We all need a place to call home........

Stockholm.

The  ''Venice of the North'' so some say.

It used to be my home for many years

and I really loved the place.

When I left Sweden in 1977 to visit

my folks in Australia I didn't have

a clue that I would never return to live in

Stockholm again.

Visit yes, but not live.

Somehow Australia just got under my skin

eventhough it was obscenely hot, brown, full

of deadly critters on land, in the air and in the

water.

Culturally it seemed quite desolate compared to

to what I was used to in Sweden. 

Sweden, a country with four seasons, each with its own

delights, beauty and mystiques.

A country with a history that dates back to

as having been inhabited

by humans since approximately 12.000 BC.

But, ''but'' number one,

Many people who have made Australia their

new homeland, I've found to more often than not

tend to agree with me that there's

something special about the people here in OZ.

There's a ''lightness of being'' somehow

and people seem to be friendlier and more

relaxed. People can start conversations with you

just like that. ''How's your day been so far? 

Gooday...... Hot isn't it? Oh, I like your xyz''...etc. etc.

There's an expression that is often used here:

''she'll be right, mate'' which means basically

''don't sweat the small stuff'' and once you get used

to it  are very wise words indeed methinks.

Some photos from my fave wet place here in OZ.

Here there are white sandy beaches that goes on forever against

a crystal blue sky and peach coloured sunsets.

Water so clear that it's impossible to ascertain how

deep the ocean is.

And a lot of people who find the time to say: Hey or Gooday.

Which I love.

But, here comes ''but'' number two.

But sometimes, no matter how much I love Australia,

I get overcome by something called ''sehnsucht'' which

is a German word for ''longing & yearning in the soul''.

It's a sort of a longing sadness that can be triggered by

a smell, a sound, a colour and suddenly I'm 20 and

walking the streets of Stockholm, or an old dusty road

of the Swedish countryside or watching the sunrise

through a window.

There are many of us who have left our childhood homes in

exchange for another place which to call our homes.

Sometimes by choice, sometimes not, but what we all have in

common is our need to feel that we have a place where

we belong, a place that we can proudly call our home.

As far as I can ascertain our planet is far too small for

us to keep on entertaining the notion that there

is a ''them and us''. (There's only ''us'' methinks)

This earth that is at this point in time

is very well suited for all human kind.

A kind that does not come as them and us,

 though we often seem so inclined.

May we always consider and bear in mind

that such as our planet, there's only one kind.

Well, at least until some fool decides to pull the pin...

about the images: top: Stockholm, acrylic on medium size canvas

Aussie images: photos slightly edited in Elements

Sweden images: acrylic on medium sized canvas

If you're struggling, this poem is for you...........

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how difficult,

nay, 

near impossible

life may seem,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

change will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

the horridness

and ugliness that

may come my way,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

beauty will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how tired,

exhausted and

fatigued

I may feel,

.......... inevitably, 

and regardless,

renewal will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how lonely and

isolated

 I may feel,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

communion will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how much my

body aches and

slowly deteriorates,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

wisdom will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how many tears

I shed or hold back,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

joyfulness will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how distressed and

anguished my

soul may be,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

peace will come.

Sometimes,

I forget

that no matter

how dark 

tomorrow may seem,

.......... inevitably,

and regardless,

a fresh new day will come.

(Citizen Z)

Dear reader, if perhaps my poem seem

a little unrealistically positive, I'll let you in on

a secret of mine. When I feel at my most darkest

I force myself to write something uplifting and hopeful.

Usually doing so helps me grab on to a kernel

of hope.

about the image: pastels on large canvas

(The mess painting with pastels creates is

overwhelming and it gets into everything!)

 

Beautiful but can be deadly.....the Outback of Australia

I really thought I was going to pass out.

Sweat was pouring out of every orifice on my body

and my crispy dried lips were covered in salt crystals.

My throat was so dry that I could no longer speak

only croak ''how much further!?!?!!''

-Ah, well, there's a Golden Arches just up the road, he

said without even taking his eyes of the road.

Having been on tour with him before I knew that

in Australia ''up the road'' could mean anything

between five or 505 kilometers ''up the road''.

-Come on man, how far away in time? I'm dying here.

-Keep your shirt on mate, maybe half an hour, he answered.

What shirt? It was far too hot to wear a shirt.

When he offered me the gig(music) telling me that I would get

the chance to see a bit of ''real'' Australia I 

should have asked him real as in....? and is the

van airconditioned?

Well, no it wasn't, but as we had departed at 2am 

and it was not that hot then, I just didn't

think of it. 

Besides, the first five hours Danny, Peter and

I were happily chatting away and making song lists.

I had never worked with Danny before so we

had to figure out what songs we all knew.

As time kept marching on the temperature

kept stomping up the thermometer

as did the heat in the van.

As our non-airconditioned Mitsubishi van 

hummed its way through a slowly changing landscape

the heat intensified and by the time

we stopped to get some gas, I felt

as if all my ''innards'' were well and truly 

cooked. 

Unfortunately, the further outback we travelled

the less we saw proper gas stations with

air-conditioned ''eateries'' attached and more

and more just two pumps and a small

non-airconned  ''only the necessities'' shop

connected to it.

