"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

Euronews YouTube Channel video: Euronews reporter Valerie Zabriskie speaks with lucky Abba fan club members selected to get a sneak preview of the new museum in Stockholm. Uploaded May 5, 2013. http://youtu.be/xbDW3FdtEgM

"A" is for Awesome and ABBA and the new ABBA Museum in Stockholm, which officially opens today at 1600 Stockholm time/10 a.m. Eastern U.S. 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

I could mention who some of these VIPs are and why they're important and why they're there,

but that's not worth spending the time it would take today to do that, and besides, TMI as I'm sometimes reminded by friends here in Hallandale Beach and elsewhere around the globe.

Plus, I've had a very clear idea of how this particular blog post would look ever since I was there in January, so trying to explain to you all who Carola or Sarah Dawn Finer are and why they are in the video below iis, well, just a losing proposition today.

Aftonbladet TV video: Här invigs ABBA-museet -Jonas Bilberg levererade livebilder från galaöppningen. 
May 6, 2013. http://tv.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article11311.ab

Aftonbladet TV video: Här inviger kändiseliten ABBA-museet  
7 maj 2013 00:12
http://tv.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article11311.ab

It's enough to know that it's logical that they were there.
Just go with it.

BBC-TV video

Abba museum in Stockholm celebrates Swedish pop group

7 May 2013 Last updated at 04:22 ET 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22431181

BBC-TV video

As the Abba museum prepares to open its doors in Stockholm, the BBC's Russell Trott takes a look inside.

6 May 2013 Last updated at 21:54 ET

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22429172

Aftonbladet TV: Nu öppnar ABBA-museet, Björn Ulvaeus: - "Kan visa det för barnbarnen med stolthet" 6 maj 2013 15:31
http://tv.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musik/article11284.ab



SVT video: TV Abba-museet öppnades
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/article1203720.svt


NTDTV -ABBA Museum in Stockholm

Tickets for the much-discussed and anticipated museum that's full of innovative technology run about 195 SEK/ just under $30 U.S. for adults, and 50 SEK/$7.63 for children up to age 8, at today's current ratio of about 6.52 Krona to the dollar, more or less.

But fair warning, the museum in the beautiful Djurgården section of Stockholm WON'T take bills or coins, only electronic payments, because as the museum puts it loftily, "Vi har en dröm om ett kontantfritt samhälle, därför går det inte handla med mynt eller sedlar hos oss."
("We have a vision of a cashless society, therefore we don’t handle coins and bills." )

Yes, sorta like in the future as seen in Star Trek, but not quite, since there's a 5% discount with MasterCard.

Björn's explanation on why abba-museet doesn't take bills and coins, largely to prevent crime, has a great introduction that only a real genius like him could get away with saying in his Big Picture way

There was a time when bills and coins served their purpose. They replaced cumbersome barter and made trade between people and nations possible. But do they still serve this purpose? Do we really need cash? Or is it a fixed idea like with Scrooge McDuck? Have we lost the ability to see that coins and bills are mere symbols and that those symbols easily could be exchanged for others? Cards and smartphones today and who knows what in the future.

Read the rest of Björn's comments at http://www.abbathemuseum.com/cashless

Combining innovation, ideals, crime-fighting and Scrooge McDuck! 

Brilliant!!!

Dags för ABBA The Museum 
by Lars Epstein 
15:14, May 6, 2013
http://www.dn.se/blogg/epstein/2013/05/06/dags-for-abba-the-museum/

According to Lars Epstein's post yesterday, above, at his Stockholm-centric Epstein's STHLM blog at Dagens Nyheter, the museum is expecting about 217,000 visitors a year.

Yes, holograms...


ABBA Museum website:

In Swedish: http://www.abbathemuseum.com/

In English: http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en/

Here's the website of the ABBA Museum exhibit at Stockholm Arlanda Airport that I saw back in mid-January when I arrived for my nine-day trip in Stockholm, where I snapped some photos while waiting around for my luggage at the arrival carousel at Terminal 5, which was festooned with photos of... who else?
http://www.swedavia.se/arlanda/om-stockholm-arlanda-airport/om-flygplatsen/official-airport-of-abba-the-museum/

All original photos on this page by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved. Right-click photos to enlarge them.

For someone like me who has been a huge ABBA fan for more than two-thirds of my life, the  biggest ABBA fan that most people I've known have ever met, as small as this exhibit at the airport was, in looking at it and reflecting back on everything, it was hard to get over the fact that for so long, like millions of other fans, we fervently hoped that there'd be a museum some day that would be shaped along the lines of,,, well, just what they seem to have actually done: music plus heart -musik plus hjärta.

