Last Day

Last Day of work today. Moving back to Uppsala later on tonight. My first lecture takes place at 12.00 tomorrow.
It's going to be so good being back at home and back in school.
Not that work has been bad, but I like to live at home and go to school better.

Also, there might be a man at my house wanting to purchase my car later on tonight, we'll see.

Hopefully, I'll come out ahead this summer, so I can buy a new one this coming spring.

--Markus out

What a Great Day

As some of you might recall, I wrote about not living life to the fullest a couple of weeks back.
How I wanted more out of life than the mundane experience my average day presented me with.
Yesterday was one of those days where I got something back from life for all those numbskull days I put in, not accomplishing a thing.
I wake up at a more or less normal hour. I feel no stress what so ever. I know that the day will be spent almost entirely to my specifications, and that I haven't got a single thing properly booked for the entire day, yet I know it's going to be grand.
I take my time eating breakfast, having a long shower, and just relaxing at home (alone in the house, what a joy). I then descend on the mall. One of the largest in europe, but with a comparatively very small parkinglot.
The sun is shining, and there isn't a cloud in sight. I take my time in the mall, and after a while I actually find a pair of jeans that I like. I haven't worn jeans in ages, so I figure I should try 'em on again.
What is really amazing about this tour to the mall, is that I manage to buy a pair of shoes in less than 5 minutes. Normally, buying a pair of shoes is a one month ordeal for me. I can't find the right ones, and I look in a ton of different stores. This time, I walk up the the wall o' shoes, and I see the shoes I'm already wearing, in a newer, very hot looking version. I ask the salesguy for a pair in the same size that I'm already wearing, and they fit like a glove.
In and out in less then five minutes, and I now have a pair of really nice shoes.

When I get back home, I put in a call to my lovely friend who's up here visiting from Poland for a week, and we decide to spend the day together.
We've been wanting to take the convertible our for a spin together for a while now, so we do.
We drive out towards Waxholm, very beautiful road, very fin to drive. We chat and have a nice time.
We decide to stop at Bogesunds slott, and have a cup of coffee at the cafe behind the castle.
Very picturesque setting, nice and quite and very relaxed.
I think the word 'relaxed' frames my day very well.
After the café we roll out all the way to Waxholm, to where the ferries out to the archipelago leave from, and we have a nice big icecream there at the dock, basking in the sun.
We have such a nice time, talking about this and that, just enjoying the nice weather and enjoying the ride.
Later, we end up at her place, eating chips and watching a movie. National Treassure, very good flick.
All in all a very nice day, very relaxed, no pressure of any kind. I had a lovely day.
I'd love to spend more or less every day ike this, but I doubt I'd appreciate the sensation as much if I did.
I will, however, tr to get a few more days like this in before fall comes, and I put the car into storage.
Hopefully, the weather will be with me.

--Markus out

Striping the Car

My car isn't what it used to be.
It's striped (where it used to be polka-dot. hmm, no, that's not it.).
None of the viper-stripes either (although nice, they are not for me), but three frosted miata-logos.
One on the hood, and one on each door.
We were supposed to do white ones, but they had apparently ordered the wrong vinyl, ,so we had to make do with they grey frosted stuff. I turned out pretty nice actually. I'm going back in a couple of days to try it with the white vinyl, we'll see how that looks.
I'll see if I can't get some images up of the car as it looks right now. Here is the logo we used:

Breakfast

När jag kom till jobbet idag stog det folk utanför grindarna med påsar och såg fasligt frikyrkliga ut.
När jag började närma mig så såg jag att det står SIF på påsarna.
"Skönt, jag är redan med i sif, nu har jag en bra ursäkt", tänkte jag, men döm om min förvåning när jag kommer fram och dom snällt säger "hp och sif bjuder på frukost, varsegod", och ger mig en påse med mat i.
Jag blev ju jätteglad, vilken underbar start på dagen =)
Det får dom gärna göra oftare, framförallt i skolan ;)

Lords Of Dogtown

Saw Lords of Dogtown with a friend last night.
I wasn't sure he was going to like it, because we spent some time trying to find another movie first, but in the end, we end to the Lords.
Turns out he quite possibly liked the movie even more than I did. We both very much liked the ending session in the pool, and I personally liked the fact that Tony Hawk played the astronaut who couldn't skate. =)

