Maria

OMG What a gold mine I found in the Queens of the Stone Age forum last night! 17 new (to me) songs with Mr Lanegan! Outtakes, covers, b-sides... *SQUEEEEEEEE* Found some really really good stuff too! I especially love a cover of Blind Reverend Gary Davis' Death Don't Have No Mercy! Mark's voice on that track? Unbelievable! Too good to be true!

I told libbi yesterday I've been feeling like a dectective digging up all of Mark's collaborations and unknown singles and it's been so much fun! And now I got most of the stuff he's done! Yay!

_ila_ - You need to be on MSN soon so that we can squee over the version of Massive Attack's Live with me from Lollapalooza I found on YouTube the other day! LOL It doesn't beat the older version (posted below because it's one hot song... seriously everyone - check it out!) but it's so much fun seeing Mark and Greg playing on a stage in broad daylight, hiding behind dark sunglasses! The sun and blue sky doesn't really fit their music! :D



Oh, and the recipe for the best drink ever:

2 parts Xanté
2 parts lemon juice
1 part sugar syrup

Shake with pieces of fresh ginger and ice - ENJOY! Yum!

Today I've been to a Clarins course. It's a really wonderful skin care and make up brand - I really recommend it! And I adore the new pretty nail polish (Deep Plum) I'm wearing it right now! :D

I got back Tuesday after a day and night at a Spa with Stena Line! Monday we split up into groups and made short skits which will be put together into a movie. I got to play the lead in a re-enactment of a scene from a Swedish children's show from the 70's! It was fun, but unfortunately the guys acting with me had NO idea how the characters were supposed to act... *sigh* And as soon as the camera was turned on they froze, forgot their lines and needed more alcohol. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I got a lot of praise afterwards, mainly for my patience, I think! ;)

After drinking champagne and getting ready we had a great dinner and then hung out in the 3 bars drinking and dancing until morning! :) 150 seamen in one place? Insane! You all should've seen our captain in a pink cowboy hat and unbuttoned shirt dancing to Tom Jones' Sex Bomb! *dead*

We spent the following morning in the pool taking it easy! What a great way to get rid of a hangover!

Recently Stena Line decided to take one of the ferries out of traffic until May so all the people working on that ferry had to be moved to the other ones. This meant my temporary position has been terminated - for now. I'm more depressed than I've showed around everyone but they all say I shouldn't worry. There will be work for me this fall and winter. But I do worry!!! We've moved to a new place and are, for the first time, dependent on me earning some money as well. I know they all want me onboard and they'll call as soon as they need someone but still... now I won't be able to make any plans and I will have to keep my bag packed at all times and be prepared to take the bus up to Oslo. *sigh*

So yeah, I won't be able to see the concert in Copenhagen... Good thing the whole London trip is already booked and paid for! :)

Found 3 new Mark Lanegan songs last night! Yup, still obsessed and his music is making me feel so much better! Mark is touring Nov-Dec and then I heard there's a new album with Soulsavers in Feb! It's insane - and I love it! Oh, and he's on the new Bomb the Bass album as well and the album he did with Isobel is going to be released in the US in Nov – with 5 new songs! :D

And speaking of obsessions - I had completely forgotten about 24! Yes, dear FL - I've been a bad 24 fan for quite some time! I never watched the Rookie things, I don't read fanfic (visited ff.net awhile back though because I got a new review!), and I don't visit the 24Forum... Well, yesterday I happened to surf onto the official site and what do I find? The new trailer for Blood Diamond II! I should keep up with TV more... or not! I'll wait until we get that media center so we can watch all our downloads on TV. It was OK before when we had the computer in the bedroom and I could watch in bed (we have a 21" screen) but now we have it in the office and it's not very enjoyable to sit in here and watch. Eventually I might catch up with all the shows I used to like but I don't really miss TV that much!

I've bought tickets for the Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan show in London on Dec 8th! *SQUEEE* I've planned to take Thomas and already checked out plane tickets and hotel prices... Everything is almost set and I cannot wait!!!

