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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 202 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 604028 |
| Visitors Out: 1842 |
| Total Visitors Out: 4050 |
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| Sunday, August 3rd, 2008: Doggy do's and don't's in Helsingborg |
| 2008-08-03 09:19:00 |
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 dog pooping on the representation of poop. Now that would have been classy.That's what I think. ...
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| Friday July 25th, 2008: Letting it all hang out at Helsingborg's Festival, 2008 |
| 2008-07-25 10:10:00 |
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 brilliant, but depending on what you're into, many are worth checking out. It's really the only time that Helsingborg really comes alive, and has a good sparkly atmosphere. People are relaxed and chilled out; they just let it all hang out.There were a few bands/artists that my girlfriend specifically wanted to see last night, s...
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| Friday, May 23rd, 2008: Scamming scammers from Africa from Helsingborg |
| 2008-05-22 18:08:00 |
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 answer within the next two days (offer valid from May 23rd until the 25th, 2008). And I will make an effort to blog a bit more frequently. OK?At this point, however, I would just like to share with you a little e-mail conversation I had with an e-mail scammer today, probably from Nigeria (in Africa), but I can't be sure. It touched my heart. You wanna know what it...
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| Wednesday, March 26th, 2008: Rest in peace, John Aherne - A day of sadness in Helsingborg, Stockholm, and Wicklow, Ireland |
| 2008-03-26 08:36:00 |
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) explai...
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| Sunday, March 23rd, 2008: Pools of sorrow, waves of joy in Helsingborg |
| 2008-03-23 16:48:00 |
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...
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| Thursday, March 20th, 2008: Desperately seeking John Aherne: Irish tourist missing in Stockholm |
| 2008-03-20 09:56:00 |
What I think: OK, I know I haven't blogged for a long while, and I will get around to doing a "normal" post at sometime in the near future (I promise), but I want to take this opportunity to spread the word about an Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm last Saturday night. John Aherne was over from Ireland, visiting his friend Karl. During an evening out together with a group of friends, John decided to leave the group and head back to Karl's (Karl had given him some spare keys). He stopped for a nightcap at the restaurant on the ground floor of Karl's flat. While he was there, he just popped out for a smoke - leaving his coat and mobile at the bar - and has not been seen since. This was in the southern part ...
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| Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008: Företagsrock - Corporate Battle of The Bands in Helsingborg |
| 2008-01-23 09:05:00 |
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 firs...
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| Sunday, December 30th, 2007: Happy New Year, and Helsingborg - The Video (introducing a local celebrity) |
| 2007-12-30 11:04:00 |
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, ...
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| Sunday, December 9th, 2007: An update and a Helsingblaze |
| 2007-12-09 14:10:00 |
What I think:OK, time for an update. Sorry about the lengthy pause. As a fellow blogger, Kellypea from Kellementology, said in a comment on my last post, "There's no vacation in bloggsville."I know this is no excuse, but I have been rather preoccupied over the past couple of months. I promise to be more prolific in my posts...soon."So, what have you been up to, then?", I hear you ask, in a most charmingly apathetic manner. Well, grab a coffee and/or some amphetamines to keep yourself awake, and I'll tell you.Firstly, I've been looking into starting my own business here in the south of Sweden. That's right, after working with the same company for over twenty-one years, and in three different countries, I'm leaving IKEA.I'll be a freelance copywriter, and I'...
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| Saturday, October 6th, 2007: Movin' on up (?) in Helsingborg |
| 2007-10-06 16:01:00 |
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 Helsi...
