Chapter 188 Wanted: Dinner suggestions

Verse 1

As some of you might recognize it is very easy to get stuck in a rut dinner-wise. For some reason, laziness, old habits or other you end up cooking the same things over and over. Usually you alternate between 5-7 different things and they go round and round so now i am begging for some new ideas.

Truly bogged down

Please get me some new recipes to try out!

Chapter 187 Pineapples and mulled wine

Verse 1

Another quite relaxed day today. We will go to Ns parents for dinner and mulled wine, hurray for not having to cook but besides that we have zero plans.
We have bought them a very large pineapple as a gift but it's a long story to understand why that's funny.

Chapter 186 Back and all done in by relaxation

Verse 1


I am back and if not improved in actuality at least i feel like it.
N took me to Hasseludden Yasuragi where we stayed in this very room.

Our room at Yasuragi

The room or mini-suite named Wa meaning harmony was very nice indeed with a  big bed two steps up and you can see the sliding doors out to the balcony with a view over woods and Halvkakssundet. That i would have liked to have the wooden cabinet you see in the pictures goes without saying.

The bed

Not our view but this is the water in question, Halvkakssundet

The large bathroom had a big bathtub made of dark-red wood that easily sat two people.To fill that up with steaming hot water and  having a glass of champagne within reach can be recommended.

There are two restaurants and we went to Teppanyaki and i think that is where you should go. I am sure that the food is very good at both places but at Teppanyaki they prepare the main-courses at your table.

You are seated around a big hotplate and to see the food is being prepared right in front of you is good for the appetite. It is also a perfect opportunity to watch, learn and ask questions from the chef.
I want a hotplate like that by the way.

The menu:

Starters:
Different varieties of sushi and sashimi
Sobanudlar with shiitake
Roast beef with garlic and ginger
Vegetarian Goy (Goy = Fresh Spring roll)
Sour red cabbage with tofu
Ikasallad
Chilli and lime marinated herring

Main courses:
Usuyaki with seafood
Grilled marinated salmon
Negimaki (thinly sliced enterecôte with spring onion)
Fried Gyoza (bundle with chicken or vegetable filling)
Main courses served with vegetables, dipping sauces and rice

Dessertbuffè

Vanilla-panacotta

Coconut truffles

Chocolate cake with cherries

Vanilla dumplings

And more!

Another thing you have to try out is the Japanese baths and do not miss the hot pools outdoors. It is a very special thing to be bathing outside in the dark with the stars above floating in a very warm pool surrounded by the cold November air.

Pool indoors

Pools outdoors. Do not miss!

The bar we had some Japanese whisky at is called The Sake bar and if Bill Murray had been sitting there just as in Lost In Translation we would not have been surprised.

With the lounge-music, lighting and general atmosphere Bill would have been the crowning piece..

The Sake bar

One very special thing about this place is that the time you are there you wear a Yukata. This is a cotton robe and your wear it to and from the baths and during dinner. Once you get past the initial feeling of walking around in a robe all day it is very liberating and very soon it feels just right.

The Yukata is decorated with two Japanese signs: fuku that means "luck and joy" and kotobuki that means "true happiness" and if you don't leave this place with a little more of both than you arrived with, i will be very surprised.

Chapter 185 Missing person: Possibly me

Verse 1

There won't a very long post today because N is whisking me off somewhere unknown and i have no idea what we are doing there. It's a surprise and i think the victim often usually is very surprised when they are given a shovel and told to start digging.a hole at least 1820 mm deep, 2300 mm long and 760 mm wide.

I am course not all worried and it will be exciting to see what she has cooked up but if i'm not back tomorrow please notify the authorities that i was last seen wearing black shoes, blue jeans and a black jacket.

There will be a reward for my safe return.

Chapter 184 Google Wave invites have arrived

Chapter 1

I have finally received my Google Wave invites! Now i can at last get some more friends in to wave with!

Chapter 183 Review: Paranormal Activity (varning some spoilers)

Verse 1

Movies about the supernatural and unexplainable are always something i am interested in seeing and i am also inclined to liking them even before i have seen them. Movies in the style of The Blair Witch Project and now this Paranormal Activity come now and again but for some reason they don't excite me as much and the more media-hyped they are the less excited i get.