Which leads to the dilemma - they're also playing in Copenhagen on Nov 25! And it's very easy for me to go to Copenhagen. My brother lives outside Malmö and I'd just take the train over the bridge...

(A funny thing - going to London is actually cheaper than if Thomas and I would drive down to Malmö! If I go by myself by train or bus and book my tickets early I'd get a good price though! Which means I should decide pretty soon... Eeeeeeeee!)

What to do??? What to do???

Am I even allowed to act like this at my age? ;)

I really shouldn't sit in front of the computer doing nothing all day... I've been lazy but at least I'm doing laundry now. I felt the urge to make icons again so I made a few new ones that I'm posting along with 2 older ones. I don't know why I didn't edit the photos from the Absolut trip instead... I just couldn't get into it! Hopefully I'll have time this weekend because I wanna show them onboard Monday!

#1-6 Mark Lanegan
#7-8 Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell
#9-12 The Gutter Twins (Mark and Greg Dulli)

1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12

Well, hello there...

Just in case anyone wants to know... Yeah, I'm still obsessing over The Gutter Twins and Mark Lanegan! It's not going to go away any time soon either because Tuesday they released a new EP on iTunes! So now I've bought music there for the first time! It was all very exciting and the songs are wonderful! I've been listening nonstop since I got it!

I had to wait until yesterday because we went on a trip with Stena Line. Just eleven of us from the duty free shop got to go down to Åhus in Skåne (the very south of Sweden) and visit Absolut Vodka! Such an amazing trip! We got to see the factory, the bottling place, and eat a fantastic brunch in an old farm. In the evening we went to a castle and were shown how to make drinks (got to taste quite a few) and we all had to help the cooks make dinner! So much fun! And the food tasted amazing - we used Absolut vodka in all the dishes! Hihihi *inserts photo evidence*



The party continued back at the hotel until one guy was sure he was home in Göteborg and took off by himself! LOL We ran after him but he was unstoppable. He found his way back to the hotel eventually though and looked alright at breakfast!

I got into bed just before 5 in the morning so we all slept most of the way back to Göteborg! I have the best co-workers!

Last week home I spent cleaning the old apartment. It sucked and I was so exhausted going onboard again. So this week I'm taking it easy and I'm only doing fun things!

One of the fun things is starting the university course in digital photo editing! Yay! It's all on internet and I'm really looking forward to learning everything there is to know about Photoshop! :)

I'm still all excited about the concert last week! I've been listening to Mark Lanegan endlessly since then - poor, poor Thomas! ;)

For the people on my FL who hasn't heard of him I decided to post some of my favourite songs. He's been doing stuff from all kinds of musical genres so I'm sure you'll find something you like! He seems to be insanely creative and has many projects going on at the same time + touring all the time. I'm certainly not complaining - a new album with The Gutter Twins is coming out soon!

Solo stuff: Most of the songs are rock/alternative/blues.

One Way Street - Mark Lanegan
(Field Songs, 2001)The stars and the moon aren't were they're supposed to be. What a great line to start a fantastic song with! Sad and beautiful. My favourite from his solo albums!

Bombed - Mark Lanegan
(Bubblegum, 2004) Shortest song ever? Too short so I must listen to it at least 5 times in a row! Haunting lyrics and amazing vocals!

Methamphetamine Blues - Mark Lanegan
(Bubblegum, 2004) Dark and dirty rock'n'roll with a harder industrial sound.

I'll Take Care Of You - Mark Lanegan
(I'll Take Care Of You, 1999) (Cover Album) He can take care of me anytime! Slow and soulful!

The Man In the Long Black Coat - Mark Lanegan
Cover of Bob Dylan song from the I'm Not Here OST. Made me remember all about Lanegan again this winter!

Gutter Twins: Alternative/rock

All Misery/Flowers - The Gutter Twins
(Saturnalia, 2008) This song could've been written especially for me! It has everything I want in song. Sexy base, Mark's diabolic voice, dark and rough, angsty and dirty! Little girls might twitch at the way I itch But when I burn It's a son of a bitch

The only disappointment of the concert was that they didn't play this song! (It's the first single and video from the album)

Each To Each - The Gutter Twins
(Saturnalia, 2008) My second favourite song of the album. Not quite so dark.

