10 Commandments of being a Pick Up Artist

After taking the blue pill and heading down the rabbit hole of the pick up artist industry, I learned a lot of the industry teachings is about instilling common sense and confidence in men.

This is third part to my series about the Stockholm Sweden Day Game Workshop I attended under the dating coach Jeremy Soul and under the Love Systems Corporation.
Part I: Umm, you wanna be a Pick Up Artist?
Part II: Playing THE Game by Challenging Darwin’s Game

On a side note, Love Systems is the company that evolved from Mystery Method, as made famous by Neil Strauss’ book, The Game. Love Systems is today riding high on crack because of its ability of taking the pick up artist industry (PUA) and turning it into a scientific method.

The training
Four hours in the classroom and four hours in the field. For those counting beans, the whole workshop is $1495 for the day. Yes, US Dollars. C’mom boys, give me your Benjamins and i will teach you the way into a woman’s universe. While it is pricey for a cheap bastard like me, I highly recommend it if your love life is in a rut and needs to be kicked started again.

And what did we learn? I created my list that is inspired by Jeremy Soul. ALL these commandments are important for even the Swedish man to find a girl; after all, we do spend plenty of time complaining that Swedish men are bad at picking up Swedish girls.

Sapphire’s 10 Commandments of Meeting Women:

  1. 1. Accept Rejection -  It happens to all of us: we are rejected by some pretty guy or girl.  Don’t be disheartened; throw out the negative thoughts and move on.  And while you may have sulked and cried about it in the past, don’t do that now.  It’s wasted tears and energy.
  2. 2. Don’t Expect to Get Every Girl – Going hand in hand with Commandment 1, not every girl is attracted to you and vice versa.  Sometimes you will see a beautiful girl and then start talking to her and realize, “blaggg, this one is emotionally vacant for me.”  That’s cool, just go talk to another girl.
  3. 3. Be Confident – Working through the rejection part is the first step of being confident.  Love your work, your hobbies, your friends, your family and you will be confident. Exuding confidence is akin to pheromones; women go crazy when they see men who are sure of themselves.
  4. 4. Have a Personality -  Have you spoke to someone who had the personality of a cardboard box?  It was so painful that you wanted to recycle them or crumple them up right away.  Be creative and excited about your life.  If you don’t know how to have fun with your life, why should any girl care about you?  And be sure to demonstrate that you have a personality, ie. “I love running everyday” or “Hiking on the glaciers was the best sport I ever did” Whatever it is, show the girl that you have a personality.
  5. 5. Don’t Be Drunk – Biggest turnoff ever. EVER.  Drunk guys do not produce good pick up lines.
  6. 6. Have a Good Wingman - Wingmen are the guys that you go with when meeting women, especially in the evening.  Having a wingman will allow you to have a higher status and meet girls in groups.  And a good wingman is a guy who can back you up, know when to step down, entertain the other girls, and overall, make you look good.
  7. 7. Try, Try, Try Again – Don’t give on picking up women, it is tantamount to romantic suicide.  Be confident that you have the ability to speak to women and that you are decent guy just trying to make his way.
  8. 8. Travel -  Traveling away from your comfort zone will force you to interact and meet new people.  You will also have fun stories to share and broaden your knowledge of the word.
  9. 9. Poor Posture will Kill You, Literally – Stop slouching and stand up straight.  Remember when your mom bugged you to not hunch over?  Keep you back straight, shoulders back, and stomach tucked in (not sucked in).  Poor body language sends a subconscious message that you have low self esteem.  If you are approaching Swedish girls especially, they love confident looking men.  A slouchy guy who doesn’t stand properly is not that.
  10. 10. Pick Up Lines Must Not Be Lame – The “Hey baby, how’s it going?” line is so lame is makes me laugh and cry every time I hear it used.  Or the “What’s your name sweetheart?  Can I get your number?” Nooo, why the fuck should I give you my number, I have no idea who you are creepy bastard.
February 11, 2010 | 8 Comments »

Annoying Poker ads on Swedish TV

I just can’t take it anymore. Swedish television ads tend to repeat themselves 4-5 times over the course of a tv show. Then you add gambling ads into the mix and it becomes really annoying. Like so fucking annoying I want to through a shoe at the television (though I won’t since the TV does not belong to me).