Slowly, gone were the miles and miles of 

enormous fields of deep green sugar cane stalks

which we had been driving through for hours. 

Sadly replaced by scraggly, prickly gray coloured

bushes and off-yellow dead ''messy'' grass.

Now and then we would pass a ''homestead''

of sorts. Usually having a very long driveway

leading up to it, and often with a couple of car 

skeletons decorating the non-existing front lawn.

-Hey bro, can you see that? Danny suddenly

exclaimed excitedly.

Having dozed off for a spell, Danny's voice

woke me up and as I stared out the windscreen I

could see a Big Golden M. Finally!!!

-Let's go through the drive thru, said Peter.

-Hell No! I yelled. I'm going inside! Where

there is air-conditioning and icy cold water.

-Park the damn vehicle and let me out!! I bellowed.

As soon as the van stopped I jumped out

and headed for air-conned bliss.

After two hours of cooling down I was

eventually willing to move on.

What I came to realize during our four

day tour was that not only is Australia

a deadly country due to its critters and

well, almost everything, the Sun is

absolutely deadly and not to be taken

lightly.

After what seemed as forever we eventually

arrived at the gig. Drenched with perspiration

and absolutely parched. 

Since we were playing two nights consecutively, we

 had been given free accommodation

in a tiny and somewhat dingy little motel.

Each of us had our own room although they

were more like ''cells'' since they had no windows.

But what hey, they were air-conned!!!!

Before we headed back again, I made sure that we

had a four litre bottle of water in an esky(cold bag)

filled with ice with us.

When we came back I decided that I was never going

to go on a tour, mini or large, anywhere near

the edge of the desert again.

What little I have seen of the desert in real life, it's enough

for me to decide that no matter how beautiful

and magical the Australian outback/desert may be...

 My preference is to enjoy its beauty and magic

on screen, on a photograph, in a book, in a movie

or a doco, comfortably ensconced in air-conned

bliss with oodles and oodles of icy cold water

to drink.

''The Australian Outback is vast and spell-binding

and heart-stoppingly beautiful....(Tim Minchin)

''Australia is like Jack Nicholson.

It comes right up to you and laughs

very hard in your face in a

highly threatening and engaging

manner.''

(Douglas Adams)

about the image: acrylic on wood board

''The Outback''

Movie or Cinema? There's a difference.....

Have you ever watched a movie that from the

minute it started you lost track of time and place

and when it finished, something inside of you had

shifted, had changed?

Have you ever watched a movie that somehow

managed to grab hold of your emotions in such

a way that no matter how hard you tried you just

couldn't hold back tears?

Have you ever watched a movie that somehow

managed to touch you so deeply that 

after watching it you realized that perhaps

some of your views and opinions needed an update?

If you have, then according to Martin Scorsese you

have experienced the power of Cinema: ''an aesthetic, 

emotional and spiritual experience.''

As a teenager I discovered that although I loved

movies, Cinema was even better.

As luck would have it, I had met somebody who

not only was into photography and jazz like me,

but who introduced me to a place called

''The Cinemateque".

The Cinemateque was basically a huge building

consisting of 6 different sized cinemas, a number of 

teaching auditoriums, one coffeeshop, one giftshop

and one fine dining restaurant.

By becoming a member of the Cinemateque,

(which I did the first time I went there) one

was given access to every venue. 

Moving from one theater to the next,

starting in the morning and finishing late evening,

for me was far more interesting than school.

Consequently, this is where my friend and I

spent most of our time our last two years of senior school.

Thinking back on that time

I count myself lucky to have had the experience

of watching masterpiece after masterpiece of cinema

 together with other people. (Not alone at home)

People, who just like me, loved cinema.

People, who after the film ended would

spend hours in the coffeeshop dissecting

the film, the music and what we thought it 

was telling us.

 Every film that was shown at the Cinemateque

came with a promotional poster. 

These posters were often magnificent pieces

of art in themselves, so every time new posters

went up, the old ones became available for purchase. 

I purchased. Many.

In those days, before computers, painting movie 

posters was a good ''gig'' for many struggling artists.

Many, who eventually through their poster art became ''known''.

Known enough to be able to set up their own studios

and hold exhibitions on their own terms.

Some years ago, my son and I were given the opportunity

to hold an exhibition of Cinema Poster Art.

We called it ''Cinefiend'' and painted 30 posters

each. Each acrylic on very large thick water color paper.

All our own interpretations and in homage to the

original works.

We both sold a few, enough to cover the cost of material,

but unfortunately not enough to cover the cost of the work

involved in actually hand-painting the posters.

(These are a few of mine as well as the top one.

They are all large: 0.97 cm x 0.50 cm.)

The Cinema theater, due to its ability to be both a personal/single

 and a collective experience, in my view offers us, the audience,

a place where due to the fact that we are all human beings,

we can feel that we belong.

Even if only for 80 - 93 minutes.

''Cinema is a reflection of society and, in most cases,

has the ability to be a mirror and not just show the

problems but also give solutions and help them

reach a large number of people through faces

and voices that matter.''

(Kirti Kulhari)