Like those other fans of the band, over the past 20 years I've given up counting how many interviews I'd seen with the band members, especially Benny and Bjorn, discussing the idea
of it, but quite naturally, being somewhat unsure of how to answer such a question without seeming pretentious.
But it IS a weird question, isn't it, when you really think about it?
Should there be a museum that people pay to get into that's all about you and three other people you've known for most of your life?
How do you answer that?

TheSpringOf74 YouTube Channel video: ABBA - Dancing Queen - LIVE at the Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm, June 18, 1976, at the gala tribute to Sweden's King Carl XV1 Gustaf and future wife and Queen, Silvia Sommerlath, the night before their wedding. If I remember my ABBA history correctly, this was the first time the song had ever been performed in public in Sweden. http://youtu.be/33Yj5pbsXAs

Above, in my humble opinion, the single best version of this iconic song ever recorded on film.

Here are those January 10, 2013 photos I snapped at Arlanda before and after grabbing my luggage:
 

All original photos on this page by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Here's how they appear on the airport's official exhibit web page:
http://www.swedavia.se/arlanda/om-stockholm-arlanda-airport/om-flygplatsen/official-airport-of-abba-the-museum/

You can see more photos of this exhibit by going to Google Images using these words as your search terms: "Terminal 5, Arlanda, ABBA"

Here's the link to the ABBA Museum-related news videos that have run on TV4, most recent first, obviously, in Swedish, but many with lots of great video of the musem: http://www.tv4play.se/s%C3%B6k?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Abba

Obviously, there's a lot to see and watch!

Eurovision 2013 news: 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"; #euro2013, #eurovision2013, #sweden

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. 

It's clearly a real coup for anyone to host such a big-time show with so much attention and pressure coming your way, much less for Mede to host solo, since while the veteran Tv presenter and comedienne, who hosted Melodifestivalen in 2009, is well-liked, it's not a slight against her just to recognize that her name was NOT on the tip of anyone's tongue, given that she just had a baby five weeks ago.
http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/eurovision/programledaren-klar-sa-vill-petra-mede-leda-eurovision-song-contest
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/malmo-2013

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. 

Info about Petra in English:

http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/this-is-petra-mede

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.)

http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/petra-mede-delar-upp-sverige-i-tva-lager

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!  

 It's on, baby!

---------

http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/live-se-eurovisions-programledare-avslojas

http://www.svt.se/melodifestivalen/

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

SVT video: Estelle åker pulka. Följ med kronprinsessan Victoria och prins Daniel när prinsessan Estelle för första gången åker pulka i Hagaparken. 

Princess Estelle gets the royal treatment and gets taken out for her first bout of sledding in the Winter Wonderland that is Stockholm's Haga Park, pulled by her parents, Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria. Originally aired December 28, 2012. http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/933253/estelle-aker-pulka

The video above is an excerpt from SVT's annual review program below -here's the promo-

of the past year's activities of the Swedish royal court. 
You can see the entire 58-minute TV program -in Swedish- here:
http://www.svt.se/aret-med-kungafamiljen/se-program/

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

Hammarbybacken. Stockholm.December 2012 from AnitaN on Vimeo.

AnitaN's Vimeo video: Hammarbybacken. Stockholm. December 2012

http://vimeo.com/56294641

Originally, when I thought I was going to be in Stockholm right before Christmas, I was going to be staying at the Park Inn Stockholm Hammarby Sjöstad, 

http://www.parkinn.com/hotel-stockholmhammarby

a a nice two-year old Radisson property that's not-too-far from the slope seen in the video in nearby Hammarby: 

http://www.skistar.com/en/Our-Destinations/Hammarbybacken/

http://www.skistar.com/sv/hammarbybacken/

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.

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.

Romme27Dec2012 from Peter Törnestam on Vimeo.

