blind design


the guardian newspaper in grid format.
or some excellent venetian blinds.

Kris is working on his degree project looking at newspaper analysis.

Letters and Notes


With the easter break looming, I was in dire need of some new reading material. The books I had brought with me to Malmö are all much loved and well thumbed, my volume of Sherlock Holmes novels, a couple of Ngaio Marsh's, Gatsby, and The Skinny Louie Book by Fiona Farrell, one in the new Penguin New Zealand series, given by an aunt as a parting gift. I am the kind of person who will read the same books, watch the same films, and listen to the same music again and again, and never tire of it. But even I need some welcome additions to the list every so often. I was excited to learn Malmö stadbibliotek had shelves detective fiction (in english) for my to read and re-read, along with some Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Murakami. The usual suspects.

One thing I did find out of left field was a TINTIN ROMANCE. Well this is what it appears to be at first glance, and probably the reason I borrowed it. Actually, its a novel by Frederic Tuten, titled Tintin in the New World: a romance . Apparently, Tuten transplants Tintin from his comic book confines into a fleshed out, realistic world with all its wicked, grave and abstruse trappings. Sounds like my kind of story.


cover of Tintin in the New World with artwork by Roy Lichtenstein (1993)

I only bought six records with me to Sweden, Roy Orbison 'Mystery Girl', Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours', The Beatles 'Please, Please Me', The Righteous Brothers 'Greatest Hits', Elvis Presley '50 000 000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong' and the Original Soundtrack of 'The Singing Detective'.
However with the purchase of an ipod before I left, slowly a collection of music is beginning again.
The past few days of avid reading have been accompanied by some excellent tunes.

Cowboy in Sweden and The Story of Them

As I never listened to either of these in Auckland I feel like I can associate them solely with my new life in Sweden. Now I just need to build up another record collection - with Cowboy in Sweden and at least one Them album in there.

Buns and Beers


Annually in Sweden, novelty Easter beers are stocked on shelves for a limited time. I have noticed most have the look of a home brew, and with some of the labels I have seen I can hardly take Easter Beer seriously. You would be fooled into thinking the one featured above is not of the respectable brewery that Kris assures me it belongs to.

I might have to down some more of this as I commiserate the fact that Sweden knows not the greatness of the Hot Cross Bun. I would look forward to Hot Cross Buns every Easter as much as my chocolate bunny and my egg with the chocolate money (I am very dejected they no longer sell this one, the pirate looked like a real scoundrel). Besides, those new eggs with their flakes and crunchies and what-not are not in the true egg spirit, not like the eggs of my childhood where the treats, be it chocolate money, jet planes, chocolate buttons, jelly beans, pineapple lumps and more, were actually inside the egg. Hot Cross Buns now enter the New Zealand supermarkets before the end of February, far too early in my opinion, and I ranted to my mother who offered to buy some and put them in the freezer for me until I deemed it an appropriate time to eat them. I declined. Well, I am kicking myself now that I am in a land where they do not even exist! Not even as dough.

Hot Cross Buns are not only cherished for their delicious taste but also for medicinal value, preservative qualities, and shipwreck prevention. Buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or become mouldy during the subsequent year.
Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone who is ill is said to help them recover.
Sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time. Because of the cross on the buns, some say they should be kissed before being eaten.
If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck.
If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.

Its a dangerous and lonely world without hot cross buns.
Hoppy Easter!

Defence hedges

One thing I have noticed since arriving in Malmö is the abundance of indoor foliage, and I don't mean the hydroponic sort grown in people's wardrobes. In apartments potted plants are in every room, and to me, all seem to be of the same variety and with a sheen similar to those plastic plants found in Wendy's Dominion Rd or various other places that have now slipped my mind. Swedes seem to think a window sill's sole function is to house small sized plants with large leaves, and every time i look up or across at rows of apartment windows in front of me, all I see are barricades of flora. I find all these leafy curtains rather thrilling, and I strain my eyes trying to peer into the rooms. Kris tells me that people put plants in their windows as a means to deter thieves by obscuring their view of the rest of their possessions, and I thought that a clever and aesthetically pleasing security measure.


Sketches of potted plants on a window sill



Today I spent some time drawing, filling a page in a new sketch book with an assortment of potted plants, real and imaginary. I would like to do some sort of installation with this fake looking greenery, standing guard at every window. A maze, or thick leafy wall. Stories tell us there is always something better on the other side.


Malmö FF



First home game tonight for Malmö FF. The pub underneath our place is awash with sky blue. I may put on my blue scarf in support. Tonight's foes are Örebro. It is anyones game.

You Can Leave Your Hat On

Music festivals in New Zealand. Clothes optional. Free love encouraged.


aerial photographs of Nambassa 1979


Sweetwaters auditorium, 1980


and minus the folks and musics

shirtless at Sweetwaters


shirtless and pantless, foraging for food, Nambassa


Billy T.K at Nambassa, 1981



purchasing some crafts and arts in 'the village' at Nambassa, 1981

Hi-yo, Silver! Away!



