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
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
Our 'Full of Keys' drought is finally over! Full of Keys -a.k.a. the amazing Anni Bernhard- will be playing a showcase in New York City at Cake Shop on June 10th as part of the 2013 New Music Seminar/New York Music Festival. Her new album was recorded recently in Gotland, will be mastered in NYC, aiming for a September release -with lots of very big and exciting plans coming soon! @FullOfKeys, @andreasjismark, #AnniBernhard, #MatsJönsson, #NMS2013, #NYMF, #CakeShop, #GrazingGrounds
Almost five months after I finally met dynamic and super-talented Swedish singer Anni Bernhard of Full of Keys in-person for the first time, in Stockholm, over lunch with her and her savvy and personable manager, Andreas Jismark, and band member and DJ extraordinaire Mats Jönsson, today I'm finally able to share with you all some very positive news that I'd promised to keep a tight lid on until the time was finally right. Well, today's that fateful day! And what good news it is for those of us who've really become quite taken over the last few years with Anni's self-evident talent and engaging personality. Anni and her talented and diligent team have some very exciting news that I'm happy to finally be able to share with you after a couple of hints in some of my blog posts the past five months. Thank goodness, too, because the news is so positive, I don't know how much longer I was going to be able to keep it quiet -and off the blog. Separately and collectively,Anni, Andreas and Mats have all been very busy juggling several balls in the air the past few months, and as the weeks on the calendar flew by and the snow on the ground in Stockholm finally started melting away for good, one key date loomed on the horizon with exclamation points. For Team Anni, that was the important week in mid-April to be spent brainstorming, jamming and laying down some tracks at Sandkvie Studioin Visby, Gotland of Anni'sunique brand of thoughtful and clever music and lyrics, with that voice I so love. But then when you're dealing with such talented, conscientious and professional people, all of whom have very high standards and expectations for themselves, and what they expect to bring with them into the recording studio, it's not-so-surprising that the demands on them grew as the week in April approached. But the singular and collective pressures only made them more determined to produce something great in the form of the second Full of Keys album, to be called The Grazing Grounds. I'm happy to tell you that everything went great while doing the initial recording in Gotland, as well as some more recent mixing. As recent as 8:25 a.m. Thursday! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151453461854716&set=vb.119691554772511&type=2&theater They all seem pleased indeed that everything had been so very productive and satisfying. But that's what you get when talented people prepare as diligently as they have been preparing for months for this album and new opportunity to reach new fans. I'm also pleased to say that despite the increased workload of the past few weeks, Anni has been very diligent about ramping-up her public profile Social Media-wise on Facebook,TwitterandInstagram, as well as the recently updated Full of Keysblog, where Anni has been writing more frequently than in the past, with lots of clever and amusing updates that were no doubt a byproduct of all the positive energy they had in Visby and then later in Stockholm while trying to create the best possible sound. Lots of irony! Me being me, I wish she'd write even more, but then she's working on a record album, not a blog post, so... Here's one tweet of Anni's in particular that I wanted to draw your attention to for reasons that should be obvious:
Notice anything familiar in this photo she tweeted that day, which also appeared on her blog? Specifically, the ball cap on Anni's head? You are correct, dear reader! It's one of the teal-colored Miami Dolphins caps I brought along with me to Sweden specifically to keep snow and sunshine off that friendly and expressive face of hers. (It's one of the goodies in that bag she's carrying in the photo up at the top.)
Pictured above, left-to-right, are Anni Bernhard (Full of Keys), sound engineer and co-producerLinus Larsson and Mats Jönsson, April 12, 2013, Sandvie Studios, Visby, Gotland.
For comparison's sake for those of you not in North America and who have no idea of what that cap really looks like, since the photo above is Black & White, here's what my identical Miami Dolphins cap looks like, which I always wore during the day while walking thru Stockholm for nine days, taking pictures with my cameras and mental images with my head.
And sometimes wear at Panera Bread here in Hallandale Beach, Florida, about 4975 miles away, as in this April 30th shot. As you can see by the photos below that I snapped right before and after the three of them swung by and met me in front of the wonderful 4Trappor B&B I stayed at the first five days of my January trip, 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. As I've mentioned previously, this B&B is the top-rated one in Stockholm byTrip Advisor -and for very good reason!
