The cold weather returneth, and so for the part I am once again a happy man. Now all we need is a shiteload of snow and I'll be happier than a pig in shit. Right at this very moment I am supposed to be in the middle of 6 hours of disrete mathematics and combinatoric theory, but I missed the beginning of the lecture and as such I am screwed for the day - will have to go home now and study there...after a coffee and such pleaseures of the flesh. I have a good excuse though...I was up until 4am making bruscetta for several very very drunk friends as we said goodbye to our darlink German friend Kathrin Erwig, who alas must return to Germany this weekend :( So we took her out on the town. I don't want to float my own boat, but call me Jamie Bloody Oliver or something because it was a guru effort on my behalf to feed the buggers...David had only JUST moved into his place and had NOTHING in his fridge stave for a loaf of bread, some olives and a few assorted condiments and spices. Detered? Hell no! A few minutes later and I had Garlic, Cajun & Tomato dual bruscetta smelling up a treat, and it didn't half taste bad either. Sweet on my crazy mad skillz or something. What can I say, I was inspired(See 30th Jan, 0:58). Despite all this I didn't drink very much at all, what with the 8am leture and all, but evidently that was just a pipe dream anyways. Mental note : next time drink...then you won't feel guilty!

OK, so there is both incriminating and other scary stuff at this site, but there are also pictures from my first ever guitar performance with the boys, so I will allow you to take the good with the bad, and it's up to you to decide which is which :)

There's a second shiteload of images here from my really good mate Andy Weller (GER), although I haven't perused them all yet, so I am apologising in advance for the content! It does however include a picture of DAVID ALLAN RUNGE smoking...bad boy...gee...it's a good thing you weren't drunk...

I feel I've been giving Ms Avril a little too much [hormonally induced] credit of late, and as such I need to re-establish my roots. In saying that, Paul Dempsey You Rock.

SLEEP IS WORTH THE WAIT "A song about complicity and security. Among other things. To be released on a compilation called 'One of those years' sometime in the future." what it is, why it is, what it could be never tracing the thread of a common theme at ease with the low softly spoken tones of an everyday machine safe and secure with a silent flickering screen screen (x2) it's relief, suspension of disbelief caught off at the time with nothing to wear preparation is expectation and way too much to bear hold the thought of boiling water, cut the stare disinterest in the sound coming from over there over there (x2) a good chair, specialized care specialized there aren't many reasons left to stay awake when the big hand passes the little hand it will be late the apprehension to sleep is always the same and the guilt when sleep is worth the wait sleep is worth the wait (x3) sustain, loss and gain but you don't realise that you're beautiful when you smile you make me cry (x2) when you smile you make me cry when you smile (x2) you make me cry

TELESCOPE "Reading books by Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, drinking red wine at 3am whilst trying to assemble a telescope and pondering the possibility of an afterlife." can't place attachment to such a contraption at such an early hour in such a desperate state i won't rest on promises or guarantees or contracts that don't lend any power or influence to fate this device may make the vulnerable visible and the complex simple blast delusions of grandeur out of the sky but the result is a sleep on the floor with a bottle of wine and i, and i, and i thinks he's probably not as clever as he thinks he is five pm, bright idea, sitting on the fence like a schoolboy waiting for his father to come home sitting on that plane getting cheated out of thursday and all because of the laws about time and space across the aisle his tie wrapped round his neck arms wrapped round a briefcase like it's something or someone more important and all the excitement you can see the comet from here you can see anything you wanna see magnified 500 times i only wanna see you but there's a comet blocking my view you know we're probably not as clever as we think we are five pm, bright idea, sitting on the fence like a schoolboy waiting for his father to come home he must have fallen asleep on the train must have missed his stop i know you and you know me but i've got a telescope now and it's all that i need it's all that i need (x2) you're all that i need all that i need five pm, bright idea, sitting on the fence like a schoolboy waiting for his father to come home he must have fallen asleep on the train must have missed his stop i know you and you know me but i've got a telescope now and it's all that i need it's all that i need (x2) i can see you're all that i need all that i need

Shit, you stay away from the PC for a few days and Jaymis develops a case of verbal diarrhoea. And yes, Avril is hot. I will see her Stockholm concert in March. In other news, after spending a while installing, testing and f#¤king up a webcam and a mike set, my Swedish room mate's friend decided to steal our f$%king modem, so I no longer have internet at home. THE BASTARD. In other news though, there has been a somewhat miraculous improvement in my sleeping habits, although I maintain this is purely subjective, circumstancial and TOTALLY unrelated and mum-if-you-cut-my-internet-access-when-I-get-home-I-will-whip-you-with-a-mouse-pad.

