We're here!

...all together with Marcia and Rutger. Eurovision starts at 9 tonight. I'm sure my excitement will overpower my jetlag. Updates during the show... Update:Loreen is the winner! And I will be there to see it in person, I swear!

Eurovision 2012!

I have been so busy at work lately I haven't had time to hardly think about Eurovision this year, let alone blog about it. But whether I pay attention of not, we're less than 48 hours away from the big day!

CNN has a great article about the phenemenon of Eurovision from a US perspective. And the Guardian comes through with a superb précis of the first semi-final.

I don't believe I'll have time to blog again before the big event but I will keep up here during the show itself on Saturday. I can't wait!

A day in the (good) life.....

It's a first for me: home alone on Aspö. Lots of time for contemplating my navel and....putzing. Which I am very good at, I might add.

But I have actually done something constructive: I painted (finished painting the 2nd half of) the guest house/little house/Love Shack on the inside, a brilliant white-white. I am thinking I need to paint the window frames a different color,just for fun. Maybe a nice light turquoise?

Then I cleared brush and set things up so that Grant may do a nice fire when he's here next week.

I just came in from a walkabout since it's a clear and warm day and ran into Tony and a very nice lady named Birgitta. We puzzled over a broken tree and how to possibly retrieve the broken part: it's wedged in at the very top, about 50-60 feet up. Hmm. Nothing decided on that one. Stay tuned for developments.

Now as I sit here, I am watching the tiniest of ticks stroll across my hand. Hmm. How can we remotely protect ourselves in the face of such a minute enemy? Sigh.

But no time for worrying about that. I need to concentrate on getting a glimpse of "my" moose and hope to hear the nightingale again tonight....

Sooz is on Aspö!

Just a quick post but Sooz and her friend Sharyn made it Tuesday and all is well. There was some confusion about the hot water but that was fixed. Now Marcia and Rutger have joined the girls for the weekend.

Sooz is sending a few photos from her iPhone; a new gallery is available here. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 30, 1999

I'm just about to head out this morning on my big 20-mile training run. I'm not leaving before dawn to beat the heat; rather I have to be back by 9:00 to watch the season's final match in the English Premiership: Manchester City vs Queen's Park Rangers.

As sport sometimes does, this match sets up a brutal binary: win, for glory and an end to 44 years of humiliation and suffering; lose, for yet another tragicomically heartbreaking failure, and, even worse, to hand triumph to our great rivals.

I ran 20 miles on that May Sunday in the previous millennium, through the Windsor Great Park. When I got back, a friend took me to my first City match, at Wembley stadium. In almost inconceivably dramatic fashion, we managed to win and scrabble out of the potential oblivion of the old Second Division. In a few hours, the same friend and I will watch the match on TV here in Texas; we live just a few miles apart. Funny how life works out.

I have a few videos I always keep on my iPhone just in case I need cheering up. This is the one, from that day, that I've watched the most over the years:

 

Let's hope, that a few hours from now, I'll have a new happy video to put on my iPhone. 

UPDATE: My run went very well, 20.5 miles in a bit over 3 hours, and I'm feeling pretty good, if I say so myself. And as for the football, well let's just say that after a dramatic repeat of that match in 1999, I have a new happy video: 

 

RIP Carroll Shelby

Carroll Shelby passed away last night. He was 89 years old, and had spent the last 21 of those years on a transplanted heart. Mr. Shelby was a tough old bird from East Texas, and he did a hell of a lot in his 89 years.

The New York Times and ESPN both have eloquent obituaries of this influential sports car racer and designer. But I have a more personal story to tell.

As readers of this blog may know, I have one of Mr. Shelby’s cars, a 1968 GT500KR convertible that I’ve owned since 1978.  I had the opportunity to meet him a few times at car shows over the years.

When I worked in London, a friend called to tell me Mr. Shelby was flying into Heathrow and could I meet him and assist his arrival into the UK?

