 |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| Articles about Helsingborg |
| Monday, August 25th, 2008: Helsingborg to Glasgow to Montreal to London | | 2008-08-25 02:13:00 | | 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 to Glasgow, as I had never been, and was pretty much passing by, and boy-oh-boy this was a long sentence (*stops for breath*).My girlfriend and I got on the ferry from Helsingborg to Helsingör (that's Elsinore, home of Hamlet's castle, for all you Shakespeare buffs) with our backpacks, went up to the sun deck, sat down and started eating the sandwiches we'd bought. So far so good. Then there was this bloody wasp buzzing around. I waited for it to land on the table and swatted it with a napkin. Got him. Or did I? Nope. There was a bit of a gap between my fingers, and the little bugger crawle | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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, so off we went. It was a great evening for it; pleasantly warm, and not a nasty cloud in the sky (just a few of those nice white fluffy ones).The first gig we were to see was Mikael Wiehe and Ebba Forsberg. They're kind of folky. My girlfriend's parents also wanted to see it, | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
|
|
|
| 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 said? It said:I am Miss.Hamiya Ibrahim the only Daughter Of Mr And Mrs Aziz Ibrahim from Ivory Coast. I am an Orphan being that I lost my Parents. My Father was a serving director of the Cocoa exporting board until his death. He w | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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) explaining the circumstances surrounding John's disappearance, and the other regulars then offer help, support, hope and prayers (which they maintain throughout). The forum is then visited by many, many people from Ireland, some of whom take | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 praying that police fears are unfounded, and that John is safe somewhere else. And the online discussion forum on The Local, on which John's mate Karl is a regular, has been host to a number of John's fr | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
|
|
|
| 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 first round, against two other bands, on January 17th, 2008. Here's the poster: I would have preferred some kind of photo showing all four of us, but it was decided that this was too cool an image not to use.On the night...As it turned out, one of the two other bands cancelled for some reason, so it was just IKEA Retail and TetraPak to play.(TetraPak: You know those clever milk carton things that we now all take for granted? Did you know that they were a Swedish invention, and come from Lund, a smaller city not even an hour away from Helsingborg? Educational blog, or what?)The TetraPak band, a four-man Hard Rock/Heavy Metal outfit called Metal 7 (presumably they lost the other three from lead poisoning, or something), were on first, and they did a brilliant job. They were very tight, and did these amazing dualling guitar bits (as in "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy).They rocked, and their accents when singing in English were even passable.They played for about 20 minutes, which is one of the rules of the competition. You can get penalised for playing longer.Another thing worth mentioning is that two bands can potentially make it through to the next round; there's a jury vote (based on points for different criteria), and an audience vote (based on how many people from work you | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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, I've noticed (more than once) that some Swedes who are misguidedly confident about their English proficiency will say, "I can English". This is because, in Swedish, the "speak" or "write" that you'd think should be in this statement is considered unnecessary; it's understood. My colleague Helena did the logo for me. Cool, innit (US: huh / CAN: eh / AUS: G'day, Bruce & Sheila, more shrimps on the barbie) ? And I've bought the domains: wecanenglish.com, .se, and .co.uk as well. No actual web pages yet, but I can deal with that a bit later.I start all on my own in mid-January, and I'm well-excited about that. And terrified; I'm not the most organised and methodical person alive, and it will be difficult to discipline myself (I'm used to paying someone else to discipline me. I will miss the smell and the luxurious textures of PVC and hot leather).Ahem.Moving right along, as a special New Year's treat, I'd like to present to you a fantastic little video - a ballad about this fine city. The artist's name is Rolf "Beme" Gilleberg - more about him later. But now, without further ado, please take a few moments to enjoy a lovely song, and some great views of Helsingborg. Here is Helsingborgsvisan (The Bal | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | Κυανέρυθρο το Helsingborg | | 2007-10-13 22:11:00 | | 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 θα εξαρτηθεί απο τη ζήτηση της εκδρομής. Για περαιτέρω πληροφορίες απευθυνθείτε στο σύνδεσμο, στο τηλέφωνο 210. 9330589 ή περάστε απο τα γραφεία τους (Αγ. Ανδρέου 20), απογευματινές ώρες, για να μάθετε παραπάνω πληροφορίες. | | By: Panionios 1890 | | |
