Monthly Archives: August 2009

A bag of the near past.

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I last wrote a couple of days ago.
Can’t really remember which day it was. Thursday? Friday?
Something like that.

Most of the time nothing much has been going on.
Some of the time things have been going on.
All of the time the strength to write has not been there, or here… or wherever.

So it’s time to sm up the weekend and the start of the new week. Here we go.

Better get the football game out of the way. Yes, Man U – Arsenal 2 – 1, not a fun story. Guess you just have to Google it to get more comprehensive reports and thoughts than mine. I urge you to do so since I will stop writing about it now.

A pictured dropped into my mail-box. It was from Italy’s own Davide Biondo. He had gotten my album and returned the favour. Here he is… all in jail and stuff:

ITA_davide_b

There has been a lot of birthdays. My sister Angela, my niece Sara and her man Mårten have all been celebrated. Happy late birthday again to you all!

I’ve bought a new pair of sneakers. Now, don’t know if that is news. I buy new sneakers all the time. Just want to give a little shout out to the staff over at Shelta Sneakers here in Göteborg! Helpful is only their first name… (as we say here in Sweden when something is good… sort of).

Guess that’s about it. No music news at all for you. It’s really hard to get the band together for rehearsals. Their so busy. Let’s see what September and October brings.

School starts tomorrow so I expect there’ll be a lot ov coverage on that topic from now on.

4:th cover done.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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The 4:th cover, to be chopped up and turned into the 4:th cover-series,of my give-away (read all about the give-away under the 1:st!-page) is done. It’s a bit more sinister than the others. I wanted to do a bit more graphical piece (and in that not a more explicit but geometrical). Didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped but then again it never does, or they, the paintings never do. They are what they are and what they are are a piece of my mind not accessible to me through other means than painting.

So there. And here. It is:

cover_4_small

(You can click it for a better view.)
This will, as written, be chopped up and shipped to, among other countries, Honduras and Ecuador.

Big post, lots to look at, many links.

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The new semester of school is just around the corner and it’s keeping me occupied. Buying the books, folders, pens and what-not. I’ve also been organizing in general and just calming down from coming home… and such… visa-vi… etc.

So yeah (an Izzardian [youtube-link] phrase), came home from Högfors a couple of days ago. I know I in a post wrote that I would bring you pictures. I’m not saying I haven’t, though… What I am saying is that the picture taking frequency was at a low. I got one good scenery shot and that one was from a parking lot…

I give you. Insjön [Wiki-link in Swedish]:

park_insjon

We took a car ride up to a couple of friends in Leksand and then decided to take a look at this outlet. Crap, I know. But not to leave you all hanging: Below is two pictures of Högfors taken at Christmas of 2008. I’ve probably posted these before but what the hell.

I give you. Högfors in the snow… or something:

hog_2008

hog_2

To sum up: The vacation was great, wish it could have lasted a few weeks more and that it was warmer. Did not get a chance to take a dip in the lake Nya Dammen… Bosse did, though.

More?
Well, today I finally finished, and shipped, the third cover-series, CD-s no 13-18, of my give away. The painting, which the covers are made from, was a hassle as it would not dry. But it did… eventually and now the CD’s are sent (as you might already have read on my Twitter-feed).

Here’s the painting chopped up:

cover_3_broken

This cover-series went out to The Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland and Singapore. It’s really cool how this give-away has seen mu music fly all over the world. The next cover-series will go to places like Honduras and Ecuador… dig!?

Well, that’s about it for today. Now I am going to watch Arsenal-Celtic… Come on Arsenal!

Still in the woods…

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Still out and about in the woods, the deep, dark woods, of Sweden. Doing nothing. Feeling great. Tomorrow, though, we, Camilla, the Boo, and I head home. School is just around the corner and so is fall. (As a soundtrack to this paragraph one could use ‘Woods’, or is it ‘Out in the Woods’, by Bon Iver. Can’t be bothered to check my Spotify account so no link…)

I’ll give you all a full report and perhaps some pictures tomorrow. I’ll be in a car most of the day so it’ll be at night CET.

