Stieg Larssons Millennium: Del 1 [2010)

You thought we were done.

You’ve wasted so much ammunition.

Having fun yet?

Electoral College meeting date.

December 14.

Sandy Hook.

Harriet Vanger disappearance.

September 22.

Stieg Larsson’s death.

November 9.

Election day.

November 3.

Larsson dies before any of his novels are published?

Dies before the fantastic success of both the novels and subsequent films.

Heart attack at age 50 “after climbing the stairs at work”.

His grandfather had also died of a heart attack at age 50?

He was a smoker, they say.

Like Lisbeth Salander.

Search CIA heart attack gun.

Get this.

The Soviets developed first (ostensibly).

Just like MKUltra.

Not brainwashing, but “deprogramming” those POWs brainwashed during the Korean war.

Ostensibly.

And the Nazis were just “researching” when they conducted human experiments on Jews and other prisoners, right?

https://sofrep.com/news/watch-former-cia-employees-discuss-heart-attack-gun/

Per Oscarsson dies in house fire after appearing in the final Millennium Trilogy film.

December 31.

Wennerström.

Corrupt billionaire of fiction.

Stig Wennerström.

Actual Swedish Air Force colonel convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviets.

He was suspected by SÄPO (the Swedish equivalent of the FBI) of working for the Nazis as early as 1943.

From working with the Nazis (national socialism), he dovetailed into working for the Soviets (socialism/communism).

OPUS 240 Fascism comes from the Left!

Wennerström could have been executed by firing squad for treason because, after all, there was a war on (the Cold War).

War on Terrorism.

Was the end declared?

Instead, he was given a life sentence (which was later commuted to 20 years).

In 1972.

Think hippies.

What country do Bernie Sanders, AOC, et al. most want to copy?

Replicate their “democratic-socialist” utopia?

Sweden.

And I get it.

It is an alluring trick.

Sweden is a beautiful country.

The land is beautiful.

The women (with cans of General Snus in the back pockets of their tight bluejeans) are beautiful.

Even rednecks like me could be fooled.

Briefly.

By the façade.

The “Nordic model” countries (with their literal female models in tow).

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and (chiefly powering the Left’s zeitgeist) Sweden.

But Norway has a shit-ton of oil.

Oops.

But I see it.

Walk down the cobbled streets of a small Danish town and you too may be swayed by the seeming utopia.

America is not a Nordic country.

And as Nordic countries (particularly Sweden) attempt to mimic AMERICAN leftist policies (think immigration), they see their homogenous utopias ripped apart.

There are reasons certain forms of government work IN CERTAIN PLACES.

There are factors.

Variables.

America, at this point in its history, cannot whole-cloth adopt the Swedish system.

And any leftist with a brain knows this.

But it doesn’t prevent American leftists from dangling the Swedish carrot (fish?) in front of the noses of their moronic acolytes.

And, as alluded to earlier, it is meant to draw the weak-minded “across the aisle”.

“Come on over.  Everything will be just like Sweden.  Not the current Sweden, of course, but…you know:  the old Sweden.”

Two years after Wennerström’s life sentence was commuted to 20 years, he was paroled.

He had only been in custody for 10 years.

10 years for sharing 20,000 secret documents with the Soviets concerning Swedish air defenses, clandestine Swedish bases, etc.

This was the Swedish custom.

Serve half your sentence and get paroled.

Initial sentence could have been death [treason] (Cold War).

Actual sentence was life.

Sentence commuted to 20 years.

Cut in half (10 years) by parole.

That’s Sweden (in the early ’70s) and, perhaps, quintessential Swedish policy.

The “Nordic model”.

Lovely.

No justice, really.

No defense, really.

No state secrets, really.

No sovereignty, in actuality.

Bad trajectory.

About as robust a defense apparatus as an IKEA bed.

Which is to say.

Cheap.

Disposable.

Nice-looking.

Interesting that Sweden is not a part of NATO.

What if the big, bad Russians (who have 20,000 secret documents pertaining to radar, strategy, mobilization plans…) actually were to invade Sweden?

