STREET, ISSUE: 4:2
   © 1998 twins

Little Freak

Stockholm is a little freak. It mutates faster than one can keep up with and when you turn your back, just for a glance, it becomes hip. It mutates 180 degrees, in split seconds, when you're not looking.

We floated out into the the street and scanned. We scanned the whole city day by day, and when we weren't looking it kept changing.

We scanned the sneakers on peoples feet. Pointing and wondering if the city is a bad sneaker host. The sneaker is a sign of urbanism. What would an urban road be without its stamping sneakers? We looked at the suits wearing them to work at mornings. The girls wearing them with dresses and skirts in the clubs. Guys wearing sneakers and skirts. And when we weren't looking we noticed the whole city was wearing sneaker.

Skaters crossed our path, trixing and playing. Their pants too large and their boards too fast. They were surprisingly young and they were surprisingly old. The faschinating thing was they all seemed to spend the days just doing that one thing. Skating.

We met breakers and recalled the late 80's when we learned to brake dance together. Mom took us to a school, where we tried to brake, spin, turn, and do Michael Jackson's Moon walk. We never learned to brake, just to appreciate it.

Early mornings we stepped out into alleys where players where playing ball. The playgrounds where hard as stone and the players were stone brakers, some bringin a violent edge, some playing soft.

We didn't find time to tell the whole tale — to tell it all — but then when we were at the peak and it all submerged on us, we knew that this was it. This was what we wanted to bitch about. And we did.

model: jane wakabi street: brunke bergs tunnel

Homeless — Living in the street
More people are homless than ever, in the streets of Stockholm. Or one just notices the homeless people easier now. Tired looking men are sitting on the street in front of shops and shopping malls. Subway beggars go from train to train, asking for a little. Some wonder how they can afford to go by subway. Other realise not even they who can afford acctually pay the fee.

Boutique Sportif — the Sporty Shop
This was the shop Stockholm was missing. Streetwear, DJ-gear and disc jockeys playing live every day. "Nice stuff for nice people," they say.

A Girl and Her Playground
Streetball at Slussen.

Streetwise — Where Did You Get Those Sneakers?
Sneaker shopping isn't easy. The sneakers have to look good. They have to be comfortable. The brand must be right. You have to be able to have them when you're out jogging, when you're playing bball, or wear them to your suite/skirt when you're out clubbing. And though by no means a have to, it's a plus if they're not too expensive. So let's get wise and see where people have gotten their sneakers from.

Skating Street
Skaters are everywhere. All from kids who’ve just begun fumbling that little cute with their boards from older guys who’ve been doing this for years. People jump and shout, make ollies, kick flips, board slides, grinds and backside nose slides. We don’t skate. We’re just happy to be here.

Roller Skaters
Some things are in. Some things are out. What’s so very in this year, may very well be so very out next year. The turns are quick and sometimes you don’t feel it coming. Trends are quick, they say "Hi" and then they’re on their way. Guys on in-lines are fast as trends. Sometimes you don’t see them coming. In-lines were in all summer long. But the some of the guys have been rolling for years.

Poetry by Janet Buck
Some of Janet's words has a somewhat dangerous approach. The words are pained. But that romantic pained. Wouldn't call it misery.

Poetry by Robert James Berry
From West Malaysia to Sweden. Painting stories with words.

Radio Stocktown
Bring an umbrella. If you're going to Stockholm. It hasn't rained like this for months. For years. It's just pouring down. What could be better than to turn up the radio. And hide. From all of it.

Do the Right Thing
There's that touch to writing a parody. How much should you include, how much should you exclude? How silly can you make it? And will they laugh? But even a parody can be honouring, just if you get the message right.

The Case of Mary Bell
What is evil and what is good? Who are we to judge over something we know so little about after so long. Perhaps evil is becomming the world. Perhaps civilisation is evil and the only right thing is to stay out of it. Or perhaps evil is just a way of explaining things we have no other explanation for.

Fahrenheit 451
If history didn't exist people would be so much easier to control. One wouldn't be able to refer to what had happened, and people would have so much easier to forget. And so it begins: "It was a pleasure to burn."

Pimp — the Story of My Life
Some people become lawyers, some people become actors, some people become musicians and super stars, other people become writers and still other become bosses and millioners. Some people become hookers and pimps. It's probably not as fancy. But what do you know?

LTJ Bukem: Logical Progression
London. 1996. The drum'n'bass scene is hotter than ever adn the DJs define something new, right there in the clubs, on the dance floors. A progression (?). The product has alway been there. The feeling has always been felt. The tunes: a progression to freak to.

Maxwell: Embrya
Maxwell runs from his urban hang suite and floats out into space. We try to follow but being penetrated by that voice what else could we do but submerge.