Yet another perk of not living in the middle of the city; a 15 minutes picturesque walk and you can go long distance ice skating.
Sweeping leaves
Today was a beautiful day on Saltsjö-Boo, so Willow and I went for a long walk and swept some leaves. Apparently it was a first for Willow.
Hello Sweden
Willow (girlfriend), Imola (cat), Bibi (Fiat 500) and I left London for Stockholm on the 4th of August and it isn’t until today, the 25th 27th, that I find time energy and the will to write anything.
In short, this is what has gone down.
The Drive
BiBi at Fredrickshavn Ferry Port
The drive over from London to Stockholm went very well. Bibi and Imola were superstars on the road. What I would change, if i’m driving BiBi (or any other Fiat 500) for a longer stint (which I think is very likely) is;
- not to drive more than 500km per day
- have less stuff in the car
- do what ever it takes to stay off horrible motorways
We did stay off the motorway as much as possible, but our schedule didn’t allow us to experiment to the extent I would have wanted.
Me and BiBi having a break next to the lake Vättern, Sweden.
My favorite part of the drive was probably everything after Bremen, Belgium, to Fredrikshavn, Denmark.
But generally, driving Bibi is so extremely fun. It totally puts the joy of driving in another dimension.
The House
For the first three weeks in Sweden, Willow and I stayed at my very good friend, Vinh Kha’s, flat (who’s currently in New York). In the beginning of September, we moved into a lovely little house in Saltsjö-Boo, Nacka.
It’s a huge contrast from our flat in London. Maybe not the space that much (they are both very nice), but the surroundings and the peacefulness. Time rolls slower in Saltsjö-Boo compared to Hackney.
Imola is absolutely loving it. She’s outside most of the time and brings in all sorts of things from the surroundings. Twice (so far) i’ve needed to save small animals from Imola’s playful paws.
The Job
It’s way to early to tell how well I will adapt to the working life in Sweden. I’m still crossing hurdles as I go and ironing out and accepting the differences. I’m also still a bit undecided what I would like to focus on and what part I would like to develop and change / not change from my working life in London. Generally the roles and responsibilities in Sweden seem much more divided. So being a bit of a hybrid makes the work situation a bit more tricky. One company I met up with even had a problem to work out what sister company to place me in… let alone department or title. They had divided production, strategy, interactive design into different companies.
I’m currently working on a project at a company called Doberman. Doberman got nominated as the best workplace in Sweden 2007 by Alecta and have for the last five years been selected as one of the top three interactive agencies in Sweden by the industry magazine Resumé. So, without a doubt, it’s a good place to be. I also have plenty of good friends working here, among two old POKE’rs — Henrik Engdahl and Patrik Berg and some other really good and nice people. So don’t get me wrong — I’m enjoying it at the moment. It’s just that i don’t run smooth on all cylinders, yet.
Collage of photos from the Doberman office. Photos captured by Daniel Källbom
In the beginning of December Willow and I will be flying out to New Zealand to celebrate Christmas and New Years with Willows parents. My parents will also join us. Beside holiday celebrations, Willow and I are doing two longer walks.
I have told myself that after that break I will make a more active decision and commitment when it comes to my job situation in Stockholm.
If you want to see some photos of the trip, the house etc, head over to Willow’s flickr photostream.
Threadless
My new threadless t-shirt submission is up. It’s a present for someone, so click the link and give it your best vote. And if you’re so inclined, pass it on to your friends too.
Follow this link to vote on Willow’s nice t-shirt.
A helmet.
Last week Willow bought me a new helmet. As seen in the photo above; it’s very nice. The model is called Trace and it’s made by R.E.D Protection.
Trace is to replace my vintage Brancale leather helmet (photo). With it’s optional ear pads, Trace is much warmer and suitable for the winter period. I’m also quite sure that it will protects my head a bit better than the vintage leather helmet.
I OK NY
When i was younger i had a belief that in one of my previous lives i was a successful business women in New York. I thought once i go to New York i will feel familiar with the city, it’s people and it’s roads. I believed New York and I had some previous life history together; almost family blood band. Once i go there i wouldn’t want to come back to wherever i came from. As i have grown older this belief has faded, but going there for the first time brought the memories of the belief back. It turned out NY and I didn’t have that much in common. Maybe my belief was wrong — there is no pre-life, maybe NY has changed since i lived there as a business women. Most probably, i just had a romantic view of the Big Apple.
With great beard comes great responsibility
Last year i saved a beard for christmas (photo), and this year i’m doing the same. As a joke people said that i wouldn’t get past the US custom with my beard. Sadly, it seems like the perceived ideas that a man with a beard has something to hide (or is a terrorist) is true. Quite a racist belief if you ask me. Whenever they had a random security check; they checked me. I got asked question while standing in queues. They went through my hand luggage. Metal detector beeped even if i had nothing on me, which resulted in a head too toe frisk. The US custom guy, when talking to Willow, referred to me as “so, who’s the felon standing next to you?”. So all bearded people, remember: with great beard comes great responsibility.
