Tara & Joakim's blog

Beauty isn’t everything

2011-12-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

Wow… out of all the women in the US, I was able to stumble across someone as great as my wife. And chances of finding a good-looking American woman as genuine and sensible as Tara are pretty slim. At least if we use the line-up of Miss America as the litmus test for what American women aspire to become…which can be summed up in one word: stupid.
Only 8 out of the 51 supposedly most beautiful women in the US say that they support evolution to be taught in schools. The rest… 43 women in all (!) say things ranging from a straight “no” to “it is just a theory” or “well, it could be taught if other theories are presented as well” and then add statements along the line of “personally, I am a Christian, so I don’t believe in evolution”. Miss WV, Miss SD, Miss CT, Miss DE and Miss DC seem to get it right. In the entire line there are in fact only three women (Miss Vermont, Miss California and Miss Washington) who seem to be ardent supporters of science. Miss Washington is also not afraid to criticize the anti-science crowd (although she gets confused over the difference between “a theory” and “a fact” but this might just be an ill-phrased attempt to dismiss bogus creationist claims). Miss Vermont’s answer is more to the point, when she makes the distinction between science (that can be tested) and religious beliefs (that cannot undergo scientific scrutiny).
I really dislike beauty pageants. So many cute little faces. So little brain inside.
Let’s just assume that we changed the question, and asked them what they think about other theories being presented in schools… like, say… the theory of gravity? Anyone? Anyone? Oh… yeah… and the year is 2011.
/Kim

Fallera!

2011-10-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Warren C and Dad are pretty good at keeping up the pace on the trails in the nearby forests by singing the old Swedish tribal song "Vi gå över daggstänkta berg - fallera!". (Tribal songs are songs proclaimed to be of national interest "to instill patriotic duty in our youth in accordance with His Majesty's will", as it says in the Swedish public school ordinance from 1943.) Regardless of hiking pace, it is now getting colder. So our choice of clothing has changed. The top three images are from our hike in mid-September. The bottom pictures are from today's little journey. We're using double layers of wool (underwear and wool sweater, wool turtleneck and thick wool socks to keep warm. And of course - some hot chocolate in the thermos!

Gearing up for a hike in September. WC gets hydrated with a Mer fruit drink.

Piggy-back riding, dressed in a sun hat, jeans and some Wellies to keep dry.

Ready to go! Dad in his lumberjack plaid shirt.

"Hiding" behind a tree in the woods!

Keeping warm on the trail. The fall wind made the hike fairly chilly.

WC in a good pace in the midst of the forest.

Warren Christopher and Dad posing for the camera.

Cars and more cars...

2011-10-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our house being overrun (no pun intended) by cars. The famous "couch race" is a daily routine.

90% of Americans want to live in Sweden

2011-10-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

Watch Land of the Free, Home of the Poor on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

If you want to learn about the difference between the United States and Sweden – please take a few minutes to watch the following videos. First off is PBS (video above), and their show ”Free or Equal”. They do a follow-up to a survey about wealth distribution where Americans seem to have little understanding of how the US really works. In order to demonstrate this, they present people in the streets with different pie charts of wealth distribution in Sweden and the US. And here are the stats: The richest 20% of Americans hold 84 percent of the nation’s wealth, whereas the financial assets of the bottom 40 percent of the population equal 0.3 percent of the entire wealth in the United States. In Sweden,on the other hand, the wealthiest 20% of the country hold 36 percent of the wealth, the top 40 % of the population hold 57 percent of the wealth. A no doubt stark difference to the US. Even more so - the bottom 40 % of Swedish households actually own 36 percent of the nation’s entire wealth! (Compared to 0.3 percent in the US!) It is obvious that Sweden has a much more equal distribution of wealth … and Americans who are asked about it just LOVE this kind of society – at least when they see the pie chart. In fact – they love it so much that they actually think that the pie chart that represents Sweden will have to be a representation of the wealth distribution in the United States. (This brings in a lot of questions about The Myth of the Rational Voter - and why democracies choose bad policies.)

What the PBS documentary does NOT say, is how a society like Sweden (which is obviously doing well today in the midst of financial turmoil) has been hampered by tough government interventions. In fact, it is only until quite recently (the past 20 years), that Sweden liberalized its economy and gained some economic traction. Still, the taxes in Sweden are very high. The municipality income tax is around 30%. The marginal tax rate is 50%, and anyone making more than $55 000 a year pays 20% in income tax on everything above that level, and another 5% taxation is placed on incomes above $78 000 (people that are referred to as the "super rich" in Sweden...). Some income taxes are hidden in the system of Swedish payroll taxes as well (at around 32%). This means that the highest possible income tax today stands at around 87% in Sweden. But Swedes who make less than $55K a year "only" pay 62% of their gross salary ... And out of your remaining net salary you still have to pay 25% in sales tax on anything you buy.

Sweden is a much more equal society than the United States, but equal does not mean better. And whatever your view is on financial redistribution and equality - bearing in mind the Swedish tax brackets, you would have to wonder how many Americans would be willing to move to Sweden if they got the whole truth behind the pie charts.

An altogether different view is the "Free to Choose" idea, that has been championed by Milton Friedman - a free market might not give us equality in distribution of income, but will let people be free to create their own future:

Free or Equal from Free To Choose Network on Vimeo.

Of course, since Sweden has not been increasing its national debt and while some Swedish industries are outsourcing their jobs to places like... the United States (!) - some Americans are waking up to what it means to have to work for their money, as opposed to just putting every expense on a credit card. The Daily Show has a great video on what IKEA is doing for American jobs:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And here are two more "insights" into what it means to have Swedish "socialism". Clearly, the old "Swedish socialism" stereotype (drummed up by Fox News) is not up-to-date with how Sweden functions today, which The Daily Show clearly demonstrates. Whether you like tall blond women or not...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And, to add some more positive views on Sweden, regardless of what you may think of Al Gore, his assessment of Sweden's ability to deal with cap and trade, recycling and other environmental programs, makes the United States look like a polluter country from the developing world.

Abstract expressionism

2011-09-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Miro's Bleu III, a reproduction of which we soon hope to have on our wall.

A print poster of Jackson Pollock's Alchemy is now proudly placed in our bedroom. Yes, it is a "conversation piece"!

Mark Rothko's "No 3" adds wonderful color to our hallway.

A poster of Joan Miro's May 1968 painting, full off drip painting technique, is our son's favorite.

Robert Motherwell's Blue painting - a great example of American 20th century art

Franz Kline and his brutal paint strokes...

Our apartment has been missing a few things. After re-decorating and putting white wallpaper all over we have been searching for great paintings to add a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. And what better way to do just that than to use prints and canvas reproductions of great abstract expressionism. The last two paintings (by Motherwell and Kline) are presently not on our walls. We will have to wait and see once we put up our new nursery room. Inside the nursery, we will leave the decision making to our son, who without a doubt will choose posters from any print collection with the label "Cars" on it...

Potty time!

2011-09-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Ah! The blessings of parenting a toddler! Our son went pee-pee on the potty today! And we are soo impressed!!!
He indicated that he wanted to go and then we had to leave the bathroom while he sat down on the potty and made farting sounds to himself.Very cute!

Lots of praise from mommy and daddy followed, of course, and he was very proud of himself.

We Hate Fox News!

2011-08-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Ron Paul & the Top Tier
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And we should add that We Love Ron Paul! (Click link to visit his campaign homepage and support his 2012 presidential campaign - Restore America Now.)