Cheers.

Reason #127 why Aussies kick arse at sport :





We are so damn scary-ugly when supporting the poor unsuspecting bastards don't know which way is up.
My mate Anthony Draper is the ugly mug wearing the Beatles wig on the right. AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!

People around here know I'm bloody proud to be an Aussie, and my mate Drapes is just as affected by the Canary Yellow(Gold) and Green! Here are some select tales he had to offer to me today in his infinate wisdom. BTW, Ant has also been known to bowl out Justin Langer from time to time, and get carted for 6 by Matt Hayden the rest of the time. YEAH!

Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
before i run off to work
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
mate
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
on australia day
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
on fox sports
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
2 days
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
of classic aussie vixctories
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
we are talking wayne gardner, world cup semi cricket, kieran perkins, magic
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
magic
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
2nd thing
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
did u hear about 8 months ago about a truckload of beer losing its load over a bridge into a river down the coast?
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
8000 cartons of beer???
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
well they had a half hour documetary on comedy channel about how the locals "salvaged" the beer... all 8000 cartons in 14hrs before the cops started to look for it
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
quote of the day by one young aussie man
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
"I have 2 dreams of in life....... I have just been diving for beer..... that's one gone"
Anthony David Kneipp Draper says:
classic

And yes, I did deliberately leave it in individual lines...particularly take note of the respect shown to the word 'mate' by giving it an extra line. :) Up Ya Arse!

2 things
1. Do you know how weird it is to see it simultaneously snow AND rain? Weird.
2. A plague on the house of the bastard who stole my Australian flag ON Australia Day. A Plague.

Hey Fam :) Am currently screwing around with a webcam and a microphone...do we have a microphone at home yet? If so we can chat for FREE via the computer (microsoft messenger)...so err...go spend $20 or so on a headset (earphones and mike in one)!!! And then find me on msn messenger ok...swedishbonsai@hotmail.com

In the meantime, here is an entirely useless and overly large 29 second video of me saying hi. Click Here Mum :)

Gnight.

OMG szeretlek has entered into the world of flash. This woman is a bloody good designer...more people should be headhunting her for Gawdlike positions.

Props back to the sis for being the only person around who exists on a fractal plane within hearsay of mine to understand my ramblings. PS. it's 5:55am and I have a 10am lecture. Disaster...my scotch is elsewhere...

back when Jaymis was young and a budding designer...he did these.

Oh yeah, and one of the latest events is up (photowise) here, and includes a lovely shot of my nose hair, fyi.

Oh yeah, and in other big news - had my first official concert last night playing co-written material (wasn't brave enough to do my material...just wrote vocals and lyrics for other pieces and helped with arrangement) with two friends (Gianlucas from Italy and Havier from Mexico) - 300 ppl - it semi counts even though they were a captive audience (it was a dinner). Played a mixture of classical (spanish) and jazz/funk tunes with a cover of Hotel California (because we convieniently could play the whole proper accoustic version). Needless to say we sucked, but luckily there was enough alcohol at the venue to mask a lot of that, coupled with a quietish PA and a loud crowd. Sweet! Oh, and Jackie, I now TOTALLY understand why monitor/feedback speakers are so important...we had nix and could not hear shite...yay for timing! SO yeah, Aliska you owe me a not-kicking of my arse because I completed my assigned homework task for the Sweden trip. Yay for me :)

Interesting Learned International Fact For The Day : In Brazil, the ratio of women to men is 3:1. Boy am I in the wrong country... :)

Good On Ya Aussies! Go The Canary Yellow & Green

Happy Birthday Jaymis!!!!

