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Summer Setting
Back in Vejbystrand again where the days are slowly getting shorter and the nights seem darker, somehow.
It’s only a matter of time now before fall is upon us with shifting colors, cooler winds and less gardening. I hand-mowed the giant lawn here this afternoon and finished just minutes before it started pouring.
The cows are still here. Don’t know for how long, though. Will we ever see them again? Sadly, the next time might be in the meat section at our local supermarket.
I have an art show in Malmö in less than a month. Thinking of showings some of my most amusing “cowtraits”. Like the one above.
25 years ago: Windows 95
I never understood how Microsoft became so successful. I mean, I get how their licensing business model was genius and that preinstalling their OS on every PC soon made it ubiquitous.
What was harder to comprehend was how so many people in offices all over the world ever got anything done on those trashy machines filled with bloated, buggy, and butt-ugly software.
At some point, during my years working for various ad agencies in different roles, I had to work on Windows PCs to ensure that the multimedia projects I was working on were cross-platform. It was an interesting but not a very creatively fulfilling process.
As Steve Jobs once said, Microsoft doesn’t have to lose in order for Apple to win. Today, “the fruit company” is thriving and Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is thankfully using a big chunk of the fortune he made from Windows 95 (and later iterations of it) for charitable projects all over the world.
Sadly, sometimes, standardization has nothing to do with whether or not a product or service is best-in-class. A Windows-based PC has and never will be as easy to use as a Mac. The gap isn’t as wide as it once was, but there’s still a level of clunkiness to a PC that will likely never go away. And I still think Microsoft makes an aesthetically repugnant, unintuitive operating system that distracts from my creative process. Just look at the above commercial (which was likely created on a Mac…).
So, no, I don’t think there’s any reason to celebrate the launch of Window’s 95 some 25 years ago. Especially since much of Microsoft’s then-new operating system’s interface was blatantly ripped off from Apple’s macOS. Then again, Steve Jobs “stole” much of Mac’s interface from Xerox when he visited Parc, one of the photocopier company’s research labs.
I haven’t counted all the Apple computers I’ve owned over the years. Could be about 20 by now. I’m writing this on a relatively new Macbook Pro 16″ and I plan to upgrade my iMac later in the year. Back in 1998, when I bought my very first workstation, a top-of-the-line Apple Macintosh 8600, I felt a little worried that the then-struggling Apple might go actually go bankrupt. Around this time, Microsoft made a substantial investment in the company which sent a message, a vote of confidence that seemed to resonate well with Apple consumers like me. Today, Apple is among the most profitable companies in the world. So I no longer hesitate about buying into their walled-garden ecosystem. And their computers and the operating system still enables me to pursue my creative ambitions. Which is fundamentally why I continue working on them. Macs are enabling. Facilitators. Tools.
Short Visit: Malmö
Back in Malmö for a stint. Found a place with a great view. A vantage point I’ve not been privy to before. Strangely, it feels good to be back here. Meet with friends, eat from a wider selection, and just have more options. After six months as a country boy, I kinda miss city life.
Långa Bryggan in Bjärred
From today’s film shoot at among other locations, Långa Bryggan (the long pier) in Bjärred, Sweden. I’ve been hired to film a trailer for a Master Class (of sorts) themed around a business case and told through the lens of a seasoned CEO who’s been through hell and high water during his decade long tenure.
Behind me in this shot is a restaurant where we both ate a tremendously tasty lunch. If you’re not starved before arriving, the 500m trek along the pier could help muster a bit of hunger. I ate the above Asian Shrimp Salad.
Swedish Championships in Vejbystrand: 505
Yesterday, I was offered a boat ride but since the seas were high, I declined. Instead, I stood firmly on the cement pier in the morning and captured a few exciting moments from the Swedish Championship in the 505 class sailboats that are competing in the waters just off the coast here in Vejbystrand. All footage shot with the XT3 set to 4k, 59fps, and 200Mb/s. That generates a ton of data, but on the other hand, it provides me with a ton of flexibility in post-production. I practice, the amount of information each frame contains, allows me to zoom in to about 200% without much loss in quality or the final render being pixelated.
Lake Atitlan in Guatemala
From a 10-day press trip that took me all around Guatemala. This shot is from Lake Atitlan up in the hills in the southwest of the country. Beautiful region. Surrounding by majestic volcanoes, Lake Atitlan has several ancient villages populated with Native American Indian tribes. Poor, but not destitute and rich in colorful, flavorful culture.
More Egg Salad Sandwich
Here’s a version of my simple, unquestionably delectable egg salad sandwich. I’ve been eating some version of this recipe off and on since I was a knee-high. In the US, the egg salad sandwich is inducted in the Sandwich Hall of Fame, right up there with the Peanut Butter & Jelly and the Baloney & Mayo (or, Mustard, or both) sandwiches.