Ron Paul is a consistent libertarian with a proven record from twelve terms in Congress. And he is able to excite the GOP base so much that - even in rural Iowa - he comes in second in a tight race. But the way Fox News and other media outlets ignore him is just deplorable. The clip above pretty much summarize the way he has been treated in the media.

It is time for a change - Ron Paul in 2012!

National Day of Sweden

2011-06-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

True Swedes - ABBA in front of the Swedish colors, wrapped in ... tin foil?

And so... today, June 6, we celebrate Sweden's National Day, to think back to 1523 when Gustav Vasa was elected king, after defeating the Danish armies. (Yes, that is the same guy who did the original "Vasaloppet" to flee from the Danes - see earlier post on this blog.) Sweden is still a constitutional monarchy, but Swedish nationalism has changed dramatically during the past generation. (For more on this, read "The lowdown of Sweden's National Day" in The Local.) Ethnic nationalism is still vibrant in the Swedish mentality - although not very much celebrated on an official "national" day. But is has become increasingly politically incorrect to make nationalist statements based on primordialism, something Sweden used to be pretty good at during the early 20th century... Nowadays the only accepted version of Swedish nationalism is a civic nationalism which embraces (in no particular order) welfare state norms of social and economic equality, liberal values and inclusion. Anything else is deemed ethnocentrism, or worse - racism. Such a narrow scope of a national identity says a lot about the public discourse in Sweden of today. So don't look for emotional outburst and exaggerated national pride on this day - Swedes who want to uphold corny ethno-nationalist rituals wait until the festivities of Midsummer's Eve or Walpurgis Night to celebrate their pagan traditions. One might argue that Midsummer's Eve is the real national day of Sweden...

So what did the Nilsson family do for National Day? Warren Christopher went with dad to have Italian ice-cream at the ice-cream parlor on the corner. And Mom put a little wooden flagpole with the Swedish flag on our dining table. A very "lagom" celebration.

Things I learned from bedtime stories

2011-06-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

As you get older, you learn about things from your kids, or when you are interacting with your kids. Below are some things I learned from reading bedtime stories to my son:

What I learned from Elsa Beskow's Pelle's new suit (swe: Pelles nya kläder). I learned that barter economy may work, however it can only be efficient if, and only if, the margin utility (mu) of any labor (l) equals any other labor (l^2,3...n) within the same time restraint (t). Previous investments in knowledge or other forms of capital investments (c) or interest on knowledge and capital (i) are assumed to be close to zero (~0) in order for Pelle to be able to acquire his suit by trading his unskilled labor with highly skilled professionals. (Plenty of examples of this relationship [(mu*l¹/t = mu*(l^2,3...n)/t] appear in the story, for example when Pelle meets the tailor who willingly manufactures the suit while Pelle clears the hay field and takes care of the pigsty. Or when Pelle enjoys the newly woven fabric from his mom's spinning wheel while he feeds his kid sister.)
This story is bordering general economic assumptions from Say's law - "products are paid for by products". Of course, all of this goes down the drain if we abolish fixed prices or start implementing David Ricardo's labor-maximizing theory on Comparative Advantage. Also worth noticing is that the protagonist in the story, Pelle, seems to be living in the Swedish highlands - judging by the folklore costumes in the illustrations - it could well be the regions of Dalarna or Härjedalen. But the proximity to the Norwegian border does not seem to influence the state of autarky, which dominates the story. Hence, only domestic trade is possible for Pelle. Perhaps this is because Ms Beskow was too old to get in touch with the Heckscher-Ohlin model of general equilibrium of free international trade.

What I learned from Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit. From a sociological perspective, I find this one almost too easy to see through. Peter is the son of a single mom, and the lack of family values is a predominant part of the initial paragraphs. Mom goes off on her own (to work and to buy produce for supper) and lets her young ones fend for themselves without any parental supervision. And Pelle, lacking a good male role-model in his life, gets himself into mischief right away by looting the honorable Mr MacGregor's garden. Even more annoying is that while Peter is apprehended during his theft of radishes, he manages to escape, and the reader is supposed to root for the villain in the story - against the old Mr MacGregor and his will to defend his private property. No justice is being served, other than that Peter loses his jacket and shoes and eventually ends up on his forgiving mother's doorstep. We can only imagine what the future may hold for this delinquent. "Juvenile hall" is the prediction I would assume to be his future prospect.

What I learned from Thorbjorn Egner's Klas Klättermus and Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.
This is more of a general lesson of life that shines through in both of these books. And the lesson is this: Lazy, irresponsible outcasts of society with clearly delusional as well as narcissistic and grandiose personalities will always make it in the end. No matter how bad their morals are. Even if they misbehave and are sent up to their room without supper - there is still warm food waiting for them at the end of the evening.

(Further reading: Hat off for PopPop Angelo who mentioned the political interpretations of The Wizard of Oz where everything from the gold standard to William Jennings Bryan appears, if only by means of allegories.)

White nights

2011-06-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

With summer solstice just 18 days away, and the pagan Midsummer's Eve rituals (not to be mistaken for what goes on in A Midsummer Night's Dream) on June 24, Sweden is experiencing the height of the "white nights" season. Although Stockholm (at 59°N) is still - technically speaking - below the Arctic circle (at 66°N), we do experience a lot of less than dark nights. The photo above is taken at 11 PM. The sun disc is barely visable by the horizon, but the sky is still bright. And this is about as dark as it gets. This is definitely one thing we love about Sweden. The never-ending bright summer nights.

Dropping the kid off at the pool

2011-06-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Son and dad at Eriksdalsbadet's outdoor pool.

Lots of splashing going on in the kids pool.

Playing with mommy in the water.

Waiting for the bus to go to the South side.

Both mom and son sporting trendy sun glasses.

Today we enjoyed 75F degrees and a clear blue sky with the sun beaming at us. So we decided to go to Eriksdalsbadet, just a few blocks from our house. The outdoor heated pools show 64F degrees, much warmer than the natural waterways around the archipelago islands, where the beaches are reporting that the water has now reached 46F degrees!
WC loved the pools and did not want to leave! He was diving by himself and enjoyed getting under water and trashing about in the different pools. The place was pretty crammed with people, and the line was looong, but once inside we had an awesome time (as you can see from the photos)!

Here is a map of Sweden with local water temperatures from today's weather service. (Click image to enlarge.) Temperatures in Celsius (since Anders Celsius was a Swede!). Some refreshing beaches around Luleå - with 3C or 37F and some much warmer around Stockholm, 46F, and even as much as 57 degrees F on the west coast.

Installation art

2011-06-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Our son's first piece of installation art. We call this one "I don't want my hamburger", or "Ceci, n'est pas un hamburger".

And above is "I don't want my hamburger II", also referred to as "Imperative deconstruction of non-dialectical materialism". Be sure to notice where you've seen it first. Soon he will be holding his first exhibition at Moma of Stockholm and Guggenheim, NY, just like Jeff Koons or other famous conceptual artists. If you are starting to feel inspired, please visit Jackson Pollock online where you can create your very own drip painting on the screen!

"This just in..."

2011-05-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

In other news today...

Sweden's Scandal-hit King denies all allegations (that he frequently visits strip-clubs and mingles with organized crime figures). He also denounces his life-long friend, Anders Lettström, for his involvement in a shady deal that was supposedly intended to buy back photos of His Royal Highness in "compromising situations". As an old scholar in Constitutional Economics and the Constitution of Sweden, Kim would like to point out that, under the Swedish Order of Succession (the oldest of Sweden's four charters in the constitution, established in 1810), the monarch can not be prosecuted for any crime or misdemeanor whatsoever. This is real, people! If you are into fairy-tales - read Rapunzel! Today's version of "kings and castles" is more like a sleazy Penthouse version of a Brothers Grimm story... and - if we are to believe even just a tiny bit of the news reportings about the affairs going on in the Royal Estate - apparently there are no fair maidens left.

