Back on my feet

Oi.

Just when you though that london had stopped calling you, it`s back on the line. A lot of things have been going on and a boring summary wont come later. But there will be news. Stay in tune.

Anyway, this first post in a long time is dedicated to a beautiful campaign that aim to raise awareness and money for cancer support.

It`s called Back On My Feet.

Two men and two pair of shoes are together, the 12th of May, going to walk 100 km in 24 hours. During the walk you will be able to follow their steps via Twitter (#backonmyfeet), Facebook (Backonmyfeet) and the website www.backonmyfeet.co.uk. Please give them your support! If it`s through donating money to the charity organisations suggested at the site, or spreading awareness of the campaign and the cause, it`s up to you. All help is much appreciated.

A song has also been recorded as a soundtrack for the campaign. It`s a version of the classic “500 miles” by the Proclaimers, but with re written lyrics. Have a look here.You will find out that the bastard writing this blog also featuring in the video, playing the guitar and doing back ground vocals. Cool stuff indeed.

I have come to realise that the people around us won`t be here forever. But I will do whatever I can to make the time together with them as long and cheerful as possible. For everyone. And I no longer take my own loved ones for granted. Because one day they might be gone. Forever.

Bad Santa attempts to make a change..

Ho ho ho.

For once I will take the opportunity to be a little more serious than usual. Even though I´m always serious. And stuff.

Christmas is ahead. That fucking time. But as written in the last post, I have actually come to realised it can be quite nice with some candles, nice food and maybe even a present. (No I haven´t lost my mind completely)

You might have seen that londoncallingyou have moved to Facebook. This was totally a move made so more people would read this blog. Yes. You heard me. (What a selfish bastard, he is so into him self. Well. That might be true from time to time. But so are you! And this is not really a question of  how-fucking-selfish-are-you. Try to listen instead!)

As said before, one of the purposes of this blog is to raise concerns how to improve the environment. But in the environment there is also people (True story..).  And you might think it can be a bit of a cliché to all of  a sudden go from a stone cold grumpy idiot, and all of a sudden show some signs of actually caring about other people´, just because it´s Christmas. But it´s not only because it´s the time of eggnog and crazy Santa clones. It´s also because it actually are a time when many people are in a vulnerable position. And that´s nothing even a grumpy idiot can ignore.

So basically, what I´m asking of you is to give something for a charityorganisation or a single individual. I know and hope that most of you already gives something to those in need. But please, try to make a little extra effort in times like these, and donate something (money,food, clothes). If a bastard like me can come to sense from time to time, I know that you can!

I have attached links for some charity’s (both English and Swedish) that will need your help, but there are so many different organisations trying to help other people, so feel free to search by you self as well. A lot of these have also a more global approach, so if you want to make an impact on a more local level, please do. If you don´t know any charity’s near your area, use the search tool Google. It´s actually quite good..  

crisis.uk      rb.se (Save the children)     amnesty.se     ifrc.org  (Red Cross & Red half moon)

Please (That´s a sentence you won´t see me use many times),  have all this in mind when you want to make someone happy this winter. 

Follow londoncallingyou on Facebook as well. There will be some activities going on there. And competitions. And prizes. So keep out!

Cheers

Must be Santa..

Christmas!  THAT time of the year is here.

Crap..

But I have come to realise that some things connected to Christmas actually is most pleasant. Like “Glögg” (Swedish mulled wine. The Swedish version is so yummy that you can drink it during every month of the year, not just for X-mas. According to some persons you can´t. But they are idiots), “Lussekatter” (Saffroncakes),  “Pepparkakor” (gingerbread) and many other tasty things.

But it also brings you an excellent excuse to lock your door, isolate yourself with a good book & candle lights, put your stereo to Vol 11 with for example Tom Waits new album “Bad as me” (Just a suggestion. Go ahead, listen to your crap music if you want to..)  and shout “fuck off” to all people having the inappropriate behavior of trying to disturb you. Ahh!