And of course I did. We had a nice chat working our way through immigrations and retrieving his bag. He probably didn’t remember me, but he faked it very convincingly. As I helped him into his ride, a 1967 Shelby (the only one I ever saw in the UK), he gave me a few tickets to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which he was attending. “Come see me,” he said, “and we’ll have lunch.”

I told Sooz and Grant of my encounter and we made plans to go to Goodwood and to have lunch with Mr. Shelby. Grant, who was 7½ at the time, was especially excited as he was going to get to meet one of my heroes. He was at that age when the Guinness Book of World records fascinated him; he loved the biggest and the best of everything. (It was also an age where my heroes were still his heroes, but I digress.)

In the world of Shelby, the biggest and best was the Daytona Coupe, a special aerodynamically-bodied Cobra that was fantastically successful, beautiful, and rare. Only 6 were made, and at the time, the whereabouts of one of the cars was unknown. Grant was captivated by the idea of the missing Daytona. He was going to ask Mr. Shelby where it was.

We got to Goodwood and immediately I feared our plans for lunch were a fantasy. The place was heaving; hundreds of world-class cars of all types were everywhere. It was hard to move in the crowded paddock. I realized it was going to be hard to get a glimpse of Shelby, let alone have lunch. It was as if I planned to see Elvis at the Sands and have him catch my eye from the stage.

However, I had a son I didn’t want to disappoint, so I gathered up my courage and pushed my way close and gave Mr. Shelby a wave I hoped didn’t look too desperate.

Miracle of miracles, Mr. Shelby did indeed see us. He worked his way over, brought us into the VIP area and said it was perfect timing for lunch. I have to admit I was amazed. He commandeered an official car and we drove to a local pub. At every point, Mr. Shelby was mobbed by well-wishers and autograph seekers. He handled them all with a down-home charm, but he never let us forget we were part of his circle. It was like traveling with a real rock star.

We had a lovely lunch. Mr. Shelby was generous with his time, he paid special attention to Grant, who was a little star-struck, and it was a charming time.

As lunch was winding up, Grant hadn’t asked about the Daytona Coupe yet, so I said, “Mr. Shelby, Grant has a question he would like to ask you.” So he said, “Ask away, Grant”, and in a really small voice, he asked if he knew where the missing Daytona was.

I thought he would have had trouble hearing the question; I barely heard Grant’s shy voice. But sure enough, he had, and he leaned over close to Grant and said in a perfect conspiratorial whisper, “Why yes, Grant, I do know where that car is. A crazy lady owns it. She keeps in the garage of her house in California. But don’t worry, I’ll get it back one day.” And he added with a wink, “but don’t tell anybody!”

One of the things Carroll Shelby was great at was telling tall tales. The thing that made him different from most men was that his tall tales were all more or less true. But this time, I thought that he had told Grant a tall tale to impress him, quite successfully, I might add.

Here’s a photo from that lunch. Grant doesn’t remember much from being 7, but he sure remembers that day.

The best part comes about a year later. I read that a mentally disturbed woman in California had passed away. She was the daughter of Phil Spector’s bodyguard. And in her suburban garage, she had kept, for the past 30 years, the missing Daytona Coupe.

Just like Mr. Shelby had told Grant a year before. Stage whisper or not, he had told my son the straight truth. What a guy.

RIP, Carroll Shelby. They don’t make ‘em like you anymore, and the world is a poorer place for it.

More Logistics

Sooz is in the UK now, enjoying a horsey week with her friends, and then to Sweden next Monday. She will be picking up our halogen lamps and taking them to Sweden with her, but she's leaving behind an extra bag for me to carry, so as to maximize our baggage allowances on the flight from London.

Marcia and Rutger are also in on the act. They've gone to the Systembolaget on Sooz's instructions and come back with a whole load of wine, 18 liters (24 bottles) to be exact. Marcia graciously texted me this picture yesterday.