All in all, it was a very well made movie, with equal parts story and action. I really like Emile Hirsch from before. The role he did in The Girl Next Door was good. I likes his hair at the end of that movie. Huge and on end, very nice. I can't say I disliked Elisha Cuthbert either, but hey, who does right. ;)

I'm going to try to watch Dogtown and Z-Boys aswell. It's the documentary written and directed my Stacey Peralta about how things really happened. Both movies handle the same material, and both are written by Mr Peralta himself. I was a bit dissapointed that stacy peralta looked like one of the Hanson boys, but you can't hav everything, right.
I felt bad for Sid too, he had a good character, and the actor who plays him is kind of cool. he's got a very laid back style.

For those of you who don't know, The Lords Of Dogtown is about the birth or skateboarding, and professional skateboarding as we know it today. Also the invention, or discovery perhaps, that pools with no water make for excellent places to ride.
It's the stopry about how the Zephyr skateboard team came into existance, just to be split up later by various forces of economics and intra-group anymousity. Of course, skateboarding as a concept already existed, but these guys went and turned it into a multi-billion dollar industry.

I remember seeing alot of this stuff earlier when I was a kid on this show callled sk8tv. It was a kids sho in the mid to late 80-ies I believe, hosted by the big guy from the magician duo of Penn and Teller. Since I was youg and impressionble, and rode a board like everybody else, I was glued to the tv when it was on. I'm thinking summer mornings, but I'm not sure. I'd love to get my hands on tapes or any other recording of it now, would be very cool.

I remember my friend back in the day had a red Tony Alva skateboard with gulwing trucks and some black wheels of unknown origin. I later purchased a Powell-Peralta (stacey's company) Ray Underhill board. With (iirc) Independent trucks (or somesuch) and some wheels, I can't remember who made them, but they had nifty art on them.
My board still existed until a couple of years ago when it seemed to dissapear in one of the many moves from hosue to house that we did. It's quite possible that the board still exists, packed in some box somewhere, but I doubt it.

I also remember going to the Street Style (famous skateskop in Stockholm) Mobile Camp in 1990. I had the shirt to prove ti too, which I wore for roughly 13 years or so, it jsut dissapreaded a year or tho ago, very sad. Didn't break, the print didn't fade, it was just like new. I guess it must have been pretty big when I bought it.
That was also the first time I learned about riding on the trains and busses withouth paying for it. A truly novell experience at my tender age of 11, I can assure you.
Kids today learn it at the age of seven I suppose, but back then, kids could still be kids.
I could still see myself building sand castles on the beach to this day, if I had someone to do it with (younger relative or whatever, not like I would find a sandbox and start building by myself. Atleast not in this weather.)

--Markus out

Trance Utopia

Went to a party last night. Outdoor. My first in a long long time. Last was probably in the very beginning of the summer.
Very well organized, two dancefloors, nice lineup, chillout zone with good flooring.
My only gripe is that it took me roughly one hour to drive out there. It was in a very nice place, very picturesque, but still, a long way from home.
I must say that I didn't expect that big a turnout, what with it being so far away from civilization. Granted, it was one of the more talked-about parties of late...

I also got to meet some old friends. Always good to meet old friends, rekindle the flame.

I had spoken previously with one of the DJs about his transportations problems, and how he had no way of getting to the party, but he'd apparently found a ride in the nick of time and made it down. Why he couldn't ride with his other friend that was playing is beyond me (Berre and Adam organize regular parties up where I live in Uppsala).