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| Wednesday, September 26th, 2007: Top Toilet Tips Update - Bishops Arms ladies' toilet |
| 2007-09-26 14:51:00 |
What I think:As some of you may remember, I wrote a review of the toilets at the Bishops Arms here in Helsingborg.I mentioned how it's perfectly normal for guys to use the girls' toilet when it's busy there (honest). If there's a queue and a toilet's free, it's instinctive for guys to go there. You can't fight (Swedish) nature, OK?But I've recently discovered a few other things as well.For example, when there's a queue containing both guys and girls, the guys will always let girls go into the girls' toilet.Very considerate, eh?.The point being...?Oh yeah.So I was at Bishops Arms the other night and I needed to wee, so got into the queue for the toilets. It was an only-guys-in-the-queue thing.When it was my turn, the first vacant toilet was the ladies'.Beca...
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| Tuesday, September 18th, 2007: Away from Helsingborg to see a weird gig in Lund |
| 2007-09-18 11:55:00 |
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 ba...
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| Wednesday, September 12th, 2007: The Super Bag Lady of Helsingborg |
| 2007-09-12 10:49:00 |
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...
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| Sunday, August 26th, 2007: Helsingborg to Bjuv: CSI: Helsingborg's first gig |
| 2007-08-26 08:20:00 |
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 bee...
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| Saturday, August 18th, 2007: CSI: Helsingborg - The Press Release |
| 2007-08-17 17:28:00 |
What I think:There's one week to go before my band's debut performance at the grand Bjuv Festival. It's sure to be a cracking event (US/CAN: awesome gig).In preparation, the following press release is about to be translated into Swedish, and sent to all of the relevant Swedish media.This means to Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper:CSI: Helsingborg investigate Bjuvsfestivalen 2007On Saturday August 25th, CSI: Helsingborg will make their stage debut at Bjuvsfestivalen.But who are CSI: Helsingborg? And how serious are they about what they’re doing? Let’s put them under the microscope.The band was formed by guitarist and trainspotter Nils Hornfalk just over a year ago. Nils, whose other hobbies include stamp collec...
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| Wednesday, August 8th, 2007: CSI: Helsingborg to appear at Bjuv's 2007 Festival |
| 2007-08-08 16:04:00 |
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'd play. I was told that it's...
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| Wednesday, August 1st, 2007: Helsingborg's Festival and a Yank's crayfish party in Helsingborg |
| 2007-08-01 14:17:00 |
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 i...
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| Tuesday, July 24th, 2007: Helsingborg to Montreal. And back. And tagged. |
| 2007-07-21 06:36:00 |
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 ma...
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| Wednesday, June 20th, 2007: Away from Helsingborg for two weeks... |
| 2007-06-20 08:57:00 |
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 ...
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| Tuesday, June 19th, 2007. Top Toilet Tips: Pubs in Helsingborg - Part Four: PL13 |
| 2007-06-16 07:49:00 |
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...
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| Sunday, June 3rd, 2007: Top Toilet Tips: Pubs in Helsingborg - Part Three: The Bishops Arms |
| 2007-06-03 08:28:00 |
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 wo...
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| Saturday, May 19th, 2007: Restaurant (tag) in Helsingborg |
| 2007-05-16 16:11:00 |
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 to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.Nicole (Sydney, Australia)velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)Olivia (London, England)ML (Utah, United States)Lotus (Toronto, Canada)tanabata (Saitama, Japan)Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)Lulu (Chicago, Illinois, United States)Chris (Bo...
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| Sunday, May 13th, 2007: Magpies in Helsingborg - One for sorrow, two for joy... |
| 2007-05-13 05:03:00 |
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 a nutshell, I wrote about how here in Helsingborg I always ever see just a single magpie. As the superstition goes, to protect yourself from imminent sorrow, you're supposed to say something like "Say hello to your brother", implying that the particular magpie you see is not an only child (or not an "only chick"?), and that he/she usual...
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| Thursday, May 10th, 2007: Top Toilet Tips: Pubs in Helsingborg - Part Two: Hamnkrogen |
| 2007-05-09 16:00:00 |
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 sit inside, but for the 17 days of summer we get here, they have a fair-sized terrace outside, where you can while away your afternoon drinking beer, enjoying the nice views, and watching the world go by.I'm just kidding, by the way; the summer usually lasts for more than 17 days, their terrace is slightly-better-than-fair-sized, you don't want to while away a whole afterno...