In a country where the government controls how you drink because of a dictatorial alcohol monopoly system, it’s fun to see that all bets are off when it comes to advertising online poker, bingo, lotto, and other gambling products on the TV. Because you know, watching gaming ads is a good thing for your mental health. Play with Partypoker.se and become a top winner. Or with Betsson 24 or even Unibet or Full Tilt or Mr. Green. Or to the stupid bingo ads which are so many I can’t remember anymore. I watch at least 5-10 poker commercials every night and frankly they so horrible because as a non-better, I don’t want to know how I can waste my money on a system that’s built against winning money.

Honestly, please stop with those playing online poker or finding bingo friends online, it’s not just totally annoying but stupid too. Now I understand that some of the these appear on television channels controlled outside of Sweden (how did you think they got away with showing alcohol commercials, the Swedish government can’t touch them), but really, there is a limit. There is a rational limit to how many gambling ads I have to suffer through on television.

I’ll put the money on black that we will continue to see commercials for online poker in Sweden until there is a gambling crisis.

February 3, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Swedish Christmas Travels

On the 23rd morning, Porbjorn and I, and the rest of Sweden began our journey for Christmas break. This year, we went to Sälen, a ski town in central Sweden, close to the Norwegian border.

To get there, we had to take a bus. Luckily a direct bus. Because coming back to Stockholm we would be blessed by taking the car, bus, train, another train, and the tunnelbanan.

At 8.20 in the morning we arrived, bright, happy and stressed at Stockholms CityTerminaln, the city bus station. Being Swedish, and therefore being super organized, there is a lovely Arrivals and Departures board with gate information and times. Just like the airport. We head to the second floor where were leaving out of Gate 19.

Alas, a huge crowd overwhelmed the area between gates 16-19. In fact, we couldn’t even reach gate 19 because someone put up a barrier and people were standing in a moshed queue. Now, normally a queue in Sweden is a highly organized and semi high tech process. You go to the queue machine, take a number, and wait until the number is called on the bulletin board.

Today, being Christmas, was different. There was no organized queue. There was no information. It was 300 people standing in a mosh with two idiot ticket checkers. To be efficient, these two ticket agents were clearing four buses departing within 15 minutes of each other. Excellent, just what I need at 8.30 in the morning for a bus that leaves at 8.45.

Massive. Queue. FAIL.

We eventually pushed our way, with bags in tow, to the front of the crowd. The one of two brilliant ticket agents asked seven times (maybe I exaggerate, ten times), “Who’s going to Salen?” “We are!” screamed a dozen of us. Then two people get through. The other 300 people are still waiting to get through the line too. Then our idiot savant screams again, “Who’s going to Salen?” This time just ten of us say it. And it continues until the last three.

Now tickets checked, time to get on the bus. Nope, we had to push our way through another line where two buses were departing from gate 19. Morons at Flybussarna.

Eventually we fight our way to the right bus, get our luggage on, and get on the bus. Being of course almost full and every single ticket holder taking their own seat, it split couples and families. Porbjorn asked one guy if he would mind switching seats so that we could sit together.

“No,” he said.

Ahhh, the friendly asshat during the Christmas season. And that Swedish organization is just a myth during busy times.

January 5, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Group Sex and Swedish Women

I was eating a delicious lamb roast when we got into the discussion of Swedish women.  Because of course Swedish girls are like little lambs:  soft, sweet, and delicate.

There were a couple friends who happened to be single males, and well, sans blond Swedish girls.  Of course, one single Asian girl (on her quest to find a Swedish man in Sweden) had to ask the single boys why they were not sambos yet.  The answer:  Swedish women are formal in nature and too feminist.  The guys said there was no spark.  No silly fun  with the women they dated.  They missed feeling the little bubbles of energy between a couple.  And some girls were so independent the men felt emasculated.

But a third guy, a potty mouthed hilarious Indian, chimed in that Swedish women really want a manly man.   The whole ultra feminist attitude is just a song and dance cover that they enjoy the delicateness of being a girl and want to be taken care of.  His solution?  Hold your ground and don’t become like the Swedish man just because you are dating a Swedish girl.  Be the man, continue your cultural ways, and love her to bits.

Of course this brings me to the title of the post, group sex.   Because I bet that’s why you’re reading this post.  First, a bit about funny Swedish laws.  A Swedish school teacher was convicted of buying sexual services (remember selling prostitution is legal, buying is not) but he cannot be fired from his job.  He also seems to be a mastermind organizing group sex between professionals and girls, where some girls were paid.  Of course, to him, no biggies.