My favourite picture, though, is my buddy Rutger carrying a case of my beloved Pripps Blå. He is not a big fan of Pripps, so he always finds this errand distasteful. But he does it for me anyways. What a guy!

Now we just have to schlep all this booze out to the house and we'll be all set for the summer.

Marathon Training, part 3

Just under 4 weeks to go until the Stockholm Marathon! I have my longest training run next week, 20 miles, and then I start to taper off in preparation for the big race.

I have to say I'm fairly pleased so far. I am a bit stiff in the patellar tendons these days, but stretching, ibuprofen, and a little knee brace on my right leg is keeping me on the road pretty well.

As I feared, the heat here in Texas is starting to interfere with my long runs. Getting up at 5AM on a weekend adds insult to (potential) injury! But I need to be done before the sun gets too warm, hence the early starts. I look forward to a cool week in Stockholm.

Walpurgis Night

...was last night. In Sweden, it's called Valborg. Exactly six months from Halloween, it is a great opportunity for dancing and bonfires to herald the beginning of warmer weather in northern Europe. There's probably something about witches and spirits mixed in there, too.

I posted about my first, and most memorable, Valborg in 2010. It's here for those interested.

Manchester City 1-0 United

City captain Vincent Kompany with the winner. Hallelujah.

Logistics

Sooz leaves for the UK a week from today so we're working out the details on how we move everything from Texas to Aspö.

She's spending a week in London before going to Sweden, so she'll need to take more clothes than we usually pack for a trip to our house. The good news is that British Airways will let her check two bags from London to Stockholm. But since she's on her own, Sooz can only carry as much to our house as she can manage on the bus, and most of that will need to be groceries. She'll have to leave something behind at Marcia and Rutger's house. The supply lines can get pretty stretched!

The good news is that Marcia and Rutger plan to visit her for the weekend, so we can prevail on them to carry out a left-behind bag or two. And then Grant and I arrive later in the month; strapping boys like us can heft quite a bit onto the bus at Slussen, and back onto the boat at Stavsnäs.

At least we have our friends we can prevail upon for storage and transport. It's a bit like a Himalayan expedition in that regard.

The bigger change will be our July trip; then, it's just Sooz and I, and we will be heading direct to Aspö from Arlanda for the first time. Anything we take to the airport in Texas will be our responsibility on the plane to London, the plane to Stockholm, the bus into town, the bus to Stavsnäs, the boat to Aspö, and the walk through the woods to our house! So we'll be traveling light in July, that's for sure.

Arvesund designer sheds

I stumbled upon the website for Arvesund, a maker of traditional but stylish stugas. They also have a number of interesting furnishings and fixtures too. Although the X-House is just what I wanted, these houses are also pretty close to my style.

Their English website is entertaining and definitely worth a look.

Broadband Internet in the Archipelago

I've been using a 3G wireless connection out at our house for a few years now. A little wi-fi hotspot above the fridge rebroadcasts the signal through the house so we can enjoy the internet on our iDevices. It works pretty well, although it's not that fast and is a bit fiddly. If I want to rent a movie on iTunes, for example, we have to decide in the morning, as the downloading takes all day! But it does work well enough, and it is pretty cool to have wi-fi out in the middle of an island. In fact, let's face it, it's not just cool. Internet access is pretty much a necessity if one is away for a number of weeks.

I recently received info about a plan to bring fibre-optic internet out to our archipelago. The Swedish government wants to have super-fast (100mps!) access to 90% of the country by 2020. There is money available for rural communities to apply for assistance in providing such service. As best as I can read, we in the Nämdö archipelago are being asked to join a broadband 'club' which will then apply to the government for assistance in providing access to our island.

The good news: internet that fast could open up a whole bunch of possibilities for living out on Aspö. I could easily have a few webcams set up to check on the house, the weather, and the moose. Heck, I could have a little weather station giving info on the conditions in real-time (I will admit I've already checked into that.) And a stable internet connection that fast would being all sorts of entertainment and even work opportunities out to our house.

