Big pool party

July 8th, 2008
Sidenotes
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Haha, we went to a pool party this weekend.  Great party, but look at the pool (poor quality picture). Nah, Jovi and I decided to return the swimming equipment to the car and get wasted instead. At least Dada won the beach football competition, and we got to see fashion show with catwalks! It’s fun that stuff just keeps happening when you haven’t even planned for them.

Now Maria is back in Torino, to take part of our great adventures. I told her about our neighbor above who has awaken me in the middle of the night, three nights in a row now, by playing what can only be described as horror-movie-violin-music. I’m not sure she believed me, but after tonight, she does. It feels like waking up in a horror movie from the twenties. I think that’s when this guy was born also. It’s really creepy! Anyway, thanks for the birthday presents from the States darling. A bit late, but they kicked ass!

New photos

July 1st, 2008
Maintaining
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Lots of cool photos have been added to the albums, for example:

• Midsummer
• Grönan
• Marriage in Stockholm
• André visiting Turin
• HiQ conference trip
• Roadtrip with Ricardo

This and much more. I suggest you took a look at the albums immediately. I’ve also added some videos to my YouTube page.

Brazilian fiesta and car towing

June 30th, 2008
Exploring, Turining
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This week, I came back to another Turin. Not the very-nice-weather-like-a-good-swedish-summer weather which we had from February to April, and not the oh-my-god-i-can’t-believe it-has-rained-constantly-for-a-whole-month weather as we experienced in May. No, stepping out the door today is like stepping out a charter trip airplane on Greece as you get hit by the warm winds and realize you have way too much clothes on even though you’re only wearing t-shirt and shorts.

Unfortunately, my first days consisted of work. Friday night me and Alan was watching a movie at my place after work, as Jovi knocked on my door asking us to come to a Brazilian restaurant, Copacabana, where there were big boobs as he honestly confessed. I had earlier decided to cool off this weekend as my bachelor party took hard on me. Eventually of course, they convinced me and we joined up with some other friends. And haha, yeah, Brazilian restaurants are not like others, at least not this one. Meat was poured onto your plate just as you were intending to eat your last bite. This while half-naked ladies, and men, were dancing Samba on the stage as everyone was having a good time. They dragged people up the stage to do different stuff, and no one seemed to object, not even I. And, how many times have you done “the train” together with all the other people in a Swedish restaurant?

Going on about the good weather – the following morning Jovi, Alan and I went down to Noli, a little picturesque village down by the coast. I turned out to be proof of that we are less than two hours away from a really good sun trip. Sandy beaches and lots of people. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to find a parking space. Eventually, we just had to park along the road as everyone else, and didn’t think more about that. We had a great day playing in the water and chilling in the sun. Unfortunately, when we got back, Jovi’s car had gotten towed. This was an adventure on its own and we missed the Samba evening that we had planned for later in Turin. But, eventually we got back safely. Alan and I was just very happy we hadn’t went down without Italian-speaking Jovi, or we would still have been living in some cage down by the coast of Italy.

The married bachelor

June 30th, 2008
Sidenotes
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I’ve just returned from what I want to call a very non-typical vacation. I left Italy mainly because of two reasons – to have the civil marriage with Maria and to celebrate midsummer with family. This marriage was necessary since we couldn’t get legally married in Italy, but it was not anything we really wanted. We tried to keep the ceremony as discreet as possible, to save up for what we want to see as the real thing in Italy in September. Although, it seemed like we couldn’t hold back any people from our own families, and the ceremony got more real and traditional than we expected. It was actually pretty beautiful, right outside Stadshuset, in the park by the sea. The sun even shun on us.

Since there was over one week between the marriage and midsummer, I was afraid I was going to waste vacation days in Sweden by not coming up with anything useful to fill out these days with. I was very wrong. Actually so wrong that what I’ve done of interests during these days would take me ages to blog about – so, I won’t.

Some milestones though, in chronological order.  First the marriage as already mentioned. Yes, I’m now a married man, although my mind has set for September. Events of following days included several golf rounds, where I played highly above my own expectations after not having played for two years. Also a couple of disc golf rounds which honestly could have gone better, but great fun anyway. Gröna Lund and Tom Tit’s experiments were great ways to spend time with my sisters and their kids. Several evenings were spent watching Sweden loose the group stage of Eurocup soccer 2008 together with friends I hadn’t seen in long. Several days and nights spent at the summer house on Dalarö together with family and relatives, including sauna evenings with beers, smorgasbord with nubbe and dancing.

