Julbock

Ahh the Gävle Julbock, now in the form of a beer......very nice if I say so myself

Here's the 'real' one below.....a few people have tried to set fire to this little badboy, but luckily it's covered in a flame retardent....oh those clever Swedes......

A forgotten quickie

Here is a pic of South Uppsala, where there's a lake that is connected to Lake Mälaren (the third largest lake in Sweden)...we went for a stroll the other day, didn't realize the waters so close.

Just remembered in the news last week a yank woman said she's gunna sue an Aussie bloke who threw a snowball at them at Copper Mountain, Colorado.....oh what is happening in this World?!?!

What a week

It's been some 10 days since my last post....probably for a few reasons, mainly too friggin busy and posting isn't exactly top priority!! Besides, I think about 3 people read this!!

There's a lot of little bits happened etc but the main one, which to me is pretty mind blowing is that I saw the Nobel Prize Winners (obviously the Biology ones) from this year. I went on Lucia day to an hour lecture on their work....is quite mind blowing really. I mean throughout the years there has been some pretty amazing stuff that is considered 'normal' nowadays....the X-ray, PCR for DNA amplification and loads more. Think its ironic that the whole concept of this Nobel malarkey, was orchestrated by (Swede) Alfred Nobel, who won the award for nearly every category and the 'peace' prize after inventing dynamite!! Erm....think we have our definition of ironic

What else....erm on the way to the Nobel lecture, it was at BMC in Uppsala for those that don't know.....this lovely 1960's looking County Council type building found everywhere in England...anyway, I was on my usual route to this place, e.g. via some woods and it was bloody cold, kinda creepy as it was absolutely silent....all the hallmarks of a potential Blair Witch Project 7 (or whatever number they are up to).....when suddenly just ahead of me, some random bits of bark and branches were cascading down a tree....hmmm...slightly bizarre, so the natural thing....keep walking like nothings happening....then more and more tree stuff starts falling to the floor. This time I look up.....to my amusement I see a cat, frantically clinging on to the top of this tree, a smile comes to my face, especially when this tree is probably 25m tall, haha.....don't they say cats always land on their feet right?

Hmm...erm boring 'yawn' stuff...had one of my microbiology exams.....lets just say it's going to be close...the pass/fail thing I mean.

What else....going to spend Xmas (well the bit before Xmas) with Johanna and her friends/family, should be good......just tried some more festive drinks, Ok....mostly just beer, some fab Shipyard imports, found a 14% Austrian lager....tried (not by choice mind you) some Julmust....oh dear.

So Sälen is only a week away.....been checking the updates, it's bloody cold and looking sweet, they've built a shed load of jumps etc, nice warm up for my bro in law to kill himself on. My sister is coming over, having somewhat of a sheltered life (as in been to US too many times....yes it's exactly like England, but with guns) thinks Sweden doesn't have nappies, washing machines, baths, cars or running water: that Sweden is the most expensive place to live, that it costs a months salary just to eat pasta and cheese, that it costs the same to fly to Mexico than buy a bottle of wine....

I hate to say it, but she has got a shock coming.....the only thing I've found 'backward' here is the fact that a 'normal' tin opener is one of the old school, stab the tin, then give it a bit of arm pumping- I'm more used to the snap on and wind type thing (even though they do have them too).....so that means everything else is sooo much better over here. It's not like I have a personal vendetta against England, I mean two of the Nobel Prize Winners (out of 3) were British, the pound is one of the strongest currencies in the world (so great for travelling) and I was born there.....but it doesn't mean there aren't better things. I'm def not 'proud' to be English....yes I conveniently speak the right language, but that's about it. I mean we win the squash World Champs, which is about the only time I support my home country....but nowadays what are we playing at? I'm not going to go on about it, but man some things royally suck!!

Back to Sälen, looking superb and can't wait. We are just packing stuff as we speak...really gets in the mood to see my baby (not Johanna, my board...kidding)...whatever your plans are for Xmas, enjoy, I get a 3 week break from uni even though I prob have more work to do now, than before!! Another irony.....

A nice weekend

Not long until Xmas...ish. Got the first Microbiology exam before Xmas, then some other bits to do...lab seminar work, enrichment reports, symposium preparation and the second exam....all prepared over Xmas, so not all peas and carrots after all. No I'm not complaining, I guess my mind will be stimulated over Xmas more than I care for, but a challenge is a challenge, the technical words for it: 'tough shit'....

I'm praying (to the snowboard God) for my knee to behave itself so I can ride at least a little! My little beast (no not that) is lying there in the corner waiting to get itself to Salen.....shum on.

Spent Fri and Sat with my lady, was amazing as normal, now trying to do some sort of reading....again the operative word is 'some'. But now I'm relaxed (again thank you Johanna) I can think a little more clearly (as much as a bloke can I guess), I now have most of Johanna's stuff in my room as it's not long til we move in together.

So New Years resolutions....not sure if the Swedes do such things, yes they are normally bollocks anyway, but my top 5 in no particular order:

1.Drink more coffee/fika more
2.Join a gym (I miss Esporta)
3.Get Johanna to clean the car (at least once during the year)
4.Speak the lingo at home (not England, at my home in Eriksberg)
5.Be able to pull cab 5's without breaking a sweat (then 7's, then pigs might fly)

In the meantime, not trying to be Scrooge, but as I have no Xmas tree etc, I tried Xmas tea, you know to get in to the 'mood' (think I tried it last year here but can't remember it)......yep, probably why I can't remember tasting the tea before, or rather I selectively forgot I did....lets just say, 'it's not my cup of tea' (literally for a change, haha). Johanna found some Easter tea and it rocks, so much better!! At least I eat gingerbread....that counts as being festive right?!

On a totally non related topic.....(like news in brief), Sweden came 6th in the first biathlon relay of this seasons World Cup (GB...who knew we had a team, came last...), England are doing well in the Squash World Team games, erm...Sweden, not so good. Ricky Hatton shouldn't have gone up a weight division....he lost to that complete nobhead.....England's top jockey is a coke fiend......Arsenal lost to Middlesborough, haha.....my Dad has a dog.....(well sort of not really, but yeah)

Say hello to Levi (yes as in the Jeans)....

Why am I thinking of this?!

Just checking out the Sunday River website (where I taught boarding for those that don't know) and looking at the cost of private lessons for 2 hours (of which I had a few)....bloody $159.....admittedly we got (some) tips, but only got like $9 an hour base pay....talk about getting shafted!! Fun definitely = no money!!

Just enough time for a quickie!!!

