The future of file sharing in Sweden?

Ferns...

Ferns.

Cool that the curl up almost the same on every scale...

"Ralph and Jimmy" at the 2009 Arizona International Film Festival

My animated short film "Ralph and Jimmy" will be showing at the 2009 Arizona International Film Festival! :D

Here's a link to the trailer, and here's a link to the film's IMDB page.

The film "Ralph and Jimmy" is made by me. However, all the sound is cut from Sid Davis' 1961 classic Boys Beware.

This old "warn-kids-about-gay-men" film is hilarious in its own black and white self, but still... all that music. All those wonderful strings that Sid got to underscore the seriousness of the matter...
I simply felt that all this dramatic music and narration deserved - um - other pictures. So I drew and animated for months and "Ralph and Jimmy" is the result.

Still, great thanks to the late Sid Davis. Sid did 150-180 shorts where he warned kids about all kinds of things: Dangers in the home. Dangers in the street. Dangers of gangs. Dangers for girls. Apparently he took pride in the fact that he rarely exceeded budgets of USD 1000 per film. He also often shot - and acted - in his own films (well, after a while he retired to producing and mountain climbing).

What a wonderful (albeit slightly paranoid) career.

Ralph & Jimmy - Trailer page

March 18 2008, I started fiddling with the sound to Sid Davis' old Boys Beware and some crude doodles.

In November 2008 a five minute cartoon was ready to send to film festivals.

Just before Christmas I got news that my short Ralph & Jimmy was accepted at the Gothenburg International Film Festival 2009.

And now: here's the trailer! 1.5 minutes. New scenes! World premiere 2009-01-23

please, stop fighting. Try and have a happy new year 2009.

Death Toll Mounts as Israel Expands Gaza Offensive

Merry Christmas!!!

shopping madness!!!

Illustration on shopping madness, the mounting piles of garbage, and - of course - a merry christmas!

small size art...

I just finished ten tiny canvases, selected five. All for "konst i litet format" (art in small sizes) at Mimers hus, Kungälv, Sweden. Opens 2008-12-06 12:00 - 15:00

I'll post pics here too, and they're for sale online too.

The small bird here is roughly 5"x5" and somewhere around USD 40 + packaging and postage will be fine. Contact me at jacs(at)algonet.se if you're interested. I got PayPal.

my home town has a culture festival

On the opening night: Two guys eating hot dogs in the rain, an outdoor TV blinking sponsor names. And in the background a brass band. Yikes.

midnite doodle

vacation - one day, one book

Today: The Contortionist's Handbook so far it's brilliant!

Sweden passes new surveillance law

Full story in English here.

Great Coyote! - Vattenfall CEO "defends" pollution with "Indian" quotes...

Lars Josefsson, CEO of Vattenfall, the Swedish based power company who runs a number of coal-fired power plants in Germany, quotes "Indian philosophy" when interviewed by Sweden's biggest daily newspaper on wherever his environmental vision went:

Dagens Nyheter:
"How can coal-fire be defined as ecologically sustainable?"

Lars Josefsson:
"That depends on what you mean by ecologically sustainable. According to Indian philosophy you should look six generations ahead. Given that perspective, coal becomes sustainable if you take care of the pollution. There's enough coal for hundreds of years of use."

(my translation)


From the Vattenfall pages: "As a user of fossil fuels, Vattenfall is one of the owners of the climate change issue." Lars G Josefsson, President and CEO

When asked by Dagens Nyheter about the fact that Vattenfall make's a lot larger profits than they have to, and if they lowered their profit margin they'd be able to invest more in sustainable energy, Josefsson replies:

"You can never have too much money."


--- Anyone else feel like they'd rather have six generations of their future "owned" by someone other than this newspeaking "visionary"?

Greenpeace DE: Vattenfall, braunkohle und Josefsson

picture of the week (stand up comedy next week @ Big Ben, Stockholm - and you can't drink beer on tram #5)

But apparently it's OK on tram number 6, as kindly illustrated by this gentleman yesterday, Saturday.

I'm performing, 3 minutes of stand up comedy at Big Ben, Folkungagatan 97, 6/4 20:00

picture of the week (sketch of E.B.)

sketch for that animal.

Happy Easter!

picture of the week (you can see Majorna)

Spring finally came to Gothenburg.

Dialogue: "You can see our house in Majorna from here!"

picture of the week (helvetica)

Doodling to the film Helvetica.

picture of the (almost) week...

- and a radio tip: BBC's "Just a minute", here.

Since 1967!

(somewhat erratic) picture of the week...

picture of the (not even close to) week

Work, today 14:22. The sun was bright and yellow this morning, I promise.

picture of the week, or at least year - Happy New One!!!

The Greatest Story Ever Told - The McPassion Meal

"... every McPassion Meal comes with a crown of thorns..."

Benjamin Hershleder and Rik Swartzweldersure's film is four minutes of pure genius! Click pic for movie.

More here.

... and deliver us from evil!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and here's a gift:

Free film for all! behind the card is the film, including ipodversion

Should you want to embed (or if the server is annoying) here's another copy at YouTube

Completely made from material from the public domain at archive.org.

sketches of manhattan...