Music wise I have some really exciting news. Can’t share them yet though. All in due time.
Even though we all (on the northern hemisphere at least) leave summer behind us, fall is looking great. Can’t wait!

I travel while you wait…

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Just a short one today. I am on a bit of a vacation you see. I am up in the dense forest of Middle-Earth… sorry, the middle of Sweden. I am going to relax and recharge. Sleeping really well, breathing the country side air. Eating food… and what not.

I’ve been driving a car for most of yesterday and today.

I’ll try to post a picture now and then, blogging from my phone perhaps. Need your day to day Tommy Boy fix? Follow me on Twitter, I’ll probably do some of that.

Cover 3 is done, still wet though.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Yes. The third cover, for the third cover series, of my album giveaway (read more under 1:st!-page) is done. It is, however, still wet. I’ve used ink on this one, thick layers of ink, and it takes forever to dry. I’ve given it four days but that doesn’t seem to be enough. I will have to let it sit for a couple days more before I cut it up and ship it.

Sorry for the delay. Those of you who will receive a copy with this cover have gotten e-mails… so check your mailbox… or something…

Anyways, here it is, in all it’s wet glory (click it for a bigger version):

cover_3_small

Me and My Qareen!

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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One thing that’s fun about this giveaway of mine (read all about it under the 1:st!-page) is that I get a lot of mail. A lot of mail from people telling me how much they like my music (more often than not they have only heard ‘Travel as I Wait – found under the Music-page – but still, it’s my song, it’s my music). That gives me a warm feeling.

One thing that is not fun is declining all those people. The rules of the giveaway are, as you all know, that the first person from any country to e-mail me gets a copy of ‘The Anger’, my album, free, complete with hand-drawn, one of a kind, cover and all. The rules are not in place for me to be mean, they are in place for me not to go bankrupt.

So, the other day I got one of those e-mails. It was from Mosa here in Sweden. Couldn’t give away an album since Sweden was already taken. There was a drawing that Mosa had done attached in the mail. Don’t know if it was inspired by my music, drawn to my music, looked like my music sounded, reminded Mosa of my paintings, the ones I’ve been sending out or if it was just a nice gesture. It does not really matter. I loved the drawing and I loved the idea and sentiment.

I asked Mosa for permission to post it here on the blog and I got it. So I give you: Mosa Al-Husseini “Me and My Qareen”:

Me and my qareen

Yeees!

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Today it starts.
Today it begins.
The Premiership will come alive!

I have waited all summer. I have bought a new Arsenal-shirt and a pint-glass. I have read al there is to read (well, not really true) and seen all there is to see (not true either). And today the whole big ball of football and more balls and a bouncy ball gets rolling.

Yeeeeees! Here’s to a 7 to nothing victory for my Gunners!

(By the way… Camilla is a tad less thrilled than me.)

Goodison Park, the site of the first real Arsenal-game of the season:

ground_everton

N.I. pic in. Spain claimed!

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The picture from Lewis in Northern Ireland (the ‘winner’ of my give-away in that country) has just landed in my mailbox. Another cool one and another effort! Makes me so glad. And a big plus for the vintage The Smiths [Spotify link] t-shirt!

NI_Lewis

Also today, Spain got claimed (again for my give-away)! That makes… a lot of countries now claimed. For more info on that check out the 1:st!-page by clicking where it says so; 1:st!, on the menu-bar at the top of the page.

More news to come today so be sure to check back.

Live tonight: bob hund!

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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There is a big city fest going on here in Göteborg at the moment; Göteborgs Kulturkalas. A big culture-fest with lots of happenings all over the place. And, it all comes to a bangin’ en with the Way out West-festival.

So, today Camilla and I are going to attend this fest. My favourite band of all time; bob hund, are playing on a big stage in the city center and it’s all free. (Also tonight Hello Saferide are/is, can’t really decide, playing.)