The bad news: cost. It looks like being a member of the broadband club would cost about 15,000-20,000 kronor ($2000-3000), plus about 3000kr ($500) for the wiring and who knows how much for the monthly fees. And of course, there is the encroachment of the outside world into our little idyll that such technology would bring.

I've registered my interest formally with the club, and already received a charming reply from the organizing group on Nämdö. There's no commitment to do so, for now at least, and it seems from the documents that joining now would guarantee us access at a much lower price than adding it later. I would think that having it might increase the value of our property, too.

More news as this progresses.

Aspö Summer Calendar

Despite the late snow, the summer season is officially upon us! I just received the yearly resident's e-mail from Thomas Hansson with the Sommarguiden for 2012. It contains all of the key dates for island activity this summer.

We won't be there for the midsummer festivities this year. But, through the summer, there a number of different activities; a sailing school, a talk by Claes about the history of the island, jewelry making, weekday football matches on the meadow, for example.

Our timing looks great this year, as we'll be there for a busy day on July 28. There will be a sailing regatta around the island, and an islander's flea market in the afternoon. The evening ends up with dancing on the meadow's new dance floor. That sounds like a great day!

All of the new info is on the Aspö website.

A report from Aspö

Janne sent me an email this morning. In it, he says "Just got 2 inches of snow out here and the weather has been really bad for weeks. Hope it turns to spring soon."

Looks like winter is coming back for a bit more before it finally leaves the archipelago!


UPDATE: I video-chatted with Marcia. She showed me the snow cover at their house and said it was a proper snowstorm overnight. I tried not to let her see Ollie at the pool behind me when we talked!

Eurovision Betting

Rutger pointed out to me the other day that Sweden was the bookie's favorites for this year's contest! I checked the website of Ladbroke's, a big betting firm in the UK, and sure enough, Loreen's "Euphoria" are 9/4 to win. The Russian grannies are 6/1 and Engelbert is third favorite at 10/1.

Albania are the long shots at 200/1. Their odds might improve if Rona Nishliu visits a stylist before the final...

Tiny Houses

I found an interesting builder of very small houses: Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. They specialise in homes under 300 square feet (28 square meters), with one model as small as 65 sq. ft., or only 6 square meters!! The Tumbleweed people are part of a movement towards smaller houses that are less impactful on the environment, and help promote less materialistic lifestyles, among other benefits.

Our home on Aspö is huge by comparison, about 670 sq. ft. (62 m2). Plus we have the little house which is about 220 sq. ft. (20 m2), and now the shed! So we have, comparatively speaking, lots of space.

I do remain surprised at how much we're able to pack into our little house, however. We have everything we need, and plenty of room leftover. I think this is partly because we started fresh with a bare rock, and absolutely every single thing had to be carried in, and partly because we spend only a month or so at the house every year. But still, we're able to live quite comfortably and (if I may say) stylishly in a house that's maybe a quarter the size of the average home in the US. This efficiency of space, and of lifestyle, does give food for thought...

Marathon Training, part 2

I am exactly halfway through my training regimen; 9 weeks down and nine to go. The first half is probably easiest; I've run 180 miles so far, and the next nine weeks calls for an increase to 250. On the other hand, I spent a lot of the early weeks getting back into the groove and building up a bit of stamina. So, I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am better prepared to do it.

I'm starting to be more confident that I can beat my 1990 time of 4:23. To be honest, I like the idea of funning faster at age 52 than 30! I'll know better about that goal when I give my next monthly update.

Engelbert Humperdinck

Yes, ol' Engelbert was appointed as the representative of the UK for the upcoming contest. I don't say "old" lightly; he is 76, after all. But he is an experienced performer who can add a good dose of professionalism to a well-written ballad on the night. I think it interesting the BBC moved away from their recent contest format and simply announced the performer and song. It seems they're doing everything "old-school" this year!

PS. Engelbert may not be that young, but the Russian grannies are even older still...

