Good Luck, Bad Luck and Mandelpotatis

Residents and guests of Stockholm enjoy the nice weather during the 2009 Stockholm Marathon.

Last night, I decided we must have brunch at this gay restaurant that I read about, named Intakt. On Sundays they serve a late brunch, so it sounded perfect. I even read their menu on their website and knew just what I planned to order: Herring with Lingonberries and potatoes. I wanted this because it seemed particularly Swedish.
Well, I had already figured out the Metro enough to know the way to the vicinity of the restaurang (that's the Swedish spelling, btw) and figured I could just ask someone once we were close. Wouldn't you know it, of the many people I asked who were working in the area, nobody had heard of it. After about 45-minutes of wandering around I finally found it right within sight of the main street ... and they were closed. Apparently they are in the midst of moving to a new location nearby. Since I was in the mood for fisk (again Swedish spelling) we decided not to eat at some other restaurang in the area and headed back to eat in the restaurang at our hotel. We had eaten there the night before and it was quite tasty. They also had fried herrings with lingonberries and potato puree on the menu, so at least I got what I wanted to eat for lunch. Well, no luck on the gay restaraung, but good luck on the meal. Also, at the start of the hunt for Intakt, the first person I asked about it (a young woman cashier at the Espress0 House) asked if we were tourists and then informed us that we were quite lucky to come when we did since the weather was so nice. Apparently, it was very cold here just last week. I am very happy that our timing was auspicious. It would be a totally different experience if it was really cold out.
Our mixed luck, continued with dinner. Once again, I was determined to eat at either a gay or gay-friendly restaurang. I picked this place on Gamla Stan that has been in existence since 1922 called Cattelins. Once again, I consulted their menu online and knew what I wanted to have for dinner. I was planning to start with Carpaccio of Elk with Parmesan, Ruccola, Olive Oil and then, since we ate lunch so late, Rich and I were going to split an order of Swedish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes served with Cream Ridge/ Lingon Berry Jam. Having decided all that I then noticed that their website said they were closed on Sundays :(
Ah, but then I noticed that the site was out of date and that it had their winter hours listed. So I gave them a call and sure enough they were open. They guy told me we did not need a reservation, we could just come on over. Well, once we stepped out of the Metro station nearest the restaurang, we saw a another restaurang flying a gay flag, so we asked a gentleman sitting out front if he knew where Cattelins was. He did. Thankfully, unlike our hunt for the late brunch place, we found Cattelins, fairly soon. But wouldn't you know it, THEY WERE CLOSED. The guy there told us that the chef had a family emergency and had to leave. The restaurang thang was just not happening today.
It worked out okay, though. We just headed backed to the place where we asked the guy for directions. It is called Torget. Rich had what they called a Seafood Casserole, but was actually a stew and I had a lovely Lightly Salted Cod with Potatoes.

They are very big on potatoes here in Sweden. Late last night, I raided the mini bar and discovered these wonderful potato chips that are made from little potatoes called, 'Mandelpotatis'. The name literally means, 'Almond Potatoes'. They grow them in the northernmost county of Seden called Norrbotten. The extreme cold from the long winters keeps them free from harmful bacteria and the midnight sun during the summer matures them to perfection. I asked my waiter if all the potatoes that they serve at the restaurants in Stockholm come from Norrbotten and he said "no". That they grow them all over Sweden. He didn't really seem very well informed about the 'Mandelpotatis'in particular.

Logga In

Apparently here in Sweden, one does not merely 'log in', one must LOGGA IN. It also appears that a password is called a Lösenord. That sounds like something which might entail a scary visit to the doctor's office.

Speaking of scary, either late tonight or early tomorrow, our luggage is supposed to arrive. Damn I hate Delta.

It turns out that we happen to have arrived on the day of the Stockholm Marathon. So naturally all the riff-raff (and, perhaps, even a few of the landed gentry) have turned out to egg them on. Being the suspicious bastard that I am, I cannot help but wonder who amongst the crowd are laying odds that freckled-dick Björn is going to be the first one to drop.

Ground Control to (Pilot) Major Tom(PMT)...Commencing countdown, engines on....4...3...2...1...Earth below you...

Now is the time for the excitement to build...ours along with yours. The day of leaving is upon us and I wanted to send you off properly. Have a wonderful, exciting, fun, stimulating, tasty and visually inspiring time...blog us some photos if you can as we eagerly await a share in your fun.

Busy times

It looks like we've all been busy with "real life" around here. Just enough time to check in for a few minutes here and there around the corner, but not enough time to do any real thinking for this blog.

