FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
Close-up photo of the cute head-turning window display at the Apotek Hjärtat -Sweden's largest independent pharmacy chain- located at Ringvägen 113, near the Skanstull T-bana in Södermalm, Stockholm.
The sign reads, "Årets nyhet: du! Ett helt nytt och obrukat år är här. Just nu känns det lite lättare att välja om, förändra vanor och bryta gamla mönster. Vi hjälper gärna till. Du vill, du kan, du törs!'
(New this year: you! A brand new and unused year is here. Right now it feels a little easier to choose, change habits and break old patterns. We're happy to help. You want to, you can, you dare!) Sounds like good advice that I ought to actually follow in 2015, unlike 2014!
The welcoming party that greeted me at the luggage carousel at Arlanda Stockholm Airport back in January was... ABBA. As seen in my May 7, 2013 blog post titled, "A" is for Awesome and ABBA as the new ABBA Museum in Stockholm officially opens this afternoon. Monday night's gala premiere brought Anni-Frid, Benny and Björn together, cheered on by a select group of invitees from across Swedish society and the music industry, who are, in the end, just fans of the band like everyone else, and very excited that this amazing museum is FINALLY a reality; #abba, #AbbaMuseum, #ThankYouForTheMusic, @stockholm, @sweden. http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-is-for-awesome-and-abba-as-new-abba.html
With four slopes and two lifts, Hammarbybacken provides for downhill skiing in central Stockholm. pic.twitter.com/lHaAZYg1Cp — Sweden.se (@swedense) January 8, 2014
Originally, when I thought I was going to be in Stockholm right before Christmas 2012, I was going to be staying at the Park Inn Stockholm Hammarby Sjöstad,
I only changed my plans when I got the chance to stay in a more centrally-located place that made it much more convenient to meet with some people I hoped to be meeting with and possibly even interviewing.
My some great and fortunate stroke of luck, by coming in January, I was able to stay at what is Stockholm's #1 B&B, in Södermalm, at the wonderful 4Trappor B&B As I've previously mentioned, this B&B is the top-rated one in the greater Stockholm area byTrip Advisor-and for very good reason! And the breakfast -and the views thru the kitchen windows- are amazing! I stayed there the first five days of my January trip, before spending my last five days at the very comfortable and affordable Omena Hotel Stockholm on the north side of town, Norrmalm, which is walking distance to the downtown business/retail district, Central Station and Gamla Stan. http://www.omenahotels.com/our-hotels/sweden/stockholm/ You could hardly find a more central location to rest at in-between exploring the sights of this amazing city, and there's a popular sports bar/restaurant on the ground floor which features a terrific lunch deal for 95 SEK. I highly recommend the ravioli -and a window seat! As you can see below, too much bright sunshine was definitely NOT the problem we had that first full day of mine in Stockholm, both excited and jet-lagged at the same time.
Above, using my Latitude app on my Samsung cell phone to find out where people I knew were once I checked into the B&B in Södermalm before I tried to reach them by phone or email.
And now, from my January 1, 2013 blog post titled, Baby, It's Cold Outside! But by sled, ski or snowmobile, everyone who's anyone -yes, even baby princesses- is eager to be part of the scene in chic, sexy, snowy (and Venture Capital-loving) Stockholm, and who can blame them? I'll soon be joining them!; Niklas Zennström, Andreas Ehn and other entrepreneurs on the secrets to their success and why Sweden "punches above its weight" when it comes to producing tech start-ups; #stockholm, #sweden http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/baby-its-cold-outside-but-by-sled-ski.html If it snows too much next Sunday to do much walking around and sightseeing, I may go here around Noontime, and then just do some people watching while reading the papers and drinking coffee outside, and do some filming of the whole crazy scene.
And THEN head to a sports bar to watch the NFL playoff games!
That's when that six-hour time difference finally works to my advantage. (More thoughts -and photos- of that crazy NFL football predicament I faced in Stockholm 12 months ago can be seen on the blog over the coming weekend!)
RetardedVideos2013 YouTube Channel video: Crazy snowmobile ride in Stockholm (SWEDEN). Uploaded on December 6, 2012. http://youtu.be/j7sCpSFRKww
Above, screenshot of SVT's website promoting their LIVE news coverage of President Obama's visit to Sweden, which can be seen here, worldwide, on their Special Report version of their news show Rapport with hosts Claes Elfsberg and Marianne Rundström until about 11:20 a.m. Eastern Wednesday morning: 1:30 p.m. Update: SVT has recorded this morning's events and has it as a 7 hour and 18 minute video that you can watch or skip ahead in to find something you find of interest: Extra Rapport: Obama besöker Sverige 10:00-17:20: Obama besöker Sverige - DIREKT. SVT följer USA:s president Barack Obamas besök i Stockholm. Gäster, samtal, bakgrund, analyser, pressträffar. Programledare: Claes Elfsberg och Marianne Rundström. http://www.svtplay.se/video/1435951/extra-rapport-obama-besoker-sverige This LIVE broadcast can also be viewed on mobile phones if you are so inclined. SVT's mobile streaming is among the best in the world.