Now. I should try to raise a question concerning environment approval and all that in some posts, since it actually was the meaning of the blog.

So. Santa. That bastard. He is an interesting figure in many ways (Not only because he is a bastard). Santa must have been the first specimen that the scientists tried the clone technic onto (There are millions of him!). Forget Dolly. But even if the old beardo has an army of himself running around smelling goofy, he can´t possible make the delivery of presents all over the world without flying. And there is no such thing as a flying sledge! So apparently he (them) travels around via airplane. And I haven´t heard of any climate compensation from Santa and his gang. Bad Santa. 

And what about his home? Where is it? Some say Finland. Other says The North pole. Might be in Lapland (Sweden) according to some. Bloody hell. The man must be a nightmare even for the most hardened tax-collector! (And the tax man certainly must be after him, giving away so much stuff without any income. Fishy business all over) And imagine all big eyed children, with their fingers bleeding due to that they have spent the last half-year, trying to write a nice letter to him. Their morning routines have become to run for the mailbox, and see whether if Santa has replied to the letter. But no. And then, on Christmas day when they wake up, in their Christmas stock there will be a fucking letter! Looking rather familiar. “Return to sender”…

Actually. Santa seems to be  a quite funny guy..

Anyhow. Christmas is here, and I made some “Lussekatter” & Ginger/Cinnamon Biscotti.

And I just heard a weird noise. Must be Santa.

I dedicate this song for the old fart: http://bit.ly/dkKRta 

Cheers

…and what not

I have heard some complains concerning the update status of this blog. Some people think it´s not updated regularly. If that is to be as a complement to the writer and the blog, well thank you. If not, I belive I have mentioned something about a huge sledgehammer before?

SO. What´s going on? (Why do I even make any chance for people to reflect about the things written her? I should be spitting out more shit than a politician rehearsing his speech while laying a brick. So no one has time to think what´s going on. But I´ll tell you. It´s becourse I  have stuff to do. Important stuff. Like work. And drinking. And football. And drinking. And work. And go to cookie-markets. And surviving. And stuff. So, You see! Plenty of things! But now I will update more often than an old man farts. And That must be my longest sentence put into a bracket so far..)

For the last couple of weeks, these are the highlights moments:

I went to Wembley with my brother and nephew to see Sweden vs England. Since 1968, England haven´t beat the swedes. Since never, I have been to a live game football game. And what happens? Sweden losses for the first time in 43 years! That´s pretty fucking bad luck. But we still managed to kept the good spirit up. It´s more than you can say about the “on-pints/chips built man-from-a-withe-trash-home” standing behind us, screaming things even I wouldn´t do. Fucking prick. Your team won! Why go bonkers and do a perfect imitation of the little mustache man from Germany then?

But never mind that idiot. And the result of the game. It was still an epic thing to take part of. Thanks bro.

Also went to a cookie/coffee market at south bank (On hired Barclay’s bikes! Barclay´s!..) It was really yummy cakes! But a tips: Don´t ever go via bike in the city of London with a couple of crazy teenagers. They haven´t developed a fear of death and therefore seem to belive they can bike like they are immortal. But I´m not a teenager any more and are therefore aware of the thing called death. Unlucky for me.

 But we all survived.  

Then there was THE RAVE. This thing I have been talking about for so long, and that you probably just though existed in my fucked up mind. Just to have something to write about. But screw you, it was very much a real thing. Last Thursday it was party in the old Truman Brewery. And what a party! Uk Champions of breakdancing, “The soul Mavericks”, alongside with Go-go dancers, top name Djs as “Will & Joe” & “Filthy Dukes”,  a massive amount of booze and a queue of people worse than the american apparel outlet, all played it´s part of creating a most fantastic night! Visit LBi on Facebook, and have a look at the pictures from the night. (Can´t steal any photos and post here. I will be placed in the dark dungeons deep under LBi. And there is monsters down there. So I´ve heard.)