Also in the news today: The US Ambassador to Sweden, Matthew Barzun, is called home to the US after two years on his post in Stockholm. He is now supposed to be heading Obama's fundraising for the re-election campaign in 2012. Barzun has become a very popular figure in Sweden during his short tenure, probably due to his way of reaching out to the Swedish public. And he has even picked up a little Swedish. Whether he is going to make use of the Swedish glossary - in particular the word "Lagom" (which has no literal translation in English) - once he gets back to the US is a still unanswered question.

In order for our friends and family overseas to better keep up with daily news from over here, we are hereby including a link to the online newspaper, The Local, on the right side of our blog. Swedish daily news - in English.

The Swedish Chefs

2011-05-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

HAPPY SWEDISH MOTHER'S DAY!

WarrenC and Daddy decided to make mommy happy by mixing up waffle batter in the kitchen and serving them, freshly baked on mom's new waffle iron (which also happened to be her gift for mother's day).

Here are the two Swedish Chefs in full action in our kitchen:

And here we are again, whipping the cream for the topping...Warren Christopher made sure to taste the whipped cream several times before we chilled it.

And here is a good friend of ours - the famous Swedish Chef, making Swedish "Chocolate Moose".

Late reply to Matt...

2011-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

The hazard of not updating your blog on a daily basis is that you sometimes can not always respond on time. Well, now at least Kim has responded to Matt's comment on our previous entry about the wonderful world of Oliver Peoples glasses.
Our best advice for anyone interested in great vintage frames is to shop around. Plenty of great brands now challenge OP with similar collections and wonderful-looking classic eyewear: Cutler & Gross (especially # 1026!), Garrett Leight, Barton Perreira and Ray-Ban Iconic Opticals.

And be sure to check out OP's spring models for 2011, like Gregory Peck!

Oliver Peoples

2011-05-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Ever since Oakley moved in and acquired Oliver Peoples in 2006 it seems like the cool ideas behind their retro frames, that once made Paul Smith decide to let OP design his entire collection and inspired Armani to copy anything from frame designs and ideas, have now gone elsewhere. When the head of Oliver Peoples, Bill Barton, and the leading designer of 18 years, Patty Perreira, launched their own brand - Barton Perreira - you could argue that the spirit of Oliver Peoples moved with them.
Some of the more sturdy frames from Barton Perreira, like Banks (pictured above) bring back memories of movies with Gregory Peck or Spencer Tracy, or the FBI staffers in Oliver Stone's JFK. Not to forget the entire cast of yuppies in the film American Psycho, based on Bret Easton Ellis' book by the same name. More or less the entire collection (mainly Oliver Peoples' Riley frames) can be viewed in plenty of close-ups in the famous Business Card Scene from American Psycho. (Click for video link.) And the script says it all! ;)

(Luis) - Patrick, thanks so much for looking after Courtney. Dorsia, how impressive! How on Earth did you get a reservation there?

(Bateman) - Lucky, I guess.

(Luis) - That's a wonderful suit. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. Let me guess. Mmm, Valentino Couture?

(Bateman) - Uh-huh. Hmm.

(Luis) - It looks so soft.

(Bateman) - Your compliment was sufficient, Luis!

(Paul) - Hello, Halberstram. Nice tie. How the hell are you?

(Bateman) - Allen has mistaken me for this dickhead, Marcus Halberstram. It seems logical because Marcus also works at P&P and in fact does the exact same thing I do. He also has a penchant for Valentino suits and Oliver Peoples glasses. We even go to the same barber, although I have a slightly better haircut.

Springtime flowers for mommy

2011-05-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Today, our son handed over fresh flowers (swe: vitsippor; eng: windflowers or thimbleweed) for mommy when he and daddy came back home after having been sliding down the tunnel slide in the playground for over two hours.
Springtime (or early summer if you will) has really hit Stockholm now. Today we enjoyed 75 degrees F with clear skies and lots of sunshine!

Spring dress rehearsal

2011-05-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I can finally fit into those clothes that have been waiting to see the light of day for about two years now. (Actually, the pants I am wearing here haven´t been worn since my honeymoon trip.) I exercised quite frequently on the Nordic rowing machine as soon as it was set up, but summer vacation started and then Warren Christopher and I began a new routine in August, so a workout schedule was hard to maintain. No worries, though, if one has a young child to take care of - complement that with no snacking, no desserts or alcohol on weekdays, and no sugar in one´s coffee. That last one seems trivial, but it really isn´t! Pregnancy takes a toll on one´s body, and post-pregnancy neglect makes it even worse. I may feel proud about the fact that I can get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes again, but what I have realized in the process of losing this weight is that I´m physically AND emotionally better than I was a year ago...Oh, and I´m supposed to mention that that striped belt that I´m wearing belongs to my fashion savvy husband.

"Baby needs a new pair of shoes..."

2011-04-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Our son got his first backpack (an early 2-year birthday gift from Mom and Dad) to be able to join his parents next time we go hiking in the woods. It is a six liter Fjällräven trekking backpack, and it even has its own rain cover that goes with it!

As for springtime shoes, WC got a nice pair of Kavat leather shoes that make him look very sofisticated!

Art appreciation

2011-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

"Aton", 1955, by Olle Baertling. Sold for 165 000 euros.

"Ksef", 1949, by Olle Baertling. Sold for 8 000 euros.

The Stockholm auction house (the world's oldest auction house) had their annual Swedish Modern Auction this past week. The Nilsson family was trying to bid for the less expensive pieces by Olle Baertling, but decided to drop out of the bidding war. "Ksef", above, was one of our objects of interest where Kim signed up for a paddle at the auction house. The starting price was 3 500 euros, but a tough bidding race soon pushed the price tag up 200 percent above the initial price. And as for "Aton" (top), and other more famous pieces (obviously inspired by Mondrian) by Baertling, it was simply out of our price range. But we still love his art!

Ready for spring weather

2011-04-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally come to Stockholm, and that means rain and more rain. Our son is now prepared for the puddles with his new, black Tretorn toddler wellies.

Vroom Vroom Weekend

2011-04-09T01:58:00.000-07:00

One of Kim's colleagues came to visit this weekend, to enjoy some La Maison Nilsson Saturday Dinner, and play Settlers of Catan.

The three course menu for the day:

Opening Long Drink: Sidecar.

Cauliflower velouté soup with parsley (Swe: redd blomkålssoppa med persilja)
Homemade bread with thyme and cream cheese
Francois Lurton, Bordeaux 2009 (Sauvignon Blanc)

Chateaubriand with potato gratin, parsnip purée and Kim's red wine sauce.
Tenuta Sant'Antonio (Amarone della Valpolicella) 2007

Kim's homemade Tiramisu
Coffee and avec (Sandeman's Invalid Port)

Our dinner guest brought a present for WC, the Hotwheel Monster Jam truck "Stone Crusher" which soon became a favorite among the Nilsson car collection with its 4WD stunts!

For all you fans out there... below is a match-up between the real version of "Stone Crusher" and "Iron Man". Our son is hooked!

New addition to the hallway

2011-04-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

A nice form of minimalism has been added to our hallway, right below the frames with our family portraits. This particular stool is called Icone, and is designed by Ashkan Heydari from the Danish designers at Bolia.

Saturday menu

2011-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

We had the Swedish grandparents over for dinner. (Well, they were of course only here to visit Warren Christopher, but due to Dad's ailment and Mom feeling tired we decided against going out and instead had a nice evening at home, once our son had gone to bed.) This is what was on the menu:

Opening Long Drink: Dirty Mother.

