At 30, I was honestly surprised that I was still around to celebrate that milestone. Not that I’d been doing too much crazy shit. No hardcore drugs (if you don’t count a one-off occasion in Forest Hills/Queens/New York back in 1986). There’s was, however, a lot of reckless partying. Way too much. Especially during my DJ and bartender years on the island of Gotland and in Riksgräsen. I was certainly burning the candle at both ends, trying hard to live life in the fast lane – as the Eagles song goes.

My 40th birthday was largely overshadowed by brother Tyko’s passing early that year. It would of been his 51st birthday yesterday. Hard to comprehend that it’s been 15 years since I spoke with him and heard his wonderfully contagious laugh.

After enjoying a sumptuous breakfast in bed served up by Charlotte and Elle, I started my 55th birthday diving head-first into the Öresund Strait, the narrow body of water that separates Sweden and Denmark. I’ve been doing that more or less every day and most evenings throughout this amazing summer. But today if felt extra fitting. There’s no looking back from here on out.

One of my clients, Rosengårds Fastigheter, just recently launched their sparkling new website. I started working with the relatively new company late last fall and we started filming four one minute portraits as soon as the snow (finally) melted away in April. Each video shines a some light on a key area within the company – through the lens of the individual responsible for it.

I’d been to Rosengård a few times before this project, primarily to capture stills of footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s childhood apartment, the soccer pitch, Zlatan Court and the surrounding neighborhood. These photos are now on permanent display in the Zlatan Suite at Clarion Hotel Malmö Live.

Clearly, this project provided me with a much deeper understanding of Rosengård and of how inspiringly eclectic the area is and, of course, insight into some of the socio-economic challenges that lay ahead for the area and the stakeholders that live, work and operate there.

I recently listened to an episode of the excellent podcast Hidden Brain which presented research within ecology and sociology. According to scientists findings, “The Edge Effect” is when eco systems and cultures blend and cross-pollinate, providing a ton of new evolutionary opportunities. No big surprise, perhaps and I saw some of this taking place in real-time whilst filming in Rosengård and it made my heart smile. I still think this is worth keeping in mind today when so much of society is polarized, fragmented and focused on bearing  tribalisms on our sleeves instead of building relationships based on shared commonalities.

In addition to the four aforementioned videos  I’ve also taken most of the company’s press photos and documented each of Rosengårds Fastigheter’s 35 residential buildings.

My view this evening at about 11:00 p.m. from across the narrow channel that seperates Marstrand from where our hotel is located.

Here’s a collection of mostly aerial (drone) footage from Västra Hamnen that I’ve shot over the last couple of months. We really live in a remarkable neighborhood – especialy when the weather is as spectacular as it has been since April.

We had a bunch of “cigarette boats” visit our small little harbor earlier today. Unbeknownst to me, it’s an annual event. I took out the drone for a spin to capture a few of the above sequences. The popular 1980s pastel hued detective show, Miami Vice, obviously came to mind as these monsters eventually pulled out of the harbor and headed slowly out to the Öresund strait.

The equivalent on land must certainly be a dragster, no? On the one hand, it’s hard not to appreciate the sleek aesthetics of either the land or seagoing gas/diesel guzzling vehicle.

From last night: at 87 meters, the high rise to the right is called Kronprinsen (the Crown Prince). It was once Sweden’s tallest building, replaced in 2005 by the 190 meter skyscraper, Turning Torso – the silhouette in the background. To the right is Malmö Live.

Shot this last night at about 10:30 p.m just after getting off the train from Kastrup and off the plane from Spain. Smooth flight and gorgeous weather as we crossed Ibiza and the Swiss Alps. According to Apple Maps, we flew above (or, at least near) the Matterhorn.

Pilar de la Horadada near Alicante is definitely a travel-worthy, recommendable destination. Very laid-back and charming. Almost ghostly calm this time of year. Food was good, too. Mostly tapas, of course. But they did have a decent Mexican bodega run by an Argentenian that looked like a young Gino Vanelli.

One of my three days was spent biking roughly 40k along the coast. Fell in love with an ancient spa hotel called Encarnacion Los Alcazares – which was where rested before turning around during the ride.

Meanwhile, amazingly, the southern California-esque weather persists here in Malmö. A meteorological blessing I hope will last for at least another two more months. Because, we’re worth it!

Sad news arrived yesterday from Nairobi, Kenya. Charlotte’s aunt, Görel Day-Wilson had passed away hastily. Raised and educated in Sweden, Görel moved to Kenya over 45 years ago where together with her husband David, she owned a tea farm. Görel worked as a jouranlist and in later years, as an administrator and coordinator for Rotary Doctors in Kenya. She is survived by daughter Victoria, siblings Agneta and Hans and grandchildren Baringo and Maria. Rest in Peace, Görel. You will certainly be missed by the family and by friends around the world.

Bangkok Hyperlapse is a collection of video clips for one of my favorite megacities, Bangkok, Thailand. With all the film material I have from the Thai capital, I could possibly produce a dozen more just like it.

We lived in Bangkok for about six months five years ago. Though the heat and humidity started taking its toll on us towards the end of our stay, the sheer variety and diversity of cultural happenings, range of architecture and cushy expat lifestyle was hard to leave behind.

We lived in a large serviced apartment just off Sukhumvit where both cleaning and laundry were  included in our rent and dinner was just a phone call away. It was wonderful to have most of the practical, mundane chores taken care of – which in turn allowed us a lot of creative freedom.

Bangkok is still a destination we return to regularly and benchmark against other cities. So far, we’ve not come even close to finding a city that can compete.