Archive for the ‘Swedish Life’ Category

Is Sweden the coolest cat?

Swedish Life: November 16th, 2007 by PO

The New Statesman explains why Sweden is often the coolest customer at the party i.e. the one who doesn’t dry hump the stereo at a certain stage of the evening:

They are intelligent – they have the highest per capita ratio of Nobel laureates. They gave us Abba, the most karaoke-friendly pop group of all time. And last year the Daily Mail asked “Is Sweden the most boring country in the world?” before giving the country a right drubbing. Now, if there’s anything that can establish something’s innate coolness as quickly as a thorough slagging from the Daily Mail, I have yet to discover it.

But Kira Cochrane also finds that there’s a sting in the tale.

Brits discover easy Swedish living

Society, Swedish Life: November 2nd, 2007 by PO

The Times talks to a couple of Brits who have bought property in Sweden and offers tips to those planning to follow suit.

As Henry Ford might have said, you can have a house in Sweden in any colour you like, as long as it’s red. This red paint is almost as old as the Vikings. It contains copper and iron oxide and was brought from the copper mines by women who were then often hired to paint the wooden buildings.

An added bonus is that the word “gazumping” is mentioned in the article.

Lufthansa looks at Swedish blondes

Marketing, Swedish Life: October 31st, 2007 by PO

Digital Media Wire looks at Lufthansa’s viral marketing campaign to promote three of its destinations.

The videos are meant to visualize silly stereotypes and all end with the compelling tagline, “you’ll never know if you don’t go.”

Here’s the Swedish offering:

Swedes radiate happiness at nuclear plants

Society, Swedish Life, Tourism: October 30th, 2007 by PO

Many Swedes’ idea of a fun day out will include a trip to the local nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.

Of Sweden’s population of around nine million, almost three million have been to a Swedish nuclear plant — some on school trips, others as passing tourists — since they were first able to visit 35 years ago, said Torsten Bohl, communications director at state firm Vattenfall, Forsmark’s majority owner.

“They see it’s a large industrial complex, but nothing else — and the people who work there are ordinary, not greenish,” said Bohl.

Prominent Dane on free speech in Sweden

Society, Swedish Life: October 30th, 2007 by PO

Flemming Rose is most famous as culture editor of Danish daily Jyllands-Posten and the man responsible for the controversial publication of a series of caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

Rose is alarmed by the results of a recent Swedish study:

Every fourth citizen of Sweden supports a legal ban on offending religious symbols.

Writing on his Northern Light blog, Rose gives his thoughts on Sweden’s recent cartoon crisis

Living the Swedish dream

Swedish Life: September 12th, 2007 by PO

The New York Times liked what it saw when paying a visit to the Poma family in Lännersta on the outskirts of Stockholm:

With their new house, Michele Anenberg Poma and Stefano Poma have bought themselves a piece of the Swedish dream.

In February, when they first saw the newly renovated white wooden house, they fell in love. It was built in 1921 in Lannersta, a suburb on an island 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of central Stockholm.

Come to Sweden for an all-over chocolate coating

Miscellaneous, Swedish Life: September 10th, 2007 by PO

The Daily Mail is tipping Sweden as one of the places to head to for a cheap spa getaway. Certainly if you’re looking for a full chocolate basting, you’ve come to the right place:

Gothenburg’s restored hydrotherapy centre, the Hagenbadet, offers a chocolate treatment during which the entire body is slathered in molten aphrodisiac. Get an all-over chocolate coating – a treatment that has restorative properties and improves the texture and tone of the skin – for around £55.

Sweden world’s third most prosperous country – study

National, Society, Swedish Life: July 4th, 2007 by PO

Sweden has secured third place in a new Global Prosperity Index:

In today’s index, the Scandinavian countries, which regularly top lists of the best places in the world to live, were applauded for having good economic growth as well as high levels of political and civil liberties, leisure time and equality of opportunity.

The Guardian has more.

The booze debate: No lush pastures

Opinion, Swedish Life: June 26th, 2007 by PO

John Herbert of Hernando Today has a thing or two to say about midsummer traditions and the vagaries of Swedish alcohol policy.

Booze may be a real problem for many Swedes, but free sex and the world suicide championships are strictly myths perpetuated on the pages of Readers’ Digest decades ago.