The other BIG NEWS that I'm happy to share with you today is that Anni will be in New York a week from tomorrow, June 10th, performing a set from her Grazing Grounds album at Cake Shop, as part of the 2013 New Music Seminar, which is part of this year's New York Music Festival Mats will also be on hand in New York to add his unique talents to the mix and make sure that Anni's set is a real success in front of lots of music professionals who will be in attendance. (Mats and Anni actually performed a set in Stockholm my first night there back in January, but I was so jet-lagged and exhausted after getting little sleep over the two previous days, that I was in no position to be somewhere dark where alcohol was being served.) Yes, those of you who live in the Tri-State area and environs who want to hear some really great music will finally get a chance to see Anni in-person and see what all the fuss is about for yourselves. The opportunity you've needed to listen and become true believers! Anni will be performing next Tuesday at 11 p.m. on what is officially being the Sweden Showcase. More information about that night at Cake Shop and the other artists performing that night is at http://newmusicseminar.com/nms-musichelp-to-feature-emerging-swedish-acts-at-2013-new-york-music-festivals-sweden-showcase/ and here,http://cake-shop.com/ View Larger Map At some point while Anni is in New York, the album will be mastered over at Sterling Soundand she will also try to get some new publicity photos shot as well. With her imagination, that could really prove to be quite interesting, because Anni definitely has a knack for the visually-arresting image. Once those photos have been done, you can count on my posting them here ASAP. So, right about now, a light should be popping into the head of someone at the NY Times Culture Desk and The Village Voice and Rolling Stone as they ponder further investigation of the fact that Sweden -yes, Sweden, a nation of under 10 million people, smaller than Florida- is the world's third-largest exporter of music, after the U.S. and Great Britain. How better to illustrate this music industry phenomena to music lovers and readers than by actually seeing some very talented visiting artists from Sweden LIVE and in-the-flesh?
8:50 p.m. Postscript: I was so tired this morning when I was doing my final edit of this post that I somehow neglected to mention this important fact, since it's one of the "keys" to understanding why so many people are working so hard to give this very talented and creative singer the opportunities she needs.
Being a very empathetic person, it's something that I picked-up on from the first moment I met her and continued once we were inside the restaurant and kept talking.
She's very, very likable and charming.
In a truly genuine and unaffected way.
It's my experience that people either are or they aren't -she definitely is.
Just saying...
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.
My last blog post on Anni, the one that was sort of cryptic by choice and designed so I wouldn't talk about some news I still can't reveal quite yet, was on February 13, 2013, and was titled Music Alert for Friday February 15th: In Visby, Gotland, check out Full of Keys (Anni Bernhard) at the Hammersmith Odeon Visby at 8 p.m.; @FullOfKeys, #sweden http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/music-alert-for-friday-february-15th-in.htmland featured her first single from the new album called Snow Glass Apples
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.
Here's a mix of some videos of Anni's songs from the first Full of Keys album, Traces of a Human, all of which appeared on the blog in my first blog post on Anni from February 4, 2012, titled, Prepare to meet an amazing musical talent: Anni Bernhard is 'Full Of Keys'; TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Desolate; Suicide Bridge; Suicide Bridge at Stenkullen LIVE
This was the captivating video which first brought Anni Bernhard to my attention:
Full of Keys official video: Full Of Keys - Desolate/Suicide Bridge (Official Video), August 31, 2011. http://youtu.be/_1_JNypjsTg
Her debut single:
Full of Keys official video: Full Of Keys - All The Roses (Official Video) April 25, 2011. http://youtu.be/N61plpOjmi4
TV4's Nyhetsmorgon -Full of Keys med låten "Suicide Bridge" - Aired January 11, 2012. http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=full_of_keys_med_laten_desolate&videoid=2136171&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se Back in January I told Anni that in my opinion, this video below that was filmed at a hotel in Stenkullen in Västra Götaland had some of the very best elements of all of her many videos, in part because so much of her personality came out in the non-singing parts, the V.O., and she was quite surprised, pleasantly so, at how much detail I still remembered about it almost a year later. I even mentioned to her that while watching it, I could also visualize what she was doing at the same point in time of the song in the official video she shot for Suicide Bridge.
Full of Keys official video: Suicide Bridge (LIVE at Stenkullen, acoustic) February 3, 2012. http://youtu.be/9Z-dwOyAf9g
Miriam Bryant YouTube Channel video: Miriam Bryant - Push Play (Official). Uploaded April 8, 2013. http://youtu.be/h6GgeK3irUs Push, play, stop, rewind, you drown your heroes in red wine...
The person featured in Miriam's video is Swedish actor Krister Henriksson, who has portrayed police detective "Kurt Wallander" in Swedish TV films based on Henning Mankell's novels for many, many years. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article16524261.ab
His latest one came out in January and is called "Den orolige mannen" (The anxious man). Yes, there's always something nefarious going on in Ystad! http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Southern-Sweden/Wallanders-Ystad/ Here's Miriam's amazing first single from last year...so catchy!
