Chapter & Verse

Chapter 234 Just browsing

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Hello long and almost-lost blog.

It has been a while since i last posted anything and to be honest i am just testing something now.

See you later.

Chapter 233 Taters

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:25:00 +0000

Verse 1

For those of you that patiently have waited to hear about the potatoes i planted three months ago, here is the result from my farming-adventures on our balcony.

A very happy Buddha and some taters

I planted two buckets with a total of seven potatoes and could harvest 600 grams of some of the yummiest-tasting i have ever eaten. Considering what little effort i had to put in i am very surprised and happy about the result. What little skin there was you just rinsed off and they had perfect texture and taste after a short boil.

The fact that Frank, one of our cats also ate one must be all the proof anyone can ever ask for!

I will definitely be doing this again next year.

Chapter 232 Yet another first, ever

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:01:00 +0000

Verse 1

I have gotten into my head that i want to grow some potatoes so two black buckets, some soil and potatoes to grow from later i have now planted some.
With some amazing luck we might have home-grown potatoes for Midsummer!

The view appearing in this picture is not mine

Chapter 231 Another "first" of the year

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:56:00 +0000

Verse 1

So Yesterday we enjoyed the first beers outdoors and today we took out the grill and made some burgers in celebration of the nice weather.

They tasted nice like almost everything that is barbecued does, i hope the Gods were pleased as well and bless us with a long, warm Spring and Summer.

Mmm tasty!

Chapter 230 First beer, check

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Verse 1

Take one of these.

A beer

Drink it in the warmth of this.

A sun

This combination will give you one.

Happy

Camper

After a nice walk along Norr Mälarstrand we made day complete with a beer in the sun at Bågspännaren in Gamla Stan.

A sign of Spring if ever there is one!

Chapter 229 Review: Shutter Island

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:57:00 +0000

Verse 1

Shutter Island is a movie directed by none other than Martin Scorsese and starred by Leonardo DiCaprio, Swedish actor Max von Sydow is seen in a small part as an unlikeable doctor. The movie is based on the book by Dennis Lehane that i believe i have read but i can't remember enough to say if the movie follow the book or not.

I am not really sure that i dare to be as critical as i feel is warranted here because J might do me harm when we meet next time but i think i will risk it.

The movie is as i said based on a book but even if you haven't read it you will most likely have a clear feeling of what might happen in the next scene or even how the movie will end. I expect they tried to make the movie captivating and mysterious with a feeling of "what is the real truth" but i think they failed.
The ploy of using a mental institution and doctors messing with peoples head to make them unsure of themselves and reality has been used so many times that it takes something special to make it work. Unfortunately Shutter Island falls short of that and several other crucial ambitions.

Shutter Island

There are occasionally some ok acting but even DiCaprio fail to deliver i think. He has surprised me several times with some skillful acting like in Blood Diamond and The Departed, another movie directed by Scorsese where the ending was terrible but DiCaprio good but this time i am disappointed.

There are really no exceptional scenes to mention in this movie either or any really good quotes, something that usually can make me like a movie more.

The ending will come as no surpise to any one nor the fact that i cannot in good conscience recommend this movie without reservations.

Watch it on dvd but don't expect too much.

Chapter 228 Review: Thirst (some spoilers)

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Verse 1

I am never really sure why i watch Korean movies but i think i always have a hope that i will be surprised and like them. That they are different from the Hollywood kind is obvious and they usually have some redeeming qualities.

Thirst is a strange story about a priest that volunteers to help find a vaccine for a deadly virus so he is intentionally infected. He dies and almost immediately wakes up, then not knowing that he has turned into a vampire.
I could go on for a while and tell you about all the things that happen later on but i will just say that the way vampires die in this movie reminds me off how they died in Blade and that is the most positive thing i have to say.

Thirst

The characters are all dull and the moral dilemma the priest faces as he needs to drink human blood to survive is not compelling and does not really move me. You can see the conclusion coming from a mile away and i ended up fast-forwarding a lot. The love-drama is also not very exciting even though there are some surprisingly "explicit" sex-scenes.

The director Chan-wook Park has mixed some comedy into the vampire story but even if i smiled a few times it doesn't really work.