I was surprised to see that there weren't more of the "old guard", as it were, there. The average age wasn't too young, but still not alot of the people I knew or recognized from before were there. I suppose people drop out of the scene eventually. Especially those who find that the drugs are more important than the music. I always found that a nice mixture between both, alternatively no drugs at all is preferred.
People get in to things for all the wrong reasons, it would seem. I have no doubt that I'll be going to parties 15 years from now, maybe even 50. Provided I can still walk, that is. Maybe the advent of cybernetic limb replacements will keep me dancing until I'm 150, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I also met a nice girl there. We had spoken previously online, and I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. She was everything I thought she would be. Cute, nice, talkative, intelligent, interesting, and a good dancer too. =)
I hope that I will be able to spend some more time with here, and that she isn't whisked away before we get to know each other a bit better. There is no doubt in my mind or in my heart about what I want to happen. Lets just hope that, for once, the spirits look kindly upon me and grant me this singular wish. It's nice to find someone my own age aswell. Quite a different outlook on life.
Well see where this takes us, but my hope's up, and I have a very good feeling about this.
Blogging and dating is easier if the other person doesn't read your blog, but then again, a good relationship is open, so this'll probably make its way to her eyes, as it always does.

But that smile, it's toxic, I'm telling you...
But in a very good way =)

On a lighter note, my friend and I are discussing DRM right now. It's a sticky world we are entering into, with patents and copyrights galore. A thousand and one law to break, and very few to protect us and grant us the basic freedoms we enjoy today (or atleast enjoyed ten years ago).
As every day passes, a new law is passed making life harder and harder.
I'm not just talking about people who pirate software and content, but people who want to use their content on devices of their choosing, and the concept of "fair use" has all but disappeared.

I could probably talk without end on the subject of fair use, protection of privacy and such, but my friend just called me, and were going to hang, so I'll save that for another time

--Markus Out

A Jam Packed Weekend.

I have made plans for this entire weekend.
Every evening was accounted for.
Basement on Friday.
Trance Utopia on Saturday
Driving on Sunday.

As you can see, the "Basement on Friday" part didn't work out, as I'm sitting here blogging.
I was going to go up, and that's what I told my friends, but as the clock was approaching H hour, I found myself lacking enthusiasm. I'm also tired.
I have no doubt in my mind that the party will be great, it will just feature one less individual.
So tired. But I can't go to sleep quite yet. I have to balance it, so that I will sleep well into the day tomorrow, so that I can stay awake for the party tomorrow night.
And the driving.
Whatever, I'm going to watch some TV or something.
I'm yawning like a motherfucker...

I want more. I NEED MORE!

I never stop to look up at the stars anymore.
I just got home from seeing a dear old friend of mine. As I got out of the car, I noticed that the starts were out. Lots of them, filling the sky like splattered white paint on a black wall.
It came to me that I probably spend too much time worrying about life, and doing the mundane things that we all do every day, than actually living it.
Nights like these (had it been a wee bit warmer, preferably) should be spent outside, under the stars, in the good company of friends, with some good music and good times.
I shouldn't be going home on automatic just so I can get my six hours of sleep before I have to go up to get to work in the morning.
We have so very little summer here in Sweden, that unless you have June through to August off from work or school, you never have the time to simply enjoy life.
Too much time is spend in toil, fighting your way through snow up to your knees, just to get to school, and then you do it over and over again, ad infinitum.
In the immortal words for Ferris Buler, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
And that's exactly how I felt when I got out of the car tonight.
I'm not living life to the fullest. I'm not stopping and looking around. Life is moving me by at an increasing pace as I grow older, and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it.
I would love, for example, to NOT have to go to bed fairly soon, to be able to get up for work. I would love to just throw together a spontaneous party, under the skies, with a bunch of like minded individuals, and just screw the consequences.
Now, I know that there are outdoor parties, lots of them, virtually every weekend here in Stockholm, but with the lousy weather we've been having, it hasn't exactly gotten me out of the house.
I wish I had gone to more parties, but alas, I haven't.
Starting next weekend I will do my damnedest to go to atleast one outdoor party, under starlight and not rain, if I can help it, every weekend.
Life is to short to spend it collating paperwork or sorting paperclips, or going to bed early to get to work on time.
WANTED: More life, less rigidity in how I live mine.
I promised myself that this summer would be different. That I would go to parties every week. Of course, I have not.
I wonder why I oftentimes do that to myself. Let habit and convenience take over.
It's obviously more convenient to just stay at home and go to bed every night, but it's not nearly as fun as going out and having a good time with friends.

I resolve to make amends. I resolve to get my life back on track, and pointing in a more fun direction.
Who knows, it could end tomorrow, and I wouldn't have very much to show for it.
Because of this, I'll be damned if I don't either get a new car next spring, or radically upgrade the one I have.