Those are old documents by now, of course.

But the Russians have a very easy sell to potential Swedish spies.

“Don’t worry.  There’s no declared war.  This isn’t the Cold War.  No treason. No firing squad.  If you get life in prison, it will probably be commuted to a paltry 20 years.  And you’ll be paroled after 10.  If you even get caught.”

Great deterrence, Sweden!

Back to the “Nordic model”…

Guess who ARE members of NATO?

Denmark, Iceland, and Norway.

Finland, right on Russia’s doorstep, are (like the Swedes) not members of NATO.

For more examples of Sweden’s liberal (lax) justice/prison apparatus, see the case of spy Stig Bergling.

Sentenced to life (like Wennerström).

Fled to Moscow during a conjugal visit (you can’t make this shit up!).

Voluntarily returned to Sweden seven years after his escape.

And was PAROLED three years later.

Again, this was DURING the Cold War.

Bergling’s arrest was a full 15 YEARS after Wennerström’s.

In other words, this was the next generation (same shitty policies) of spies being slapped on the wrist.

Bergling was parolled in 1997.

Ahh, that liberal paradise…Sweden.

Unlike Switzerland, it has no natural defenses (mountains) to guarantee its continued paradisal existence.

Need more?

Bertil Ströberg.

Swedish Air Force.

Convicted of spying for Poland [Soviet bloc] during the Cold War.

Sentenced to a mere six years in prison.

Paroled after three years.

Which brings us back to the brilliant (I mean it!) Swedish storyteller Stieg Larsson…himself a committed leftist (going so far as to train guerrillas in Eritrea in the firing or mortars).

What of Vanger?

VOLVO?

Volvokoncernen.

ASEA (the now-defunct General Swedish Electrical Company Limited) removed the swastika from their logo in 1933.

The company’s swastika logo had been used since the late-19th century.

Etymology

What if it’s a similar sound?

Fanger

In Swedish, “catches”.

Like in a cage?

Fanger.

In closely-related Danish, “prisoners”.

Like in cages?

What if a letter is missing?

Svanger.

In Swedish, “pregnant”.

Like, pregnant with meaning?

[svan, btw, means “swan” in Swedish]

Pregnant swan?

Like Leda of Greek mythology?

Zeus, in the form of a swan, raped Leda (a woman) who became pregnant and gave birth to “the most beautiful woman in the world”:  Helen of Troy.

And around whom does this mystery revolve?

The hauntingly-beautiful Henrietta (Helen?) Vanger.

Who had been been repeatedly raped by her father and brother.

[it is true that the Swedish equivalent of Helen would be Helena or Elin, but the initials match]

How did Larsson come to settle on this name Vanger?

Some have suggested Wagner.

Perhaps even Wegner.

Wenger?

Wolf, in Swedish, is “varg”.

Varger?

Vargar, in Swedish, is “wolves”.

Now we are getting somewhere.

But we must flesh out the story.

We are looking for three Swedish Nazi brothers.

I believe the fourth (the good guy) was invented by Larsson.

Three Swedish Nazis?

How about Birger, Gunnar, and Sigurd Furugård?

They founded the Swedish National Socialist Farmers’ and Workers’ Party in 1924.

It’s a good fit.

The good guy might just be IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad.

By “good”, I mean that he was a member of the Swedish SSS (Svensk Socialistisk Samling [National Socialist Workers’ Party…basically Swedish Nazis]) at age 17 and before that, at age 16, a member of the fascist New Swedish Movement WHO LATER DECLARED (in 1994) that his membership in the latter was the “greatest mistake” of his life.  His association with the SSS wasn’t publicly revealed until 2011 (at which time he made no further comment on having been a part of these types of groups).

So maybe Ingvar Kamprad wasn’t the good guy after all?

Did Larsson meld the Furugårds (Nazis) and Kamprad (a successful business man…and Nazi) into the amalgamation we know as the Vanger family?

https://web.archive.org/web/20120420065622/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/8720214/IKEA-founder-was-Nazi-recruiter.html

Kamprad, incidentally, is a variant of “comrade”.

