News and commentary on the life of the person behind this blog and on events in Sweden and around the world. Personal anecdotes, OP-Eds, reading suggestions, etc. Enjoy, and comment!
Short post today just to give you a flavour of what is gradually making its way from the basement up to the flat. Unfortunately I couldn't go to church today due to helping a friend with a home refurbishment project, otherwise Advent is my favourite time of the year churchwise. It feels like Advent came so quickly this year. Can't believe Christmas is less than a month away! I think it has to do with the relatively mild weather we've been having. I want snow! Well, not snow from now on to Christmas but at least one proper snowfall so that it starts feeling like winter and the holiday season!
Had a great time listening to Peter Barlach's story telling, guitar playing and singing tonight, thanks to tickets kindly passed on by Simone, aka Fritt ur hjärtat!
Swedish men are apparently the world's most beautiful men! But I knew that already of course! ;) And it's not just my claim - a dating site especially for beautiful people* says so, or more exactly, the users of the site say so.
Swedish guys are followed by their Brazilian and Danish counterparts, in that order, whilst British men are at the bottom of the list, the poor sods!
As far as the other sex is concerned, Swedish women came in second after their Norwegian sisters.
An Oxford study has also concluded that Swedish men make the best husbands so it's looking good for Swedish women! Or women of other nationalities who have caught a Swede in her net! :)
* Questionable on moral and principal grounds in my opinion but...
This will be quite a short post but at least it is on the actual day for a change!
Simone's third theme is Signs. I found these great signs when I was looking for the toilets in the basement of a bar in London on one of my trips there this year:
I also want to warn you that it can be very dangerous to swim in a outdoor hotel pool (or spa???) in the US! No lifeguard even though the pool was at least 3x3 metres big! ;)
I missed last week's Show & Tell due to my trip to Berlin so I thought I'd show you that city from below. Many of them might not really qualify as photos taken from below but they will have to do! :)
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche - The ruins of the church in Western Berlin is one of the city's most memorable symbols, but is called "the hollow tooth" by the locals. This neoroman church was named in the honour of Vilhelm I. After having been severely damaged during WWII the church was kept as it was as a memorial. In 1963 a new and modern church designed by Egon Eiermann was opened next to the old church - you can see the modern clock tower here.
The inside still has mosaics picturing scenes from the German empire, including the so-called Hohenzollerm mosaics with the Preussian kings, queens and dukes.
Windows, stairs and mosaics in what is left of the altar room
More from below views of the altar room
The main staircase in the Jüdisches Museum, the Jewish Museum. Daniel Liebeskind designed this new fantastic building for portraying the history of the Jewish people in Germany (or the territory of present-day Germany) over the last 1,000 years. This is a really great museum in its layout and how it tells the story of centuries of Jewish-German relations. It's one of the best museums I've been to, on par with the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. The so-called Holocaust Tower in its own part of the building is a unheated cement room with only natural light from a narrow opening in the ceiling, which is supposed to symbolise a gas chamber (though the architect says it should be interpreted in the mind of the visitor).
The concert hall at Gendarmenmarkt, a "piazza" in Italian renaissance style. The name "Gendarmenmarkt" comes from a regiment, gens d'armes, stationed nearby. The piazza is from the 17th century but the concert hall is from 1818-1821.
One of two domes that surround the concert hall in Gendarmenmarkt, the French and the German cathedrals from the 18th century. There is also a smaller French church in the square, founded by Berlin's Huguenot community, while the German dome was built by German protestants.
One of the domes, don't know if it's the French or the German one.
Underneath the autumn trees in Gendarmenmarkt
The 1.3 km stretch of the Berlin Wall that has been kept and is now East Side Gallery. The artworks were restored this year ahead of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, usually by the same artists who painted them 20 years ago.
Peter posing in front of the Berlin Dome, the largest and most lavish cathedral in the city, from the late 19th century. We never went inside though but maybe we should have, because I read in the guidebook that it was reopened in 1993 after 40 years of renovation.
Top of the Berlin Dome
From the bottom of the stairs of the Reichstag. The Reichstag was built in the late 19th century by Paul Wallot as a symbol of German power but was subsequently destroyed in a fire in 1933 and during WWII. In 1997-1999 the British architect Sir Norman Foster transformed the building to one of the world's most modern parliamentary buildings - with its famous glass dome - but you wouldn't think so from jut looking at the front.
A happy Peter below Brandenburger Tor. In addition to the Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor is probably the most well-known structure in Berlin. The gateway was erected in 1789-91 with ancient Greece as the model. The Quadriga sculpture on top is a peace symbol but despite its symbolism the gate has been marched through by many a rulers, statesmen, military parades and demonstrators.
No time to do a recipe today (haven't had time to cook lately and won't until next week - busy times!) but I wanted to post something so I googled "Wednesday recipe"! Found that myself and Petchie were the top 4 results (potato & fennel gratin, kale soup, salmon & avocado salad and Swedish sandwich cake) but below that there were other blogs I didn't know about which also seem to have a Wednesday recipe thing going! Although not sure there is a connection between them. But maybe we should join forces?!
