One year later, their power and brilliance remains undiminished: Old songs we loved are made new and great again, via the genius of TV4's "Så Mycket Bättre" re Ace of Base, Jenny Berggren, Lisa Nilsson, Kleerup. @aceofbase @jennyberggren @kwidewitt @kleerup #Sweden

One year later, their power and brilliance remains undiminished: Old songs we loved are made new and great again, via the genius of TV4's "Så Mycket Bättre" re Ace of Base, Jenny Berggren, Lisa Nilsson, Kleerup. @aceofbase @jennyberggren 
@kwidewitt @kleerup 


Ace of Base - The Sign (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/iqu132vTl5Y

Lisa Nilsson - När kärleken Tar slut (The Sign) (Live on TV4's "Så Mycket Bättre") https://youtu.be/dV1QtwT5CwM

Great Lisa Nilsson -@kwidewitt- on 'När kärleken tar slut" on @TV4 #såmycketbättre causes Jenny Berggren to cry! :-) https://t.co/FqHZGDYkAm

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) November 5, 2016

Wow! :-) Lisa Nilsson -aka @kwidewitt- singing 'När kärleken tar slut," on @TV4's @nyhetsmorgon Dec. 21, 2015 https://t.co/SimRqJ3rwp

— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) November 5, 2016

Kleerup - Longing For Lullabies (feat. Titiyo) - Official video https://youtu.be/Mu_dr9M2vjA

Kleerup & Lisa Nilsson - Longing For Lullabies (Live on TV4's "Så Mycket Bättre") https://youtu.be/EROHkyGeshU

I can't even begin to tell you how OFTEN I've found myself singing or humming this amazing song the past year, esp. the last few months in and around South Florida.

More recent segments and music videos from TV4's "Så Mycket Bättre" at its YouTube Channel that I subscribe to: https://www.youtube.com/user/samycketbattretv4

In my opinion, the past two season have been the best of the past ten years, offering so much more insight that U.S. TV programs into music artists' thinking, their feelings about their craft and the industry and how they have been treated in it.
Sometimes, you are even convinced that you have really seen a glimpse of their private side that few people see besides their family, friends and industry colleagues.
And that definitely lingers with you, too

@SaMycketBattre https://twitter.com/SaMycketBattre

Update re Nazis and counter-demonstrators clashing in upscale Östermalm section of Stockholm that TV4 has aired for hours online

LIVE via @TV4 - Nazis and counter-demonstrators clash at demonstration in upscale Östermalm section of Stockholm. http://t.co/vsel5L8beV
— HallandaleBeachBlog (@hbbtruth) November 9, 2013

LIVE via @TV4 - Nazis and counter-demonstrators clash at demonstration in upscale Östermalm section of Stockholm

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/tumult-vid-nazistdemonstration-i-stockholm-2481683


-----

Noon Eastern EST Update re Stockholm demonstration b/w Nazis and counter-demonstrators, TV4 is now just interviewing cops and showing news photogs smoking cigs while chatting away on mobiles in aftermath, so it's basically all over for the day.

I actually recognized some of the shops and restaurants that were better prepared

than the others -including ones I couldn't afford on my trip there in January- 

who foolishly left tables & chairs out where they could be used for other purposes.

TV4 had LIVE coverage for three hours.

Question: What media group would do that in the U.S. if it was happening here so you could watch online if you wanted to? Exactly.

Video clips later at http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/ under Klipps

Here's the first one without any VO:

http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/v%C3%A5ldsamt-under-nazistdemonstrationer-i-stockholm-2483599

Remember, with time change here and there the past three weeks, Stockholm is now 6 hours ahead of Eastern U.S., so anyone in the world can watch their 10 pm newscast LIVE online via SVT play if you're curious, at 1 pm Eastern:

http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyheterna?video_id=2413347

We now return you to your football weekend...

