I dreamt I was involved in a prison break.

I'm not sure how it all started, but suddenly we were breaking out! It was me and two other guys - though I knew I wasn't the guy who I was in the dream.

In the beginning I think I was just a bystander. For some reason the prisoners were in our home, but as they continued their journey i switched places with one of them, until that guy was me.

It was strange, because only people who believed in the prisoners could see them. We were having tea with this old lady who was my character's grandma - not sure who she was, and though we could all see the prisoner, she couldn't. The police could, though. They almost caught them as they escaped through a gigantic yellow-tiled hall.

Them, not us? I'm a bystander again.

Moments later we were all on a pirate ship, and two guys in particular were in charge of the whole thing. One with a beard, and another... with an even greater beard. The leader looked a bit like Jack Sparrow's dad, and the other guy like your average tough guy. Like the lead singer in Bad Wolves.

Before this, one of the guys tried to escape with a girl... and something valuable. They drove away in a car - but crashed, and he was impaled in one eye with a tree branch, and she right through her torso. They ran out of the car and onward, trying to get away from each other, but succumbed to their injuries on something that seemed like a dusty hilltop - a bit like the border land in El Gringo. They talked a bit, and I think I might have been one of them... but I don't remember what they said.

Then they were back to the pirate ship; there to ask if they could be buried at sea. It was their right, and tradition.

Moments earlier I was on a school trip, with a bus that traversed the craziest roads! It rolled down one particular slope that reminded me of the first fall in Kålmården's new flagship rollercoaster last year: Wildfire.

I gasped for air at the descent... and I sat beside a girl on the bus who did the same. Because of this shared reaction to this temporary escape from gravity we started talking. The sights were beautiful btw - we looked out the window too, and really enjoyed them - even if the bus ran at the edges of ravines and all the most dangerous drops. There were no fences.

There was a guy too. Or two, maybe? We all became good friends, and later when the bus passed by our homes (in Bro) we all jumped off.

There were plenty of other people on the bus, but it turned out we all lived in the same area, and on a road that goes up a hill near my house we decided to have an obstacle course.

There was one particular wall of sand that pretty much ran vertically... and we decided to climb it! They had metal bars you could grab onto at the top, but it was frighteningly high and seemed to be easily collapsible.

I climbed like I had no fear of death though, and made it! And then it was time to go home, because the time was 23:11. One of the guys said he had to be home by six (a black guy), and I remember being happy someone else had worried parents, and also being surprised that it was the black guy.

I should have been surprised about the time, since it hadn't been long since the bus dropped us off - so there was no chance he'd have been able to match that time anyway.

I said something about how it'd be great if we could meet again - thinking we could go jogging. I have no idea if they liked jogging (I hate jogging - but in the dream I seemed to be in better shape), and we swapped addresses. Or more like: areas. I was the only one that really provided a street number, as I lived pretty much right by the place we were, and we sort of maybe decided to meet there again.

I had company of the girl on my way home, though, and it turns out she lived on the same street! We talked some more... and that's when I woke up. It was a good dream after all.

I dreamt that I was picking up my cellphone - in a sleepy state, when the alarm rang. Confused. For a second or so I looked at my phone and wondered why it beeped like my alarm... and then I woke up.

In the dream I was visiting my buddy Nick somewhere in the Swedish archipelago (he actually lives in the UK), where they had a little house. It was a beautiful place, surrounded by a widespread belt of low-grounded green islands and shimmering dark water between them.

We'd just paddled there today, and were now pondering if I should take the (two hour) trip back, or stay for the night.

I asked if he'd expected I'd stay the night and honestly he hadn't, so I thought: alright, if the sun doesn't set too early - and I have GPS on my phone - then I might as well attempt the trip.

It was a scary prospect because the archipelago both is and looked like a maze from where we stood. Uninhabited islands stretched out around us in all directions, and considering it was 10 PM - the sun already low on the horizon, it was unreasonable to believe I'd make it back anyway before it had gone down entirely.

Not to mention we were both actually lying in our beds when we first discussed this. We were both tired. The room looked a bit like another buddy's old two-bed room out in Norrtälje, and the whole scenario reminded me of a visit to another buddy up in Överkalix. Somehow three of my best friends merged for this one occasion.

But it's a dream, so such things happen.

I never did learn if I was brave enough to face the unknown, and embark out into the waves on a trip back to civilization, or (the more realistic alternative) I stayed the night, and then gave it a try the next morning.

It seemed like he'd be staying a while, anyway, but I felt like I had a deadline to catch... somehow.

Earlier in the dream I remember being with my brother, and nephew, and I think we were in Östersund... but that part is all a haze at this point. The archipelago maze and confusing moment waking up with my in-dream cellphone - that's what I clearly remember.

I've been reading a bit of Shoujo manga lately. Lately as in: about a month ago. Thought I'd post about it then but here we go again... delays! Maybe I hesitated because - for those of you who don't know - Shoujo is a form of manga directed primarily towards a a young female audience.

So it's not the type of stuff a growing-old man like me would boast about reading! But a little romance now and then... it's not bad. These particular ones happened to have a bit of action and intrigue, too. They weren't excessively girly - really! If you haven't tried Shoujo before (but have read other manga) then these might not so different after all.

