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I N · T H E · C I T Y · O F · M A L M O · this years edition (v.2) of Spelfest is hosted. The event is a collaboration betewen the game industry orgainsations Spelbranschen (CEO Per Strömbäck), Malmo City Council, Malmo University College, Swerok, Nordic Game Program and several video game companies. Three days of expo, lectures and gaming. The event is aiming at youth in highschools who are interested to entering the game industry in the near future.
The Malmo based company Massive Entertaiment (CEO Martin Walfisz) will present their BAFTA nominated and E3 2007 winner “World in Conflict”
A list over Swedens most influencal individuals in the video game business could be found at Ekonominyheterna (swe)
The image to the right showing the editior was taken during the clubnight at last year’s gamefest in Stockholm

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L O N D O N · G A M E · F E S T I V A L · 2007 · is taking place right now from late October to early November. BAFTA Video Games Award was conducted 23 October. Best original score for a game was composed for the game Okami (Capcom) by Atsushi Inaba.

Visit BAFTA Video Games Award list of winners

Visit London Game Festival

v i d e o . g a m e . r o c k

(Wed 24 Rocktober)
Current mood: awake
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

L A N · P A R T I E S · and gaming cafes/centres are rock'n'roll culture in the 2000 I will claim. In Stockhom we have Norhen Europes biggest video gaming centre, called Inferno Online. And in Jonkoping we have the bi yearly Lanparty/gamefestival Dreamhack with 5.000 attenders.

I · C H A T T E D · with the founder of the Gaming companies RedPlanet and GameShout. He is developing the video game community business right now in the USA, with game radio station, podcasts, news center, forum, irc-chat etc. etc. The head quarters is located in Florida.

I · M A I L E D · a research friend in Umeå Sweden. He will soon publish a doctoral thesis on Video Games as Culture. He has worked on his research for several years and now he is soon finished with his thesis. Visit Stefan at Umea University culture and media department and humlab

T H E R E · W I L L · B E · a gaming conference in 23 november on "The Competente Gamer" in Stockholm City. You are all wellcome to attend www.nordicgameprogram.org is the host.

I · J U S T · W A N T · to shout out like an old bumbpersticker: “VARNING FÖR LANBARN!” (warning for lankids) Could be the title for a book on Lan-life and culture. Or this ”stay sane - play games”

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T H E · N O B E L · P R I Z E · in economy was presented in Stockholm today. It is three american professors: Hurwicz, Maskin and Myerson that have been honored by the prize this year.
Read more at the Royal Swedish Academy of Scienses

When the research behind the ecconomy prize last year was presented in a lecture at Stockholm University, an event I was attending and reported. Read my 2006 report here

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A N D · A · N O T I C E D · P A R T · O F · C U L T U R E · That’s my conclussion. I heard a mother in her fourties with her son today. They discussed graffiti. She claimed that this paintings is not just paint on the wall but art. In the broad masses in ages under, say fourty, this street art form is accepted as a part of society.

I friended the Berlin street artist xoooox who makes stencil portraits with speech bubles with couds of X and O:s. There have been at least two new books published on the Stockholm street art scene lately. The Street Art has become high culture and put inside the fancy shops with the large glas displays.

Some days ago I found a Pearl Plate sign placed at Grimsta. A small but classy design. I asked on one of my favorite IRC-channels if anybody knows if there is a pearl plate widget around. No, you have to do it yourselfe they claimed.

The relatively old painting portraying a rising red round rocket with yellow flames at Thorildsplan subway wall is in need of a restoration. Are there any street art conservators out there on the streets?

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T H E · C U L T · movie from 1982 is now restored, again. The picture, directed and writed by Ridley Scott, is a dystopia in dark blue with heavy shadows, smoke, dirt and rotating fans, a filhy blend of New York, Hong Kong and picture solutions and views from the comic Heavy Metal from the eighties. Read more on Blade Runner on New York times issue today where a multimedia presentation is offered.

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E I G H T · L E G G E D · F R E A K S · is a horror movie from USA/Australia 2002. Eight Legged Freaks is a movie that is genuinely overacted and full of big spiders and soft gore in almost every scene, aimed at a quite young audience +13 years old.

The picture is aired right now 11.25 PM in Swedish State TV channel 1. Some firm analysis: The sound design is made in a very much dynamic manner with almost silent parts mixed with loud classic intense symphonic action music passages, screams, shooting, shouting crowds etc. The picture to the left showing Bob getting attaced and turned to a cocoon. Excellent b-horror movie scene with an infantile, innocent, nice and friendly old man surprised by the big ugly monster from behind. The colors are saturated in blue and yellow and the faces of the actors look upset and scared like hell.

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T H E · R E C O N S T R U C T E D · skyskraper in 29 floors at Sodermalm, Stockholm was finished 20 September and is now housing students and a flashy shopping mall in the lower levels which focuses on lifestyle, sport, fashion and media with 30 stores (10 media/IT and 6 sport shops). 600 students will live there togheter with 7.000 sqm office space with top modern IT-solutions for businesses. The owner is Svebo, Swedens biggest housing company owned by Stockholm City and head quarters in Vixton / Vallingby. Per Ahrbom, A&P Arkitektkontor is the assigned architect.