Above, screenshot of TV4's website promoting their LIVE news coverage, which they are promoting as "around the clock" and they do seem to be doing more interesting stuff from what I can see and can also be seen worldwide. http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/live-obamas-bes%C3%B6k-i-sverige-2433617 1:30 p.m. Update: TV4 is doing a great job today and as of this writing is still doing their LIVE coverage of the visit, but sometimes that consists of only streaming video of an exterior scene like the Grand Hotel with no sound until someone appears on screen to say something or or the cortege heads somewhere. By the way, with their coverage, you can also see the TV commercials in Swedish and after awhile, you may find yourself having a sudden craving for Felixbrand Tandoori meals -like me! http://www.lhw.com/hotel/Grand-Hotel-Stockholm-Stockholm-Sweden
I'm watching/listening to both of them, bouncing back and forth as I edit my promised post about some things that President Obama and most well-informed Americans don't know about Sweden -and should- but won't be hearing anything about from the dim-wits in the White House press corps. That post should be online sometime today. Reminder, Sweden is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in U.S. & Canada. Schedule:http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/sweden-g20-trip-2013
TV4 video of Air Force One landing at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which is about 40 miles north of Stockholm.
TV4 video: Här passerar Obamas konvoj Upplands Väsby. Presidential convoy from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to the Grand Hotel in Stockholm down the E4.
As some of you know, per my once being part of an advance team for Walter Mondale, I was one of the passengers in one of the limousines in a Secret Service convoy from a private tarmac at Miami International Airport to the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, where we were going to be staying as part of a campaign visit, and we received the full heavy police escort, of course. Trust me, THAT is the only way to go!
TV4 reporter Ted Lundgren appearing on the Nyhetsmorgon program from the center of the security zone in and around the Grand Hotel, where policemen are patrolling and rooftop snipers are at the ready for security purposes http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyhetsmorgon?video_id=2435597
Press conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern U.S. time, where he will likely start by saying something like what Ambassador Brzezinski said at his swearing-in, "Det är en stor glädje och ära, att se den svenska närvaron här idag." U.S. Embassy in Sweden @usembassysweden
Nu placerar Trafikkontoret tillbaka den höj- och sänkbara stolpe, så kallad pollare, som ska förhindra genomfartstrafik i rusningstid på Hägerstensvägen.
Pollaren – på Hägerstensvägen, mellan Axelsberg och Örnsberg – kommer att hindra bilister från att använda Hägerstensvägen som genomfartsväg under vardagar klockan 7-9 samt 16-18. Syftet med avspärrningen är att skona de boende i området från rusningstrafiken. Kollektivtrafik och uttryckningsfordon undantas förbudet.
Förbudet gäller redan idag men i och med de fysiska åtgärderna hoppas Trafikkontoret hindra de billister som ändå bryter mot förbudet.
Pollaren installerades första gången för ett drygt år sedan då den ersatte en vägbom. Pollaren blev dock påkörd och har tillfälligt varit ur funktion under en period. Utöver att den nu har reparerats så har Trafikkontoret även låtit sätta upp en trafiksignal samt tydligare förbudsskyltning på platsen.
– I och med dessa åtgärder hoppas vi att det blir en bättre efterlevnad och respekt för gällande förbud, säger Lotten Backström, trafikplanerare på Trafikkontoret.
Pollaren och trafiksignalen är planerad att tas i bruk under vecka 37.
Final approach on runway 26, Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
Välkommen till Sverige -Welcome to Sweden.
To give you some perspective on how far north Stockholm really is, the air miles from Washington, D.C. to Stockholm, about 4134, is less than 50 miles farther than a flight from Stockholm due south to the Equator.
Above, screenshot of early Monday's Aftonbladet online coverage on this week's trip. Meanwhile, Dagens Nyheter has one of those great graphics they do, this time about the official limo, which always fascinates people no matter what country it is in: http://www.dn.se/sthlm/grafik-sa-skyddas-obama-i-sverige/
SVT news video: Så skyddas Obama. This news segment about the president's protective detail, featuring comments by former Washington Post reporter and author Ron Kessler, ran during Monday night's evening news and is mostly in English.