I'm sitting here, finally have a minute to relax (ish), so feel like I should write something at least. Nothing too deep I guess. I think I'm gradually getting in to the Xmas spirit, again, I'm not religious, but Xmas to 'non believers' (Oh I believe....Terje Haakonsen, you are my God) is a time of family 'happiness', of unwrapping ridiculously overpriced gifts, eating that spare turkey leg, drinking that extra beer. I'm not going to bore people to death over the 'true' meaning of Xmas, we all have our own opinions, so be it. But I think we should see Xmas as a means of how to live our life. I mean I don't quite understand why it takes a 'special' event for us to put that extra bit of effort in, whether its visiting someone we haven't seen for a while, or sending someone a token of our appreciation. I had a conversation earlier today about living your life like everyday was your birthday, or indeed Xmas. I don't believe the motivation for 1 day should create such 'hype'....I'm not saying it's a bad thing of course, it's good if 1 or 2 days a year we are extra happy for example, but I think we should all live everyday to the fullest extent we can. If only it was that easy to 'pretend' everyday was Xmas (or a holiday day).....I guess I'm subtly moaning again...about not having a 'positive' lifestyle (oh irony if ever I saw it) but may be there is some truth in it...who knows?!

One thing I can say, if I here f**king Slade one more time, I swear I'm gunna freak out.....check out this video.....I don't think I've ever seen Slade actually sing live/play guitar properly (check out the guitar actually changes notes and everything even when they take their hands off it...amazing this modern technology) etc etc. Ironically (again) this is the year of my birth....thank f**k times have changed......well sort of.....

Wise Words

So on Sky News, they've had a vote for Britain's favourite quote. Now I'm not sure what mine is but one of the better ones from the top 10 on this poll would have to be the number 2 by old Abe Lincoln :

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Bloody good advice if you ask me...it's amazing that the 'classic' American Presidents have such useful bits of information, just like George Bush hey?:

"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

Ok, so I could go on....but I'll be kind....oh what the heck, just one more:

"I understand everybody in this country doesn't agree with the decisions I've made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand."

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Can you see anything out of the ordinary? Anything at all?

Hmmm....Johanna......

A pic of my Birthday cake

Ahh my lovely Johanna, thanks for making my cake, was so good!!

A little poem

Just getting my creative juices flowing:

The importance of life is to have fun,
Not to be scared and not to run,
To see what we have not what we have lost
To move on to the future at all cost

Look at ourselves and strive to be more
To see who we are right down to our core
To struggle but in the end succeed
To let our inner thoughts be freed

We should not be scared of what isn't known
To have ambitions and make life our own
To look at the future with open eyes
And not get caught up with potential lies

Live life to what you believe is true
Don't give yourself a chance to lament and rue
Do something amazing, get inspired and set the trend
But most of all be proud and positive until the end

10 down 9 to go

Ahhh don't you love Xmas time?? The chance to build snowmen, open presents, watch Home Alone.....oh the possibilities are endless. We see family members that we avoid for 364 days of the year (yes on purpose,haha) then are forced to spend time getting pissed with them. We put on half a stone in one day by over indulging on the finer things in life, yes turkey and we find out that Santa is really a kiddy fiddler, I aint sitting on your knee anymore you old perv. Ok, this post is really because System Bolaget is the shit, well ok, not really but they have just stocked a new Sam!! Oh yes, so here it is, the Holiday Porter...mmm....nice full bodied, bit easier going than the Cream Stout (that I talked about before), Ok, I'm not going to pretend I know the first thing about beer etc, but put it this way, it's Sam, it's amazing, enough said.......

Ahh perfection (besides Johanna of course), what else are you going to pull out of the bag Sam?

My Birthday weekend

Probably too much to say really!! I'll keep this one short, then put some more up later on in the week. My biggest first over here (apart from getting engaged, a car and an apartment with J) was watching a hockey game, Djurgarden (haven't got a Swedish keyboard) vs Modo, in Stockholm. The game was really good, it's great to see any sports live, and this was fab as my Dad came over too. It ended up 4-1 to Djurgarden, much to the dismay of Johanna, haha. Saw plenty of sin bins, goals, a penalty, the referee sliding on his arse in to the net too (classic moment!)...the full works, was a quality day/weekend.

So now I'm 24 do I feel any different?

Of course not!! Mentally I'm always going to be young, a healthy mind is a healthy body. All I'm waiting for now is my Xmas holiday to Salen, my board is itching, waiting to get kitted up, waiting to 'shred the gnar'.....oh dear I miss America, haha

Just a random little clip, it's a shot on goal, better than nothing!! Listen to the crowd when the keeper saves the puck....just one of the many 'words' in the language repertoire...lots of grunts and mmm's.......

Taxi for McClaren

So the infamous P45 is lurking over Mr. England managers head, with just and unjust reason. I mean what the hell were we thinking? We get rid of Sven (who was one of the most successful England managers...yeah says a lot doesn't it?!) for his right hand man, as in did they think McClarens tactics were going to be any different from Mr. Sven?! erm...it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. Why not get a good manager in, like Guus Hiddink for example, I mean we've had bloody Keegan, Taylor, Hoddle and Venables, all absolutely retarded managers, how about we try and score lots of goals by punting the ball in the air all the time...yes, I mean by probability alone, the chances of the ball going anywhere near the goal are slim, especially when banana boy Beckham can't kick a ball straight to save his life.

I don't understand why we actually have any expectations of England, I mean the Premier league is the 'best league' in the World...dubious, we need some passion....check out the Brazilian leagues, check out their fan base...mind blowing. I mean we have the most over rated players in the World, we have very few playing top football and I honestly can't think of many 'World class' English players.....

Give some of the Championship players a chance, give someone who has a bit about them, a bit of passion, that gives everything all the time, damn it put Danny Carlton in the team (yeah Morecambe), he'd give the other team a good kick in.

I mean Sweden aren't supposed to be better than us for Christ sake, I mean check out Gefle footy team, in the top Swedish league, mid-table team and they get like 1,000 people per game. This is less than some non league football teams in England, yet our National team is shite. We always said Spain were the most overrated team in the World....but what the hell....have they not looked in the mirror?! England suck so bad, we lack talent, we lack passion, we don't try anything new, same old boring shite. All I'm waiting for is Johanna to marry me so I can become Swedish and support a team that doesn't suck.....so much.

Great Opportunities

Sometimes we have our moments (no not 'that time of the month' moments) like mini epiphanies, where we actually switch off from subconscious thinking and realize what we have/what we are doing. I had one such moment earlier when, naming no names, a certain person proved once again that they are indeed a total waste of time. Now this may seem weird but it kinda lead me towards realizing how good I've actually got it over here. Too many of us too often always take things for granted, cliche as it is, it's most definitely true. For those who haven't seen it, watch Lucky Number Slevin (quality film) and take note of the Rabbi's taking for granted scene...so true.

Why do most things lose their appeal over time? When do things become 'normal'? This is to me a way of thought more than anything else....We all live in our own little world's, all in a bubble, some live in a bigger bubble than others and some choose to make their bubble bigger. I say this because of our knowledge is self limiting, the more we venture out and gain information, the bigger our bubble gets. Not in terms of simply reading a book, but living it, playing sports, travelling, anything really.