If it wasn't for live Triple J media streaming, Aussies worldwide would die a horrible death. LONG LIVE THE J!!!!

(And for Jackie's sake and the premise of possibly being picketed upon my return to Aus, long live the Z as well)

12 Hours Sleep! Praise The Lord!!!

Bartender : yep?
Rowland : Anderssons öl tack
B : that's 25 krowns
R : no worries. btw, is Kaj in tonight?
B : no sorry...are you Rowland
R : err...**blink** yes...how do you know me?
B : ah, cool. I just added your name to the roster
R : the bar roster??!!
B : yep.
R : but I didn't get an email...does this mean I'm working the bar now?
B : yep.
R : great. **maintaining cool sophisticated non-chalaunt expression**
R casually leaves bar...makes his way across room...air-heel-clicks as he enters the social floor
R : YEEEEE FUCKING HAAAA!!!!!!

That's right kids...be afraid...be very afraid...because in a few short days I will be on the OTHER side of the bar spoting my "Speak English or F@#k Off" t-shirt and providing alcoholic goodness to the masses. Oh. Yeah. Baby. :)

with a gun and a pack of sandwiches

oh how on this god forsaken earth did i ever forget claire danes?

prologue : i watched baz luhrmann's william shakespear's romeo + juliet for the umpteenth time today, although it was the first time i had seen it for a good year or so, and oh my gawd it was so much b.t.b.s. that it hurt. i can almost guarantee you that for the rest of the day i will be floating and humming and buzzing and doing all the other things and feeling all the other things that one feels when one is in love. i just totally dig it...it's the only thing that makes me feel like i need a cigarette after experiencing it, and everyone knows how much i hate the darn little cancer ridden kiss killing bastards.

oh my, for i hath never known beauty until this day :)

hej då!

OK, so six am is a really bad time to be fucked up, but I just finished watching Bowling For Columbine and I figure there's not many other ways to feel...watch it and you'll catch my drift. Damn this world for being so blind as to not realise that 99% percent of the world is a bullshit keychain ornament, and the rest are friends and lovers.

Pass me my scotch and give me the phone.

Romoe + Jul33t!

Ghey Nation : The Sleepless Fun Continues :


Which Avril Lavigne Song Are You?

Top 10 Reasons You Are Bored And Still Awake :

It's 3:52am and you just signed yourself up for a new email address : nakedbonsai@teamavril.com

Heh heh. Super groupy. Nought. :)

Time for a Jaymis Style Update :

Superficial
needs - sleep
wants - dissassociation
likes - the way snow feels when you crash into it and bury your face
dislikes - the fact it's all melted again, taking with it my ice furniture
loves - the excuse for silence music gives
hates - party guitarists
food - would kill for a bbq with the crew
drink - see fóod :)
light - the time when I sleep
dark - the time when I exist

Listening
Avril Lavigne - Let Go (it's depressing when a 17 year old can tell you your life sucks!)

Reading
just finished Paulo Coehlo's Veronica Decides To Die and FINALLY finished with understanding Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintainence by Robert M Pirsig (now to be known as 'The Book')


OK, so that out of the way :) Thanks Jaymis :)

I thought I'd point out that I had success last night by going to bed at 11pm. Unfortunately it's 3am now and I got up 1 hour ago ;(

For those who know of my incredible skill with the ladies you'd be happy to know (sic. smirk at) that I am 4 from 4 so far this semester, and it's only week 1!

In other news a shower some time in the next day or so would be advantageous. I decided to wash my towel 2 days ago, and haven't bathed since. Didn't seem much point at the time, but now I think it is starting to affect my social life ;)

Sweet...Avril Lavigne is touring to Stockholm on the 3rd of March. Sweet action. Ticket me up.

Hey, in case you didn't know, and just new to my knowledge, the AWESOME band The Cardigans come from none other than Jönköping Sweden and hopefully I'll catch a home town gig of theirs tonight!

Love me love me say that you love me!

7:17am : is it wrong to start the day with a 7:18am scotch and kit kat? Time will only tell.