Bélon oysters served with fresh lemon.
Champagne: Massé Brut

Cutlet of Atlantic wolffish served with oven-grilled legumes, sprinkled with trout roe sauce.
Fleur du Cap, Chardonnay

Vanilla panna cotta with strawberries.
Coffee and avec: Fad 6 Sherry/Courvoisier VSOP Cognac

Cheese platter and "bricelet" wafers.

Graham Beck, Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon

Our sons first time on skis

2011-03-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

Look how easy it is to stand on a pair of skis when you are 21 months old!

Mommy helping out with the ski poles.

WC's very first cross-country ski trip with Daddy in tow.

Thanks to a colleague from Dad's office, our son now has his very first set of cross-country skis. And WC seems to be handling the 90 cm long (35 inches) skis in a very graceful manner. He sure is growing up to be a real Viking!

Below are some action shots from the 25 yard long ski-trip:

FFA candidate

2011-03-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Ready for some serious farming on the plains of Texas in a brand new John Deere Shelby, a rodeo shirt and overalls with chaps! Bring on the manure!

Respect!

2011-03-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Bullying is a menace. There should be nothing but respect for the kid who is assaulted (he receives several closed fist punches) and decides that enough is enough. Cudos to him!

Oh... and then the bully speaks out... Asked by the reporter if he is sorry for attacking another student he gives an interesting response, coached by his father behind the camera. This is Oscar material!

Are you married? Have an affair!

2011-03-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

A newly released ad campaign in Sweden offers a 'solution' to dull, married life. Reads the billboard ad:
"Are you married? Liven up your life - have an affair".

Only in Europe, people! ... only in Europe... (Read the story, in English, at The Local, here and here).

The times they are a-changin'

2011-03-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Oh! How time flies! Looking through some old photos of ourselves we found these little "trophies" from Dad's early years. Above is a photo from a brief career as a troubadour. This particular photo is from Tossa de Mar, north of Barcelona in Spain, where I and my brother Martin earned a few bucks playing in local bars during one summer. We were able to pack the places night after night while we performed. Notice the fuzzbox on the table! It is not plugged in to the semi-acoustic guitar I play. ;) It belongs to the man in the corner, Tom Jones' former bass player. The guy in front is a member of the old Spanish folk/pop group Trio Montenegro. Due to some unfortunate circumstances they had to end their performances as a duo.

A well-groomed look as a boy soprano in the Gothenburg Cathedral's Boy Choir. Circa1983.

Another photo from the boy choir era. This is probably taken during one of many Sunday Mass performances. Around this time is when the choir performed the Swedish premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. I remember it to be a gruesome experience, as an 8-9-year old, to have to memorize 64 pages in Latin.

Bow-ties will never go out of style!


My brother and I a few years later in life. Enjoying malted milkshakes during a Sunday brunch at Silver Diner near the house where Tara and I lived in Fairfax, Virginia.

Touchdown! (or something...) Three years old heading for a swim in the coastal waters near our summer cottage.

Hiking has always been a great interest of mine! Above is photo from an excursion during springtime in a nearby forest in Gothenburg. The jacket was sewn by my mom. Wellies are always a good thing to have when hiking in Sweden!

Above is the start of my first longer hiking trail experience. I was nine years and did a three day hike on the southern part of the Hallandsleden trail, in the woods near the family's summer cottage. The second day included rain, rain and more rain - and me getting stuck with my foot in a fence when walking through a farm field with caddle. If I remember it correctly my dad took out his knife and carved an opening in the wooden fence around my ankle to make it possible for me get free.

Ski training. My first pair of skis, with old bindings, similar to what Telemark skis have today.

Up on a Swedish fell mountain. One of many cross-country tours. Me, cutting out snow blocks to build a snow hut.

Me and former Prime Minister Carl Bildt (now the Secretary of State for Sweden) after a lunch meeting at a school cafeteria.

Ski-trip on a Sunday

2011-03-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

Lunch break near the bus stop at Hellasgården in the Nacka Nature Reserve.

Today the entire family went out to enjoy lots of snow and beautiful weather. We traveled across the Nacka nature reserve for five hours. At around 10 AM we took the bus outside of our apartment to go to Hellasgården. Almost as soon as we arrived we had lunch (blueberry soup) in the snow while the sun really did make us feel very warm. We then decided to go across the lake Dammtorpssjön to see the westernmost parts of the nature reserve

Dad skiing across the lake with Warren Christopher in the travel backpack.

Our Primus thermos, and hot blueberry soup, served in the snow.

Going out on the lake. Plenty of ski tracks in the snow.

Kim and WC on the lake Dammtorpssjön on a warm late winter day.

Vasaloppet!

2011-03-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

We woke up to see the start of the Vasaloppet in Dalarna, Sweden. Vasaloppet is one of the world's longest ski-runs (90 km /56 miles). 15.000 people participate in the main event race every year. This year, the snow was perfect for high speed racing, and the winner was able to complete the entire distance in 3 h 51 m! Incidentally, that is only about one and a half hour more than what it took for Kim's brother to finish a little over one quarter of the race (the distance Sälen-Mångsbodarna) in Friday's relay version of Vasaloppet. The video above shows some clips from the start of the race in 2009.

Pictures from our trip to Orsa Grönklitt

2011-03-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

View from Hällberg's mountain pasture summer farm. The practice of transhumance has been used here since the 17th century.

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Orsa Grönklitt in Dalarna, Sweden, for a week of cross-country skiing with MomMom and PopPop, Chris and Sarah. We enjoyed some snow-packed days degrees dropping to -20C (around -5F) but most of the time the temperature stayed at a more pleasant level, between 5F and 15F. When we were not skiing we enjoyed the comfort inside our cute little cabin where Tara had prepared all the meals (for example blueberry soup and rose hip soup for lunch, and salmon and reindeer for supper).

Father and daughter in the tracks. (Click to enlarge.)

Chris, Sarah and MomMom enjoying the ski trip. (Click to enlarge.)

Nicely prepared tracks in the dense forest. (Click to enlarge.)

Built to last. The summer pasture main house at Hällberg's fäbod with plenty of snow on the roof. (Click to enlarge.)

Mom and daughter after reaching the collection of mountain pasture huts at Fryksås. (Click to enlarge.)

Grandparents Angelo and Mom Nilsson smiling for the camera. WC is sitting in his pulk to the right. (Click to enlarge.)

Waffles with cloudberries and hot mulled wine at Fryksås fäbod's café, before the ride home to Grönklitt. (Click to enlarge.)

Rudolf not needed here. Daddy pulled the pulk and got some extra exercise. WC soon fell asleep during the ride. (Click to enlarge.)

Tucked in for a ride in cold weather. (Click to enlarge.)

Tara waiting for MomMom and PopPop to catch up. (Click to enlarge.)

The view from our cabin.

And here are some action shots from one of our ski trips:

For more photos - visit our photo album on Snapfish.

Dancing time

2011-02-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

MomMom and Farmor dancing with their grandson to the music of Marche Militaire by Franz Schubert.

A is A

2011-02-25T04:31:00.000-08:00

Kim: I am so happy that my wife is a person very far from Lilian Rearden. Above is a new short clip from the upcoming movie Atlas Shrugged (see earlier post on Who is John Galt?). It is the scene where Hank Rearden comes home from his steel mill with his new bracelet. The dialog says a lot about the beauty and virtue of selfishness (and at the same time how nasty and immoral any form of altruism really is). The unapologetic non-contradictory essence of Hank Rearden's argument baffles his family who can only thrive as moochers, hiding behind a veil of what they perceive as kindness and altruism.

