fiftyfivehundredandone

Which professional athlete in any sport has the most star power?

Clearly the 'right' answer is Tiger Woods, but I do love Herr Federer.

My life is dedicated to finding answers to complicated and important questions.
For example, which of Take That's biggest singles is best -- 'Back for Good' or 'Patience'?

Audio: Share your favorite track from a live album.
Submitted by -Lisa.

I tried doing this, but my file never uploaded.
I was going to pick 'Love at the Five & Dime' by Nanci Griffith, from the One Fair Summer Evening album.
The runners-up were meant to be 'True Love Waits' -- Radiohead (I Might Be Wrong) and 'You Got Me' -- The Roots featuring Jill Scott (The Roots Come Alive).

Oh, well.

For the record, I think my favorite live record is probably Stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads.
But I might be wrong. As it were.

But, it's just come on Smash Hits! TV, and there she is.

Audio:  Share a great love song.

And 10 more, for good measure. Mind you, these songs were chosen more as a representative sample of my taste in love songs than a complete one. But, still, it makes for some nice tunes, I think...

(We have also learned, as a result of this exercise, that, although Vox now allows uploading AAC/M4A files, it does not process the cover art associated with them. Which is a shame.)

Contrary to appearances, I am not dead. I am, in fact, very much alive. It's just that I've not really felt compelled to tear myself away from LJ. So, when I do post -- so rare these days -- it's there. I have, however, just caught up on my "neighborhood" after only reading it by RSS for the past couple weeks. It's a shame it doesn't seem possible to validate as a user on the feed, but I guess it ensures I'll come back for more, right?

At any rate, 1 thing that's good: "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" by CYHSY (I need to order that new record, don't I?); and 1 thing that's bad: when the scroll button on my Mighty Mouse doesn't work (yes, I've tried the rubbing alcohol cleaning method, but it never seems to last, does it?).

A week from now, I'll be on a plane to London, looking for a place to live (among other things).
That's pretty crazy to imagine.

Who would you like to kiss under the mistletoe?
Submitted by EmmyAngua.

Generally: someone that knows this sentence should start with "whom."
Specifically: well, a gentleman never reveals his secrets.

What books did you love as a child? 
Submitted by hearts. 

There were so many, and I guess it depends on what period one defines as "childhood." If we're talking "chapter books" (as opposed to, say, Tomie Di Paolo or Dr. Seuss), I can tell you I read every single Nancy Drew mystery up to no. 120-something. Also most Agatha Christie (I preferred Marple to Poirot, for what it's worth). I can also remember liking the Mary Poppins series, as well as the Anne of Green Gables books (all eight).

Hmm. That's a lot of girls, isn't it? Surely I read some books about boys. Oh, yes, Little Men -- that was in third grade -- followed, of course, by Jo's Boys. And The Count of Monte Cristo.

Basically, I read all the time. I was at the library -- be it the public, school, or church library -- on a more frequent basis than most anywhere else. It's how I became a nerd. Or expressed being a nerd. Both simultaneously, I suppose. At any rate, I hope my kids like reading. What'll I do if they don't? I guess be a soccer dad, which would be fine, too.

Well, I am typing this on an express train going across Sweden; internet was included in the price of my ticket (that's biljett in Svenska -- vocabulary it's impossible to not pick up even in just 2 days).

Anyway, that pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Since arriving, I've been struck by how clean and orderly things seem to run around here. My train from Arlanda to central Stockholm got up to around 200 km/h, which, it must be said, is a bit faster than the trip by CTA. As for the T-bana (the city's metro), I'm going to have to try to forget how frequently the trains run -- augmented by arrival times displayed on digital signs, of course -- lest I get too depressed about the state of the Red Line.

That said, a few 'highlights':

Neither of the art museums is all that impressive, although the Moderna has a couple of nice pieces, and it's a lovely building. The National, though, seems trapped by an attempt at showing Swedish work that's really not so good; a temporary exhibit on Stig Lindberg was a happy exception to that.

