Compadre and Dio

Being that I’m stubborn and stupid and always knows best and stuff, I can’t think of too many people that I’ve never had any arguments with. I mean, serious arguments. At least not people that I care about. In reality I can probably only come up with one and that is Compadre – Martin Thomander.

I’m not sure we are very much alike but I have to think we are for that reason alone. We played with He-Man together and traded hockey cards together and went to Iron Maiden shows together. Me and Bomber and Albin (Lil’ Bomber) went down to see Veddige Vipers play yesterday. My brother said that he thought the team sucked but that Martin (aka K-man, Tompa etc) was spectacular. I can only agree.

A couple of games ago someone smashed his nose though and blood was pissing. To be honest, we expected something of the kind. The next time we want some blood. Anyways, he might just be my best friend and I can only take pride in that!

I got up at noon today because we came home at almost five in the morning. Being that Bomber is the biggest Dio fan south of heaven he dragged me down to Karlskrona to see them play. It was a great show indeed.

I must have seen Dio at least 15 times (if not 20) and they played tunes like “Tarot Woman” and “Caught in the Middle” for the first time in ages. The venue was a cool one as well with a balcony that stretched around the whole stage.

Ronnie was great as always. Can’t believe the length of his career and he is still going strong. Find a better voice and point me in the direction. I dare you. Impossible I think.

All grown up

We have entered the state in our lives when we are mature. I mean, we have jobs, live in new cities and some of us even have girlfriends to whom we are engaged (not me). When we meet nothing is like the way it was. We do grown up things.

It took about an hour and then me and Cristian had our first fight. It’s always friendly though – but still. Last time was in Ängelholm and we wrestled in the wet grass and when blood started pouring we discovered that we had been rolling in a broken bottle. Cristian defeated me bad that time. The time before was in Gothenburg at some club or pub or disco and he was totally trying to push me over the line, provocing me with his snotty face expression. I managed to keep calm for about five minuted then literally threw myself over the table to smack his face. This time he was complaining over me hitting him too hard and threw me into a bench while we were waiting for the bus. It hurt at the moment. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after…

Daniel and Martin don’t fight that much. They are immature in other ways. I have pictures to prove it… but I wont publish them.

Wading through the darkness

There’s an LA based radio station that’s been around forever called KNAC. Back in the day I couldn’t listen to it since the internet wasn’t around but for the last few years I’ve listened to their internet feed on and off

I love that it’s always the little things in life that makes you happy. For instance, I wanna fall in love, save the world, feed the poor etc and I try my best. Still, I was 100% happy today when this little independent radio station decided to broadcast “Wading through the Darkness” by Flotsam & Jetsam. It’s not the best known song and it’s not from the best known band and not from their best known album – but it’s one of my favorites and I was happy indeed.

Rebel Yell

Me and Bomber went to see Billy Idol yesterday. It was just splendid. I took quite a few pictures but I would have taken a whole lot more though if a stupid security guard wouldn’t have harrased me over taking pictures. I looked at him with big eyes saying: “Everyone else is taking pictures?! Why are you so disturbed about me taking some?”. He then tried to explain (over the noise) that I was the only one with professional equipment. I wanted to tell him the story of my life but it would just end with: “No one is a pro – we’re all losers and you more than others”, but I didn’t say that.

The setlist was incredible. It’s like every song you ever wanted to pick a fight to – only there were just girls and old ladies around – and I would probably get my teeth kicked in. They would keep dancing though. Afterwards.

Steve Stevens is the best guitarist there ever was. I’ve said that before and now I say it again. If you beg to differ then you can eat dynamite and poop flames that’ll shoot ya to the far side of the galaxy. There you can listen to whatever crap music you want to.

The road trip was quite fun actually. We stopped and looked at stuff and to eat. In Stockholm we stayed and Zinkens Vandrarhem – some kind of hostel. At first I thought it would prove to be a lame dump but it was great and I’d love to stay there again. So yes, going to Stockholm was great. Still Billy Idol makes the kind of music that you play at your garden BBQ and I would love it if he played there so I guess you’re all invited here the next time!