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| Sunday, April 22nd, 2007: Top Toilet Tips: Pubs in Helsingborg - Part One: Charles Dickens |
| 2007-04-18 15:54:00 |
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 Dickens">Charles Dickens pub, located on Södergatan, in the vibrant and bustling southern part of the city.How to get to the toilets:Once in the pub, walk straight past the bar on your right towards the back. Pass by the gambling machines on your right, and the pool table on your left. You'll see the gran...
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| Wednesday, April 4th, 2007: A spammed blog about Helsingborg |
| 2007-04-04 01:45:00 |
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/dorothyCompare what Dorothy said with what J. Edgar Hoover said on November 29, 1963:http://surftofind.com/documentAnd you must also understand what fake researchers like John McAdams are saying because they target the truth:http://surftofind.com/targetThe simple fact of the matter is that many so called Kennedy assassination researchers are trying to control free speach through domination rather than through the sharing of...
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| Sunday, March 18th, 2007: Punk gig, pubs & snacks in Helsingborg |
| 2007-03-18 10:05:00 |
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. That's really the only place in town where you'll find anyone who may have heard of performing - and that's only if you heard of them a very long time ago, or if you have very eclectically obscure tastes in music.I was a little bit wary when the opening band started. Although their songs were in English, the lyrics had boringly pred...
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| Friday, March 9th, 2007: 42nd in Helsingborg |
| 2007-03-08 17:09:00 |
What I think: It was my birthday yesterday; well today actually, as I haven't gone to sleep yet.Birthday: March 8thNow: March 9thHere'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 (enter your date in Wlikpedia (some may not be from Wiki)); and here's mine:- Three events in history that happened on my birthday:* 1844 - King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway. * 1884 - Susan B. Anthony testifies before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.* 2007 - Anna-Nicole Smith's sex vid...
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| Tuesday, March 6th, 2007: Honoured for snow in Helsingborg |
| 2007-03-06 10:38:00 |
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 ur det inlägget heller. Ni får se det på plats i bloggen helt enkelt."This means, "In the Snow category, I nominate Snowy Chaos in Helsingborg at Mark Base. Because there are several pictures listened to in the egg, I can't cite something out of it in the egg either. You've simply got to see this at the bus stop."I guess my Swe...
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| Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 (Lunchtime*) : Snowy chaos in Helsingborg |
| 2007-02-22 05:56:00 |
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 there's a "stay at home" warning to people living in Skåne.(Skåne is the county on the southwestern tip of Sweden. Both Malmö and Helsingborg are in Skåne. End of Geography lesson.)I took a few photos on the way to work this morning:This is a view of Tranemansgatan - my road: Here's a hill that I walk down every day(although today I ...
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| Wednesday, February 21st, 2007: Bowling in Helsingborg |
| 2007-02-21 14:36:00 |
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 invited to this a couple of weeks back (a mutual friend had booked a couple of lanes), but had kindly declined. Not really my scene, plus I was a bit skint (US/CAN: broke).But that night, since I hadn't had a beer with the Yank for a while, I thought I'd go along anyway, and just drink beer and have a bit of a laugh.When I got there, I had a look around, but couldn't see ...
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| Tuesday, February 20th, 2007: Fat Tuesday in Helsingborg |
| 2007-02-20 07:41:00 |
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 placed back on and sprinkled with icing sugar.We were served these at work today during our afternoon break.Here's a photo:I don't really see the big deal, personally. The bun is a bit too bread-like; kind of dry. I think it should be sort of cakey, and it's time that the Swedish government did something about it. That's what I think....
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| Thursday, February 15th, 2007: More links from Helsingborg! |
| 2007-02-15 11:59:00 |
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....
