Cheops' Pyramid (Translation)

I'm one of them slaving away at King Cheops' pyramid
That's us working down there by the base
And we wear ourselves out and sweat to not fall behind
And you feel sorry for those who can't make their quota
And once you've come here
You'll never again be free
If you quit here you quit in a hole
But they say the king is the son of the sun

Behind fifteen double bolts, behind fifteen double locks
The country holds court in the halls of power
Here is nothing that threatens, nothing that disturbs
Here the thoughts and the rooms are equally cool
And if someone has to die
Or others are to be beaten
There'll be others who can carry out the orders
Up here are never heard cries of anguish and screams

But when the night grows long
We like to sing a song
That those who rule over us can hear on the wind
About a people who lived once upon a time
Who wanted to build a tower
That would reach all the way up to the heavens
But the higher they got
The more separated they became
Those who lived at the top from those at the bottom
And in the end the tower grew so high
That those up there and down there
Could no longer understand each other
And then the tower toppled and fell down

So it seems as if in every age and with every people
There are those who want to build pyramids
Where they themselves sit atop and have power in their hands
Whilst those who live down below suffer
But if those up in the blue
No longer want to understand
But instead despise those who give them food
Then the pyramids will in the end become their graves

Kung Keops Pyramid

The 2008 Olympics are all but over. It's hard to realise time has so flown. They've been dazzling. And from an organisational standpoint they've become the new bar. Where do we see any productions on this scale done so carefully and perfectly? And the birds nest stadium - the colours it emits. It's been breathtaking.

And now when the Beijing smog settles the chitchat and bickering will begin again. We don't really need that - but perhaps we need a few things to meditate on.



Jag är en av dom som slavar på Kung Keops pyramid
Och det är vi som jobbar nere intill foten
Och vi sliter och vi svettas för att inte tappa tid
Och det är synd om dom som inte fyller kvoten
Har man en gång kommit hit
blir man aldrig mera fri
Om man slutar här så slutar man i gropen
Men om kungen sägs att han är son av solen

Bakom femton dubbla reglar, bakom femton dubbla lås
håller rikedomen hov i maktens salar
Här finns ingenting som hotar, här finns ingenting som stör
Här är tankarna och rummen lika svala
Och om någon måste dö
eller några ska ha spö
finns det andra som kan verkställa besluten
Hit hörs aldrig ångestropen eller tjuten

Men när natten blir lång
brukar vi sjunga en sång
som dom som styr oss kan höra i vinden
Om ett folk som levde en gång
som ville bygga ett torn
som skulle räcka ända upp till himlen
Men ju högre man kom
ju mera skilde sej dom
som bodde där uppe ifrån dom andra
Och till sist blev tornet så högt
att dom där uppe och nere
inte längre förstod varandra
Och då rasade tornet samman

Så det verkar som om det i varje tid och i alla sorters folk
finns några som vill skapa pyramider
där dom själva sitter överst och har makten i sin hand
medan dom som lever nedanför dom lyder
Men om dom där uppe i det blå
inte längre vill förstå
utan föraktar alla dom som ger dom mat
ska pyramiderna till sist bli deras grav

It's a clever lyric by Sweden's not always most popular bard in all circles but it highlights an important aspect of major projects such as Olympic spectacles and pyramids: there are people at the top who get the glory, who never see the pain and suffering - and then there are those at the bottom who see all the pain and suffering and never get the glory. And it seems to be like this through all possible ages of human history. But the pompous atop will have to learn sooner or later or their own vanity will be their own funerals.

Something Happened

Something happened. We were on our way to my dental surgeon yesterday. To an appointment my ordinary dentist made two months ago. I need a few teeth yanked as a result of deterioration that took place during my illness. Two months off meant I could push it into the future all along. I wasn't apprehensive even up to the last minute.

After several false starts we made it to our new local GP who was really cool and promptly prescribed all the medicines I'd need including a mild valium type pill and heavy duty pain killers. He advised breaking the pills into thirds. The pills could be broken into fourths so S gave me a half to start with; I took another half for the journey; and finally another half when we'd arrived. That was 9 milligrams all told.

I didn't think much about how it affected me. I rode rally shotgun for the trip with driving instructions from Google and it was an arduous course but we made it mostly OK and on time to boot.

The surgeon was very cool. He looked at the X-rays, noticed there was yet another tooth to yank, told us it was a simple job and he'd be finished in twenty minutes. I questioned him: twenty minutes? Twenty minutes, he assured me. Unless I screw up, he joked as an afterthought, in which case it might take several hours. Which all relaxed us a lot.

And that was it. Out to make a new appointment a month from now, get new prescriptions for painkillers and some new valium type pill and motor our way home.

I was zonked from the valium pills. I wasn't awake longer than 21:00 hours. Really beat. Didn't even want to eat dinner. Laid down on the sofa. S served me a plate of food whilst I lie there. Had no appetite but forced it down as well as I could.

Nine hours later - at 06:00 the following morning - I woke and still felt strange. Gone was the ordinary cocktail of nervous edge and mild desperation/depression and suddenly I understood those pills had somehow changed me permanently. Perhaps there were other factors but something really happened.

I'm just euphoric. Not ecstatic - euphoric. I light subliminal feeling of euphoria. And I think it's permanent. Suddenly everything is easy and suddenly I'm a better person for it - a more pleasant person as well.