Author Archives: jon

Love Thy Neighbour

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Our neighbours below us (Janne, Lotta and their two year old daughter, Edla) came for a first date at our place tonight. As usual, Jo had been the one to make first contact with them a while back, but it took some time to get a date sorted that suited all.

Freya and Edla hit it off immediately, and played wonderfully until they grudgingly fell asleep at 12 o’clock. Much more of a surprise was Freya’s speditious acceptance of Janne, and she was soon sitting in his lap, playing with him. We don’t see Freya’s cautiousness with men a problem, but it’s always nice to see her involving male company in her world.

We adults got on well together, too. Whilst the girls sat on the balcony, drinking and talking, Janne and I did the stereotypical thing, and played Pro Evo Soccer 5 on the PS2. I hadn’t expected him to be into games, only because nearly everyone else I know of our generation has a completely neutral opinion about videogames, so it was excellent to find someone with a similar interest to my favourite past-time.

As it turns out, all four of us seem quite compatible. I only hope Jo and I are not some sad couple who overestimate other people’s opinions of us, and we end up happily ringing them to invite them to all kinds of things, while they try their best to avoid us and eventually move cities to be rid of us.

Freya In Luxembourg

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We spent the last four days visiting some friends that we got to know when we were living the small but beautiful Duchy of Luxembourg some ten years ago.

The first two nights were spent in Suzi and David’s house, who now live just over the border in Germany. Freya had no problem acclimatising to her new surroundings, especially since the house is also home to a rabbit (Venus) and a guinea-pig (Blitz); the last two evening’s we stayed at Corrinne’s and Carlos’ house, which offered a very large balcony. Thanks to the relatively nice weather this was utilised on both days, and almost made up for the lack of pets.

We got to do so much in the four days we were there: Parc Merveilleux is a really good Animal Park with decent children’s playgrounds fairy tale themes splattered around the place; a small, unhealthily warm, but well-equipped butterfly gardin, Jardin des Papillons in Grevenmacher; visiting various pubs in the city, including paying a visit to see a DJ acquaintance, Marino.

All in all it was a marvelous break away, and it was fantastic catching up with old friends.

The Referee’s A W****r

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The football team that I’ve just started managing played their first match under my command today. We (Stockholm Wolves) were playing at home, in the Trent Park arena, and had an attendance of 1857; that isn’t bad for a newly put-together club, though I suspect many came to support “hästhagen steelers”, our opponents for today.

We lost the game 0-6, a result which does not do justice to our goalkeeper, Stefan Hjalmarsson, and his ability between the posts. The loss was expected, and I shall reserve any judgement about my managing skills until I have got to know the boys.

Hattrick is the place to visit to sign up for your own team, and challange other players (and sometimes bots). It’s visually quite basic, though there appears to be a fair amount of thinking and tactical decisions to be made to make real progress.

Here’s to my first victory, whenever that will come.

To Chris And Tanya’s

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We were all invited to Chris and Tanya’s last night, for a meal and film showing of Office Space, which Chris had suggested would be a worthwhile watch.

Freya made herself at home very quickly, and had no problem in involving our hosts in her activities. She has always had a soft-spot for Tanya, and has recently warmed to Chris, which is a nice development in her relationship with him.

During the preparatory phase of the meal I sidled to the computer to have my first proper exploration of World of Warcraft. They had shown me around the basics of the game before, chaperoning me through the on-screen menus more than the world of Azeroth. This time, though, I was truly on my lonesome, and enjoyed it as much as I had expected to.

The first levels involve the standard “kill/return” type of sub-quests, all the while unfolding the overall plot related to the Undead character I’d chosen. While it was unexceptional in its incipiency, the lush environment and “liveliness” of Undercity made for a different experience than Neverwinter Nights.

After WoWing, eating, WoWing a bit more, and eating dessert, Freya collapsed from 16 hours of being awake. Despite her desperate moanings of wanting to sleep at home, she passed out with ease, leaving the adults alone to continue the evening’s mirth.

Having watched Office Space (a decent enough film, by the way), Jo spotted an unwrapped Borat. Why they had kept it unseen is witless enough, but it had been in their possession for a couple of weeks. Unopened. Unseen.

We corrected this oversight by demanding asking for a showing. I have been planning on purchasing the DVD at some point (i.e when it comes down in price), so we were rather happy to have the to see it earlier than we’d anticipated. Suffice to say it rocked, and I have full respect for Sacha Baron Cohen for creating the character and to have the balls to put himself in peril for entertainment.

The rest of the evening (being early morning by that time) was spent chatting about all manner of things. I had succeeded in not becoming drunk (which aided sociability on my part, and the ability to wake up with Freya four hours later without feeling the effects of a hangover), leaving their place at a respectable 4.15am.

I’ll Drink To That

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Apart from the occasional, hypocritical moaning, I don’t really care that my t-shirts may well have been made by some 7-year old girl in Pakistan. Earning a risible wage, Bob (not her real name) prostitutes herself during the hour a day free time she gets, probably and pathetically to the kind of people who own the sweat-shop she calls work.

While far away echoes of “Come on Bob, just do it!” ripple over the continents, I’m quite willing to support the regime if it gives me a good feeling in my wallet. I support this type of injustice, not because I’m callous, but because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t buy the product.

It was a nice surprise, then, when Jo turned up this afternoon with our usual bag-in-box red wine, Ecologica. Not only has it been one of the very cheapest three-litre boxes one can find in Sweden, but, as its name implies, it’s made from organically-grown grapes.

Now the wine has become one even more of a bad-conscience mollifier, since the new packaging also displays the Fair Trade moniker, meaning untold riches to the Argentinian workers involved in giving us (almost) daily pleasure and the occasional headache/temporary regret.

So, with the balance redressed I can finally get those Nike trainers I’ve had my eye on.

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