So despite those early misgivings i have now seen Paranormal Activity and must say it was way better than i had expected it to be.
One thing i want to say right up front is that Micah and Katie actually come across pretty much like regular people and that is one of the things that make this movie as good as it is.
With that being said there are a number of things that are not so good. First of all is the fact that it takes so long for the movie to take off. If i am being kind it is something like 30 minutes but if i would be less so it takes about an hour before something really happens.
One hour in is when night 20 is and that is one scene that was really something extra. Not violent or full of special effects at all, the movie has very few of those but there is a sense of real fear as the entity truly demonstrates its powers.

When the movie finally starts rolling along its not bad at all except possibly for a scene of another haunted person called Diana that unfortunately lessens the suspense and more has the feel of a bad Youtube-clip. They could have done that differently and kept the documentary feel that got lost a little at that moment.
From what i have read there has also circulated a number of alternate endings and it's possible that another one would have been better.
The ending comes very abruptly and did not seem right at all for me. It is anticlimactic and i have serious doubts about if actual law enforcement officers would have acted like they do in Paranormal Activity and that's the sort of thing that cheapens a movie for me.

The movie could well have been ten minutes longer with a more satisfying end but as it is i would say that for some of my friends it could be worth getting a babysitter but with the recommendation that this movie is probably best watched in a darkened living-room with only a few candles lit and you huddled up under a blanket.
Distractions like those you can get in a theatre with the wrong crowd will definitely ruin a lot of the mood of the movie so avoid that if you can.

Chapter 182 I enjoyed yesterday more

Verse 1

As you might have read i wandered about Stockholm yesterday and if i had had a tracking device attached to me it might have looked a little like below.
Speaking paranoically it is recommended that if you are being chased you should try to put as many corners/turns between you and your pursuers as possible. It is not about distance as much as you would think.

Pursuers would have hated this

Today i unfortunately had to spend an hour doing something completely different that wasn't nearly as fun or relaxing.

I think i will ask Santa for an industrial-type hoover this Christmas

I didn't really clean up an attic like this but hoovering the apartment is just about as enjoyable. You would think that the three cats could get together and do this small thing as payment for room and board seeing it's mostly cat-hair in the end anyway.

Lazy gits!

Chapter 181 Aimless but not pointless

Verse 1

Today after having had lunch with two friends i decided to take a walk through Stockholm, or decided is probably not the right word for what happened.
I had headphones and music on and the next thing i knew i had been strolling around for an hour.

Thinking back it was extraordinarily relaxing to just lean back into to the music and let the environment and things happening around me guide my steps. If the sidewalk leaned to the right i went right, if that street was too crowded i went left instead and it all happened instinctively.
All the while thoughts were presenting themselves and it was not the seemingly important ones and i can't really remember them all but just random items that regularly crowd ones mind.
I think the trick to fully enjoy and benefit from a walk like this it is good to not have an agenda, do not focus on any one thought or problem that you have and do not decide where you want to go in advance.
Let it just happen.

I can remember years ago when i was living in Eskilstuna when i could go out walking in the rain taking some good music with me and a camera. When you can combine inspirational with relaxing like that i believe you are on to a good thing that is worth treasuring.

No expensive therapy, counseling or medicine with any number of side-efects. Just you letting go a little.

Chapter 180 Aaron Sorkin, that guy can sure write

Verse 1

We have taken to watching an episode of The West Wing over dinner, they are pretty much the perfect length and as there is usually nothing worthwhile to watch on a regular channel it works out great.
I have come to realize during this that Aaron Sorkin, the guy behind such tv-series as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The West Wing is really gifted when it comes to dialogue.
The fluent style of the conversations and the often hidden wit of both these series is very enjoyable. That the casting is great and the characters portrayed often are likeable and interesting is of course a big bonus.

Aaron's collaboration with Thomas Schlamme and the frequently employed technique called the "walk and talk" has provided me with many hours of good tv and i hope to see many more

Chapter 179 Twilight: New Moon (varning: will annoy Twilight fans)

Verse 1

I have seen New Moon and i loved it, so much better than the first movie! The ill-fated love between Edward and Bella take a back-seat to a much more promising new relationship as Bella spends time with the mysterious Jacob. That Bella is coolness herself riding that old bike makes it so much better.

On the subject of Loup Garou or the werewolf and the popular opinion that they are nothing more than brutal, unthinking animals running loose without control i will say that then you are simplifying things too much. They are only presented as such by those who cannot see beyond the slick facade of the polished vampire or those who are blind to the possibilities.
Sadly it is naturally so that we will never see a werewolf portrayed as anything more than an over-sized dog as long as there is vampire in the script. Vampires are so much cooler, or so they would have us believe.