Again, National SOCIALIST German Workers’ Party.

NAZIs.

So “far right” (says Wikipedia) that they were fucking socialists!?!

NAtionalsoZIalistische.

Socialist.

IKEA.

Sweden.

This is exactly what Pieczenik is talking about in the above video.

Fascism coming from the Left.

Kamprad started off with fascism (New Swedish Movement) and a year later went full-Nazi (National Socialist Workers’ Party).

Again, socialist.

You can’t take that word out of there.

And Antifa started as “anti-fascist” [against the Nazis, but FOR communism].

And they remain communist (leftist) and have devolved, ironically, into a fascist organization themselves (at least in America…where their tactics are indistinguishable from those of Hitler and Mussolini’s respective gangs [Sturmabteilung/SA/Braunhemden/Brownshirts & MVSM/Blackshirts/squadristi]).

BTW…IKEA was founded by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad.

Yes, that’s right:  he is confirmed in the above link to have been a member of the SSS [essentially the Swedish Nazi party] that very same year.

1943.

As for Lisbeth, look no further than the alleged Norwegian witch Lisbeth Nypan.

Salander.

Salamander.

Fire.

“blotches on its back”.

From mythology to the real life fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra).

Poisonous.

Europe.

Frigidity (able to extinguish fire).

But also “a product of fire”.

Newts.

Witchcraft.

Wizards and warlocks.

1966.

Disappearance of the Beaumont children (on Australia Day).

Church of Satan formed by Anton LaVey.

Moors murder trial.

Five children (between the ages of 10 and 17) murdered in and around Manchester between 1963 and 1965.  At least four were sexually assaulted.

Killer (Ian Brady) read Mein Kampf and books on Nazi atrocities.

Gertrude Baniszewski found guilty of murdering and torturing Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis.  Paroled in 1985 [American justice failure].

Charles Whitman kills 14 people with a sniper rifle from above the UT-Austin Tower (after killing his wife and mother).

September 22.

Lindwal railway incident.

Anna Karina born.

Nick Cave born.

Magda 30112.

Sara     32016.

BJ         32027.

LI         31208.

Mari    32018.

-PD

 

Seymour: An Introduction [2014)

Big gigantic balls.

It took Ethan Hawke.

Whom I formerly mistook for a hack.

To not even dabble in détournement.

But rather.

Straight-up.

Call it.

Seymour:  An Introduction

After Salinger.

But let me dispel all uncertainly early on.

This film, directed by Ethan Hawke, is a masterpiece.

The premise seemed interesting.

On Netflix.

“This should,” I thought, “be an easy one to jettison after a few painful minutes of shabby mise-en-scène…[after ignoring it on my ‘list’ for quite some time]”

And though there is no Liszt (ha!), Ethan Hawke tells one of the most touching stories I’ve ever seen.

Yes, that is the correct verbiage.

In the synesthesia of cinema.

It is the story of Seymour Bernstein (and not, as the title might lead one to believe, that of Seymour Glass).

Seymour did not become the supernova which his fellow Bernstein (Leonard) became.

No, Seymour Bernstein stepped away from the stage early.

As in, curtailed his career.

As a performer.

A pianist.

[but always a son–a man]

And so what makes Ethan Hawke’s film particularly special for me is the synergy created from two colliding ideas of great power:  music and anxiety.

Ah, to perform…

It’s hard (really, very fucking hard) for me to recall the good times which make me sad.

Those would be my four short years as a professional music performer.

[three of which coincided with a parallel mini-career as a studio (recording) musician]

Why did I step away?

To paraphrase Bogart in The Big Sleep, I must rank pretty high on insubordination.

I’m a rebel.

And though I pray that I never follow in the darker footsteps of Phil Spector, I was very much in what one would term popular or pop music.

But it wasn’t from a lack of training.

My bachelor’s degree, from an esteemed institution, is almost exclusively due to courses in Western classical music.

Though I am but an amateur pianist compared to Mr. Bernstein, I have a deep appreciation for what he is doing all throughout this film.

As a trained music theorist (my specialization).