I just have add this movie to a growing pile of failed attempts to broaden my movie-horizon.

I do not recommend this movie even on dvd.

Chapter 227 I want these

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:20:00 +0000

Verse 1

Today i found something that i have been on a slow lookout after for a little while now. To have this piece standing in the hallway greeting any visitors would be kinda cool. An unusual but still classic piece of furniture.

Photo: Auktionskompaniets auctions

I am certain we all can remember these and the tricks we used to get the most out of them. After you had inserted your coin you turned the handle and chewing-gum fell out the slot but there were different tactics to this. Some said you should turn it fast but i was and am a firm believer of taking it slow. Usually that would get me one or two pieces more than a fast or normal turning would.

I can tell you that the left one will drop one big gum and the right four small pieces on a slow turn for the price of SEK 1 for each machine.
How they tasted? That is between me and A.

You can find the auction here

Chapter 226 Pork Tenderloin, Rosemary and Thyme

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:33:00 +0000

Verse 1

I am usually not a big fan of pork and i very much prefer beef but yesterday we made something really nice. I can't take much credit but i did some nice french fries to go with it.

First you take nice piece of pork tenderloin, try to avoid those tail-thin pieces you often see and go for one that is at least 7 or 8 centimeters in diameter.
After you have prepared the meat you take dried rosemary and thyme together with flake salt and grind it in a pestle. I have one in cast-iron that i really like.

Marble, not cast-iron

Roll the tenderloin in the mix and be generous, it will give an exciting flavor to the meat. Grill the meat in a frying pan just enough to give it a nice surface and put in the the oven at 200 degrees (centigrade) After we had removed the tenderloin we put a little water in the pan and stirred around a little to get all the herbs, this goes into the oven together with the meat.

Let it sit in the oven for 20-30 minutes but check to make sure it's not overdone because pork will get dry easily.

I strongly suggest that you get an oven-thermometer and take it out at 70 degrees.

Let it rest for a few minutes, under tin-foil if you wish and cut it up

This will make a very juicy, tender dish that is full of taste and i hope you will enjoy it.

Rosemary

Thyme

Chapter 225 I will go, obviously

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:27:00 +0000

Verse 1

Today Thursday Vildmarksmässan (Wilderness Fair) opens and and one of the keywords this year is "prylarna" which can be loosely translated to "gadgets"
With a theme like that there is of course no chance that i can stay away so this weekend i will go and take a look. Hopefully there wont be anything to buy at all so i can escape with my money and later watch the Melodifestivalen with a semi-clear conscience.

To be honest i have little hope that i will make through without at least one purchase.

Chapter 224 Review: The Wolfman (2010)

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:06:00 +0000

Verse 1

This is yet another remake of a movie we have seen any number of times and you can possibly guess what i thought of it.

There are a number of well known actors starring in this movie. Benicio del Toro is of course The Wolfman and Anthony Hopkins is his father with a little secret of his own. Emily Blunt is the female star and Hugo Weaving play the policeman trying to stop the grisly murders taking place, he played among other roles Elrond in Lord of the Rings and Agent Smith in Matrix.

Unfortunately this group cannot save this movie from being mediocre at best and fast-forward boring at worst.

I do not recommend it.

Chapter 223 Asked and answered

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Verse 1

The item from Chapter 221 is of course a Micro Grappling Hook, never leave home without it!
Very useful for pulling yourself out of bed on a Monday morning, just hook it to the nearest cat and throw some catnip for it to chase and up you go.

Ps.
No cats were harmed in the writing of this post.

Chapter 222 Review: Alice in Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:52:00 +0000

Verse 1

I am sure we all have seen at least one version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and if not this version with among others Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter, Mia Wasikowska as Alice and Helena Bonham Carter as Red Queen is not a bad place to start.

Mad Hatter

Alice

Red Queen

Tim Burton is of course the director and if you are familiar with his work you have an idea of what to expect. He doesn't follow the story to the letter but that is not a problem for me, i enjoyed his version of the classic and there are several other familiar actors this cast that do very well interpreting the known characters.