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V I S I T E D · the ecconomy fair in Stockholm International Trade Fairs district in Alvsjo, Stockholm South. Presentations by Cisco, Bank 2, Roda Education, Norstedts, and serveral small business in the Victoria Hall.

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I · T O O K · A · W A L K · in my neighbourhood this night. I walked to the soccer park and later to a grocery shop where I bought some bread, fruits, vegetables and a can of humus (chick pea dip) for a late dinner.

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I’M BACK from a weekend stay in Copenhagen. I lived in Nørrebro aka Norrebronx and looked at the place where the battle for the Youth house 69 was. In Copenhagen there was also an environment festival. Copenhagen will become the most bike friendly city in the world. I visited the worlds longest breakfast table at a closed of street, where breakfast was served for all people that wanted to sit down, rest and chat. Walked in the new Nørrebro Park with the lemon yellow sculptures and roof over a skate park. The long flags in white and yellow blew in the strong late summer wind. I visited the artist T. H. Larsen. Walked around the cities great lakes and the planetarium. Watched art and great buildings. Click on the picture above to enlarge, ok.

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G O I N G · T O · C O P E N H A G E N · the capital of Scandinavia. visiting the New Nørrebro Activity Park, the Index Exhibition and the Ørestad Culture Festival
In Copenhagen we also have IO-Interactive and Deadline Games, two wellknown video game developers.

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T O D A Y · I · V I S I T E D · Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. And also went to TMH an institution giving courses in music and technology. Later attended the library and the “Kårhuset” where these new pinball machines with themes from Family Guy and the Simpsons Movie was ready for some fun.

t e c h n o r a t i . t o o l s

H E R E · I S · A · T I C K E R · T O O L · from Technorati the blog tracking service.
The ticker showing the most popular blog themes right now

View technorati.com

s w e . m e t a l . e x p o

M U S I C · I N D U S T Y · C O N V E N T I O N · Swedish Metal Expo 07 is held in Fryshuset, Stockholm. It’s two days with record companies, lectures, workshops, competitions, instrument resellers and a lot of metalheads all ages.

Above, art exhibition with master cover artist Kristian Wåhlin (King Diamond, Bathory et al)
kristianwahlin.se

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T H I S · I S · M Y · V I X I O N of the vixton skyline with an entertainment district from Main street Angermannagatan (Straits Street/6th Ave) in West End City Downtown with a new Bathory Plaza named after the passed away inventor of Viking Metal Thomas Quorthon Forsberg’s band. Viking Metal video chart

t e x a s . d r e a m . v i s i t

I · D R E A M · about travelling allmost every night. In the dream I have several problems getting away and allways wake up when the dream is taking a bit chaotic direction. Maybe I feel that it’s time to make some planning for a major trip abroad.

The city Austin (named after Stephen F. Austin), the capital of Texas growing rapidly. Several new skyscrapers are approved in Downtown etc. I got an invitation to the Game Developers Conference at the Convention Centre, a show held in September. Also listended to Patty Griffin, the artist from Austin and added her as a myspace friend tonight. Heard that Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple, is a good friend of hers. Joined the Mac music group also.

I try to make some comparisions beteween my ”new” reconstructed hometown Stockholm West (aka Vixton/Vallingby) and Austin. Austin much bigger but some likenesses may excist. The device "Keep Austin Weird" is mentioned on the net, meaning that the city is known for its blend of lifestyles with artists, musicians, accademics, workers etc. UofT is located on a campus outside the downtown. One former colegue at work visited a media education program at UT a couple of years ago. Would be interesting to visit Austin.

(a) Austinist
(a) Austin Game Development Confernece
(a) The University of Texas at Austin

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M U S I C · N E W S · daily music industry news with this newswidget.

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A NEW LAW saying that artist can have a right to be handled over the names of file shares for claiming their right in disputes on copyrighted material, is under way. The Moderate Party (m) member of parliament, Karl Sigfrid is going in the opposite way, and claims that the society shouldn’t criminalizise the young generation, that don’t can understand the relevance of the excisting copyright law. Sigfrid wants to make the law designed in an other way. According to EU leading lawer the internet service providers aren’t forced to handle over the names of file shares and it’s up to every member country to have their own method. Mr Sigfrid wants to abandon the old copyright law completely, to have the judges recourses focused on more important types of crimes than judgeing private file sharers that copying for private use. The technology has taken several laps ahead of the immaterial law now he says. The copyright law shouldn’t give the artist a situation of monopol that severely restricts the freedom of speach and the distribution of goods. Some Nobel Prize awarded scientists has also expressed theories and thoughts that point in the same direction.

Mr Sigfrid’s blog
Karl Sigfrid’s profile on the parliament web.
The complete article by Karl Sigfrid.

(Sources: DN.se and IDG.se)

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I · S U B S C R I B E · T O · 3 0 · podcasts.The podcast Rock N Roll Geek Show is definitely one of the absolute best if you count entertainment value. The host Michael Butler is shameless but never rude. He has a serious intention to look at all aspects of rock n roll.

Michael’s Myspace Profile