But below is one of me. (It´s stolen..) And some of the much exclusive Rave accessories given out to a lucky few. Sum up:  A truly fantastic Rave. If you where there you know. If you weren´t, it´s a shame.

AND! I have also spent a lovely weekend with two of my mates from the long land in the north. Thank´s for this weekend guys. Epic indeed.

Cheers big ears

Things have changed..

So I went to Sweden for a long weekend.

Haven´t been there for a while and during the time since I left IKEA-country (aka Sweden. Actually Sweden is like a fucking IKEA furniture. Everything is supposed to be working smoothly. Like a lifebuoy.You are given a manual with all the basic info you need. The screws and nails are there as well.  The system is waterproof. You will get your BILLY and your life in order. But then, when you actually trying to put things together, it just ends up in one pile of shit. And you curse. Load and passionately)  things have changed. The warm weather is no more. It´s cold as hell. I totally understand why Sweden is considered to be a truly dreadful place to live, apart from that the people look good, which actually makes it a little better.

It´s really not that bad. I kind of like it in some ways to be honest. But it has turned freezing cold, that for sure.

But why the f**** did you left England for a weekend in Sweden then you grumpy idiot? That´s a good question. I will answer it! (Don´t ever start a blog. You will be paranoid and start to talk to yourself and about yourself in 3rd person.. You will also start to places things into brackets more than usually)  

Anyway! Let me answer. Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler and the Swedish artist Veronica Maggio. There you have three perfectly good reasons for a Sweden vacation. The first two played in Malmö. Two aging rock n roll men.

Bob Dylan actually starts to sound more and more like a mixture of Tom Waits and Keith Richards when it comes to the voice. It´s like a rusty chainsaw cutting through barbed wire. And it´s great! All cred to Bob Dylan, that still, 70 years old, sticks up one (or in England two) fingers in the air two the people who want him to play exactly as on record and never try new ways. Listen and learn! Things have changed.

Mark Knopfler just makes me angry. Not due to his music. It´s great. That´s the problem. It´s to fucking great. He plays like a God. Bastard. He gives you a feeling not ever wanting to put up the guitar again since you never will play like that. 

And Veronica Maggio. This almost new star on the swedish music scene. She played in Göteborg. I have heard people saying that she sings false and is boring during live performances. Either people just don´t know what they are talking about (which is probably the case) or she has improved during the months being on a tour, because she was great. You go Maggio!  

Another good reason to have a vacation in Sweden is to see your friends. A huge hug to some of my main mates that I was lucky to spend time with during these days. Thanks for a nice weekend folks. See ya in da pit.

Cheers

Brick brick on the wall…

They are everywhere! Bricks. If you back in the days wanted to get rich at the level of shitting gold-(bricks..), then the business of bricks probably was a good idea. London is the city of bricks.

In the first blog post I said, “lay a brick you too..”. (In the context of getting a better world)  “Well fuck you mate” went probably both you and your memory concerning this.

So someone at least had to do something. I took my self literally and for the last two weekends I have been doing this when time allowed.

Ahh. A London Brick. In London. Anno God knows when.. These were the bricks I had to deal with. So what is this really?

It´s two brick squares where it will be self-grown vegetables for my brother and his family. Eating more near produced things, so to speak. Now that´s how to lay a brick for mother earth. See the results below.

Yeah yeah, “why is he so smug about this, it´s fucking crap”. Well. That might be true.(You bastard. Ever heard of being polite?) But then you try to make the ground flat enough, dig down one layer of brick under the ground (so it´s actually 5 layers) fighting with worms dinosaur size, deal with bricks older than the pyramids (those bricks really tells you to sod of and leave them alone. I can’t blame them.) mix the concrete (which demands 4 years university studies focusing only on this, to get the right consistence)  and you come back with a better result.

And if you do, I will go and get my enormous oversized sledgehammer..