Today, my most basic version is created with all organic ingredients; boiled eggs, mayo, chopped onions, salt, black pepper, and a gentle squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Add a dash of wasabi, a sprinkle of cumin, or, a pinch of chili flakes to your likin’. Just don’t mix all the ingredients together too fast or the concoction will end up being way too smooth. Add some chopped cabbage if you like. Cabbabe gives any sandwich a little extra crunch. And who in their right mind can resist biting into a little extra crunch once in a while?
Pink Lady vs Mad Cow
From earlier tonight as I tempted a cow with a juicy apple so that she’d show me how long she could stretch out her luke-warm, sandpapery tongue. After a while, the cow seemed to get a bit pissed and even looked like she was about to threaten me. A charge against our old rickety gate would not have gone well. So, I pulled back and gave her a few generous pieces from my bowl of sliced Pink Lady. While I know that the apple was a Lady, I’m not entirely sure the cow wasn’t a bull. Didn’t check it’s equipment below.
Swedish Sunflowers
Until recently, I didn’t know that there is a relatively large sunflower field not far from us in Vejbystrand. We drove to it the other day and only a few of the thousands of lanky plants had begun to blossom. So, I’ll be back in about a week. The last sunflower field I visited was outside of Arles in Provence, France – not far from where Vincent van Gogh painted, went Mistral-crazy, and cut off his ear. Shot wide open with the Fuji x100v.
Twenty Second Wedding Anniversary
Twenty-two years ago today, Charlotte and I were married at Brunnby Church not too far from where these very words are being typed right now, in Mölle-by-the-Sea.
Twenty-two years means I’ve been a married man for more than thirty percent of my life. Who would have thought that considering all the short-lived relationships I had had up until meeting Charlotte. I always felt that since my parents had both been married and divorced a few times, I was doomed in the marriage department. My father was married four or five times, all depending on who you ask.
I have never been as nervous before or since our priest Ola Stålnacke married us. My Best Man, Jonas Bratt, had thoughtfully stashed a flask of liquor in his tux, so, after a few swigs, I calmed down. Standing at the alter was a sweaty affair, nonetheless.
It rained during our wedding ceremony and back and forth throughout the 15th of August 1998. And even though the speeches ran long, the food was mediocre and our DJ totally sucked, the party was a tremendous success that friends would mention and praise for about a decade afterward.
Charlotte and I went through the wedding dinner’s seating arrangement yesterday (during dinner!) for the first time in 22 years. Sadly, of the 67 invitees, four have passed away Lars Fransson, who died from Covid-19 at the beginning of June, is the most recent. The other three are my aunt Lillemor, brother Tyko, and friend Jan-Axel Olsen.
I’m not typically a fan of religious institutions. I realize the service, purpose, and value to the evolution of human societies religions have – and to a lesser degree – still provide. When we were married on that drizzly, late summer day in southwestern Sweden, I saw it as a polite gesture, a nod of respect to the “elders” but also to experience one of the more pompous ceremonial traditions within Christianity. In retrospect, I think it was well worth it.
To this day, I continue to love Charlotte for a multitude of reasons. Our roles as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are interchangeable and our journey continues to unfold as we carry on, evolving individually and as a pair.
We’re both doing what we can to avoid having our pact fall into the doldrums and become institutionalized – something we often see happen among other couples that have been married or together way too long – sadly, without even realizing it.
Most importantly, after close to a quarter-century of mostly blissfulness, Charlotte and I appreciate how uniquely strong and respectful our bond is.
The Moon
Shot this the other day…late last week. With a 400mm lens and a teleconverter, I have a whopping 840mm glass pointed at the moon (400mm x 1,5 APS-C crop factor = 600mm x 1,4 teleconverter). But even when you consider that I don’t have to deal with any ambient urban light, as in Malmö, it’s still pretty amazing that my kit can capture the moon’s surface so well.
The Art of Living
They say that after you turn 25, not much of your character changes. Thirty-two years later, I can’t but agree with that statement.
I clearly live a healthier life in 2020 than I did in 1988 when smoking, snuffing, and drinking was all part of my daily diet. I never got into drugs, at least not the illicit kind in power form. I’ve always exercised regularly, 90 minutes of Qigong&Yoga this morning) but also fall into spells of spectacular indulgence. As I near my sixth decade, I realize that I still spoil myself regularly and enjoy much of the same stuff as back in my youth. Like the IHOP breakfast above which I ate with great vigor while waiting for a friend up in the Bronx a couple of years ago.