Peter Törnestam Vimeo video: Romme27Dec2012 - Having fun at the Romme Alpin ski resort, which specializes in day trips from Stockholm. http://vimeo.com/56618632



RetardedVideos2013 YouTube Channel video: Crazy snowmobile ride in Stockholm (SWEDEN). Uploaded on December 6, 2012. http://youtu.be/j7sCpSFRKww




StockholmUniversity YouTube Channel Video: Two of the minds behind Skype, Spotify and Wrapp visit Stockholm University. "Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype and current CEO and Founding Partner of international venture capital firm Atomico, together with Andreas Ehn, former CTO of Spotify and now co-founder of Wrapp, spoke at Stockholm University on February 15, 2012." Uploaded February 23, 2012. http://youtu.be/8R_E4GYfZK4


Related article is at
TheLocal.se
Skype founder: 'cold winters' key to Swedish tech success
Oliver Gee
Published: 16 Feb 12 17:26 CET
http://www.thelocal.se/39150/20120216#.UOsNR-TAeSo

WIRED (U.K. version)
Europe's hottest startup capitals: Stockholm
By Tom Cheshire
15 August 2011
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/09/european-startups/stockholm

I'll try my best to post here just about everyday and may even be able to post some YouTube videos, but because I'm going to be so busy on the trip, though, I decided to forego the whole Twitter thing until after I've returned, even though it would make it easier and quicker for you to see some of the photos I've snapped.
After all, I have to retain some mystery about the trip -and have time to edit and burnish things so they look just right.

-----
http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Local-pages/USA/Newsletter-2012/December/

http://www.visithaga.se/en

http://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalpalaces/hagapark.4.396160511584257f218000120.html

Family photo at the park:http://princesseslives.blogspot.com/2012/12/winter-greetings-from-haga-park.html

Princess Estelle Christmas photos on Royal Court's website:

http://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/latestnews/news/christmasgreetingsfromhagapalace.5.292a62ce13848168ac542f4.html 

Taylor Swift, charming and radiant, wows SVT's "Skavlan Show," sings "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"; also appearing is "Downton Abbey's" Elizabeth McGovern, who also sings on the show; @taylorswift13, @DowntonAbbey

uris1 video: Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (SVT's Skavlan, Taped 2012-11-08, aired 2012-11-09). http://youtu.be/0BfqvpdFpCQ

Another guest on the very popular Skavlan show, which is usually taped in Stockholm on Thursday afternoon for airing in Sweden and Norway on Friday nights, but here was done in London, is actress Elizabeth McGovern who of course plays Lady Cora on blog fave Downton Abbey, and whose segment starts at 31:49. 

In it, McGovern, a member of a band called Sadie and The Hotheads, sings LA Days  http://www.svtplay.se/klipp/573109/elizabeth-mcgovern-la-days

Lady Cora rocks! Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern on her REAL passion – gigging in pubs with her barnstorming band 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2155918/Downton-Abbeys-Elizabeth-McGovern-REAL-passion--gigging-pubs-barnstorming-band.html

McGovern's segment segues into Taylor's at 44:39, which begins with an interesting chat about her life and her own creative process for songwriting and how she uses songs as a way of making sense of the world, with the singing starting after her goodbyes at 54:30.

You can watch the entire show or go to the particular segment via the show's SVT Play website for 43 more days as of today, Saturday.
Be sure you click Program 10 at http://www.svtplay.se/skavlan 

For best viewing, as always, click the opposing arrows in the bottom right corner of the video box for Fullskärm, i.e full-screen. 

My three previous posts on Taylor Swift were

a.) November 25, 2011,  Taylor Swift shows why she's so beloved by her fans in profile/interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl; Amazing times ten!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/taylor-swift-shows-why-shes-so-beloved.html

To quote myself, in my concluding pargraph:

FYI: As of five minutes ago, Taylor had 9,399,700 Twitter "Followers." According to the CIA World Factbook, their summer 2011 estimate for the population of Sweden was 9,088,728. So, put another way, imagine the entire population of Sweden, plus, the cities of Denver and St. Louis. THAT is how many people FOLLOW Taylor Swift's tweets. Now that is some perspective you can wrap your arms around!

b.) August 3, 2011, Country music sweetheart Taylor Swift rocked Washington, DC Tuesday, as the Wash. Post runs out of adjectives to describe the well-grounded superstar
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/country-music-sweetheart-taylor-swift.html

I wrote then: 

Years from now, Taylor's fans will still remember that concert in Washington like it just happened: the sounds, the scene, who they were with, what they wore... and they'll remember the lyrics to the songs as if there was never a time in their life that they didn't know them by heart. That's Taylor's genius.

c.) October 12, 2010, Taylor Swift's impression of "Minnesota Soccer Mom" on BBC 1's Switch with Annie and Nick; Dateline: On Tour With Taylor Swift; @taylorswift13
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/taylor-swifts-impression-of-minnesota.html


Uris1's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/uris1

Fredrik Skavlan Talk Show homepage: http://skavlan.com/

All thing Taylor Swift in Sweden? At TSS: http://taylorswiftsweden.se/

http://www.youtube.com/user/TaylorSwiftVEVO

Awesome news! Yohanna to tour soon featuring Eva Cassidy-inspired songs :) - Sings "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen" and charms crowd in-between raindrops; Jóhanna Guðrún, @yohannamusic

Yohanna - "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen", Halden, Norway, July 18, 2012. http://youtu.be/D3w8cG93zyU
One of our favorites, the talented Icelandic beauty charms 'em in-between raindrops!