Idle Hands - The Gutter Twins
(Saturnalia, 2008) They played this on Letterman and it's a kickass song! Too bad they made the most boring video in the history of the world for it! (Just a bunch a stupid kids blowing stuff up! LOL)

Singing with Isobel Campbell: Folk/country/blues

Ramblin' Man - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
(Ballad Of The Broken Seas, 2006)
I remember seeing video on MTV but missing who sang it so I ran to the computer as fast as I could needing to know who made this raunchy version of the Hank Williams Sr song. It's been on every single playlist I've made since then! I kinda forgot all about Lanegan for awhile though.

Come On Over (Turn Me On) - Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan
(Sunday At Devil Dirt, 2008) Sooo hot! Isobel's and Mark's voices together are pure magic and so sexy!

The Flame That Burns - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
(Sunday At Devil Dirt, 2008) It burns alright! Slow and sexy...


Paper Money - Soulsavers
(It's Not How Far You Fall It’s The Way You Land, 2007) A bit weird but amazing! Rock/gospel/electronica. His voice is so sexy here it's unbelivable!

Enjoy! And I hope you comment to let me know if you find something you like! None of my RL friends even knows who he is so if I'm able to find more fans I'll be very happy!

I'm going onboard again tomorrow so it's time for bed! I'm gone for a week as usual. When I'm back I promise to post pics of the new house! :)

Throughout the concert he stood like this... Hands holding on tightly to the microphone stand, eyes closed and basically only moving his head in time with the music. Too intense to be healthy. Unbelievingly his voice sounds even better live. His voice just slays me - soft and dark, haunting and erotic, deep and mesmerising. I can die happy now. Seriously! ( + 2 pics - Sorry Greg Dulli, you kick ass on stage and have a really great voice but still... all I remember is Mark... ) I even forgot to take more photos. I haven't felt like this for a band/artist since I was 17 and I'm still so excited that I got to see them! They played on the perfect club here in Göteborg but it was still under the festival Way Out West and going there I had no idea how many people they would let in without a Festival pass! I was lucky - and I was there in time. It was so worth it queuing for hours! Holy shit - that was a great concert! :) Mark Lanegan is truly a god and I worshipped at his feet last night!

Good thing Sweden beat Greece last night (in the European Championships) so Ludde can bring his team t-shirt and wear it with pride now that we are going to Crete! Hehe

We're flying early tomorrow morning so I should already be in bed... :D

Have a great week! I'll be back on Midsummer's Eve!

OMG OMG OMG *tries to calm beating heart*

Can this summer get any better? The Gutter Twins are coming back to Sweden to play the Way Out West festival here in Gothenburg!!!! And it's on a week I'm not onboard too! :D

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

I've done this meme before but it's fun and I wanted to do it again! :)

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five (or four or three) of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!


ladyofavalon77 wanted to know about these icons:

( Awww! You picked icons I've made myself! )

I almost did it...

Last night I did 24 real push ups. Dammit!!! I so wanted to do 25 but just couldn't. Spitting on the carpet and starting to laugh didn't help... (+ the last 2 weren't really approved - I just refused to give up!)

Oh well - I was close enough to be really happy with all my fitness successes this spring!

I've had this week off from gym. I've been too busy planning the move and the weather has been so great I've been to the beach instead! :)

Stena Line called Saturday evening and wants me onboard again Wednesday-Monday. I had been hoping for some time off but at the same time I'm really happy about the extra money now! (New kitchen table!)

