Karl Stanton

London!

I can finally take a break and update my blog. Yay! I bought a ticket to London with Ryan Air, and hearing all the horror stories, I was a little worried that everything will be delayed or the plane will fall out of the sky or something, but for 3 KR:- (Aus $0.80), who can complain?

Ryan Air wasn’t that bad, apart from the 2 hour bus ride from Stockholm till Skavsta, in which I slept, everything went smooth as silk, and would fly with them again. Maybe I was one of the lucky ones.

So I got into London at about midnight on Friday/Saturday, and having gotten used to being able to drown out conversation for lack of understanding, the first thing that happens while I site on the train is get bombarded with drunken Australians. I was praying they wouldn’t talk to me as I think my social skills in terms of communication with other native English speakers is now somewhat limited, especially when you speak Swedish-Australian, it’s hard for people to pick if I’m full of it or not!

Saturday afternoon was the TCR BBQ in Camden Town. Man, I forgot how crowded London is. Camden was packed to the rafters, you coudn’t even walk down the footpath, we were walking on the road to beat the slow plodding tourists. It has been raining so it was very humid and no wonder the swine flu is getting about in that type of environment.

I caught up with “G” B.L.I.M whom I hadden’t seen in a few years, also Rennie Pilgrem was playing a lovely selection of breaks as well. Nice to hear breakbeat again. We then left and managed to taxi it over to the Lot 49 Boat Party, where I was catching up with other old DJ aquaintances and mates. Meat Katie, Dylan Rhymes and Evil Nine were all playing on the boat which summed up a mad day of music and good times.

I also caught up with another ex-Melbournite Mr Dave Valuetime who is enjoying the quiet life of looking after other Australian larrikins like myself.

The next day I picked myself up and went down to the pub to meet up with a very old friend from Brisbane, Sarah, and also Fi’s flatmate Dan (above) happened to be in town for a single day, and made the effort to swing all the way out here for a beer, great to see you dude!

That was a long day…

Yesterday, I hooked up with yet, another ex-Melbourne personality, Mr Brendan Brogan (E-55, Blackcat, Workshop creator) and we hit the pubs again. I saw a lovely exhibition of students (which school I can’t remember) final graduation graphic design work. I saw some the best typography and fine art that I’ve seen in a long time and picked up several business cards so I can head hunt them all back in Stockholm.

We went from there to Tam’s house a little further East from here. She has a lovely Victorian style house with a garden and was growing the spiciest rocket that I’ve ever eaten. In fact, it was like eating chili lettuce. Lovely though. I also caught up with Chris Carter and G again and had a nice chat in the sunshine. Carter and I will be watching the Ashes together later in the week, should be lovely.

Sarah and I then left and went to watch Brüno, which is unbelievably shocking, funny and in some places, awkard. It’s genius, but don’t take your mother to go see it with you! You have been warned! I made the stupid mistake of leaving my wallet on the seat, and only realised when I didn’t have my Oyster card that indeed I am a fool and had to race back to the cinema in hope of Good Smaritanism. Turns out it was right where I left it (thank-you, God!), and we could continue on our way.

On the way back I got a message from yet, another ex-Melbournite, Trish, who invited me to an exclusive rooftop bar with a pool. Turns out it’s impossible to get into this place (even the cab driver was willing to wait for us outside while we get denied), but turns out once a month it’s open to invitation. This is where the celebrities get up to mischief, and no cameras are allowed, but I managed to fire this off. Lots of people swimming at midnight on a Monday being very drunk. The funny thing though is that the staff are super tolerant, and were always tending to your every need, no matter what state you were in. It’s £500 per year for membership, but it comes with rooftop pool, bowling alley, bars, hotel rooms, you name it… Shoreditch House, look it up.

And that’s that! 3 days of catching up, I’m a little exhausted. Can’t wait to kick back, watch the Tour and relax.

Speak in a few. x

Rain, rain, go away…

Ah S:T Eriksplan. This is where I live. The first tall peach building, I’m somewhere around there. Shame you can’t see the miserable rain falling in this photo. I went outside to capture the essance of the Swedish summer. Nothing but rain. I think we topped 8ºc today. Boo!

This coming Friday is midsommar, and apparently it’s the biggest day on the Swedish calendar. I’ve heard countless stories of the city going crazy, but most, nej, pretty much all of my friends are leaving town to go to their parents holiday houses on the archipelago. One thing that I’m trying to understand is why the Systembolaget (the governing body of the alcohol monopoly of Sweden) is closed the night before and during the entire celebration. Thursday 7pm, no more booze until Monday 11am. What the hell! It’s a bloody public holiday. And, to further this, the employees of the Systembolaget are threatening to strike this week. It’s not as bad as I first thought, but who knows what else could go on.

Needless to say, people have already started to stock up. If it’s a beautiful weekend, people want to be in the park with a few beers and a frisbee, not kicking the doors down of the bottle shop.

So, apart from my 4 day week, I’ve actually finished booking my Europe trip coming up in 3 weeks. Above is the first image I’ve seen of Zurich. I have really no idea what to expect, but my good friends Al & Jules just returned from there and sang nothing but praises about the city and the surrounding areas. Yes, that’s the Alps you can see in the distance… a short train ride out of town and you’re amongst it. I’m looking forward to relaxing here after what is already drumming up to be a pretty big week and a bit in London.

I land July 10th and the next day I’ll be joining my good friend G at the TCR BBQ, and later that night partying it up on the Lot49 boat cruise. I can’t wait to catch up with my old breakbeat crew. I met so many great people during that period of my life, it would kill me if we didn’t keep in touch. I’m actually playing G in an online Chess battle, so we are keeping in touch, so to speak. I just wish he would let me win.

After Zurich, I will be flying to Paris to witness the final stage of Le Tour de France 2009. 7 laps of the Champs-Élysées should give me enough time to fire off some shots of the pelaton making their way to the end of what I imagine will be another tight and gruelling race. I can’t wait!

Speaking of Chess, if you have an iPhone, download the app “Chess with Friends”, install, and look me up (lynt). It’s the most addictive application on the iPhone. Constantly playing other people around the world. Keeping me occupied while I wait in line and on the train. It’s great!

I’ll report again after midsommar, bless!