Sunday, July 19, 2009

Exotism 2.0

Exotism 2.0

Momentary displacement : I wake up with a corner of the bhikkubag grating in to my face. Three narrow shafts of light . A black helmet floating under under white globes suspended from the roof. Right, that´s it , I´m back in the prison again.


Three hours later a mindgrating peppy wake up call erupts from a bed across the room. Bald guy in opposite bunk erupts in to a frantic Homer Simpson pantomine , flapping blankets, elusive cell phone and all ... and lands in perfect lotus position and holds it for twenty minutes. Books. Covers. Etc.

Later I sift through sound clips from Ladakh , sitting in one of the walled in pie formed walk yards that now is part of the youth hostel cafe.There is surreal shift between two different perspectives in the reshaped environment of the prison : prison culture puns ("captivating accomodation" "cellphones ") , and Beagle Boys outfits sold to the visitors , mixed with a museum of social history. This is also the end point of Swedens history of capital punishment in 1910. I guess that´s also exotic in a way. Interestingly enough it meant Sweden in actual practice preceded Tibet, but not in law : the death penalty was not banned in the Swedish constitution until 1921 , whereas the second major decision of the 13th Dalai Lama was the abolishment of the death penalty in 1913, and later a clause against cruel and unjust punishments. *


I´ve had a few of these alienated moments lately , seeing my life as it would be presented in a guide book . I guess one of the starting points was when I saw a recent edition of Lonely Planet Scandinavia , with a cover shot of the Northern Lights over the mountain hut in Låktatjåkkå : home ground turned in to post cards.

Came out of work Sunday , walked by Gammlia museum grounds , went to buy fresh bread : white cotton dresses swooshing over the wooden floor boards , naked feet with nail polish , the unleavened breads dancing in and out of the stone oven , paralell conversations over cellphones and IRL : picking up kids , teenager boys first girlfriend.... I guess this is our competing shot with the Non-German Bakeries.

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