As the grand finale, on the last Sunday morning I was aggressively awaken by more than 10 guys in black masks, running screamingly into my room pointing guns at me. Still half asleep I was actually terrified for a couple of seconds until I could smell the beer coming out of what turned out to be water guns. Then, I got even more terrified - I realized it had to be a bachelor party, or, a stag do as Alan later enlightened me. However, the moment of surprise was a complete success and they dragged me out of bed, still screaming, and started to carry me down the stairs to the water where they brutally threw me in. And it wasn’t even 9 in the morning.

To my relief, the rest of the day was a real joy. I got to see Robin falling of the quad bike in his first turn, while Fredrik not unexpectedly took the win. I got to shoot paint in the forest on my friends as I was dressed as a giant rabbit not being able to hide behind the biggest rock without my giant ears sticking up. I got beaten in what still might be my best sport, disc golf, by using a so called frisbee I could probably have created better myself using only toilet paper. I took a boat ride in what actually was a giant sauna and dove off its roof with a beer in one hand and still bunny ears on my head. Then, I ate my favorite food at my favorite Indian restaurant – Tre Indier. After giving up on trying to focus my drunken eyes on the penalty shootout between Spain and Italy in the Eurocup quarter finals which was broadcasted on a laptop from one in the staff and continued on a big screen tv on Krönet, we completed the bachelor’s “last night” on a strip club and finally went home to pass out on the couch. I was tired but a happy, already married, bachelor.

Turin the new Venice

June 6th, 2008
Turining
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At least according to Aftonbladet. Catchy as always. Well, it’s not really any panic at the moment, it’s just bloody annoying. It’s been raining almost constantly for one month now. And it’s not that rain which we call “dugg” in Sweden, no, going out is more like getting flushed by a giant tsunami. You can still use that word without offending anyone right?

Well, no news yet on when this catastrophy is going to stop, but looking at the forecast right now it seems like it might get better on Sunday. Maybe this enormous chunk of clouds will follow me back to Sweden next week.

The photo above is from Murazzi, a streak of clubs on the riverside of Po, where we went clubbing just a couple of weeks ago. Now, it’s gotten pretty damp. Aftonbladet also used this as an example, but this is actually the only place I’ve seen taken any serious damage from the rain.

Unexpected first visit

June 4th, 2008
Socializing, Turining
2 Comments

Last weekend something very big happened, at least for me. My brother André flew alone for the first time, all the way from Stockholm, including bus to Skavsta, just to visit me and Maria here in Turin. Maria and I picked him up at the airport in Milan a few hours away, and we took the opportunit for dinner in Milan before we went back to Turin. He’s the first family member to visit. Unexpected, but very welcome. I got to show him my new life here in Turin - the people, traditions, language, places and routines.

To me of course, it was more than just showing him Italy. My brother and I don’t hang out much back in Sweden, although I wish we would. Maybe a lack of common interests, I don’t know. I’m working on it though since I like him very much. This was a great occasion to do that, and I think we had a great time. We actually share views on more than I thought. But what I would have never imagined is that what we did most was to shop. He spent an enormous amount of money on clothes and food. I tried to keep the same pace but failed without doubt. But, I passively enjoyed that he seemed to get on well. Of course, there was some time left for the tourist bus, a spa treatment and X-files episodes.

Thanks for showing up brother. It meant a lot. And of course you are very welcome back. Also, you’re the first one from the Lindbergs. I hope that puts some pressure on some other people.

I was blind

May 29th, 2008
Careering
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Yes, it’s almost true! Back to that soon though. Last weekend, I went home to Sweden. Mainly to participate in a conference with my job at home, HiQ MobilEyes, and to have a salary negotiation. When coming to the office I got a bit shocked when they told me that I’ve been transferred like many others from HiQ MobilEyes to HiQ Stockholm. Subsequently, I had the salary negotiation with a new boss, which was a guy I had never met before! It went fine however, and enough said about that. Just a lot to grasp in one morning.

Me and my new colleagues continued out to a yard close to the archipelagos, Almåsa, where I did at least six things I had never done before. Five of them were a part of a pentathlon - archery with a real bow, quad-bike racing, axe throwing, gun target-shooting and clay pigeon shooting. I was unexpectedly really good on quad-biking and gun shooting (thank you quake?), while I was surprisingly awful on clay pigeon shooting, even though I hit a few.