Updated; President Obama lands in Sweden, first bilateral visit by a U.S. president in history; Links to LIVE worldwide TV coverage of President Obama's trip in Stockholm, watch the press conference at 8:30 Eastern; #obamainsweden, ‏@usembassysweden, #stockholm

Above, screenshot of SVT's website promoting their LIVE news coverage of President Obama's visit to Sweden, which can be seen here, worldwide, on their Special Report version of their news show Rapport with hosts Claes Elfsberg and Marianne Rundström until about 11:20 a.m. Eastern Wednesday morning:

1:30 p.m. Update: SVT has recorded this morning's events and has it as a 7 hour and 18 minute video that you can watch or skip ahead in to find something you find of interest: 
Extra Rapport: Obama besöker Sverige 10:00-17:20: Obama besöker Sverige - DIREKT. SVT följer USA:s president Barack Obamas besök i Stockholm. Gäster, samtal, bakgrund, analyser, pressträffar. Programledare: Claes Elfsberg och Marianne Rundström.
http://www.svtplay.se/video/1435951/extra-rapport-obama-besoker-sverige

This LIVE broadcast can also be viewed on mobile phones if you are so inclined.
SVT's mobile streaming is among the best in the world.

Above, screenshot of TV4's website promoting their LIVE news coverage, which they are promoting as "around the clock" and they do seem to be doing more interesting stuff from what I can see and can also be seen worldwide.
http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/live-obamas-bes%C3%B6k-i-sverige-2433617

1:30 p.m. Update: TV4 is doing a great job today and as of this writing is still doing their LIVE coverage of the visit, but sometimes that consists of only streaming video of an exterior scene like the Grand Hotel with no sound until someone appears on screen to say something or or the cortege heads somewhere.
By the way, with their coverage, you can also see the TV commercials in Swedish and after awhile, you may find yourself having a sudden craving for Felix brand Tandoori meals -like me! 
http://www.lhw.com/hotel/Grand-Hotel-Stockholm-Stockholm-Sweden

I'm watching/listening to both of them, bouncing back and forth as I edit my promised post about some things that President Obama and most well-informed Americans don't know about Sweden -and should- but won't be hearing anything about from the dim-wits in the White House press corps.
That post should be online sometime today.

Reminder, Sweden is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in U.S. & Canada.

Schedule: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/sweden-g20-trip-2013


TV4 video of Air Force One landing at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which is about 40 miles north of Stockholm.



U.S. Ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski -Zbig's son, Mika's brother- and his wife Natalia
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/natalia-lopatniuk-brzezinski/still-trying-to-have-it-a_b_1713346.html
greets President Obama coming off the plane prior to his meeting the Swedish government dignitaries on the tarmac at Arlanda, including Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, below


TV4 video


TV4 video: Här passerar Obamas konvoj Upplands Väsby.
Presidential convoy from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to the Grand Hotel in Stockholm down the E4.

As some of you know, per my once being part of an advance team for Walter Mondale, I was one of the passengers in one of the limousines in a Secret Service convoy from a private tarmac at Miami International Airport to the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, where we were going to be staying as part of a campaign visit, and we received the full heavy police escort, of course.
Trust me, THAT is the only way to go!



TV4 reporter Ted Lundgren appearing on the Nyhetsmorgon program from the center of the security zone in and around the Grand Hotel, where policemen are patrolling and rooftop snipers are at the ready for security purposes
http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyhetsmorgon?video_id=2435597

Press conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern U.S. time, where he will likely start by saying something like what Ambassador Brzezinski said at his swearing-in, "Det är en stor glädje och ära, att se den svenska närvaron här idag."

U.S. Embassy in Sweden @usembassysweden 

https://twitter.com/usembassysweden

sweden.usembassy.gov

The latest head's up from Stockholm I've received in the mail is...
-----
From: Mynewsdesk 