In 1988, I spent the entire summer unloading bananas off rusty boats from Central America (mostly Panama) which arrived weekly in Göteborg’s commercial harbor. Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries were seemingly insatiable when it came to bananas at the time. Each Friday, a freighter chuck full with about 130.000 cardboard boxes of bananas colorfully branded Uncle Tuca, Del Monte and Chiquita would dock and wait to be unloaded the following Monday morning.
At 18.4kg per banana box, placing a few thousand of them onto a conveyer belt from deep inside the vessel each shift was intense. But in retrospect, the job provided me with humbling insights into the world of the working class. Like many other labor-intensive jobs, the fruit company that hired me and my “banana boat” colleagues (which in the summer consisted mostly of students, struggling musicians, and artists) eventually automized the entire unloading process.
In October that year, I flew with Yugoslavian JAT to Thailand and worked for 6 months at the Golden Sand Resort on Lamai Beach, Koh Samui. Upon returning to Sweden in April, my brother Nick called to ask me if I wanted a bartending gig at a hotel in Riksgränsen, way, way up in Lapland towards the very tip of Sweden’s northern border – real close to both Norway and Finland. Financially depleted and desperate for work, I got on a rickety train from Göteborg where spring was abounding and arrived approximately 24 hours later in Riksgränsen where it was still midwinter.
If the lifestyle I had previously been leading – culminating with several seasons working in a bar at a ski resort – was formative, the time I spent in Riksgränsen surely solidified much of it. It took me several years to leave the restaurant business and embark on more creative, less destructive endeavors. But in essence, I’m still more or less the same guy as I was back in 1988. Just older on the outside.
Here’s an interesting documentary from the BBC about the art of living where the team has met a ancient folks living in a remote mountain village in Italy and how their lifestyle has promoted mental and physical health and longevity. As usual, I’m caught between being inspired and realizing how boring that would be.
Lennart vs Watermelon
With all the really bad stuff going on right now across the world, in Beirut, in D.C., the US, Brazil, India, and elsewhere, watching a curious, carefree puppy discover how to best eat watermelon is a wonderful distraction.
You can follow Lennart’s adventures on Instagram and YouTube by searching for @lennartminidachshund
More of my commercial and personal films here.
US EMBASSY: Don’t go to Siberia
Because I’m a US citizen, I regularly receive emails from the US government (via the US Embassy in Sthlm) about stuff that I, as an American passport holder, should think about before traveling to foreign lands or gathering in open places and spaces.
Employee of the Month
I’m fairly sure that about this time 2o years ago, about three months before our child was born, Charlotte and I began discussing names. That he or she would have at least two names, possibly three, was something we agreed early upon. If it was a girl, we would honor our respective grandmothers by giving our baby girl a name from each of them. The same would have happened if it was a boy with our grandfathers’ first names.
Our daughter Elle Ingrid Agnes Raboff will be 20 in a couple of months. She’s still figuring out what to do with her life. While a few of my friends knew what they wanted (or, at least felt obliged to fulfill their parents’ vision) at 20, I was still clueless. Heck, at 57, I’m still pretty much clueless. Elle is focused on getting a higher education, which is obviously great. But for now, working at the supermarket, she’s getting a ton of valuable life/work experience all the while earning honest money.
The other day, Elle sent us a text message with the small, inserted photo above. At some point during that day’s shift, a boss had approached and asked Elle to come with her to the office. A little nervous that something was awry, it turned out that Elle, after only six months on the job, was going to be awarded “Employee of the Month”. We were both tremendously proud. The fact that the store has 300 employees means there must have been some competition.
I’m a firm believer that being proud or feeling pride is something you can only truly do when you’ve been actively involved in a positive outcome or result. Both Charlotte and I feel therefore immensely proud of Elle’s achievement. I don’t want to read too much into the award, but the motivation is certainly a testament to our daughter’s ability to do her job really well and her social intelligence.
Mowing the Lawn with Conan
While our friendly neighbors insist on polluting the air and airwaves with our ancient fossil-fueled lawnmower, I really enjoy the exercise I get from mowing it manually. It takes about two hours, 9700 steps or, roughly 6,5km to get the property’s grass mowed down. I always listen to a podcast while mowing – today I caught up to the latest episode of Conan O’Brien’s funny show, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend.
I think I waited a bit too long after last week’s intense rainstorm(s) as mowing the grass today was unusually sweaty. And as soon as I start to sweat, an armada of insistent flies start flying around me. Have to admit that there were a couple of moments when I considered firing up the old fuming jalopy…but now that is mowed, I’m glad I didn’t.
