Helsingborg

What I think:After coming back from holiday (US/CAN: vacation), I had a few gigs lined up, so I was kept busy with rehearsals. I was to play at an IKEA party in Helsingborg with Suckerbucket on the Thursday, September 28th (with a guest appearance for a couple of duets with Twisted Systems - the other IKEA band here in Helsingborg). I also had a couple of gigs with CSI: Helsingborg in the tiny tow

What I think:I just got back last Thursday night after a two-week trip. The main purpose of the journey was to attend a 26th-year high school reunion in Montreal, but I had been incessantly nagged by a friend to visit her in Glasgow for the past few years so, since I had to fly via London anyway (no direct flights to Montreal from Copenhagen), I thought I'd take the opportunity to make a detour up

What I think:Well, it's been two whole years since I've written about dog poop in Helsingborg. It's time for an update.I was walking to the Charles Dickens pub before a band rehearsal the other day, and saw this amazing thing on the pavement (US/CAN: sidewalk):Glömt nåt? is Swedish for "Forgotten something?" I thought that this was very well done, but I would have preferred to get a photo of a

What I think:Just about every medium-to-"large" town and city in Sweden has a festival at some point during the summer months. Helsingborgsfestivalen started last night, so the girlfriend and I went to check it out. During the festival, many streets are closed off, and there are several stages dotted across the city, with all sorts of different music - something for everyone. They're not all bril

What I think:Last Saturday, I went to a wedding with my girlfriend. It was the matrimony of a couple of friends she's known for a number of years.The wedding itself was to take place in a church in a town with an unpronounceable name, near a town called Höör, which I would wrongly (and very inappropriately) pronounce Whore.But first, we stopped off to visit the bride-to-be, so that my girlfrien

What I think:Before I get into this, I'd like to share the end of my African scammer story that I wrote about last week. I'd gotten yet another e-mail after my last, somewhat convoluted, response. It read:Dear Mr Mark Base,Please i can't understand you and did not know what you mean by this mail, I ask you for your full informations so that i can give you the bank contact and you are now writeing

What I think:OK, so I haven't been the best blogger for the past year or so. I haven't provided my adoring public (of four people) with the regular, constant, entertainment they had come to expect from me.And for that I apologise.At this point, I really don't want to make any promises I can't keep, so I will say this: I will massage any grandmothers from Boise, Idaho, who see this blog entry and a

What I think:I'm very sad to relay the news that John Aherne, an Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm over St Patrick's Day weekend, has drowned.His body was recovered just before midday in the water at Norra Hammarby harbour, in the southern part of central Stockholm.I'd written a couple of posts about John's mysterious disappearance, and had been hoping that he would be found safe and well. This is truly tragic, and my deepest heartfelt condolences go out to John's family and friends.The events, from when John went missing, to when the news broke, and leading right up until I sit here writing this, are covered quite touchingly on the discussion forum on The Local (Sweden's news in English). It starts with Karl (John's host in Stockholm) explaining the circumstances surrounding Jo

What I think:Firstly, it's with a heavy heart that I update you about John Aherne, the Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm last Saturday night. John is still missing, and the Stockholm police revealed on Friday their fear that he may have drowned in a nearby harbour. The Local (Sweden's news in English), wrote: "Police conducted a dive in the Norra Hammarby area Södermalm in south-central Stockholm on Thursday and confirmed that something, as yet unidentified, has been found."Today, police conducted another dive - for five hours - which, sadly, proved inconclusive. A further dive is due to take place on Tuesday. Another long, worrisome wait.Police intend to contact the coastguard, and make use of their Remote Operated Vehicle to help with the search.Family and friends are prayi

What I think:Every year, The Tivoli, Helsingborg's main music venue, hosts a Battle of The Bands competition, in which employees from different companies compete. It's called Företagsrock (or "Company Rock").Last year, I had joined a band with some IKEA people, and we decided to enter this year's contest. Because two of the other guys work in a building called Sockerbruket (or "The Sugar Refinery", as it used to be), I half-jokingly suggested that we call ourselves "Suckerbucket".And so it came to pass that Suckerbucket was created, an application was made to enter the competition, and there was much rejoicing (and some rehearsing).We were to play in the very first contest of the first round, against two other bands, on January 17th, 2008. Here's the poster: I would have preferred some ki

