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.
Cuban spy story gets more and more interesting: Puerto Rican woman accused by U.S. of spying for Cuba for 17 years, a Princeton and Georgetown Law School grad, remains out of reach of U.S. justice because she lives in Stockholm; Sweden won't extradite her on espionage charges, plus, she's now married to senior Swedish Foreign Ministry official; While Aftonbladet is advancing the story, Miami Herald is still ignoring the story
Many, many hours after this Cuban spy story was first reported and posted on the Washington Post's website Thursday, the Miami Herald has still not picked up this story, even as of 10:30 am Friday.
Surprise!
The Washington Post
Woman indicted in Cuba spy case is in Sweden and out of U.S. reach
By Jim Popkin, Published: April 25, 2013
The Justice Department on Thursday announced the indictment of a former State Department employee for allegedly spying on behalf of Cuba, but it is unable to arrest her because she lives in Sweden, a country that does not extradite citizens accused of espionage.
Marta Rita Velazquez, 55, a graduate of Princeton University and Georgetown University Law School, was indicted nearly a decade ago on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. Velazquez lives in Stockholm and is aware of the charges against her, the Justice Department said. But the extradition treaty between the United States and Sweden does not allow extradition for spying.
While the Miami Herald continues to snooze, Jan Helin'sAftonbladet is all over the story and is constantly advancing it, telling us today, below, that the suspected spy is married to a senior Swedish Foreign Ministry official.
SVT video: Petra Meade: "It's been hard to keep quiet about it."
SVT throws the world a curve in naming comedienne and new mom Petra Mede as its sole host for Eurovison Song Contest Semifinals and Finals in Malmö in early May. And not everyone is happy with the choice, whom even the show's producers call "beloved but controversial"
So, either still feeling the effects of lingering jet-lag from my trip to Stockholm and my return to reality -six hours in the past- or restlessness, I woke-up early this morning, more than early enough to watch something that I've known was coming down the pike for a while. The IT was the press conference carried LIVE on both Aftonbladet and Sveriges Television, SVT, at 5:15 Miami time, to see whom SVT would name as hosts for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest's Semifinals and Finals in Malmö in May, which are expected to be watched by about 100 Million viewers throughout Europe in May.
Plus me and other interested parties around the world, of course...
The first surprise was that there will be only one host, and the second surprise was the identity of the sole host, a name that created a frenzy this morning: Petra Mede.
But it's just the latest serendipitous step for the former ballerina-turned-tour guide-turned-stand up comedian, who is so well-liked by most but not all Swedish TV viewers.
But already, less than two hours after the official announcement's been made, the mainstream Swedish news media is reporting that a not-so-small element is really NOT-so-crazy about her selection, with many penning words on social media much worse than these: "Det här kan inte vara sant." (This can not be true.)
Sverige uppdelat i två läger. Christer Björkmans beskrivning av Petra Mede "älskad men kontroversiell" stämmer in på reaktionerna.
(Sweden is divided into two camps, Christer Björkman's description of Petra Mede "beloved but controversial" applies to the reactions.)
Additionally, as was somewhat predictable, and as would be the case here in the U.S., with the identity now known, the press is now focusing on the story line of how the brains behind the selection were able to keep their months of inquiries secret from THEM. It turns out that the small band of SVT insiders involved in the important selection(s) used code words to keep the news about who was being actively considered -and perhaps more importantly, who wasn't!- from being prematurely disclosed and blowing-up in their face. The name they used for Mede in their various meetings and communications? "Harry Potter."
Aftonbladet video: Christer Björkman - "Vi kallade Petra Mede för Harry Potter" Björkman om hur hemligheten hölls. http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article16142083.ab http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/melodifestivalen/article16140974.ab This selection of host today effectively starts the three-month countdown for the national music contests throughout Europe, some of which have already started in earnest, like in Iceland, where HBB fave Yohanna has already competed. In the case of host Sweden and its selection to Eurovision, via Melodifestivalen, which begins on February 2nd with the First Round in Karlskrona, well, it is exactly as I've described here on the blog many times before, a national obsession. To quote myself from an upcoming blog post here that was written about some news re SVT that I discovered while I was in Stockholm ten days ago:
The whole country watches Melodifestivalen, even people who think it's stupid, and people were talking about it last week to me, despite my only being somewhat famiar with some of the contestants, because the first nationally-televised competition takes place very soon. The Swedish news media positively fixates on the weeks of competition to an extent that would be hard to explain if it wasn't so self-serving, and yet also surprisingly, mean-spirited in many cases, as lots of people have reason to create or pass-along rumors!