Then, later that evening, happened what I found most interesting during these days. We all gathered in the lounge to meet a guy working in the restaurant we were to visit soon - Svartkrogen. He was blind, and apparently so was the rest of the crew in this restaurant. He told us that that night we were to experience a couple of hours in their world. And it was no joke. We were led into the restaurant which was completely pitch black. Having your eyes opened or closed made absolutely no difference what so ever.

The waiter asked my name and led me to my seat. He explained to me what I had on the table in front of me - a plate with a desert, two forks and two knifes, three glasses and three bottles - one with white wine, one with red and one with water. I realized instantly you had to be pretty focused and organized. I couldn’t just put down my glass anywhere. And when I filled up my glasses, I had to keep my finger in it just below the edge until it got wet. Some spilled out their winebottles and I’m pretty sure the place looked like a big mess afterwards. But who knows?

As for eating, I’m still not sure exactly what I had. I know shrimp where involved in the starter, and that meat, potato and vegatables were involved in the main course. Each bite was just as interesting, you never knew what you were going to get. But that was just exciting since everything tasted extremely good. As they had told us earlier, usually around 70% of our senses are used by sight. That leaves very little left for taste and smell and all that you can use when eating. This night, we had 70% more to play with.

It was really fun and a recommended experience, but it made me realize how happy I am with my eyes.

I’m not Don Corleone…

May 9th, 2008
Sidenotes
4 Comments

But I am a god father. I hope Jonas’ and Nina’s little Lea will treat me with respect and not dishonor her family, and all that. I must admit I was a bit surprised when Jonas asked me about this role, since I’ve only met Lea once or maybe twice before. But I accepted instantly, honored, and very unknowing of the consequences. But, no matter what responsibilities this role has had in the past, I think we agreed that this is mostly a symbolic gesture and I believe it doesn’t change much. I would still support Jonas and Nina and their children just like the friend I already was.

So, did I go all the way from Turin just to attend the baptism? No, I also went there because an even earlier planned LAN with the usual group of geeks. Terribly fun as always. Here are some interesting awards that was announced just two days ago:

Play LAN 1st-4th May awards

From optimizer.se.

Best dueler award - purri
Undefeated through the 1on1 tour

Most EDL like game award - pogo vs mobius
ZTN2DM3 demosquad already?

Most entertaining game award - ph vs optimizer
3 x q2dm1, only one map counts…

Closest score against purri award - pogo
1-2 after winning Q2DM3 with one frag

Best whine award - squix
JÄVLA BÖGHORFITTA VA TUR LILLA KUKPOGO!!

Smallest bladder award - ph
Pee pause after every zip of beer

Best photographer award - mobius
Enjoy all the pictures!

Fastest beer drinker award - ph
One beer, five seconds..WHAT!?

Masterpacker award - squix
5 crts, four guys, loads of computers and luggage but only one car. Did you just squix it in?!

Best dishing award - ph
Everything shines again!

Most lan dedicated award - mobius
Turin -> Arlanda -> Norrtälje -> Viksjö -> Norrtälje -> Stockholm -> Arlanda -> Turin

Most angry after losing award - pogo
Did you have to throw that coke on my floor?

Too drunk to play a final award - ph
DM1: 46-1 Q2RDM2: 40-2 PTRIP: 55-8

Most likely to go to bed early award - optimizer
Getting old or what!

Most well dressed award - mobius
Loved that suit on saturday

Most likely to disconnect in a game award - purri
After being raped by ph’s 55% rail

Most likely to win next EDL award - optimizer
Been practice duels with fakenick?!

Longest bear sleep award - ph & purri
Atleast you woke up before dark!

Most likely to still have a hungover award - pogo
You’re going straight to the AA meeting…

Most angry neighbour award - smuggelkärringen
Damn she was angry that friday night….

Road tripping Italy

April 30th, 2008
Exploring
2 Comments

Last week I had lived in Italy for around three months, without seeing basically anything but alps. Then came Ricardo. Except from his company I was looking forward to his eagerness to explore the more well-known parts of Italy. We left off a Friday morning, Maria, Ricardo and I, in my ol’ Saab 93, with only very loose plans on where we were heading. Here’s a quick summary.