But really, if you have a garden, full of ugly no good to use flowers, then consider to grow a lot of your own vegetables, instead of buying those with more traveling experience than an old hippie backpacker. (Actually a lot of the old hippie backpacker`s can´t really have that much experience. They basically sit on the same spot when they have found a good source/supply of “vegetables”…) But the vegetables have traveled a lot! So go for the inexperienced/scared-of flying- ones!

Lay a brick you too!

Guns of brixton & I fought the bank ( & I won)

When I kick @ your front door, how you gonna come, with my
money in your hands or the trigger of your NRA-lent gun?

Bastards. I knew it was a reason why Barclays bank was voted
as the bank with the shittiest service.

So I went to a Barclays ATM this Monday to get myself some cash. Their machine gave me a 50 pound sliced note. It looked like utter crap. Then I tried to pay with it. Oh no. No no. Forget about it mate, we won’t take that one. Turns out no shop wanted the note. So I went back to the branch, explained that I got this sliced note from their ATM outside, but the shops refuse to take it due to its condition. Asked if could change it for some better looking cash. No no was the answer given. What? It is valid in some way.
-Yes we know, and you should be able to pay with it. Well now I can`t so why
wont you change it for some other cash? -Well we don`t do that. You will have to go to your bank. But my bank is in SWEDEN! And it was your machine that gave me ripped money!

After a long dialog, with a cashier totally without a service minded manner,  and after I in a fuming state of mind called to speak with the manager, I walked out of the bank, still with the shitty note in my hand. So I called Barclays customer service. They didn`t understand. I should be able to change the note in the branch, with or without an account at Barclays. That´s what a fucking bank does!

But finally, yesterday the branch surrender. I went in, explained again what the problem was, threatened to create a recession on my own (no I  didn´t..) And then I got my money! Victory and glory. Tales & books will be written. The cashier was still an asshole, but that’s an other story.

But before the Barclays story  there was a nice Sunday. Me, Imo, Calvin and Nicky went to Brixton to see the championships in breakdancing. (It has something to do with the preparations for the rave..) It was gangsta all over. Imo had told she would show up in a hip-hop disguise, so she would blend in. But she was to lazy and went to the pub instead. Gangsta for real.

But it was fun, and most important, we survived. And I’m fucking amazed how you can move your body like those kids did. Must be something wrong with them. Can´t be normal. But still, I’m impressed.  Cheers!

 

Don`t tell people what to buy! Inspire them..

I`m quite fascinated about how company s try to sell stuff to me. Basically I don`t like to buy more material stuff than I have to. Trying to make a tribute to lower the material consumption in the world. But we all have to buy a certain amount of things. (Have to is perhaps something that can be discussed. But yeah..) So I do consume material things. That makes me a potential buyer of a company’s products. Simple math. Or rather a simple conclusion. (I hate math!)

Anyhow. You know all those old school commercials, from the 1940-50, telling you, “Drink me, I taste good”, “Drive me, I`m fun to drive” “Smoke me, the doctors recommend it”, etc.. The are quite straight forward. They basically says  “Don`t you fuck around going uncertain. Act! Buy THIS specific product from OUR company. NOTHING ELSE!” (you little fucker) Very likely to a military order. All prussian manner. Because people didn`t know what to do back in the days. They probably practiced lobotomy a little too much. Or it had something to do with WWII. Probably. Like always.

Anyhow, it was really a one-way communication. Then people stopped sticking up things in their brains, and stopped thinking about Hitler and his evil buddies. We started to think. And we don`t want someone to telling us what to do. FU mate! Riot and mayhem will be the outcome. All because of old fashion commercial thinking..

But there is a way to prevent Commercial-Armageddon. By not telling people what to do. Inspire them to do it by free will. (Even dough they are doing exactly what you were about to tell them in clear orders. But hey, people, me, you, are complicated.)

Nowadays it`s more about to get the potential consumer to associate the brand with something. It`s more about a lifestyle. You buy the nice costume from “Stalinsfashion“(fictive name. Come on..), because you like the whole thing that their brand represent. You like what it means to you.

