Our arrival draws near!

We'll be on Aspö a week from tomorrow. Right now it's sunny although still a bit cold. No snow or ice, though, according to the Sandhamn webcam.

Sooz asked Olle if he could turn on a radiator this weekend to take the chill off for our arrival. I'm like my dad; I hate turning up the thermostat unnecessarily! But I can see her point, we're there only for barely 6 days and it takes a full day to warm up. So I am glad Olle did us that favor.

We will be packing today. As usual, all the bits we've accumulated over the months add up, and we end up schlepping a box across the ocean. But at least it's one box. I remember when Sooz's station wagon was packed to the gills!

PS. Happy Birthday, HRH Elizabeth!

Eurovision austerity

My friend Kenji, a fellow ex-ex-pat, sent along this article from the Wall Street Journal explaining how Sweden is leading the way of lowering the costs of holding the contest.

There has been a bit of an 'arms race' to hold ever-grander spectacles, which can be ruinously expensive to smaller countries.

It's a good read, and I highly recommend it.

Internet progress

My second mail was from Nilla Söderkvist, our secretary for the Nämdö fiber association. I have been posting about the project to bring very fast broadband out to every home in the Nämdö archipelago.

We have crossed a significant milestone this week; the Nämdö Fiber association has been officially incorporated, and each interested citizen has been asked to pay in a stake of 2000 kronor to become legal members of the association. I've paid mine already!

The first installations will take place on the big island of Nämdö itself, hopefully this summer. It seems to me that Aspö would likely be next, given its size, and the number of interested parties. But I'm just speculating. It does seem likely we will have broadband within the next summer or two, and I am looking forward to it a great deal!

Lots of mail!

As April arrives, so begin the stirrings of life on the archipelago, or administrative life, at least. I recently received three mailings of great interest.

First is the official summer guide for 2013, sent via e-mail to us residents, but also available on Aspö's home page.

Two dates caught our eye, as both fall during our planned summer visit. July 17 is a jewelry making seminar held by Margit Roxell, a resident of nearby Ladholmen. Sooz is interested in that. Who knows, maybe she can start a new career with a bit of instruction?

More my speed is a Burgundy wine tasting the evening of July 20. Organized by local sommelier Naima Agnaou, we'll be tasting a red, a white, and a sparkling wine, followed by a bit of dancing on the midsummor meadow. We're looking forward to both events.

I also received two other pieces of Swedish mail, but we'll save them for our next post.

T - 2 weeks

We'll be leaving exactly two weeks from now.

Did I say I can't wait???

Filmjölk

I've posted before about my love for filmjölk, a specific type of Swedish soured milk. It is my breakfast favourite out on the island. I even went so far as to culture my own.

Now it appears that I don't have to make my own any longer, as my local store sells "Swedish style filmjölk".

It's close to the real thing, perhaps a little tart. All I need is Swedish style Muesli and I can have an Aspö breakfast every morning!

T-minus three weeks

All things being well, we should be landing about this time three weeks from now. We are starting to pack a bit; we've been stacking all the things we've been collecting to take to Sweden in a spare bedroom for the past 5 months. As usual, it becomes a much larger pile once it's all assembled!

The weather is still quite cold. Next weekend's extended forecast (April 13/14) is only about 5°C. I'm not anticipating a huge rise in temperature, so it's gonna be chilly when we get there! Good thing our Dyson fan has arrived safely at Marcia's house.

Vaccinations

I posted in November about finding a way to get a booster for my TBE vaccine here in the US of A. Thanks to my company doctor, I found a traveler's clinic in Montreal that could administer the shot.

Last week, I was in Canada on business and made an appointment to get my vaccine. I'm happy to report that everything went well and a very knowledgeable doctor (with a Welsh diploma) administered my injection. Now I'm set for another three years.

Wire brushes

There have been many posts about the discoloration on the front of our house and my desire to address that by painting over it. The last we left this subject in October, I painted a test patch with linseed oil paint to see how it withstood the winter.

At Tim's suggestion, I took a wire brush and cleaned off a section of the wood before painting. My plan was to paint over both brushed and non-brushed sections to see if the paint took differently.

I was surprised at how relatively easily a lot of the black discoloration came off, pretty much as a powder. This makes sense as the jarn vitrol is an iron-based product, and I'm sure what I was removing was a form of iron oxide.

The more I ponder it, though, I think I need to brush the face of the house before painting. Paint must adhere better to the wood without the iron in-between; that's just common sense to me.

