Mystery and Horror

The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson. Murder mysteries are not my cup of tea so I can't really compare it to anything else in the genre, but overall it was a good read. The main reason for me reading it in the first place was because it takes place in Uppsala. There is that nice subtle satisfaction of being able to visualize exactly where one of the characters is in a certain scene. Little things like the person who found the body lived in Feifei's apartment complex or the killer walking past the theater where I saw Harry Potter. That didn't happen nearly as much as I had expected, though, since most of the story takes place in the industrial sector of Uppsala which is evidently very shady and dangerous (by Swedish standards, I assume). The reason I never spent much time there was because it was literally on the wrong side of the tracks; I almost never ventured south of the train station except for my residence permit or capoeira. According to the book there are two Uppsalas: the academic, clean one (where I spent almost all my time) and the uneducated, brutish and gritty side full of immigrants and thuggish high school dropouts. That said, I do kind of wish I had made time to go visit the southern part of Uppsala, just to appreciate the town I love that much more. But anyway, the characters were an interesting bunch, again they live in an Uppsala I am not familiar with though the personal issues they dealt with were much like those of the Swedes I did talk to.

The Descent with Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza. Ah, now here's a good horror movie. Gets you with the gore, the jump factor of monsters suddenly appearing, the psychological terror of the situation and it leaves you wondering what actually happened at the end. Props to the director on all counts. Now as for the underlying themes and messages in the film, one can go on and on in many different directions. I'll just throw in my opinion that the fact that it is an all female cast is very important especially when considering the mostly male monsters they are fighting. But rather than going for the beeline militant feminist "men are monsters and women are trapped in a man's world" theme I think it warns against this very concept. When it becomes a matter of life and death, the women become more and more monstrous themselves until their own behavior and actions become worse than the monsters they are fighting (who are, from their perspective, only trying to survive against hostile creatures in their home). It's not unlike the question of whether or not female combatants are really more vicious than their male counterparts or if it's only because of the contrast of the peaceful, nurturing female archetype.
I also must mention the blooper reel was quite funny, particularly since you don't get many funny moments in horror movies. Had I watched the opening bit of the blooper reel before the rest of the movie, I would never have been able to take the monsters seriously.

And two interesting facts:
-the MVD at Broadmont can give you a new driver's license within ten minutes of you walking in the door.
-Cops on bicycles use their handcuffs to lock their bikes.