What I don't understand is when someone gets an opportunity of a lifetime, why they wouldn't take it and then some? May be it's because they are blinded by what they don't see? Or scared of what is going to happen? Who knows....but if someone said to you here's a million pounds, no strings attached you'd probably take it, right? I guess there must be an element of 'effort' in this opportunity malarkey, as in, although some opportunities are amazing....they may also require a huge amount of effort in order to achieve them.

I say this because I am unbelievably fortunate to be where I am today, who do I thank for this? Tough question....I guess we learn from everyone, it's hard to see why we accept information/traits from one person but not from the next, do we learn from people we trust or like, or are we impartial to most things that people say? Who knows, for me now though it is motivation, again I don't know from where this comes from...well I have my own thoughts on this, but it's too long and boring to talk about.

When I take these 'moments' I realize that I'm doing something good, I don't want to be compared to anyone accept myself, we all have our own goals so it's pointless to compare (even though we do). I think you have to take the person as a whole and compare to how they were to how they are and to how they are going to be or what they will do.

I want to live my life and be able to be proud of it, for my own benefit ultimately. Of course making your loved ones proud is probably hand in hand with this. For me, the sudden realisation that I'm in Sweden, have an amazing fiancee then all the rest (i.e. material things...car, new apartment etc) is almost a constant wake up call to say enjoy life and be proud of myself. Now of course we can't always do seemingly huge things all the time, e.g. live abroad, get a new job etc, but this goes back to why things become 'normal' and why we sometimes forget to appreciate what we have- if we thought that going to work everyday, not just to pay the mortgage or because we 'have to' could be an exciting/interesting thing, then we might enjoy work a little more! Ok, hard one to contemplate I guess.

But for me, I can't ever sit here and think that what I'm doing is 'normal'...it's almost self inspiring (again for me, not necessarily for the next person), I love going to the gym, playing squash etc etc, as soon as I fall in to the trap that it's normal or routine I'm probably not going to do it anymore. This is something we all don't do enough of, to sit and think about it in a different way can help this.

I'm actually looking forward to my next 'moment', they aren't all the same and sometimes you think 'shit, what next' for example, but that's not always a bad thing- I mean when we change we actually might lose a part of what we had before, then hindsight can show us it was good/bad. If only we could use this every time to move forward and appreciate what we have at that present moment and what we want/will do.......life for everyone would be much more fun.

There's always one

Just a quick note to say I've removed the comments from here as there is one penis who is quite clearly an uneducated retard and needs to go back to school. If you're going to leave a stupid comment on someone's blog, you've obviously spent time reading it, so don't being a hypercritical nob jockey and write something shit, especially when you've just taken a moment of your pointless life to say something no one on this world cares to here, dumbass.

Winter Jam 2007

For those who don't know, Snowboarding is one of my 'things'. I first went boarding in 1998 at Mammoth Mountain in California, it was a momentous thing, as it changed my future.....my last 2 winters I have spent teaching boarding in the States, at a resort, Sunday River in Maine (near Boston), which is incredibly ironic because my first ever experience on snow (skiing) was on a school trip to Sunday River in 1997!! Who knew 8 years later I'd be teaching there, definitely weird how the World works and more than enough proof that we are capable of more than we can imagine.

Last year when I first visited Sweden, I ended up at Stadium in Stockholm (exactly this date- well last weekend but a year ago) and randomly stumbled across a big ass jump built in the middle of this Stadium (it's called Stadium as well so it's not just me being retarded). Turns out the top pro's were there (minus a few Americans) as it's an event on the FIS World Cup...kinda like a league of Snowboarders etc who tour around the globe and compete in these events.

Last year I saw the likes of Risto Mattila, Andreas Wiig, Antti Autti and the legendary Stefan Gimpl (The names prob don't mean much to you I know...but amazing athletes and known globally to the snowboarding world!) but unfortunately I missed it this year!!!Aaaaahhhhh.....ok, not as bad as it seems, I was watching a Queen musical in Globen with my lovely fiance, but yes I did have the odd moment of 'kinda wish I was there' (I'm not saying I didn't have a great time!!) especially as last year it was pissing down with rain and last weekend was clear skies and great conditions. I managed to catch it on TV and even watched the skiing big air, including seeing Simon Dumont (from Sunday River!) who came 3rd.

The Finns dominated the Boarding, Janne Korpi came first....he is just immense, pulled a cab 10 (look it up if you don't understand!) with a nose grab. So I will leave you with a pic of last years and hopefully the video will work. For those who have no interest in Boarding or Skiing, I beg you not to just pass up on either, you'll be amazed how much fun (and how easy it is too) you can have, it opened up my life, let it in to yours-I promise you won't be disappointed!!

p.s. It really isn't about doing stuff like this, you just appreciate it more when you know how to ride/ski properly!! Check out a short vid of some clips from this year

What a weekend

Really short one as Johanna has the camera with the pics, will tell all later....but went to Stockholm, had a picnic in the snow, watched a musical at Globen, visited the Gustavsberg place, watched Alpha dog and Bobs your Uncle, Steves your cross dressing Aunt, sorted......

Now that the cold is here...

A quick post as am tired beyond belief, but now I truly understand why Swedes have to have heated seats in their cars!! Not only does it feel kinda nice, you know warm cheeks and back, but if you didn't have it, your arse would probably freeze to the seat.....Now I say this as the temps have been very cold the last few days, everything is becoming very white.....so are the lovely shiny footpaths, which are more like frozen tundra than a place to walk. It's really funny because now people on bikes actually speed up instead of slowing down, otherwise at slow speeds gravity and ice start to have some funny effects, so you just see people gunning it everywhere then coming to a grinding halt right at the last second.

The second thing, which is quite amazing is the heated roads....well the main ones anyway, they are drier than a nuns crotch...very bizarre when you look inches to the right or left, where the paths are!! The famous saying with flying, is 'it's safer than driving'.....not in Sweden it aint.....in order of danger......walking (worst), then flying, then driving.....I knew the winter tyres were only for show........


The trips to Ikea proved quite treacherous

The scary thing about life

I truelly believe that its when things go apparently wrong in life, is when we actually show our true colours. Its when we have to dig deep, to find something about ourselves we didnt think was there is what makes us the person we really are.

Im a believer in you make life what it is, in terms how you see it and how you act. Our futures are full of unknowns, now to most people this is a very scary feeling. Ive been brought up in a modern culture of exposure to many things, Ive worked and lived in another country, Im studying in another, these are all pieces of the puzzle that is life.