Miriam's Unplugged version of this song is at: http://youtu.be/elj3JZLWMC4 You'll definitely want to check that out because it's in Black & White, just like the keys of a piano, which is the initial establishing shot of the vid and quite clever. Miriam, who's from Göthenberg, had a gig on Friday in Tranås at Babar, as did another young singing dynamo from Gävle whom I've been keeping close tabs on by the name of Cecilia Nilsson or See See -a.k.a. Cissi Nilsson- pictured below, whom I'll be writing about in more detail soon. So much sheer musical talent in Sweden, it's hard to believe sometimes!
If you're reading this in Sweden, you should be able to purchase a physical copy of the CD at most Åhléns Dept. Stores. If you're in Stockholm, I'd first try the one in Södermalm at Ringvägen 100, below, on the corner of Götgatan, on the south side of the street and across the street from the Skanstull T-Bana. It's on the first floor on the southeast side, past their large cosmetics area.
That's where I bought my Jill Johnson "A Woman can Chage her Mind" CD in January. ;)
Above, looking southwest on an overcast Saturday afternoon -temps about 20° F- towards the Åhléns Dept. Store in Södermalm, with the Hemköp grocery store in its basement that I frequented at the beginning of my trip to Stockholm. Though you can't tell it from this photo, this is the southern end of the always-bustling Götgatan commercial center that's the spine of Södermalm -and the bottom part of U-shaped Ringvägen that largely connects almost everything in Södermalm.
It's one of my favorite parts of Stockholm, in large part because it's the perfect combination of intelligent mixed-use zoning in action, with interesting commercial/retail use below or next to residential. It's a real living place with a beating heartbeat and sense of place, and you feel that spirit when you walk around, too. I know that I did.
CBS News YouTube Chanel video: CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent Erin Moriarty travels to Stockholm, Sweden to discover the story and the truth behind the success of the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, whose Millennium crime fiction trilogy has swept the world of book publishing: Stieg Larsson: Behind "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Uploaded October 10, 2010. http://youtu.be/X-WJ6BlLw2s
Here are my three handy study tools to help me make more sense of things in Sverige in a few weeks when I'm doing my thing in Södermalm and Norrmalm.
Essentials of Swedish Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of Swedish By Ake Viberg, Kerstin Ballardini and Sune Stjarnlof http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0844285390/ Because it never hurts to go over some things... 201 Swedish Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses (201 Verbs Series) By Richard P. Auletta http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812005287 Because there's always those verb tenses that seem slightly different than the way you remember them, and because I hate to make mistakes...
Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition (2011) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JTLTI4/ A four-DCD collection that includes the three original Swedish language films from Stieg Larsson'sMillennium Trilogy,starring Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist, plus a bonus CD.
Trailer: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009); original title in Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor
Trailer: The Girl Who Played with Fire (September 2009); original title in Swedish: Flickan som lekte med elden
The much-scarier teaser
Trailer: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2010); original title in Swedish: Luftslottet som sprängdes I saw the original Swedish films but wanted to review them again before my trip so that: a.) it would be fresh in my head once again once I get there, and, b.) so that I could take some notes on certain places where action takes place in and around Södermalm, since I'll be staying there for half of my trip. http://youtu.be/mJzQ_0XHJ58 The Millennium Tour http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Stockholm/Culture-in-Stockholm/The-Millennium-Tour/ Bellmansgatan 1, Södermalm, the fictional home of crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist. View Larger Map Photos of the free Millennium tour in Stockholm at: http://www.losapos.com/millennium%20locations%20in%20stockholm Of the various versions of the trilogy collection you could buy, I wanted to get the one that was in Swedish and that included lots of the footage that was cut from the original shorter theatrical release, so nearly every one of the three is three hours in length. It does come with English subtitles, of course, since I'm not fluent in Swedish, just know what I know -and it even has an English dub track I won't use- but not one that's all dubbed, since that isn't what I saw the first time. That's one of the other things that Sweden has in common with the U.S. -real hardcore film fans prefer their films in the original language, with subtitles, NOT dubbed, as is so common in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. On top of all the dozens of other things i will be doing during my stay there, I'll avail myself of some opportunities to check out other aspects of Swedish film culture and history while there. After all, as I mentioned here in my blog post of April 25, 2012, titled, 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 http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/beautiful-just-like-original-greta.html Sweden doesn't just talk the talk, they actually put their larger-than-life film personalities on their currency, in the case of the two giants below, starting in 2015.
Designed by Göran Österlund 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 theater, 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.
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