C83S87 video: Coldplay LIVE in Stockholm - Intro. Back to the Future, Mylo Xyloto, Hurts Like Heaven, Xylobands [HD] Concert held on and video uploaded on August 30, 2012. http://youtu.be/fAP_wRo27Ao
Last week's Coldplay serendipity with YouTube videos, Sveriges Radio and Coldplay's LIVE concert at Stockholm Stadium just hours before
I was sort of restless last Friday night because I'd been busy all day and spent more time outside than usual most of the day, hot and humid as usual, so when I woke-up early Saturday morning, I couldn't fall back asleep right away. I was literally too tired to fall asleep, and all that earlier Hazelnut coffee at Panera Bread around dinner time didn't help.
I flipped the TV on but seeing nothing interesting on TV that either amused or informed me, and not really wanting to watch ESPN's Sports Center for a third time and know how they'd describe the various highlights before they even said it, I turned the TV back off and walked over to my computer and let my fingers and keyboard do the walking.
In no time at all I was on YouTube looking at what was waiting for me in my inbox, then I minimized that screen for a second and went six hours in the future and began listening to "Godmorgon Stockholm" with Peder Gustafsson on Sveriges Radio,SR. Then I minimized that window, turned up the volume and maximized the YouTube window again to look at what I'd been sent from all parts of the world. What are the odds that within one minute, I'd hear Coldplay's "Clocks" played on SR about 1:13 a.m. here in Miami -7:13 a.m. in Stockholm- just moments after seeing some really great videos of yet another one of their amazing concerts that'd taken place just hours before at the old Olympic Stadium, i.e. Stockholm Stadion, in the Östermalm area ofStockholm? Astronomic! Even more so when you know that I'm not a big Coldplay fan, per se, which is to say that I'm never really EVER thinking of them -that's what makes it super-serendipitous. Among the videos I saw then were these videos at the top and below, all shot so well at the concert by C83S87 athttp://www.youtube.com/user/C83S87/feedand Marcelinho88 athttp://www.youtube.com/user/Marcelinho88/feed Go to their respective YouTube Channels to see more of the concert than what I've posted here!
Here is Sveriges Radio's P3 LIVE coverage of the Coldplay concert and the audio quality is fabulous!
C83S87 video: Coldplay LIVE 2012 in Stockholm - Viva La Vida/Charlie Brown/Paradise [HD]. Uploaded August 30, 2012 http://youtu.be/mj5sg9kUdy0
Marcelinho88 video: Coldplay's Chris Martin taping their segment for the "Stand Up To Cancer" TV program in the U.S. that aired nationally Friday night, performing Paradise LIVE in Stockholm. Uploaded August 30 2012 http://youtu.be/5Sf7KrUAxF4
It's the lead story in the sports section of Aftonbladet http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/landslagsfotboll/damlandslaget/article15345115.ab In perhaps the worst-kept sports secret of 2012, after months -and some even say years!- of deliberate and sometimes desperate efforts by everyone involved in Swedish football from head federation authorities at SvFFto average fans to persuade U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage to return to Sweden to head Sveriges damlandslag i fotboll, she has finally said yes.
