Thomas is a retired IT professional, who lives alone with his golden retriever Ziggy Stardust in a small townhouse in a small town in the southern half of Sweden. He has two grown-up kids and at least five grandkids – "as far as I know". Thomas enjoys daily long walks with Ziggy in the forests around town, he loves cooking for his guests, and he likes to make things with his hands. He says he loves good food, good wine, people who smile and make him smile. Having spent most of his life developing things, methods and organizations, he's passionately interested in all kinds of technology, natural science, politics,... anything that raises a problem, whether it can be solved or not. Consequently, he is consistently short of time. While he was professionally active, he lived in San Francisco a few years, working as software engineer down in Silicon Valley. He claims that he did leave his heart in San Francisco, and is constantly planning to go back and pick it up. Quoting Hoagy Carmichael's Hong Kong Blues, he says "... every time I try to leave, sweet opium won't let me fly away... ...i.e. my opium is Sweden, my kids, my dog, my friends, my forest,... you know, I'm Swedish."
On Monday, November 12, after nine weeks of deliberations, the Speaker of the Swedish parliament proposed that Ulf Kristersson, chairman of the Moderate Party (conservative), and leader of the Alliance, should be elected to Prime Minister. As stipulated in the Constitution, the proposal was immediately tabled, i.e. postponed, and further postponed on the next day. […]
Or maybe she had – there’s no record of it, so we don’t really know. Lucia was killed in Syracuse in the year of 304, that is 1714 years ago. In Catholic countries, she has been revered as a saint on December 13, since the fifth century. In Sweden – which is not Catholic – […]
In the wake of the exciting results of the US midterm election… here’s a report about the unclear situation in the Swedish parliament. The confused picture remains in the parliament, even more unclear and wooly than before. After the election the Speaker had one-on-one talks with all party leaders, trying to assess who would have […]
The September election created a deadlock in Swedish politics. The two traditional blocks have almost the same strength in the parliament: on the right side the Alliance (a constellation of four liberal/conservative parties) has 143 seats, and on the left side there are three parties that have 144 seats. Remaining 62 seats belong to an […]
As I predicted before the Swedish election, the political situation in the Swedish parliament has come to a standstill, waiting for a solution. Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult prediction: it was clear for everyone with a slight knowledge of Swedish election rules. The combatants There are two candidates for the post of prime minister: on […]
The election to the Swedish parliament is just one week away (Sept 9). The outcome is unpredictable if you look at recent polls. Negotiations will most likely be long and hard before the newly elected parliament can agree and ask the leader of one party to be Prime Minister and form his own government. Generally […]
Hell on earth, falukorv and little red cottages Ever travelled through the Swedish countryside? Or at least seen it on TV? Did you notice that the majority of all buildings – homes, barns, boathouses, every shed – are red? Red cottages with white corners and other white trimmings are as iconic for Sweden as Dalecarlian […]
2013 Ice Hockey World Championship This year’s Ice Hockey World Championships were held in Stockholm and Helsinki (arranged in cooperation by Sweden and Finland). Those of you who are interested in ice hockey have of course followed the reports from the games, many of you with despair and raised eyebrows. For you who didn’t keep […]
The hambo is a traditional dance with origin in the 19th century. It is a couple dance in ¾ time; the music has a strong accent on the first beat and a tempo that varies from moderate to fast (100 to 120 beats per minute). The hambo is a dance with a fixed pattern and […]
