LHC in the Finals!

Bergman Schmergman

I admit it, I am not an Ingmar Bergman fan. The truth is that I don't think I've seen an entire movie of this most famous of Swedish movie makers. But, I am now going to give the guy a chance. I got "Det Sjunde Inseglet" (The Seventh Seal) from the Pasadena central library. I did have to order it from another library close by, but as I said before, I like this library. I've also found a Swedish copy of Dag Hammarskjölds book Vägmärken. The place has a nice selection.

So I got Det Sjunde Inseglet right here in our apartment just waiting to be seen. And I think I will watch it, maybe even tonight. And I can see my brother being horrified by this. But I am going to see it anyway, if not tonight at least soon. (Sorry David)

So one of the famous scenes in Det Sjunde Inseglet, apparently is when the knight is playing chess against Death. One modern day nod to this is the Swedish band Kent's album "Du och Jag Döden" (You and Me, Death). The cover shows a person playing cards with Death. And since Kent is one of the best Swedish bands ever, maybe Ingmar Bergman isn't that bad, by association. Ok, I realize that this might be crazy troll logic, but even troll logic can stand to reason. When it comes down to a push comes to shove...

One thing that made me happy: I found the hilarious Norwegian movie, Elling, at the library too.

The picture shows me at the Staple Center when we went to see the LA Kings meet Chicago Blackhawks a while ago.

And one step closer

LHC is just one game away from the finals! They defeated Färjestad today with 1-4.

Linköping Hockey Club one step closer to the Finals

After defeating Färjestad in the third game with convincing 5-1, LHC is now one step closer to the finals. The semi-finals are played best out of seven games and LHC are now ahead with 2-1. I followed the game on webb-radio, but wish I could have seen it as well. It is possible to watch it on canalplus.se but that service doesn't seem to work here. If anyone has any suggestions how I could see the games please let me know.

Go LHC!

Let Me Present: You

I have taken the time and effort to analyze your specific personality type. I have written one specific for all of you coming to this site and you will only see the one that correlate to you due to the fact that I've coded them to your IP-addresses. I hope you don't mind me putting it here on the Internet, if you do just let me know and I'll remove it. Ok, here it goes:

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

So how did I do? Pretty good?

Well, as you all most likely know, what I said above about IP-addresses and so on is complete caca. In 1948, psychologist Bertram R. Forer gave a personality test to his students, and then gave them a personality analysis supposedly based on the test's results. He invited each of them to rate the analysis on a scale of 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent) as it applied to themselves: the average was 4.26. He then revealed that each student had been given the same analysis, the one I gave you above. This is called the Forer effect. To make it effective, though, I really would have had to make you believe that the analysis was a result of some kind of test and therefore specific to you.

So, in conclusion: You are You, and I am happy that You are.

Hälsingland

"Hälsingland, farsans land"

Tomas Andersson Wij.

Saint Patrick's Day

This Saturday I celebrated my first Saint Patrick's Day. It also happened to be Jenny's birthday so a double cause for celebration. We spent the afternoon and evening at, from what I was told, the closest thing to an Irish pub that Pasadena has. I was also told that you have to have something green on, otherwise you might get pinched. And since I had no desire to get pinched by strangers I put on my partly green Ben Sherman. I found out that the shirt is indeed very fitting for Saint Patrick's Day, with white and green stripes. All in all a very positive first experience. The bagpipe band that came and played outside of the bar was a nice bonus.

Men ni fattades!

First dip in the Pacific Ocean

This weekend we went up to Lompoc. The weather was very pleasant so we spent a lazy Saturday on Refugio Beach with Autumn's older sister Aubrey, her husband Kirk and their four boys Winter, West, Scout and Piper, and also Autumn's dad, Domenic. It was a beautiful and warm day and as sure as a letter in the mail, I managed to get the mandatory sunburn. I also did go for a (very) short dip in the ocean. It was a bit cold but not too bad. And for those of you who know about my quite rational Sharkofobia: I came out of the water without any kind of blood loss. Must have been my lucky day.

The picture shows Winter and Scout at the beach.

Linköping Hockey Club in Semifinals!

Linköping Hockey Club (LHC) just made it to the semifinals in the Swedish hockey league Elitserien. They beat Luleå with a convincing 4-0 in games. The last game was played in the home arena Cloetta Center and ended with the score 5-2. Patric Blomdahl scored 3 of the 5 goals.

Man's best friend

If you like someone you should let them know. One way of letting your friends know that you like them is to give them a present. Everyone loves a treat. Pastry, chocolate or any of that sort. Now, as the saying goes "the dog is man's best friend". Therefore it stands to reason that a dog should receive some of the best gifts. And catering to that need, let me present...TA DA!... "The Dog Bakery".

The things they make there wouldn't look misplaced in any cafe. In fact they look really tasty. I took a few pictures yesterday and this one will show you a sample of their selection. So what would you think about a coffee and some nice dog pastries?

Day at the Beach

Yesterday we took the Honda out for a drive and went down to the beach. It wasn't a full blown sunny day but it was warm enough. We brought leftovers from our party on Saturday and some sandwiches. There were people surfing and others swimming. We spent the day at the beach and then drove back for dinner. There might not be any changing of the seasons here but it is on the other hand possible to be at the beach in early March. The picture shows how happy that makes me.

Laberinto del Fauno

I am not that interested in watching the Oscar ceremony. I much rather go and see the actual movies. So this Sunday I went and saw Pan's Labyrinth or Laberinto del Fauno which is the original title. It's written and directed by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro.

The movie takes place in Spain, 1944, after the civil war has officially ended with the fascists now in power. Intertwined with this cruel reality, to the extent that there is sometimes hard to see where one world ends and the other begins, is Del Toro's Fairy Land.

Del Toro calls the movie a "fairy tale for adults" and that's a good description. There are some pretty disturbing torture scenes with explicit graphical violence and after a while you really start fearing for the life of the characters. Maybe that's part of what defines a great fairy tale, that there always is the potential for disaster and you really don't know if it will happen or not.

This movie is for everyone who loves a Real Fairy Tale.