First off there's Basara, which I only have three books of yet (and there's at least twenty) but hope to be getting more of! The style feels rushed sometimes, but looks good, and is drawn in an airy and emotional way.

The story's that of a girl named Sasara taking on her dead brother Tatara's role as revolutionary, to as prophecy foretells ignite a rebellion in a wicked land and overthrow the King and his four sons.

She soon realizes that the one in the prophecy was actually her - as they were twins, and the further things go the more dangerous her role. She leads a double life as both girl and boy, and happens to fall in love with one of the King's sons but doesn't know who he is. And of course he doesn't know she's Tatara - the spark of hope he's determined to kill.

It's a pretty exciting story! The characters are great and the emotion flares mightily. I want to read more.

Then, there's Planet Ladder. I've only read a couple books of this one too, but it seems promising. It's about a girl who's cast into a parallel world, and discovers there are actually seven parallel Earth's fighting for control.

The balance is becoming unstable, and only one can survive. A certain princess from a forgotten time has the power to say who will survive over all others... and it turns out that princess is her!

Compared to the previous the drawing style here feels a bit amateur-like, and the characters both naive and... stupid. But I do like the premises. Hope to get to the end of this one too...

Finally there's Vampire Knight: The story of a girl and boy who act like guards and mediators between the night and day class of a particular school. What the students don't know in the day class is that the night class consists of vampires, and what the main character (the girl of course) doesn't know is that the other guard is a vampire too, in the process of becoming, and though he loathes their race he eventually can't withstand the urge of blood any longer.

They form a special bond, yet one of the vampires in the night class saved her life from a rogue vampire back in the day and... well, it gets messy. I read a couple of books on this one too; hope to get more. Why is manga still so hard to come by over here...

It also gets unexpectedly savage, and so in the end... I'm surprised.

I'm surprised because Shoujo Manga really isn't only all about flowers and roses, and simple love. It can have a compelling storyline too, and the main character being a girl doesn't take away from the relatability after all.

I also feel like there's often a greater sense of mystery with Shoujo - which possibly ties in with the romance. There's definitely more emotion too, and the one thing I don't really like about the genre: often a sense of helplessness, a lack of confidence, or similar emotional flaws the main character strives to overcome.

It's also often used by the male characters, as the damsel in distress is saved, or helped, or somehow salvaged through the darkness by the knight in shining armor. It's not that stereotypical, or predictable, but it's there.

In comparison the main character in a Shonen manga will often be the one saving others. The one in control. The knight in white armor himself - and so it's often a similar story, just told from a different side.

It just so happens I was introduced to one more of these series earlier, when my sister gave me a pile of D.N.Angel books. I gave those a try and... they were alright! Guess my stereotypes started melting away at that point.

There's also Ranma 1/2, which is a bit like a hybrid between the two (between Shoujo and Shonen).

If you've been avoiding this particular genre: give it a try - you might like it!

I've also read though SandLand, but that's not Shoujo so there you go yo. But it was great too. I'll keep reading and make room (for more books cause they're way huge).

He may not be a master lyricist but he sure has a way with words, and speaks of life in a way it seems everyone can relate to... it's Petter! Sweden's maybe most known rapper (that raps in Swedish).

I saw him live at Gröna Lund this Thursday - first concert of the year there, starring frequent co-collaborator Eye-N-I and... a couple others I don't recall the names of. They were great though! Great energy.

Apart from a great artist he's most definitely one who does it best live, so if you ever happen to be in Stockholm when he plays: don't miss out!

Here's a little glimpse and selection of videos.

(more…)

Here is music! Goosebumps-inducing such. Bad Wolves. Zombie. Enjoy.

(more…)

This is pretty revolutionary isn't it? And what a coincidence: A week after NG launched their major userpage overhaul GOG introduces userpages!

You can set visibility for each part to Everyone, Friends, or Only You - parts which are so far a list of Friends, Games, and your Wishlist.

There aren't any superfluous fields there to fill out - just a little profile blurb if you like, and your avatar if you don't already have one (I didn't, as until now there was no reason to). It seems you can only see profiles if you log in, but feel free to friend me if you like - I'm not a public figure there.

One cool detail apart from finally being able to share games and wishlists with others - if you do such things, are the customizable backgrounds. The selection looks like this so far; with a nifty search box for titles:

...but that's just a little peek! The full selection is pretty big.

In case you didn't open that image (or as a warning before you do) there's 380 choices. Quite something compared to NG's 5-6 background colors.

I'm not sure if loaded alternatives remain active, but toggling through different backgrounds trying to make a choice actually bogged down my browser so much I had to shut down the page - and open it again.

Hope they get that fixed. Also hope they add in some DOOM in their selection - because those legendary titles I was instantly hyped about being able to decorate my profile with were not there!!!!

Even though they do have the games.

This is pretty cool though. If you didn't have a reason to sign up for GOG earlier maybe this is reason enough? If you're into logging your game times and such this will let you do that too - via the GOG Galaxy client, and then boast to the world how much time you spend by the computer.

I don't think I'll be using that, but I do like the pages! Cool stuff GOG.