Verse 2

What you just read above is what i could have written being someone else entirely.
I have not seen Twilight: New Moon and will not see it in the theatre unless my ticket is paid for and there is a free dinner in it for me afterwards. I will instead let my admittedly slightly biased and negative opinion based on the first movie that i did see decide for me.
I have also read enough reviews, both positive and negative to feel that by not going i am saving myself a lot of sighs and moans. Not over the fine acting or magnificent script but over a melodramatic movie intended to cash in on a media-boosted hype on one hand and over too many naked torsos on the other.

Let it be known that i do not claim to have a better or in any way more refined taste in movies than anyone else. I like any number of movies that could be considered rubbish by many and rightly so.
I am hoping to see an actual review of the movie on any of my friends blogs very soon.

Chapter 178 Three movies on my To See-list

Verse 1

I can't believe i have actually missed that these three movies were coming! They are all movies i will see and judging by the trailers they will be my cup of tea to the bone.
A mix of expressions there i know, it was intentional.

Daybreakers

Pandorum

Legion

A collection of movies in the genres of sci-fi, the supernatural and mythology. What more can you ask for? Meet me at the theatre!

Chapter 177 Jimmy Choo's H&M collection now on Tradera and ebay

Verse 1

We have seen it before with the special-collections for H&M by Madonna, Matthew Williamson, Karl Lagerfeld and now Jimmy Choo.

The media-hype, the long lines before the stores open and the items being sold out very fast just to end up on different auction-sites such as Tradera and ebay just a few hours after release.
As reported by Expressen guesses are that prices will be doubled on Tradera with this new trend called "instant vintage" or "instant second-hand"
As opposed to a new car that significantly decreases in value as soon as you drive it off the lot these collections might actually double their worth as you leave the store.
That is not a bad bargain and it is no wonder that many now buy the clothes and accessories for the sole purpose of selling them for a good profit.

When will H&M take it one step further and be so bold as to launch their next collection on Tradera and ebay themselves? Let the market set the price. It is obvious that there is a clear demand and a proven willingness to shop online so why not rise to the occasion?
That the inherent publicity-value of such a move would be enormous is surely also without a doubt.

Be brave, be bold, be successful!

Chapter 176 Book away! #15

Verse 1

Author: Joe Donnelly
Original title: The Shee

Verse 2

Ireland, small town, archaeological dig and an ancient evil. That is what makes up this book more or less and that is most likely also what you will remember of it later. At least those are the major points that i can recall.
I think it will do as a mean of passing the time to and from work but i hope someone will enjoy it more.

Verse 3

Will be given away in Vällingby sometime during the next two hours.

Chapter 175 Necessities of life: The chainmail

Verse 1

There are a number of things i think that everybody should have. One thing that i believe is lacking from the closets of all too many is the chainmail shirt. This item of thousand upon thousands of interconnected metal-rings come in any number of styles, short-sleeved, long-sleeved and you can even get a chainmail top if you want.

Custom-made to size

I will stick to the one i got that looks like the picture below except that mine is black. A more stylish and timeless thing to wear that also is handmade is hard to think of and everybody should try one on at least once in their life.
It's a weird sensation almost like wearing metal silk the way it moves when worn.

For those of you that are still not convinced that this is a good investment i will point out that a chainmail garment will also protect you when the zombies come.
It is almost 100% guaranteed that a zombie will not be able to bite through and infect you if you wear chainmail.
If that is not reason enough right there i don't know what else to say. Fashion and armor together at last!

20000 metal-rings of zombie-protection

Order now! I am sure operators are standing by.

Chapter 174 A bottle of Tequila, two beans and a spoonful of sugar

Verse 1

Beans come in a number of varities, black, kidney, brown and jelly. The only kind i can stomach besides jelly is the brown and that is entirely thanks to my grandmother, or rather the lady we all called grandmother. Later we found out she really wasn't but that is another story.

Anyway, i used to spend a couple of hours there some days when i was younger while my mother was at work and she introduced me to the brown beans and the trick i still use today on how to serve them.
You sprinkle them with sugar just as you would if it was a dessert.
Plain old sugar and no matter how weird it may sound i will tell you now that i will never eat them any other way.