It happens people write and ask to use sketches they find here and on my home page. So much I've oogled, I think it's only fair to give something back. Fair and occasionally real fun.

In 1991 I was on a long vacation in NYC, and it was around that time I started to drag around sketchbooks. It was less awkward to stand in the street with pen and paper like some amateur meter maid so far away from home.
Besides, the really worst part was that I had all of NYC splendor in plain view and _still_ couldn't even learn to draw as as nicely as in Spiderman. So, subdued by internal conflicts my fears wore off and before I knew it I climbed roofs to draw - even though I've hated heights all my life.

Either way, you bet I was happily surprised to be mailed from NYC by Mike Walsh who asked to use my watertower sketch.

Of course he got to use it. Best of luck with that record and Merry Christmas, Mike!

Happy Halloween!

Saturday 3/11, me and Johan Wanloo play records at Klara, Gothenburg, Sweden. From nine 'til late.

You'll get TV-themes and bold action galore! Should you desire a poster of your own there's a hi-rez version here.

blog action day

Recycled drawing and all.

"What do you mean: "don't use the car"? You can't say that."

jens lekman, todd barry, viktor sjöberg

live at Nef. Gothenburg, Sweden, 20070920

twice the man

20070906 Jens Lekman and Therese, second encore, opening night, Uppsala Sweden.

view from a slow boat in Gothenburg

Endless Boogie, tonite...

Endless Boogie. MIDWAY, 25 AVENUE B, BETWIXT 2ND AND 3RD STREETS -- 11 PM SHARP.

get in the swing...

more...

picture of the week

up now, click picture to get there...

unknown Paris...

Found this book in the library and took it home for practise.

Ended up with a simpler tribute to mattias a.

Ingmar Bergman 1918 - 2007

Up and away, off to the Big Director in the sky. (Or could it be the Great Critic? These times make you wonder.) Either way, rest in peace and thanks for everything.

Two shorts to celebrate the memory of the late, great, filmmaker:

First, "De Düva: The Dove", 14 min Bergman spoof featuring a young Madeline Kahn:


Second: The Seventh Seal/Rock the Casbah

Adult entertainment...

I turned forty last Saturday. Heavy on the symbols, 777 and all that jazz. In addition, I'm also now officially an adult --- something that led to thinking on what that entails.

Christopher Hitchens provides the best version I've heard so far. Take 21 minutes and listen, this is probably adulthood at it's finest --- and its most entertaining. Hitchens on free speech:



Bonus = Christopher Hitchens vs Stephen Fry on Blasphemy

Adult = "fully developed"
Entertainment = "a diversion that holds the attention"

love prevails in eternal damnation...

hello jenna logo contest

I'm doodling on the Jenna Jameson logo contest... more info / disclaimers &c here

gothenburg, summer 2007

world's best cat...

at work, Saturday...

Everyone's listening to the game on the radio. A crazy Dane jumps in on the field and steals the show. No one can believe their ears.

island records

the brilliant copy


the somewhat strange original

The Bonus

After a month of ten hour days: my first longer animation. A music video / promo for the The Bonus (Bonusen), from Swedish artist Emrik.

For a clearer view than YouTube, there's Quicktime, Winmedia and iPod versions free to download at my homepage. Click promo in the news of 2007-05-05. . Krummagumma has a clear one too.
Finally, for some workflow feel, below is roughly the third storyboard.

cover bands

No much to do when mixing sound for a bunch of middle age guys playing Stones covers, but plenty of time for water colors.

And on the subject of other people's songs: Did you like Daft Punk? Check here where they got their sounds.

Happy Easter!

monsanto's secret film...

After reading some interesting material on genetic experiments involving corn and rats. I decided to go look for myself.

I hacked Monsanto's site (piece of cake, same as their MySpace: ftp login: DOGSTAR, password: Keanu). You have to draw your own conclusions.

As the first blog in the world I can now present Monsanto's secret test films from the experiments.

Please click for a larger image. No one should think for you on a day like this.

getting to it...

I'm learning to walk with notes from the King.

Preston Blair left Disney '41 after the animators's strike and started to work with Tex Avery.

Click here for more great Preston Blair stuff.
More royalty? Go check on the Toast King.
More animation stuff? click here for a goldmine.

wired Pentax SLR remote from an old handsfree.

Today's McGyver: build yourself a wired remote to a Pentax *ist out of two used headsets.

Take two old cell phone headsets (you'll want those with the small headphones plug).

1. Desolder and cut away mike and earpiece. Save the casing and the answer switches.
2. Clean the wires, resolder one answer switch from tip to earth (shutter), the other from ring to earth (autofocus).
3. Carefully fit the two switches inside of the remains of the old casing.

If you've done something like this before you'll probably be done in under half an hour. You'll need a soldering iron, patience and tape. More instructions here.

As per usual: all experiments are done at your own risk.

(note: to picture: "slutare"="shutter", "fokus"="autofocus", "mick"="microphone", "mussla"="earpiece")

clubbing with watercolors...

first time I've mixed a band and painted watercolors at the same time. more here