Date: 2013/9/4
Subject: Stockholms stad: Trafikhinder på Hägerstensvägen

Stockholms stad Trafikhinder på Hägerstensvägen Stockholms stad - Sep 04, 2013 10:37 CEST Nu placerar Trafikkontoret tillbaka den höj- och sänkbara stolpe, så kallad pollare, som ska förhindra genomfartstrafik i rusningstid på Hägerstensvägen. Pollaren – på Hägerstensvägen, mellan Axelsberg och Örnsberg – kommer att hindra bilister från att använda Hägerstensvägen som genomfartsväg under vardagar klockan 7-9 samt 16-18. Syftet med avspärrningen är att skona de boende i området från rusningstrafiken. Kollektivtrafik och uttryckningsfordon undantas förbudet. Förbudet gäller redan idag men i och med de fysiska åtgärderna hoppas Trafikkontoret hindra de billister som ändå bryter mot förbudet. Pollaren installerades första gången för ett drygt år sedan då den ersatte en vägbom. Pollaren blev dock påkörd och har tillfälligt varit ur funktion under en period. Utöver att den nu har reparerats så har Trafikkontoret även låtit sätta upp en trafiksignal samt tydligare förbudsskyltning på platsen. – I och med dessa åtgärder hoppas vi att det blir en bättre efterlevnad och respekt för gällande förbud, säger Lotten Backström, trafikplanerare på Trafikkontoret. Pollaren och trafiksignalen är planerad att tas i bruk under vecka 37. Kontaktperson:  Lotten Backström, trafikplanerare, Trafikkontoret: Telefon: 08-508 26215 E-post: lotten.backstrom@stockholm.se Download the attached files PDF documents   Word document Related material Documents Karta pollare Hägerstensvägen Sep 04, 2013 10:37 CEST Mynewsdesk Newsroom   Update your network on Mynewsdesk

The Amnesiac Among Us. American Michael Boatwright is the most curious man I've read about all summer, and his recent return to Sweden, where he once lived -STILL with no memory- looking for answers about who he really is, or even why he suddenly started speaking fluent Swedish, but (supposedly) can't speak English any longer, is the riddle of the year; Talar ni engelska? Nej!

CNN YouTube Channel video: CNN correspondent Paula Newton reports on the American Navy veteran, apparently suffering from amnesia, who has flown to Sweden looking for answers about his past. Uploaded August 22, 2013. http://youtu.be/YqphppDQaaM
Article at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/health/amnesia-swedish

The Amnesiac Among Us: American Michael Boatwright is the most curious man I've read about all summer. His recent return to Sweden from the U.S. -STILL with no memory- looking for answers about who he really is, or even why he suddenly started speaking fluent Swedish, but can't speak English any longer, is the mystery of the year

As you might imagine, Boatwright has been the subject of intense fascination and curiosity this summer in the hyper-competitive Swedish press, with literally everyone having a pet theory of their own about what "really happened" to him that would explain his loss of memory.
Or, his purported inability to speak English.
Talar ni engelska? Nej! 

Some people, with nothing to base it on, have spun theories about him possibly having accidentally killed someone and wanting to repress the memory and or go to a country that doesn't expedite if the suspect can get capital punishment, or even the usual -when in doubt-
blame the CIA theories, except how could someone like this possibly be in a position to help the CIA or anyone, since despite his having been in both Japan and China, he did not have jobs where he'd run into the kinds of people operatives deal with.
Plus, his life seems to have become quite unmanageable, a bad sign of spycraft..

Much of that thinking about criminal motivations has to do I think with both the need to make something that's likely very simple, much more complex, and the long-lasting effect in Sweden of so many American police procedurals on Swedish TV, where American-made programming dominates at all hours of the day.
('Smallville' came on at 6 a.m. on my trip in January. Or was it 5 a.m.?)


Aftonbladet TV video: ”Svensken” försökte ta sitt liv – i Kina. ("The Swede" attempted suicide - in China). 
By Magnus Sundholm, July 29, 2013
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article17206906.ab

The British press really loves the story, too, in part, because of the mystery angle, just dangling there like low-hanging fruit.
Like the Swedish media, they want to figure it out and either explain it or expose him, whichever the truth points to via tangible evidence

See also: Transient Global Amnesia: What Total Memory Loss Is Like
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/28/transient-global-amnesia-what-total-memory-loss-is-like.html
-----
The Daily Mail
Who am I?! American who woke up one day and could only speak Swedish goes to Europe in an attempt to regain his memories
Michael Boatwright woke up in a Palm Springs Motel 6 in February with no memory of his past life
The former English teacher woke able to only speak Swedish
His doctors said that his amnesia could have been caused by 'massive emotional trauma'
A worldwide search for friends and relatives was launched by his doctors
He has returned to Sweden to meet an old girlfriend who he hopes will be able to kick-start his forgotten life
By James Nye
PUBLISHED: 19:06 EST, 21 August 2013 
UPDATED: 02:50 EST, 22 August 2013

The U.S. Navy veteran discovered unconscious in a Californian motel in February, who awoke with total amnesia and only able to speak Swedish, has flown to Sweden in a bid to rebuild his life.