While we are on the matter of beans i will make it clear that beans do not belong in a real chili!
No tomatoes, white beans, yellow onions or ground meat.
If any one is interested in making an amazing chili i can send you a recipe that is tried and true and very easy to follow.
Be sure to have tequila and beer aplenty at home though for the recipe demands it.

By request i have now added the recipe to the chili. Bon appetit!
It is well worth the effort.
I can't take any credit for it as i found it myself 1991 in Expressen.

VÄRLDENS BÄSTA CHILI

Receptet hittade vi ursprungligen i en bok av Texas-journalisten
Francis X Tolbert, en man som vigde sitt liv åt denna eldiga köttgryta.

Det hela började på det tidiga 60-talet då Tolbert skrev en artikel som
fick rubriken "Jakten på den äkta chilin".

Under de kommande åren fick han 48 000 brevsvar från världens alla
hörn. Han läste, lagade, reste, provåt och intervjuade levande legender
som Cap Warren, den siste ranchkocken som fortfarande kokade
mat åt sina cowboys på en vedeldad spis bakpå den täckta kokvagnen.

Ganska snart kunde Tolbert slå fast vad som a b s o l u t inte får
finnas med i en chili:
• tomater
• vita bönor
• gul lök
• köttfärs
Äkta chili lagar man nämligen på hela köttbitar och rätt lagad ska den
vara just vad namnet chili con carne antyder: rödpeppar med en
viss tillsats av kött.

Det stora problemet visade sig vara att hitta den rätta blandningen av
olika pepparsorter så att chilin får en bred fyllig hetta som varar länge
och inte enbart blir olidligt skarp.

Till sist tvingades Tolbert arrangera ett världens första chili-VM och det
recept som vi publicerar här är en variant av det som segrade
- NORTH TEXAS RED.

Det recept som följer är en lätt försvanekad version. Ingen som prövat det har
klagat på styrkan, men många har haft svårt att hitta de rätta ingredienserna.
För er som bor i Stockholm rekommenderar vi en butik som heter BBQ & Chili
som har det mesta i chili-väg och dessutom en stor sortering salsor och såser.

Det här är vad du behöver:
• En mycket stor svart järngryta
• En stekpanna
• En liten kastrull
• En helflaska tequila
• Sex burkar ljust öl, helst det mexikanska Corona.
• 5 torkade ancho-pepparfrukter (De är stora, mörkt brunröda och finns i
affärer som säljer latinamerikansk mat. I nödfall kan de ersättas med en
blandning av mörkrött chilipulver och ett antal flådda, urkärnade
röda paprikor.)
• 1 chipotle-peppar (Röd, rökt. Finns konserverad i latinamerikanska
affärer.)
• 3 birdseye-pepparfrukter (Små spetsiga klarröda. Kan ersättas av
torkad, mald piri-piri).
• 4 jalapeno-pepparfrukter (Knubbiga, gröna. Finns på burk i de flesta
välsorterade livsmedelsaffärer. Ta den starka varianten.)
• Baconfett (eller olja) att steka i.
• 10 stora vitlöksklyftor, grovt hackade.
• 5 kilo oxkött, skuret i centimeterstora tärningar.
• En halv kopp mjöl.
• En kopp chilipulver.
• Två koppar mörk oxbuljong.
• 2 matskedar spiskummin. (Kännarna kan inte komma överens om
kryddan ska rostas innan den används eller inte.)
• 2 matskedar oregano.
• 2 matskedar malda korianderfrön.
• 1/2 matsked socker.
• Salt, efter smak. Börja försiktigt!
• Lite grovt majsmjöl, masa harina.
Så här gör du:
1. Ta dig en rejäl tequila. En platta med gamla Hank Williams-låtar bidrar
också till så att det rätta chili-perspektivet på tillvaron infinner sig.
2. Börja sedan med pepparn. Rensa bort stjälkar och frön. Koka den torkade
pepparn 15 minuter under lock, ställ åt sidan och låtsvalna.
3. Rensa och hacka den övriga pepparn. Ställ åt sidan. (Här är
en varning på plats. Peppar är starkt. Den BRÄNNS. Se upp för
ångorna när du kokar och tvätta händerna noga efteråt. Och
tänk noga på vad då gör med fingrarna det närmaste dygnet.
Om du petar dig i näsan kan du lika gärna göra det med
lödkolven.)
4. Ta ett glas tequila till, ett rejält glas. Det kommer att behövas. Nu
börjar det nämligen dra ihop sig.
5. Fräs vitlöken mjuk och brun. Lägg i grytan.
6. Öka värmen i stekpannan och börja stek köttet. Ta lite i sänder och rör
om ordentligt så att bitarna steks på alla sidor. Lägg ner i grytan. Detta är
ett varmt, osigt och tidsödande slitgöra som kräver både tålamod och tequila.
7. Blanda mjöl och chilipulver. Strö över köttet i grytan.
8. Sila av den blötlagda pepparn, men spara vattnet. Mosa den kokta
pepparn, tillsätt sedan all peppar till köttet.
9. Häll på pepparvattnet, oxbuljongen och öl tills vätskan täcker köttet.
Koka upp.
10. Nu är chilin på väg. En nöjd kock kan ta ett steg tillbaka, beundra sin
skapelse och belönar sig själv med ytterligare en tequila, raskt åtföljd
av det resterande ölet.
11. Låt chilin småkoka. Rör ner spiskummin, oregano och koriander. Rör ofta
så att mästerverket inte bränns fast i botten.
12. Fortsätt kokningen tills köttet börjar falla sönder. Det bör ta två,
tre timmar.
13. Tequila!!!
14. Det kan hända att chilin är lite lös när den närmar sig slutkokningen.
Riktiga Texasbor reder den då med grovt majsmjöl.
15. Gör slut på den sista skvätten tequila (om du inte redan gjort det).
16. Ta av grytan och skumma bort det fett som samlats ovanpå.
Den här satsen räcker till ett tjugotal normala människor, men högst
tio chiliälskare.

