2011 St. Lucia Day in Göteborg is an hour away on SVT; will they strike gold and be sublime yet again?

Above, five screen-shots I snapped of Amanda Römmesmo Diaz (as Lucia) during the 2010 St. Lucia Day ceremony and concert telecast from Kungsholms Church in Stockholm last year, which was broadcast by SVT.

It was, in a word, awesome! 

Can we dare to hope this year's will be as good?

My popular blog post on that was titled, quite naturally, 2010 St. Lucia Day in Stockholm: traditional songs and sweet sentimentality that ring true across the miles; SVT's Lucia program is sublime!, http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-st-lucia-day-in-stockholm.html

The ceremony starts Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 a.m. Stockholm time, which is GMT+1, meaning it's on LIVE at 1 a.m. Miami/Eastern Standard Time.

If you're seeing this blog post of mine sometime on Tuesday morning, it's not too late to check it out again on the re-broadcast at 6 p.m. in Sweden on SVT2.

Everywhere else in the world, including here in Miami, the Land of the Luckless Dolphins. you can see Luciamorgon at SVT Play, specifically at

http://svtplay.se/v/2640264/luciafirande_i_svt/lucia

It will be available for viewing on the SVT Play website until January 12, 2012.

Hallandale Beach Blog/South Beach Hoosier favorite Jill Johnson, along with Sofia Karlsson will be at Gothenburg Cathedral, along with their Boys and Girls Choir, to sing some traditional holiday songs and carols, and actor Tomas von Brömsen will be keeping it real by reading some stories that capture the holiday moment and explain the story of Lucia.

Excellent!

More on the broadcast and SVT's other holiday programming at their special webpage: http://svt.se/2.114280/1.1789593/ and http://svt.se/2.114277/julen_i_svt_2011

If you want to replicate something sweet and soulful -and sublime- having Jill Johnson sing is a great start!

Jill Johnson -"O Holy Night" at Jullotta På Liseberg,Göteborg, Sweden. December 8, 2011. http://youtu.be/qOfbkzG0dK0

Lionheart Sweden video: Jill Johnson - Välkommen jul (Sampler)

http://youtu.be/MaYMN4Mlcfs

Clips from Jill's new "Welcome Christmas" holiday album with the Gavle Symphony Orchestra. http://tjuvlyssna.nu/

Among other places in Sverige last week, Gothenburg was absolutely flooded with rain last Thursday, and, according to soggy friends of the blog on-the-scene, it was only Monday that water started receding to reveal just how many cars got completely swamped. And more snow and rain, snöfall och regn, is coming toute-de-suite from the west, with very strong winds in tow.

http://svtplay.se/v/1636831/senaste_prognos

Tack, Helen!

http://www.smhi.se/

http://www.smhi.se/en/Weather

Today's Aftonbladet had these photos of the soggy scene:

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article14062787.ab

http://www.aftonbladet.se/vader/article14069059.ab

Just the thought of that mess makes me want to have some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

Speaking of tomato...

Two years ago yesterday, it was a classic case of Gershwin's "You like potato, I like potahto..."

The Local

Göteborg changes name back to Gothenburg

Published: 11 Dec 09 06:55 CET

http://www.thelocal.se/23786/20091211

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Wow!

In a sign of the times, due to so many creepy people in the world using Social Media for nefarious means, in Gavle, schools are forbidding families from videotaping or photographing their own daughters -and others- doing their Lucia ceremonies, so that the resulting photos and video are NOT swiped off the Internet and abused by being posted at porn sites or maintained for personal use.

Parents actually have to sign forms acknowledging they know the new rules before attending.

Sad beyond words...

TV4 News, Gavle, December 12, 2011.

http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyheterna_gavle?title=restriktioner_mot_att_fotografera_luciatagen&videoid=2117437&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

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The performance that first brought Jill to my attention, four years ago...

Jill Johnson - Jolene on TV4's Bingolotto, 2007.

http://youtu.be/K-Dl83hLZG4

Jill Johnson's official YouTube Channel is at:

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

http://www.tv4play.se/

http://www.thelocal.se/

http://www.communityofsweden.com/

One year after the Royal Wedding, Crown Princess Victoria shows her resolve even while her parents' popularity -and the monarchy's- have tumbled

Aftonbladet video: Highlights from the wedding at Storkyrkan and afterwards.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/inrikes/article13171220.ab

06:33

If you watched the kungliga bröllopet -like me- you'll recognize the song performed above as the secret song commissioned by Daniel for the wedding that was kept under tight wraps until that very moment.

Here's the complete video of that singular performance, the cherry-on-top even before they left the church and took their stroll around the city by carriage and boat before returning to say "Tack."

