Pippi IS Lisbeth -- Or, At Least, Tami Is.

Quotation of the day ~ William Blake: And throughout eternity, i forgive you and you forgive me.

I've written a lot over the past year about my obsession with the literary character Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the fact that she was partly based on Pippi Longstocking.

I've also written about my tangential interest in Tami Erin, the woman who played Pippi in the 1988 film, including, in my last post, a fact that reinforces my idea of Pippi-As-Lisbeth -- that Tami Erin is releasing a homemade sex tape.

Well, it's out, and parts of it have been leaked already, and i've watched them. Yes, i have, although celebrity homemade sex tapes normally bore me stiff. (Er, probably not the best choice of word there, but, as The Beatles once advised, let it be.)

Here's a censored pic from the film:

From what i've seen so far (and i saw the uncensored version), i'm not going to need a cold shower. I think my interest is about to end.

Here's the latest from my CD collection, btw (haven't added anything in a while):

And of course the playlist:

Paul Rodgers - Muddy Waters Blues
Blodwyn Pig - Ahead Rings Out
Steeleye Span - Time
Blue Oyster Cult - On Flame With Rock And Roll
Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day
Be+Bop Deluxe - Modern Music
Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Scream
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick - Walnut Creek

Pippi Longstocking IS Lisbeth Salander. Maybe.

Quotation of the day ~ Stieg Larsson: I started to write in 2001. I wrote the books for the fun of it. It was an old idea i had had since the nineties.


Some time ago, i posited the notion that Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- a literary character with whom i find myself totally obsessed  -- one of the most compelling characters in all fiction, IMHO -- was inspired by Pippi Longstocking. What Pippi might have been like when she grew up, an idea suggested by the author himself (Stieg Larsson) as being a salient undercurrent to the books.

I didn't really see it, except in very general terms (i.e., they're both socially dysfunctional misfits and underestimating their strengths can be disastrous) and to be honest, thought little more about it.

But then, in September, came the news that the actress Tami Erin, who played Pippi in the 1988 film, is about to release a home-made sex tape, and i thought: whoa! Lisbeth did something similar (although for very different reasons), is this yet another instance of life imitating art? Did Pippi (i.e., Tami) become Lisbeth?

With my unquenchable curiosity about all things Lisbethan, i investigated. It seems that back in April Tami was arrested for beating up her boyfriend. I love this! Tami Erin, who really isn't known for any of her other film rôles and primarily works for philanthropic and charitable organisations nowadays, has a violent streak. But hey, that's cool, i know how stressful relationships can be, who knows what was going on.

Then came the news that her boyfriend (the same one? i don't know) was planning to release a sex tape of the two of them doing the deed (or possibly several deeds). But it gets better. Originally, Tami fought the release tooth and claw, and i can see her point: what kind of a sleazeball (to use the technical term) would do such a thing? She must have felt hopeless and betrayed. (Lisbeth again.) But then (Lisbeth again) she decided to fight back: she is planning (as of this writing) to pre-empt the abovementioned sleazeball and release it herself.

Here's some pics of Tami (who's now 39):

Well, i think she looks abfab and if that tape ever really does see the light of day, i will try to find a copy -- purely in the interests of literary research, of course, because at 39 she's far too young for me <wink>

Here's the recent playlist:

Free - Live
Sparks - Kimono My House
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
Jan Akkerman -- Live At Alexander's
Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Rapture
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Beard Of Stars
The Lovin' Spoonful - Greatest Hits
Fish - A Feast Of Consequences (twice!)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Colin James - Take It From The Top
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Mama's Pride - Mama's Pride
Keith Emerson Band - The Three Fates Project
Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot III
Rory Gallagher - Tattoo
The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach
The Oyster Band - Step Outside
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaw

Pippi Longstocking

Quotation of the day: Astrid Lindgren: We’re living in a free country, aren’t we? Aren’t you allowed to walk any way you like?

I've just finished reading Astrid Lindgren's 1950 book "Pippi Longstocking." And i adored it, such fun!

 A children's classic, i'm told, but i'd never read it before. Well, why would i have? When i was a child in England my parents weren't inclined to corrupt me with such foreign rubbish. It was all A.A. Milne, C.S. Lewis, Kenneth Grahame and Lewis Carroll for me. (Oh, and Dr Johnson, too, but that's a different kettle of fish 'n' chips.)

Now, i don't need to tell you why i read it now, at my advanced age, do i? Or do i?

As my regular reader will know, i am quite haunted by the woman Stieg Larsson created for his Millenium trilogy, Lisbeth Salander -- one of the most compelling characters in all of modern literature. One day, as i was browsing around on Stieg Larsson's website (http://www.stieglarsson.com/) i came across this:

"Pippi Longstocking as a source of inspiration.

"Kenneth Ahlborn, a former colleague of Stieg's at TT, says in an interview with Veckans Affärer that Stieg got the idea for the character Lisbeth Salander after a discussion during a break from work. They were talking about how different characters from children's books would manage and behave if they were alive and grown up. Stieg especially liked the idea about a grown up Pippi Longstocking, a dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder who would have had a hard time finding a regular place in the 'normal society', and he used part those characteristics when he created Lisbeth Salander."

Now, as anyone with O.C.D. will understand, this meant that i had to at least investigate Pippi's personality, and so i ordered the book from Stratford's best bookshop, Fanfare Books, and, thanks to their invariably efficient service, had it in my hot little hands a week later. (5% discount okay, Bob?) And i devoured it. What a delightful discovery. I have now ordered the other two Pippi novels and Fanfare Books, brilliant as ever (maybe i should hold out for 10%?) tells me i should have them later this week.

Now, the question. Did i see Pippi in Lisbeth? Well, not specifically: Pippi was, let's face it, a motormouth, which Lisbeth decidedly wasn't. Pippi was happy-go-lucky, Lisbeth was far from it. But in broad terms, yes, absolutely, i do. They're both socially inept, strong-willed, and fiercely independent. I'm looking forward to the next two volumes.

(N.B., it seems i made an error in a previous post on this subject ( http://spriggsblog.blogspot.ca/2013/03/my-cd-collection-3.html). I wrote that Mikael Blomqvist in the Millennium series was nicknamed "Kalle" Blomqvist after a character in the Pippi series. Right writer, wrong series: Kalle Blomqvist was the boy detective in Astrid Lindgren's Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist books.)

(Oh, and thanks to Catherine, one of my favourite servers at my local pub, for inspiring me to write this post. In fact, she threatened to whack me over the head with a bar stool if i didn't write it.) (No wonder i keep going back....)

And here's my most  recent playlist, because i know you care:

Steve Hackett - The Voyage Of The Acolyte
Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin
Junior Wells - Live Around The World
Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
Yes - Yessongs
Richard Thompson - The Songs Pour Down Like Silver
Marillion - Somewhere Else
Walter Trout - Full Circle
Saga - 10,000 Days
Rory Gallagher - Blueprint
Various Artists - Marr And Friends
Foreigner - The Very Best Of Foreigner
Fairport Convention - A Fairport History
King Crimson - Beat
Various Artists - I Am Sam