Who is John Galt?

2011-02-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

The first trailer is out! Part 1 of Ayn Rand's famous novel is about to hit the movie theaters soon!
Did you know... that the paperback version of Atlas Shrugged was the first present Kim gave to Tara?

"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

Plans for a weeklong excursion

2011-02-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

Some notes about a planned ski-trip. Starting at Ljungdalen, a typical outpost in the southern/middle part of the Swedish mountain range. This is where the road ends. Skis, dog-sleds or snowmobiles are the best ways to travel here. I prefer ski touring.

Winter trails are marked by red cross signs.

My plan is to reach Helags mountain station before nightfall. The following day I will go north, and do a nice little climb up towards the second peak in the area, called The Goose (Gåsen), where there is a little mountain hut for me to stay the night in. This is the highest part of the trail that I have chosen, and it is located at an altitude of about 4.200 feet, with some glaciers just around the corner. From "The Goose", I hope to be able to cross over to the Sylarna mountain massif, where my aim is to reach the Sylarna mountain station. This is classic terrain for mountain touring people, and I might stay here for more than one night to enjoy the facilities. After this first leg of the trip I have two alternatives - either to cross over the border to Norway and end up at Storeirikvollen, an old mountain pasture farmstead from 1879, or to go along the mountain ridge to the Swedish mountain station of Blåhammaren, where they have a sauna! The last part of the ski-trip is to go down from the high elevation and across the valley over to Storulvån mountain station. From Storulvån there is a road to the nearest railroad, but it can be unreliable since the road runs right near the Snasahögarna massif where frequently a lot of snow overtakes the road, due to hard winds, and makes it impossible to travel by car. I do not think this will be anything I need to be concerned about since I will be traveling during late winter.

Gåsenstugorna - the huts near The Goose peak.


Helags mountain station.

Top of the world! ... or at least the top of the Swedish mountain range.

Sub-arctic Winter

2011-01-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

Icy cold weather. Enjoying the sub-arctic winds for a few days... Tara posing by a little "waterfall".

This is Daddy used to go swimming in the summer.

Please notice the sun in the photo above! This picture was taken around noon-time, and the sun is no higher than just above the tree-tops! ;)

Do what Jesus did - walk on water. Dad and WC trying out the ice.

WC and his new wool hat. Very warm and perfect for cold winter days!

Guitar hero!

2011-01-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

Warren C and Daddy playing together on Dad's Gibson guitar, signed by Per Gessle.

Today we played through some of Mora Träsk's songs in Swedish. And we also played the following, very popular, tunes:

"(Jag vill vara din) Margareta" (chorus at 0.50)

"Alla känner nå'n från Göteborg (Rally)"

"Dom är ledsna (för att de inte är från Göteborg)"

WC was also head-banging to Dad's version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"! For real!

Goodbye Christmas Tree!

2011-01-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

The Red White and Blue proudly displayed on top of our spruce, instead of a star.

It is time to say goodbye to our Family Christmas Tree! Here are some of our ornaments. Call us corny - but we believe in eclectic x-mas trees.

No American X-mas tree without a large Cheeseburger (thanks Sista S + D-Rock!)

Baby's first Christmas Teddy bear in cart.

"Goodbye tree!" Our son has been very good to the tree this season.

Feline family

2011-01-09T06:10:00.000-08:00

Wittgenstein sucking up to our son.

WC and Wittgenstein playing Jack in the Box.

Relaxing at Daddy's manicure parlor

Nietzsche sleeping on Mommy's chair.

Herring plate!

2011-01-09T05:54:00.000-08:00

Herring - Or what Swedes have for Christmas dinner. The first part of the "Julbord" consists of fish. In this picture you will find that we have boiled eggs cut in half and garnished with Kalles kaviar (red cod roe caviar). On the top of the plate is Tara's homemade bread with butter and in the middle Tara's homemade Janssons frestelse (a kind of potato gratin/casserole with anchovies). The rest of the plate is packed with different versions of pickled herring: "Brantevik herring" (a rather sweet pickled herring), Dill herring (as the name suggests, flavored in a dill brine, and Onion herring (the most traditional form of pickled herring). Yum yum! Served with a glass of cold Porter and snaps (for more about the all-important Nordic snaps ritual - read this). For Christmas we prefer a very bitter dram called Gammel Dansk.

Some famous Swedish snaps labels.

The Duck Song!

2011-01-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

A duck walked up to a lemonade stand
and he said to the man running the stand.
"Hey! Got any grapes?"

The man said "No we just sell lemonade.

But it’s cold and its fresh and it’s all home made.

Can I sell you glass?"

The duck said “I’ll pass”.

Then he waddled away. (waddle waddel). Till the very next day. (bop bop bop)

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man that was running the stand
"Hey. You got any grapes?"

The man said "No, like I said yesterday,

we just sell lemonade okay?
Why not give it a try?"

The duck said "Goodbye".

Then he waddled away. He waddled away. He waddled away
Till the very next day.

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man that was running the stand
"Hey. You got any grapes?"

The man said "Look, this is getting old.

Lemonade’s all we’ve ever sold.

Why not give it a go?"

The duck said “No.”

Then he waddled away. He waddled away. He waddled away
Till the very next day.

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man that was running the stand

"Hey. You got any grapes?"

The man said "THAT’S IT!! If you don’t stay away,duck,

I’ll glue you to a tree and leave you there all day, stuck.
So don’t get to close!"

The duck said "Adios."

Then he waddled away. He waddled away. He waddled away
Till the very next day.

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man that was running the stand
"Hey. You got any glue?"

"What?"

"You got any glue?"

"No, why would I– Oh!"

"Then one more question for you:
Got any grapes?"

And the man just stopped. Then he started to smile.

Then he started to laugh. He laughed for a while.
Then he said, “Come on duck, let’s walk to the store.

I’ll buy you some grapes so you won’t have to ask anymore.”

So they walked to the store and the man bought some grapes.

He offered one to the duck and the duck said “No thanks”.

“But you know what sounds good? It would make my day.
Do you think this store, do you think this store, do you think this store… has any… lemonade?”

Then he waddled away. He waddled away. He waddled away.

Chord progression (throughout the song):

C                     C         F                G
A duck walked up to a lemonade stand
    C                      C      F                G
and he said to the man running the stand
C  C   F            G
Hey. got any grapes?

I'm the NRA (again)!

2011-01-01T03:04:00.000-08:00

Our son showing his colors and making a statement to defend liberty and support the Second Amendment. (Here is a photo from last summer on the same theme.) Mom and Dad used to live as stone's throw away from The National Rifle Association headquarter in Fairfax, Virginia.

When will PopPop take me duck hunting in Texas?

New Year's Eve 2010

2010-12-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

Our New Year's platter: lobster served with crème fraiche, red onions, red and black cod roe, slices of lemon, and toast. We washed it down with a nice, dry Chardonnay - Blason de Bourgogne 2009. Later, at midnight, we had some Champagne (Nicolas Feuillatte 2004) while watching the fireworks from our window. More than half a foot of snow fell between 10 PM and 2 AM, which created a wonderful winter landscape in the city streets (see below).

Fun to do indoors in December

2010-12-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Drawing with Daddy with my new crayons!

Taking my Brio dachshund for a walk in the apartment. (To the tunes of "I want a dog".)

First of Advent

2010-12-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Sweden celebrates First of Advent by putting electrical candlesticks in the windows and start opening our advent calender. And so do we.