7:19am : Evidently not :) Jackaemeno would be proud :)

7:20am : Conclusive evidence destroys hypothesis that 7:18am scotch and kit kats do not cure insomnia. New hypothesis : increase dosage and repeat every 5 minutes :)

If Mrs Runge is reading this, then you'll be happy to know that Dave made his train with ease early this morning (or rather yesterday morning).

For the rest of you you'll be happy to know that he was able to walk on board unassisted once I pointed his drunk ass in the right direction :)

Yes, that's right, the whirlwind tour of Sweden that was Dave Runge's Swedish Salutation has come to a close, and man am I buggered! I'd forgotten how energetic the boy was, or perhaps I've gotten old in my old age :)

The guy ran me off my feet...it was awesome. There are 300 international students here who are now wondering if they had actually met the mysterious blur that was David, or whether they'd actually just imagined it :) Talk about breaking records in breaking hearts! More on the tour from Dave when he returns, so invite the boy out for a free beer will ya! Mad props Dave!

As you can probably tell by the posting time I am still plagued by insomnia...it's 3:30am and I've had 4 hours sleep since Sunday...eek! All good though. Could have a FREAKING HEAP to do with the fact that I have computer access in my apartment now thanks to an absent room mate. I feel home again...the warm glow of the screen...the gentle caress of a well designed keyboard...and of course Triple J streamed live to the masses :)

Some of you have probably seen me online. Surprised I haven't seen more of Mere & Lisika online, but then u all are working now aren't you? Oh yeah, and Quentin is back by now hey Mere, so yay party and sleeplessness for you my dear!

The new internationals also arrived this weekend and I've been doing my best to summon the energy to socialise again...it's amazing - they are all positive explosions of energy and all the oldies carrying on for another term look like drowned rats! Still, on the way to making a few new friends (especially since I will soon possibly be saying goodbye to the darlings Kathryn and Barbara) and doing my best to spread good will and cheer and all that stuff.

In other other news I can't remember if I told you all or not, but my guitar is dying a slow death, and the speed of aformentioned death is increasing, much to the dismay of the million tears in my eyes...MG1 may be on it's last legs...eeek...so I am desperately hoping it holds out until I get home because I know I will not be able to survive without one here, and although the guitars are cheaper in Sweden I'd rather not buy a new one. Not looking good though...the neck is buckling, rendering several frets useless ;(

Say a prayer for it will you?

Goodnight! (hopefully)

OK, so just to prove that I'm not a rude bastard deserving of the nickname 'Råslätt Dad' I have proof that my fears for David's crazy mad travelling skillz were justified : see the following email :

From: David <00000@00000.com>
To: Rowland Marshall
Date: Wednesday - January 8, 2003 11:22 PM
Subject: Re: stockholm
Mime.822 (1413 bytes) [View] [Save As]

Hey Rowland,

This is Dave's Mum and he asked for me to email you to make sure you knew
when he arrived. He is on his way to you now and arrives in Stockholm on
Thursday at 6.50 a.m. It sounds as if he survived Bangkok by himself,
although I was rather concerned seeing he had 48 hours to get lost or whatever.

Have a great time with Dave although I probably do not need to tell you
that, and I shall see you in Australia later this year.
Regards
Sue

Top 10 Reasons Why Guy Ritchie Is God.
<300k losers need not apply.

2 things :

1. ANTHONY DRAPER IS BOWLING TO THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM TOMORROW!!!! Go Hard Drapes!!!!

2. I have been allowed access to a PC by my room mate who ruleth mucheth, and as such have conquered the problem that was my insomnia by making it a valuable asset...now I can surf endless hours!! So of course I have been finding cool stuff for you all!!! Such as :

i) John, this is the clip made for you. You can now die in piece.
ii) Shaolin Soccer...need I say more. Someone MUST import this movie.
iii) American Jedi...piss yourself with the force :)

He forgot to add one thing...Calafornian Dave and I tried to kill ourselves in other ways also - my personal favourite was combining darkness, a car travelling at 40km/hr, an icey road, a pair of kids skis and a tow rope. You put the rest together. Needless to say we have it on video :)

peace kiddies!!