On the other hand, if I saw many more old Ingmar Bergman movies, I might be depressed enough to kill myself, too.

Swedish ‘tree tsars’ push for greener future

Climate, Society, Swedish Life: June 18th, 2007 by PO

Australian newspaper The Age praises Sweden in general, and Växjö in particular, as environmental pioneers for a greener era.

The newspaper devotes five pages to the measures being taken to reduce emissions and turn the country into an eco-powerhouse”.

The growth of biofuel is one example of an area in which Sweden can excel.

The answer may lie in Sweden’s Arctic north, where locals refer to their vast forests as “green gold”.

“The world has oil sheikhs who made their money from black gold, the idea is that we will become tree tsars in the biofuel era,” says one local, laughing.

How ‘lagom’ are you?

Swedish Life: December 14th, 2006 by PO

How ‘lagom‘ Swedish are you?

SVT has prepared 30 questions (in Swedish) on the subject. If your answers correspond to those given by the 30,000 people who participated in the survey, then you are the lagomest Svensson of them all.

If you don’t know what lagom means you’re probably either new here or you’re Victoria Silvstedt.

It’s Lucia time again…

National, Swedish Life: December 11th, 2006 by PO

Wednesday is St. Lucia Day and we thought we’d get you into the spirit with this picture of some lovely Lucias taken at the Street Christmas Market on Sunday.

Ignore the dreadful quality of the photo for a moment and let yourself instead be swept away by the dulcet tones of Enrico Caruso as you watch the tall, buxom Lucias file by with candles in their hair.

Or do it the Carl Larsson way, strolling around the living room like a fire hazard in perpetual motion, carrying a tray of coffee and some St. Lucia buns.

St. Lucia buns? What are they? Here’s one:

Animal life in the archipelago

Offbeat, Politics, Swedish Life: December 11th, 2006 by PO

Came upon these fine specimens while out wandering in the Stockholm archipelago during the summer. Aren’t they cute?

What’s the collective term for individualists?

Society, Swedish Life: November 14th, 2006 by PO

Why are Swedes such welfare-hugging, mushroom-picking collectivists?

Well, maybe they?re not?

A recently published and widely discussed book, provocatively titled “Is the Swede a Human Being?” (“Ar svensken manniska?”), contends that Swedes are the opposite of collectivists: they are deeply individualistic.

The International Herald Tribune has the lowdown.

(Thanks to Torque on the forum for the tip.)

Best sellers at the online pharmacy

Offbeat, Society, Swedish Life: November 9th, 2006 by PO

Since going online, pharmaceutical retailer Apoteket has done a roaring trade in goods of an intimate nature.

The contemplation of baldness and babies is sufficient to make many a Swede reach for the keyboard.

Here is the list of Apoteket?s top ten bestselling online products:

1. Alvedon (painkillers)
2. Shaped condoms, with lubricant
3. Clearblue pregnancy test
4. Ipren (painkillers)
5. Another shaped condom with lubricant
6. Rogaine Forte (stimulates hair growth)
7. Klick lubricant, water-based
8. Cho-San condom with lubricant
9. Clearblue Digital ovulation test
10. Betolvidon (vitamin)

Borat’s cultural learnings of Sweden

Society, Swedish Life: November 3rd, 2006 by PO

Borat has a chat with Aftonbladet and gives his considered opinion on some famous Swedes. Of Princess Madeleine he says:

What? She is a real princess? We say it is dangerous to give any woman power. In my country we say to make a woman princess is like to give a monkey a gun. Very dangerous!

Fredrik Reinfeldt gets kazakhed too. Here’s the clip for your viewing pleasure.

Fashion blogs

Media, Swedish Life: November 3rd, 2006 by PO

E24 has an interesting article (Swedish) on the new-found power of fashion bloggers.

Media Culpa highlights the five fashion blogs in Bloggtoppen’s top ten.

And here is Engla’s Showroom (Swedish), the one we wrote about on the main site.

“They’re crapping on the road”

National, Offbeat, Swedish Life: November 3rd, 2006 by JS

As a symbol of Stockholm’s complete inability to deal with the year’s first snowfall, this must take some beating: Aftonbladet reported that people stuck in traffic for up to five hours on the Essingeleden bypass road were reduced to crapping by the roadside.

They must be loving this in Norrland.

Getting to work on the first day of snow

Swedish Life: November 2nd, 2006 by PO