T-post

A book called "The Cozy Darkness of the Apocalypse" was recently released in Sweden. The author Mr. Bolling argues that the predictions of pessimists, so popular in the news, always turn out to be wrong. He defends the straight line of Human Progress, and argues that everything is steadily getting better—not only are wars and poverty decreasing; even the environment is getting better!

Mr. Bolling’s cheerfulness is heavily influenced by Francis Fukuyama and his notion of the "End of History". In a nutshell: after the fall of the Soviet Empire, global neoliberal capitalism is the end of the line of all social systems. We now live in the best of all possible worlds.

Yes, you’ve guessed right: Mr. Bolling’s book was written before the economic crisis.

I totally understand now how all the "jock" dad’s out there gets born. You know the ones that never miss a single one of his son’s practices. The ones shouting at the referee to open his god dam eyes and the ones yelling at the coach to get his son off the bench.

I totally visited that place this weekend when my kids tried downhill skiing for the first time. Before the day was over I had their training schedule all lined up in my mind and how they would become the youngest downhill skiers ever to win a national championship.

Later that evening I happened to catch a documentary on TV called "Americas Strongest Child and Me". It was about a dad who had failed his own sporting carrier miserably and was now trying to get a new chance for glory through his son’s achievements.

In the year 2000 his son Richard shocked the world with his world record in weight lifting. His dad Aaron was proud to show how he trained Richard for three hours every day in the basement, which he'd nicknamed the dungeon. His son was only eight-year-old.

Let’s say my failed sporting carrier has never felt better.

Quite a few American states now consider ending the death penalty. The reason? Well, it seems that killing people cost too much.

Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland, is cited in New York Times (February the 24th, 2009) stating that capital cases cost three times as much as homicide cases where the death penalty is not sought. Capital cases are expensive because the trials tend to take longer, require more lawyers and more costly expert witnesses. They are also far more likely to lead to multiple appeals.

Capital punishment is an expensive business. Because business is what this at bottom is all about.

This is an oldie but well worth revisiting.

During a weekend in August back in 2005 a new Brazilian robbery record was set. The thieves got their hands on 65 million US dollars. The way they did it was like something taken out of a Oceans Eleven remake. They dug an 80 meters long tunnel to reach the vault; got inside through the floor without trigging any alarms and transported the 3,5 tons heavy plunder back through the tunnel.

To camouflage their three months underground activities they opened a gardening store next door to the bank, where they amongst other things, sold the soil they dug out from the tunnel.

A thief gotta make a living.

Reference: news.bbc.co.uk

T-post Issue 52, Designed by Wilmer Murillo

Illustrator and character designer Wilmer Murillo was born in 1987 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and grew up drawing and reading astronomy books. He began studying graphic design in 2005 but quickly realized that he wanted to devote himself to illustration. And we, for one, are glad that he did.

Wilmer is a lover of coffee, dogs, traditional toys, children’s books, and sad songs. He prefers movies like Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain to movies like Avatar. "I wasn’t very excited when I went to the cinema to watch (Avatar), but then it gave me a new view and more love and respect for nature. I must admit I was shocked. It produced a positive and deep effect in myself."

For Wilmer’s graphic interpretation, he focused on the idea of people living out the biggest part of their lives in a virtual world, making important decisions that could change things forever.

While things like social injustice and tragic love stories are more likely to depress Wilmer, you can make him happy by visiting wilmermurillo.com.

C.R.

Art. Fashion. News. All around conversation piece. Born in Sweden and raised in Portland, T-post is the world's first wearable magazine. Some of their favorite issues from the last five years will be display at The Red Fox starting this Friday night.

Come join us for great food, drinks and conversation. You could be getting your wardrobe automatically mailed to you every five weeks.

When: Opening reception: This Friday, March 12, 9pm-12pm. Show continues through April 9.

Where: The Red Fox: 5128 N Albina Avenue Portland, OR 97217, Directions Here 

For more information about the event visit: facebook.com/tpost.se

For many people, movies are a form of escapism. We go to the cinema to be entertained, to stir up our emotions and to temporarily forget about our real lives as we’re transported into another world. When the theater lights go on, we simply return to our normal lives.

While there are movies that have certainly had a profound effect on their audiences, few have had the kind of effect James Cameron’s latest spectacle, and highest grossing film of all time, Avatar, has.

Touted as a breakthrough in filmmaking technology for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking, Cameron’s completely immersive experience may have been too real for some.

According to CNN, many fans are experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film “because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora”.

One of the downsides of being a movie geek stationed in Sweden is that come Oscar night, that is really what it is here - night. The event starts here at 03.00 and ends at 06.00 in the morning.

But since we’re involved in one of the Short Films nominated for best Short, I hade to make sure I was the first one to break out the champagne, if it was called for.

But however sad it was to watch Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson enter the stage and receive the Oscar for their short film The New Tenants instead of Patrik and Mattias. I found consolation in beating the crap out of my friend Sika in our annual Oscar pick championship. I scored 12 out of 15, he scored 11. The battle of the geeks is won. Boo-yah!

The Hurt Locker got 9 nominations and won 6 Oscars, Avatar got 9 nomination and won 3. The secret is to always place your bets on the angry ex-wife.

On the 21st of June, police were called to a tanning salon in Cincinnati, Ohio. A 41-year-old man was being accused of using his cell phone to secretly snap photos of a woman while she was tanning in the nude. As creepy as this may seem it’s hardly a crime that would cause the man to gain a worldwide reputation for being a slimeball. That is, if the story were to stop there, but it doesn’t.

When police confronted the man they asked for his camera-phone, but he denied having one. The officers decided to take a closer look at the man and realized that he’d hidden the evidence in a most unusual way. He didn’t just erase the photos from the camera; he hid the entire phone up his ass. As noted by the officers, the man "did hide evidence in his anus."

I think that the world would be a much more interesting place if the adults would be as easily entertained as the kids? My constant urge to get my fix of fun satisfied is getting worse by the minute. And note that I’m not talking about doing it for my self anymore, I want something or someone to entertain me.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if I also could play non-stop for 5 hours just because I had a cheetah drawn on my face, like my kids did last night? I have to stop being so lazy and start to appreciate the more simple stuff in life.

So if you need me, I’ll be out building a fort in the mountain of snow while eating a sandwich and talking on my cell.

I’ll be back in 5 hours?