hypnotized by the documentary "HOME" by awe-inspiring photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. After a while I began bawling, now my body aches and I feel sick and exhausted. It's a horrific, amazing, painfully beautiful in every frame movie about how we, the despicable human race, are destroying the cycle of life that we have been given on this earth.

And no matter what one feels about the accuracy of reasons for global warming it's quite undeniable that the human breed is the one and only living being behind toxic industrial emissions, the constantly ongoing use and abuse of other species for our own twisted pleasures, the devastation of rain forests and natural habitats and so forth in an endless, sickening way.

To watch this documentary should be a mandatory eye-opener for EVERY HUMAN on this ONE PLANET.

The whole HOME movie can be watched at YouTube, but I completely recommend it to be watched on a big screen. More reading can be done at the website goodplanet.org

Felted Easter

I've given a sneak preview of my Easter twigs before, but here it is, in it's simple no frills cuteness. And I do love that the tiny green leaves have begun sprouting in the twigs. Naturally Springish. Ms Dotty Bulgy and Mr Pinkie Stripey are accompanied my Mr Perky Black Rooster and Mrs Plump Yellow Chick, together they form the Beauty Without Cruelty Easter Twigs Company in a ceramic pitcher in the residence of undersigned.

Myself I'm taking the broomstick to Blåkulla on this Maundy Thursday. Or well, not really, but if I was it would naturally be to a beautiful Blockula full of benign witches, good thoughts and matching deeds. And on the broomstick would be the (in)famous liquorice cousins and I and oh what a funfilled flight we would have!

~*~ Have yourselves a lovely, relaxing long Easter weekend ~*~

Eggs for Breakfast

Since Easter decorations most certainly aren't what they used to be - at least not if you actually care about the very probable pain and suffering that have preceded the feathers and down most of us use, in one way or other, in our homes and clothes - these colourful felted eggs is much more than a decent substitute to hang in the Easter twigs.

More about them and the other thingies I'll adorn my twigs with to come, for now, which egg do you prefer? Ms Dotty Bulgy with a blue ribbon in her hair or Mr Pinkie Stripey with orange headband?

Cruelty in Wool

I just couldn't watch the whole Swedish documentary about the completely vile, repulsive act of atrocious cruelty toward sheep in the (merino) wool industry. The practise of so called mulesing in mainly the Australian sheep industry. The pictures, and the absolutely heartbreaking screams of those poor lambs being scalped...

It makes me so unbelievably mad, I've had an angry despair-knot in my stomach all evening, I've cried and have been on the verge of crying ever since I catched those glimpses of this savage abuse. Ah, who cares if the human race extinguish themselves, good riddance for planet earth.

And those guys who have the audacity to claim innocence, who play all injured and wronged... P l e a s e, if you can find it in your vile heartless human heart to do it, then you should at least be *human* enough skip the whitewash and admit to your own actions!!

Why not simply admit that you just don't care about all the pain and suffering you're willfully causing innocent and helpless animals, that their life and suffering just is a part of you making money. I mean, it's not like you're alone in the world being a brutal barbar, there are plenty of you heartless abject bastards around. All you sad excuses for decent human beings, that put yourselves above the rest of nature's creatures. Oh there are a plethora (unfortunately) of you that can comfort you and pat your back when poor you are so completely misunderstood by the rest of us who actually do have a conscience, who care about something else than our own measly monetary profit.

Being a consumer it's so easy to live under the illusion that whenever you buy something that's made in nature materials it's also something very natural, made with thought and care for animals and the environment. Really, very different from those horrible synthetics, that feels absolutely nasty against your skin, makes the clothes all burled and your hair all wired.

And then you suddenly read something here, see something there that makes you realize that just because it's called nature materials that doesn't mean it's so very eco and animal friendly. That you have to look even further when you're buying clothes and accessories, that you have to be *quite* active in your pre-store-clothes/brands research if you want to continue to claim being a human with a conscience.

I didn't think I had any garments made of merino wool, turned out I was wrong. I did get something at the post-Christmas sales that states 100% merino wool. And now I feel *slightly* queazy about that. Me being a, however tiny, part of this reprehensible industry. Ah, it's so very easy to think of oneself being a bit better, a bit - or more - superior than the average sheeple, but I guess, sometimes you're simply a sheep like everyone else.

Documentaries, II

A few of the documentaries I've watched lately -

* Animals who sense danger - about the fact that many animals sense geo-electrical waves ie electromagnetic waves and therefor can "predict" different natural catastrophes, like tsunamis, earth quakes, volcanic eruptions. The lesson to be learnt - most of us should learn to be more openminded and *listen* more to what other animals are trying to tell us...

* 9.11 fund - a sad fact, money or the prospect of getting money seems to bring out all sorts of nastiness in all too many humans... The 9.11 fund is the federal compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and this documentary showed how basically unfairly and inefficiently the money was distributed. There weren't any equal payouts, but instead they were based on factors such as the victim's age and potential lost income. A strange way of putting a price and value on a life... Not to mention how greedy some of the *mourners* became, ah the distastefulness and complete lack of respect is just appalling...