Coffee for the Holidays

2010-12-27T03:42:00.000-08:00

Seasonal coffee. Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Spice!!! Our X-mas gift from Aunt and Uncle Angelo: Sista Sarah and D-Rock.

Fun in the snow during X-mas!

2010-12-26T06:50:00.000-08:00

Our son loves the slopes in our neighborhood.

Dad joins in the fun on his old Snow-racer by Stiga.

It's fun in the su... snow!

In a country where snow-plowing is not an everyday business in the city the streets are perfectly prepared to go sledding. In the picture above WC is pulled by Dad across the tramcar tracks.

Yet another snowfall buries the cars down below in snow. We saw plenty of fresh snow in between Christmas and New Years Eve.

Merry Christmas, dudes!

2010-12-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

American Christmas Day in our home

2010-12-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

In the morning: Santa left presents under our Christmas tree!

WC opening presents by the "fireplace" with Farmor and Farfar.

Farmor and WC posing by the Christmas tree.

A young version of PopPop! WC in a US Navy Pea coat.

Our table set for the Turkey dinner.

Our table in its standard Christmas outfit.

Junior Jingle Bell Rock between two cousins. Frosty the Snowman playing the piano is an old Hallmark gift from MomMomMom and PopPopPop.

God Jul!

2010-12-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

God Jul

from All of us to All of You!

Season Greetings

The Nilssons

Swedish Christmas celebration

2010-12-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Swedish Farmor with WC and his cousin.

To celebrate a real Swedish traditional Christmas evening, we went to Aunt and Uncle Nilsson's house outside of Stockholm.


Plenty of spruce and fur trees heavy with snow. And the streets are as white as the surrounding.

Our son, watching for when Santa is supposed to arrive.

Our hosts, Aunt and Uncle Nilsson, with the delicacies prepared for a traditional Swedish julbord - a seasonal form of a smorgasbord. Lots of herring, pickled herring, salmon, achovis, Jansson's temptation, ham etc etc.

Two cousins enjoying gingerbread cookies and milk.

Santa and Warren Christopher

2010-12-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

Swedish Santa finally made it to our home to meet with our son and deliver a whole bunch of Christmas presents.

Santa is on his way!

2010-12-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

"There is no bad weather, just bad clothes," say the Swedes. And winter is just another season. Right now the thermometer shows -6°F (-21°C) in Stockholm. With winds that reach 16 ft per second, the wind chill factor pushes the quicksilver even lower, to -26°F (-32°C)! The picture above is from a country road just south of Stockholm. If you want to see a wonderful video clip from a snow-clad Sweden (showing Santa leaving his home in Swedish Lapland) you have to click here!

Farmor's birthday!

2010-12-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Farmor had her birthday, and we just had to give her this kewl Urbanista design called Dramaten, color: The Pink Panther. Hopefully it will be a good help during her grocery shopping trips (since we kind of "stole" her old one).

Comments are now available!

2010-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Happy B-day Debra! To celebrate your birthday we are now opening up for comments on our blog - something you have been very keen on pointing out to us. So... here it is! Our posts are open for comments from everyone (though we will use a moderator function)! Just click on the comments section below each post.

And have a very happy Birthday!

/Tara and Kim

Do you have what it takes to live in darkness?

2010-12-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

We are moving in for the darkest week of the year. On December 21 the winter solstice makes it the darkest day of the year with less than six hours of sunlight. It could be worse. Stockholm is located in the south of Sweden, and if you travel just a little bit north in the country, above the Arctic Circle, you will have complete darkness for an extended period of time (basically beginning of December until mid January). Still, those "six hours of sun" needs some explaining. Today, the "sunrise" was clocked at 9.20 AM. That means that the top part of the sun disc was visible by the horizon. And throughout the "day" the sun never ever leaves the horizon, making it tricky to drive cars if you are not used to avoiding low sunshine. Also - keep in mind that when we have low pressures (fronts of snow and overcast that can linger for weeks) you do not see the actual sun itself. You just notice that it gets brighter as though the sky is in a foggy haze. (You can see what we mean by looking at the photos we took during a mid-day event at Skansen.) Anyways, around 10 o'clock we have daylight. And that continues until 2 AM, when the sun starts to "descend". The recorded sunset (defined as when the top of the sun disc is below the horizon) is at 3.12 P.M. but with the sun placed so low in the sky it actually gets dark around 2.30.

The included video from Longyearbyen (where they experience complete darkness - the "Polar Night" - for 11 weeks per year) gives you a good insight into what it is like to live in this part of the world.

Winter Market at Skansen Heritage Park

2010-12-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

We braced ourselves and went out into the cold to experience this year's wonderful Christmas market at Skansen Heritage Park in Stockholm. Our son enjoyed being able to keep his feet warm inside his new Ajungilak Little Mammut winter sleeping bag. Swedish grandmom and mom posing for the camera at the market square at "Bollnästorget".

Shopkeepers selling anything from newly baked Nordic tunnbröd (flat bread) to sausages made of moose, caribou and wild boar (we bought a boar sausage for our Christmas smorgasboard - yum!) and lots of herring and smoked eel and candy and "glögg" (a traditional Swedish version of mulled wine, served hot) and reindeer hides ... and everything in between.

Tara inspecting the mistletoe stand. Notice how all the shopkeepers at the park wear traditional folklore costumes.

The candyshop. Adorable candy-cones hanging.

Horse and carriage through the snowpacked streets of Skansen.

Tara gives a guided tour of Bollnästorget and the Christmas market. Grandmom is "dancing" with WC in the pram.

Traditional Christmas dances in some kind of rock'n'roll version. See if you can follow Mom and WC and Grandmom dancing in the middle. Hint: Try to look for Tara's read hat. Oh... and notice the steam coming from everyone's breath...

Grandmom and WarrenC at Skansen.

Dad and Grandmom by Seglora kyrka in the snow.

Fishmongers: Smoked herring (cabinet in the middle) and grilled herring "sotare" (to the right).

Freshly baked bread. Already refrigerated...

A nice way to see Skansen is to use horse power. Notice the sky in this photo. It is around 1 PM when this photo was taken. And this is about as much sunlight as you can expect here this time of year. Around 2 PM the sun is starting to disappear by the horizon (it never really gets very high up on the sky anyways) and by 3 PM is is pitch black!

Tara is greeted by the local "townspeople" at Skansen.

Warren Christoper and Grandmom dancing together to keep warm.

Lots of people, and then WC and his Grandmom in the middle of the line dance.

As soon as it got dark our son crawled back into his sleeping bag in the pram.

It might be cold and dark, but the "fish" at the kids' fishing pond were biting. Mom and Grandmom helps WC to hold the fishing rod.

View of Stockholm from the main stage at Skansen.

The park closed at 4 PM, and by that time the cute lanterns outside of the heritage park's many cottages were guiding us through the picturesque streets.

Brand New Baby Slippers

2010-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

Warren Christopher's new slippers. He absolutely loves them! And they keep his feet warm on our somewhat cold apartment floor.

Kim's guitar is back!

2010-11-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Finally, we were able to get the old guitar back from the Paul Guy guitar body shop. Everyone is elated (and WC loves to dance whenever daddy plays really cool riffs)!