Rowley

This is a brief interlude where I'm going to take over the writing duties and give the Bear a break. Needless to say, I made it here in one piece despite the worries of my family and of Rowland. Bear (Rowland to some) didn't even trust me to meet him in the Bus lunge and met me as I walked out of the customs area. And once again the terrible duo are united!

Day 1 in Sweden
My plane arrived at 6am on Thursday morning so it was with some reluctance, being both hungry and jet lagged, that I was dragged around the city to diffferent hostels in search of the 'perfect' place. Our first choice was closed for repairs, a refurbished tall ship, until the following day but we settled for another ship half frozen to the bank a short walk away. Packs dumped, another Aussie (Jenny from Sydney) in tow and we hit the streets for some quality site seeing. -9C is apparently a warm day for Sweden so we took our time following Rowland's acute direction sense until we walked across the lake the Stockholm sits around to get to the City Hall. It's an excellent long tour to see some amazing architecture and Swedish art work as well as to warm up in. From there we took in some coffee, exchanged some cash and bought some much needed supplies. Rowland had prep'd some sandwhiches on home made bread (really good actually) but it didn't quite compare to the bag full of candy that we picked up .. for energy .. Since it was dark by around 3:30pm I had a quick shower and went for a nap before heading out for a quite night drinking with the Rowley Bear.

Day 2
I woke up around 8:30am.

Can't remember much of Friday except for the 4.5hr bus trip from Stockholm to Jon....ping, I can't spell it and am learning to say it. And that, according to Row, I slept most of. I'm sure he'll be able to add the side note's in. We made it into his little town, set our stuff up .. met his awesome roomies Barbara and Patrick as well as the tonne of very cool people here. I am so very much doing an exchange sometime soon. I think we met people and played cards, drank a little and ate dinner before crashing. Once again, can't remember all that much. Bear will.

Day 3
We tried to kill our selves all day. Excessive sleep was followed by an enormous stack of pancakes prepared by Rowland and consumed by Canadian Dave, myself, Bear ... Barbara and Katrin. All topped with some great Maple Syrup. I know it doesnät sound like much but these pancakes were huge and the shear (sp?) number that we ate is a death defying attempt in itself. Bellies full, we met some more people, I lost pool twice by sinking the 8 ball and once when Bear was almost on a pants down, before grabbing his busted sled and newly purchased kids skiis and back out to the golf course. Bear and American Dave seem intent on breaking bones. They had a large amount of 'fun' throwing themselves down the slope at little jumps built by the local kids. I must remark that the untrained Rowland made a most excellent jump and managed to land it where some unlucky chum hadn't. There was a little blood left from his attempt. We scared a new greek student but maybe she'll stay anyway just to see if they manage to do some really damage in a funny way. As if over sleeping .. eating .. and sledding wasn't enough. Having convinced someone to tow them behind a car on little plastic skiis and sleds, we headed off to a welcoming party. An interesting night and one that I am sure a couple o' people will be nursing sore heads from. *yawn* then we crashed.

Day4 - TODAY

I'm not out of my PJ's. We're making uber nachos and it's 4:45 in the afternoon and dark outside. Will fill everyone in on the nights incursions later.

Dave out.

## DAVE, if we missed each other in Stockholm, wait at the Stockholm Central Bus Station upstairs in the SWEBUS section near the ticket office. ##

I have already revealed to you the insane mind that is my sister Jackie, and of course it is very well documented that I have a few roos loose in the top paddock, but it seems now that my other sister Susannah has joined us in the ranks of excentric Marshalls (Mum and Dad must be placing all their hopes on Doug or Harry...) with this amazing effort - you see every body collects some things. I myself am very proud of both my worldwide shotglass collection (props to Cadden for that) and my 'used guitar string' collection, although both are relatively meagre. But if there's one thing you have to say about Zannie, she's as dilligent as they come. See for yourself (click for a closer look IF YOU DARE!!)