And since “criminality outside of the workplace usually isn’t sufficient cause for firing,” says  Sofie Rehnström (legal expert with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO)), group sex is an all go even if you pay for it.   Hey, we’re in Sweden, violating the law is like getting a spanking.  Except spanking is illegal.

Going back to our dinner discussion, we learned that group sex at some of the Swedish universities exist.  As recently as 2004 at least.  How it works you ask?  There’s a sign up sheet on the bulletin board with a date and time (location is the same) and you just sign up.  And then show up and have fun.   I’m not sure where this puts sexual nature on the map in Sweden, but surely somewhere.

While some Swedish students are pursuing group sex in college, others are trying to figure out how to effectively date a Swedish girl.  Then they figure the group sex thing is easier then courting the Swedish bombshells.

It’s kinda like getting stuck in the revolving door.

December 17, 2009 | 7 Comments »

An Indian American in Sweden or an American Indian in Sweden?

I haven’t written much about my ethnicity on the blog as really, I have not felt the need to do so. Recently however, I’ve been asked whether I consider myself American first or Indian first. It’s a very hard question because today I don’t know how to answer it.

A little bit about myself. I was raised in the United States, specifically four states that differ in everything from culture to dialect differences to racial compositions. Even in the US, I was never from one state, I was mixture of a lot, like different paints on the palette being thrown on a white canvas.

Ethnically however, I am Indian, and mixture there as well. While most people think India is one country with one religion, one language, one people, that is far from the truth. India is well over 1.2 billion people comprising 23 recognized government languages, 1000 dialects, five major religions (Hinduism, Buddism, Islam, Jainism, Christianity, and Judaism), countless smaller religions, 28 states, 7 union territories, and millions of immigrants. While love brought my parents together, it was differences that made my life a schism. My parents come from different religious background (Hindu and Jain), languages (Marathi and Gujarathi), states (Maharashtra and Gujurat), food (non veg and veg), and even caste.

You can see now that identifying with any one community or state or country made no sense to me. How could I say that I am Gujarati which would alienate my Maharastrian culture and American culture? OR say that I’m Californian when I was raised all over the eastern seaboard of the US?

And now, I live in Sweden. Of course in no way do I consider myself Swedish, possibly when I fully learn the language I can confuse people even more.  Here, many people see me as an American expat working here.  Some people see me as an immigrant, but that’s people who just look at the color of my skin and presume I came here in a refugee exodus.  While others, like friends, call me Indian one day and American another day, because they too don’t see any one majority of culture in me (or just confused!).

Where do I stand today? I’m both. If you ask, I’ll tell you that I am American; it’s been my home for my entire life, it is the place that has taught everything about values, standing up for what’s right, working hard, and being good to others.   India is my identity too; I wear Indian clothes, see my cousins and grandparents every year in India, eat Indian food, celebrate Indian holidays, speak to my people. My original passport is in Hindi and my birth certificate is on a fade half green sheet of paper in Marathi.

Call me the Indian – American lost in Stockholm.

December 3, 2009 | 4 Comments »

The Deal with Black Friday

If Thanksgiving in America wasn’t American enough, there is Black Friday: the holiest shopping day of the year.

Not to be confused with the stock crash and somber days of Black Monday, basically when the financial world came to a halt, Black Friday marks the first day of the Christmas shopping. And why black? In terms of finances, most companies say they are in the ‘red’ (i.e. holding debt, negative profits), or in the ‘black’ (i.e. making profits).

Since the majority of a retailer’s sales occurs during the Christmas season, most see their balance sheet go from red to black.

After checking up on Wikipedia, the first time Black Friday was used in context of Thanksgiving was in 1966 in Philadelphia:

JANUARY 1966 — “Black Friday” is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. “Black Friday” officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing. [source]

Black Friday as a coined term was used again in 1975 and became more common in the 1980s when retailers themselves used it as a day of blessing to bring in good sales through the Christmas Season.

And well today Black Friday is the best and craziest shopping day of the year. Usually queues begin at 1 or 2 am as stores open for doorbuster events from 4-6AM. Everyone from Best Buy to Target to The Body Shop are in on it.

How to Plan for War on Black Friday

Basically, Black Friday is the bring out the guns and warpaint day. If you can’t handle crowds, chaos, don’t shop on this day.

First you need to do a reconnaissance mission, ie. organized planning and scouting of the target location. Then you need to decide who goes to what store, where are the meetup points in the city, etc.