Stephen Fryn does a very relaxed and likeable Cheshire Cat, Matt Lucas known from the tv-series Little Britain play the two weird boys Tweedledee and Tweedledum and if you are a fan of the series you will recognize his manners in Alice.

Cheshire Cat

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

If you like Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and odd characters in a weird setting i think you can enjoy this movie. It is not ground-breaking in any way but it is almost two hours well spent. I like dialogue that contain material that make good quotes and there are several of those in this movie and that is a bonus in my book.

I recommend it.

Chapter 221 Question of the day #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Verse 1

My latest acquisition just arrived and you will of course get the chance to guess what it is. Just a few details because i think this one is quite easy.
It is made of steel and 5 centimeters long, the three spikes you see protruding are 2,5 centimetres. There is a hole at the top end for attaching something.

How could i ever have resisted buying this little thing?

What is this?

Good luck!

Chapter 220 Glory be and answers

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:19:00 +0000

Verse 1

It may rain, it may be dirty slush on every street, windy and like hell in many ways but i feel a glimmer of hope that we soon can enjoy the slow demise of Winter.

To answer the question from Chapter 217 i can let you know that it was a Honey Stove that was just too cute to resist!

Chapter 219 Fun fun fun

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:57:00 +0000

Verse 1

So the Gods are laughing their heads off again. Spent most of yesterday evening assembling one the things we bought at IKEA and a couple of hours today fixing my computer.

The power-supply have been really noisy for a few days so i finally decided to replace it instead of it seizing up and possibly damaging something in the process. I took it out and had it with me to the store to be sure of getting a replacement that would work and left with a new one thinking just that.
All was going well until i realized that the new power-supply had no connector for my graphics card! So off to the store again to exchange it but finally i got it in place and so far it seems to be working alright.

N being very wise left me to smoulder and curse alone in the room we call The Workshop while i put everything together.
My supply of patience when it comes to the thing is very limited.

Chapter 218 Foolish perhaps but triumphant

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Verse 1

There are any number of things that you should be careful doing as a couple. Buying a pet together, re-decorate your house or apartment, taking your first real vacation and the ultimate test, going to IKEA.
N and me have been a couple for a while and been to IKEA a number of times but going there on a Saturday just as everyone received their salaries could have been a disaster.

Perhaps we can attribute it to experience or that i shot a couple of people with my iphone-shotgun on the way but we made it through without any injuries, except to our wallets that took a hit. We pray for its speedy recovery.

These are some of the things we came away with.

Hemnes Byrå

Hemnes Klädskåp

Norden klaffbord

Let me also just say that home-delivery is a beautiful thing!

Chapter 217 Question of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:48:00 +0000

Verse 1

Going back to Chapter 206 and 215 i want to show everyone this beautiful sculpture-like item i just got delivered and ask if anyone can say what is. Bonus point and a free beer next time we meet to the first person that get the name right.

What is this?

Chapter 216 Another one, yawn

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:32:00 +0000

Verse 1

What started as yet another day in paradise...no wait.. What started as yet another day in a cold wintry Stockholm ended with the company i work for being threatened with a lawsuit.

Throughout my career at a number of businesses i must have received at least 50 of these so far and they have never been taken any further than the threatening email.
They have all had a number of things in common except being wrong which i must emphasize, they have never gone anywhere and the sender uses CAPS a lot. The biggest common denominator i have noticed is that the sender has made some type of mistake and by using words like lawyer, lawsuit and compensation they expect the company to run to their rescue and humbly beg for forgiveness without being at fault.

No foul, no fine.

Scales of Justice in our favor

Chapter 215 Could this be heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:46:00 +0000

Verse 1

I like to buy stuff and just like many others i like to buy things like tools, gadgets, things that run on electricity, "things that might come in handy someday" and things that just catch my eye, like the anvil i got a couple of years ago.
To my eternal sorrow many of these items, especially those that are really cool can only be found online and often in the US. This a problem both as the freight is expensive and many companies won't ship to Sweden or any other country oddly enough. This never ceases to amaze me, why do they ignore so much buying potential and why can't they make an exception for me?