Most people dont thrive on being scared of the unknown, now for me I want my life to carry on in this way. I think the only way you get a sense of pride, purpose or achievement is by dealing with a new situation, one that you have to adapt to. Life becomes very mundane if we did the same thing we did the last day, week, month or year. The stereotypical view of you never appreciate things until they are gone I believe is only partially true, it depends how you go about your life. I can see I have so many things, not simply materialisitc bits but Im genuinly happy as a person, Im going down a path that has lots of doors, lots of different routes until I come to the end. Now some of these roads are scary, the fear of the unknown will and does hit me, but its how you deal with it, how you let it affect you that could make this fear something to almost look forward to or something to put you back in to a shell, to make you even more scared.

Why is it people are great at giving advice to others but never can give the same advice to themselves? Ok, "never" isnt probably the right word, but the way to think is may be to turn a seemingly bad situation in to one where you are now on the other side, what would you tell someone else if they were going through your pain, because more than likely it is something that someone is telling you. People can be their own worst enemy. Life is full of challenges, its these events that shape us a person, not all challenges are fun or wanted, but still we have to deal with them. Just remember that if life was straight forward, we would all be very very dull people, everyone would get along, no one would have an opinion. The next time something is forced upon you, a situation you cant avoid or hide from, greet it with an open mind, change is not necessarily a bad thing.....

It's getting cold

Ok, typical English conversation here...yes the bloody weather. We spend more than half our lives talking crap, moaning about this and that, I guess that's part of life. The way I look at it, is this moaning per se is a balance against positive things too. Hence we somehow make up for this negativity....just it's harder to see I think, whether it's the smile to someone as your walk passed or just mentally being positive. It's humanly natural to easily show we don't like something, than if we do....if we say how much we love something, it usually turns in to a comment about being 'weird' or 'obsessive'....but no-one will ever say you're obsessively negative....prob just a moaning git.

So no, I'm not moaning about the weather...the statement 'it's getting cold' has the assumption that this is a bad thing....however I beg to differ. Cold = snow = good = snowboarding = fun = life......by this chain of totally causal words (yeah right) we can deduce cold = life......erm....or something like that. The point is, cold weather isn't necessarily a bad thing, sure we have to put 2 pairs of underpants in the morning, wear 3 T-shirts, turn our heating up to sauna level and our skin drys out like a prune in the oven...but it's not all bad. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yes winter is here to stay, yes it gets dark very early but so what. If we can't accept this, then we only live for a few months out of the year each time....hmm...we must waste a lot of something....

Just think of the good things with winter..... you can put your beers outside for a natural coolness, you can light candles and crap so your lady is pleased (something about setting the mood or something) and feels cosy, you seem to get more hugs in winter, you put on so many layers walking in to things doesn't hurt, you get to pretend you are a choo choo train, you get a much better feeling once you walk inside to a hot room, in England as chavs can't afford clothes they disappear for the winter, early darkness makes it feel like night so going out at 3pm when it's pitch black instead of 10pm is good, you get way more sleep!! I could go on.......

As I'm not teaching snowboarding this year my winter could have been some drizzle infested, wet soggy aftermath which we get in England (see I'm not complaining am I?!)...however, as Sweden is a real country they get snow and plenty of it.....so my winter is going to feel as close to the last 2 years as it possibly could......oh I can't wait until January/Feb temps! (with windchill in Maine, it got down to almost verging where Fahrenheit equaled Celsius at -40, it was the case of sit on the lift to get to the top of a run and you would have frostbite on your nose, was lovely)

All that needs to be said now is bring on the winter, bring on the snow

Giant microbes!!

I finally think someone has nailed the market for soft cuddly toys, no not bloody beanie babies, teddy bears, funny shaped animals oh no, this is amazing! Ironic is best defined by this invention: I am doing a microbiology course, meaning I deal with lovely little bacteria and any other thing that can't really be seen with our useless eyesight. Guess what some genius has come up with........???

....Giant Microbes!!

These are 'exactly what is says on the tin' to coin a phrase- novelty plush microbes, which show all our favourite and exciting diseases etc....not only informative and totally hilarious....I definitely wouldn't mind having the Ebola virus and may be gonorrhea after......


The common cold virus...oh rhinovirus you funny little bugger, I know what I want for xmas!!

My new car...real one this time

A life changing thing is owning a car....trust me, you can go places youll never see otherwise, you can see things you could otherwise miss. So my car is now my second love, well may be third, haha, Johanna and snowboarding (in no particular order...just kidding). The car is fanstastic....it has not only got 5 doors (even though I only use 1 at a time), air conditioning, sunglass holder but wait for it.....heated seats!! Now to the average Swede this might be totally normal, but at home this is most definitely a luxury!! So now wherever I drive I can have a warm arse and back....fantastic. Oh yeah, did I mention the new car smell?! So pictured below are a few images of my beast (no, not that)

Someone stuck some nails in my tyre!!

My many firsts!!

What can I say? This weekend (well Friday too) has been immense and Ive done somethings Ive never done before. The biggest thing was collecting my new car from Skövde (where Johannas family is from....well Tibro anyway). So not only was the train journey from Uppsala down there a never done before for me, I now own a new car....its a very weird feeling, I mean weird in a good way, not only is that new car smell the nicest smell ever, haha, but having a new toy is just amazing. The freedom of having a car is just unexplainable, yes I dont "need" a car, but its as close to needing a car as possible.

Other firsts...hmm....I drove Bosses new Chevy Captiva with all the bits on too, very nice. Its also the first time Ive seen snow this early in the year. What else? Johanna after completing her massage course, bought one of those big massage benches, which she practised a full body massage on me (no nothing sexual you pervs), thats definitely a first. Erm....I got up at 5.30am to catch the bus ready for my train journey to go and get my car....def a first getting up that early to go on a sodding train.

Anything more??? I tried Swedish meatloaf made by Inga-Lill (Johannas Mum), very nice too, I tried grynkorv...a white kind of sausage....no comment. I drank Jagermeister out of a short glass, I had cheese and biscuits whilst fighting an Irish terrier for a seat at Bosses pad. I visited 4 different Swedish houses in 1 day.....the list continues...so all not quite as impressive as "Ive eaten sausage" but you know what I mean.

This year has been full of firsts....Im not going to list all the "big" ones.....but stand out ones include actually dragging my butt over here, so studying in a foreign country is definitely a big one for me. The biggest obviously is getting engaged....not to just anyone, to an absolutely amazing Swedish lady...could my life be any better?

Well yes actually...not far around the corner is my new apartment, so me and J are gunna live together, which I am very excited about!! I have a holiday in Sälen to look forward to (providing my bastard knee heals in time). My birthday would be on that list, but is that really a good thing?! haha......24..hmmm....

One thing I do know is that if Johannas family are going to be this nice to me, Im not going to have a hard time over xmas, as this will be another first for me....spending time with the other half of my new family in Sweden.....hopefully meatballs will be involved.