So there you go :) And THAT my friends, is just one of the MANY examples why the entire population of Marshall offspring are single and actionless, except for perhaps Harry, but he's a dog, and that's just waaay to degrading.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to find new and interesting ways to scare my German friend Eric. My latest attempts stem from a fearlessness of snow - you see snow has never hurt me (don't hold your breath), and as such I am not afraid to do crazy stuff with it. Take my latest efforts for example - I've never ski'd before, but that didn't stop me from trying a couple of near verticle inclines with moggles and jumps on a pair of kids skis :)

If you want a few photos, click here

OR, you could just skip straight to the 4 funny videos of me stacking it momentously, prior to breaking the skis on the 4th run : #1, #2, #3 & #4 :)

Anyway, I must dash off to Stockholm to meet Dave at the airport. The bugger never gave me his itinery so it could get interesting... Cheers! I'll probably post again in a week after I've dealt with Dave :)

I don't know about you, but it's stuff like this that makes me proud to be an Aussie. :)

Hmmm...just actually reread my last post and I have a few comments to make :

1. Being in a non english type people speaking country has ruined my already bad engimabeer english. Damn...er...you...alll...or something.
2. I have drunk way too little alcohol for my brain to have been affected this much to spin so much senseless shit...damn this flu medication
3. My attention span has been reduced (further) to that of a white spotted goldfish that forgets how much it ate so it keeps eating until it un-balances it's boyouce...boyancy...ah fuck english - thing that makes it able to hover in water and stuff. I didn't finish my ice skates story. Basically, I am not the worst skater on the rink...there was a 4 year old who was really struggling with turning...but that was possibly because he was rugged up like a michelan starfish like maggie from the simpsons.
4. Damn this infernal flu!

Also : Dave, I will call you tomorrow if I get up at a reasonable hour...need to give you details and stuff for the trip. AND WHERE IS MY COPY OF THE ITINERY/PLANE FLIGHT SLACKER????

94 over 90 oh yeah

just when you thought I couldn't cut an exam more finely (after my 106 when I needed 100 to pass effort on the last swedish exam) this time I had a wonderful 94 when I needed 90 to pass on the swedish 2 exam. Eeek! I knew it would be fine - despite the fact I am one of the better swedish speaking internationals, my grammar sucketh mucheth so I was always going to be cutting it fine. But I passed so yay!

It's now bloody cold and heeeeeeeeeaaaaaps of snow here...generally around -10 to -15 and snowing most days. I bought my xmas present (ice skates)

AND OH MY GOD DID I JUST HEAR CORRECTLY?? WURTH AND RUNGE TO UNITE IN NOVEMBER 2003??? JESUS DAVE...FLEE NOW!!! COME TO SWEDEN...OH THAT'S RIGHT...YOU ARE! NAH, CONGRATS AL & MARK!

** cough shotgun wedding coughy cough **

:)

Due to a strange combination of flu and medication induced haze I have produced some rather interesting pieces of art recently...will keep you all informed. Re. my ice furniture...going VERY slowly thanks to the terrible weather ;(

Oh, and one last thing : Jaymis IS the new Pepsi. He's a rocker. He rocks out.

94 over 90 oh yeah

just when you thought I couldn't cut an exam more finely (after my 106 when I needed 100 to pass effort on the last swedish exam) this time I had a wonderful 94 when I needed 90 to pass on the swedish 2 exam. Eeek! I knew it would be fine - despite the fact I am one of the better swedish speaking internationals, my grammar sucketh mucheth so I was always going to be cutting it fine. But I passed so yay!

It's now bloody cold and heeeeeeeeeaaaaaps of snow here...generally around -10 to -15 and snowing most days. I bought my xmas present (ice skates) and tested them out yesterday on the local public free rink (I will steal barbara's digital camera and do a run around Råslätt so you can know what I am talking about). Needless to say given my massive skilz I was not the worst on the ice...there was this 4 year old who was DEFINATELY having some troubles with turning. But that might have been because his parents had him rugged up so tight he couldn't see or move and basically looked like a michelan starfish (aka maggie from the simpsons).

I am still bloody sick with this flu...have moved on to stage three (1st was sore throat...second runny nose, third is coughing like a lada on sump oil) so it will hopefully go soon...been two weeks + though. I am avoiding the shitty Swedish medical system like the plague...it sucks beyond all human reason. DON'T GET SICK IN THIS COUNTRY!! :) Another few days of this though and I might be tempted to give it a shot.