Servera chilin i små, djupa tallrikar. Många gillar att äta den med
majschips till, en klick cremé fraiche eller lite grovt riven cheddarost
ovanpå. Servera sallad, bröd, guacamole (avocadoröra) och stora
mängder ljust öl till.

Musiken är nästan lika viktig. Satsa på någon genuint: Hank Williams,
Buddy Holly, Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff Walker, Flaco Jiminez, Butch Hancock,
Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen eller Gram Parsons.
Fram mot natten passar det utmärkt att spela Freddy Fenders odödliga
"Before the next teardrops falls", Doug Sahms "Wasted days and wasted
nights" eller Creedende Clearwater Revivals "Lodi".
Det går också att spela Wilco, Weeping Willows och helst bör alla sjunga
allsång i någon gammal Carter Family sång typ "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"
Volymen bör vara öronbedövande. Sjung med. Skråla gärna. Och kom ihåg,
en äkta chiliafton S K A spåra ur fram mot natten.

FOTNOT 1: Sedan första publiceringen har vi mottagit en rad klagomål mot
tequilan i detta recept. De som har hört av sig har varit rörande ense om
att en helflaska är alldeles för lite. Naturligvis var den mängden enbart en
rekommendation, anpassad för en person.

Och kollegan Peter Svensson har förslagit en intressant variant. Den
följer här:

SNABB-CHILI:

I nödfall kan alla ingredienser utom tequilan utgå. I sådana fall
förkortas koktiden avsevärt.

FOTNOT 2: Nyårsafton 1990 lagade Jan Gradvall och Stefan
Lindström chili och följde detta recept slaviskt. Ingen av dem
minns någonting efter klockan 18.00 men överlevande har berättat
att kvällen var ovanligt lyckad.

FOTNOT 3: Texten ovan är en lätt omarbetad och uppdaterad
version av ett recept som publicerats två gånger i Expressen. Först
1988 och sedan 1991. Under några år var detta den mest efterfrågade
artikeln i tidningens arkiv. Vännerna på textarkivet berättar att de till
och med fick en förfrågan på en kopia från Saudiarabien under
Desert Storm.

FOTNOT 4: denna text får fritt spridas och kopieras under förutsättning
att ni inte blandar bönor i chilin.

Chapter 173 Review: Pizza and raiding

Verse 1

Yesterday we ordered pizza and did a long raid, i was looking forward to the pizza but was sceptical to the raid.
As it turned out i got it wrong. The pizzas was not as good as we had expected them to be and the raid went very well.
It is weird how expectations can be turned around like that. I am frankly quite disappointed about the pizzas and to think they messed up both of them. Not good at all.

Today we are playing it safe with some nice steaks in front of the tv and the second season of West Wing!