The Swedish sports media have been pushing for this personnel move for what seems like forever, and during the recent Olympics in London, where Sundhage guided the U.S. squad to their second Gold Medal in her five years, newspapers, blogs and websites throughout the country were constantly writing and positing on what a positive difference Sundhage could make to what is already an extremely talented Swedish squad. Here is one of the "do everything humanly possible" to get Pia columns I came across over the past few months, with slight variations depending upon who was saying it or writing it: Simon Bank: Gör allt som är mänskligt möjligt för att anställa Pia till EM http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/kronikorer/bank/article15240473.ab
It's an understatement to say that Josefine was desperately missed on the offensive side of the field at the Olympics! Josefine is such a spark plug for the team and has such a sixth sense for the ball that it seems positively uncanny at times. She leverages her body position in relation to the ball about as well as any female player around, and her knack for putting herself in the right position for a steal or to cleanly receive a ricochet pass that leads to a breakaway, well, sometimes it makes her almost seem like a cartoon character that's moving twice as fast as anyone else on the field.
Not that many of you readers out there in the blogosphere or even here in South Florida will get my reference as clearly as I'd like, but in all sorts of ways, when Josefine's on the field, her savvy, mannerisms and moxie greatly remind me of Miami Norland High School'sCindy Clippinger back in the late 1970's, whom I saw play several times in big games. For a whole host of reasons not worth getting into here, besides my having very strong feelings for a certain very talented, lanky and attractive German-speaking goalie named Karen at HML (Hialeah Miami Lakes), who was one of the stars of her team back then when they were winning the Girl's soccer title in the GMAC -the Greater Miami Athletic Conference, the athletic league for Dade County public high schools- I saw quite a lot of Clippinger and never went away unimpressed Though she attended Norland, one of North Miami Beach's arch-rivals in soccer, Boys and Girls, along with North Miami, the two high schools closest to NMB, she was THE best female soccer player in South Florida that I ever saw -by a mile. And I saw a lot of them. (One of my two sisters played at NMB, too, after I left for college at IU.) Cindy Clippinger was just plain fun to watch! And if you like irony, and me comparing a wonderful Swedish player now to a wonderful player from more than thirty years ago, you'll like this -Norland High School's sports nickname was -wait for it -the Vikings!
These screenshot I took of Swedish star striker Josefine Öqvist and Team Swedenon July 6, 2011, came during a game at the Women's World Cup in Germany against the U.S.A., which Sweden won 2-1. http://youtu.be/gCsRos4Zp2A
Last I heard, Josefine says that she WILL be playing again, I just don't know when. I think we should hold off for a few months and see how she feels after New Year's Day, since there's no point in her setting silly and meaningless deadlines just to keep fans happy, since she could well change her mind. The Swedish Women's Under-19 squad won the Euro championship for the first time this year, http://www.uefa.com/womensunder19/season=2012/matches/round=2000218/match=2010243/postmatch/report/index.html#diaz+secures+title+sweden and is loaded with talent that'll seek to make the big move up to the big National Team in the coming months, since as I've stated a few times here on the blog this year already, next July, Sweden will be hosting the 2013 UEFA Womens Euro, and it's sure to be a very well-attended and exciting three weeks of football. Sweden will be host the 2013 UEFA Womens Euro from July 10-28th, with the title match in Solna, just north of Stockholm.http://fogis.se/damem2013/ http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/index.html Here's a short video about the team, the town and the supporters who Josefine plays for, Tyresö FF.
Tyreso TV video: Tyresö FF mer än bara fotboll! (More than just football!!!) Uploaded Feb. 10, 2011. http://youtu.be/4CpJGnX_-bA Tomorrow, Sunday, second-place Tyresö FF plays at home against league-leading Linköping FC for the lead of the 12-team Damallsvenskan, the highest league of Women's football in Sweden, a league that Sundhage was the leading scorer in during the mid-1980's.
FIFA TV video: Sundhage: 'The moment of my football life'. Uploaded August 13, 2012. http://youtu.be/v4ZmpM2Fu8o-----
Los Angeles Times Pia Sundhage steps down as U.S. women's soccer coach By Kevin Baxter September 1, 2012, 11:15 a.m.
Three weeks after guiding the U.S. women's soccer team to an Olympic title, Pia Sundhage is stepping down as coach to return to her native Sweden.
"It was an honor to be able to coach these players for five years and I learned a tremendous amount from all of them," Sundhage said in a statement released by U.S. Soccer on Saturday.