Last year we (6 swedes, 5 americans) headed off the Gilroy Premium Outlets… at 11.30pm Thanksgiving Night. Yes, we battled war with the truest of the insane shoppers. I mean, it took 30min to get off the highway and to the mall area. Lines started at midnight for shops that were opening at 3am.

After finishing shopping at 5AM, we ate at Dennys, headed back home at 7AM. My two friends and I just slept in the car for two hours (in front of the house). At 9AM, we drove one hour north to San Francisco to battle the crowds at the largest underground retailer, Jeremy’s.

Then in the afternoon, I switched teams, and joined my friend Tony to finish up. Torbjörn and his friends napped until noon then battled the electronic superstores.

We reconvened at 7PM for dinner at Chevy’s Mexican restaurant.

Total hours of pure shopping/standing in lines: 10 hours
Nap times/breaks: 3 hours
Driving: 5 hours

Welcome to Black Friday, America’s Holiest day.

November 27, 2009 | 5 Comments »

The Dark Side of Thanksgiving – The All American Holiday

Today is Thanksgiving, an American holiday. While we have been learning about Swedish Christmas holidays, let’s take a step back to turkey day. As a Swede or any other national for that matter, you may be wondering what is the history of Thanksgiving. Besides being the most awesome holiday of the year, where people can gorge on sweet potatoes and turkey, Thanksgiving is America’s biggest family holiday.

How Did the Pilgrims and Indians celebrate the First Thanksgiving?

  • It is celebrated in Canada (unrelated, it’s a pure harvest holiday- thanks to Jen for pointing this out), Grenada (completely unrelated), and the Netherlands (when the Pilgrims passed through Leiden on the way to the New World).
  • It was not until 1941 that Thanksgiving became a federal holiday (ie. red day)
  • The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the colonists who settled in Berkeley, Virginia (right outside Jamestown). Few years later, most were killed and remaining retreated back to the secured areas of Jamestown.
  • The official first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims and Native Americans, the Wampanoag Indians, at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in 1621.
  • The pilgrims did not eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie or pecan pie. What a bummer!
  • Venison and fowl were on the menu as foods for the first Thanksgiving. Yum yum.
  • Thanksgiving was celebrated in Dec 1777 according to documents from the Continental Congress. George Washington and John Adams continued the tradition, naming an official day for Thanksgiving.
  • Thomas Jefferson did not hold Thanksgiving.
  • But Lincoln did during the Civil War and it was after 1861 that Thanksgiving became a yearly celebration.
  • The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started i 1924 by Macy’s employees.  They walked from 145Street in Harlem to 34th street in downtown Manhattan to the flagship Macy’s store. You can watch the archive of the parade at Earthwatch.  (this is my favorite part of the day, watching the Snoopy and Kermit floats and singers and dancers :) )
  • By 1933 more than 1 million people lined the Thanksgiving Day Parade route.  This year, more than 3 million spectators.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Let’s turn this upside down now…

But, Thanksgiving is not all it’s let out to be. The history behind this holiday is shrouded in controversy, propaganda and myths. Howard Zinn, one of America’s most famous historians and the author of A People’s History of the United States, writes that Thanksgiving is not all peachy peachy. It was during the early 1600s that the Native Americans and the Pilgrims were at constant war with each other; meaning it was bloodshed not brotherhood that brought these communities together.

Around 1621 the Pilgrims had another massive crop failure and it was thanks to this that the local Indians shared their dinner with the Pilgrims. Obviously, it is not the song and dance most stories say. Remember, American history with the Indians is fraught with terror, genocide, war, and deceptive practices with regards to treaties.

Pumpkin Bread

This year when you sit down at the table for Thanksgiving and everyone is giving thanks, think about how this holiday started. And think how many lives were lost in vanity.

References:
Howard Zinn’s Interview with Tavis Smily, National Public Radio, Link
Audio Text, here.

Scott Berkun, Debunking Thanksgiving Myth. Link.

November 26, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Swedish Christmas Holidaying, Too Many but oh so Fun!

As a non Swede, I’m not quite sure what’s the deal with all the Christian holidays in a very pagan country. I just feel it is another reason to drink, eat, and drink again. And be really crazy. So I put together a little list of all the dates you should know during the Christmas season, the Swedish way.

Advent
Until today, I had no idea what Advent is but it is the official Christian Christmas holiday season. Advent starts on the 4th Sunday before Christmas, so this year it’s on November 28th. Get your swedish christmas decorations up folks and get the little Advent calendar. You know that calendar, the awesome little booklike thing with push through boxes in which chocolates hides.