Chapter 172 Pizza and raiding

Verse 1

So after a couple of hours lying on the sofa reading under a blanket it is time for some food. To continue on the started path of least possible effort we will order pizza. We have found that the place just a block away make very good pizza, certainly better than the others we have tried around here.
After that there is a big raid scheduled which will take care of the rest of the evening. I expect the raid will be a very painful event so it is with mixed feelings i look forward to it.

Wish me luck.

Chapter 171 Book away! #14

Verse 1

Author:Robert Ludlum
Original title: The Cry Of The Halidon

Verse 2

When i look through my books to pick one out for this i am constantly surprised by how i can't remember where they all come from. This is one of those that seems to have just appeared on the shelves.
So what to say about the book? It is a typical book for both it's genre and by Ludlum.
There will be no surprises and you will soon forget most about what you just read or was that just me?

Verse 3

Will be given away sometime during the next two hours someplace around T-centralen

Chapter 170 V vs V - New Visitors have arrived

Verse 1

A while back i heard that a remake of the very popular sci-fi tv series V from the 80s was coming. I am sure every one not too young remembers it and all the excitement about the helpful visitors from space.
It was one of those shows everybody watched and discussed the day after, to miss it would have been terrible.
I can remember the first time we got to see a visitor eat a rodent, those were the days of great television and youthful innocence. Now we have seen it all and it takes some really original ideas to make us raise an eyebrow in chock.

There was of course one person in particular from V of that day that i am sure we all looked at with a special eye, both us boys but also the girls. I am naturally talking about Diana.

Jane Badler as Diana

I mean how hot was she!? Looks and attitude combined made her one sexy ruthless commander. Who even  cared that she was a cold-blooded lizard underneath that perfect skin.

But now we have a contender for the throne in the new series. I watched the pilot episode a few days back and even though we haven't been shown that much of the new commander i think we have a winner.

I give you Anna.

Morena Baccarin as Anna

A much more quietly confident and subtle commander than Diana i think and almost hope that Anna will win humanity over.
With eyes to kill for and a smile you would be a grateful recipient of it is hard to believe there is more than meets the eye here. Surely she can't mean to hurt us?

Chapter 169 Review: Google Wave Gadget - Mindmap

Verse 1

So today i tried out a a Mindmap in Google Wave. I have always been fascinated by the concept although i haven't really tried it for real and will and have probably used it all "wrong".

The one i tried here is very simple and i found it to be restrictive in it's simplicity rather than inviting.

Mindmap

It has a rigid structure like one we could expect to see but it have been nice with some others to choose from especially one with the keyword centered. There are a number of icons to use and mark words with but i missed the possibility to highlight words and use other text-colors as additional means of differentiating.

You could also move branches but it was unclear as to it would look as a result and there was no way to undo such a move.

 In summation i would say that this i something you can use for a while but i expect to see more advanced versions later on.

Chapter 168 Review: Google Wave Gadget - Napkin

Verse 1

This is the first one of a series of reviews of some of the different elements that make up Google Wave.
One big part will have to be the Gadgets, these are built by both Google themselves and developers using the API provided. I expect to see a great number of fun and useful products in the future as Wave matures.

The one me and N tried just the other day is called Napkin and is a very ordinary drawing tool with some basic features.
You have a palette of colors and a brush which you can change the size on, clear and undo and that's it. I would liked to have seen some more like the ability to draw shapes as square and circles together with a few more of the things we are used to from Paint.

All in all Napkin is a simple tool that you can have surprisingly fun with as you are both drawing simultaneously  on the same canvas.

Below you can see our masterpiece that started with the wavy black line in the center that i intended to represent the sea and as you can see ended up being nothing like the sea at all.
The direction the picture took might actually symbolize Google Wave in some way. You can't really be sure what the end-result will be in a collaborative effort but it will probably be greater that the sum of its parts.

Home of the Bröl-Gök

Chapter 167 Nothing but a question

Verse 1

Sorry faithful readers, i got my energy sucked out of me today so i will just sit back and vegetate after this question.
Why is it so easy to jump to conclusions? Are we that much in a hurry.

Chapter 166 I am a Google Waver!

Verse 1

I have gotten an invitation to Google Wave by a co-worker to N. Many thanks to A for that!
So i will now finally get to try it out and i will of course let you know what i think as i explore the possibilities Goggle Wave offers as a communication device.
As new features are released i will go over them here in turn as well.

Status: Waving

Chapter 165 Review: Southside

Verse 1

Yesterday we went out to get something to eat and have a few beers. We ended up at Southside on Hornsgatan and here are some observations from the evening.