| | 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 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 (although not in her preferred area), so she took it.Very soon after we hooked up, she started living at my place, but kept renting her place. It was a good idea at the time, as we didn't know how our relationship would work out. A safety net thing, in a way.Pretty sensible for crazy people, eh? (US: huh? / UK: innit? / SWE: eller?)Where was I? Oh-yes-I-remember, that should even things out a bit.We recently decided to sell my place and move to hers.My project contract at work was ending soon, and I wasn't really sure of what my next career move would be. A mate of mine had told me of some possible job in Malaysia, so that was one of the factors, at first; I didn't want to have to hang around to sell my flat, if that opportunity actually came through.There were certainly other factors involved, of course, but the bottom line is that I was going to sell my flat.So there we were, about to move from the nasty south to the idyllic north.But wait, what's this?A few weeks before we moved, w | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 say we're from Malmö because no one's heard of Landskrona.Mark Base: I hear there's lots of crime in Landskrona.Jonass: Yeah, that's because of us.So, I bought a CD ("Sweden, We Got A Problem"), and left it at that.Months later, I found out that they were playing in Copenhagen, opening for Gogol Bordello (whom my girlfriend had seen opening for Danko Jones), and decided to go online and book tickets.But they were sold out.So I sent the band an email. I reminded Jonass of our conversation in London, and cleverly implied that he tricked me into buying their CD, as I knew he was from Landskrona, and that there's lots of crime there, so I felt afraid that if I didn't buy the CD he would commit crimes against me.Like mugging, or violence, or drinking on a Monday or Tuesday evening (seen by many as a crime in Sweden), or not paying my TV licence. Or something. Against me. Oh, nevermind.I told him that he would hear from my attorneys if he didn't put me and my girlfriend on the guest | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 incredible specimen of womankind spends her days with her impressive array of plastic carrier bags:1. Magically appear, from out of the blue, with twenty fully-packed bags, on Södergatan.2. Lovingly arrange them all in a pretty and easily-manageable row (as pictured above).3. Gracefully pick up ten at a time; five in each hand.4. Walk about five metres (US/CAN: about six yards, or so) along the pavement (US/CAN: sidewalk).5. Neatly, and with the utmost dignity and finesse, lay the bags on the pavement, as close to the wall as possible without squishing the spiders, homeless people, or nasty drunk foreigners on heroin.6. Walk briskly-but-sensibly back to the remaining ten bags.7. Pick them up with as much grace, if not more, as the first lot (ref: Step 3).8. Waddle with wondrous wit and wistfulness to your previously placed packages.9. Repeat Steps 2 - 8 until reaching the southern end of Södergatan.10 Either cross the road, with ten bags at a time, and continue with precious must-haves and | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 cooler full of chilled beer behind CSI Nils. So, when CSI Nils went into a guitar solo, I went into the cooler and helped myself.Hapiness. Drummer CSI Bengt seemed a bit jealous. Tough, innit?After a few songs, someone finally decided to start dancing to our rockin' hits. I just had to snap a shot from the stage.It wasn't really what I'd had in mind for an adoring fan, but what can one do? Why's it always a drunken old fart who's the first to dance at these things anyway?He soon had a lady friend join him and they two-stepped and foxtrotted merrily for most of the show, displaying amazing dedication and stamina.I was particularly fond of his stylish socks and sandals accessorising skills. Note the impeccable choice of navy blue socks to provide a refreshing counterpoint to his lighter blue hat. Eat your hearts out, Trinny and Susannah. You don't need to tell him what not to wear; he's a natural at it.Also present was my good friend and co-pub toilet inspector, Badlands. He was q | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 collecting and dentistry, decided that a really rocking blues/rock cover band with a difference was necessary to make people wake up and examine the meaning behind their lives.So he teamed up with bassist and zoologist Per Cedergren and drummer and Yoga instructor Bengt Svensson. All they needed was a singer.Nils soon recruited British-Canadian singer and Royal Navy Admiral Mark Base.“Mark’s voice is a little bit punky for the music we play, but at least he understands what the words mean,” explains Nils.Bengt and Per agree.“His vocal style is like a cross between Johnny Rotten and Julio Iglesias,” says Bengt.“I like his shoes,” adds Per, “but his Swedish is pretty bad.”Mark says, “I chose the name CSI: Helsingborg because I have this thing about latex gloves and examining bodily fluids.”CSI: Helsingborg play at Bjuvsfestivalen on August 25th at 17:00.It's actually fairly unlikely that it will be published, but it was fun to write anyway. I can't wait to see the Swedish version.Here's the poster that we're going to...errm... post around town, and use for our many future gigs: Everyone's welcome, except the Swedish government. I'd like to see them try to do something about it. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 blues vocals thing off.When I first saw the song list, I recognised some Stones songs, some Hendrix, and some Creedence Clearwater Revival. A total of about six out of around thirty songs. But at least they weren't all blues numbers.I joined about two years ago. We've been practising nearly every Sunday. It's always been more of a fun hobby more than anything else.It eventually came to the time when we felt we should start looking for gigs. As I've mentioned previously on this blog, Helsingborg is not exactly a hotbed of live music venues.The first obvious place seemed to be the Charles Dickens pub, as they have live cover bands on most Saturday nights.But they were fully booked for ages, and wanted a demo CD before agreeing to let us play - which is fair enough.Then there was the issue of a name for the band. The other guys didn't really like my suggestion of The Lesbian Boyfriends for some reason (I thought that name would rock), so I suggested CSI: Helsingborg.They were a bi | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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.)Other than that, there are a few oldies (for the Old Age Party animals), and one or two OK shows.In short, although the atmosphere is nice, the music during the festival is not my pint of lager.However, my girlfriend has a colleague who moonlights as a drag artist. He's in a drag "troupe" (for want of a better word - would a "gaggle of drag artists" be more appropriate?) called Champagne Safari.We went to see their six o'clock show on Friday evening.They're quite fun. And at least two of them look a bit too much like babes. Here's a random photo that turned out OK from the distance we were standing: The show was quite good, but the beer looked like this: After the show (and another beer), we decided to go out for another beer (and another beer).We went to PL13 first.But it wasn't open yet, so we went to The Bishops Arms instead. Here's me at Bishops with a nice pint of expensive imported beer:After that, we went back to PL13 and had a couple more beers there. My girlfriend, alr | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 post, choose (tag) eight people and list their names (linking to them).4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged.There. Now, on to some stuff about the trip.About the weather:From what we've heard and seen about the weather here in Sweden while we were away, and indeed about the weather throughout western Europe for those two weeks, we definitely left the continent at the right time. While torrential rains drenched many parts around here at the end of June and begining of July, the weather in Montreal was generally really nice, with few exceptions (more on that later).The journey:We took the ferry to Denmark, the train to Copenhagen, and flew to London. We went to the pub, hung out, had a few drinks (too many, in my case), participated in the pub quiz, and crashed out at a friend's place. Jacqui's great; just get her some cheap fags (US/CAN: cigarettes), and the spare room's yours. It helps if you know her though. Early the next morning, we took the | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 friend from England - after having visited the Bishops Arms (see Part Three of this series) - something a bit creepy happened. There was some bloke there, looking a bit out of place in his suit (although, to be fair, he may have come after work, or from some formal occasion), and he said that he reads my blog.Now, that in itself is, of course, decidedly not creepy. In fact, I'd say it's flattering. But he said that he'd been reading it since it began, and knows much of it inside-out - he went as far as to actually quote some bits. That freaked me out a little, for some reason.But this is undoubtedly just me being paranoid; it's not like he's stalking me or anything, and I really should be thankful for having such a devoted reader here in town.So, at this point, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, and extend a warm greeting to someone who may well be my Number One Fan in Helsingborg (OK, maybe Badlands is just as much of a fan, as he claims to check my blog every day, but | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 on your left; it's a basement pub. At the bottom of the stairs, veer a bit towards your right - towards the bar - otherwise you'll bump into some chairs or a table. When you're facing the bar, turn left and walk past the little raised seating area, now also to your left. The door to the little toilet corridor is the last one on your right. The door on the left-hand side of the photo above is the one you'll walk through. The signs leave you in little doubt as to which toilet you should use. Ladies first:Gentleman:Cute, eh?Unfortunately, behind each of these doors, we find just a small room, suitable for only one person's relief at a time. Pretty bog standard, so to speak.Although Bishops has gender-allocated facilities, this