An IKEA House

Margaret sent along this story from the Daily Mail (not my favourite paper, I have to say) about an "IKEA house". It makes perfect sense; you buy everything else, why not just buy the house, too?

The house isn't really made by IKEA; it's by Ideabox, a Portland-based architectural firm who have designed a number of interesting small homes. The idea behind their "Aktiv" home is that it is built around IKEA systems, so the two parts, interior and exterior, are designed together.

It's certainly smaller than a typical home here in America; 745 square feet (69 square meters). That's just a touch bigger than our home on Aspö, and about the size of a Texas 3-car garage! I think smaller, more efficient homes like these are the way of the future and I like the idea very much.

Spring indeed!

Annika sent along a few photos this weekend and it's a big change from her snowy February pics! As I said just a few days ago, Spring is making its way to Aspö, too. You can see the latest on my Annika's photo page.

Skärgårds Radio

One of our favourite things when we're out on Aspö is listening to the local radio station. Skärdårdsradion, 90.2 on your FM dial, translates to 'archipelago radio'. Its target audience are the people who live and work out in the islands. The broadcast is localized; I tried once to receive it at Rutger's house in Stockholm and couldn't pick it up.

They provide maritime weather on a regular basis, a bit of news on the hour, and a limited but charming playlist of new and classic middle-of-the road songs. They play all of the popular Melodifestival and Eurovision hits, for example. It's hard to put the exact musical formula into words, but both Sooz and I have heard a song and said to each other, "we'll hear that one this summer," and we're almost always right. Listening to their station has become part of our experience on the island.

It is possible to listen to the station from their website but I haven't been able to listen to it on my internet radio at home. Until now, that is. I stumbled across an iPhone app that streams the station right into my pocket. It's free and it works perfectly. We're able to sit outside in the Texas evenings and listen to the latest in Swedish pop. Bliss.

The app is available on the iTunes store here. Give it a try!

A view from the UK on Sweden and Eurovision

The Guardian ran an interesting article about how seriously Swedes take the Eurovision contest- and how the UK should, too. I thought it was worth sharing.

UPDATE: Marcia sent me a text today about the Russian's entry of singing grannies. I agree with her observation this song may be hard to beat in Baku:

The stirrings of Spring

Here in Texas, we're already into the 80's and everything started greening up seemingly overnight. I fear this is the prelude for another brutal summer. But right now, it is lovely, so we are trying to enjoy it as much as we can.

In Sweden, however, the temperature change is more gradual. The snow is gone and the temperatures over the next weeks aren't forecast to be below freezing. Conversely, this is the time of year when days get longer very quickly. In fact, tomorrow will have 5½ more minutes of sunlight than today did. By this weekend, the days will be 12 hours long, and a month later, 15 hours.

Janne is leaving sunny Florida in a couple of days to head back to Aspö. He's not looking forward to the swap from warm sunshine to cool and cloudy. I can't say as I blame him!

One good thing for me, selfishly, is that he'll be able to help me out with a shopping list of lumber and a few other bits of building supplies. My one big project for our May visit will be to build the stairs up to the little house, especially now that Grant will be with us that week to help.

I sent Janne my shopping list, and I am pleased to report that he thought it looked correct. There's no higher praise for me than Janne's approval of anything I do building-wise! He will order my stuff and we will share the shipping cost with any other orders he places for himself, so that's a win-win. And he said he'd drop it off at our house. I can't imagine better service than that.

It's about 9 weeks until I can be back out to Aspö...and I can't wait!!!

Loreen is the winner!

 

I spotted Loreen in the first semi-final and at the risk of sounding smug, I was darned good with my guesses. I thought it would come down to her and Danny and I'll be darned if I wasn't right!

We had an atypically rainy day here in Texas so I put the live feed from SVT on my flatscreen and watched it in real-time. Even more fun was video-chatting and messaging with Marcia and Camille during the show. It was almost like being there.

Now on to Baku at the end of May!!!