Taco party @ Åsa's place

Last night I went to Åsa's place for tacos. I took this snapshot of the wall in the Bergshamra subway station.

Daniel & Jenny were there too.



Åsa served a chocolate liqueur called Mozart.

It was delicious. I'm going to have to get a bottle of this stuff.

Åsa showed off her Surfer Girl parephenalia.



Åsa showed us her photos from Bali. Then we sat around the table and had a lively discussion about matters profound.

Åsa and Jenny looking cool.

Yours truly.

Aldof Fredriks Kyrkogård.

Here are are couple of photos of the churchyard of Adfolf Fredriks Kyrkan near where I work.

We love boobs!

Lindex is running a campaign for a 25% off sale on all brassieres. In addition to the large posters at train stations and bus stops, Lindex is also running the same photos in full-page print advertisements in the local newspapers.

The campaign leads with the slogan We love boobs! The posters on bus stops and in train stations lack the tagline. I found this odd.

The boobs campaign follows Lindex's similar, successful We love bottoms! campaign last summer. It was successful not only because it was clever and well done, but also because Lindex benefited from the extra publicity of controversy. You see, at the time of the bottoms campaign, some feminists complained to the government body that oversees such things that the advertisements were sexist and degrading to women. This argument was found to be without merit. But the press loved it, and the newspapers were full of stories about the ad campaign and debates between those feminists who loved it and those who hated it.

I was reminded of the controversy when I saw that the boobs tagline was absent from the posters. When I got home, I did a Google search and found the answer right away. According to a Lindex spokeswoman, the local transit authority decideded that they didn't like the word boobs. I suppose SL would rather avoid having to field complaints. Still, they never quite offered an explanation of exactly what they found objectionable about the word.

I think the advertisements are great. Not only are they beutiful and effective; they also promote a positive attitude toward one's body parts! Too many people have trouble liking their own bodies. I think more positive messages can't be a bad thing.

Update 2006-02-10:
I've captured a few more phots of the censored ads in the Hötorget subway station.




Apparently, SL's censorship doesn't apply to all the outdoor advertising. Here is an example of an uncensored ad on a bus stop near my home in Bergshamra.

Ulriksdal husky

Today I had lunch with colleagues who work at the BCRS center in Solna. We ate at a pizzeria near Ulriksdals Station. A woman shopping at the Vi store across the way left her beautiful husky tied up outside while she was inside. He didn't seem to mind.

He also didn't seem to mind when I took this nice close-up of him.


After lunch I went to the station to catch a train into the city. The snow continued to fall as a Northbound train arrived at the station.

I was playing with the f/stop here but I didn't quite get the desired effect. I wanted a narrower depth of field. I'll have to practice a bit more.

This is the road I walk when I go to the Klätterverket.

Lotta, Anna, & Lisa — it was snowing outside when we left Klättercenter yesterday evening, but not too cold. Today, there is once again a layer of the wite stuff on the ground everywhere..

Super Bowl 2006 at O'Learys

Last night I went to O'Leary's bar on Södermalm and watched the Super Bowl.

The place was full of Americans and other fans of American football.

I met a bunch of guys who work at Ericsson.

Plus three sisters rooting for Pittsburgh.

I also had a good time visiting with Hugo and Tess, one of several international (American-Swedish) couples there.

After the game was over, I went down Götgatan to Slussen to catch a bus I met these two girls at the bus stop. It was really cold outside and we were very glad when the bus finally came. We took bus 96 from Slussen to Odenplan and chatted about Sweden and America.

At Odenplan, I caught the 690 back home to Bergshamra. It was a late night, but well worth it. It was fun to get an opportunity to meet some other Americans.
As odd as it may seem, in my five and a half years living in Sweden, I have only recently begun to meet other Americans who live here.

Skating on Sunday with Åsa & friends

On Sunday I went skating on a lake south of the city, with Åsa, Patrik, and some of his friends.

The weather was quite cold — probably 8 or 10 degrees C below freezing.

After a while we learned that the ice to the side of the plowed trail was a bit smoother. The snow was light and fluffy, so it didn't slow us down much.

Åsa was in top form.

Here's Patrik.