fact is largely ignored depending on the situation. If you're a bloke and you see that the Gents is occupied, and there's no one else waiting, you go to the Ladies. It's just how it is here (have they no shame?). Makes sense to me.Tip: There's another (unmar | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 (Boyne City, Michigan, United States)AB (Cave Creek, Arizona, United States)Johnny Yen (Chicago, Illinois, United States)Bubs (Mt Prospect, Illinois, United States)Mob (Midland, Texas United States)Yas (Ahwatukee, Arizona USA)Alicia(Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA)Tug (Hell, Colorado, USA)Mark Base (Helsingborg, Sweden)2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.Here we go:Actually, what makes this particularly tough for me is that Helsingborg is not exactly the culinary capitol of Scandinavia. So I don't really go out to eat much.Actually, all pubs here are also "restaurants", in the sense that they're obliged - by law - to have a menu of hot meals available to order, at least until a certain time of the evening. Bet you didn't know that, did you!?Picking five of my favourite places to eat is no easy task; not because I'm spoiled for choice, but because there's not much here that's really worth mentioning. But if I have to pick five, I'd go for the following:1. Olssons Skafferi - I'm not sure what a "skafferi" is, but it sounds funky, don't you think? Thi | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 usually hangs out with his/her brother (he/she never has a sister), but the brother in question has a touch of the old bird flu. Or something.Well, strangely, I've noticed something a bit different over the past recent months. I still only ever see a single magpie when I'm out and about by myself, but when I'm out with my girlfriend (of 29 weeks and one day - but who's counting?), I always see two.Isn't that just so romantically nice that it makes you want to puke everywhere? Personally, it just freaks me out.In any case, the other day, while I was on my way - by myself - to do my second report on pub toilets (US/CAN: bathrooms, wahsrooms, restrooms, etc.) in Helsingborg, I was terrified to see this: Yes, it was a single magpie. And it was on the lawn of Helsingborg's city cemetary. I mean, there I was, just walking along happily, going out for a beer or two and having the joy of taking magnificent photos of glorious public conveniences at the same time - it felt like the world was such a happy and joyous place; nothing could get me down.But when I saw that, my world suddenly totally, absolutely crumbled, and I just froze with terror.Me freezing with terror looks something like this: OK, perhaps it doesn't look lke I'm freezing with terror, but | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 afternoon drinking beer there - at 47 Kronor each (US$6.88 / £3.47 / €5.10), you sip. And while the views are indeed quite nice, you're not quite watching the world go by, just those people in the world who happen to be passing by that particular spot in Helsingborg at the time that you're sipping your over-priced crappy beer. But hey, semantics, eh?This establishment only has one indoor toilet, and it's unisex, meaning that you must have only one gender in order to use it. This is pretty much OK for nearly everyone I know. Inside, there's nothing really special about it; in fact, it's quite a small standard toilet. The coolest thing about it is what the Yank calls "The Magic Handle".When the toilet's vacant, it's green, but when someone's in there enjoying its underwhelming splendour, it's red. It's every gadget-loving pisser's dream. You can't see it very well in this photo, but you can just about make out that the toilet is free in this shot (it was a sunny day in a small round glass-surrounded pavillion thing).Is that cool, or what?The outside toilet area's quite interesting. There's like a mini-pavillion thing behind the main bar-building where you'll find the other toilets. Many first-time | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 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 grand entrance to the magnificent toilet hall just to the left of the dart machine (don't worry if people are playing; they use plastic-pointed darts). By the way, some pubs will only allow you to use their toilets if you're a paying customer. At Charles Dickens, they're pretty laid back, and will usually let you use their facilities without buying anything (unless you're one of those yellow-jacketed so-called security folks, as they're considered a waste of space by some staff).What they're like:There are three little individual cubicle rooms, and one with a stainless steel urinal trough. There's also a toilet for disabled people, next to the wash basins, but it's kept locked. I guess you need to ask for the key. At this point, I guess I should point out that many public toilets in pubs in Sweden are unisex. Those at the Charles Dickens fall into this category.