What I think:Firstly, let me take this opportunity to wish all Helsingblog readers a Happy New Year; this includes the occasional and accidental, as well as the regulars.Here's looking at you:Now that that's out of the way...I realised today that this blog is now two years old. Hurrah! Two years of memories and idiotic observations immortalised here. I love this big webby thing.I know I used to write a lot more than I do these days, but please bear with me; I'm still kind of distracted with starting up my business here. So far, I've managed to get officially registered, I've received one of the tax documents I'll need, and I've got a logo.Check this out:What do you think? Yes, the company name is We Can English; kind of an ironic play on words. You see, I've noticed (more than once) that s

Καθορίστηκε η τίμη του τσάρτερ που θα μεταφέρει τους φίλους του Πανιωνίου στη Σουηδία για τον πρώτο αγώνα της ομάδας στον όμιλο. Η τιμή είναι στα 440 ευρώ και εμπεριέχει τα αεροπορικά εισιτήρια για τη Σουηδία και την μετάβαση από και πρός το γήπεδο με πούλμαν.Η ώρα αναχώρησης για την εκδρομή στη Σουηδία καθορίστηκε για τις 08:30 στις 25/10. Η πτήση διαρκεί 3 ώρες και 45 λεπτά και θα προσγειωθεί στη πόλη του Μάλμε, 60 χιλιόμετρα απο το Χέλσινγκμποργκ. Απο το Μάλμε θα υπάρξει μετάβαση στο Χέλσινγκμποργκ με πούλμαν. Η αναχώρηση της επιστροφής απο Σουηδία υ

Καθορίστηκε η τίμη του τσάρτερ που θα μεταφέρει τους φίλους του Πανιωνίου στη Σουηδία για τον πρώτο αγώνα της ομάδας στον όμιλο. Η τιμή είναι στα 440 ευρώ και εμπεριέχει τα αεροπορικά εισιτήρια για τη Σουηδία και την μετάβαση από και πρός το γήπεδο με πούλμαν. Η πτήση θα αναχωρήσει το πρωί της Πέμπτης απο το αεροδρόμιο Ελ. Βενιζέλος και θα επιστρέψει αργά την ίδια μέρα. Μόλις καθοριστεί η ακριβής ώρα αναχώρησης και άφιξης, αλλά και ο αριθμός πτήσης, θα ανακοινωθούν αμέσως απο τη ΠΑΕ πανώνιος στο pgss.gr.Για τα μέλη των πανθήρων ισχύει ειδική τιμή που

What I think:One of the many excuses I have for not not having been so very present in the blogosphere these days is that I was busy moving. You may remember that I mentioned some time ago that there's a definite north-south divide here in Helsingborg; many people living in the northern part of the city can be rather snobby, and think that the people living in the southern part are all criminally insane foreign people. That's only partly true.But I've now moved to the north, so that should even things out a bit.There's a bit of a twist to this though, so bear with me.When I first started seeing my girlfriend, nearly a year ago, she had recently rented a flat (US/CAN: apartment) in Stattena (pronounced Sta-tay-na), an area in the northern part of Helsingborg.She's very much a southern Helsingborg girl, except for the fact that she's not foreign. And that her criminal insanity is barely perceptible.But she'd found this nice little place, it was exactly what she was looking for (al

What I think:Probably well over a year ago, I was visiting London for work, and my mate dragged me out to Camden to see a Japanese synth-punk band called Polysics.There I was, having escaped from Sweden to a really cool little music venue above a pub in the UK waiting for a bizarrre Japanese band to come on, when all of a sudden, the supporting band come onto the stage and the singer/guitarist proclaims, "We're Quit Your Dayjob and we're from Malmö, Sweden!"Shit.But it turned out that they were pretty good, in some odd way.However, I couldn't resist confronting "Jonass", as he calls himself, at the merchandise stand later. The conversation went a bit like this:Mark Base: You bastard.Jonass: What?Mark Base: I'm living in Helsingborg now, and I come back here for a break from all things Swedish, and here's this bloody band from Malmö. Bastards.Jonass: Oh, you're living in Helsingborg? Do you know Landskrona?Mark Base: Yeah?Jonass: Well that's where we're actually from. We just