My friend Malin managed the feat of timing the birth of her second child - a baby girl with the beautiful name Elvina - with her older daughter's tenth birthday! !
Congratulations Malin & Ronny! And Filippa, who's a big sister!
Show & Tell will have to wait a few days because I'm off to Berlin for the weekend. I've never been so I'm really looking forward to it! Poor Peter will have to work while I do the sights. Hopefully he'll have some free time on Sunday. I have brought lots of magazines and a book - holidays and weekends at the country house seem to be when I read there days; all other time is computer time hahaha :-)
Went to see, or listen really, to the opera Nabucco with two colleagues tonight. When we got there I had a pleasant surprise! It was a Södertälje Opera production, i.e. from my home town! I have read really good reviews about them but never seen (or heard) them before. I can just confirm what has been written; high quality stuff! Now I just need to read what the opera is about and about the characters because I didn't get much of the story...
Simone takes over Show & Tell for the month of November. She starts off in style with a very difficult topic! The Dinner of My Dreams - three guests, four with yourself. What is the seating plan, the menu, wine selection, table setting, etc.
Just when I was about to sit down and write this the show Simone got the idea from was on TV. What a coincidence!
I could answer my wedding dinner, because I dream about getting married. I could also write about a dinner with Peter and two kids around the table, the two (or three) kids I hope to have one day. But I really hope to have more than three guests at my wedding and neither my own kids nor Peter would really qualify as "guests". A dinner with friends would not be a dream dinner either since I meet them regularly anyway and I hope we will continue to do so until we're turn 100 at least.
So I will have to opt for guests that I would like to meet, but not just meet for meeting's sake but in order to try to influence them. With a month left (from tomorrow) before the start of the negotiations about a new climate change agreement in Copenhagen, getting an agreement that would be strong and effective enough to eventually stop climate change would be the topic of the day, the raison d'être for the dinner.
At the moment the international negotiations are heading for disaster. If not complete failure at least a very watered down agreement*. The last round of negotiations before Copenhagen, which took place in Barcelona over the last couple of days, didn't make much progress. And the EU-India Summit over in Delhi today wasn't a huge hit either.
Image from photobucket.com
So who are the key people I would need to convince that the planet is worth saving; that we don't have that much time; that even though we can't see climate change yet** and/or it's such a difficult thing to comprehend, it IS happening; that we cannot close our eyes and pretend it's not happening anymore, etcetera etcetera?
Yes, Obama, that's where we need to go. Forward. To the future. A green future. (Image from climaticoanalysis.org)
China's President Hu Jintao (image from thehindu.com)
I can't decide if Russia or Canada gets the third seat. At the moment Canada is hiding behind US but if I got the US onboard I'm sure Canada would come running. Russia is a problem in terms of hot air and is closer to some of the oil states that would be useful to have onboard too. India is another potential third guest but one which I don't think will be a real problem once China is game. I could also choose to have another climate advocate at the table, for example Australia or Japan, but they will make good extras instead.
So I think Russia would be my best shot.
Russia's President Medvedev (although Putin would probably be knocking on my door trying to take Medvedev's place) (image from rusecounion.ru)
The EU has taken most of the necessary decisions so the EU wouldn't really need to be at the table but could come and slip in some arguments while serving our food (first course). Besides, I represent the EU anyway. Australia and Japan would be cooking and come out and check on us once in a while. The "progressive developing countries", for example Brazil, Mexico or South Korea, could come and shout some encouraging words together with the main course. The G77 would accompany the dessert and the Maldives' President*** would serve the cheese. By the time the coffee comes we should have a deal!
What would we eat and drink? Only organic and/or fair trade produce of course. But I would also try to serve meat, fish and vegetables that may go extinct in a world with rising temperatures to make the point that this is something we may not enjoy in the future.
Let's hope we can stop the world from this scenario:
* In all likelihood there will be some sort of deal, but a weak one, or something like a statement or political intention, and next year will be full of further negotiations to seal the deal. This is an alternative that wouldn't be all bad but it would be even better if a deal could be reached in December 2009 already. ** We can really but not not in all parts of the world, and not in the countries which need to take the decisions, and not enough in other parts of the world for people to really understand. *** Did you know that the Maldive government held a government meeting in the sea, fully dressed in diving suits to demonstrate to the world what sea level rise means for low lying states and/or the least developed states!
I remember reading on Vardag i kängurulandet (hey! where are you?!) that it's illegal to hang laundry on a clothesline in an Australian backyard/garden. When I met Kicki in Stockholm in March after she had moved back to Sweden we talked about how strange it was to have such a ban, both in general - from a Swedish perspective hanging out your laundry is such a normal thing to do - and in these times of climate change. I don't know if things are changing in Australia - I would assume so with them being quite a proactive force in the international climate change negotiations, finally - but they are definitely changing in another country with such a ban, the US.