Just the other side where Johannas brother, nephew, cousins, uncle or 2 and some chickens live...in the country side

Mine and Johanna's new car

As it's going to start to snow, be -60 degrees, be over run with husky dogs and igloos soon I thought it would be a good idea to invest in a little car to offer me some sort of protection from the elements, as my knee is fecked to ride a bike and there's only so many layers of clothes you can put on to keep oneself warm when walking. After much debate, yes we are getting one. Below is a picture of our new baby....I'll post an actual photo of it when we get it this weekend....fantastic, this place is really starting to feel like home....



Obviously this isn't our actual car.....think the Kalos number plate gives it away....besides ours is 5 doors too, haha eat that you 3 doored imposter.

p.s. it's a 4 litre, V8 300 BHP Chevrolet Kalos....I might have exaggerated that a touch, more like 1.2, 72 brake beast....still quicker than my last car.....how sad is that!!

If at first you don't succeed, don't bother trying again

Well I haven't written on here for a while, but just thought I'd mention a couple of things that happened to me today. For those who don't know, I've started my new course so I'm with another almost completely different set of people, from all walks of life and places, people from Germany, USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Sweden, India and China of course. I'm in the lab pretty much every day, which is kinda cool as it keeps me busy and interested instead of a battering of lectures (I get that as well!). The first thing that isn't particularly exciting or funny in the comedy sense, but talk about 'it's a small world'........

It started with my flight over here, way back in August, I came over with Johanna, sat next to the window, Johanna next to me and the third person is of interest here, who was next to Johanna. Now midway through the flight, he pulls out an International Masters Degree at Uppsala booklet out, ok....I mean that by itself is very funny, just happen to get on a flight with a guy who's going to Uppsala

Oh but there's more.....I think I was in one of those moods because I couldn't be arsed to chat to him....I mean his subject is probably art or some pointless, conversation killing subject anyway right?

So I turn up after a few days to do a bar crawl in town with all the other Masters students, we are split up in to groups (as there was a few of us!) and guess who bloody turns up.....yup, Mr. fly on the same plane as me.....again, I didn't talk to him as he was in another group and I didn't see him later that night anyways.

About a week later, there I am, just finished a lab so incubating some bacterial plates and guess who is in the bloody 37 degree room......yup Mr plane man again!!! I have a small chuckle to myself and this time, we look at each other kinda like...hmmm....I so know I've seen you before. The worse thing was, it was just me and him in this room...bearing in mind is about half the size of a typical elevator.

Ahh but wait....so on this new course as I said before, you get every walk of life, which is a great way of networking and experiencing other cultures almost first hand as you don't need to fly there! Anyway....I turn up for my first lecture the other day, sitting there unpacking my bag, waiting to see who else is in my class etc....I turn around to have a quick gaze at the class and guess who the f**k was sitting there?! Yep.......

....I was sitting at lunch today with some of the guys from this course, just chatting away and getting to know one another, then this random plane man stranger pulls up and chair and sits down....ok, it's time we'd better say something to each other......Well turns out this guy is on a Biochemistry course of all things, is French (that's why......I could sense something was wrong with him...haha...just kidding) and called Ben!!

He also remembers me from the plane of all bloody things, we have a little chat, seems a nice guy....it's definitely a small world!!

The moral of this story is be nice to strangers on planes: you might be working in the same lab as them in the future, haha. I wasn't lying when I said it wasn't too interesting, but what a coincidence, that's all I can say.

The second thing, which I will keep short for the purposes of taking too much time to read involves the outcome of my lab today. We cultured some mutated E. coli strains void of a DNA damage repair mechanism...exposed it to UV light, made serial dilutions and plated these...I get the plates back and turns out every single plate has been taken over by fecking Staphylococcus aureus, so instead of nice little milky colonies on the plate there are very white little dots too....not good. Bearing in mind most labs I seem to do don't work (through no fault of my own...just a crap design) my aseptic techniques to stop contamination are not too bad, so there's me thinking I've totally cocked this up. Long story short but every ones was the same!!! turns out the PhD students and lab techs can't culture E.coli for shit and they gave us contaminated samples....so another one on the list that didn't work.....One thing in science is that patience is definitely a virtue, so if at first you don't succeed....you probably won't ever!

Just to say hi

No I'm not dead, but very, very occupied, have lots to do so will update this as soon as I have a break between working and eating!! Vi ses for now....

How to make a woman happy

My dad sent me this

It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be:

1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:
* birthdays
* anniversaries
* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked
2. Bring food

Or may be something like this....???

If I was a Simpsons character......

Had to give this ago......I bet I'd look something like this if I were a Simpsons character!

Again?!?!

I found another one of him.....Rich my friend, keep practising....next time go a little slower

Rich my bro in law is famous

How did they put a video of his on the net and not tell me??.......oh the dangers of snowboarding

These are my favourite sports

I'm very jealous.....no not because I'm English and our country is going down the pan, no not because we lost the rugby World Cup (we didn't stand a chance to qualify so to reach the final is an amazing feat by itself), have the worst health care system, government yadda yadda yadda, no it's because I'm sitting here (partly feeling sorry for myself....don't worry I'm not moping, just a tiny part of me) always keeping updated with things in the squash and snowboarding worlds....I've already posted these vids before, but I'm convinced no one watches them, I'll just give you a little glimpse of why I love these sports...one you run around like a nutter but is both mentally and physically challenging..well so is the other, to be at natures mercy is quality, to have ultimate freedom riding down whole mountains is more than fun....I thoroughly recommend trying both, you only live once right....check out some neat boarding skills and some quality squash (ok, the ball is hard to see, but you get the gist of it!)

A soppy message

So I'm sitting here after returning from a couple of days in Gävle with Johanna, I had a few days free as my first course (From genes to cells) has finished and I'm waiting to sit the exam on Monday. Just a quick note: I know I usually post 'meaningful' or 'funny' (Ok, I'm trying very hard to be funny but probably isn't really working) things, but now that I'm living in a 'foreign' country (which may be doesn't feel as foreign as it probably should-definitely a good thing!) I thought I'd just say a few things that do mean a lot to me.

Now, as people might know, I have a beautiful fästmö and I know it's early days in terms of seeing her friends but I haven't spent all that much time to get acquainted. So visiting Johanna this time around was up to its normally amazingness, I love spending time with J, so no surprises there. However this time, I spent a couple of hours on Friday night with 2 of her closest friends, Lina (who now owes me coz I did her washing....well sort of, haha)and Sandra. The only one was missing from their lovely quartet was Caroline, but I'm sure she (and the others really) had more interesting things to do (I bet it starts with a 'm' has an 'e' in the middle followed by a 'n'). The evening was nice and cosy, pizzas were made (yes, I had absolutely nothing to do with it...thanks ladies for that...the stereotypical lazy ass bastard of a man shines through) and alcohol was consumed. What was nice was having the chance to talk about stuff from a Swedish point of view....I mean I have a great opportunity with my degree of course (I now know the inner goings on of China for example!!) but its nice to know the thoughts and ideas of Swedish people, not just that of my lady.