There are few musical ventures that have, and has, influenced my songwriting as much as bob hund has. There are in fact only three more: Nirvana [Spotify link], Johan Norberg [Spotify link; none of the tracks that influenced me are here. If you are interested, check out his album '5 hours 4 months and a day'] and Grandaddy [MySpace link; no Grandaddy tracks on Spotify but the new Jason Lytle album is there and gives you some idea]. (The latter, being Grandaddy, obviously shines through, in my song-writing. Although I really can’t here it. Several of the recipients of my album give-away have pointed it out to me.)

Until tomorrow.

The vacuum of nothing to do.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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It’s a bit of a vacuum this week.

On, Sunday I did my last shift of my summer job. On Monday I had my thesis hand-in. So now, for the rest of the summer I have no have to:s, no musts. It’s a strange feeling. I’m kind of stressed out, out of habit. It has this passed week at all times felt like I have something to do, a have to, a must. But there isn’t. Not a great problem I suppose.

I cut my hair today. That’s always something. I also had a cup of coffe and a bit of a shopping, or shop, run with Brandt the Bass-Man. A city full of shops, a city on sale, 4h trying to find some cool t-shirts… (and like I said on my Twitter-feed) all I got home with was a bag of groceries.

I have no idea what I am going to do tomorrow…

Meeting and a.d.i.d.a.s.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Just came back from a meeting with Rob. A meeting regarding the recording and release of my second album. We’re looking at an October/November recording and a February release, and hopefully the release will be world wide, albeit only in digital/download format. We also discussed the release of a physical record, most likely a CD, but the in a limited edition, maybe more of a promo-gimmick. We’ll see.

Also: I’ve found a pair of really decent, all-synthetic sneaks! Not every day one does that. So I bought them.

adidas-zx-500-blau3-600x421

Thesis in… again.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Yes! It’s done (I hope). Just turned my thesis in. For the second time. First time I did it I got some remarks and some stuff to change, re-write, tidy up and so on, and now I have. It feels really good.

Frequent readers of this blog should know that I have a deal with you. If I get the highest grade I’ll publish the thesis on this blog for you all to read. It’s a pretty bullet proof deal since I am pretty sure I won’t get the highest grade. It would be fun though…

The thesis is called: Is fully informed better than cast in oblivion? A discussion on The Veil of John Rawls and The Proviso of David Gauthier

Now, does that not make you want to read it really bad?

Yet another pic has rolled in!

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Yes! This time it’s from Tom in USA who sends me one, holding my CD and everything. Cool! It really is a buzz to see these pictures and to know that my music has found itself to yet another person.

USA_Tom_B

And again, like yesterday: If you want to see all of the pics head on over to the 1:st!-page by clicking somwhere on the upper left hand side of this page (where it says 1:st!).

Second pic in!

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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Yes folks! The second pic is in. As part of my give-away (where I am giving away an album, a copy of ‘The Anger’, with a hand-made cover, to the first person from any country to e-mail me… as if you hadn’t heard of this already) I am asking the recipients to send me back a picture of them and the CD.

Todays pic comes from Belgium and Jurgen and it’s a stunner! Can’t say how grateful I am for the effort that Jurgen has made. Makes me proud of my work in some strange way. So, without further space taken, here it is:

BE_Jurgen_V

To view all of the pictures that people have sent me check out the 1:st!-page. (You will find it somewhere on the top left-hand corner of this blog.)

Done, and doing, a lot of stuff.

Posted on by Tomas Halberstad
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There hasn’t been much blogging because the in-laws have been for a visit and I’ve been working and thesis-writing, and the in-laws, and working, and writing and stuff.

Tomorrow I do my last summer job shift, on Monday the thesis is due and yeah, the in-laws left town today. So I’ll probobly get more writing done… on Tuesday… after my meeting with Rob, or Wednesday, after my haircut… or something.

I was here going to say something about my album give-away but this self-promoting thing is getting pretty old. I mean, I’ll keep it up, just feel like a sell out somehow, even though my intentions are all good…