Found today in this morning's paper, a most desirable object. A GIANT HORSE-SHAPED LAMP. At over 2 metres tall and 2 metres wide this magnificent beast would look superb in any lounge, bedroom, patio, or exceptionally large bathroom. Definitely the most ridiculous piece of design I have seen in Sweden so far. It just looks like a horse with a lampshade stuck to it's ear!

Why not a lamp like a life-sized horse indeed?

What the deuce?!

Ike's Emporium

Well actually, it's the mystical land of IKEA, and photos of the basement, where all the magic happens. Well, at least where you go to collect your kitset furniture you just saw upstairs in fake rooms like something out of extreme makeover: home edition. After shopping to your hearts content, wind down with a 5:- ($1) hotdog! That's the way things are done around here.




Stumpy

A work of mine on show as of today at the Physics Room Kiosk in Christchurch! I just remembered this a moment ago - a strange feeling, but a nice one, knowing that something of mine is being shown in New Zealand even though I have escaped the country. I don't remember where I heard/read about Heather Mills McCartney sleeping with her prosthetic next to her bed, but I sure like the imagery.


Burger Joint



Pre-packaged Cheeseburgers as found at the supermarket. Taste: unknown.
Yes, I have just traveled to the other side of the world and this is all I care to blog about.

SENSING MURDER RETURNS!


Kelvin Cruickshank: connecting with spirits, man-to-man.

Sensing Murder returns to your box tonight at half 8 on TV2 with your favourite resident psychic frauds, Kelvin, Deb and Sue. Greatest reality show on tv? Perhaps.

Flag it

New Zealand is having another identity crisis fuelled by theNew Zealand Herald, and now we are thinking of getting a new flag. Perhaps instead of getting the idiotic public to design their own flags using MS Paint, we should just adopt a flag from a country which no longer exists. Here are some excellent examples from the Wikipedia category "Obsolete national flags".




Flag of the Khanate of Khiva 1511-1917. Pale blue crescent moon on white background.



The Royal flag of the Jaffna Kingdom. A couchant bull and the surrounding sun and the moon, and a parasol.



The flag and coat of arms of Moldavia, depicting an aurochs/wisent head.

WATERY MORALES

CLARA CHON & FLORENCE WILD
WATERFRONT MORALS/FATHERLY FUNCTIONS
window 22.12.2009 - 19.02.2010










Another Green World (Shining), 2009, Florence Wild, embroidery on jute.





The Cotton Suit, 2009, Clara Chon, safety pins on t-shirt.







...Singing in Paris, 2009, Florence Wild, invisible ink on newsprint.



So here are some images from the show Clara and I put on at Window over the summer break.
Here is also a link to the review by John Hurrell. And to whoever pilfered Clara's painting which was also part of this show, FOR SHAME, YOU SCOUNDREL.

Cross your palm with silver

So, according to every one's favourite prophet / druid / televised debater Steve Braunias, here is what 2010 has in store for Kris and I. And anyone else who happens to be an Aries or Capricorn.

Aries

You've no say in the future, but you can change the past. Reinvent, alter the facts, select only edited highlights. Romance will survive a few secrets. New challenges at work test your patience; a rush of blood to the head could save months of distress. Palliative care brings unlikely rewards. Where there is a will, there is a pot of gold. Avoid coffee, outdoor pursuits, and New Zealand fiction.

Well, sounds like i can't read Ngaio Marsh anymore, although there is probably not a whole bunch of Inspector Alleyn mysteries at my disposal in Sweden anyway.

Capricorn

The clock is ticking, and the bell tolls for thee. Can you hear yourself think? There's no time for that: the future is banging at the door. A very big chicken will come home to roost. Meeting its demands might be easier than you think. Strangers hold the purse strings. Think consciously about making a good first impression. Bathe often, and see your family doctor.

For some reason, I can't help but think that I am being referred to as the 'very big chicken'.

Truly, New Zealand's most accurate horoscope for 2010.


Braunias, enjoying a tall glass of milk after many hours behind his crystal ball.


(Horoscopes written by Steve Braunias for the Sunday Star Times).

Poetry then motion

Have a poetry night! drink some gin, write some verse about supermarkets / sex / 2010 / utensils / television. Then have a bit of a dance afterwards.



"Remember, the most important thing about buying cheese is to choose one that isn't so yellowy.
Beware, because the lights in supermarket chillers can be misleading."







And then get your friends to become back up singers when your poetry is put to music.

How To Learn Swedish







Get given a Tintin book in Swedish for Christmas. Aside from being probably one of my all time favourite Christmas gifts, I have already mastered how to say "BOOM". PANG!