So without boring you to death, I had fun and am glad I'm getting the chance to not only meet some lovely Swedes, but also Johanna's friends too. Since 'growing up'....ok, not really but you know what I mean....I've never been fussed what people think about me, I am my own person...yes of course we want to get on with people, especially those who are important to my love in particular (that's Johanna by the way, no not Ben and his mate Jerry or Snow and his bestest buddy boarding). Now, to me Johanna has got a really nice set of friends, even if they are man obsessed maniacs (I'm assuming that's normal for every female?!), I'm not 'trying my best' to get on with them, a falseness of pretending to like someone is not my thing, so lucky for me (or them) they seem all very nice and easy to talk to, hopefully something they might feel in time with me.

Of course Johanna is my life, but she also has a big part of hers made up from these 3 ladies in particular, so I'm happy she has people caring about her as much as I do. Hopefully in the upcoming future we can all chill out more, share more stories of men, shopping, sex and handbags (I'm so kidding!!), in the meantime, hopefully I'm not sending the message to Sweden (ok, just 4 young Swedish ladies) that English people are completely inept (ok, language learning skills yes....) and that we have a heart and aren't alcoholic, fat, tattooed, football loving, burger chomping, balding homo's....that's just the other 99% of the English male population......

Yeah, they look like trouble I know.....the 4 musketeers had to eat fancy food sometimes.

Women have to be the most bizarre creatures on this planet

Ok, before anyone gets any funny ideas about this being a dig at Johanna, no its not!! This came up as a topic of discussion about one of her friends. Me and J are absolutely fine and everything is tea and crumpets, fine and dandy, like peas and carrots.....toppen (in Swedish). Now the inner workings of the female mind is one of those mysteries of life, it absolutely boggling, its like a conundrum that cannot be cracked, put it this way-ive got more chance of having kids, winning the lottery and owning a house before I can truelly understand the fairer of the two sexes. Womens logic is indescribably strange, I mean understanding quantum physics makes more sense.

Now Im relating this to a long conversion that came up today, about the male and female sex and how our brains think so differently. Basically the whole point of the story is about whether a bloke can stay round a womens (who are both friends) and not have sex!! To the older generation this might be very clear cut, but the circumstances are not always as they appear. So hypothetically speaking, if a man was to sleep round a womens, why does womens logic automatically assume something is going to happen. Would their thoughts change if it was a dude sleeping at another dudes place....yes of course it does. So Johanna interestingly said these 2 senarios are totally different, but I have to disagree.

I mean if I hypothetically go out at night, cant be arsed to go home and stay at a females place, is it an issue? For many women, the answer is yes....I just cant see logic in this. There seems to be a harsh jealousness and a severe sore spot in this grey area. Turn it on its head.....whats worse, a bloke going on holiday to Ibiza or somewhere crap with all the lads, getting pissed, eyeing up anything with a pulse, getting egged on by his mates to sleep with the next tramp that walks past OR this same man going out with a good female friend (bearing in mind both are taken, have been mates for ages and really have no sexual interest in each other at all, for example) and having a few drinks?

Why does womens logic assume something is going to happen? This is an ongoing debate really, the question is "why would you want to go out with another women when youve got me?" comes up (again, not specifically with me and J, but generally) as possibly the worst question ever!! I mean, are men not allowed female friends? Apparently not, apparently the only reason for this is because they have the intention of sleeping with them!! Yeah thats logic, because its so much easier to go to all the effort to befriend someone, spend countless hours with them, pretending to like them as a friend, only to want to give them your 6 inches of loving!! Just get hammered, go to England, pick the women showing her bits (so pretty much anyone!) and bump uglies...its far easier...but apparently for women, there has to be some psychological issues related to having opposite sexed friends.

I mean theres no problem with a man sleeping over at another mans, because they arent gunna have bum fun are they? so why is it logical just because a man and woman can do something, they will? It truelly blows my mind when people think this. I asked J how many men staying over at womens she knew that ended up having sex that really shouldnt have....especially after the comment of "thats just what people do"....guess how many....yup a big fat zero. So where do we get these ideas from? It feels like women arent content to just accept you can be friends with the opposite sex and have no interest in them in that sense. Acceptance of this would make life a lot easier!! Trust me!! You shouldnt look for something that isnt there.

So ladies....I say "ladies" because of my convo with J about "all her female friends" please see the other side of the story, remember if you dont, you might be turning into a mini Hitler, he couldnt see that Jews were/are human beings (and look where that got him), in the same way that not all men, just randomly want to shag all their female friends...logic my dears, seems to be lacking in that thing called your brain...so please please stop having these crazy ideas...lets start by not watching desperate housewives and putting a little faith in your fellow man......

p.s. remember this has not happened with me and J, we DO NOT argue about this or is it a problem....so for those who are panicing that me and J have had a big arguement, trust me we are happy as larry and this is purely for interests sake.

Popliteus tendonitis

Sounds like fun doesn't it? Ok...this is the verdict of my knee problem. Now, I went to the doctor knowing full well I have tendonitis in my right knee, it doesn't need 6 years of medical training to type 'knee pain' in google...or does it?! The checkup was quite thorough, my doctor put my knee in lots of positions etc, checking for anterior/posterior cruciate ligament damage (centre of knee) and medial/lateral collateral ligaments (on the outside of the knee), even though I'd already told her this was not the case, I know some people who have torn these ligaments, and even with the result having long term effects, the actual tear is not as bad (physically) as you'd imagine, for example when people do their ACL's, there is a popping sound, then it isn't like your knee collapses and your leg drops off, it's more of an ache....So no my knee hasn't dropped off, even though right now, that's probably more useful to me. Injury for me, yes it hurts, but mentally it hurts much more...I am an active person and not being able to exercise, play squash, run etc...even walk without looking like I've had anaesthetic jabbed in to my leg is very frustrating. My biggest concern is that my perfect winter of snowboarding and 'shredding the gnar' (gotta love those yanks) isn't going to happen. I mean I could spend winter hols sledging, but it isn't quite the same!! As my family (even my brother in law Rich...christ alive) are coming over for a ski trip over xmas up north (well actually in the middle of the country) in Sweden, my sis (Kim) is unfortunately going to have to bring Grace...and all I can say is there's no f**king way I'm looking after her.....I don't know (want to know more importantly) anything about babies, apart from they stink, they cry, they shit like there's no tomorrow, they roll over, put things in their mouths that can choke them to death, are never content, and are about as much fun as watching paint dry. So Kim, no funny ideas.....you too Rich


p.s. It really hurts when I walk on it.......kidding, not really my knee!! I'd have most definitely chopped it off if this was the case! Sod that for a game of chess.