Kim: "It is an accoustic Ibanez AW85, with molded frets on a mahogany neck with a rosewood bridge and fretboad. The solid spruce top has grown over the years since I bought it in the mid 90ies, making the resonance much more mature now. It has a wonderful 'glow' and a deep subtle voice that can make me wanna just sit and play tunes for hours.
After extensive use for almost 15 years it was time to give it a few new parts instead of the ones that had been worn down. I went to guitar-builder/inventor Anders Thidell in the SoFo neighborhood of Stockholm to have it looked at. He replaced all the frets and adjusted the neck and bridge. The difference is astonishing! Not only is it sounding better with an entire set of new frets (duh!), the adjustment of the angle of the neck makes the strings follow the fretboard so much closer and it really enhances your feel for playing. I can 'tap play' without any difficulty and the sustain is awesome! I am so happy - and I sure could not find a better guitar builder; Anders Thidell has invented the tilted fretboard, called True Temperament, and builds guitars for numerous great guitar players, like Steve Vai, for example. I might not be able to play like Vai... but at least my guitar now comes from the same builder as Vai's TT guitar."

(Svenska Dagbladet: Article in Swedish about the True Temperament fretboard .)

WC's first pulka ride!

2010-11-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

With lots of snow coming down during the past week we finally were able to go and treat WC to his first pulka-sledding experience. As you can see in the photos he absolutely LOVED it! (A pulk (from the Sami language "bulke", or "pulka" in Swedish) is a Scandinavian short, low-slung small toboggan used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skier.)

Many towns in Sweden do not clean the streets or walkways of snow in the wintertime (nor do they sand, or use salt to clean off the ice and snow). Instead, it is up to the pedestrian or the driver to use good judgment when traveling across snow-clad streets and parks. This of course makes for wonderful winter-settings and perfect sledding environments pretty much everywhere.

Mom and son going through the snow-packed streets in the Nacka municipality.

Snow sure is fun! WC thinks this is far superior to going in the silly baby pram.

Merino Wool

2010-11-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

A Merino ram full of that soft, warm wool, perfect for cold days.

In an earlier post we were trying to explain the layered clothing technique when dressing for cold weather. (The idea is to trap warm air in your clothing while leading perspiration away from your body and shield you from wind and humidity.) And some of the very best base layers are made of Merino wool, like this (recent purchase), a thick but very light crew neck body top. Merino wool is very warm (!), is almost itch-free and does not smell... and - best of all - wool is the only natural fabric that can keep you warm even when it is wet!

The world has certainly become smaller and the eco-trend is evident when it comes to farming and sheep shearing. Icebreaker, a leading manufacturer of wool clothing (and a Nilsson family favorite!) now lets you track and trace your wool garment, find the place of origin of your sweater, pants, whatever... and meet with the local farmer who brought up the sheep that contributed to your wool garment.

With the tracking code found in our latest purchase we now know that it was made by wool from three places in New Zealand: First of all Otematata Station, a homestead run by Hugh Cameron with 32 000 heads of Merino sheep in the Waitaki Valley . The farm is located on the slopes of the mountains at an altitude ranging from 1000 ft to 6000 ft in the south New Zealand alps. Second, a little farm in the Central Canterbury region called Lake Heron Station, run by Philip Todhunter and his wife Anne, situated almost 9 000 ft up in the mountain range on the south New Zealand island. And last; Mount Nicholas Station on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, where Dave Buston and his family have a magnificent little farmstead right across the lake from Queenstown.

Herd mentality.

This time of year, our son is always dressed in long-johns and a top, or a full body underwear, made of Merino wool. There are some nice manufacturers who focus on kids wool wear, for example Janus Kids. Sometimes we put on a second (thicker) base layer of wool or Merino wool leggings. For a sweater, we now have (through the grace of one of Kim's colleagues) a Lusekofta, a Norwegian knit wool sweater (with a specific, traditional pattern), that is very thick and warm (photos here and here). On really cold days we then add a thick fleece jacket and an insulated winter jacket as an outer layer, and insulated winter pants. But everything starts with those lovely warm fibres of Merino wool next to the body.

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T06:12:00.000-08:00

WC trashes about in his Thanksgiving outfit, sent from Turkey Track Trail!

Father and son after a lovely Thanksgiving meal, prepared by Mom. Turkey and mashed potatoes. After weeks of both Mom and WC being sick the family was finally thankful that these illnesses were now behind them.

Ending the day by reading Three Little Pigs in the sofa. Uncle Chris' old blanket gives comfort when one is sleepy.

Engagement anniversary!

2010-11-20T06:37:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated the anniversary of our engagement, six years ago. And just like that time in a little restaurant in Georgetown, we enjoyed this year's version of Beaujolais (Villages) Nouveau, which they traditionally started to sell here in Stockholm on the 18th (the third Thursday in) November. Like always, this season's Beaujolais is made of 100 percent Gamay grapes and tastes of fresh cherries, raspberries and strawberries with very low tannin levels, making it a perfect choice for our chocolate dominated dessert! For the rest of the meal we had an old favorite, Les Fumées Blanches, a crisp Sauvignon Blanc wine from Languedoc.

The menu for the evening:

Starter

Noix de Saint-Jacques sur un lit d'épinards en ail.

Bay scallops served with garlic infused spinach and pea purée

Entrée

Velouté de chou-fleur avec cerfeuil

Warm cauliflower soup with parsley

Dessert

Crêpes Baumanières avec framboises et mousse au chocolat

Warm crêpes filled with homemade chocolate-flavored whipped cream and strawberries

A Night at the Opera - thanks to the babysitters

2010-11-14T07:24:00.000-08:00

While WC had a sleepover with his Swedish aunt and uncle (and of course his cousin Ingrid) Mom and Dad could enjoy an entire evening together. We went to the Stockholm Royal Opera House to go see the Händel opera Xerxes. We had lovely seats on the first balcony! Perfect!

Kim during the intermission in The Golden Hall at the Royal Opera House.

Outside of the main entrance of the opera house, on the bridge across Helgeandsholmen, leading to the Royal Palace.

Tara at a cute little French restaurant earlier in the evening. (It gets dark around 3.30 PM now...)
We enjoyed duck (!) and pepper steak, and escargots of course!

Pure shoe-fetischism

2010-11-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

What a soothing way of spending your weekend, by taking care of your favorite pair of Oxford shoes!
In the Nilsson household, the male part of the family use the better half of Sunday afternoons to care for his collection of shoes.
Kim: Just like in the movie - the first thing to do is to clean the shoes with wash benzin (if you want to avoid the saddle wash foam that takes a lot longer to soak up and get dry). Then I apply Kiwi shoe paste with a applying brush (and let it dry for a few minutes - the instruction movie keeps a faster pace...) and after it is completely dry I buff it with a buff brush. Then I apply shoe creme (Saphir Medaille d'Or Crème) which is made of beeswax that helps protect the leather. To finish off with a perfect shine I apply a dab of water and super-shine polish (Saphir Medaille d'Or Pate de Luxe) and gently rub it into the leather with a fine piece of polish cloth. The final result is somewhat close to the instructional movie above.

Happy be-lated Halloween!

2010-11-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

Mom and son were able to enjoy cutting up a perfectly spooky Jack-o-Lantern on out kitchen counter!

Theme music for the occasion! "Trick or Treat or Die"

Leaves and hot chocolate by a lake

2010-10-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

"Here you are, daddy - you get this leaf from me."

Sandwich break (above) in the woods by Hellasgården. Above right - looking at the daredevil bike ramp!

Slippery when wet! Makeshift bike ramps in the woods in the Nacka Reserve.
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Kim and WC by one of the more elaborate ramps (above).

Dammtorpssjön in the Nacka Reserve.

Bubble bath time!

2010-10-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

pIRaTE BUbB3lBatH is the BEST!!!

Can never have too many bubbles! Never!

Mommy's boys keeping clean on a Sunday evening.

Layered Clothing

2010-10-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is what you are getting dressed for when visiting Sweden in February...

Cross-country skiing far away from the tracks!

A bare fell mountain, a typical view of the Fennoscandian mountain range.

