rastplats

After a very long journey I arrived in Sweden again for the first time in a year a few days ago. All good. At least for about 5 hours, then a brief stomach ache turned into a 2 day vomiting stretch.. solid food and upright position are news for me at the moment.

What a warm welcome.. good old Sweden.

The sound of an upset, and with horribly digested contents packed, stomach turning itself inside out into the unsuspecting lap of the stomachs owner is never a welcome addition to everyday life. Quite the opposite actually. Very much so.

Hearing that distinct sound on an airplane 5 minutes after take-off on a 7 hour flight really doesn’t make the list either. Especially not two seats away.. that was the longest flight I’ve been on..

*BLUUAARGH*

I’ll be boarding the flight back to Sweden in just a few hours. The past year has been the best year of my life, and I fully intend to make the next one even better.

See you all on the northern hemisphere!

I just came home from a traditional Australian christmas lunch.. traditional apart from the pickled herring and Glögg I brought along. I’m not much for swedenification of aussie traditions but christmas without herring.. like the pope without a funny hat..

I hope you all had a wonderful christmas!

A few years back I was talking to a mate over the phone while stuck in traffic.. *KRASCH*.. and was hit by a motorcyclist mistaking my car for an extra lane. Last night I was again stuck in traffic and on the phone talking to a mate.. *FIZZSCHT*.. and an electricity pole right beside the car decides to double as a streetlight and burst into flames. I should probably quit using my phone in the car..

..at least when driving past airports and power plants perhaps.

Yesterday arvo I finally handed in the keys for the property, I’m now officially homeless.. and it feels bloody awesome. Our Preston residence served us well but it was time to move on and find a new dwelling for next year (which we’ll do in Feb when getting back)

Now off to do some surfing.. and two days ago there was a shark attack.. fingers crossed.

We’re finally done.. after 4 days of scrubbing, sweeping, washing, packing, dusting, coughing, sorting, shining, swearing, bleaching, carrying, moving, scratching, sniffing and the pope knows what we’re actually done. Our home the past months is now ready to be handed over the next batch of suckers to be ripped off by the owner. And I’m ready for bed, sleeping hasn’t been a prioritized task lately..

We’re vacating the house we’ve lived the past year in on the 21st of December, and naturally it has to be cleaned prior to handing in the keys. What a pain! It’s bloody amazing the amount of grease we’ve assembled in just a year.. me and my good mate Marty’s spent 3 full days cleaning and theres still heaps left.. it’s a struggle.

God bless steelwool and sturdy surfaces

By now I should’ve known better than to promise an update at a given time.. like I’ve ever managed to make it in the past. Nah. Never has happened nor will it. This should probably be mentioned in my new years resolution..

Oh well, on with the show..

Meredith was however awesome. We (me, Geoff, Ryan, Jono and his kids Jack and Ollie) rocked up at around 3pm saturday and went straight to the Kid Koala gig and were blown away by his rockstar turntablism. Following him were awesome acts until dawn the next morning, some of the highlights include:

• Combo La Revelacion
• The Soundtrack of our Lives
• Datarock
• The Bamboos
• Augie March

..and heaps more that I’ve forgotten. The weekend not only had hot acts on stage but also temperatures around 40 C making the site extremely dusty.. I reckon it took me 4 days to cough up all the sand from my lungs. We were really chilling out but still managed to accomplish a fair bit in some mysterious way.. like:

• Drink two slabs of beer
• Ollie wacked every attendant in the head with an inflatable hammer, everyone
• Ryan made the biggest balloon hat recorded in the history of mankind (at least)
• Geoff wore above mentioned hat all night..
• Having the most awesome sandwiches
• Playing cricket with the inflatable hammer and a squashed beercan
• NOT get sunburned
• Solve the major philosophical issues of mankind and being too drunk to remember the answers (as usual)

All in all an awesome line-up of bands, hot weather, good mates, beer, tents, lack of sleep, more tents, walking, dust, some more beer.. a bloody good time. See you under the holy cow next year good folks! Photos can be found in the gallery as usual..

After having spent the weekend at the Meredith Music Festival, my body and brain both agree on sleep being a good idea.. I’ll post more about it tomorrow.

ps.. it was bloody awesome!

Just a short heads-up that the gallery section has been updated with heaps of new flicks from the Melbourne area.. check them out!

Mt. Buller (and the rest of the Victorian Alps) had pretty much the shittiest winter season this year since 1990 or so, as can be seen in my pictures. As if that wasnt bad enough, summer is shaping up to be even worse with bushfires threatening to burn down the entire place this coming weekend.. the whole place got evacuated this week.

..at least it might clear up a few new runs for next season?

In Australia, every other word is either a shortform or a dodgy slangexpression you didnt learn in grammar school.. how about these?

shonky, bogan, drongo, ute, pushie, arvo, hoon, chock-a-block, blowie, mozzie, cockies, thunderbox, shit-tickets, scrubber..

..you pretty much have to be drunk to speak like a local down here..

Sorry for the silence lately folks, I’ve spent all available time with Emma.. who I just dropped off at the airport. Since I first met her back in february we havent been apart for more than 1.5 weeks.. now I wont see her for a month.

The house is dead quiet now.. I’m the last man standing.