What I think:There's this amazing bag lady in Helsingborg. But I don't mean "amazing" in a "Wow, what a babe" kind of way, as one usually does with most bag ladies.No. Although this one is truly a looker - a veritable hunk o' burnin' love - she's much more than just your average ancient hotty that all normal blokes (US/CAN: guys) like to talk about, and drool over, down the pub, when their girlfriends aren't listening (right, guys?).This one carries all of her stuff without the use of a shopping trolley (US/CAN: cart). And she's got a lot.Although quite shy (though I suspect that that's just an act to ward off us admiring young whipper-snappers. In our forties), she did agree to pose for me while she was in action: But wait, there's more. Tongues back in your mouths, guys.I hear you asking, "But how on earthenware Victorian pottery products does she carry all those bags by herself, poor dear." (I wish that voice would go away.)This is how, in ten magificent steps, this incredi

What I think:I had my first gig as a singer in a band yesterday. CSI: Helsingborg finally played at Bjuvsfestivalen, and I'd say it was pretty successful.I started off by approaching the microphone while putting on a pair of latex gloves, and said, "Good evening Bjuv (pronouncing it "be-jewve"). We're with the crime lab."It was kind of a weird venue really; the stage was set up under a marquee in a carpark (US/CAN: parking lot) just off the main festival road. I've got a few photos of the event to share with you.Here's one taken when we were playing our first song. As you can see, the crowd's going wild. But the angle of that photo is a bit deceiving, as is the apparent enthusiasm of the crowd. It was actually taken from quite far back, inside the beer tent. People were not really sitting very close to the stage.This is actually a truer picture:Here's one of me realising that the beer can I'm picking up is actually empty. Luckily, bassist CSI Per had stocked up, and there was a

What I think:I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I'm a singer in a cover band here in Helsingborg. I'd been in bands before, but never as just a singer; it's always been as a rhythm guitarist, back-up vocalist, with the occasional lead vocals for a few songs (while playing guitar).When my guitarist friend asked me to join his band, my biggest worry, besides my actual singing voice, was what I was going to do with my hands.It turns out that I play a mean tambourine, and I get to whack a cowbell for a couple of songs as well. The rest of the time, my various gestures make me look a bit like a cross between Morrissey and an angry Italian.Because I was asked to join the band, I had very little say as to what songs we play. I was told that it's mainly a blues band.One can sort of tell by looking at me that I'm not really a bluesy kind of guy. But I thought, what the hell; if I could sing a version of "Kung Fu Fighting" with Rude Guru in the 80's, I'm sure I can pull this

What I think:Every year, I think it's during the last Thursday-to-Friday of July, this fine little city hosts a festival, with loads of different music, interesting food stalls (your chance to try a moose kebab), and stalls selling loads of crappy stuff no one needs but just might be drunk enough to buy (your chance to purchase a t-shirt saying "HELSINGBORG FÖR FAN" - translated (roughly) to "HELSINGBORG, DAMMIT"). Wonderful.Some kidding aside, there's actually a very good atmosphere in the city during these three days (days known as "summer" here). People come from miles around to check it out. I think there were even some from as far away as Ramlösa in the south, and Tågaborg in the north.The variety of music is pretty impressive, although many of the tents dotted around the city have cover bands: Sixties stuff, general "right on" (yawn) stuff, and some old Swedish faves, including the dreaded "Dansband" genre (this actually deserves a separate blog entry all its own. Remind me.

What I think:Blog! Oh yeah, I knew there was something I was supposed to do when I got back.Oh dear, It's now been over a month since my last entry. My apologies.I've also been tagged to do yet another one these "things about myself" things. I was tagged by Aaron Cook. I've known Aaron, in the modern never-met-but-paths-seemed-to-have-crossed-over-the-Internet-a-few-times kind of way, for about four years or so.Do check his list of "8 Random Facts". Here's a guy whose tongue detects things in foods that the average tongue cannot. Blessing or curse? You decide.Since I've got a lot of other stuff to catch up on, I thought I'd kill two blogs with one stone just throw in my tag duties at random throughout this entry. For those of you who just want to read those bits, I'll point them out and mark them in bold. OK?First things first; here are "The Rules" of the tag:1. Post these rules before you give you the facts.2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.3. At the end of your pos

What I think:Tomorrow morning, my girlfriend and I will be off on holiday for two weeks. We'll be staying with mates in London, then jetting off to Montreal, my home town, on Friday.Coincidentally, a mate of mine from the UK will be coming to Helsingborg tomorrow. Good result; he gets a free place to stay, and I get someone to look after my flat (US/CAN: apartment, or perhaps condo, since it's bought) and feed my cat while we're away.Here's what he looks like: I feel totally confident.Actually, that photo was taken during a rather long and tedious night out for him, so we can excuse his demeanour on that evening. He's usually slightly livelier than that.We'll be away until July 6th, and I can't guarantee any blogging during this period of absence. In the meantime, feel free to educate yourself with the A-to-Z of Helsingborg. Or have you seen the latest Top Toilet Tips yet?And whatever it is that you decide to do, don't do anything the Swedish government might do something about