New York. New York is OK
It is probably a combination of my high expectations and the fact that we only were present between Friday evening to Monday morning, but after round one New York hadn’t knocked me of my feet. The cultural step from London to New York is tiny. The biggest cultural hurdle is probably understanding how to tip — when and how much. You get a bigger cultural different if you go 2 hours on the train outside London.
A few thing i found positive are the availability of goods (gadgets, clothes), good food and groceries (and all that in combination with the week dollar). It’s almost a bit like we here in Europe still can’t escape the after math of the second world war. Or, we simply aren’t as creed and feel we need to overindulge us in an literally a sea of options and endless possibilities. Or, what do i know, maybe our foreign trade laws are different. Maybe our economy is set up differently. I don’t know.
I’m sure if you live in New York for a while (or elsewhere in the United States i guess), you start taking all this overindulgent for granted and see it almost as a basic need and civil right. “What was the life before we all had mobile phones?” or “How would i survive without my pastrami sandwich!” kind of question.
Since we were aware of the fact that the dollar is weak, we had agreed that we would focus a bit more on shopping than we normally do when we are abroad. But neither Willow or i really got in the mood. I’m not really the kind of person who can just switch a switch and be in über shopping mode. I did manage to stumble over a few things. The only one worth mentioning is the enormous (47-54mm from 9 to 6 o’clock position) but yet so gorgeous 51-30 PU from Nixon (photo below).
I don’t think i will return to New York in a hurry, or phrased another way; don’t think i will invest any of the coming years holidays on New York. I’m quite sure though that our paths will cross sooner than later anyway.
Having said all that; before i moved to London 4 and a half year ago — i hated this city, and my encounter with it had been very limited. So, basically, my opinions and thought on New York are currently worth as much as a piece of toilet paper — after it’s been wiped and flushed away.
Not long ago Willow and I had serious thoughts of moving to New York.
So never say never.
A new way to document a holiday
I don’t like the common concept of a digital camera — snap snap snap snap snap snap snap it’s all free so let’s snap snap snap snap — almost like a chorus of a 120bpm radio hit song (rubbish). I don’t own a camera, i once did but i gave it away, and i can’t really see myself buying one soon. At the moment Willow fills all my digital photography needs with her camera.
Before we left for New York, Willow brought some film for her Polaroid camera and a Moleskine City Notebook for New York. I didn’t think much about it, but as we left our brilliant accommodation on Avenue C, Bed and Coffee, on Saturday morning it just felt so natural to start taking snapshots with the Polaroid and file them in the Molskine notebook. On the back of that, i also saved a few receipts a long the way and slowly i started collection business cards from stores and other small things that crossed my path. Very natural. Not force feeding the idea or the concept.
The line between the concept described in the above paragraph and digital photos is very thin. Maybe most of you can’t even see what i’m getting at. But for me it’s a big difference. It’s a but like advertising vs spam or singing vs talking. Small different but still not the same. And i rather look back on a holiday through a mixture of collected items wrapped in a book filled with small notes than only composed digital photography.
Have uploaded a few things to my flickr account. You can find it on http://www.flickr.com/photos/nuzzaci/tags/newyorknovember2007/. Most of the stuff is accommodated with a description.
Ani Difranco at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 21st October 2007 (and the F1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2007)
Last time Ani Difranco visited the UK, Willow and I had tickets to the concert in Edinburgh but couldn’t go. So this time around i decided early on that only illness or death would be valid scenarios to prevent me from attending this concert. My character was put to the test when i realised that the F1 season finale in Brazil would collide with the concert. The question was never Ani DiFranco or the Formula One, the question was whether or not I would be able to watch the F1 first and then rush over to Shepherd’s Bush Empire for the concert. I decided it was too much of a gamble — even if it might be possible. I also decided that i didn’t want the outcome of the F1 to have an impact on how i would enjoy the concert.
Since i didn’t watch the race live, i knew i had to be careful with reading any text messages or answering any incoming calls to my mobile phone. So i only read text messages that arrived from people i knew weren’t interested in F1 or didn’t know i’m totally addicted to it. So when i got a text message from a Swedish mobile number that i hadn’t stored in my addressbook came through i thought it was safe. It read:
Vilken härlig tävling
Which means; What a wonderful competition
I didn’t know if i was being paranoid or not. A Formula One Grand Prix is not a competition — it’s a race. No, i thought, this must mean something else or it’s meant for someone else…. Then it hit me: Kari Kontro! I suspected (and later it turned out that i was right) that the text message from my ex girlfriend’s dad.
Kari and i had quite a few nice races together between the years 1999-2002. We were a bit like ying and yang when it came to Formula One; he being from Finland obviously liked McLaren with Mika Häkkinen from 1993 to 2001 and 2002 to 2006 with Kimi Räikkönen, me being half italian obviously loves Ferrari.
