What is EU?

What is EU — and what could it be is a book written by Birger Möller on Santerus Publishing. Different themes are presented: what could new countries memberships from Bulgaria and Rumania in 2007 mean, trade conflicts with China, the discussions on a mebership from Turkey in the future. Moller has earlier worked as lecturer at Gothenburg School of Economics.

Nobel Prize in Litterature

English writer Doris Lessing received the Nobel Prize in Litterature 1:00 PM today in Stockholm, Sweden. She was born in Persia 1919 by brittish parents. Read more on her biograpy on her web
She lived in different of England’s collonies in Africa and she was first published when she was 19. Bibliography could be read here

Amberville

Tim Davys is the author of a new book published today Thuesday 2 October 2007 by Albert Bonnier Publishing Company. The book is the debut for the author writing under pseudonym. € 15,5 is the prize for the book 365 pages in soft binder. I was surprised by two men in black coats and hoods comming out from a van at the Goth Street, Sodermalm/Stockholm giving away an exemplar of the book to each person comming by. A smart marketing trick with a visual street team event directed by the publisher.

The Evil Eye

Bjorn Larsson, born in Jonkoping, now living in Gilleleje in Denmark and working as professor in French at Lund University in Sweden. The author is famous in Germany, Italy and France. ”The Evil Eye” is a thriller about the construction of a new big subway station in Paris. A terrorist organistation is planning to flood the new subway station.

I find the book as we say in swedish — förutsägbar — easy to predict and not an exciting thriller worht several hours of turned off internet, in my opinion. One lead theme, the characerization of evil white studpid nationalists versus hard working, overeducated, missunderstood imigirant underdogs is also a bit to often used and not to say too political correct. The theme with a bored middle aged man with a middle class middle age crisis leaving his dull wife for a younger, effective, office working african-frensh girl gives also not a deeply engageing and interesting background in the storytelling. I give the book a 1,5 Gubbbsnusks (GS) out of 7. As a book aimed to be red when frequenting the WC it’s ok.

“Witty for a Buck …

… smart for a hundred, I recognize that, but now I have a question. The big laughter that liberates, who can afford it? Ho ho, laughing until the train has passed.” (Rönnblom 1983, p. 43)

Who is Anders F. Rönnblom? When I was a young dude one of my best friends had an obscure worn tape recording with some strange rocksinger/-poet singing in a sensitive way with a clear sarcastical and ironical undertone. I instantly liked this music, the voice and lyrics. I listened to the tape repeatedly on and on again at my friends mono tape recorder in his summer house.

The citation above is from one of Anders F’s tunes from 1977. The book 48 tunes (48 låtar) is a personal collection of the best songs by the composer with lyrics, scores, comments and harmonical analysis. The excellent portrait photos reproduced is taken by Mariann Eklund, Studio Matchbox.
Photo above: linked in from www.boogieproduction.se

Litterature Anders F. Rönnblom (1983) 48 låtar Stockholm: Air Scandinavia (128 p.)

Visit Anders F’s myspace web site where the song above is uploaded · Anders F live video from the music steamboat S/S Blidösund

Swedish Destinies and Advetures

”Swedish Destinies” is an anthology from famous August Strindberg, a book with the ambitious subtitle ”Masterpieces of Strindberg: Stories from all Eras” Strindberg lived in Stockholm and experienced that he was much criticized and overlooked and then moved on to Paris. He was married three times, and had some hard times with his women. He wrote the essay ”Womens’ inferior under the Man” (1895) in Paris.

One story is told about the union of led founders in medieval Stockholm. One of it’s ”gesäll” members, a smart oddball called Bosse, had invented a new method of mixing metals and making led and also a new design of a led pitcher for wine, an artifact much better than the traditional product. This results that the masters of the union got scared and put a ban on his invention and Bosse in jail. The hard and nasty german traderunion from the Hanseic city of Lübeck, traders who was located in Stockholm, stealed the invention and started to found this new kind of led piece and sold it to the people of Stockholm. So the lesson learned was that the narrow minded trade union got swindled.

Swedens most expensive painting ever, the painting “Alpine Landscape” by August Strindberg. MUSD 4 was the prize at Sotherbys in London (source: disajn.se)

Visit the web sites for the Strindberg Museeum · Strindberg and Helium Flashstories · Strindberg texts at Project Runeberg at Linkoping University · Detailed article about Strindberg in the Encyclopedea Nordisk Familjebok

Art of Cooking

”The Art of Cooking” is a book by H. Gyllensköld (1956/1982) Stockholm: W&W (223 p. ISBN 91-46-14131-6) with illustrations by Eric Lilius. This is a nature science and positivistic inspired piece examining cooking as a science. Dinning, food and cooking, one of lifes most frequent reccuring enjoyable fields, is here treated, not in an ignorant infantilistic way, but in a calm, careful, methodical and knowledgeable way.

Gyllensköld presents us wtih practical results from his research like how to: understand how the taste sense works and could be synthesized, manage salt and how it affects the taste in different ways, weight and maximize quality to get the best proteins for fewest bucks, use new tools like an inejction needles to infuse steaks with spices from the inside.

The author has done a comparison with medicine, and claims that the science of medicine has developed very rapid in one or two centuries, but the science of cooking has barely developed at all. Gyllensköld gives good examples and advice for both the amateur and people in the restaurant business.