If you would like to see an advent ceremony in Stockholm head to Skansen or Stadshuset. All other cities in Sweden will have ceremonies in the local kyrkan or stadshuset.

St. Lucia – December 13th
Early in the morning the Lucia parade (lussetåg) headed by Lucia, Queen of Light, would go around the house. The Queen, usually the youngest daughter in the family, wears a crown of candles (yes totally wild!) and a white dress with a red sash. Following her are her maids (tärnor), star boys (stjärngossar), and santa claus Tomte. And for yummies, the procession walkers carry saffron buns (lussekatter) and spicy gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor).

December 22nd or so…
Put up that Christmas tree, julgran. I’m sacrilegious and put my tree up at Thanksgiving.  Swedes put the tree up a couple days before christmas.

Christmas Eve (Julafton) – December 24th
If you love Donald Duck and Disney, Christmas Eve in Sweden is THE most awesome holiday ever. Donald’s always been my favorite disney character (seriously, screw Mickey) and in Sweden he hosts the the Christmas Special. At 3PM. Every year. Without fail. Look for Donald’s Swedish name, Kalle Anka, and his special called Kalle Ankas Jul.

Once you’ve gotten over the splendid short clips from Bambi, Pinocchio, Cinderella, and more, it’s time to eat. Swedish Christmas food is both delicious and slightly strange at the same time. You will drink lots of glogg, pudding, lax, potatis, and more and more. Till you are stuffed.

After food, jultomte visits! If you’re good, lots of Christmas presents will come you way.

… by the way, December 24th is not a red day in Sweden. The 25th of course is a red day.

Christmas Day (Juldagen)– December 25th
After all the drinking and eating, it’s time to haul your ass to church.  Seriously, yes get up! Because after church, you will drink and eat all day.

Twelfth Night (Trettondagsafton) – January 5th
Twelfth Nights marks the official end of Christmas, which is on the 12th day. Pretty original and how the song 12 days of Christmas came to be. Most importantly, this is the day the Magi, aka the Wise Men, visited Jesus Christ and is called Epiphany Eve.

As trettondagsafton is the end of Christmas, many people take down their decorations. However with Knutdag, Swedes take down their decorations on the 13th. You know, just to be really different.

January 6th, is a red day, so yes another awesome holiday!

Knutdag – January 13th
Christmas ends on Knut’s dag. The tree is taken down, or plundered by the children (julgransplundring)

November 23, 2009 | 7 Comments »

It’s Christmastime! But uhhh…what Swedish Christmas Decorations to Put Up?

After my massive bashing on Swedish fashion, I figured I would at least credit Sweden with awesome decoration for Christmas.  I mean, I’ll still be hater on fashion here.

It’s definitely Christmastime in Stockholm.  The lights on Hornsgatan are lit up.  Ahleans has the pretty Christmas lights.  And even the Pressbyrans and 7-Elevens have that Christmas smell of Lussekatter.  Yummmy ! But for us foreigners, what is a Swedish Christmas and what do eat, do, and decorate during this six weeks of food eating?

No fear, Sapphire’s here! :P  At least to help with decorating your apartment to look like a proper Swedish Christmas one.

Tomten – The Santa Claus

The tomte is Santa Clause in Swedish.  Sweden has adorable Santas as they are not really full sized old men with beards and hats kind-of dolls.  They are little round balls with white fuzz as a beard and a red hat, basically an abstract version of Santa.  Be sure to get a couple tomtar and keep one near a window or on the counter.
Tomten

A very tall tomte. I think his hat was two feet tall!
Tomten - Swedish Santa

Varmljus – Candles

Plenty of candles are needed during the cold, dark Swedish winter.  Little tealights are classic and can be safely placed almost anywhere in the house.
This photo below is for when you put up the countdown from Advent to Christmas. Every Sunday until Christmas, you light a candle.
Advent Candles

Julstjärna – Swedish Stars

It’s quite possibly the most Swedish thing you could do: putting up white Swedish Christmas stars at the window.  Watch all the neighbors near you, in three weeks, stars everywhere.  Alas, at least now, people are getting more creative with different colors.
Christmas Stars

Änglar – Swedish Angels

Maybe not super Swedish per se, but angels are needed in all good Christmas decorations. I guess since the snowman is not as popular, angels will do.