Anyone who knows people from Finland (or have seen press conferences with Mika or Kimi) now understand that the text message he sent to me has so much more weight and meaning than if it was sent from somebody with any other european cultural background. It could mean “YES!!!! KIMI WON!!!!“, it could mean, “It was really exiting. Kimi came close once again.“, it could mean, “Alonso and Hamilton were wheel to wheel during the end of the race.“. It’s now been a month and we all know what it meant (KIMI WON!!), but that’s now. A month ago i was sitting on the second balcony on Shepherd’s Bush Empire waiting for Ani Difranco to go on stage.
Ani is special. A bit like special needs but without needs. Rather the opposite. She’s an extremely talented independent feminist solo artist measuring 157cm (5′ 2″) operating in a male dominated industry that focuses mainly on marketing female artists for their look and sex appeal; not their talent.
If you’ve read a few of my post (or know me in person) you might already know that i despise the modern music industry and am extremely pleased that they are down on their knees and covered in shit. Ani, to me, represents what music should be all about. I’m not tying it to the genre of music or that she has a political view or even that she is an extremely talented guitarist, lyricist and songwriter; she does what she does for the right reasons, and i adore her for it. Honesty before greed. Love and passion.
This was my first Ani concert, so i can’t compare it to any other Ani concert, but as far as concerts go — it was amazing. I went to the concert with Willow and Karl Ringman, and we all loved it.
I managed to capture a bit of footage with my mobile phone. It’s maybe not the best set up – a mobile phone on the second balcony – but small things can achieve great stuff. What i captured was Ani preforming a poem and a new song.
I’ve been a few places now, flown through vast empty spaces with stewardists who’s hands look much older than their faces.
My new mission is to write happy songs. Yeah i know — good luck — yeah i don’t know. Its like a fucking muscle i never used.
What doesn’t show in the footage (and that i haven’t mention yet) is how amazing the drummer was. Her name is Allison Miller and she was perfect.
Willow, wrote:
Leaving an Ani gig, you want to fill in the blanks of a conversation you started with her in your mind.
and i totally agree. I think Willow and I have to invite Ani over for bruschetta and a plate of freshly homemade spaghetti.
A wake up playlist
About 14 years ago I got a stereo from my uncle in Italy. It was a top-of-the-line stereo, and one, at the time, quite unusual feature it had was a wake up function.
So from then on (for a few years) I always woke up to the the Forrest Gump Suite by Alan Silvestri from the Forrest Gump soundtrack. It’s a very soft and pleasant wake up. Then when I did my military service the song changed, and for an unknown reason, it ended up being Rattlesnake by Live from Secret Samadhi. Rattlesnake is a very bad song to wake up to. So not by any means a recommendation. Just a fact.
After my military service ended, the habit of waking up to music ceased and got replaced by the mobile-phone alarm clock. Very romantic.
It isn’t until earlier this year, when Willow and I bought an alarm clock with an iPod dock, that I again began each day to the sound of music.
Unlike before, this time I have a playlist and not just one song to wake up to. Every morning that “alarm” picks up where the previous morning ended. We didn’t strategically choose what songs to go in the playlist. We just quickly browsed through our iTunes and picked a few that passed our mouse pointer.
So that’s why I’m writing this post, really. I’m so surprised that the playlist we literally just threw together is an extremely good wake up playlist. So good that I like to share it with you.
In alphabetic order (by track name), Volume 1 of the 2007 wake up playlist:
- Be Good or Be Gone by Fionn Regan, from The End of History
- Carolina by Ben Gibbard, from Home: Volume V
- Comfort of Strangers by Beth Orton, from Comfort of Strangers
- Fly by Nick Drake, from Bryter Layter
- Half Acre by Hem, from Rabbit Songs
- Hand in My Pocket by Alanis Morissette, from Jagged Little Pill Acoustic
- I Was Just Thinking by Teitur, from Poetry & Aeroplanes
- My Tiger My Heart by The Boy Least Likely To, from The Best Party Ever
- Naked As We Came by Iron and Wine, from Our Endless Numbered Days
- Twilight by Elliott Smith, from From A Basement On The Hill
- You and I Both by Jason Mraz, from an unknown live album
Imola!
On Monday, as a bank holiday Monday surprise, Willow brought home a kitten!!! She’s a black 8 week old little cutie! I got the privilege to pick a name for her, and her name is Imola.
The name Imola is of Roman origin and means “over there, down there”. In Choctaw american indian, the word Imola means “good luck”. Most people know the name Imola as the former San Marino Grand Prix Circuit.
The wonderful photo is taken by my dear friend Karl Thyselius, who at the moment is visiting us here in London.
Caught by Flickr
During Topshop’s London Fashion Week, a theft occured. Two black apple macbooks went missing from the venue at Covent Garden. Both these macbooks were set up to automatically upload photos taken using Photobooth to Topshop’s flickr account and the Topshop London Fashion Week website.
Now imagine our enjoyment when yesterday we noticed some new faces on our flickr account.
If you happen to have any information on the possible perpetrators, leave a comment here or here (Flickr) .