Awesome news! Yohanna to tour soon featuring Eva Cassidy-inspired songs :) - Sings "Is It True" and "Fields of Gold" on NRK2's "Allsang på grensen" and charms crowd in-between raindrops; Jóhanna Guðrún, @yohannamusic

The exciting news about Yohanna doing a tour that features songs that were staples of the late  Eva Cassidy, is absolutely fabulous news for both music lovers and longtime Yohanna supporters like me, as is the fact that Eva's brother, Dan Cassidy, will be part of the band, as he is here on violin.


If I play my cards right, I might even see her perform in person in a few weeks. 
If so, I guarantee you will see some amazing video and photos here on the blog! And on my YouTube Channel.


@yohannamusic  http://twitter.com/yohannamusic
http://www.facebook.com/yohannamusic



wroenn video: ABC News Nightline's Dave Marash's famous profile of singer Eva Cassidy. http://youtu.be/bXU219b3Zdw


This segment originally aired on May 25, 2001, while I was still living in the Washington area. 
I can still remember the night I videotaped it while sitting in the living room of the townhouse I lived in, with stories still floating in my head about her amazing performances from friends of mine who'd been smart enough to see her in person at various places around the Beltway.
By the time it ended, I was not only blown away by how well it was produced and came together, easily one of the best things to ever appear on Nightline, but even more profoundly regretful and sad that I'd never made the time I should have to see this amazing talent for myself. 
I certainly had plenty of chances to join them, but I always had an excuse for why I couldn't go: an Orioles ballgame up in Baltimore that I already had tickets to, film or dinner with my then-girlfriend, an IU or Hurricane ballgame of some sort on TV that night that I "had" to watch, or... 
And now I rue some of those choices and wish that at least once, I'd listened to my friend's suggestion and been able to see the magic for myself in-person. 


Posthumous Fame 
A U.S. Singer Enjoys Success Abroad -- Five Years After Her Death 
By Dave Marash 
http://evacassidy.org/eva/nightline.htm


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


One thing is for sure and that is that NRK-TV could learn a few valuable lessons from SVT about how to broadcast a LIVE concert.


Maybe it was just the fickle weather since their LIVE coverage of the 22/7 Memorial in Oslo That I watched came out great, and maybe it's just my imagination, but compared to SVT's masterful coverage of Allsång på Skansen in Stockholm from every angle you can think of, this suffers in the comparison.


Granted, SVT DOES have more cameras to work with, including probably some robot cams, but when you look at the fluidity and variety of shots, as demonstarted well in this video segment of three very talented and popular performers from July 18th, it's like the final brick in the wall.



http://youtu.be/vnGFped5SEs


Above, Alexander Rybak playing Grieg's "I bergakungens sal" (In the hall of the mountain king), and then him being joined by Kalle Moraeus and Linda Lampenius for an acoustic version of "Stockholm i mitt hjärta," the prideful leitmotif that opens every one of the broadcasts during the summer. This is followed by Kalle singing "Underbart" (Wonderful) with the crowd and host Måns Zelmerlöw.


In the NRK segment at the top, honestly, it seems to me that there are too many crowd shots of people that look either distracted or bored, instead of some shots from behind the stage showing Yohanna and the crowd interacting and the crowd singing back to her.

Plus, while SVT always seems to anticipate situations correctly, above, NRK goes from a nice shot to one of a woman who seems to be nursing her baby.
I have to admit that I've NEVER seen that done at a concert, or seen a TV director thinking THAT'S the money shot you've got to get. 
Perhaps she looked like the director's wife, but still, very, very strange.


What is NOT strange though is uris1.
He never fails to deliver the goods with high-quality musical videos from Scandinavia and Europe!
Which is why I subscribe to his feed. http://www.youtube.com/user/uris1


No, that's not your imagination, his YouTube Channel really is framed by multiple shots of one of our favorites, Swedish singer Jill Johnson.