What I think:I went to one of Helsingborg's smallest, but coolest (in my opinion), bars the other night - PL13. It's located right across the street from The House of Pain (where I had my tattoos done), Tim's Haircut (where I had my most expensive haircut ever - same post), and the Telegrafen pub (which I visited here and here).I've actually mentioned PL13 a couple of times before (once here, and again here); the music and the atmosphere are good, and the beer is above-average, with slightly below-average prices, for in-town pubs anyway.It's worth going there if you're into music like The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Ramones, The Smiths, Kraftwerk, Placebo, and music of that genre and/or era. Most other pubs seem to play the worst of the past few decades' crap. And asking them if they can put on something else is not unlike asking them why their mothers didn't consider abortion to be the wisest option.I just remembered, the time before I went to PL13 the other night, I was with a fr

What I think:For the third part of this series, I took a walk to The Bishops Arms last Friday evening. I was with a friend who was visiting from England. We'd just been to the Charles Dickens for a couple of beers there, when I decided that it was time to go elsewhere to take a closer look at another pub's facilities. The Bishops Arms (or simply "Bishops", as it's more commonly known) is located very centrally. It's a pretty nice place to go for a few beers, although it's fairly pricey; a decent pint costs around 55 Kronor (US$7.90/£4.00/€5.90).Having said that, the selection of draft lagersthey have is the best in town: And For the homesick Brit,or the locals or tourists who have yet to visit the UK,they also have a few decent ales in the pipes as well.And if whisky's your thing,you won't be disappointed here.All this liquid make me want to go to the toilet.Don't be shy, come along with me.How to get to the toilets:When you enter the pub, you're soon met with a staircase o

What I think: Uh-Oh. I got tagged by Tug. This particular Meme is kind of interesting though. On the one hand, it's cool because it's one that will spread quite widely, if everyone plays how they're supposed to. It's actually gone around the world already. On the other hand, it's a bit of a nightmare for me; you'll soon discover why. Here's what you're supposed to do: 1. Add a direct link

What I think: One for sorrow Two for joy... But what does it mean? What does it mean to see one magpie? Or two? Is it all a personal thing, based upon superstitions we've heard since we were very young, like 27 years old (or younger, if you're going on 26, for example)? But I covered this rhyme, along with its implications for me personally, on March 5th last year. Read about it here -> In

What I think: Since it was a nice day last Saturday, I decided to continue my tour of this fine city's pubs' public convenience facilities with a very outdoorsy place, Hamnkrogen. Hamnkrogen, meaning "Harbour Bar", previously known as Hamnpaviljonen (or "Harbour Pavillion"), is known by a few of us expats as "Circle Bar". Here's why: It's pretty small during the wintertime, as you can only

What I think: Welcome to the first in this new series of Top Toilet Tips, your indispensable guide to the toilets (US/CAN: bathrooms, washrooms, restrooms) in pubs in Helsingborg. Before you visit this fine city in the south of Sweden, you simply must read this guide. I'll start with the Charles Dickens pub, located on Södergatan, in the vibrant and bustling southern part of the city. How to

What I think: I received a comment recently that was "written" in "response" to my blog entry Five Things You Don't Know About Me, which I wrote on February 3rd. This is it: "If you would like to really understand the Kennedy assassination, compare what Dorothy Kilgallen said about the assasination on November 29, 1963:http://surftofind.com/dorothy Compare what Dorothy said with what J. Edgar

What I think: For one of my birthday presents this year, my girlfriend decided to take me to a Punk gig in Helsingborg last week. The band was called Asta Kask, and they'd had some success in the Eighties. That was all I knew. As I've written before, there aren't too many places here in Helsingborg where they (occasionally) have good live music. So the gig took place at the Tivoli - the place.