Of course it is easy to sit at a desk in Texas and say, "sure it's simple to hand-brush 20 square meters of the house!" I am sure I will curse my decision, once up on a ladder this summer. But I think it's the best thing to do.

Our friends at Amazon have a ridiculous array of wire brushes available. I plan to pick out a couple of types and see how they work out during our April visit. I'll do the brushing deed in July, and have the house painted in September. That's the plan, anyways. There has been a lot of discussion about this over the years, and things always seem to change. But that's the plan for now.

A few links

Princess Lillian passed away on March 10. I have to say I didn't know anything about her. After reading her obituary in the Guardian and the Economist, I wish I had. Hers is an amazing story, and I urge you to read both of these excellent articles.

The Economist has a good article on the intersection of English and Swedish politics.

Also, Dwell has a great article on the restoration of the Rietveld-Schröder house, which is probably the most beautiful building I ever visited. Trivia: Gerrit Rietveld and I share the same birthday.

Lastly, Annika and Olle have been sending me photos of an icy March, which I've put on her Flickr page.

One more Eurovision post

The hasn't been much to talk about house-wise, although the happy day of our arrival is fast approaching, so there'll be more pertinent posting soon.

In the meantime, I found two Eurovision blogs, one here and the other here.  Both are insightful, well-written, and full of videos from other countries. Enjoy!

The UK Eurovision entry

The BBC has announced this year's contestant for Eurovision. Taking after last year's choice of Engelbert Humperdink, the beeb has reached into the past again. Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler will be singing "Believe In Me" in Malmö this May:



I'll admit to being disappointed. Known for belters like "Holding Out For a Hero" and "Total Eclipse Of the Heart", I'm sure Bonnie's voice is not as strong as it was in her heyday 30 years ago. But this track is insipid. I can't imagine any of the younger audience voting for this song, and older viewers (like me) will just be disappointed.

Many countries have a big selection process for their Eurovision entrants; Sweden's six-week, six-city, ten-hour extravaganza is the largest by far, but most other countries in Europe have some sort of selection show. When I lived in England, the BBC held various Saturday night contests to select the nation's entry. Now it seems that Auntie acts as if she knows best, and just announces their choice (very late in the calendar) to the befuddlement of us all.

And the winner is.....

...in a surprise, Robin Stjernberg!
I guessed pretty well with Yohio as the top vote-getter in the public vote, with Ulrik Munther second. But I hadn't taken into account the international jury, who gave a number of votes to Robin, catapulting him to first place, much to his surprise, as well as the audience's.

The Local has a good summary of the evening's anticlimactic results.  I don't think SVT is at any risk of hosting Eurovision again next year.

UPDATE: Camille sent me an acoustic version which she prefers, and I have to say I agree:

A thousand posts!

This is a momentous occasion: my 1000th post. From a humble introduction in August 2007, my blog has exploded over the past half-decade into the internet's go-to source for information on building kit homes, Swedish archipelago life, the Eurovision song contest, and incinerating toilets. Especially incinerating toilets. Google tells me Cinderella is the most commonly-visited subject here by a wide margin. (Google also reveals my blog has been viewed by 60,000 people! Wow!)

I have made 4 introductory posts; I suppose I can add to the canon with a fifth. Sooz, Ollie, and I are happily back into the swing of Texas life. People ask us if we miss living in the UK, and we truthfully answer "yes", but that doesn't mean we are unhappy here; it's not a binary choice. Let's face it, life in the USA is pretty easy and we enjoy that ease. Grant is still in college in North Carolina, a junior now, and doing well at school, both academically and socially. Ollie is also doing fine, a bit slower of course, but since the dark days of his back surgery, every day that he is still happy and healthy with us is a joy.

We're still adjusting to being 5000 miles away from our little stuga. But we've settled into a pattern of being there three times a year- all the seasons except winter! Given the Texas heat, Sooz plans to be away longer in July/August, and I will join her, for two weeks if I can. A one week visit is OK, but the jetlag makes a 7-day visit less desirable.

It's a good thing the house is done. Maintaining it and bringing small things out is do-able from so far away. I sure couldn't have built it from the other side of the world! Fortunately, we have great neighbors in Olle and Annika who keep an eye on our home for us, which is a great relief.

The internet also makes it a lot easier to keep in touch. Olle and Annika send us photos when they're on Aspö. I can see the hourly weather and the Systembolaget specials on my iPhone, as well as the local news, and Rutger is always a FaceTime call away for advice!