Jill's rocking version of "Jolene"


http://www.youtube.com/user/jilljohnsonmusic
http://www.jilljohnson.se/eng/

Swedish heartache! We regret to inform you that talented and moxie-filled Swedish midfielder Josefine Öqvist -always "trending" at this blog- won't be at London 2012 Olympics due to pregnancy. And Sanna Kallur is out because of injuries -again; #London2012

SVT video: Gravid Öqvist missar OS. Pregnant Öqvist will miss Olympic Games. January 13, 2012. She's also missing the Damallsvenskan season in Sweden

http://www.svt.se/2.21391/1.2675209/gravid_oqvist_missar_os

Not so happy news for blågult! 

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.

All screenshots of Swedish star midfielder Josefine Öqvist by South Beach Hoosier, July 6, 2011. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

The team looks very good, but  I really have no sense of how they'll perform offensively without Josefine, though today's match against South Africa shouldn't even be close.
http://svenskfotboll.se/arkiv/landslag/2012/07/antligen-dags-for-avspark/

Håller alla tummar för att de tar medalj

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/os2012/article15163259.ab

http://www.svt.se/os/fotboll/frasch-schelin-ser-fram-emot-premiar

Volume is turned down as this is a video that starts automatically.

Captain Lotta Schelin is ready to go...; 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/grant_wahl/07/17/london-olympic-womens-soccer-preview/index.html

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. 

http://www.svt.se/os/friidrott/kallur-missar-os-gar-inte

So very disappointing for Sanna and her many fans.
Volume is turned down as this is a video that starts automatically.

SVT's Olympic webpage full of facts, photos and figures is at http://www.svt.se/os/

http://www.sok.se/2.18ea16851076df6362280002977.html

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/

SVT Play offers LIVE online coverage of Sunday's one-year Memorial ceremony for victims of Oslo and Utöya attacks, at 3 a.m. Eastern U.S./Canada and 8 a.m. BST; Memorial concert from Oslo's Town Hall, also via SVT Play, will be 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern U.S./Canada and 7:00-8:30 p.m. BST; #Oslo, #Utöya, #Norge ♥

Sissel Kyrkjebø - Til ungdommen (To Youth) - LIVE, National Day of Remembrance for Oslo & Utøya; Minnesceremoni, Spektrum, Oslo, Norway, August 21, 2011, http://youtu.be/gKZa6hNFouw


Sissel followed Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's heartfelt speech with this great performamce of "To Youth," which concluded the afternoon's memorial program that was full of heartache and tears.
My August 23, 2011 blog post on her that day was titled simply, Amazing Sissel leaves them proud! Sissel Kyrkjebø - Til ungdommen, National Day of Remembrance for Oslo & Utøya; Minnesceremoni
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/amazing-sissel-leaves-them-proud-sissel.html 
It was one of several posts I wrote about that very moving ceremony that I watched online LIVE as it happened.

SVT Play offers LIVE online coverage of Sunday's Memorial ceremony for victims of the Oslo and Utöya attacks via NRK-TV at 3 a.m. Eastern U.S./Canada and 8 a.m. BST at:
http://www.svtplay.se/live/193656/minnesdag-for-offren-i-oslo-och-utoya


The Memorial concert from Oslo's Town Hall, hosted by Haddy N'jie, who ably hosted last August's memorial from the Oslo Spektrum, will also be shown via SVT Play from 2:00-3:30 p.n. Eastern U.S./Canada and 7:00-8:30 p.m. BST at:
http://www.svtplay.se/live/193696/minneskonsert-for-offren-i-oslo-och-utoya


Photos of the 77:
http://nrk.no/minnetavle/#13429138007771&height=1690&id=iframe970px


NRK-TV's 22/7 webpage of graphics and facts:
http://nrk.no/227/fakta/kart/



http://227minnekart.nrk.no/





Ett år sedan terrordåden på Utöya... One year since the 22/7 terror attacks in Oslo and Utöya that left 77 murdered and massacred, there's still so much pain amd anger that won't go away...