--Markus out

P.s. h2g2 wasn't as good as they say it is. Much like the book, its radically overrated D.s

Been A While

Today has been a good day. Apart from some nasty business this afternoon, it's been quite good.
It starts out with me waking up before the alarm-clock rings. Always a good sign, because it should mean that I am completely rested.
To make this wonderful morning even better, the sun is out, and there isn't a cloud to be seen, as I walk from my home to the train.
As I'm getting in to work, the sun is starting to work its magic. This being August, things don't realy need too much to heat up around here, so the day is nice and hot. I decided that today, I'm taking off work early, and I'm going to care for, and drive, my car.
unfortunately, there was more caring for and less driving the car, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
I get out of work at around 1600 in the afternoon, with the full intention that today will be my victory day.
Like so many other times, this is not to be...
As I'm leaving the office, the sky starts to darken. I start to get that omnious feel, like I know what's going to happen, and how it's going to totally ruin my day.Half way to the train, there is thunder and lighting all over the sky. Some sort of demon-like vortex of clouds seem to be forming right above the train station.
I keep walking.
As I'm getting closer, I can see the vortex extending down from the skies, down to the platform.
It looks like a hurricane is dancing around, with its bottom connected to the earth.
As I make my way out to the platform, the hurricane-like cloud funnel, if you will, seems to lift slightly, and open, as if someone had put a great rend down the side of it.
By now, it's raining frogs from the sky, and thunder and lightning are striking every other second, and people are running scared and screaming off the platform to seek shelter from the impending doom, as the wind whips the rain to a terrible howl.
There seem to be the screaming of souls in agony in the wind, by I dismiss it as my mind playing tricks on me.
When I finally reach the end of the platform, the rend has now fully opened, revealing a dark, very large, hulking character with spikes coming out of its body, and it appears to have a long spiked tail.
As lightning strikes yet again, I get a terrible glimpse at the creatures face. Scarred and disfigured, as if it had lived through the agony of every man, woman and child since the beginning of time, yet it appears to be smiling.
A dark, deep and resonant voice fills the air.
"I am Diablo, Lord of Terror..."
"Defeat me, or watch as I raze your entire civilization, and enslave yet another dimension, turning all you feeble minded creeps into slaves, destined to torment in the fires of hell for all eternity."
Having had extensive experience with this kind of thing, I calmly remove my backpack, open it up, and..."
What happens after this you ask?
Well, if I had any idea, I'd gladly continue the story, but as it turns out, the only true part here is the fact that it rained down like a motherfucker as i was leaving the office, and I took this as a sign that I must have done something wrong in a previous life. Raped a nun while eating a small child or somesuch, because no way in hell had I done anything bad enough in this life to deserve this rotten streak of weather we've been having.
I thought all was lost, as the rain was pouring down as I got on the train. It hadn't stopped as I got to the terminus, so I simply assumed that the rain would continue for all eternity, smoothly turning into snow (or something slushy in between) as it grew colder, and never ever would I see the sun again. Atleast not within the borders of this country.

I was wrong.

As I got out of the subway at the other end, the sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The ground looked like it had maybe gotten some rain, but there was no evidence other than that, that the weather had been foul just moments earlier.

So I went to the store(s), got what I needed, and embarked on what would be a one and a half hour car-washing journey. Add an extra 30-45 minutes for the wax (thanks for the help, dad).

The results, I must say, are miraculous. Since I haven't washed my car more or less since I got it, it was very dirty indeed.
Now it has a lustrous shine about it that's just marvelous.
However, I most definitely will get some kind of recond-paint-sealer-deal for my next car.
This wash and wax stuff has got to go.

Sadly, as the nightw as getting dark, and another day at the office was on the horizon, there was very little driving. I went down to the gas-station to enquire about some tire-side cleaner, but they had none.
I went home, and here I am. hammering away at the keys, hoping that something good will come of all this.

I'm thinking bed...