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| Tuesday, February 13th, 2007: Travel (to) Sweden: the Unofficial Guide to Helsingborg, Sweden - with yellow coats |
| 2007-02-13 11:07:00 |
| 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 Bored - I mean Board, I'm trying a little experiment, loosely based on an experiment by some Irish guy in Denmark. He's asked all his blogged-linked mates to link to him with "Irish in Denmark".I don't know what he hoped to achieve, but if you find that you're linked to here through some weird random links, please link back to me somehow, using the term: "
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| Saturday, February 3rd, 2007: Pantspotting in Helsingborg |
| 2007-02-03 19:51:00 |
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.Whenever we're out on the town, GF and I always point out the different kinds of underpants we see. It's become a sort of in-joke for us.We were at a trendy little bar called PL13 a few weeks ago, and we noticed that this really was the Mecca of underpant exposure.By the way, despite being quite small, PL13 is actually quite cool, especially if you're into Depeche Mod...
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| Saturday, February 3rd, 2007: Five Things You Don't Know About Me |
| 2007-02-03 16:07:00 |
Yikes! I got tagged by High Priestess Kang!I had a similar thing a while ago, so I've had to think of more stuff to share.OK, here goes:1. After brushing my teeth every evening before bed, I smoke a cigarette.Marlboro, since you're asking.2. I usually yawn almost exactly thirty seconds after sex. No offence to my girlfriend. In fact, she's the one who pointed it out.She finds it cute.3. I snore. Loudly. But then, so does my girlfriend. It's definitely a match made in Heaven, or whatever good place you believe in - like Dublin, maybe? I hear it's nice there. Although I've never been, myself. But yeah, let's go with that: it's a match made in Dublin.4. I've been told that I'm a "natural" at modelling.No, it's true.5. I studied Theatre in high school and college, both in Montreal and Birmigha...
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| Monday, January 29th, 2007: Recycling: Sweden vs England |
| 2007-01-29 19:08:00 |
What I think:In December '05, I wrote a bit about recycling in Sweden. Now, after a recent visit to London, where I did some extensive research, I'd like to illustrate the differences in attitude between Sweden and England with regards to this most important topic.In Sweden:Most buildings have a sort of shed which houses large bins into which you dump your different recyclable materials. Above each of these bins is a helpful sign indicating what should go where.The photos that follow show the bins in my building's rubbish (US/CAN: garbage) shed.First up, we have the cardboard and printed paper bins: Papper is Swedish for paper, but in this context, it's mainly meant as packing material...
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| Wednesday, January 17th, 2007: Helsingborg: North vs South |
| 2007-01-17 21:52:00 |
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 York at Utposten, a pub in town (neutral territory). He was staying with some girl who lives in an area in the north called Viken, who tagged along with him. Cool, I like meeting new people. I'd spoken to her over the phone beforehand, and she seemed OK (although she sounded absolutely mortified when I said that I didn't know where Viken was).So I turned up at Utposten ...
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| Tuesday, January 9th, 2007: Speaking English in Helsingborg |
| 2007-01-09 20:42:00 |
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 partsI 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 the house or out on the street, to animals and body parts, to different modes of transport and sexually transmitted diseases - you get the idea.I remember really enjoying the sound of many words, words like fågelholk (birdhouse - roughly pronounced "fogle-holk") and stuprör (drainpipe - it's really not worth the effort to try to explain how this one's pronounced).Pis...
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| An A-to-Z of life in Helsingborg (so far) |
| 2007-01-01 17:43:00 |
A handy and educational reference post!For your convenience, I've listed 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 the alphabet with my posts so far. So I've filled in the remaining letters with key words linking to other sites.See? This really is an educational blog! Now, let's get started.ANope, I have no A's. Sorry. Here are some links to other Sweden-related sites:Abba - The official site of the 70's super-group. Yawn.Allsång på Skansen - A crap show with boring celebrities singing boring songs at some park in Stockholm. Swedes love it....
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