(Be aware: some toilets are marked with the Swedish for Gents and Ladies. These are Herrar and Damer. "Herrar" does not mean "Hers".)When it's not busy, there's no issue with having to wait for an available toilet. But on a busy Friday or Saturday night, it's the ladies who suffer, as it can become a bit of a free-for-all in there. Because of the layout of the toilet area, and the placement of the toilet cubicles, there's no logical place to queue (US/CAN: line up).The urinal can accommodate two guys comfortably, three guys | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 information. Researchers like Dorothy Kilgallen for example, seek to expose the truth. Writers like Gerald Posner seek to discredit those who expose the truth."Hhmmm...I managed to find a contact e-mail address for this drivel, so I sent them this little thank-you:"Hi there,Thank you for spamming my blog with a totally irrelevant "comment" in a feeble attempt to get my readers to look at your inane site.All you're achieving by spamming a blog is depriving yourself of any possibility whatsoever of being considered credible. If you'd bothered to pop your head out of your arse for two seconds, you'd have realised that my blog is not about bloody stupid conspiracy theories about the long-dead subject of Kennedy's assassination. The entry you chose to comment on is also two months old. What was the point in that?Yes, it was a tragic (AMERICAN) event, but it was 44 years ago. Get over it; most of the rest of the people on the planet seem to have been able to move on. Besides, mine is a blog about life in SWEDEN, and I'm a BRITISH-CANADIAN.You should get out a bit more. You seem like the type who might be interested in taking Salsa classes on Wednesday evenings, and perhaps a ceramics course on Sunday afternoons. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 predictable and bad rhymes (e.g. "Nothing's gonna change/Everything's the same", etc.), and there was absoutely nothing original about their music.I tried to keep an open mind, and hoped that Asta Kask would be better. I was not disappointed.Although I barely understood any of the lyrics (all in Swedish), these guys knew how to play, and had good original songs. And while some of the cool riffs they had veered sharply away from "Punk", the energy, attitude, and sense of fun were all there. They were having a good time, and so were we. That's the key.I liked the fact that they weren't "trying too hard" to be Punk; they were just playing really good music that could really only be squeezed into that category.It was a good show.Afterwards, the night was still young, so we deciced to grab a beer elsewhere. Since we wanted to continue listening to half-decent music, we opted for PL13. You may remember me mentioning PL13 before. I wrote about the fact that it's one of the best places to go if you want to see some fine examples of people who wear trousers (US/CAN: pants) that are too big for them. Have a look at that entry to see some cool specimens of funky underpants.Something weird happened there. We went and ordered our beers, and sat at a table. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 video "stolen". Err...Umm....Four other people born on March 8th:* 1896 - Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician, Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)* 1945 - Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)* 1958 - Gary Numan, British singer* 1968 - Shawn Mullins, American musicianThree deaths on March 8th:* 1869 - Hector Berlioz, French composer (b. 1803)* 1972 - Erich von dem Bach, Nazi official (b. 1899) (Yay!)* 2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)I like birthdays, don't you?It's time that the Swedish government did something about their erm...things... | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 Swedish needs some improving.Go to that particular blog entry and see for yourself.While you're there, be good pals and nominate me in the comments, will ya? In fact, nominate me a couple of times - do what I did: In the name field, when you leave your second comment entry, add "(wearing a very convincing false moustache)".The author will never notice.And you know what? I think it's time that the Swedish government gave me some kind of award as well; I'm sure I drive enough traffic to their bloody website. That's what I think. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 skied down on my Doc Martens): This is a bus stop on Södergatan:This is a view ofthe outside of Sam's Bar on Carl Krooksgatan:The building where I work is called Tretorn - this is Swedish for "The Three Towers". It used to be the site of one of Sweden's largest rubber factories, specialising in boots. Now it isn't.But there's a statue on the western side of the buidingcommemorating the site's heritage:The Swedish government should invest in some winter coats for these guys. They look frozen. That's what I think. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 the gang who was supposed to be there. People did seem to be enjoying themselves though: Then, while continuing my search for Yank & Co., something caught my eye. What was that between the screens that show the scores?Was that..?Yes it was.It was a bloody telly (US/CAN: goddamn TV): I couldn't believe it. Between every pair of score-screens, there was a television, showing a chat show (US/CAN: talk show), with the sound turned down. At a bowling alley. On a Saturday night.