And a trained composer (the activity to which I dedicated the bulk of my undergraduate hours).

But there is something more.

Seymour:  An Introduction is very much about hard work.

About craft.

What I’m doing right now.

What you are reading.

It is my craft.

Now.

Music has flown…like a fleeting bird.

And I have had to transpose my urge to create from “EveryGoodBoyDoesFine” by way of copious vicissitudes to “PleaseExcuseMyDearAuntSally” and other far-afield mnemonic devices.

Yes, dear friends…I identify with Ethan Hawke’s struggle.

And it is painful to watch him.

But he has redeemed himself with this film.

Through great doubt we travel…

What the fuck am I doing in business school?

Does my acting mean anything whatsoever to ME anymore?

To weave it, my problems were/are different than those of Mr. Hawke.

He is standing on the stage…[places, everyone]…on the X where I wish I was.

Directing a film.

You need a producer.

An “executive” producer.

You need a law firm.

Legal counsel.

[for all those archival clips you want to interpolate]

Yes…there is a long list of credited individuals at the culmination of Seymour:  An Introduction.

It doesn’t just say “Ethan Hawke”.

Those are the realities of film.

Godard has illustrated it as a process of check-writing.

$50 here.  [more like]  $3,000 here.

And again.  And again.

But it is obvious this was a project of love for Ethan Hawke.

And it worked.

Mr. Bernstein is 89 and still (apparently) teaches at NYU.

And what a gifted soul!

Ah…

This documentary reminded me of so many beautiful, important things!

It all moves too fast…

The pictures with Nadia Boulanger…

But Korea sticks.

At the front lines.

As jaw-dropping as Messiaen in his prison camp.

But let me speak to the choir now…

Friends of Deutsche Grammophon et al..

It’s important.

That extra dot.

To point out.

No pun intended.

A service.

PRACTICE in front of your audience (Warhol advised).

Dear Messrs,

[and scholarly, epicurean (?) womenfolk]

We have, in these minutes, footage of the great Glenn Gould.

We learn the chair.

How low.

Carry out folded.

Like a shabby parcel of manuscripts.

But Mr. Bernstein gives us the cinderblocks.

And while it is scary (Glenn Gould) in its proficiency.

The ear of God.

We get an even greater surprise.

Yes, most startling.

Clifford Curzon.

And the passion of a boy from Islington.

Precision.

Snap!

Unfurling arpeggios effortlessly.

While the baritone fingers surface the melody.

Just breathing above the water’s surface.

Curzon.

Those glasses.

We fall in love.

1977.

Year after I was born.

By 17 days.

Seymour Bernstein’s eight-year career was over.

As a public performer.

Debuting with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (!) a Brazilian piano concerto in world premiere (the 2nd by Villa-Lobos).

1969-1977

Double my career 🙂

[in more ways than one, I’m sure]

But as an astute student in the film observes, it was many thousands of hours (of practice and other dedicatory acts) to get to that point.

Mr. Bernstein didn’t sit down with the CSO and sightread the Villa-Lobos concerto.

It wasn’t his first time playing.

And so it comes back to work.

And anxiety.

& music.

Seymour Bernstein:  God bless you for knowing the quadrivium.

That MUSIC was one of the four higher liberal arts.

For the ancient Greeks.

Along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy.

What isn’t mentioned is that in which I am currently dabbling.

[dabbling my ass off]

The trivium.

Those “lower” three of the liberal arts.

Grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

And the liberal arts…in opposition to the practical arts.

[the latter being such as medicine…or architecture]

{Footnotes to be provided when hell freezes over}

And so I heartily recommend you watch this documentary.

Appreciate the importance of music.

See Abraham ready to sacrifice Isaac.

[he will laugh!]

Because God gives back.

Even though Mr. Bernstein doesn’t believe.

It makes no difference to me.

I am but human.

And I have a right.

To believe.

In God.

In music.

He just disappeared.

One last concert.

At the YMCA.

Knowing when to end.

When the notes fade.

And if on a good piano,

they almost seem to swell first.

As if by magic…

-PD