Today I'm going to clean out the desk and sort my papers while drinking coffee on the balcony! It's hot and sunny and I really want to go to the beach but I feel like I need to do stuff at home... I might pick Ludde up early and go to Härlanda Lake later! :)

I need to get Season 2 of The X-Files onto my laptop so I can watch it onboard! It's taking me forever to rewatch the series. At this rate I won't be anywhere near done when the movie premieres but it’s so great watching this show again. I love it so much. I had such a vivid flashback onboard last week. I was drinking tea and eating crisp bread and listening to the intro I closed my eyes and I was immediately transported to my dorm room in Lund: sitting on my blue couch, blanket wrapped around me, Dalí curled up next to me and watching the new X-files ep on Danish TV! (Swedish TV was years behind but Danish only a month or so!) The good old days! :D

I'm so happy right now!!! We're moving! I still can't believe it!

Thomas has wanted to buy a house for years. I've always been very reluctant. I'm a city girl and love to live in an apartment. I have no desire to have a garden. I'm just not interested in flowers or cutting grass! LOL But I knew we needed a bigger place - Ludde's room is tiny - so I agreed to look for something new and we've been to a few house showings. Nothing has been too interesting though, at least not to me.

Monday night one of Thomas' oldest friends called and said he'd bought a new house. The house is at one of the best addresses in Gothenburg (yeah, the snob in me is very very happy) and they're going to live on the ground floor but the second floor is ours if we want it. And we do... we went there last night to check it out and it's FANTASTIC!

125 m² (= 1346 ft²), great kitchen, 3 bedrooms, a dining room, huge fireplace, 3 balconies, great view, lovely garden, no one can look inside because the house is higher up than the ones around it, very close to the school (we can see the school from one of the balconies!) and very close to a golf course (LOL - do I have to start playing golf now????? No way!!!) and forests and lakes!

Seriously - it can't get any better!!! Best part of the city and so easy to get downtown! We can see Liseberg Tower (The tower in the big amusement park in Gothenburg) from our windows!

We're moving in July 15th and I cannot wait!

Now I'm waiting to hear from Ludde's new school and doing laundry. I'm so hyper that I really should try and find time to go to the gym later... LOL

I'm able to do 20 real push-ups now so on Sunday (June 1st) I hope I'll be able to push myself into doing 25! :)

A friend of mine told me yesterday that she hopes I've realised that I'm not going to quit working on Stena Line anytime soon!!! LOL I had just told her about Tuesday night when L'Oreal invited us to the Casino here in Gothenburg and gave us an introduction to their new products, a fantastic dinner with wine, game counters to play for and a goody bag filled with body lotion, mascara, lip gloss, mineral powder, face cream, eye and lip cream!

Yeah, I know I'm stuck on the ship. It's the best damn job I can have right now... If I started working as a lawyer I would have crappy hours, work like crazy and I wouldn't have any time for family, going to the gym or procrastinate in front of the computer... ;) And I wouldn't earn that much more money either... at least not in the beginning - and I'm guessing I wouldn't find that it was worth it! I value my time off work more than money!

Oh, and my sister is coming home this summer after all! :D She's been changing her mind quite a few times but now she has a ticket and everything! :) Yay!

A whole entry with just good news! Life is good!

I can do 18 real push ups now (18 and a half, actually! heh) so there's still some progress going on in the gym! (Monday's workout sucked though.)

I was really lazy last week visiting my brother in his new house! (I ran once and took a long walk one morning!)

They bought a very nice house but it needs some work! Lovely garden and only a 9 minute car ride to an amazing beach! It was like being in the Mediterranean - especially since the weather was sunny and it felt more like July than early May! But of course the water was cold... Only 10ºC (50ºF) We still all went in - 3 days in a row. If you stayed in more than a few minutes your feet and ankles started to hurt! LOL I managed to swim 10 strokes on Sunday before I ran screaming to the beach. Did I mention that you had to walk out pretty far before the water reached your waist?? It felt great. I've actually thought about becoming a vinterbadare ("winter bather") because I love the feeling right after you get out of the really really cold water! You feel instantly alive and awake and ready to take on the world! And a cup of coffee never tastes better after a dip in the ocean!