Juggling

Yes, this does seem a random topic to post, but it's been a week since my last update and not a great deal has happened. I was perusing the net yesterday (there's a surprise I know) and stumbled across this video on boreme.com.

Skillful yes, lots of practise yes, pointless oh yes....quite entertaining I guess.

Bloody Women

So I was kindly showing what a gentleman I am, by surprising my fiancee by turning up tonight (at hers obviously), just to tell her I love her (ok, she cooks better food than me, has beer and TV but that's besides the point...plus you know..we can do certain things I cant do by myself...) The evening started off great, I mean I watched the Simpsons, blah blah etc, then the bomb dropped....no Johanna didn't have a paddy, have a moment, go shopping or wash her hair...no no, it was much worse than that.....she turned on bloody Desperate bloody housewives. God if there isn't anything more depressing...middle aged women, with no jobs/life, all have had plastic surgery to the point where there faces look like they are actually pulling 10G in a fighter plane and crap script writing...wow, what a combination. Well I'm glad Ill never have a life like that...no not that Ill become a woman, but have a mid life crisis. If I ever creep down that road, I will most definitely cut my balls off and move to Iraq....that will put my life in to perspective, things can only get better right. In the meantime, I found out the price I pay for getting engaged....they always say when you get married you never have sex again, but after this Johanna owes me.....

Choices choices

Not a very amusing post but for those who read this (few and far between I know) Ive just had to make my decisions for my course until the end of the first year...so just to let people know, I am going to study microbiology next term. After xmas Ill be studying immunology (second choice neurobiology), then finally molecular infection biology (with back up choice of functional genomics). I'm also doing a bioinformatics course too, so should keep me entertained, and of course continuing my Swedish course...jätte bra.

9 down 10 to go

So the stereotypes shall reign supreme for a while...no not that all French people are stinky, arrogant nancies or all women can't drive to save their lives (sorry bad example as this is truth, not stereotype) but the English in me is bringing out the alcholic tendencies. No, not that I get wrecked every night, that's what my Irish friend Padraic does (just kidding), but that I'm actually discussing beer etc on here. My update is a based on my love of Sam (no I'm not gay) and all 19 commercial available types of his lovely drink. So far on the list I have sampled the: Boston lager, Boston Ale, White Ale, Summer Ale, Octoberfest, Winter lager, Black lager, Hefeweizen and my latest edition, the Cream stout, which I purchased last night in the Uplands Nation bar. It was a lovely bottle, of roasted goodness. So for those who drink Carling, Bud, Carlsberg, Fosters or any other typical shite, I recommend a change of beer direction- I know Sam Adams is an American company and that nothing really good has ever come out of the States (ok...I'm kidding again...we love Disneyland/world) but you have to trust me on this one, its worth a try.....

Is it just me.....

....or is it not a surprise Marion Jones has been busted for drug use after winning her 5 medals (3 gold) at Sydney 2000? I mean christ alive she's got more muscles than a body building competition, she won by at least 90 metres in the 100m event. You'd definitely not mess with her down a dark alley and no, I have no sympathy for you. Why do we televise this steroid fest on TV? I mean it's not exactly challenging to see how may roids you can take, then leg it round a track....Lets ban athletics because it's rubbish, besides if you met Tyson Gay in a bar (he'd be the one with the needle in him arm, snorting coke too) it wouldn't be very interesting convo would? 'Hi, what do you do for a living?' 'I run for 10 seconds everyday a get paid millions in government funding to support my drug habit'....has he not got the worlds easiest job?! So for those who are bored with their job, I offer you a career change....'athlete/drug dealer'

My Top 3 Songs

We all listen to music (well some of us do...some of us listen to shite) so thought a good idea is to just let you know what my top 3 songs are. Now this decision was about as easy as reversing an articulated lorry, so slightly challenging...at least for spot number 3. So in reverse order....

3. InMe- In Loving Memory
2. Trapt- Lost Realist
1. Alter Bridge- Open Your Eyes

Those who just missed out: Alter Bridge- In loving memory, Greenwheel- The End, Goo Goo Dolls- Iris, 30 Seconds To Mars- Saviour, 3 Doors Down- Away From The Sun/Here Without You...you get the idea. So for all those who listen to ABBA and Ace of Base or any new British music for that instance....time for change. Put it like this: If you could personally write and perform a better song (not including musicians/singers here) than whats in the charts....i.e. every song....then please don't listen to it, coz it's shite.

P.S. I'm not going to put links on this time, go find stuff yourself you lazy gits

World's Best Lager 1990

I recently went to the System Bolaget in town in Uppsala and with a wide selection of fine wines, beers and spirits, I ventured over to the ales/random weird beers section. Did my eyes deceive me or did I spot an absolute gem....yes folks, the Worlds Best Lager from 1990, that's right 'Original Crocodile'. How could I resist such a tempting offer?! Well after a few hours of mouthwatering potential goodness ready for my taste buds, the time came when I opened the little beauty....

....did the writing on the can justify this award?

Did it f**k?!! With all that promise...I mean 1990 man, what a year....the 49ers won their 4th Superbowl. McDonald's in Moscow opened, I turned 7, West Germany won the World Cup, Iraq invaded Kuwait to start the Gulf War, East and West Germany unified in October, the Super Nintendo was released in Japan and Original Crocodile won the Worlds Best Lager award. Now all of these are amazing things, with the beer probably being the biggest stand out and noticable event.

So what have I learned from this? No 1990 wasn't that great at all....A beer company has lied to me, it wasn't the worlds best lager at all...I've been had, my naivety has led me down a path of lies, of deceit and torment, how could someone be so inhumane? The next time you go and buy a beer that says 'World's Best Lager 1990' on the can....just remember to question the enormity of its claim....if its made by Original Crocodile then it probably tastes like Carling...yes the gypsies beer of choice.



The other side of the can is in English, but don't be fooled by its beautiful exterior...there are lies and evil inside, my faith in animal named products has just been lost.

How good is this?

A very short one...was watching a Sky News clip on internet and it proved rather interesting, for a worldwide news channel it has a slight comedy edge...check this out

P.S. Obviously play the video!!

The athletic pursuit

So for those people who think I'm suddenly changing the subject, yes I am most definitely thinking about 'being engaged', like I said before, it is and it isn't a big deal, but more thoughts on that at a later date. For now, I was sitting here just pondering why squash players don't get any recognition for being arguably the fittest, most racket gifted athletes in the world. The stereotypical image has stained an absolutely amazing sport, but if we look at another, has managed to bypass this and remain one of the most viewed and participated sports in the world. Yes folks, golf.