Michael Boatwright, 61, was reunited in Gothenburg on Tuesday with Ewa Espling, an old flame who he has not seen in almost 30 years and hopes spending time with her might trigger an avalanche of lost memories.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2399474/American-woke-speak-Swedish-goes-Europe-regain-memory.html

As you can see, over a dozen hits at some of the most-popular media sites in Sweden:
http://sok.aftonbladet.se/?q=Michael+Boatwright

http://www.svt.se/search/?q=Michael+Boatwright

http://www.tv4.se/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Michael+Boatwright

Dynamic Swedish fashion forward retailer H&M opens store at Aventura Mall today - Finally! Store near me is located near Bloomingdale's on far south side of Aventura Mall; @hm, @iamdwerbowy

H&M Finally! November 14, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Despite the fact that it's been known since mid-July that the Aventura Mall less than two miles south of me would be opening a large 25,000 square foot Hennes and Mauritz -H&M's- the Mall's official website hasn't been updated as you might expect it would be to accurately reflect the store's grand opening today, and show customers where it is on either a stationary or interactive map. http://www.aventuramall.com/ Nice going!

Way to embrace the technology!

The Aventura Mall website, http://www.aventuramall.com/stores-directory/mens-apparel.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=5&sobi2Id=436

says that the H&M is on... "Level: upper level."

Some of H&M's in-mall promotion. November 14, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

But located next to what? Near what major anchor store? On what side of the Mall???

Such obvious questions, yes?
Good thing I'm here to answer those questions in an intelligent fashion.

Late afternoon, looking east at Bloomingdale's, Aventura Mall, Aventura, FL. November 14, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Actually, the truth is that H&M will be located on levels 2 and 3, near Bloomingdale’s, above, on the far south side of the Mall. 

If you're heading over there for the High Noon opening today, like I am, be smart.

Whatever you do, DON'T park near the Bloomingdale's or you will be circling forever.

Instead, park closer to near the Sear's and come into the Mall near the entrance to the AMC 24 Theatres and the Starbucks, and save yourself some time and aggravation. 

You're welcome!

If you see this when you walk into the Mall, you successfully followed my directions!
November 14, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

Daria Werbowy, @iamdwerbowy,  https://twitter.com/hm

H&M's Holiday 2012 ad campaign featuring Daria Werbowy, on location in Zermatt, via Wendy Lam at her fashion blog, Nitrolicious: http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2012/12/11/hm-holiday-2012-ad-campaign-featuring-daria-werbowy/



View Larger Map

Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world

HDPremierleague YouTube Channel video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Bicycle Goal in Sweden's 4-2 win over England at Friends Arena, Stockholm on November 14, 2012.
http://youtu.be/az4mFb18DUE

Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena on Wednesday. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world 



TV4 Sweden video: Engelska Sky hyllar Zlatan: "Snyggaste målet jag har sett"; British SkyTV celebrates Zlatan: Best-looking goal I've ever seen; highlights of England at Sweden from SkySports November 15, 2012.

http://www.tv4play.se/program/fotbollsklipp?video_id=2240470&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

                   
                   
                   
                   
                

The Guardian's sports editor Ian Prior speaks to the worldwide reaction to 35-yard overhead kick. November 15, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2012/nov/15/zlatan-ibrahimovic-strike-video

The Guardian

Steven Gerrard: Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal was best I've ever seen

• England captain hails Swede's 'special' performance

• Fourth goal was 'better than Rooney's against City'

By Dominic Fifield at Friends Arena, Stockholm

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Steven Gerrard's achievement in becoming the sixth player to gain a century of England caps ended overshadowed with the midfielder conceding Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning fourth goal was the best he had ever seen.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/nov/15/steven-gerrard-zlatan-ibrahimovic-best

TV4 football expert Olof Lundh: (Paraphrased) - It's not even a script that Hollywood would think of creating for Sweden's first game in their new national stadium.
http://www.tv4play.se/program/sporten?video_id=2240422&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se 

TV4 Sweden video: As first anniversary of British singer Amy Winhouse's death approaches next Monday, her father Mitch Winehouse discusses her ups and downs, her excitable nature, reflects on his last meeting with her, and shares how his family will commemorate her death next week in SoHo