--Markus out

Al(i)e-nation

It seems my inspiration is failing me again and again now.
I had this great entry mapped out in my (drunken) head last night, about how last night had sucked, but now it's gone.
Suffice it to say, the old bar isn't what it used to be, and neither is the people.
Sure, I missed some of my best friends who weren't there, but those who were seemed, well, highly disinterested. I took an early buss home.

So many things to write about, so little inspiration.

I found out that it's not the memory speed that's making my camera slow, it's the flash recharge that's taking forever. I've decided to send it back. I don't know what camera I will get instead, but that's less of a problem right now.

Now i need all these fucking people to vacate the house so I can have some peace.

--Markus out

Technologic

Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, melt - upgrade it,
Charge it, pawn it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, curl it, find it,
View it, coat it, jam - unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pose it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, twitch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, obey it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, stop - format it.

Evil doll and curious doll

Dissapointment

This will not do.
Not at all.

Yesterday was a bad day. I got my new camera. It was white, it was small, it had a nice, big LCD, and the stated shutter lag was also very low.
What they failed to tell us, though, was that it would take something like 5-6 seconds between each shot, and after starting the camera, to access the memory card.
Suffice it to say, I'm fucking pissed, and if a new memory card isn't helping the performance of the camera (we accidentally ordered the shittiest cards known to man, I need to test with a nice and fast SanDsik UltraII first), it's going straight back to where I bought it from.
My brother should be getting his on monday or tuesday, so I'm going to see if his model suffers from the same handicap as mine (it's supposed to be the "bigger brother" camera to mine). If it doesn't, I'll order one of those. If it does, well then it's back to the drawing board...
I hate it when things don't go my way.

--Markus out

The Dentist

Crap.
Double Crap.

My dentist just called me to infor me that I had missed my appointment. I knew I was going, I just wasn't sure when (I thought it was sometime next week), and they usually send me an sms message the night before, so I was confident that I woulnd't miss the appointment due to the reminder.

So there I am, fixing some cables or whatever, and they call me, 10 mintues after I was supposed to be there. "You just missed your appointment, that'll be 500SEK".
Great, like I don't have money troubles already. (The car doesn't count, different pile of money, I can get that pile back)

So now I'm out 500SEK, and I have to wait around for another MONTH to get another appointment, and that'll happen when I'm back in school, so I have to pay more money just to travel down here.
Not to mention the fact that the visit itself vill set me back some 800SEK.

All this in a socialist country where we're supposed to help eachother, and all the healthcare is supposed to be payed for by our taxes...
Think again.
It would appear that my taxes payed for everybody elses healthcare but my own.
Ok, that ruined a perfectly good (well, normal anyway) day.

Now I'm going to head home. No more work for me today.

--Markus out

Rain

I hate the rain.
I really do hate it. It disrupts virtually all activities one can engage in during the summer.
Driving with the top down - NO
Driving at high speed - NO
Being out in the sun - NO
Getting a tan - NO
Spending a day in the park - NO

Those are the things I want to spend my summer doing, but with this godforsaken rain, there is very little I can actually do.

Damn it all...
Damn it all to HELL!

--Markus out

As The Rush Comes

A while back, I decided to cut down drastically on my coke and candy consumption. As a result, absolutely nothing has happened to neither my economy nor my waistline.
The only noticeable thing is that I'm more tired now, need more sleep, and I have bigger problems getting up in the mornings.

The only good thing that has come of this (ok, besides making life easier on my teeth) is that I can now get those wonderful coke rushes when I do enough. Before, I needed ALOT of coke to get a rush that I could feel. I could sometimes over do it, and I'd get sweats and my stomach would turn on me. If I did just enough, I could benefit form it without the sensation of the rush. I'd stay awake longer, I'd be more focused, and I'd write better code (or play better diablo2, depending).
Now, I just had my fourth can today (what were you thinking, line? :p), and I can feel the rush. Like an insect in the back of my mind, buzzing. I'm tweaked on pop, and I'm loving it.

Of course, this in no way compares to x or speed or anything, but it's a damn nice feeling when you need those extra couple of hours of coding, or when you just want to feel better.
I haven't slept properly for something like 2-3 months now, ever since I moved back down here basically (I thought the summer was for relaxation and recuperation?), and it ticks me off.
maybe I should just kick up my coke account, and get back on track.
I can feel the tingling in my fingers now, and the stretching of the fabric of time and space, creating a tunnel between me and the keyboard. Imagine a constant acceleration through space, with the world as you know it elongating with every passing second, but never reaching a point where it will stop.
You feel the sensation coursing through your veins. Mostly in your arms. And the music is sweeter.