It's around this time of year that I really pine for Aspö. The weather is starting to get nice; March here reminds me of June there. So I start itching to go. But we will be there soon enough for our spring visit. And longer-term, I will admit the thought of retirement is starting to creep around the borders of my thinking. Sooz and I know we couldn't live there year-round, but the thought of an April-October residence is appealing. And all that time would lend itself to a great deal of blogging!

Who knows, my next thousand posts may come much more quickly.

The Andra Chansen

Last night was the "second chance" show from Karlstad. From each of the previous four shows, two acts were chosen to have yet another battle to make it to the final in Stockholm.

I never hold out that much hope for this show; after all the acts are by definition second-rate. But there is an element of fairness here. The performers are grouped by lottery so it's possible to be in a really strong show and not go through, when the winner of a weaker grouping might not be as good.

That said, the winners, Robin Stjernberg and Anton Ewald, are not going to compete for the crown next week. In fact I've already pretty much forgotten them, nice young men they are.

My favorite act was Erik Segerstedt and Tone Damli with "Hello Goodbye". On the surface it is a cute duet between two good-looking singers. But the lyrics are bemusing to say the least. Essentially they're singing "last night was great, now get out" to each other. But Tone can't keep her hands off Erik during the song which somewhat belie the lyrics. I found it very odd. See for yourself:



So who's gonna win on the big night? To me it's a straight fight between Ulrik Munther and YOHIO. The running order of the night is that Ulrik goes first and YOHIO last. That gives a huge advantage to our anime band from Sundsvall. Sorry, Ulrik, but I'm going with YOHIO.

Denmark's Eurovision Entry

It's a bit early, after all not all countries have chosen their final songs yet. But some bookies are putting Denmark's entry by Emmelie De Forest as an early favorite.

She can sing, at least, which not all entrants can! And the drums are a very Eurovision-y touch. I have a soft spot for Denmark, given my family heritage. But I'm not too sure.

The last semi-final

...was in Malmö last night. The opening bit of the show was quite funny, with an opening montage from Eurovision in the 70's. The hosts Gina and Danny were in "traditional" Swedish dress. They started with the typical awkward English-language banter between the hosts, the joke being that Malmö will be hosting the Eurovision final itself in May. The real host, Petra Mede, came on and put the kids in their place. Maybe you had to be there, but I got a kick out of it.

Onto the music. Ulrik Munther (whom I mentioned last year) has tightened up his act with "Tell The World I'm Here". I thought it was a good song, with a simple and effective staging in front of a big screen of stars.

The other act was Ralf Gyllenhammar, with "Bed On Fire". This one was a little odd. Ralf looks like a heavy-metal drummer with a neck tattoo and aggressive facial hair. And he sang alone on a piano (which went up in flames mid-way through the song). The funny part was his excitement when he won. Ralf was thrilled! He threw little Ulrik up in the air and in general acted like the happiest Melodifestival winner ever. Kind of endearing for someone who looks like one of Lisbeth Salander's friends.

Next week is the "second chance" round, where two of the lucky losers get picked for the final. The field seems pretty thin this year. Maybe one of the songs will grow on me, we'll see.

The Big Mac Index

The Economist has published something they call the "Big Mac Index" for over 25 years. It started as a light-hearted look at purchasing power parity amongst countries around the world.

The idea is simple: the average cost of a Big Mac in the USA is set as the baseline. The cost of a Big Mac in another country is compared to the US price. Comparing the two prices gives an "hamburger exchange rate," if you will. This can be compared to the actual currency exchange rate.

This year's index is interactive, and it has kept me entertained for some time now. Of most interest for our readership, of course, is how a certain Nordic country fares in the index.

It appears that Sweden has one of the most overvalued currencies in their league table. In fact, in this past year, the official exchange rate for the kronor was almost 75% lower than the Big Mac rate, and that's been consistent over the years.

Is this good news or bad news for an ex-pat such as myself? That depends on your point of view. For transferring money from the US right now, it's not that great. My dollar buys almost 10% less than it did last summer. On the other hand, the value of my home in Sweden is commensurately higher in dollars. So short-term, a strong kronor is a bother; long-term it's a good thing.

We've scheduled our trip!

It has taken a lot of coordination. My calendar at work is crazy these days. I'd rather go sooner than later, but Sooz, probably wisely, wants to wait until it's not so frosty. So we the settled on the end of April. Our SAS tickets are bought.