There’s a killer on the loose again

Most of you have asked – and the rest of you wonder – so I might as well go ahead and tell you that my trip home from Chicago was awesome. Joby and Daniel drove me to the airport and I love them for it. Not only did it make my trip easier but it felt so good having to friends drop me off. I guess there aint much to say about the trip itself. I had some 50 yeard old nerd in front of me ringing the “bell” during take-off to ask why his reading-light didn’t work. I slept the whole way and woke up in a rainy Copenhagen where I only had to stay for two hours. Two other good friends picked me up at the airport in Sweden – brother Bomber and nephew Albin.

Since I came home I’ve called people and mailed some and met some and it’s been great. It’s colder than Metallica’s “Trapped under ice” but I guess that’s just the way it is. I got a cold two days ago but I don’t really care – the last three months have been so awesome that nothing can take away the joy.

This morning I went out to take some pictures of the winter landscapes of Veddige, Sweden. A beautiful sight indeed. I often say that this world sucks but it also reminds me that it doesn’t. :) It’s awesome.

The picture above is a picture I took five minutes ago. There are angels in the background, you see – this is the room I grew up in, but a few years after I moved out mom turned it in to an Angel Room! This is where she keeps her angel collection. I sleep among cherubs and fluffy winged dolls with rosy cheeks. So, yeah – I’m back in town! There’s a killer on the loose again!

The young swede leaves the Jesus People for northern pastures…

As much as I hate it today I’m leaving JPUSA in Chicago, IL. If I would try and explain how much fun I’ve had it would just leave me looking stupid. I’ve had such a great time.

Some of you know how completely miserable I felt about a year ago. And a year has passed and I feel like it’s all turned around. Every time I’ve been out running in the city I’ve been in complete awe of the exciting place I ended up in. I feel I owe it to God. Call me silly if you want. I don’t care. So big thanx to you God.

The things I don’t wanna leave behind:

1) Daily work at Belly Acres with Lopez, Kos, Dan, Dylan, Darren, James, Tony, James, Dave and Don.
2) Film evenings with Dave “Cantilope” Canfield, Elijah, Marco and Harris.
3) Deep discussions with Hector.
4) Late night conversations about everything and nothing with Melissa.
5) Avoiding aussie girl Brianna.
6) Having lunch with Lupe, Joby, Fippin, Don and Charlie and the rest…

These are the things I look forward to:

1) Seeing the sons of thunder: Albin & Edwin.
2) The calmness of Veddige, Sweden compared to noisy Chicago, IL.
3) Going to Stockholm with brother Bomber to see Billy Idol.
4) Mom’s and Gun’s great veg cooking. Dad’s 2-kronors ice cream from Lidl.
5) Veddige-pizza with Sven. Derome-pizza with Tompa.
6) Spending some time a good ol’ LR Revision.
7) Time off with Martin (Göteborg), Daniel (Västerås) and Jens (Örebro).
8) Meeting up with the Olah crew.

It’s gonna been a while till I get back to Chicago and I do hope I’ll get a chance to get a whole lot done while I’m at home. Send mails and call and stuff if you wanna hang out. That’s it for now. I’m off to the airport!

Halloween in Wisconsin

Stryper played at the House of Blues a few days ago and that’s a cool venue. The band was pretty ok but drummer, Robert Sweet, is so queer it almost hurts. I don’t know what his problem is but it would be great if he found out and did something about it. The bassplayer suffered from something too but it wasn’t that bad.

They threw bibles and sang that “…Christ is the way!” and shouted “To Hell with the Devil” and you can guess the rest. It might sound cheesy to you but the five minute prayer at the end of the show kinda worked for me. I guess Stryper is both lipstick n’ crucifix.

Recently I also made a splendid weekend trip to “Brew City”. Big thanx to Milwaukee maniac Phil Harwood for inviting me! We spent the last couple of days watching hockey and movies and cruisin’. Sure was fun!

A massive pumpkin display along on the lakeside just outside of Milwaukee. Man! Some of these creations were just awesome. There must have been atleast 500 of them – incredible.

Children of the Corn? Hmm, I think not – but it was cool. Looks more like Skeletor from Master’s of the Universe, also cool. While my buddy Phil was asleep (he’s a night-person to the point of being almost a no-day-person) I walked around Thiensville, WI and took a lot of pictures. One is above. And one is below.