I'm still sulking because no one wants to go and see Madrugada with me tonight! I tried to convince my friends last night about the greatness of the band but they weren't interested in coming along at all. :( I wanna go so badly because it’s in great club and I’ve heard they’re great live but I don't want to go alone. I want someone to share the experience with... *sigh* It used to be that my friends and I discussed music and went to concerts together - now I've found so much great music through online friends - and have no one to go to concerts with!

I'll be sitting here sulking and listening to Madrugada for the rest of the day...

BTW - _ila_!!! The package has been sent! LOL

I'm writing X-Files fic

I need to stop watching the X-Files trailer. (and the short interview clips too...) SQUEEEEEE

Seriously - there's a million other things I have to do!

I ran yesterday! First time in... a year? It felt great and I was very happy with my time etc. 21 minutes of lots of uphill running (over 3 km – this is not my usual route so I don’t know exactly) and I wasn't dead when I came back! I even managed to impress Thomas who hasn't been convinced about the awesomeness that is THE CROSSTRAINER! :D

So now I have to try and fit running into my workout schedule... I wish I had more time!!!

I had a few goals set up in the beginning of this year and one was running around Härlanda Lake again (this would be about the same distance I ran yesterday so - Yay!). I also wanted to do bar dips again - and I've been doing them for a few weeks now! (Monday I did 6-8-6-5)

I still need to be able to do 25 real push ups. I'm up to 16 now (last fall I was so close but then I got that evil throat infection) and I'm sure I'll be able to 25 before my deadline June 1st.

The last 2 weeks I've had some of the best workouts ever! I've gotten stronger in every single exercise and the workouts on the crosstrainer and exercise bike have been great as well. Let’s hope this continues for awhile before it stagnates again.

If I manage to move Ludde’s car track I’ll be able to do some poweryoga later. He might not approve though and then it will be impossible. Doing yoga with him running around, climbing over me and talking constantly doesn’t really work! LOL

Lu (who writes the best Nina fic!) is stopping by Gothenburg this weekend and it’s going to be great seeing her again!

I just came back from an agonizing morning walk. Actually the first 45 min were perfect - sunny and warm weather, Gutter Twins on the mp3-player (I did take the ear plugs out now and then to enjoy the silence up by the lake and the birds singing) and I was in a great mood but then, just as I was as far away from home as possible, I started feeling the blisters I got on my feet from the morning walk yesterday. I had put band-aids on the toes but all of a sudden it was just making it worse! It was a horrible and LONG walk home. It felt like someone was hacking away at my toes with knives for almost an hour!

I’m going to go and make myself a large caffe latte now and then I’ll probably play around with Photoshop CS 3 some more! (and rest my feet!)

I just got back from the gym! Excellent workout even though my muscles tried to protest a bit! I've had a lazy weekend so they needed a little persuasion. It's different when I'm onboard - working out there has become such a habit that it feels wrong not going to the gym on my longer breaks!

Am I the only one who hasn't seen this before? I've spent too much time watching Ross Noble on youtube in the last few days and found this clip with him joking about 24! ROTFLMAO



I caught one of his shows by accident on Norwegian TV last time onboard and he's hilarious! When he was talking about orbiting old ladies I was on the floor laughing!

The Gutter Twins' album is amazing. It's playing nonstop here at home. (Poor Thomas isn't too happy about that) They're going to play in Stockholm next week. Dammit, why don't they come to Gothenburg?

Speaking of concerts - I'm going to see Snap! this weekend... Hahaha, they're playing on our Absolut 90's cruise Saturday! Well, I still think Rhythm is a Dancer is one of the best dance tracks ever! :)

I'm kinda obsessing over the new X-Files movie. IMDb has Skinner in the cast list now... Please, please! I want Skinner in the movie! It's not the same without him!

Yup, this is what I'll be drinking this summer. It's so good I really don't need to mix it! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I've had the laziest day ever... I tried to force myself to go to the gym but I had no energy! *sigh* I hate days like this when I can't enjoy doing nothing without feeling like the whole day has been wasted.

And it's been raining all day.

This is pretty funny though:
( Is my cat evil? Is Windows Media Player trying to tell me something? )
I have NO idea how her photo ended up as the cd cover! LOL