SVT video: Agnes Carlsson & Björn Skifs - When You Tell the World You're Mine - Storkyrkan, Stockholm, June 19, 2010.

http://youtu.be/U2Qvh_FonSM

Aftonbladet video: Highlights from their first year of marriage

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/inrikes/article13165551.ab

In the past year, even as Victoria's personal popular has increased, her parents' popularity and that of the Swedish monarchy in general have taken big hits from both republicans and an anti-monarchy media that sees the Swedish monarchy as... in short, an archaic construct in a modern era.
These groups see her parents as people whose ethics, trustworthiness, and general willingness to be straightforward about facts, to be MUCH LESS than they ought to be given their position in the country.
Especially in light of some facts that may prove more personally troubling than anyone can presently guess.

In May, in the U.S., the AP finally reported that Victoria's German-born mother, Queen Silvia, wants the longstanding questions surrounding her father's personal and professional activities and behavior in Germany and Brazil during the war to be re-examined.
This is usually referred to somewhat euphemistically in the news media as his "alleged Nazi ties." (Her mother was Brazilian.)

In the view of many of my well-informed friends in Sweden and other parts of Scandinavia, that moral cloud seems likely to get only more complicated, and some sensibilities may well be rubbed raw by the time the results are finally announced in the Fall.
(Though you're entitled to wonder where all this moral outrage is coming from now in a country that was officially neutral during the war.)

As to Victoria's father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, well, his personal behavior was the subject of an unflattering AP article in early June months after last year's publication of a not-entirely-believable book alleging many unsavory things.
That AP story made most major American newspapers and the cumulative weight of all of this has caused many people in Sweden to re-evaluate their personal feelings of respect for the king, even as his public 'explanation' -which I have watched a few times- only seemed to make things worse in the view of yours truly.

I suggest you read the AP story while you can before before they wipe this WaPo link clear.

Associated Press
Swedish monarchy under siege as king defends himself in strip club scandal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/swedish-monarchy-under-siege-as-king-defends-himself-in-strip-club-scandal/2011/06/06/AGra25JH_story.html


New York Times
Some Doubt if Any King Is Still Fit for Sweden
By John Tagliabue
August 25, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/world/europe/25sweden.html



TheLocal.se
From wedding bliss to royal crisis: the state of Sweden's monarchy
By Clara Guibourg
Published: 17 Jun 11 09:41 CET
http://www.thelocal.se/34412/20110617/

SACC New York will be hosting Swedish Election Watch Party at Aquavit on Sunday from 1-5 p.m.

A few days later than I originally planned, I can now finally share some interesting news that some of you out there may want to take full advantage of this Sunday, even while I can't make the scene there myself.

Far from the sweltering heat and humidity all around me here in South Florida, the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) is organizing an election watch party at Aquavit on the day of the election to the Riksdag, September 19, from 1 to 5 pm.

The election coverage will be screened in Aquavit's private dining room.

Swedish Election Watch Party
includes smörgåsbord brunch with choice of one Danish Mary, Alliansen, Rödgrönt, Carlsberg beer or juice
SACC members: $45 plus tax and service
Members of Young professionals: $33 plus tax and service

Aquavit
65 East 55th Street, New York City
Sunday, September 19, 1 - 5 pm

Reservations are taken for seating from 12 noon to 2:30 pm.
The Swedish election coverage will be broadcast from 1 pm to 5 pm.
RSVP by September 18 to Aquavit at 212-307-7311.

And for you Giants and Colts fans in the Tri-State area, remember, kickoff for their game in Indy is Sunday night at 8:20 p.m., so you have plenty of time to be cool and sophisticated in Midtown in the afternoon, and then get home and throw on your respective Manning brothers jerseys afterwards, though I honestly don't know how your Doritos and homemade ranch dip will taste hours after your smörgåsbord adventure.
You are on your own there.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gametracker/preview/NFL_20100919_NYG@IND

I like the Colts 31-19.

Given the renown of the restaurant, I shouldn't be surprised to see some TV video of this event via SVT and TV 4 next Sunday night or the usual post-election analysis the following day, and you can be sure that I will look for it via their website.

Or, maybe someone will channel Bergman and Hallström and film some of the scene and share it with the world via YouTube.

I certainly hope so!

As it happens, until this week, there was a very cute TV4 promo animation of the candidates jousting in full knight regalia at http://www.tv4.se/ but because of the delay in my getting this post up, they seem to have pulled it already.

Special thanks to Filip Enocson of SACC New York and Peter Klein of Aquavit for their kind assistance and the Election Watch Party graphic at the top.

