Jeg har kendt Eske i mange år og vi har sideløbende delt vores forfatterdrømme, men Eske har nok været mere determineret og målrettet end jeg på romanformen. Det er specielt flot, fordi han har skrevet bogen uden legatstøtte eller andet hurmulhej, samtidig med at han har fået et lille barn og passet sit job som filmredaktør og senere chefredaktør på bladet Citadel. Det er faktisk meget inspirerende, at det kan lade sig gøre at skrive en vellykket roman, mens man også har alle mulige andre gøremål. Så det er bare med at komme i gang, som min kæreste sagde. Hermed taget til efterretning.

I still remember my own first meeting with New York in the fall of 1999, when I was in a very special and transformative phase of my life. It was Indian Summer in November and I absolutely fell in love with the majestic city. I was there with a good friend and we were simply in extasy over the sounds and views and smells of the dirty and bustling and beautiful Big Apple. I remember that the Twin Towers made a particularly memorable impression (which I documented in a lot of photos) and I actually felt so at home that people soon started asking me for directions.

It’s not the same now when I go back, as I have a few times. The city is different, and I’m different, and the Towers are no longer there, which fills me with sadness every time. New York is still in my opinion an unsurpassed metropolis, but politics, terrorism and war have taken their toll. However, people still ask me for directions, which why I’ll always come back.

More on the dress-code crackdown. Will the president now see how it’s like to be on the receiving side?

It hasn’t even been two weeks since I returned from Iran, and already it seems so far away. It’s nice to get this little view into what’s going on. It will also help you to remember, that in spite of all the war-threaths and madness, Iran is in a lot of ways just a normal country where people try to get on with their lives.

What’s next? Merzbow in the elevator?

Note:
You were probably wondering what happened to the sex promised in the subtitle to this blog. Well, here it is, a link to a site with no sex but lots of bathing suits. Just to show you a side of the Middle East, that you – unfortunately – don’t see every day.

Some people I know have yet to see the packs of police ushering women into awaiting minibuses, but my regular stomping grounds are in the heart of bad-hejabland. “At least the police are polite here,” a taxi driver tells me. They have to be polite. They are being watched by neighbors with cameras and internet connections. “You should see them over at some of the other spots. They are really going after women with force and being rough.”

Sounds bad. On the other hand somebody told me that this was exactly the kind of attitude from the authorites which could shake the country up, since many people simply won’t stand for it any longer. Personally I don’t think we’ll see any rebellion anytime soon. So meanwhile: watch that hejab!

Update, 28th of april:
The news found way to Danish media as well.

Update, 29th og april:
Now they’re going for the men. No more David Beckham stylez for you! We saw a lot of guys with big gelled-up high-hair haircuts in Tehran. Thank god, they put a stop to that, they were really ridiculous!