Many Chairs
Shot this time-lapse from a university lecture room in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. The Qigong course I attended last September held a few classes there. I arrived early (via Grab) and the chairs in a circle got me thinking about all the different roles people have in their lives. For example, I’m a father, a husband, a filmmaker, a graphic designer, a writer, a cook, a Qigong trainer, and a professional travel photographer.
We all play different roles in our lives. Some are interconnected while others are diametrical opposites. We are simultaneously cohesive and at times, like it or not, sanctimonious.
I had a discussion with a friend the other day about whether or not it was important to determine if China intentionally or involuntarily spread the Covid-19 virus. I argue that it’s irrelevant at this stage but that it might become a key query in a future investigation – an inquiry that could hypothetically lead to massive financial retribution.
My friend also pointed out that the world should really be more cognizant, concerned and wary of how the Chinese government is manipulatively taking advantage of the generous freedoms democratic nations (naively) provide them with and forcefully establishing a significant presence all over the world – all the while concurrently acting intolerantly towards foreign citizens (journalists in particular), and more importantly, its own people. Yes, the United States has been busy with its own flavor of imperialism for many, many years. The difference is that the US has been a comparatively open society. Especially if you’re a white, Anglo-Saxon male.
I don’t think to call Covid-19 the China Virus is solving the pandemic and I don’t think the US is in a place to criticize any other country’s way of doing business. But there are no two ways about it, the Chinese government really is despicable. If the recently enforced, extremely prohibitive laws in Hong Kong in the far east wasn’t enough, how about the Chinese government’s oppression of the Uighur population in the far west. So authoritatively Orwellian, blatantly disregarding all aspects of human rights and democracy and we just keep ordering more stuff from there. We shouldn’t do business with them at all. Apple, Nike, Walmart, Amazon, and the others should shun China until Xi Jinping & Co soften their grip and drop their whip.
When I think about Xi Jinping’s dictatorial, iron-fisted, anti-democratic tenure – as well as those preceding him (for about 5000 years) and how much of the world indirectly support the Chinese regime, the level of hypocrisy is shameful. And yet though most will agree that we shouldn’t tolerate this, we just do. We just move from one chair to the next and hope the music never stops.
Ceramicist Andrea Karlsson
For my ongoing series of short films, “Time Capsules”, I visited the young ceramicist Andrea Karlsson the other day. To have so much energy and creativity is both inspiring and a little enviable. I can easily see that this young woman has a bright future within the arts.
Shot this on the Fuji XT3 with the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2, the Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4, and a caged Gopro 7 Black. Natural light and edited on Final Cut Pro X.
How Now Brown Cow
Shot this yesterday on the meadow here in Vejbystrand. I must admit, I’ve been having a hard time getting this year’s cow collective’s attention. So I came up with a plan. I googled “cow sounds”, clicked my way to a Youtube video that promised a bunch of farm sounds, including cows, pigs and I think sheep, and then cranked up my iPhone’s volume as loud as it would go (11) and zimzalabim, I got the attention of at least one of these beautiful creatures. At least for a few seconds. Like most people today, the attention span of cows seems also to be getting shorter and shorter.
Västra Hamnen in Malmö, Sweden
I was back in Malmö the other day. Charlotte and I drove into Västra Hamnen to pick up a few things in our condo’s s storage room. I’ve been back to Malmö several times in the last six months, but strangely, I never experience any kind of elation – only the type of comfort one finds in familiarity.
The neighborhood continues to evolve and we both noticed a few new buildings. Nothing noteworthy, though. Gap-fillers, mostly.
For those of you new to this site, I documented the Västra Hamnen area thoroughly throughout most of the time we lived there (2002-2005/2007-20013/2014-2019). In the very beginning, starting way, way back in 2002, I was frantic, spending hours upon hours all year round photographing the views, buildings, and many magnificent sunsets (arguably too many). In addition to a website with hundreds of images (and a few choice videos) from around the area, my efforts also resulted in a 10 book series chronicling Västra Hamnen. I was also commissioned to produce an additional two books specifically about the Turning Torso, for the owner of the skyscraper, HSB.
In 2010, the folks running Malmö City ordered 5000 copies of that year’s Västra Hamnen book to give visitors at the Swedish pavilion during the Shanghai World Expo. The book’s cover and short texts were translated into Mandarin and it was then showcased together with a 5-meter wide image of a seaside view of Sundspromenaden that I had taken from a wobbly fishing trawler several months before the Expo.
The above image is from “Titanic”, a popular place along the shoreline in Västra Hamnen. The overhanging structures provide an excellent view of the Öresund Bridge. While the younger kids love to climb up on the railings and jump fearlessly into the sea below, today, though not visible in this image, hundreds of teens and tweens choose “Titanic” as a place to secure their “love locks” in the iron fencing that surrounds the platform.