On Tuesday night I will be uploading my blog post about some things that President Obama really ought to know about Sweden in advance of his flight to Stockholm on Wednesday, but which I'm pretty sure that he will not be briefed about by the State Dept., owing to certain cultural and myopic weaknesses. But I've got it covered. Not so much a Top Ten list, per se, since I'm not sure how many things will make the list, but don't be surprised to see some things mentioned here that you didn't know, or thought you knew about Sweden -but didn't. But as just as a bit of a teaser, I'll remind you, again, that Sweden is NOT Switzerland. (Switzerland is where American actor, social activist and jet-setter George Clooney chooses to live, on Lake Como, and Sweden is where the shining example of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, a man who made a huge difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people, in that he made it possible for them to actually stay alive, quite contrary of the wishes of the Nazis. But in a sign that no good deed goes unpunished, he died in a Soviet prison for his heroic efforts, yet lives forever in the hearts of his countrymen.) But Tre Kronor, the Swedish National Mens Hockey team did defeat Switzerland 1-0 in the IIHF Championships in May in the Gold Medal game played in Stockholm, which prompted lots of celebrating in the hours and days afterwards, including at Sergels Torg, one of my favorite places in all of Stockholm.
Marcus Jerräng @blisk: Samtidigt på Sergels Torg I listened to the game LIVE online via Sveriges Radio despite my lack of knowledge of the words for many hockey terms in Sweden, and watched the game when it was finally televised -NOT LIVE- in the U.S., but rather late the next night on NBC Sports Network with no build-up, which sucked.
SVT news video: Early on Monday morning Foreign Ministry Chief of Protocol Caroline Vicini appeared on SVT's Gomorron program and spoke about what events would be taking place and ironing-out things logistically so everything is smooth sailing.
Here's a copy of the email I received last week from the City of Stockholm: Heavy traffic problems expected during President Obama's visit (Stockholms stad: Kraftiga trafikstörningar väntas i samband med president Obamas besök)
Following President Obama's visit to Stockholm on 4-5 September expected heavy traffic problems in many parts of the Stockholm area.
In particular, the inner city and the main roads to and from the airport will be affected.
Some parts of the city is completely closed to traffic. This applies primarily to the area around Nybrokajen, Harbour Street, Finland - Old Town, around the castle.
All modes of transport are affected: automobile, public transportation; mainly bus, plane and to some extent also boating.
Motorists urged to leave their cars at home and use public transport.
Public transport travelers are recommended to first use of rail transport ie subway and / or train.
All road users can expect delays.
Those scheduled travel days to / from Stockholm and Arlanda should contact their tour operator for details of current departure times
Current traffic information will be provided via Trafik Stockholm. Radio Stockholm and at the following websites:
Below is Police Dept.'s info page on changes to auto, bus, rail, bicycle and pedestrian traffic patterns related to the Obama visit.
Long story short, they want people to avoid going into downtown area if they can avoid it, and even encourage people to work at home if possible.
Because Stockholm is, of course, a series of many islands with connecting bridges and has an extensive subway system, the authorities will NOT allow any trains to run under areas where escorts are taking place, which means that train passengers, both local and regional, will be adversely affected.
Translation -strong possibility that train passengers can and will be stuck on trains for quite some time.
Glad midsommar till alla mina vänner och läsare i Sverige. Jag önskar jag kunde vara med dig just nu! ♥
Location: Tingaröd, Skivarp; Photo: Carolina Romare/imagebank.sweden.se Even Marie Serneholt, one of our favorites, played the role of garland-clad siren on the rocks of the lake yesterday, as these great photos from her blog at Swedish ELLE's website prove quite conclusively, down to the gold and blue ribbon on her left wrist: http://marie.elle.se/gardagens-80/ In a word -heavenly! I found out a few days after I got back from my trip to Stockholm in January that I missed running into Marie at Fotografiska, which is the crazy amazing and beautiful Museum of Photography, by only a few days. To have been able to meet music dynamos like Anni Bernhard at the beginning of the trip, as I did, and Marie Serneholt at the end, as I could've, would have been perfect bookends in my book. Here are some sweet photos that Matie snapped there that also appeared on her very popular blog: http://marie.elle.se/en-onsdag-pa-fotografiska/ Marie is also the new host of TV4'sBingolotto singing show. Here's a recent interview on TV4'sNyhetsmorgon about the new gig and her having grown up watching the show like so many other people, but it's in Swedish. As some of you who know me reasonable well already know, when I see her, I always think of American singer Mandy Moore, too, and how much I expected her to have a larger profile in the U.S. doing TV shows and variety things, just like Marie does now in Sweden.
Our Honorary Consul General David E. R. Dangoor is wishing everyone welcome from the stage!… http://t.co/bcUTq0R184
— swedennewyork.com (@swedennewyork) June 21, 2013
http://www.svt.se/nationaldagen/ Above, the promo for today's SVT1 telecast of the National Day celebrations atSkansen in Stockholm, with the royal family in attendance, hosted by Anne Lundberg, starting at 20:00, 2 p.m. Eastern U.S./Canada. It will be telecast around the world via SVT Play at http://www.svtplay.se/video/1272214/6-6-20-00 and via Mobile with the SVT app.