Gliding through the snow.

Hi Mom!

Done for the day.

On the way home.

Sunny snowy splendid day

Today the temperature stayed well under freezing. It was -6 C this morning, and -8 C in the afternoon. Here's the view outside my window around lunchtime.


The snow is soft and pretty, and becuase it's so cold, it hasn't had a chance to melt yet.


After lunch, I took the subway South to Telefonplan.


I walked from there to Daniel & Jenny's place, where Daniel showed me his new third shelf for DVDs. The man just keeps buying more movies. He can't be stopped. I have a suspicion that his purchases have artificially and unnaturally prolonged the lives of film production companies that would have without his aid gone bankrupt long ago.


We went on a shopping to IKEA but didn't find anything we needed. After IKEA, we swung by El Giganten, where I found a new microwave oven. A bit later, we went to the Löwenbräu restaurant near Fridhemsplan. Åsa, just back from Indonesia, joined us for dinner and a few drinks. Check out her suntan!


The restaurant serves mostly German food, and it seems to be quite good. I wasn't very hungry tonight because I had a big lunch. So I had only a salami plate. But next time I'll have to try the Wienerschnitzel. Daniel had the buffet; he appeared to enjoy it.


My new microwave oven today is an 850 Watt, 23 liter MS-2344b from LG Electronics. It seems to work well, and it fits perfectly in the space in the corner of my kitchen.


Tomorrow the agends calls for ice skating during the day, and then watching the Super Bowl late in the evening. I called O'Leary's today to try to reserve a table. I was told that all the tables for the evening of the Super Bowl were booked more than 6 months ago, so I guess we'll have to make do with a place at the bar. One positive note is that I'll probably meet lots of Americans at the bar. That's always fun.

Climging again, and riding my bike in the snow.

This afternoon the temperature dropped below freezing again, and there was a nice light snowfall outside the window adjacent to my desk. I glanced outside occasionally and watched the snow accumulate outside, gradually obscuring the black metal rooftop with a layer of soft white snow.

I got away from the office a bit later than expected, and so I rushed home. I picked up some groceries for the weekend and a drain plunger at ICA and then went home to change into my cold weather clothes and bike shoes. I packed my climbing gear in my backpack and headed downstairs. After putting a bit of air in my tires, I started out, riding my bike through the newfallen snow. I still don't have proper snow tires for my bike, but the ordinary off-road tires work well in snow, provided it's not too hard and icy.

It took about 15 mintues to ride the 3 or 4 kilometers to Klättercentret. I nearly lost my balence skidding to an abrupt stop to let a car go by when crossing Hagavägen. I had a good time climbing, and managed to conquer one bouldering route all in one go that I had only been able to handle picemeal before. I taped my fingers thoroughly this time; I have learned that it's better to tape my fingers BEFORE I lose a big flap of skin, rather than AFTER. Lisa and I climbed with Pontus and Johannes, two guys we've seen there many times before.







After climbing, I walked with Lisa as far as Solna Station, where our paths home diverge. I rode the rest of the way home and enjoyed the still-falling snow.

When I got home I administered one final dose of caustic soda to the obstinate clogged drain in the kitchen and then used the new plunger to finish the job. Luckily for me, it worked. Now I can finally do my dishes!

Tomorrow, Åsa comes home from her nice trip in Indonesia. In fact, she's on the plane to Amsterdam at this very moment. I plan to go shopping for a microwave oven and perhaps a toaster, and then the plan is to meet Daniel & Jenny for a drink or two. Sunday I'll go skating again on Edsviken if the ice and weather conditions permit, and Sunday night the plan is to head to O'Leary's sports bar to watch the Super Bowl. This leaves tomorrow morning to get some much-needed rest and perhaps even clean house.

It occurred to me the other day that if I ever were to meet somone I wanted to invite over, it might be nice to have a welcoming home. Having a clogged kitchen sink has rather delayed my efforts in this regard, but with luck I'll be able to address the matter presently.

My neck and shoulders are still sore from climbing so I should probably do a few stretches before turning in.

Freedom of speech is under attack.

In recent days, thousands of fanatical muslims around the world have lashed out in blind anger in response to cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.