- The place. First of all, it's a typical Irish pub if you look at the interior and there are some english-speaking staff as well so that will give you an idea of the kind of place we are talking about.
We have concluded that you can probably buy the decorations in bulk from somewhere as every Irish pub have the same type of items.

- The music. You might have expected it to be any number of irish songs but we could only identify one and that was something by U2. I say identify because the volume was so low we could hardly hear the music. We looked at the sound-system for the music and the speakers we could see looked like over-sized pc speakers.
They had another set of speakers too that looked like the real deal but they were not in use.
We didn't really mind the volume anyway as the selection they played wasn't really that good.

- The service. Overall it was ok but i felt that they were a bit rushed and inattentive for several reasons.
They could grab a glas of our table that was almost empty - realize their mistake and put it back without saying anything or asking if you wanted another beer perhaps.
They would also take an order from from one of us and leave, not waiting to see if anyone else wanted something too.

- The food. This was probably the best thing about Southside. The menu was quite limited, just some 10 dishes and mostly typical pub items like hamburgers and ribs. The three different ones we tried were ok, not sensational in any way but ok.

The conclusion. We thought that this is an ok place to go for a beer after work but not much more than that.
If i would venture to give it a grade it might be something like: Fair to middlin'.

Chapter 164 What goes on at night? (true story)

Verse 1

Last night around 1am as i was lying in bed reading something odd happened.

Pippin, one of our three cats came in the bedroom making some weird noise like he had something urgent to say. In his mouth he had a white fluffy toy rat that i earlier in the day had sprayed with catnip, he hadn't paid it much attention at the time but now it was obviously important.
The one that he wanted talk to was Seb, another cat who had been sleeping on the carpet next to the bed. Seb was rudely awakened as Pippin dropped the rat on his head.

Pippin then stood there looking at Seb for a minute, not making another sound while Seb seemed confused as i tried hard not to laugh and wake N.

Nothing more happened after that, Pippin walked away, Seb went to sleep again and i was left wondering what Pippin so clearly wanted to get off his chest.

Chapter 163 What? No! Go ask someone else

Verse 1

There are times when you have problems you don't quite know how to adress. I have one and i will try to see if my proposed solution works on it.

The thing is that i have nothing to write about today, nothing at all. Sure you might say that is no different from all my other posts but i convince myself that i at least sometimes have something half-interesting to write about.
So what i am trying to do is to write myself a solution freestyle. Just keep tap tap tapping away at the keyboard and see what it adds up to. At the very least i will come out ahead with the appearance of a post if not with actual enjoyable content.

- Almost like a fathers-day gift. Hurray another tie! 

While we are on the subject of menswear i can just mention the bright orange one with old-style coffee-grinders on it that i have and somewhere i think i have my first one that i got for my graduation in the olden days.
Man that was more than a few years back thank the gods and an untapped source of material.

I now have some ideas for the future so this might have worked after all.
Thank you for your patience.

Chapter 162 Not celebrating at all

Verse 1

Today i witnessed the first snow falling and i am not happy about it at all.
Sure there a some nice things to say about winter, the cold, the troubles it causes for public transportation, the grey slush as the snow half-melts and mixes with sand and car exhausts, the need to dress up like Bibendum. I will not even go into the Christmas decorations and songs you soon will see and hear everywhere you go.
The list goes on but as you notice those are all negative aspects!

Me dressed for winter (but i give it the thumbs down)

It seems i can't think of one truly positive thing that will make me welcome the season to come. Please, do try to convince me i am wrong.

Chapter 161 A lightening on the Google Wave horizon

Verse 1

N has gotten an invite so hopefully she will be able to invite me in turn in a couple of days. It would be nice to finally get a look at this thing.
More to follow as things develop.

Chapter 160 On conference and city-marathon

Verse 1

I have been posting remembered dreams a couple of times lately and here are some snippets of the one last night. It was very disjointed so i will just write what i can recall.

Verse 2

I was away on business and staying at a hotel, it felt like it was for a conference of some kind but i don't know what the topic was. The hotel was paid for by my employer because that was what the rececptionist at the hotel said when she very clearly stated that the company would not pay for the mini-bar.
I think the remark was made to warn me for some reason - Stay away from the mini-bar you drunk or you will have to pay!
One odd thing about the hotel was that my room was number 51213 on the fourth floor. I never got around to asking about that but it seemed like a strange way to do it.