A few words on layered clothing, and how to stay warm during Swedish winters.

Clothing in the cold: Basically, you need to plan getting dressed in three layers:

Layer 1 – Base layer; to keep your body dry and warm, and transport moisture from your body to the outer layers. This garment should be made of wool or synthetic fibers with high warming effect. (Good wool underwear does not itch!) Absolutely no cotton! You will need both a top (long sleeved) and a bottom (long legged). Plus thick wool socks… No cotton!

Suggested garments; Layer 1: Merino wool crew body and Merino wool leggings.

Layer 2 – Insulation layer; this layer makes it possible to retain body heat and provides insulation and warmth while transporting moisture away from your body. This could be either a wool pullover, or a synthetic fleece jacket – both materials are great. Absolutely no cotton sweater! (You should also add a thick scarf to this layer so as to not expose your neck to the wind chill.)

Suggested garments; Layer 2: Fleece lined wool sweater.

Layer 3 – Protection layer; to shield against wind, snow and cold while releasing surplus heat from the layers below. Shell jackets and pants have great breathing ability and are also waterproof. A down parka or something similar with thick insulation is also very warm and protective. 70 percent of your body heat leaves from your head (your body is like a thermos). So you should always have a warm hat on – either wool or synthetic. No cotton!

Suggested garments; Layer 3: Ultralight down jacket or Parka jacket.

Of course, for an outer layer - some warm, insulated snow boots are also important.

This is how we dressed during our most recent winters.

And as for skiing technique - here is a great introduction to the basics of the diagonal stride in x-country skiing.

Mastering Swedish - Lessons 1-5

2010-10-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Five lessons in Swedish that can blow you away. A Canadian radio show host tries to follow language lesson instructions in Swedish. "Oh! Swedish is such a beautiful language!". (They're all great but lesson three is probably the most fun - and the least hard to take in - so we put that one first.) Enjoy!

Lesson 3 - The difference between "sch" sounds and "tj" sounds in tongue-twisting Swedish pronunciations.

Lesson 4 - Hard and soft G's and H's in Swedish.

Lesson 5 - Tonal and consonant trickery in Swedish pronunciations. (This is a hard one!)

Lesson 1 - Homographs (you can find the transcription for this episode in the description field for this video here.)

Lesson 2 - Inflections (you can find the transcription for this episode in the description field for this video here).

First snow of the year!

2010-10-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hey mom! The playground looks funny! Why is there white stuff on my swing?

Snow-covered playground area in our courtyard.

In front of the family stereo. "Candle on the water" - A spiritual music appreciation! Watch for the praising hands!

International Suit-Up Day!

2010-10-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

So, instead of taking part in the office fun (dressed in my best three-piece, two-button charcoal suit) I will send my hommage for this day of appreciating sartorial skills of general tailoring and bespoke collections by leaving you with some links of importance: Gieves & Hawks, Ermenegildo Zegna, Brioni.

Winter boots

2010-10-10T02:23:00.000-07:00

"Oh... the weather outside is frightful...." ... but at least WC got himself a nice pair of winter boots with wool lining to keep extra warm!

In the Navy

2010-10-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

One little midshipman in his Navy outfit.

Starboard? Why does mommy keep repeating that?

Do I have all the qualities for Annapolis?

1. Do I have a smokin' cool Navy uniform? Check!

2.Can I yell out my commands? Check!

3. Do I attract the ladies? Check!

Your Moment of Zen!

2010-10-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - Pure Swedish Genes

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Hilarious! From the sheer analytical minds of Fox & Friends.

One hike later

2010-09-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Back from a short day-hike. This is what our hallway looks like!

Today, we enjoyed goulasch (cooked on our storm kitchen) on a little peninsula by the lake (Källtorpssjön) near Hellasgården outdoor center. WC was walking around the area, mesmerized by the water right next to our little dining spot, and having a great time!

As you can see - our cats had not really missed us very much.

Colors of fall

2010-09-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

New fall wardrobe. Suit: Tiger of Sweden Norden , Socks: Falke, Merino wool v-neck sweater: Polo Ralph Lauren, "Khaki in Tobacco" slim fit chinos: Dockers, paisley pocket squares: Stenströms, hand-sewn Oxford shoes: Loake.

After updating our sons closet we thought it would be nice to let daddy get some new apparel. Stay tuned for the female closet update. There is a wonderful double-breasted camel coat from Stockholm at MQ, and a hand-knitted wool sweater "lusekofta" that mommy is looking for. Our lesson from last weekend (when we were caught in ice cold rain and had to rush through the overflowing streets) was to be better prepared for the Swedish fall weather and invest in some good Wellingtons, as shown below the high Tretorn Sarek Millennium hiking wellies for mom and LaCrosse Hamptons street wellies for dad.

Crayfish festival!

2010-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

A table full of crayfish, boiled with dill, and served with different versions of bitter - this night we had Piratens Besk (a very smooth bitter snaps). And of course, a live fire to keep us warm through the cold late summer evening.

Farmor and Farfar and Kim.

Wallpapering the apartment

2010-09-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a lot of work! Wow - maybe the most intense week of our lives! Wallpapering certainly puts your married life to the test. But we are quite proud of the result.

Some more summer photos from last month

2010-09-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Look at meeeeeee! Wheelbarrow racing in the yard.

Sandbox time.

Gathered around the table with Farmor och Farfar.

Yes! It is fun to use the swing.

WC reading a bedtime story to Dad.

Friends for dinner

2010-09-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Mr. Napkin Man comes to visit for dinner. WC politely shakes his hand.

The Headless Man comes to visit. WC is not impressed.
(Photos taken this summer at the cottage.)

Sunday menu

2010-09-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Reindeer stew with red wine, juniper berries and rosemary gravy. Served with mashed turnips.

Recipe:

1. Go to the snowy mountains.
2. Find a reindeer.
3. Catch it with a lasso.
4. Cut its throat.
5. Cut out the best parts with a sharp knife.
6. Take the snowmobile back to civilization.
7. Put the meat in a hot pot.
8. Keep stirring.
9. Add red wine, cream, juniper berries and some fresh rosemary.
10. Ready to eat.

Early fall hiking day

2010-09-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Two hikers in the Nacka Reserve.

The sun is shining. The weather is nice. WC is sporting his new Polarn & Pyret shell pants and Tretorn wellies. And of course - no hiking outfit is complete without a warm John Deere hat.

Hand in hand with mommy!

Strenuous walk uphill - one has to concentrate!

Mother and son on the trail, posing for Mr. Camera man.

Dad and WC on the trail, leading from the city into the Nacka Nature Reserve. WC enjoys the comfort in his Vaude Baby Butterfly Carrier.

(Click on the map to increase size.)

Our morning hike was a pretty easy one, but it is always nice to get out and enjoy the early fall colors. We met a few people in the forest that were looking for mushrooms, and we saw a fair amount of blueberries left on their bushes. We started at 10 AM by the Hammarby-backen (red dot) and then walked across the forest in nice elevation. After an hour, we crossed the road and walked across the meadows(where the trail is man-made and a lot wider. This is where WC was let out of his harness so that he could do his own little hike). We arrived at Hellasgården (blue dot) around 11.40 and enjoyed the warm noon weather (around 50-55 F). The whole family had lunch at Hellasgården and took a bus back (blue lines) to the inlet at Järla lake, where we got off and hiked back along the shore of Sickla lake (burgundy arrows). By this time, our son had already fallen asleep on daddy's shoulders.

Has he gone to sleep yet?

2010-08-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nietzsche and Wittgenstein hiding under our kitchen table until the terror of the house is sound asleep.