If you want to support a great cause and buy Swedish goodies, I highly recommend Sally Ann – The Salvation Army store.  It’s a tiny store on Hornsgatan 94 in Sodermalm and all the products are fair trade.  The Swedish Angels below as well as the candles from above are from there.  I’m going to buy the rest of xmas decor from there!
Swedish Angels
and the most awesome of all…

Julbocken – Swedish Goat (aka the Gävlebocken)

The randomest of all, the julbock is the goat from Gävle, a city three hours north of Stockholm.  In the city square, a 42 feet tall, 23 feet wide, 3 tonnes straw goat is erected. Stig Gavlén, a marketing man, invented the goat in 1966. At that time it only cost 10,000kr to build.  Today it costs 100,000kr and for the last twenty five years, its been burned down.  Yea, a three tonnes beast burned on New Year’s Eve at midnight, all good fun.

Oh, did a little more research about the Yule Goat and its history goes back to pagan times of the Norse gods. Thor, one of the major gods, rode in the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Goats were very valued then. Up until the 19th century in Scandinavia, it was julbocken that distributed christmas presents, not santa claus.

Julbocken - Gavle Goat

Since most us cannot put up a 40 foot tall goat in our apartments, we have little straw goats instead.  Just don’t place them near the candles.

November 20, 2009 | 10 Comments »

From Swedish Fish to Swedish Massages

When I write for Lost in Stockholm, I have tons of ideas in my head that eventually gets vaporized by my lack of effectively putting these thoughts into sentences. Just now, I was thinking ‘well, what the hell do I write about? Do people care about my daily bits or do they want to hear about polar bears?’ I gots no clue.

But, I wonder about lots of things in Sweden and outside that have Swedish names. Like Nordstrom, or Swedish fish, or even the Swedish bikini team. I decided to head online (which is anyway where I reside 70% of the time) to research funny things that are called ’swedish.’

Swedish Fish – Yea, those little red plastic tasting fishies that come in a yellow bag. You find them at the counters in Walgreens, CVS, and little convenience stores across America. Swedish fish was founded in 1958 by the Swedish candy company Maleco and then distributed by the Cadbury company. The real swedish version of them are called pastellfiskar (pastel fish) and are less sweet, more fruit flavored, and have Malaco (instead of Swedish) stamped on them.

Swedish Massage – By far the most intriguing of all because Swedes have no idea what this kind of massage. In Sweden, you just call it classic massage. It’s named after Per Henrik Ling, a medical gymnastic doctor of the 19th century, who created five basic, long strokes to massage the body. Indeed, the Swedish massage has something to do with Sweden.

Swedish Bikini Team – Well, to burst your bubble, they are not swedish at all, but American girls who posed for Milwaukee Brew ads in the early 1990s. However, you can find Swedish girls in bikinis, just in Sweden.

Stockholm Syndrome – A psychological response when some hostages/kidnapes feel association and emotional connection with their predator. Stockholm Syndrome got the name from the 1973 bank robbery where the hostages eventually protected their captors. Yes, extremely bizarre but a serious problem in hostage situations.

Swedish Meatballs – Okay we do not eat meatballs everyday. At least I don’t, for fear of turning into a round meatball myself. Back in the day, meatballs were a luxury item (how many people could afford meat in the 1800s) that was lavished by the upper classes. Today, you can buy flash frozen meatballs (they taste terrible!) with sugar laden ligonberry jam and call it Swedish meatballs. Oh the irony! Since Christmas is around the corner, I’ll post some popular swedish recipes here.

Thanks to ‘what the what’ about this one:
The Swedish Chef – A classic Swedish icon part of the Muppet Show, he arrived in the 1970s on the scene as the chef. Speaking gibberish, the awesome Bork Bork Bork!, his chefspeak is part of hacker language today. No one really knows if The Swedish Chef is based on a real person, but it could Julia Child or Friedman Paul Erhardt. Whatever it is this insanely silly chef knows how to botch up just about any dish out there. Like chocolate mousse made with a moose. OR frog soup, where he tried to stick Kermit the frog into the soup bowl. If you don’t know The Swedish Chef, then you better start watching now.

and finally…
Nordstrom – That awesome department store is in fact a Swedish owned company. Nordstrom started in 1901 by Johan Nordstrom. It was a shoe store called Wallin and Nordstrom. And go figure, today it’s a multi billion dollar luxury department store in the United States. The Swedes are everywhere!

There are some of my random thoughts of the day. =)

November 14, 2009 | 16 Comments »
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