Milan

We made our first stop here, in Milan, Italy’s largest city after Rome, well known for design and fashion. At least that’s how I saw it. This was actually a general theme of this trip, we didn’t really know anything about the cities we visited, except for that one-keyword. Anyway, we strolled around and saw places we found interesting at the moment. A big beautiful shopping mall, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and other stuff I didn’t really know what it was. I can’t really say I’m all that interested in old buildings, which is why I won’t bring any special attention to them in this post. Unfortunately though, I will remember this as the rainy city, where we had to go out at night all sharing the same umbrella, and where the beers at the bar coasted 10 euro each.

Parma and Bologna

After spending the night in Milan, we decided to continue down towards Florence, and looking at the map we saw that two, to us, well-known cities were along the way.

Parma was more like a little picturesque village than a big city. We all agreed that it was very charming place and we all really enjoyed just wandering around here. Unexpected really. We grabbed some coffee on a little caffé where they served at least 15 different types of coffee. I had the Brasilian coffe which was splendido. Unfortunately we never got the chance to try out Parma ham or Parma cheese.

Instead, we continued the trip over to Bologna, yet another city we didn’t know anything about. Except that this is probably where Spagetthi Bolognese comes from. Actually, it’s even larger than Florence. Not much energy was wasted on this place. We had a kebab and kept on going towards Florence. Hey, at least we were there?!

Florence

Florence was touristy for sure. But, we joined the Italians for the less touristy apertivo meal and then had a really nice night with red whine in a very picturesque little backyard restaurant. Next morning we were mainly on a hunt to find a Juventus shirt with Nedved to Maria’s friend. There was a very big market going on stretching far along the narrow streets. Unfortunately we didn’t find one, as I can recall, and we went on to Piazzale Michelangelo which was a square above the city with a fantastic view. Neat!

Pisa and Genova

Of course we had to see the leaning tower. So we went on to Pisa and I can now confirm that it’s actually leaning. It’s not a joke. Though, I do wonder why they’re so proud of such an unsuccessful tower. It’s not even straight! Since there wasn’t much else of interest here we went on through Genova. There was something special about this place I couldn’t really put my finger on. It felt kind of powerful with surrounding buildings climbing along the hills. We didn’t stay here for long either though. It started to rain, it was Sunday evening, and we grabbed a quick dinner at Mc Donalds and went home!

Ricardo and Maria continued the adventure on to Monaco and nice while I had to work. No biggie though, I was quite satisfied after a very intense weekend of traveling. Now I can just relax because there’s only one city left I feel I really must see - Venice.

The last upnorth adventure

April 16th, 2008
Exploring, Turining
1 Comment

Just when we were about to put all the skiing equipment in the closet, a very adventurous Jehad showed up in Turin, with a conviction of making a last ski run for the season. He had already made us go carting which was a brilliant idea. Maria came too of course, but she seemed to take the opportunity for some sightseeing on the go cart track and didn’t seem very worried about going fast.

So, one might wonder where we decided to go for the final ski trip this season, and the answer to that is Verbier – the famous off-piste giant in the Swizz alps. It was an incredibly expensive trip for such a short time, but the snow was great and well-spread and after all, it was the last time for the season, which felt like reason enough. Jehad, Ari, Riku, Maria and I actually made some minor effort of hiking up to some decent off-piste runs. It wasn’t very much, since fog was coming and going making it hard to reach out far, but it was more than we had gotten totally so far this season. It was also very amusing seeing the newbies making their way in deep snow for the first time. Clearly resulted in a laugh or two.

The Verbier lift-system was huge. Probably one of the biggest and best ones I’ve been to, but, it’s actually hard to compare since we rarely have the time to explore more than half of the resorts we visit. The same thing can be said about the village, not huge, but a decent size which we made sure to explore as much as we could that night. But, we were remembered that we we’re outside EU when entering bars so full of smoke they were totally lacking oxygen and food prices that should be illegal. Despite this, it all felt like a perfectly timed peak on the skiing-season and a good ending. Some occasions are just worth the money, whatever they cost.

I’m now in London during this week to do some work at the Symbian office. It’s a bit colder than the climate I’m “used” to, but it’s nice to for once understand what people say and being able to make myself understood. Tomorrow I’m going back again for some adventure with Ricardo around Italy. You are very welcome mate!