"Yeah, sort of reminds me of a time in Montana. It was 31st of December 1994 when I saw the Mexican Jesus floating down the river. Yellowstone National Park. I think it was like minus twenty degrees in the snow and he was floating down butt naked. I don't think he was Native American, he seemed too Mexican looking you know. He had long black hair and he was butt naked in the middle of the Yellowstone River. Minus twenty. And we'd put our head under the water and come up and we turned our eyes and he didn't have a [...] of ice on his hand, nothing. He was completely immune to the cold. And eh, which reminds me about the ayahuasca experience you know meeting the Mother Serpent. I don't think anybody really could, err... How to describe it? It was totally mind numbing. Just taking it, and waiting and that first time you take it, the suddenly you feel like you've got these vines running through your body. They were [...] ripping through your body. And that bright light burning you up from the inside. Next thing

Genetic material getting changed before your eyes. Man, people think they know about drugs, but... That ain't a drug, it's a sacrament. It's just a portal to another world. It's realities that are always there. A key to other dimensions That we live with them all the time. Thankfully our awareness never touches...

How would I describe it? Terrifying. Enlightening. But utterly terrifying. You swear you'll never go back. Ever. And the next thing you know, you're taking it again. You're going down that tunnel.

People say you have a choice. I don't think there's any choice.

Ayahuasca just takes you. No choice. You surrender or you resist. Resist or inhale. You surrender, you must be free.

I don't know if I could do that again.

And the Mother Goddess calls me, the cosmic circuit calls. I have to answer. And I have to go back to the [...] I have no choice. I have no choice. It's not a drug, it's... It's not a drug. It's just the holy sacrament."

Scatterbrain - Mexican jesus

definitely more coke for me.

--Markus out

Automitive Pornography

Holy crap!

This guy put a McLaren/Mercedes SLR into his SLK55!

http://sports.autoblog.com/entry/1234000420052806/

Talk about massive!

Performance Driving

Last night was a blast.
Like I said, we had been out driving the other night, found some nice roads, and then posted to two forums about checking them out tonight, and would anybody care to join us.
Over 15 cars showed up!

Subaru Impreza, Viper GTS, Nissan 200sx, Z3, BMW 330Ci, Honda s2000, Opel Speedster, Mazda Miata =)

My friend took the lead, and I stayed back, making sure nobody was left astray. Any other configuration would have been crazy, since his car has more than 3 times the power and performance mine has.

The roads were nice, but the quality of them weren't. Potholes and poor asphalt. Ohh, and very angry people. Some guy had come out to my friend in the lead with a knife acting all crazy. Once I'd passed he put a huge board across the road, just to make life miserable for us, should we decide to take the same road back. Of course we didn't, but that kind of obstacle could have easily landed some of the lower cars through the mans living room window, and could very well have injured alot of people, and alot of cars. The world is just chock full of fucking maniacs.
I had absolutely no problem staying on the rest of the groups tail on the narrower roads, even though I had an inferior engine. When we got to the two-lane windows roads however, I had to work my ass of to just keep them in sight. With superior acceleration and topspeed, I was no match for them. True, I had ridden the smaller roads the day before, and never ridden the big one, but still. On our way back though, I got complimented on my ability to hang on with my relatively small engine. That always feels great. I think it has to say something about my driving ability, as it also states that my car, quite obviously, cornerslikemad. =)

Hopefully, we will have more night like this before the summer is over. Less the crazy people with knives, ofcourse.

-- Markus out

Inspirerad Körning

Vi tänkte ge oss ut och leka lite i våra fina sportbilar såhär mitt i sommaren (hoppas att det blir en lika fin kväll som igår).
Vore kul om flera kom. Vore ännu roligare (om ack lite tyngre i bilen) om jag hade nån (söt liten flicka) brevid mig i bilen.

Läs och njut: http://www.miata.se/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4508

--Markus out