Tonight's musical performances tonight will be by Mando Diao, Malena Ernman & Åsa Jinder, Jump the Gun, Pauline, Edith Backlund and Lina Hedlund.
One of the reasons that Sweden has its national day today is that it's the date of the coronation of the king Gustav Vasa, 1523. — @sweden / Linnea (@sweden) June 6, 2013
Gearing up for Saturday's wedding telecast via SVT Play between Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill. http://www.svtplay.se/video/1253415/prinsessbrollopetthat will be at 3 p.m. Miami time. Can't even imagine how beautiful this breathtakingly beautiful woman will look in her Valentino bridal dress come Saturday.
To almost everyone's amusement or consternation, depending upon your personality, less than four days from her wedding, PrincessMadeleine got stopped by attentive Stockholm Police in central Stockholm for driving a vehicle in the prohibited Bus Lane. (If you didn't know, downtown Stockholm also has a congestion tax.)
Expressen TV YouTube Channel: Prinsessan Madeleine i nya trafiksynder. Körde bil på bussfil i centrala Stockholm. Uploaded June 6, 2013. http://youtu.be/b7d7mAmEUPU She claimed to the police -and a Royal Court spokesman later claimed as well- that she had a special permit that allowed her to do so. http://tv.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/live/article13428.ab Further investigation by the news media determined fairly conclusively that while she had the permit, it specifically allows vehicles to use that restricted lane only in connection with state purposes, i.e. rolling motorcades for visiting heads of state and diplomats to get them from Point A to point B, NOT for running pre-wedding errands. In my opinion, she'd be foolish to continue to press the matter and should simply pay the fine. Last October's much-discussed and imitated engagement/förlovning announcement by Princess Madeleine and Chris O'Neill Förlovning / Engagement from Kungahuset on Vimeo. has now turned into golden opportunities for some, including very successful low-fare airline Norwegian Air and its founder and CEO, Bjørn Kjos, in one of their newest videos As regular readers of this blog know by now, Norwegian begins non-stop flights between Fort Lauderdale and Oslo in late November, and between Fort Lauderdale and Stockholm the first week of December, the latter of which may very well include me on-board that first week, as I was busy checking-out some some possible plans over this past weekend for being there for a while before Christmas.
You can be quite sure that the Miami Herald's online presence and effort won't be one-tenth of this if the Miami Heat win the NBA title in two weeks.
More pithy observations later today on last night's impressive 5-1 win over Switzerland for the World Championship from Globen Arena in Stockholm, the perfect ending, which I listened to via Sveriges Radio. *Sunday's Switzerland-Sweden hockey match for the IIHF/World Championship will be televised tonight -Monday- in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network, DirecTV Channel 220 at 10:30 p.m.
Full of Keys (Anni Bernhard) photographed in Rome, 2012, by Alessandro Leone
Later than I originally planned while I was in Stockholm last month, I'm sharing some new Full of Keys and Anni Bernhardnews today, my first of the new year.
While it's not exactly the first thing I thought I'd be writing about Anni this year while on that long SAS flight home from Stockholm, after over eight days there, it's still well worth you knowing about, especially if you are free this Friday night in Sweden, and most especially if you'll already be in Gotland.
The exact details of the BIG NEWS I have surrounding Anni and her band will have to wait for another day, since I've been sworn to secrecy, but trust me, when it comes out, it will beVERYexciting news for her fans and music-lovers everywhere.
In the meantime, though, until the time is right to spill the beans, I'm happy to tell you that Full Of Keys will be performing Friday night in Visby, Gotland, the hometown of singerAnni'sclever and oh-so creative manager,Andreas Jismark.
The performance will be part of an exclusive visit to Visby for rehearsals for what may/could be an upcoming U.S. tour that... well again, Ican't talk about right now.
FoK will be in Gotland during much of the Spring recording its second album and shooting some videos, so if you happen to be minding your own business one day, and happen to come across a very beautiful brunette somewhere singing with verve and style,please make sure that you look around carefully for any film cameras and lighting technicians BEFORE rushing over to say hello to Anni! :)
Friday is my birthday, but since I can't be there for obvious reasons to enjoy the music, be sure to make enough noise to compensate for my absence.
And don't forget to toast me with a cold Samuel Adams!
Hammersmith Odeon Visby, Adelsgatan 33, Visby, Gotland, Sweden
FullofkeysOFFICIAL YouTube Channel video: Full Of Keys - Snow Glass Apples, the first single from the second album. Written by Anni Bernhard & Robin Hirvonen Palmqvist. Directed by Carlo Roberti. Uploaded October 25, 2012.
.jpg)
+photographed+in+Rome,+2012,+by+Alessandro+Leone.jpg)