 
Video: As the first anniversary of British singer Amy Winhouse's death approaches next Monday, her father Mitch Winehouse discusses her struggles with substance abuse, her excitable nature, reflects on his last meeting with her while looking at family photos at her new home after she'd thought she'd lost them, when he misses her most -she phoned him five times a day- and how his family will commemorate her death next week in SoHo. 
From Sweden's TV4  Nyhetsmorgon "Abbey Road" morning show. Aired July 15, 2012. Mostly in English with Swedish subtitles. 
http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=mitch_whinehouse_om_sista_motet_med_dottern&videoid=2205356&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se


If video doesn't load or play the first time, please click "Ladda om" -reload.

Prepare to meet an amazing musical talent: Anni Bernhard is 'Full Of Keys'; TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Desolate; Suicide Bridge; Suicide Bridge at Stenkullen LIVE

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon - Full of keys med låten "Desolate" - Aired January 11, 2012.
http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=full_of_keys_med_laten_suicide_bridge&videoid=2136121&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se

Prepare to meet an amazing musical talent: Anni Bernhard is 'Full Of Keys'; TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Desolate; Suicide Bridge; Suicide Bridge LIVE at Stenkullen

I am SO tremendously impressed by Anni Bernhard's talent, insight and musical sensibility. I first became aware of this amazing singer from Stockholm last Fall, and made a mental note that sometime over the Christmas holidays, I needed to find some free time some Saturday or Sunday -maybe during halftime of a Dolphins game or an IU basketball game- to do some quality Internet sleuthing around.
My mission?
Look for more of her performances on YouTube and other video services and then track down any useful references to her in the blogosphere -mostly in Sverige, obviously- to catch up on what she was doing before I first heard of her.
As you know, for the most part, with a few exceptions, I like to think of myself as an "early adopter," and hate being the last to find out about something good!

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

Then, three weeks ago, while looking for something else on the TV4 website, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to come across the clips of her being interviewed and performing LIVE on Nyhetsmorgon on January 11th. 
It literally made my day!

(I even agreed with her thoughts about the current blah state of the music industry, too, which she's clearly doing something to change in her own positive way.)

And now, three weeks later, because I was smart enough to sign-up for her official YouTube Channel after watching those TV4 clips -and sending them around the world to some friends- late last night, I was able to be THE FIRST person among the millions of folks on YouTube to see her new video, just a few minutes after it was posted online and still had "O Views." 
Me, I think I’m doing a good job of making up for lost time!

The debut single:


Full of Keys official video: Full Of Keys - All The Roses (Official Video) April 25, 2011. http://youtu.be/N61plpOjmi4



TV 4'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

Here's the video that Anni posted online Friday night after performing "Suicide Bridge" with just an acoustic guitar at the hotel:


Full of Keys official video: Suicide Bridge (LIVE at Stenkullen, acoustic) February 3, 2012. http://youtu.be/9Z-dwOyAf9g

And not to wax overly-rhapsodic about the marketing angle or anything, but wow, on top of all that vocal talent, lyric cleverness and musical sensibility, she's got that AMAZING face of her's!

She's like some glorious combination of Natalie Portman, Gennifer Goodwin, Giada De Laurentis & Rachel Leigh Cook all wrapped into one, and let me tell you, from where I'm sitting, that's one hell of an amazing and interesting combination.

When you see the interview with her below where she sounds off on what she doesn't particularly like about the current music industry trends, and how, unfortunately, too many singers seem to lose their spark once they become a commercially successful artist, about the third or fourth time I played it, and knew what she was going to say, all I could do was focus on that face -and melt.

If you doubt me on this, just go to Eva Warner's photography website and look under "Commissioned" and click Full of Keys.

http://www.silversprej.se/com.php

It's Anni!