Several US states forbid residents to dry clothes outside for the reason that many people view clotheslines as a menace similar to rusty old cars or other junk in driveways, and in essence, something that marks a community as poor, which in turn lowers property values. But times are a-changing and several states (e.g. Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, Florida and Utah) have replaced the ban with legislation protecting people's right to hang laundry outdoors, for environmental reasons. Apparently dryers alone use at least 6% of all household electricity consumption so it sounds like a move other states - and countries - should be making.
As I've been home with a cold for two days I haven't really been flipping interesting recipes in the kitchen. I did make an omelette for lunch today but there wasn't anything special about it, and tonight I devoured a frozen pizza (Peter is having dinner at his parents - it's his dad's birthday - but I didn't feel like going).
So I thought I'd re-tell a cartoon strip I read in Svenska Dagbladet the other day. It's part of the series Stockholmsnatt("Stockholm night") by Pelle Forshed and Stefan Thungren.
I read several blogs owned and written by Swedes living abroad and being an ex-expat myself I find discussions about Swedish character and Swedishness quite interesting. One thing they (not just bloggers but also "experts") say about us Swedes is that we are very fashion conscientious. For example, did you know that many fashion houses try their designs on the Swedish market before deciding whether to give them a go elsewhere?! The positive side to this is that we all look pretty good most of the time; the negative is of course that we all look the same, i.e. boring. Guess you can't have it both ways!
Anyway, here's the strip and a translation:
Guy 1: "So, this thing about Swedish fashion design being conformed is actually nonsense, there is an obscene amount of brands to choose between these days..."
Guy 2: "Yeah, but does that matter when all of them seem to have the same idea at the same time. Autumn has looked like one long sequel to Brokeback Mountain..."
Guy 1: "Oh bother! I could see right away that you are wearing Our Legacy and he Acne... The buttons and the seams give it away, completely different feeling. For me the difference is as as big as between dotted and striped..."
Guy 2: "Okay..."
Guy 2: "Apparently eskimos* have like 32 different words for snow... If you constantly live in the same barren environment I guess you are forced to become creative and see nuances in everything."
Guy 3: "Do you also get a feeling that we are approaching a solution to the mystery of the Swedish fashion people's..?"
The houses along the canals in Venice Beach made me think of the colourful houses in Puerto Rico Petchie often tells us about
Danish architecture has found its way all the way out in California! Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish teachers who moved there to avoid the harsh winters in the midwest. They tried to make a living through the usual stuff, farming, etc. but soon realised people came to look at the different architecture. So they quickly started making money on all things Danish! Today the town has about 5,000 inhabitants and several bakeries, restaurants and shops offering a "taste of Denmark". There is also a copy of the Little Mermaid (of course).
Bixby Creek Arch Bridge was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was built in 1932
Old, cute little cottages in Carmel is also architecture! I just wish now that I went in and bought some sweets so that I would have seen what it looked like inside!
The famous Six Sisters in Alamo Square, San Francisco, examples of few surviving Victorian architecture from earthquakes and fires
Golden Gate Park is a mix of ancient and modern. The modern building is de Young Art Museum and opened in 2005 (the old museum was destroyed in the 1998 earthquake). We didn't go in though; we left the museums to the New York leg of our trip.
No caption necessary
I could easily live in a beautiful house on a San Franciscan hill!
San Fran also has some modern architecture
Architectural still life. Bay Bridge as backdrop
New York
Just two of many, many bridges in New York City
An ugly construction but a clever solution; a park and recreation area featuring playgrounds and a ballpark above one of the city's sanitation facilities, for maximal use of space.
Iron art
The little red lighthouse at the bottom of a bridge, inspiration for the children's books with the same name
Very common sight in the US or the UK; signs and printing on (brick) buildings and metal signs
Queensboro Bridge, connecting Queens and Manhattan, equipped with a tramway and what looks like a rollercoaster underneath
The UN building was apparently built too quickly when it came up in 1950 so now it needs a major renovation (to be carried out by Swedish company Skanska)
Bridge galore in this post! Bridges can be so cool and beautiful at the same time!
The Woolworth Building
Who said a ferry terminal had to be ugly?! These ferries go to Staten Island, one of New York's five boroughs (the others being Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens)
One of New York's most famous pieces of architecture, the Statue of Liberty. Or would you call it art? Or both.
New York also has some cute mews; here I'm posing in Washington Mews
The narrowest house in New York (and in the world?) at 75½ Bedford Street. It was built in 1873 and is 9½ feet wide. But I'm sure several of houses in the Netherlands beat that! Earlier in the autumn it was for sale for a mere $2.7m. Not sure if it's now sold or not.
Another iron building
The New York Post Office is a grand building
And so is the New York Public Library
Remnants of the shipyards in Long Island City in Queens
Mix of old and new - view from Long Island City
Old Egyptian temple at The Met. The Temple of Dendur is a Nubian temple that was built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and dedicated to Isis, Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain, Pediese ("he whom Isis has given") and Pihor ("he who belongs to Horus").[1] The temple was commissioned by Emperor Augustus of Rome and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1978.
We also went to Hearst Castle but I think that deserves its own post!
