Monday, May 9, 2011

Time

It was my birthday this past Saturday, and the first thing that comes on in the stereo on my way to work this Monday morning is  "Time" by Pink Floyd from the "Dark side of the moon" album. Pure coincidence or a trick played by whoever controls fate? Great song though...

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way

The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Speak to you soon!
Patrik

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Ganja Smuggling

You like reggae? Me neither, never been a big fan of reggae. I have of course on occation played best of Bob Marley  in my car while driving to work, but that doesn't really count. He is too big of a star and too widely spread to say that I like reggae. It would be like someone saying they like metal just because they listen to Metallica once in a while. It just isn't representative. The artist has become to big to represent a specific musical style.

Anyway,  for some reason reggae just doesn't hit the spot. It doesn't move me. Not musically, nor lyrically. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely can't sit still listening to reggae. I am right now browsing some youtube live footage and every part of my body is moving. Still, I am not really moved on the inside. This is very strange to me as I have a tendency to appreciate and get moved by artists and bands that come from some type of hardship and who write songs about difficult life or try to provoke a poitical message.
For me, reggae needs to be performed live. And it has to be enjoyed with other people. Reggae is great party music. It get's people moving. But more importantly it is generally accepted even by those who can't listen to anything but the latest top-list pop songs and start complaining the very instant something more advanced is played on the stereo. (Blog post soon about two types of people: those who actually listen to music, and those who simply want music as a background sound.)

Anyway, live is the way to enjoy reggae in my opinion. Yet I have only been to a handful reggae concerts so far. Sweden isn't really reggae country so it might not be so strange. My first reggae concert really set the stage and will be remembered for the rest of my life. It is really this experience that is the background for this post. 1994 on a sunny afternoon  at San Francisco State University,  my buddy "Q" and some other friends went to see Eek-a-mouse who held a free concert at the student union in the middle of campus. Of course we had played some Eek-a-mouse before we went there, and in all honesty I dodn't know what to expect. At first I thought that this dude is completely insane with his strange type of "scatting" and very simplistic lyrics while still touching upon philosophical issues. Just check this line out:

The wise man built his house on the rocks,
the foolish man built his house on the sand.
Oh, where there is no foundation...

Trying to be philosophical, but a little bit too easy I would say, no?
Anyway, to the concert we go, and there's about 200 people standing around in a fairly small auditorium, and long before the band comes on stage there is a heavy fog hanging in the room. And up on stage comes Eek-a-mouse. Playing all his old classics while the fog grows even heavier, and the stage is just 2 meters away. One of my most memorable concert moments actually.

Now then, what about Eek-a-mouse, with a name like that and sometimes questionable lyrics, is the man simply insane or is he a genius? In my opinion, neither. Slightly insane with some talent actually. Check out the song below. An honest tale straight from Jamaica, with the unmistakeable classic Eek-a-mouse sound, lyrics and scatting. Great stuff in my opinion. The person behind the music is simply so intriguing to me that I he moves me. When I want reggae, Eek-a-mouse is what I play. Here is Ganja Smuggling, from the album Wa-do-dem in 1982. Enjoy...


Stay tuned...

Patrik

Friday, May 6, 2011

Drugs & Rock'n Roll



Did this headline get your attention? Thought so...

During these past weeks of blogging it has become more clear for me that the blog needs some kind of strategic direction partly in order to attract new readers but more importantly to retain the solid group of followers that I currently have in Sweden, USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland.

Eek-a-mouse

So what is the new direction? So far I have written about anything that has come to my mind, thus creating a very cluttered blog. If I was an extremely interesting person then this might have worked, but I am not. At least I know myself that well. Solution? Focusing on a subject that is extremely interesting, namely Music. Oh God you say, who cares about metal? But that's the thing. It will not be about metal. Not just about metal at least.

I will write about any type of music that I have some type of connection to, an analysis of lyrics, artists, individual musicians, and whatever else music related that comes to mind. The red thread will be my personal connection to the music or the artist.

Tom Araya
As a teaser, following topics will be touched upon in the near future:

1. Eek-a-mouse - a misunderstood genius or just simply crazy?


2. Metal lyrics - are they evil? Tom Araya of Slayer is a very devoted Catholic...

3. Alice in Chains - Song writing and Heroin - the rise and fall of true artist Layne Staley (RIP)
Layne Staley



As you might understand, I will not write about a specific guitarr riff, or a drum solo, but rather focus on the people behind the music. And I assure you there will be plenty of interesting stuff no matter what taste of music you have.

Check back soon. Take care!

Patrik

Monday, May 2, 2011

Too old to become a gardener?

If I am too old to become a rock star, then maybe gardening could be an option? Spring has hit Sweden for real now and the "getting-everything-ready-before-the-summer-so-we-can-just-kick-back-and-relax-during-vacation" period is in its peak.

And now you're thinking that this guy actually know something about gardening. I don't. Not at all actually. But I still love it, and can walk around in our garden and look at all the stuff going on, thinking about how I can rescue all those plants and flowers that I can't seem to take care of in the right way.

The big problem for me is that gardening is not just an art of creation, it is also an art of patience and perseverence. The creation part I love, and I have no problem doing the heavy work of digging and preparing and so on, but it is the cultivation that I have a problem with. I also have a problem with all the weeds growing everywhere (no, not that kind of weed, get serious). I can't imagine spending hours on my knees removing them one by one with roots and all. (Luckily, my lovely wife is a master weed-remover. And speaking of weeds, maybe I can train the kids as well as they grow older...)

Unfortunately this lack of patience and perseverance is not only related to gardening. I am an improvizor and a creator by nature. That's probably why I play drums. It is easier to hide your lack of theory and practice and live on talent than if you play some other instrument. Never did have the patience to sit and practice and repeat all those scales and chords over and over and over again. This goes back to when I was a kid actually. I remember playing with LEGO and I would never follow the assembly instructions. I'd rather create cool things on my own. When I want things to happen, I want it to happen now.

But this bad trait is actually improving as I get older, and the proof is hopefully a large climbing rose "Santana" that my mother in law gave me some three years ago, and I just pray that this summer it will really explode into a symphony of large, blood-red flowers. This rose will actually be the determination of my future as a gardener. If it doesn't explode in red this year, than I should just give up. No point in continuing.


Rose "Santana" as it should look.. I might post an image on this blog later this year as my own Santana develops...

Did some serious work on the lawn yesterday actually. Rented one of these motorized scarifiers (vertikalskärare) and went over the lawn a few times. They make a lot of noice at 9am on a Sunday morning. (Wonder how much the neighbors hate me now?) The result of this activity? 15 to 20 of those really big garbage bags full of moss and dead grass. Great, the actual scarifying took only 2 hours, but the cleaning up (my favourite part) is still ongoing. Next step to kick start the lawn; new grass seeds for the most damaged parts and some fertilizing and at least the lawn will look incredible come June...

Going back to the original question now, am I then too old to become a gardener? I don't think so, the odds of me succeeding is probably better than the rock star option, but then again, my patience with things growing is not that great. Oh, and I know absolutely nothing about it either, which might be a problem. Stay tuned for more possible carreer moves in this blog. Right now, becoming a rock-star is the most interesting option although the age thing is a small obstacle to overcome.

Favourite garden? Sofiero in Helsingborg of course. Partly as it is an amazing garden to visit, and partly of course as I have produced (not written) a book about the great history of this Royal Residence.


Sofiero - Royal Residence and Glorious Garden (Liljedahl Publishing) available in English and Swedish.

More about mine and other people's gardens to appear in this blog shortly. Speak to you soon!
Patrik