TV 4's Nyhetsmorgon - Anni Bernhard discusses her thoughts on the current music industry and wishes there were more dedicated artists who challenged themselves and didn't just settle for being okay. January 11, 2012.
It's in Swedish, of course!
http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=morgonens_musikgast_full_of_keys&videoid=2136084

Full Of Keys new "Traces of a Human" was released on February 1st.
It's available at many sites, including Amazon.com and iTunes

-----

www.fullofkeys.com

http://fullofkeys.com/blog/

https://twitter.com/FullOfKeys

#fullofkeys

Sweet & smooth Christmas a cappella from the sextet called "Vocation" - Ett barn är fött (A child is born) & Sleigh Ride -LIVE on Abbey Road, TV4's Nyhetsmorgon

TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Vocation – Ett barn är fött (A child is born) LIVE on Abbey Road, December 22, 2011.
http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=vocation_ett_barn_ar_fott&videoid=2126555&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se







TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Vocation – Sleigh Ride -LIVE on Abbey Road, December 22, 2011.
http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=vocation_sleigh_ride&videoid=2126551&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se


This music makes me think of the music I heard one odd pre-Christmas night 21 years ago at the Abercrombie & Fitch at Georgetown Mall, where, within 15 minutes, I ran into and spoke with both then-Rep. and future UN Ambassador and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and then-ABC News correspondent and Gator alum Forrest Sawyer, wearing a trench coat that made him seem like Joel McCrea in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, one of my all-time favorite films.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Sawyer


I was the first person to tell Richardson about his future House colleague -and present U.S. Senator- Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and because he had never heard of him, at first, I think he thought I was joking about Sanders' VERY liberal politics.
"Even for Vermont" I think I told Richardson a few times.


The store had too many contrasting colognes being sprayed into the air for my tastes -by the adorable sale clerk from Kentucky who worked there- but when you were there, it felt like you were in the most Christmas-y place in all of Washington, D.C., besides near the National Christmas Tree on The Ellipse, where I'd been earlier that night.


(Far away from the decidedly un-Christmas feel of SE Broward County this week.)


Yes, back when the late and much-missed Au Pied du Cochon was just a few blocks away up on Wisconsin Avenue, the default hangout for my friends and I after we saw a film in Georgetown, esp. a foreign film.
Back in the early '90's, there were sometimes even two new au courant foreign films playing within four blocks that had the New York Times film critics abuzz, like Indochine or the Chinese film, LIFE.


When I was there with my friends and my then-significant other, the restaurant seemed almost magical, straight out of a film with interesting, attractive people, delicious-smelling aromas, and some "wicked" people-watching wherever we turned our heads.
We felt so "civilized" when we were there, which as pretentious as it sounds -and no doubt was- was no less true.
At certain points in time in the 15 years I lived up there, Au Pied du Cochon was one of the best places in all of Washington, D.C. to be.  


That's where we ate and drank after seeing all three films of the Three Colors trilogy of Krzysztof Kieślowski, starring, respectively, longtime HBB favorites Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy and Iréne Jacob. (I actually bought the film posters of "Blue" and "Red" and had them in frames in my home.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Colors_Trilogy


Boy, thinking back to THOSE days, it REALLY makes this area seem underwhelming, fun-wise.


Downtown Hollywood could do worse than to have one-tenth of the sort of magnetic persona that area of Wisconsin Avenue had at night. 
But in order to have even that, you need something for people to do at night besides eating, drinking or shopping, and right now, what is there?
No movie theaters, no bookstores with either charm or programming, no old-style news stands...


It's completely lacking in energy.


Maybe once the FEC commuter train is running in a few years and most of the shop owners in Downtown Hollywood who are now so rude and unfriendly have fled, someone with some common sense will invest some money and take advantage of its natural advantages.


I must tell you, though, among my friends, many who used to regularly patronize Downtown Hollywood at night, the collective corrosive effect of so much rudeness, second-rate service and products, and perennial worrying about both parking and safety/crime, has burned too many people, too many times.
"They're just not that into you."


Not that this avoidance has helped The Village at Gulfstream Park at night very much, though, because they are NOT going there either.


Some new faces with common sense and personality at Hollywood and Hallandale Beach City Hall, on the City Commissions, wouldn't hurt, either.


Notice all the 4's for Channel 4 above the ginger bread house doors!





Helena Insulander of Vocation is interviewed by Nyhetsmorgon hosts Kristin Kaspersen and and Steffo Törnquist. December 22, 2011.


http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=samtal_med_morgonens_musikgaster_vocation&videoid=2126473&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se


Nyhetsmorgon homepage full of video clips and info: 
http://www.tv4.se/nyhetsmorgon