I don't know about you, but a break from "pondering" can often be a welcome relief. Thought provoking stuff will come up tomorrow or the next day.

Our first concert last night went well. Since it was a Thursday evening, the attendance was not as good as our Sunday concert will be. Although it is undoubtedly not PC, my favorite song in the program is "Waitin' For The Robert E. Lee". It is very harmonious, peppy and syncopated. Our director is a lovely lady who apparently has no conception of the political history of the song. She just loves to play it on the piano and the way it sounds when we sing it.

WM, I see you are being prayed for. I hope our positive thoughts and good wishes will work as well. Venting here will at least help to get your frustrations off your chest. When you have time, let us know how it is going.

PMT, Just a few more days until you are "up, up and away". It will please us greatly if you have a few minutes here and there to post and let us know where you are and what you are up to. You spend the money and we'll get in on the fun. Sounds like a winner to me.

WH, Is the hay harvest done yet? It seems to me I have seen paintings and heard old "Hey, nonnie, nonnie" type songs about the frolicking that goes on when folks are a-haying. Any truth to the bucolic image, as shown in Summer, Haying at Jones Inn, by George Henry Durrie?

BIG Slussen project

Thanks for the info guys. It is good to hear that C.C. is not quitting her blog or having any serious health issues.

WH,
That is correct. We have nine days remaining. Rich and I leave a week from this Friday and we will arrive in Stockholm the following Saturday. We will be there for two nights before boarding our ship. We are very excited about it. Now, if we can just get the little blind dog to stop tearing all of her hair out. We had a blood test done and found that she is allergic to many things that we had been feeding her. At first that appeared to solve her problem, but then she started up again. It is a good thing our baby sitter is a nurse.

Clear Ayes,
I guess you must be familiar with the Slussen area of Stockholm. Had you heard about this project to redo it. It sounds like a massive undertaking. Hopefully it will not turn out to be their version of the Big Dig.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Is David Bowie the only one singing about changes? What did I miss....or did I? Just because a person is private and doesn't want to talk about their personal business does that mean that a change is necessarily bad? I'm so confused.

Strange Days

I promised you an interesting story and here it is. It is a little long for one post, so I'll finish it up in the comments section.

In early 1953 my parents sat me down and made an announcement. We were going to move to Canada. They tried to make it sound like it would be a wonderful adventure, but I could tell that they were unhappy and worried. I was just 10 years old and they kept so much from me, but here is what I knew at the time. It is about what can happen to people who were a little too naive and trusting of the government….of course, it couldn’t happen now….yeah, right!

My mother was born in Canada and moved to Chicago as a young girl. Because her father was a naturalized American citizen she always assumed that she was a citizen too. When she was old enough, she voted...Democrat, of course! Being from a long line of community activists, she, along with her brothers and sister, was involved in liberal labor organizations in the late 1930's. There was nothing illegal about the clubs and groups that she was interested in. Later on, in about 1950, after they were living in California both Mom and her sister found out from their brother who had been in the Navy, that they were actually not American citizens. They wanted to correct this and applied for citizenship.

As you may remember, there was something else going on in the United States at this time. The Senate Committee on Government Operations, headed by that lovable dickens, Senator Joseph McCarthy, was in full swing. The Congress was equally busy with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Now we can look back in amazement (or not..Hang ‘em WM!) that McCarthy in the Senate, and his associates on the House committee, subpoenaed hundreds of people and, on threat of loosing their jobs or being imprisoned, they were questioned about whether or not they associated with anyone who was a Communist AND they were required to name names. It was a frightening time and many people turned against their friends and neighbors to protect themselves.

Mysterious Sonic Landscape

"CA: Was that an inside joke between you and PMT? Stop packing what? (I'm trying to draw him out.)"
"I hope you can pull off the travelogue thing on the blog during your trip and allow us to accompany you vicariously. If you happen to be feeling rich during the trip, pictures of that are optional."
WH, you are incorrigible! Well, it worked .. if only for the moment.
Is the jacket you are wearing in your picture made from the fleece of your own sheep?

"I just have a feeling that PMT is very careful when choosing his vacation wardrobe."
Yep. Strictly leather teddies for me. Honestly, I don't know shit about fashion. Frankly, I have always felt the fashion industry was rather jive. That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing the next fall lineup of 'Commando-Wear'.