What I think: It was my birthday yesterday; well today actually, as I haven't gone to sleep yet. Birthday: March 8th Now: March 9th Here's me, a bit too bloody content: At first, I didn't want the photo above to be published, but then I thought: "What the Hell(singborg); I can pretend it's someone else who looks a bit like me." Ish. Here's a so-called Meme you can do when it's your birthday

What I think: Hhmm...It appears that I've been nominated for some kind of a Swedish Blog Oscar on a blog called Kulturbloggen. The nomination was triggered by my previous post, and is in the category of Snow. I swear it's true. It says, "I kategorin Snö nominerar jag inlägget Snowy Chaos in Helsingborg hos Mark Base.Eftersom det har flera bilder som hör till inlägget kan jag inte citera något

Quick post: I'm being sent to Lithuania for work. I'm still trying to work out what I've done to deserve this. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Swedish government may have something to do with this. The point here is that I doubt that I will be able blog from where I'll be. You'll hear from me again when I'm back; by the weekend. This would be a great opportunity for you to relive the

What I think: Well, there I was. I'd finally fulfilled my ambition of being a bitch-slappin' slave boy in the heart of beautiful downtown Vilnius, specially selected from a panel of super agressive Lithuanian prostitutes, one of whom looked suspiciously like Simon Cowell. I considered it to be quite a tough competition, even though I was the only contestant on "British-Canadian Bitch-Slappin'

What I think: Oh, Lordy. When I went to my local (the Charles Dickens pub) the other night, I was informed that they'd caught me on camera "performing" at the Open Stage night that took place on June 22nd, and published it on their website. I've only just viewed/heard it, and I don't mind telling you that if I was the type to get embarrassed, I would be, but I'm not, so I'm not. But it is truly

What I think: The other day, I had arranged a little business meeting at the Charles Dickens pub, during which we discussed many important issues. The business at hand: drinking beer. Oh, and we also discussed something about mortgages or something. The value of my flat has gone up considerably over the past year or so, and I'm thinking about doing a bit of financial consolidation to un-dig my

What I think: You may remember my post at the beginning of May about some weird glass and metal structure that graces the courtyard outside of the office building where I work. This one: In my post, I wondered what the hell it is, and what possible use it could have. I've now been informed by a colleague in my building that this work of "art" is meant to represent a golfball and a golf bag.

Oh dear. It appears that the newly-installed Speaker's Corner will not be a mainstay in southern Helsingborg. It's been pushed to the side, and the little "Speaker's Corner" sign has been unceremoniously ripped from its post. Sad.

What I think: From juvenile to absurd; how's that for a near-seamless sequence, eh? Here we go. Most people have heard of Speaker's Corner in London. For those who haven't, it's located in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in central London, not far from Marble Arch tube station. Many influential and famous people have spoken there, including Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin (of Russia's politcal

What I think: You know, five years ago, if you'd have told me that there are beaches in Helsingborg, I would have strongly recommended that you invest in a cerebral enema. I mean, of course I could believe that there are beaches (I know that Sweden is by no means landlocked), but beaches on which people sit to tan themselves? Pull the other one. Sweden is a cold Scandinavian country. Soon after

What I think: Firstly, I must convey a very Happy Birthday to my big sister: Sis, when we were younger, I thought you were a total bitch, and completely unbalanced - especially for a Libra. But now I think you're OK, and I hope you have a good one. Now that that's out of the way, here's a post about a trip I took to Stockholm last weekend (October 6th-8th, 2006). The purpose of my trip was

What I think: Gosh readers, we've got a lot to catch up on, eller hur? (London-Brit. English, roughly: "innit?") November is not very well-liked in these parts of Sweden; it's just started to get dark, but it's not quite cold enough to be called "winter" yet. It's generally just a really blahhh month all round. I, however, happened to quite enjoy this particular November. I met a girl and I

What I think: I was just about to start posting about my trip to Stockholm last week, when I got this book tag thing from Kodos in Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm only doing this because she's a regular poster on www.thelocal.se (Sweden's news in English), and I met her personally in Gothenberg, so I know she really exists. I know she's not a world-government-employed netbot, trying to get inside

What I think: A few nights ago, I went out with the Yank (a.k.a. Johnny), another visiting Yank (Kai), and a visiting Brit (Neil). We went to a fairly popular bar here in town called Utposten ("The Outpost"). We had arranged to meet a few girls we knew, who were at the wedding we went to last month. Neil had just arrived that day, and was rather tired, as he'd taken the early flight from

What I think: Warning: this is a very long post. Get some popcorn, or something. -> Brief introduction, for your entertainment pleasure: Now and the past... I'm back in Helsingborg now. I was in England last week, and flew back to Sweden on Monday, September 11th. It was actually quite freaky flying on September 11th, for some reason. Took ages to get through security as well. Then as soon as