Eagle-eyed readers might notice there's a countdown clock just above the archive along the right side of the blog. It is set to the arrival time of our flight. I'll be really glad when it gets to zero!!!

Melodifestival Part 3

Another head-scratcher from Skellefteå. My favourite act, Janet Leon, didn't even make it to the second chance round:


I mean, come on! This is perfect Eurovision! Skirt-pulling! Catsuits! Synchronized dancing! Long blonde hair! But no, the voters went with a kind of emo-punk-hipster song by "State of Drama" and a bunch of old guys, "Ravaillacz", who had an old-fashioned Schlager song. At least they can sing.

I won't link to the winners, as SVT takes their videos down right away.

Going to the second chance show was Caroline af Ugglas. You may remember her from last year's eccentric performance of "Snella, Snella." Her song this year, "Hon Har Inte", had a more traditional performance, although it looks as if Caroline has spent the past year getting her body fat into single digits. It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

The funniest part of the show was a bit filmed in Rome, in which the host, Gina Dirawi, asked random Italians why they hated Sweden, the joke being they were the only country not to give Loreen any points last year. It was pretty well done!

I have to say I am not too thrilled about the choices this year so far. Sweden does not seem to be defending their title, unless there's a great act popping up Malmö next week.

Competitive wood planing

...yes, you read that right. I stumbled across video from a competition in Japan to plane the thinnest possible wood shaving. The winning entry here is only 9 microns thick. (For perspective, a hair is about 45 microns, a red blood cell about 7).

I believe the skill is really in making the plane itself. To design a tool that is sufficiently sharp and precise to shave a sliver of wood hardly thicker than a blood cell... that's the textbook definition of "skillful" I'd say!

Be careful with clicking the various links on the side, however. If you're like me, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time reading about woodworking techniques.

Melodifestival part 2

We all watched the second show from Göteborg live via the SVT website. My mom's still visiting, so she wasn't quite as bemused as she was during her first exposure last week. Soon, she'll be an expert.

It was an amazing show, really typical Melodifestival, with real head-scratching decisions by the telephone voters. Case in point: one of the winners was Louise Hoffsten, with her song "Only Dead Fish Follow The Stream". Yes, that's right. Dead Fish. Not only in the title, but over and over again in the chorus. But don't take my word for it:

The best act, Erik Segerstedt and Tone Damli, made it to the second chance show at least, along with a Bieber-wannabe which Sooz rather liked. Next week will be Skellefteå, which should be interesting. Shows in smaller venues are always more fun!

A report from the Economist

This week's Economist has a number of articles on the Nordic countries worth a read.

The first talks about how Sweden, Denmark, and Norway seem to have found a new model, "avoiding both southern Europe’s economic sclerosis and America’s extreme inequality." It also counters many of the myths of Scandinavia being a socialist tax-and-spend paradise; for example, Sweden's budget deficit is 0.3% of GDP; America’s is 7%.

The second article talks a bit more about how it's being done. Simply put, "rather than extending the state into the market, the Nordics are extending the market into the state."And it seems to be working right now: "the Nordics dominate indices of competitiveness as well as of well-being."

Scandinavian countries still have a number of advantages over other countries in the EU. Their economies are small and relatively homogeneous. They have good infrastructure and high education levels. But still, it's hard to govern at all, let alone well. For the time being at least, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are doing it well, indeed.

The Melodifestival is back!

We watched the first semi-final from Karlskrona via the excellent SVT Play website. It was great fun as usual, but with perhaps a bit less filler in the show itself; I think they got right down to the performances much more quickly than in the past.

The clear winner was YOHIO, with a manga-inspired performance of "Heartbreak Hotel" which had absolutely nothing to do with the Elvis version, I promise. I gave them extra points for fireballs.

The other winner was David Lindgren, one of those artists who keeps coming to these shows and never gets very far. At least he made the final this time.

Lena Phillipson made an appearance in one of the numbers at the voting interval. I don't know what her secret is but she keeps looking better in my opinion. Look at this clip... and remember she just turned 47!

My mother is visiting and she got to experience the joy that is the Melodifestival first-hand. I think the best way to describe her reaction was... nonplussed.

More photos from Annika and Olle

I woke up this morning to a number of photos from both Annika and Olle out on Aspö. It looks like a beautiful sunny day and Annika's photos are, as usual, excellent. Olle checked on my radiator and all is still properly warm. He sent along a few pictures of the house, too.

It is great to have neighbors who stay in touch! I miss Aspö a little bit less now.