The hotel also had a lot of guests there for another event and several of them i knew. I had worked with them many years before at Procter & Gamble and they were there to compete in the city-marathon.
It was a very special event because for some reason you had to run it naked from the waist down which was kind of weird when runners came down to breakfast  already undressed for the race.
Some kind of tunic seemed to be the garment of choice.

The last thing i remember is that all this took place on Gotland. Gotland is an island to the east of Sweden mostly known for sheep and its landscape with the characteristic Rauks shown below.

It is not known for sheep and its landscape like New Zealand nor the setting for a trilogy like The Lord Of The Rings but it is well worth a visit nonetheless.

Chapter 159 A guest-post by a reader

Verse 1

A little while back i wrote a piece inspired by two words i saw one night, they were Scar Symmetry. It got some very good comments from a reader. They actually made such an impression on me that i asked the reader to do a guest-post for me.
He agreed and has written a piece with its roots in the same topic. I suggest you read the original one together with its comments first and then this one.

Here is the post as written by Jon with my thanks. I hope you all appreciate it as much as i did.

Who's my brothers keeper?

That would be me, of course. The question is closely related to ”Somebody should do something”, ”Why did nobody help him?” ”Something ought to be done about whatever” and so on and so on...

Yeah you should do something, why aren't you doing it right now? Apart from talking about it, I mean.

Why didn't you help him?

OK you think something ought to be done about whatever. I hear ya, so go do what you think needs to be done. Want some company?

Getting back to the second question, talking about it is important. If for no other reason than to get a second opinion, a fresh perspective, the view from another pair of peepers. Also, talking about it might be what it's all about. Some things need talking about. Like why I wasn't my brothers keeper when he needed it. I can't go back in time and do what in hindsight I wish I'd done. I can learn from what happened so that next time my brother needs me, I'm his keeper.

I wrote that there were no easy answers. Maybe not, or maybe they're all easy ones. Depends on what perspective you choose. I think the more basic the question, the easier the answer. Like who's my brothers keeper, or do I wanna be my brothers keeper or do I wanna have close friends and a family. The answers are really simple, what's hard is being my brothers keeper. Sometimes it's hard because the demons he's fighting scare the hell outta me. Sometimes it's hard because another of my brothers need me. Sometimes it's hard because I need me.

So life is hard. Not being my brothers keeper doesn't make it easy. It might make it lonely though.

Which makes me think of Simon & Garfunkels ”I am a Rock”. Listen to it. To me, it's about the price you pay.

The thing which got me writing this guest column was a topic Mats got started about people who hurt themselves intentionally. They choose to cut themselves to relieve the pain they feel inside. The pain of the razor makes the other pain easier. So rock'n roll! If you've found something you need to get through the day then go! I wish it were something other than cutting yourself though. Wanna talk about it?

Once there was this woman on a bench where I live. She was outta it and I couldn't wake her up so I called for an ambulance. These paramedics came, did a quick diagnosis, said she was dead drunk and that they'd take her to the hospital to check her out more thoroughly and rehydrate her. Mission accomplished.

This took me something like half an hour, from outta my apartment, trying to wake her up, calling for help, waiting 'till help came to seeing that the guys treated her humanely and with care.

So there were at least 2 neighbours I saw see the woman and walk right on by. It still pisses me off when I think about it. Sure they had reasons for walking by. Excuses are like assholes, everybody's got one.

Maybe one excuse was the memory of losing a loved one to severe alcohol addiction. Coupled with the experience of not being able to do a damn thing about it. You can't fix people's lives for them, but if the person in question is your mom or dad who's drifting further away every day you sure wish you could. And cos you can't, it can really suck.

When you're really young you turn to your parents when you've hurt yourself. And they make the pain go away. If life is reasonably ok for you, you have friends and family to turn to when you need help. So yeah, you can fix people's lives for them. To a degree. Be your brothers keeper, help him when he needs it so that he can get strong enough to fix his life. And if you are, then your brother will be your keeper. Cool, ain't it?

Thing with the answers is, they gotta be your answers. Some of mine might already be the same as yours. Some are the same but you word them differently. Some are just plain different.

And they change, subtly but constantly. Some retain a constant core, while with some you look back one day and ask, ”What was I thinking!?”. And sometimes that's because things were different back then. The answer now might not have made any sense way back when.

Talking about them interests me. So if you wanna, let's talk.