Archive for May, 2008

Unmasking a Swede’s Berlin Wall love affair

Film, Offbeat, Sweden abroad: May 29th, 2008 by DL

The Local was caught off guard this week when several overseas media outlets ran a story on a Swedish woman being married to the Berlin Wall.

Our surprise, however, was not that we were scooped (after all, Aftonbladet ran a story on Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer back in 2002 and Svenska Dagbladet mentioned her in a piece about the Berlin Biennal art festival earlier this month).

Rather, we were curious to know why the story suddenly popped up just now.

Our best guess is that a film about the wall shown at the festival featured Ms. Berliner-Mauer, and caught the eye of the British tabloid press.

Anyone else have a better (or more interesting) theory?

Swedish conscripts shooting in the nude

Miscellaneous, National, Offbeat: May 12th, 2008 by DL

Here is the controversial video featuring Swedish conscripts firing rocket launchers in the nude, courtesy of YouTube.

Please note that some viewers may find the video offensive.

To read more about the story, see these stories from The Local:

Commander tried to suppress film of naked shooting (May 12, 2008)

Naked soldiers film condemned (May 31, 2006)

One has to wonder what sort of field mission would require training in firing shoulder-mounted artillery while naked.

Any guesses?