"I think I mentioned before that although it is spelled temari, it is pronounced te-ma-di"
It did not occur to me until just the other day that I actually made one of those balls. It was at a tea ceremony in Seoul. Obviously, it was not just a tea ceremony.
For the part of it that was a tea ceremony, the nuns explained the details regarding how they prepare the tea. They made a point of not pouring boiling hot water onto the tea leaves. It should be very hot, but not boiling. They poured enough water over the leaves to wet them well, but not drown them. Then they let them sit for a couple of minutes to allow the leaves to respond by giving off their natural oils. Finally, they poured the bulk of the water over them and let them steep. I have since brewed my tea in the same manner. As I said, though, it was not simply a tea ceremony.
We had a Q&A session with a monk regarding the nature of Buddhism, as practiced at that monastery, and we also made those decorative balls. However, it is only fair to say that ours were nowhere near as fancy as the ones in the pictures that Clear Ayes linked. In fact, to say that ours were anything beyond basic would be to exaggerate. Never-the-less, the damned things adorned the ship on the way back to China.

"Yet, they don't seem to get it, that the virus has evolved/mutated from an older strain."
My better half (who is a retired Special Agent with the FBI, no less) has said that I am the most cynical person that he has ever known. Perhaps this is why I don't trust Bill Maher. However, I do agree with him on several issues. One of which is the 'dis-ease' maintenance industry. Never-the-less, he seems to be straddling the fence in terms of what corporate America wants. Whenever I hear anything that any pundit has to say, I cannot help but ask ... who is paying for this verbiage? And just what is their agenda?

WM,
I am sorry to hear about the complications regarding your mother. I hope things can be resolved in the best way possible for all concerned.

New California Tax Base?

Here is something fun to discuss...The Governator is seriously considering decriminalizing the silly weed Ca. and controlling and taxing it. It could, apparently, raise upwards of 1billion $$$ in taxes for us. It would also clear out a lot of space in ourprisons for peoplethat actually commit serious crimes. I'm thinking that if this passes, a recent poll showed 56% of Californians favor this move, then OR and WA may follow. It could begin a move to pull out vineyards up and down the coast to make room for "mari-joe-juana"'...all very interesting. It seems that the major part of the drug issues with Mexico is the M weed and that legalizing it could seriously cut down on the border crime wave. Good ole Ca. Now if we can just clear up that same sex marriage issue we could become a very cool state to live in...oh yeah...and that smog thing, the traffic gridlock, the wildfires in the summer, the drought issue, the winter mudslides and the earthquake thing...okay...maybe I need to rethink this Golden State thing...Fog...fog is good...

The Invisible Woman

This is going to be me for a bit. I just got a call from my mother's surgeon that there is a compli-

cation that will postpone her surgery for another 1-2 months...I now have to call and let her know this.

After her recent outbursts in the Dr.'s office, the Dr. doesn't want to be the one to tell her. It falls to me, this evening.

My life is going to get more complicated in the next few months and I doubt that I will have much posting time, although it just might be a good place to let off steam...you know...that hang 'em high stuff.

SO...wishing PMT a lovely vacation...CA...keep drawing...WH...keep being you and do stop in here...I really don't know, at the moment, how things will work out. WM

You Say Tomato And I Say Te-ma-di

I think I mentioned before that although it is spelled temari, it is pronounced te-ma-di. At least I have it on the authority of a traditional temari instructor, who is a stickler for correctness in all things temari. This photo is of my first effort and I am planning on taking one more class. There are several how-to books available online, so after that? Besides, aren't we in an economic crisis? Husband and I aren't in a super-squeezed position...yet, but who knows what the future will bring. Spending $50.00 for a class to learn how to wind thread around and "needled through" a rice husk ball seems a little extravagant to me. Did I tell you that one skein of imported silk temari thread is $5.00? Three colors are a minimum, so if I did the math, which BTW I try not to, (if God wanted us to do math, he wouldn't have allowed calculators to be invented!) that would be $15.00 just for thread. But I did have fun making the darn thing. I was thinking that I could utilize a few temari balls as Christmas tree ornaments. On the other hand, I really don't need more "stuff". I quail at the thought of winding up like my brother-in-law who has thirty-plus boxes of handblown imported ornaments and has to have two Christmas trees in order to display them all. That wouldn't be so bad, but he is 65 years old and it is getting more difficult for a guy with arthritis to crawl around the attic rounding up boxes of decorations he should probably never have collected in the first place . At least temari balls aren't breakable.

Speaking of God (Yes, I was.) I was watching Bill Maher the other night and he made what I thought was a interesting point. He was talking about H1N1, formerly Swine Flu and now to be called heinie (?) His point was that anti-evolutionary creationists are as much in favor of new strain flu meds like Tamiflu as the non-believers. Yet, they don't seem to get it, that the virus has evolved/mutated from an older strain. I guess they believe that God just created a new virus out of thin air.