But there are of course stores where you can find things and today i got a catalog from one such. Here you can find such essentials as a muffler for your car, or child if you get one for your make and year that is. You can buy lawn-mowers, bicycles, tools by the hundreds, nuts and bolts, welding gear, toys, scents to use in your sauna and car-seats. You name it and they might just have it.

The name of this wonderful goldmine of bounties is Biltema Go there and rejoice if you are a kindred spirit!

Chapter 214 The Crusade goes on

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Verse 1

The very latest on the me against winter war.

I woke up to hear N tell me that the subway wasn't running but that i had to take the replacement-bus instead. Every one who has ever been forced to rely on those can tell you that it will always end in tears.
Today was no different, i got to the bus-stop to find a queue 50 meters long and 4 people deep - i immediately cut the line and took a place in the middle. No excuses, it's the law of the jungle in times like these.

20 minutes later the first bus came, and left without stopping as it of course was already full. I did get a seat on the next one 10 minutes later and eventually could transfer at a subway-station where the trains ran albeit somewhat irregularly.
I mustn't forget to mention that ten people had to get off the bus at one point to move a car that was blocking the road. I was all for ramming it but the driver said he wanted to keep his job. I think that deep down in his heart of hearts also wanted the same thing.

To make a bitterly cold and patience-trying day short i will just say that the trip home was very similar except that we didn't have to move a car.

Join the fight!

Chapter 213 Enough is enough

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:35:00 +0000

Verse 1

I will let this picture express my feelings and just let everybody know that it took us 30 minutes go one stop with the subway today, in the name of symmetry it also took us almost as long to go back.

Yes please! When does the plane leave?

Who do we complain to about this endless Winter?

Chapter 212 The things people get hung up about.

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:14:00 +0000

Verse 1

Something that might surprise some is that i with some regularity read this column that answers questions on manners and customs. I guess i get some strange satisfaction in seeing what people ask and seem genuinely concerned about.
Each time i check up on the latest questions there are perhaps five new ones and it never fails that i get stunned by the content of at least one. The things that they are worried or upset about and want Magdalena Ribbing who is the expert to help them with is truly amazing.
You would think that there are larger issues in life than how you fold your napkin or give a speech at a dinner. I will admit to some interest in etiquette but the level of importance given to these questions is disturbing sometimes.

Today i read this piece (in english) that dealt with when it was appropriate to lock your front door after the guest has left. The letter-writer felt unwelcome when the host locked the door right after he/she had left and would never do that.
But seriously, how can you even question something like this? I know that some hardly ever lock their doors but i think most do and i myself would probably react with surprise if the door was left unlocked.

Please be friendly and courteous but don't be a fanatic about it.

Chapter 211 Win some, lose more

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Verse 1

I put in some extra hours at work early in the week in order to leave a couple of hours early today. I can swear that i heard the gods laugh mockingly as i then immediately got to spend half an hour of that time waiting for the subway.
That was on my way home, i had already lost another 30 minutes going to work as well so i guess i should have seen it coming. Sadly enough i was still one of the lucky ones, the passengers on a train going the other way was recommended to find other ways of getting home. Those that didn't get of the train at that time was soon thereafter ordered off and the train left, standing on the platform was a couple of hundred cranky and tired ex-passengers.
A riot was not far off.

Heaven forbid that the companies responsible for running the trains and keeping the tracks in working order actually come to terms with the fact that we get snow and low temperatures in Sweden when its Winter.

The first subway started running in Sweden 1950 and i am willing to bet that we had Winters then too but 60 years later we are still unable to cope.

Nil desperandum they say but i do.

Chapter 210 Impressive but not right

noreply@blogger.com (Mats) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:08:00 +0000

Verse 1

We are still on the lookout for a sideboard or cabinet with sliding doors, something that is seemingly impossible to find.
Looking around i found this piece that is both big enough and not without appealing qualities.

Photo: Auktionskompaniet.com

I have to admit that if i had kitchen of the right size and style i would consider something like this. It has attitude and exhibits a certain panache. I guess it would be a real chore to carry and get into place though but it would look really good in an appropriate setting.

So as i haven't got the kitchen, the strength to carry it and it lacks sliding doors my search goes on. Those of you that enjoy those things and want standard doors can find the cabinet here.

As it stands now you can get it for a nice price too.