Filip and Peter's respective websites are http://www.saccny.org/ and http://www.aquavit.org/restaurant/newyork/index.asp

-------

I'll have more to say about the election over the next two days, with some videos as well, but until then you may want to check out The Local's Guide to the 2010 Swedish Elections at:

http://www.thelocal.se/28800/20100908/
Their 2010 election campaign webpage is at: http://www.thelocal.se/election2010/

http://www.thelocal.se/

http://www.riksdagen.se/templates/R_SubStartPage____21764.aspx

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

Hoosier Hysteria in Stockholm: IU's Elinor Ostrom accepts her Nobel Prize for Economics from King Carl XVI Gustaf

Photo by Jonas Ekstromer/Associated Press
IU's Elinor Ostrom accepts her Nobel Prize for Economics
from King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm

For "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons."

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12824.html
https://www.iu.edu/~iunews/blogs/nobel/

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien)
-lots of very neat stuff here worth taking a look at, too
http://www.kva.se/en/

Nobel Prize web page on 2009 Economic winners:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/presentation-speech.html

Here's some photos of the royal family
-a.k.a. Kungafamiljen- attending the formal Nobel
banquet earlier Friday, which ran a little under four hours
with entertainment and speeches.
http://www.royalcourt.se/kungafamiljen/aktuellahandelser/2009aretsaktuellahandelser/aretsnobelpristagarepatraditionellmiddaghoshmkonungen.5.62402a8b12475b47cdb80004857.html

This Aftonbladet online article has an especially great
photo of Princess Madeleine worth seeing.
Så var Nobelfesten
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6269587.ab

Here's the story and photo that Aftonbladet ran on
October 13th about Prof. Ostrom being honored:
Så vill Elinor rädda världen
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article5948388.ab

It's always good to see Indiana universitetet
in print.
----------

Early this morning, I received my weekly editor's
newsletter from The Local -Sweden's news in English.
http://www.thelocal.se/email/127/88512/

In that newsletter were these very amusing and spot-on
comments from the editor, Paul O'Mahony, which were
titled, Nobel banquet broadcast makes toes curl:

Last night I carried on the by now venerable tradition of tuning in to the live broadcast of the Nobel banquet for five minutes before taking aim at the screen with heart in mouth and dignity almost intact.

Sweden is justly proud of its Nobel Prizes, as scientists and writers are rewarded in this life for their vast contributions to humankind. But something deep inside me rejects the idea of television cameras trained on the every move of boffins, royals and dignitaries, all dolled up to the nines and gorging on a bacchanalian feast under the watchful eyes of the etiquette Stasi.

However, the gods of curiosity demand an annual five-minute suspension of disbelief to absorb with jaw on floor the public broadcaster's amnesiac rejection of Sweden's trademark egalitarianism and informality.

Royalist fervour drips through the screen as one commentator fawns over Princess Victoria's frock and delights in the prospect of her impending nuptials. The cameras then pan to the Crown Princess, who is in the process of applying lip gloss while talking to a clever person. It's hard to escape the fact that we're watching people having dinner.

Meanwhile a presenter is aghast as the finance minister appears to send an under-the-table text message. "Tell me I did not just see Anders Borg doing what I think he just did. Off with his ponytail!" Or words to that effect. "Help so bored no pizza on menu 2 many nerdz", wrote Borg. Probably.

Cut to the top of the steps in the Blue Hall, where a pantomime horse trots into view, neighing loudly and pursued with great vigour by a red-clad choir. And that's when I reach for my revolver.

Anybody with the stomach for an entire evening of this stuff has my grudging respect, and indeed there are plenty who revel in it. Good luck to them. But by the time the new day dawned and the crowds had dispersed, all I was left with was a hole in my soul and the need for a new television. Again.

He shoots and he scores!

---------

Earlier in the year, I posted a video of the King
and Queen Silvia discussing the news about
Crown Princess Victoria's engagement to
Daniel Westling and the wedding scheduled
for next June.

Since it's going to be at the beautiful 700 year-old
Storkyrkan Cathedral, which is in the Gamla Stan
section of Stockholm, the oldest section of town,
it really ought to be awesome.
http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/theroyalfamily/hrhcrownprincessvictoria.4.396160511584257f218000503.html




A few months after Victoria's wedding. the King
will be walking down the aisle again as Princess
Madeleine gets married to Jonas Bergström.
http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/theroyalfamily/hrhprincessmadeleine.4.396160511584257f218000839.html



Here's a video of Victoria making the announcement
in February

Stockholm: After seven years, a "Ja!"
Kronprinsessan Victoria och Daniel Westling
förlovade. Den 19 juni 2010 växlar Victoria och Daniel
ringar i Storkyrkan.