So basically it`s more focus today on creating a meaning of the brand, and what the product means for the consumer. Add value, rather than “We have a great fucking thing here, that we just invented. Don`t know what it means to you, but buy it!”

If you are more interested of a more modern way of promote your brand, see this. It`s also my first blog post for LBi. So you have a fucking look! Act! (Old-school style. Haven`t learnd shit, have I?)

Cheers!

Veni vidi vici (you bastard laptop..)

Always something going on. Always on the move. Never to be surprised. That`s life, that`s LBi.   

So I was in the reception doing some footage for a client yesterday, when I all of a sudden heard live music from the basement. A guitar and a violin. Looked down, and there they were: Two buskers playing. And their repertoire was truly amazing. It included songs as “Inspector Gadget, and “Tetris”. Talked to the cafeteria boss, and he told me that he just was out on the street for a fag, saw them, and thought “Let`s bring` em in. For a free lunch they played for a while. Good stuff there. Bring more music to the building. Blending god damn!    

And today I hopefully will get a new computer @work! I will laugh load and with satisfaction when they come and take the current evil thing away. I might actually survive, despite a long time of serious attempts to shorten my life, made from that little bastard laptop. Now I just have to reduce the other serious threat against my health. My personal laptop. If I can get a new one, I`m all good.

And now to some unserious stuff. We all like to goof around, trying to look funny. Sometimes we just look funny without even knowing. But hey, that`s the way it is. Have a look at this bunch of people.

Calvin: He likes his Sippy cup. It`s like a drug. He might soon start to scream and behave inappropriate, like other users of those kinds of products. Or he will be the only person at work with a clean table and clean clothes, due to that he can`t get any stains thanks to the Sippy. Why don`t we all have Sippys, now when I think about it?

Imo: On her spare time, between all her meetings, Imo probably likes to scare people. Down in the basement, close to the elevator, is a perfect spot to wait for victims.

  

Myself: This is a perfect example of how you unaware can look both goofy and sort-of-evil with that Oh-yeah-I-might-have-food-somewhere-on-me-but-I-will-soon-toss-the-rest-of-my-superhot-food-ON-TO-YOU-look!

Gareth: Then we have the moment when you stand in front of a camera, waiting for the lazy-bastard-photographer to get his equipment ready, and you just feel like doing a happy face.

Cheers!

The Rave(of Mayhem) and death or cheesecake?

The anual Rave @Lbi is coming closer. The Rave of Raves. The Party of Partys. The Mayhem of Mayhems. Yeah, you get it. Or do you? Don´t even know if I do to be honest. Nonetheless, I have started to work at some basic floor plans, so we at least can try to get what we are doing, and try to get it as a controlled mayhem as possible. If possible.

Have been doing some photography today as well. Both for a project that has a deadline asap, and therefore is urgent as a heartattack. Probably will cause some of those amongst LBi personal. (Hopefully not) And, for another project not so dangerous for the health. The first was to get some new headshoots of extra important and much VIP persons. I have a camera. That makes me appropriate for the task. Haven´t been in to headshoots/portraits before, but hey, give it a go, if you don´t know. Turned out quite nice actually. If I may say so. And I may.

The other project, I still work with. It includes to take some nice pictures of the Truman building (the building LBi is located in), to show or clients which supercool place we are located in. And therefore how supercool we are. So it is superimportant to get good pictures. Can´t show them here yet.

But today it was free cheescake in the basement, when I was there shooting supercool photos. I heard a rumble like a herd of elephants on the move. The second later the whole caf was full of people, desperatly to get some yummie, and above all, FREE cheescake. It was a question of cake or death. (It was mostly cake) So I took some pictures of that too. Take a look.

Imo and Calv chose cake.

There is probably a reason why booze and sugar is bad for you. But people turn happy and crazy out of it. Just look at this guy.

Cheers!