The Vasa Museet, however, is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen, not least because it is so unique. It's not everyday -- or ever, really -- that one has chance to be up close to a 17th century warship that's been preserved almost perfectly. Nevertheless, the Vasa is that. It sank shortly after setting sail on its first voyage and remained under water until the 1960s, at which point it was discovered and salvaged. The museum does a great job of contextualizing everything about the ship: its purpose, its function, its sociology, its symbolism, its ultimately flawed design. Just fantastic.

There's not much compelling at the Nordiska Museet, but it does underscore the Swedish (and, indeed, Nordic) commitment to design. The folk art and home furnishings exhibitions were top-notch.

When one sees Renaissance altarpieces at most museums, they tend to be Italian and German. Rarely are they Scandinavian. It turns out that's because they're all at the Historiska museet. What a remarkable display...the craft work is impressive, and it's fascinating to see nativities that feature an entirely different litany of saints. By the time I got to there, I was pretty much museum-ed out, and the corny presentation of skeletal remains had me feeling even more weary (there's such a thing as devising too much of a narrative), but the ceiling of the "Baroque Room" and the religious iconography that followed redeemed the visit.

Local design and culture aside, America is omnipresent. So much so that it's here that I saw my first episode of what I've since realized was Seventh Heaven. The broadcast -- like many other English-language shows, including The Simpsons and Seinfeld -- was replete with subtitles, lest the incessant anti-fornication message be insufficiently clear. I know there are those who love it, but I can't figure out why. The insipid dialog did allow for me to pick up a few vocabulary words, though, so I shouldn't complain.

The churches seem to be quite central to Stockholm's past development. They give their respective neighborhoods their names and seem to influence their character a bit, as well. One of Sunday's highlights was popping into the Storkyrkat to hear rehearsal of a Mozart concert later in the day. The music was actually the setting of a mass, so there were even bits I recognized ("Agnus Dei..." etc.). In the absence of a service in English, that did just fine.

I've eaten fine so far. That was helped considerably by stumbling on a vegetarian restaurant in Gamla Stan called Hermitage. I had a vegan rendition of surkäledolmar -- basically stuffed cabbage with various veggies and "soja." There was so much food, I couldn't even finish it. Which, if you know me, is a rare thing. Yesterday, there was some falafel, but as it was from an outpost of the Beirut Cafe, it was a bit more exciting than it might sound at first. Especially because it was heated up (including the accouterments) via a panini press. This turns out to be the best idea anyone has ever had when it comes to doing falafel wraps. And, for the record, the tomatoes in Sweden turn out to be better than those in Chicago. Just another reason to hate Jewel.

NK, as you may have heard, is one of the more glamorous department stores in Europe. Well, glamorous may be the wrong word, as it was actually pretty low-key and friendly, which was part of the appeal. Obvs. Think Harvey Nicks, perhaps, except not teeming with Asian and Middle Eastern tourists. Also, with more Swedish designers, like Tiger, Filippa K, J. Lindeberg, Acne, and so on. Clearly, I couldn't afford much as I wandered admiringly through the men's collections, but I did buy a cap from Svea ("streetwear") and a polo from Boomerang ("Scandinavian preppy"). It'd be wrong to go home empty-handed, right? I tried on some Cheap Monday jeans at Weekday, but they just didn't fit. Much as I wanted them to. Alas.

A couple of other fashion notes: with my blond hair and all, I can definitely pass. By "all," I'm certainly including the beard, which it seems half the Swedish men my age have. To be sure, many of them wear more creative arrangements than "beard" adequately conveys, but let's just say that facial hair is en vogue. White shoes are, too, so I'm feeling a bit dowdy in my brown Clarks, even if they are pretty comfortable.
 
I reckon that's it for now. I've posted others pictures here, and I'll be adding more to that set in the next couple of days. Just another hour to Malmö, and then on to Denmark. Hurrah.