Word associations and inappropriate musical choices

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Watching on Al Jazeera a show about Colombian pilots flying perilous routes in rickety old DC3 aircraft through the Amazon  (apparently with clear and present danger of crashing and never being found again once the jungle overtakes the wreckage), I am struck by the background music choice, which seems entirely too whimsical and Calypso to be appropriate. As a narrator explains that the pilot/captain Raul must calculate his fuel needs precisely or else crash, there is this playful carnival music going in the background. Yes, nothing like frolicsome music to evoke the “fun” of a possible fiery crash whose remains we would never find. (Al Jazeera has a whole bunch of these “daredevil” shows where people are doing the craziest stuff to make a living. A few weeks ago I saw some Pakistani lunatics driving on narrow, twisting mountain passes in giant, ornate trucks. And I think my commute is a bad one.)

You took off like a jet girl…

Jet girl… jet ski! I had a hilarious conversation last night before leaving for work in which I was reminded that there was probably a cigarette ad that included idiots on a jet ski. I had my doubts, but my dear firewall was absolutely right.

Idiots advertising cigarettes on a jet ski

Idiots advertising cigarettes on a jet ski

Jet ski! … “Après ski”! ”This kind of evening could be life enhancing…” “She gets what she wants but still she ends up losing”

When I am not overdosing on sad movies or documentaries, I overdose on news. And this leads me to two thoughts – Ratko Mladic acting like a spoiled idiot child at Radovan Karadzic’s war crimes trial – refusing to take part in the “devil’s proceedings” and demanding that a guard bring him his dentures apparently (which makes me wonder why he went to court without dentures in the first place)? Second, the crazy urge for news outlets to be first with any news. I read somewhere that the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death was reported – not just by tabloids but by the Wall Street Journal – without any concern for whether his family had even been informed (never mind confirming the veracity of the claims).

Oh well I am too tired to analyze. Instead considering Donna Summer’s roles in alternate universes and hoping for just one day when the cars outside my office window will not honk. Since they built new tramlines and stoplights right outside, not a day passes without a lot of impatient honking (especially for Sweden).

Baking ambitions – Almost reached! Sweets for Oslo on Thursday

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Oslo folks, so deprived all summer, will welcome the return of my obsession with baking. Probably. 🙂

I did not get as far as I wanted with my baking plans. It amazes me, though, that I got as far as I did. I really did not have that much time but still managed some of the plan. The final list is below with my wishful-thinking plans crossed out (undoubtedly to be baked sometime soon).

My ambitious baking plan included:

Shortbread
Carrot-sandwich cookies
Anzac biscuits
Cranberry-pistachio biscotti (altered: Cranberry-blueberry-cashew biscotti)
Tart cherry, blueberry and toasted pine nut biscotti
Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies (altered: Oreo-stuffed peanut butter cookies, recipe provided in another post)
Smil-filled chocolate cookies (Rolos really would be better! But it is yet another thing unavailable to me in Sweden! How can I do my biggest, best bakes without Rolos? Without endless waterfalls of chocolate chips?)
Samoa cookies
Nanaimo bars
Mini cheesecakes with Oreo crust
Oatmeal lemon cream bars*
Caramel apple crumble bars*
Kahlua coffee cupcakes*
Malted milk chocolate cupcakes*
Brown sugar cupcakes with maple frosting and candied bacon*
Carrot pineapple spice cupcakes*

Added after the fact: Peanut butter cup-stuffed M&M cookies! (I used the linked recipe but used M&Ms instead of chocolate chips since I can’t easily get chocolate chips here in Sweden; used Reese’s peanut butter cups instead of brownies as the stuffing.)

*recipe, photos and taste-test verdicts to follow

Oh and how Canadian of me to have both Nanaimo bars and maple frosting!

Watching Al Jazeera English program Witness: Truth on Trial about an international war crimes tribunal, prosecuting a Rwandan priest for allegedly perpetrating acts of genocide.

Sometimes when I watch things like this or think about things like what happened in Rwanda – and things that happen all over the world all the time, I wonder how it is I can bother with baking or care about some of the petty things I bother with.