Fryshuset or absolut chaos....

Last night I went to my second Djurgården hockey game in a week's period. So far its been one loss and one tie. I went and saw my favorite team play(Färjestad's BK). I hadn't been to a game with them in 15 years.

The only indoor skatepark in a city of 1.5 million allows everyone to skate at the same time including kids younger than five, fruitbooters(rollerblades), and bmx. The place is in a community center known as Fryshuset(the IceHouse). Absolut Insanity.

Bruce Springsteen was here but I went to the hockey game above instead. I am under the impression it was a sold out show.

Selam African Festival is starting today and some of the bands headlining should be rather decent so that's probably where I'll be this week. STHLM for life.

Friday Five's

Five albums I might be listening to now
1. Any Dylan Bootleg
2. Belle and Sebastian 'Tigermilk'
3. Neutral Milk Hotel 'aeroplane over the sea'
4. Modest Mouse compilation by Ruco
5. Any Sufjan Stevens
Five places to see next year
1. Morrocco
2. Porto
3. Santiago De Compostela
4. The entire Basque Region
5. Prague
Top Five places to eat
1. Hare Krishna in Riga
2. Lido in Riga
3. Raimond's Kitchen after a mushroom hunt
4. Momo's
5. Leonardo's in Gamla Stan
Top five bars
1. Pulkvedis in Riga
2. Kuba in Riga
3. Poor Paul's
4. The Warehouse on Jazz night
5. Raimonds living room with Campari+Orange Juice=Nice time

Flirting with London

I'm flirting mildly with London. Its a possibility, its a thought coming down with the rain. Making everything wet, but too late for the autumn spectrum that has left its pastels on the leaves. London on that little island they dare call Great Britain. A river that doesn't pronounce its h. I'm flirting with London and I think she's winning. Why should I trade one wet metropolis for another. Fish and Chips wrapped in newspapers? I don't eat the fish so not good enough. Where does this restlesness come from and why can't it go bother someone else. London doesn't call today. Instead it whispers possibilities....which is deadlier.

Heaven is the Wine and Cheese aisle

Should you be fortunate enough to see France at any point in time in your life I have a recommendation that I will offer to you. Find the biggest grocery store available and then make your way to the wine and cheese aisle. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I almost mistaked the sommelier for St. Peter. The cuisine is amazing. This is besides all the other absolutely fantastic things that France has to offer. To finish this post off here is a quote by a hero/tyrant....

How can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese?
--Charles de Gaulle

The Trip

Ile d'France

Ah Paris,

So I hitchiked to Ponthierry today and didn't even put out my thumb. And get this it was a woman who picked me up of all people. I've been in three days of walking and mastering the metro/trains to the usual spots: The Eiffel tower, Sacre Couer(Montmartre), Le Arc d'Triomphe, The Louvre, Pompidou center, the stones that are left from the Bastille, Musee Picasso, and so on. This city has already(along with everything I've seen of the country) qulified as one of the most amazing places of all time. When you sit by the banks of the Seine and watch the barges go by you understand why the Americans don't like it: its too nice for them. Too original, too unique, too much culture. Americans can't even compete. So give it up, lower your voices, stop drinking coke at nice restaurants. Also a question: why do we need Starbucks everywhere? Keep your bucks far from Starbucks.

Beauvais is 3 hours from Paris

I leave for Paris in two days. It's an evening flight and upon arrival in Beauvais I have to take a bus for three hours and then a train to reach a bed to sleep in. This is what happens when a trip isn't planned carefully. Everything will alright as it always is. I have a return ticket to Skavsta on the 21st, but am at this point unsure if I will use it or not. It's up to the road....

I just finished reading an amazing book today. Its titled "Postcolonialism: a very short introduction." Instead of explaining the book I will leave you with a few quotes that are included.

'I am strongly in favor of using poison gas against uncivilized tribes' -Winston Churchill

'The West won the world not by superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.' -Samuel P. Huntington

And we try to complain about terrorism? hmmm....

Norwegian Woods Roadtrip Report

The online map said the trip was 14 hrs by car. We made it to Trondheim in 10. What was the reward of driving all this time in a Hyundai Accent with no stereo(courtesy of Stockholm druggies)? A relatively well preserved Gothic Cathedral from 1160 CE.

I can't even begin to describe the surprise of driving through Trondheim and suddenly out pops something you would only expect to run into in certain southerly European states. Then we were walking through the oldest church in Scandinavia and only piece left of that era.

We also visited Röros which is a UNESCO sight. I would have to say here that although we didn't see the giant mountains we were looking for, we did see amazing beauty in the two cities we visited and on the road between the two. Otherwise here is how to sum up Norway: Expensive, Expensive, Beautiful.