The five-judge panel that presided over the ten-week trial of Anders Behring Breivik is expected to announce their verdict one month from this week

http://www.svt.se/nyheter/varlden/norge-minns-terrordaden


http://www.tv4.se/nyheter/artiklar/ett-ar-sedan-terrordaden-pa-utoya-detta-har-hant-500ad34104bf726d6300002d

Want to see a sneak peek of my future? Prescient geniuses with a camera at BeepShow have already filmed part of my future -away from the heat & humidity of Miami- and it includes Iceland and the Northern Lights. But sadly, I'll end up missing Sigur Rós at Iceland Airwaves; #Iceland, #BeepShow, #Icelandair, #InspiredByIceland

Beep Show's VIMEO video: London to Iceland in Ten Minutes. July 2012. Music by Sigur Rós. Move your cursor away from the video to have the text disappear and see the video more clearly. Complete information about this incredible video is here: http://vimeo.com/45121903  http://beepshow.com/
It's truly amazing what genius, talent, ingenuity and technology can create!

Want to see a sneak peek of my future? Prescient geniuses with a camera at BeepShow have already filmed part of my future -away from the heat & humidity of Miami- and it includes Iceland and the Northern Lights. But sadly, I'll end up missing Sigur Rós at Iceland Airwaves; #Iceland, #BeepShow, #Icelandair

Back in November, following several very emotionally-draining roller-coaster months with my dad's health a year after his stroke, where we found ourselves frequently at the hospital or at the doctor's office for one thing or another, I wrote here:

It's not exactly a secret that I definitely could use a break for about a week or two from everything and everyone in South Florida to unwind.

Not that there was really ever any doubt where I'd eventually wind-up to relax, but I've finally made my mind up about where I'll be going to get away from South Florida for a while, which I had originally wanted to do back in February or March to decompress after my dad died, then maybe even return to during Midsommar in order to get away from the summer swelter of South Florida.

But perhaps as these things sometimes do of their own accord, it's worked out for the best schedule-wise, since despite it meaning I'm still here during the hottest part of the summer, I'll now be able to experience, first-hand, one of nature's most amazing sights and spectacles.
 
Ten weeks from this morning, unless something crazy and unexpected happens, like a powerful hurricane barreling its way across the Atlantic or the Caribbean towards South Florida -and maybe, even if there is!- I'll be greeting the sunrise far, far away from the land of gridlocked traffic, sleepwalking journalists and corrupt politicians, with nary a decent Ethiopian restaurant to be found that compares to the Red Sea in D.C.

I don't want to give everything away right now with this one post, but I will tell you that as of now, The Plan, as such, is that ten weeks from this morning, I'll be having a relaxed and delicious breakfast right near the water and my temporary home-away-from home in a place where I can sing or hum Stockholm i mitt hjarta to my heart's delight.

Måns Zelmerlöw, Björn Skifs, Loa Falkman and Peter Jöback sing "Stockholm i Mitt Hjärta" (Stockholm in My Heart) from the intro of a 2011 episode of SVT's "Allsång på Skansen" in Stockholm, Sweden. http://youtu.be/JEPvZBDOjdc

http://www.facebook.com/svtallsang

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After more than a week or so in the greater Stockholm area, mostly in and around Gamla Stan, but with some boat trips with friends along the archipelago as well, finally doing the things I've wanted to do the last few years but had to keep on hold because of my dad's health, I'll be heading for fun in a place that is THE polar opposite of South Florida, our old friend, Reykjavik, Iceland, and eventually, a night-time encounter with destiny and the Northern Lights.

And with any sort of luck at all, maybe I can even run into longtime blog favorite, Yohanna, whom I just love, and want to see succeed and get the world-wide success she deserves, because her talent is so immense. 
Yes, to quote myself, Yohanna "hennes enorma talang!"



@yohannamusic

Below, from TV3 in Sweden, Yohanna's amazing performance at their "En Sång För Hemlösa 2009" (A Song For The Homeless 2009) telecast, singing "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day." 


http://www.myspace.com/yohannamusic

Arctic Motion from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

http://www.facebook.com/temPhoto

http://vimeo.com/tittentem

http://twitter.com/#!/tittentem

Icelandair video: Unique Iceland: What to do in Reykjavik?

Icelandic actress Þóra Karítas Árnadóttir -a.k.a. Thora Karitas - explains a few things about the fascinating and awesome island known as Ísland. http://youtu.be/Rkr1O6mvHUc

LIVE camera of Blue Lagoon: Bláa lónið - Live Webcam - Inspired by Iceland

Unfortunately, because of when I'll be there, I won't be able to see Sigur Rós at the Iceland Airwaves music festival in Reykjavik, owing to it coming later in October, right before we have elections here in the U.S.. http://icelandairwaves.is/
http://icelandairwaves.is/sigurros/

http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/ 

http://www.visitreykjavik.is/