A bigger splash

I was having a quick chat with Tor Zombiedad the other afternoon as we made out way home from school and made the fatal mistake of turning my back on Zoe for a few seconds. She saw the opportunity and legged it to the pond thingy outside the church and went into Isadora Duncan mode.

I posted this photo on Bacefook and several friends really liked it. They thought: nice composition of light and water. I thought: wet shoes, wet socks, wet bum, wet dad.

Jackie Brown Junior

Remember the scene in Jackie Brown where De Niro and Jackson are watching the promotional films with bikini-clad girls displaying heavy duty firearms? That's life around here just now.

"Yo bitch, after school I've got a Gun Party and there's going to be some serious carnage". "That's nice, dear. Fish fingers and chips for tea and Thomas the Tank on Bolibompa tonight, OK? And don't forget your woolly. Bit chilly in the playground."

Boys! The strange transformation from angelic cherubs to gun-toting psychos happens overnight.

Fair wash, my lovely!

An altercation with a pensionerin the laundry room this morning. She ticked me off for my macho, hardboiled attitude to my washing chores. Lighting up a Lucky Strike and taking a large sip of Jack Daniels, I told it to her straight.
"Lady, I try to keep it clean but it's a big,dirty world out there. Either wash or get washed up! If you can't stand the heat, get out of the drier! Down these mean sheets, a man must scrub!"

Afrocubism conquer Stockholm

Despite a pretty miserable rainy evening, Afrocubism put on a great show on Friday evening at the Culture Festival.

The gig did not get off to a good start. I'd put Zoe on my shoulders so that she could see and to prevent her from running off and some dickhead behind me said in Swedish: "Take that thing down!" I was fucking furious and for once the cat did not get my tongue. "That thing is

my daughter and she's a person. Have some respect!"

Some of these culture vultures are a bit po-faced. You wouldn't think that music is something full of joy. Rather a lot of sour faces methinks.But rain and umbrellas do not contribute to a good atmosphere at a gig.


Anyway,I did put her down though and she made a beeline for the front so we had the best view in the house. No stopping that girl: through the legs she goes!


After a few numbers up the front where I had to carry Zo so she could see what was going on, we went back a bit in the crows where everything was far more relaxed. Instead of all those serious, cultural faces, people were far more laidback and seemed to be having a lot more fun.

We luckily ran into a group of girls who just wanted to dance to those wonderful Afrocubism grooves and had a fabulous time dancing with them . My daughter is no wallflower!She just went around getting herself new dance partners all the time.

Danger! Artists at work!

The biggest thrill at the Culture Festival yesterday was for K & Z to help paint a structure that Zirkus Loko-Motiv had built up during the week in Brunkebergstorg. Or rather, one that children had built with their help. It seems that lots of young uns, both locals and tourists had been hammering away all week Very messy and lots of fun. Even Mr "Been there, Done That" Kai, normally so very blasé, had to admit that this was the business.

All in all, a brilliant project. Here are the people who were behind it all:
ZIRKUS LOKO-MOTIV
www.zirkuslokomotiv.se

Some of you may remember Public Bars. They were the special area of a pub where working men, covered in paint, sawdust, plaster etc, would have a pint. The ungrubby white collar workers would sip their G & Ts in another room.( What was it called? The Saloon Bar?)

Anyway, yesterday the Terrible Twosome, covered in blue and green paint, despite having worn protective clothing during their artistic endeavours, reminded me of this as we wandered round the rather pristine shopping mall.

Combined with me in my battered gaucho hat, now also rather covered in paint, we must have been rather a sight!

Fanclubs - Teenage and otherwise

I was hanging around backstage after the Afrocubism gig last night, waiting for Magnus Multi, when I found myself in the midst of a gaggle of very excited young Turkish rock fans, waiting there in the hope of meeting their idols, Turkish rock band Duman. Singing together, laughing and all in all in very high spirits. Rather a magical moment.


And then 5 minutes later as I trudged to Centralen in bucketing rain,I met my idol.Tthere he was outside the Scandic Hotel,chilling with some of his pals, the wonderful Toumani Diabate.

When I caught sight of him I came rushing over calling his name. He must have wondered: who is this soggy old wrinkly in a cowboy hat?

He was really friendly and I got the chance to talk with him for a few minutes, a seriously magic moment for me.

Art with a capital F!

The biggest thrill during today's visit to the Culture Festival was for the kids to help painting a structure that Zirkus Loko-Motiv had built during the week in Brunkebergstorg. Or rather, one that kids had built with their help.

It seems that lots of children, both locals and tourists had been hammering away all week Very messy and lots of fun. Even Mr "Been there, Done That" Kai, normally so very blasé had to admit that this was the business. Shame about the rain!

The birds and the bees and the ants in the pants!

Kai was munching his pre-bed sandwich last night and I was trying to get him off to bed. He suddenly turned to me and asked: How do people get children?

Aaargh! The moment every parent dreads. Where was I going to start? Did he learn nothing on the farmyard this summer? Mercifully the ants in the pants won over the bees. He dashed off to do something with his trainset.

I suspect the whole thing was just a delaying tactic. He's ruthless and will use fair means or foul to delay bedtime.

Pug-Nacious

Kai has got it seriously into his head that he wants us to have a dog. So naturally who does he go to for advice on the different breeds? She Who Knows Everything About Anything: Astrid.

The Oracle of Björkhagen pondered his question and then spoke unto her acolyte: Follow tha path of pug and happiness will shine on your family.


So now we are being showered with pug propaganda around the clock. (We are in fact not at all convinced that we should become doggers anyway. This one will run and run).

I tried to fob him with an excellent website

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/top-100-dogs/

which he then spent hours browsing through.

At bedtime he turned to me and said: Daddy I still think a pug is the best choice. And that website does too: it's a very lazy dog, perfect for a very lazy family.