Now having worked at a golf club and being good friends with a pro (Mr. Ben Kruze, no not my bro in law...he plays golf like he rides....see the picture from an earlier post...ok enough Rich bashing) I have had a lot of input from the golfers side. To the untrained eye, golf may literally seem a 'walk in the park'. We've all seen the big fat, old, barely alive men stroll round with little metal sticks, hitting a small ball in to a hole in the ground....in a nutshell. This could be backed up with the almost endless amount of cash the top guys earn.....I mean on the PGA tour, take career earnings from tournaments alone....number 886 on the list....yes number 886 (so very average), is Robert Rock who has earned in his career over $100,000!! So this begs the question if it's so damn easy, why aren't we all doing this 'simple' sport?

The answer is simple, if you've never played and see my point of view above, just do one thing: Go down to your local golf course and see if you can hit the ball...harder than you think right? You see, the term 'sport' is: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature...very ambiguous I know.

However for those who doubt it is an 'athletic activity' are grossly mistaken: Not only does the actual ball striking use lots of different muscle groups, but if we take an average course length, say 6500 yards (for non professionals), this equates to roughly 3.7 miles (or 5.9km)(remember as the crow flies). How many of you actually walk that far in a week, let alone a day? Realistically the length for us mere mortals will be in the region of 5-6 miles as we tend not to hit the ball straight!

So next time we see some big fat old bloke on the T.V picking up a cheque for a cool mill....don't judge him on the basis that he probably couldn't run a mile in 5 minutes, oh he'll get there, it might take a while, but he'll make it. Judge him based on the golf swing being potentially one of the most dynamic sporting movements our body can do. Golf may not seem a physical sport, but I can tell you this, mentally its up there with the toughest of things....there's more skill involved than eating rice with chopsticks and every shot is different: no the clubs are the same, the ball is the same, but next time it's pissing it down with rain, its cold, miserable and staying inside is the only thing to do, go play golf and tell me how easy it is.



Remember, looks can be deceiving....they may be fat, but they are also very skillful and mentally strong, we can also take Harry P for instance. How good does the cover look, amazing right? But trust me, you will be disappointed.

That next step in life

A little update for the blog, as it was Johannas birthday yesterday, she reached the grand old age of 21 (she wishes, haha) I thought Id try to do something nice for her. Ok, so the usual flowers, chocolates all that crap went out of the window, I mean being Swedish she probably preferred some meatballs, herring, Ikea voucher or some porn...you know, all the good stuff. However, as it felt kinda right, I did something slightly different and asked her if she wanted to marry me. Not the normal present I know, but weve been seeing each other for a year and 4 months and in a cheesy way we are very much in love: We work well together, we are both going in the same direction and look at life the same way, were both adventurous and we speak our mind, I could go on and on about all the stuff you look for in someone...but I know Ive found it with her.

Something which I believe people do wrong when it comes to marriage/engagement, is that they use it to turn over a new leaf, thinking something will change afterwards. To me, it might be seemingly pointless to get married, however it is just a symbol, just a small sign to show how I feel- as a person, I am no different, my values arent any different, I wont change my life because of this, I still love Johanna and always will. For me, putting a ring on her finger is to show her that she is the one for me, a ring to me contains a reminder of why we are together, it shows no control, bias or preference over any decisions made, it doesnt change where I want to go in life, it simply shows that Im the happiest person alive and Ive got a beautiful lady (and it shows Im taken, haha).

So marriage on the cards....definitely not yet, we are both studying, so its something to look forward too in around 2.5 years. A big fancy wedding, hmmm I think not, I am not one to spend thousands of pounds for 1 day, life is more fun, its the marriage thats important, not the wedding. In the meantime, here is a pic of the rings.....just to confuse you, no we are not in England (thank God) so over here the men get a ring too....basically engagement over here is like the wedding rings in England, so on the wedding day, Johanna gets a sparkly ring and I get bugger all....yeah this world isnt sexist.....

I Have Transformers

Ok, so films come and go, I've had my rant about Harry 'I can't act' Potter, but this little thing called the internet is useful for some things and downloading films is definitely one of the best. Ok, so it's probably highly illegal, but I mean copies have got to be somewhere, some film critic or some top dog is obviously accidentally leaking the film to someone, I bet for a handsome fee no doubt. But for those who haven't been to the cinema for a good while, you have missed some recent classics, from the gruesome and mindless violence of 300 to the blatant humour of Knocked Up. I have to mention just one though, that has captured the imagination of many- my nostalgia again kicks in here, because Transformers were the things dreams were made of. I mean how good was it having Optimus Prime as a real toy...I remember Kim (my sister) had my little pony...I mean come on, how much does that blow? Little gay horses with crappy nylon hair...the only good thing was target practise for Megatrons big ass gun....superb. So when they said they were going to make Transformers (yes I'm giving it a capital letter every time) in to a film, I was more than excited. The cartoon series was amazing, (ok at the time) with a mixture of almost mangaesque at times, with seemingly 'dubbed' American voices, sometimes mixed with random noises etc....ok, not doing it justice. However the point of this is, I have a lovely copy (thanks Felipe) of Transformers on my computer- gone are the days of my toys that turn in to robots and everyday objects oh no....they won't be forgotten, the film now has a different angle, yes great effects, great story (sort of!), great characters and yes the token potentially jail bate girl....playing a 'high school' kid, hmmm....don't worry folks (ok, just the men) she's 21 in real life, so all those thinking of yeah...you know what, it's ok...go ahead. So for your entertainment....the new....and the old.....



Those were the days...Good Vs. Evil, none of this PC crap....be careful because it might upset Osama and his mates

Owwww my brain hurts

Ahh the weekend, a time of relaxation, festive eating, drinking and everything that you don't do in the week. Well that would be the case, however my weekend has panned out a little differently- no not in a bad way, but all I've pretty much done is study!! Ahhh, my head has adopted a position where I can no longer look up, my arse is more numb than my bodies feeling in -30 temperatures, my writers bump on my finger looks like it's about to give birth and my head is full of soo much info, I think I'm not going to remember my own name. With all this said and done, I've learnt a lot, now I know how precious the outside world is, after spending at least 3/4 of the weekend indoors in my cave (ok room). My most eventful thing this weekend was deciding which orange to pick in ICA, oh life is full of tough choices. I'm glad to be pushing my brain to its limits, next on the list tonight is Swedish homework, ironically learning how to say 'My name is Mike'....well, sort of, I mean that was first lesson, we are way beyond that now...'My name is Mike and I'm 23'....bloody hell talk about pushing the boat out. It's amazing; however unable my brain is to function right this second, sarcasm is still coming out of it....hmmm, not understanding that one. Ok, so I'll tell a joke:
A woman in a bar says that she wants to have plastic surgery to enlarge her breasts.
Her husband tells her, "Hey, you don't need surgery to do that. I know how to do it without surgery."
The lady asks, "How do I do it without surgery?"
"Just rub toilet paper between them."
Startled the lady asks, "How does that make them bigger?"
"I don't know, but it worked for your ass."