What I think: For quite a few years, I had wanted to get a tattoo done but, like many people, I couldn't really think of anything that I might not be embarrassed about by the time I reach puberty (which has got to happen one of these years, for God's sake). It wasn't until about a year after I'd moved to Sweden, at age thirty-eight, that I'd finally made up my mind. I would get two tattoos on

What I think: As you may have realised by now, I strive to bring you a fair, well-balanced, impartial, as well as informative, view of what it's like for a British-Canadian expat to live in Swedish society. And I'm extremely proud to say, if I may be so bold, that I fail miserably at doing so. This is why it is with utter shock, confusion, dizziness, minor palpitations, and a few mysterious

What I think: Well, the results are in, and I didn't win the "Blog Emmy" for Best Foreign Blog this time. Just as well; I probably would have behaved like a cross between Sly Stallone off Rocky, Homer Simpson, the Family Guy, and that stupid baby-faced baldy bloke who's now in charge of Sweden. The winner was someone called Mar, who lives in Barcelona, Spain. Check out her blog called "

What I think: Firstly, totally off-topic, I've been watching Sky News on telly because there's been a tornado in residential Kensal Rise, Northwest London. Weird. No one was killed - it happened at about 11:00 a.m. GMT, so most people were at work - but six were injured, one of them seriously. Hundreds of people have to find somewhere to sleep tonight because their homes have had their roofs

What I think: As my regular readers may have realised, I usually write about idiosyncrasies about Sweden I've found as an expat living here. But I got tagged a couple of days ago, by a Canadian blogger called Lost In Life, to list six weird things about myself. I've then got to tag six other people. At first, I thought this would be quite a difficult thing to do, as there is very little that's

Hey look! It's a handy and educational reference post! For your convenience, I've decided to list my previous observations about life in Sweden by key words, and in alphabetical order. I will add topics to this post as I go along, so be sure to come back to check out this page from time to time. I wanted to make this a complete A-to-Z, but it appears that I don't cover all of the letters of

What I think: When I first came to Sweden, I was keen to start learning Swedish as soon as possible; I had moved in with a girlfriend who had two children under ten, and they didn't know any English at the time. Animals and body parts I started studying these little picture books to try to help me build a vocabulary of nouns describing all kinds of things: from stuff you find in every room of

What I think: There's quite a difference between people who live in the northern part of Helsingborg and those in the south. Many people who live in the north are extremely snobby, and often brag about not living in the south. It may seem like a sweeping generalisation, but it's been proven to me time and time again. Example One: A couple of weeks ago, I arranged to meet a visitor from New

What I think: You know that "fashion" of wearing trousers (US/CAN: pants) that are too big for you, so that the top of them actually comes down to about halfway to your knees? It seems that a lot of people in Helsingborg are really into this "look". I find it both entertaining and educational; you really get a good insight about the current trends in pants (US/CAN: underwear). Like I care.

What I think: Helsingborg is a beautiful city. So beautiful, in fact, that it's a great place to get away from once in a while - just to enjoy its splendour anew - all over again. Except in the winter. During the winter, doing the laundry is more fun than Helsingborg. Try doing your laundry in Helsingborg in the winter. Before you start thinking that I've started working for the Swedish Tourist

Quick note: I've just added loads more links from the entry I made on February 13th, 2007. Many are to fellow bloggers, and many are to other sites on the Internet. Some are relevant and some not, some are educational, and many are ridiculous. That is all.

What I think: Today was "Fat Tuesday" in Sweden (aka Shrove Tuesday in some other countries). There's a pastry called a Semla that it's tradition to eat on this day; the idea is to fatten you up before giving everything up for lent. It's basically a bun with the top chopped off, the bottom part then has some kind of sweet almond paste and topped with whipped cream, then the bun's top is

What I think: Last Saturday, I was supposed to meet my mate the Yank for a few beers. He was out with a Brit in the afternoon for a few drinks, and told me to give him a call if I wanted to join them later. It turned out that I did indeed fancy some over-priced crappy beer that evening, so I gave him a call. When he answered, he said he was at the bowling alley. I remembered that I had been

What I think: *Note to any bosses at work who might read this: It's lunchtime, OK? I'm not blogging during working hours. So there. The weather in Helsingborg has been weird this winter. It's been so mild, with hardly any snow, and the little that we did have melted in no time. Then yesterday, it started snowing. Lots. And this morning, The Local (Sweden's news in English) reported that