Sweden's Women football team, third at last year's World Cup, faces South Africa today in Coventry minus dependable #14, Josefine Öqvist,whose 29th birthday was Monday.
Öqvist will be rooting for her teammates while watching the match on TV back in Sweden with her boyfriend, hockey player Stefan Lassen, and her two-week old daughter, Stella. Josefine is a delight to watch in a game because she's such a spark plug for the team and has such a sixth sense for the ball that seems positively uncanny at times. Her knack for putting herself in the right position for a steal or to get a ricochet pass that leads to a breakaway, well, sometimes makes her almost like a cartoon character that's moving twice as fast as anyone else.
Team GB's Women's team hosts New Zealand in the opening match at 10:30 a.m. on MSNBC.
So you're asking yourself, what moxie-filled daughter of Vasa should we root for if Josefine is finito?
Until three weeks ago I would've said Long Island-born, Swedish-raised hurdler Susanna Kallur, aka Sanna, who has had her share of high highs, a world record, and many lows because of injuries, but who was very focused this year to let her enormous talent be seen by the whole world -again.
That is, until she announced at the end of June that she wouldn't be able to compete in the OS because of yet another injury.
Before...
SVT video: Sanna Kallur, "I love to train" Sanna in Chula Vista, California back in May of this year, when things were looking much brighter.
Click the TV in the far right box to go to full screen.
After...
SVT video: Kallur: Blir inget OS. I'll miss Olympic Games. June 29, 2012.
Above, the Finnish first-class stamp that came out in March that features the official mascot of the Championship, HockeyBird. If you didn't already know, Angry Birds was created in Finland by Rovio Mobile.
Well, my pre-tourney prediction was half-right: Sweden disappoints, but Slovakia will face Russia in IIHF World Championship Gold Medal Final in Stockholm on Sunday; delayed telecast in U.S. at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBCCS, DirecTV Channel 603
Russia routed co-host Finland 6-2 in Helsinki in the first semifinal game. Finland defeated the USA in the Quarterfinals, while Slovakia defeated Canada in the Quarterfinals on Thursday.
Depending upon where you live around the world, you might be able to watch the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal matches today online at: http://www.youtube.com/icehockey
However, the U.S. is NOT one of those countries, as even the IIHF highlight videos on their YouTube Channel are off-limits if you live in the U.S., which is why I used the Aftonbladet video at the top. That's real marketing genius at work!!!
The IIHF tourney has been the source of lots of serious -and some would say unrelenting- media criticism in Sweden over the smaller-than-expected crowds that have shown up for some games in what is a world championship tourney, after all. More fans actually attended some of the Elitserien games this year than attended the tourney.
But whether you think it's the length of the tourney, over two weeks, or the high ticket prices, or both, there seems to be a lot of positing of the old chicken and egg conundrum.
Is turnout low because the ticket prices are thought by many to be higher than they should be, leading to a situation where the visiting fans who are able to get away from home for the tourney in Finland and Sweden are being overly judicious in what games they go to besides their own country's, and thus, spending the money at bars, night clubs and restaurants instead?
Is the tourney getting smaller crowds because the Stanley Cup playoffs are still being played in North America and many of the best players of those teams would be playing in the tourney if the NHL had reconfigured the schedule, so why see less-than-the best? Or, is it the tourney getting lower-than-expected crowds because Swedish and Finnish fans the organizers thought would be attending just aren't really too interested in going to games where neither team is playing -at those prices?
-------
My pre-tourney prediction of Sweden vs, Slovakia came in my April 26, 2012 post titled, Instant Classic video! Romania's National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose after tough loss to Poland; IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden starts next week, http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/instant-classic-video-romanias-national.html which featured this amazing video that everyone who sees it just loves because it's so honest! Warning -lots of expletives are flying in this video!
Romania National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose with tough love after tough loss to Poland; Tränarens utbrott efter storförlusten Polen - Rumänien. This was following a Group B qualifying game at Krynica, Poland. April 2012. http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/sport/ishockey/article14728686.ab
Here's the English language version of the official information webpage, which also has one in Swedish and Finnish: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden
Warning -lots of expletives are flying in this video!