* Grand Designs, The Woodsman's Cottage - perhaps not a documentary as such, just something I stumbled over, but still an extremely interesting and fascinating irl TV-show about, in this episode of the series, a man who built an eco-house in the middle of the woods in Suffolk, UK. From scratch, and by hand, grew an amazingly beautiful house, with a very Little-House-On-the-Prairie-feel to it. More of the series can be found here

* Ethical fashion - a documentary about how non-ethical and non-sustainable, in so many ways, the fashion industry is. How, still few, designers are trying to make things better and how hard the resistance from different actors in the fashion business often is. About fair trade - how many know or even care about that when there are silly cheap shirts from Asia to be found in store back home... We should be aware. And we ought to care. More information (in Swedish) can be found at etiskt mode.se

* Cajsa Warg & her culinary sisters - a culinary journey from Cajsa Warg, 18th century, to today's Swedish trendsetters in the culinary department. Quite interesting, and in parts plain wimpish, to say the least...

* 21 years in the new South Africa - in 1992 the directors began filming this documentary about what was then 11 children from different walks of life in SA. They were then 7 years old, the next episode was filmed when they were 14 and now they're 21. There are only eight of them still alive, three have died in aids. It should be a generation with a whole lot of new possibilities in life, but have they been able to make the most of that or are all these new possibilities just something that's seen on paper? My impression of most of the youths in the documentary was jadedness, sadness and like one of them put it "Everyone is so pc in South Africa today, but noone seem to actually care. Apartheid was something that defined us." - heartbreaking. On so many levels. And all that waste of resources and lives.

* In search of Gandhi - a documentary road movie about today's India and how Gandhi's visions of equality and democracy, his Satyagraha, have been maintained and managed. The sad fact it seems, is that it has not, with few exceptions. The caste-system, the reverses of SEZ, the forced dislocations, the suicides of about 100000 Indian farmers every year, the religious antagonisms - as Gandhi so well put it; "As soon as we lose the moral basis we cease to be religious, there is no such thing as religion overriding morality".

The conclusion of this particular documentary was that India of today is living with the consequences of not following Gandhi's ideas.

* An extremely interesting documentary about different people's different daily rhythms, about our genetic biological clock and sleeping disorders. About the fact that so many people aren't very well adapted to this rigid society with the-early-bird-catches-the-worm attitude. That it should be an innovation society, and not an industrial society that forces everyone into the same strict 9-17 templates. If we could chose to sleep and work when it suited us the best, and really many of the means of working nowadays allow us to, it would lead to both an economic value addition as well as an increased personal life quality.

And *of course* a country that is actually in parts open to this way of thinking being Denmark. Where the so called B-Society has been founded, with a mission to change the labour markets and society's rigid structures. My two words for this is - at last.

Documentaries

It may seem like the time I spent in front of the TV only consists of watching movies in general and British murder mysteries in particular - mixed with an odd TV-series here and there - but as it happens there are other programmes of interest on now and then. Miscellaneous documentaries. Here's an assortment of what I've been watching, enjoying, learning, getting really upset about, crying tears of despair over as lately.

The Lion's Trail - about the South African musician Solomon Linda who was the actual composer of the world famed hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", but never got acknowledge for that during his lifetime. He died impoverished and his descendants weren't amended until 2006. This article with links tells the story well.

A documentary about globalization, this one concentrating mainly on the clothing industry, freetrading zones, what can't be described as anything else than slavery, the need for social responsibility and ethics, in every rank, and how utterly and reprehensibly ignorant most of us are as consumers...

Spam, the documentary - not really about SPAM, the ham, just a bit about Monty Python, and mainly about those unsolicited emails most of us we get far too often. For some reason these kind of things never cease to amaze me, all those people, all over the world, with obviously shady agendas, with all that ingeniousness and all that time at their disposal, what if they actually turned all that into something positive instead? Imagine that...

What's wrong with people, do they lack a certain chromosome, did they have a rotten childhood, weren't they adequately potty trained, is everyone else to blame but themselves or are they just plain and simple greedily mean?

Why We Fight - a well told documentary about why America goes to war. All over again and again... About the unsavoury military-industrial complex, a system of legal corruption, what every country needs is alert and knowledgeable citizens who demand to be told the truth and nothing but the truth - and all that lying with smug politician faces, it makes me shudder in despond as well as anger...

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive - a very interesting, personal, moving documentary about bipolar disease, and how different people cope, or in many sad cases not, with having this stigmatized disease, how it affects the people around them. My only, as far as I know, personal experience of this is that my grandfather's second wife suffered from it. I never met her during those "episodes" though, so as far as insightfullness goes it's very limited indeed. Perhaps this documentary has helped.

An absolutely heartbreaking documentary about the umbrella species orangutangs' lifes and mankind's overexploitation of their natural habitats in Borneo, with dr Biruté Galdikas. And once again, how untaught and tame we are as human inhabitants in this world...

I know I'll stay away from products that hold palmoil from now on, there are too many of them unfortunately and the consequenses are absolutely devastating for the rainforrests and their natural inhabitants.

No wonder there is a notion of Weltschmerz...