The responses have been completely out of proportion to any offence caused by the cartoons. Protestors have attacked symbols of Denmark, burning Danish flags and effigies of Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Some have even gone so far as to react violently, casting stones at Danish citizens working abroad.

The angy protestors have also been indiscriminate in their attacks, desecrating the symbols not only of Denmark, but also Norway, France, and other European countries.

Those who react to a perceived offense by comitting an even greater one defile the good name of their cause.

Some intellectuals try to explain that the unfocussed rage aimed at Westerners is the inevitable consequence of an attitude of disrespect of Islam by the West.

This is preposterous.

Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of Western civilization. This right is vital to the functioning of democratic society. It is non-negotiable. Freedome of speech means that one has the right freely to criticize, parody, ridicule, and mock the ideas of others. Yes, sometimes this will cause offense. Yes, sometimes an apology is a good idea. However, the right to make the expression in the first place must never be questioned.

This enlightened prinicple is entirely incompatible with the notion that certain symbols are sacred and must never been criticized. This is the heart of the matter. It is not disrespect for Islam, but the pricinple that holds no religion sacred that differentiates Western civilization from those who attack it.

The sort of people who are driven to violence by a cartoon are not likely to be the same sort who are willing to sit down to have a civilized discussion. As long as there are people who are willing to throw stones at those who criticize their sacred icons, we will have a problem. Furthrmore, those who respond to critisicm with violence only engender mistrust and hurt their own cause. It is up to muslim scholars around the world to educate their followers on the importance of mutual respect. Only then can we put this nonsense behind us and focus on solving real problems.

Thursday afternoon update from Stockholm

I went dancing last night at La Isla. It had been about 2 months since I did any salsa dancing so I was a bit out of practice. But the basic moves came back to me after a few minutes. The ones I remember the most easily are the standard Rueda de Casino moves.

I saw some familiar faces, but not too many. There were a lot of people there I had never seen before. Also, the place has changed quite a bit since I was there last. They added a disco ball and two blacklights, so the dance floor has more of a nightclub feel than before. The blacklights make one look like a zombie out of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. And the hundreds of little flashing beams of light cast by the disco ball are a bit distracting. Overall, it's less easy to dance with the new lights. But the music was good and the people friendly.

I caught the number 4 buss from Fleminggatan to Valhallavägen; there I took the red subway line from KTH home. There were workers in the subway station repairing the tracks. They usually do that sort of maintenence work late at night.





Today I awoke feeing like I was coming down with a cold. After cup of coffe and some breakfast, and I was back to normal though.

There is a stubborn clog in the drain of my kitchen sink. I have removed the water trap and cleaned out the pipes the best I can. But the drainpipe below where the water trap goes is still clogged. I have used caustic soda and boiling water, and even a long piece of wire in an attempt to loosen the clog. So far, no dice. I'm thinking of buying a long wire drain unclogger thingy at the hardware store this afternoon. Good things to have, those.

Today I've been working from home. It's nice to be able to do that because I can keep my cats company. Also, I can prepare an inexpensive lunch rather than spending 70 kronor at a restaurant in the city. Today I'm eating leftover chicken curry from last night. I can say that it's not easy to prepare food without a working sink. Also, I don't have a microwave because Lotta took it when she moved into her new place a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to get a new microwave and toaster, but so far I haven't found ones I like. They're either too flimsy and appear as though the might fall apart after one year's use; or they're adorned with pieces of pointless metal-colored plastic trim. My message to appliance manufacturers is this:

Either make it out of sturdy plastic, or make it out of metal. Don't try to make plastic look like metal. You're not fooling anyone.

Ok, back to work.

Here's another version of my name written in Chinese characters.

Climbing, Monday 30 January 2006

Monday night I went climbing as usual with Lisa and Anna.

It was one of my best climbing nights in a long time. Even when my hands got tired, I felt like I could still climb some more. I even did the tricky yellow route that had vexed me for so many weeks.

I have good days and bad days. Last Wednesday was a bad day. Monday was a very good day.

Anna poses in preparation for her relentless attack on the wall.

Lisa almost bests the orange route.

The view from above.

Taking a break.