But it is still destined to become a CLASSIC!
Romania National Ice Hockey Team manager lets loose with tough love after tough loss to Poland; Tränarens utbrott efter storförlusten Polen - Rumänien. This was following a Group B qualifying game at Krynica, Poland. April 2012.
I first saw this video on Wednesday on the video page of Aftonbladet, Sweden's most-read newspaper, and I played it five more times in quick succession... for obvious reasons.
The IIHF World Championship, a 16-team tourney, will be played in Stockholm and Helsinki starting next Thursday May the 4th thru the 20th, with the final in Stockholm at Ericsson Globe a.k.a. Globen.
With the Stanley Cup playoffs continuing and talented teams like the defending champion Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, some very talented foreign players, and Swedish players in particular, will now be available to play in the tourney from the very beginning. For the Swedes on those teams, the prospect of returning to play for the Swedish National Team, Tre Kronor, and playing at home, and for for the title at home is very appealing.
My early title game prediction is Sweden vs. Slovakia. But so very much has changed in the past year for both of these elite teams, something they could have never imagined.
8brano7 video: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden. February 14, 2012.
Here's the very well-produced unofficial Slovakian video about the Ice hockey Championship, though obviously it helps if you know who the players are, and some of the dazzling plays are beyond description. It also includes a very touching tribute to former Slovak captain Pavol Demitra, who perished in the September 7th Russian airline crash into the Volga River that claimed the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslav KHL team, including Tre Kronor star goalie Stefan Liv. http://youtu.be/lSsY2P5tFZI
SVT video: Minnesstund för Liv i Jönköping.
Thousands flock to Jönköping to say their final farewell to their friend, teammate, neighbor, favorite son and hero, Stefan Liv.
Publicerad 10 september 2011 - 14:00; Uppdaterad 11 september 2011 - 10:08
Above, the Finnish first-class stamp that came out last month that features the official mascot of the Championship, HockeyBird. If you didn't already know, Angry Birds was created in Finland by Rovio Mobile.
Here's the English language version of the official information webpage, which also has one in Swedish and Finnish: IIHF World Championship 2012 Finland/Sweden
Beautiful, just like the original! Greta Garbo will be featured on the new Swedish 100 Kronor note, with Ingmar Bergman on the 200 SEK note, all designed by Göran Österlund, starting in 2015
Many years ago, when I was still living in the Washington, D.C. area, and despite a busy schedule, usually managing to see a foreign film a week, one night while leaving the theatre, completely out-of-the-blue, I came to the sudden realization that unless Uma Thurman or Cate Blanchett agreed to portray her in a well-written biopic, there was almost no chance we were ever going to see a top-tier actress play Garbo in a believable way.
Queen Christina trailer (1933): The One and Only Garbo! I think I've probably seen Queen Christina about a dozen times over the past 30 years.
There's already a story and photo gallery of the five banknotes designed by Göran Österlund up on the online version of Aftonbladet, Sweden's most-read daily newspaper, which I read everyday online.
The five notes will likely be introduced in 2015, once the security features are added
Ingmar Bergman is on the new 200 Kronor note, replacing Selma Lagerlöf, who was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Designed by Göran Österlund
Former U.N. Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld is to be on the 1000 SEK note.
I first read Hammarskjöld's book of poetry, Markings, when I was at JFK Junior High in North Miami Beach in the mid-70's and it just totally amazed me. I checked that book out of the NMB public library and continuously renewed it for about 4-6 months after it was placed back on the shelves.
"All of the entries in the design competition will also be presented at the Royal Coin Cabinet/Sweden's Museum of Economy from May 4th...".
Sveriges Riksbank video: Sveriges nya sedlar presenteras.
Press conference in Stockholm unveiling the five new Swedish banknotes in a series that are slated to hit the street in 2015, celebrating Swedish cultural icons and provinces. April 24, 2012. http://youtu.be/0CCtjMf1ESI