(In the photo above, there's an advert (US/CAN: commercial) showing.)I finally found the Yank & the others (they had just finished bowling and were about to grab a table) , and pointed out the ridiculousness of this.This one guy, one of the most interesting people I've ever met, tried to convince me that this wasn't such an odd thing. He tried to justify having television in bowling alleys because people in this country are into Eurovision, and that they wouldn't want to miss anything.Here's me not looking terribly convinced that this was a very good explanation: I mean - hello! Firstly, Eurovision is a (crap) song contest. Most songs that I know rely on the concept of sound. And the sound of the songs being sung.It would take a genius of | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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. | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | | 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: "Travel (to) Sweden with invisible Zimbabwean banana-flavoured underpants".My experiment is about trying to get the top Google search for "Zimbabwean banana-flavoured underpants" because we all know how common that is. So please, link now. T | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, some Punk & Goth, and stuff like that. I much prefer the choice of music there to anywhere else. I've only got two issues with the place: it's only got one toilet, and it's usually full of guys whose mums should re | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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 with my girlfriend, and we waited for them to arrive. A while later, they showed up, and this girl immediately went into a monologue about some minor bureaucratic issue she was having with her credit rating.OK, many of us have had some | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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).Pissed offWhen I started working, my employers paid for some Swedish lessons for me, and actually sent me to Stockholm for this intensive two-week Berlitz language course as well. I slowly started learning a bit here and there. Living | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | 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.BBeaches & shy people - July 21st, 2006Beer, buying - December 31st, 2005Beer, buying rounds - January 16th, 2006Beer, how to get cheap - February 8th, 2006Beer, Swedish - January 27th, 2006Bicy | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | Monday, December 11th, 2006: Tagged in Helsingborg - This may sound weird, but... | | 2006-12-11 18:50:00 | | 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 weird about me - as far as I'm concerned anyway. So I decided to try to think whether there's anything that other people might consider weird about me.Here's what I came up with:1. I always wear black. I started doing this in the mid-90's. There's no really good reason for this; I'm not a goth, and I'm not into making any big fashion statements or anything. But I have to say that it does make doing the laundry just that much simpler - no sorting of colours, etc. So perhaps I wear black because I'm lazy. I don't know.2. I was married for fourteen years but only lived with my wife for fiv | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | Thursday, December 7th, 2006: A short-legged cat in Helsingborg | | 2006-12-07 17:18:00 | | 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 ripped off, or have been severely damaged. My mate Roland lives within walking distance of Kenton tube station on the Bakerloo line just seven stops up from Kensal Green, so try him if you're really stuck. But beware his rabid sock monkey.What was I going to write about? Oh yeah, OK...On October 25th, I got a lift to go pick up a cat in Svedala, which is a little town outside of Malmö. I wanted a cat because I missed having another living creature walking around my flat. And I like cats. And I guess I was a bit lonely.As luck would have it, I met a girl a few days earlier, on the 21st, so I did | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | Saturday, December 2nd, 2006:Tattooed in Helsingborg | | 2006-12-02 18:27:00 | | 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 got a cat at the end of October, and I've had some great experiences. But more on these another time. Firstly, I'm happy to announce that I finally had that tattoo done; you know, the one I wrote about earlier...I made the appointment at the House of Pain tattoo place, and trotted merrily off on November 16th to have it done. It was a Thursday (work day), and I must say that I was more than happy to leave it the meeting I was attending. The tattoo would definitely be less painful.House of Pain is a friendly place, staffed with a few talented people who are happy to stab you with ink-filled needle | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | | Saturday, October 14th, 2006: Helsingborg to Stockholm: A weekend adventure | | 2006-10-14 15:06:00 | | 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 | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
| | Saturday, October 14th, 2006: Playing book tag (all the way from Helsingborg) | | 2006-10-14 11:20:00 | | 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 | | By: Mark Base - Helsingblog | | |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
| |
|
 |
