Photo of the Week - Grand Harbour

IMG_1829, originally uploaded by Tolby.

This is a shot from the Grand Harbour in Malta. The boat in the front is another traditional Maltese boat that they row around. The shot is taken from Vittoriosa (or Birgu) where the Knights of Malta survived their famous siege from the Turks in 1565. In the background is the city of Senglea.

Photo of the Week - Millesgården

Sculpture Park on Lidingö, originally uploaded by Tolby.

This photo is from a Sculpture Park on the island of Lidingö just outside Stockholm. Most of the sculptures there are from a guy called Carl Milles, Swedens most famous ever Sculptor who studied with Rodin and lived from 1875-1955. He also collected one of the most amazing collections of Greek and Roman sculpture which he almost completely destroyed when he had a bad mood one day - artists!

Photo of the Week - Maltese Boat

IMG_1876, originally uploaded by Tolby.

This is a traditional Maltese fishing boat, taken in the fishing village of Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsaschlock) in the south of the island. These boats can be seen all over the island and the good ones have these eyes one the front - perhaps originating from the days when Malta was a Phoenician island???

Photo of the Week - Clifton Houses

Clifton Houses, originally uploaded by Tolby.

A row of terraced houses on a hill in Clifton, a smart suburb of Bristol. The photo was taken from the site of SS Great Briton, one of the first steel ships that took alot of people to Australia, on a rainy February morning.

Photo of the Week - Boats in front of Gröna Lund

Boats in front of Gröna Lund, originally uploaded by Tolby.

As Ronald liked it - here is a picture of a couple of tourist boats cruising past Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm. Taken from Södermalm the boats were on their way back into service for the summer. Two of the towers are for rides in the amusement park, the one in the distance is the TV tower and the red one in the middle is in the Skansen zoo.

Photo of the Week - Åhus Eelhouse

Åhus Eelhouse, originally uploaded by Tolby.

I am going to start shoving a few of my photos here - just to show what I like. The first one is of an eel hut in Åhus, Skåne, Sweden. This little house would have been used as a base for eel fishing, and the eel is the local speciality!

Books....

Read a few good books lately I can recommend:

1. Freakonomics, in the book charts and pretty american but nonetheless a pretty interesting and easy read. Some interesting angles on how abortion laws are behind the big crime drop in New York, why drug dealers live with their Mums, how to prove Sumo wrestling is corrupt, and how peoples names 'evolve'. Saw this on Hallonman's list by guess he has not had time to read
it!

2. Death in the Afternoon. Not read Hemmingway for a long time, but his style is just so pleasant to read. There really was some great American literature around some 30 to 80 years ago. A bit shocking if you have principles against Bull Fighting, but if you can get past that it sucks you in.

3. Critical Mass by Philip Ball. Great book on complexity, I have read it twice. You have to work at it in the beginning but for anyone with a scientific bent the rewards are there. Got me hooked on this subject!

4. Adam Smith biography by James Buchan. Got this in the mail and I still don't know who from. Moderately interesting, but who sent it to me? And why?

PS England just scraped past Macedonia - phew.

Stingray Weekend

Just enjoyed a great weekend with Stingray showing him around the Stockholm summer sights. Once again no revealing photos I'm afraid - but he did suffer from sensory overload in a Stureplan nightclub...

Also enjoyed some kajaking in the archipelago (Vaxholm), some Kub (Swedish 'bits of wood' game, see photo below), a BBQ by the Mälaren, a 'Femkamp' (Pentathlon, kind of) in Gröna Lund and more. We visited the Paul McArthy exhibition in Moderna Museet too, but that was more endurance than enjoyment (not to be recommended).

Andrea is back

Andrea is visiting on her first trip to Stockholm, she is a bit stunned by what all the girls are wearing and how much they seem to have 'on show'. I then realised I must have gotten used to it !

Here are some more photos again, just to keep the pressure on Ronald.

Signs...

OK, I have been away a while, various trips to the UK, Ireland and Budapest - but now I am back and reconciled to the fact that I cannot think of anything interesting to write about...

So why should I even try. Just look at the facts Toby - you wear glasses, you studied Physics and Accountancy, you've always been well behaved, your favourite colour is blue... why should I have anything interesting to write about.

So instead why don't I live up to that image and show you a few more photos of mine from various places. Photos of some interesting signs !

In fact, why don't I go the whole way and link you up to my flickr site. Let's have a go and see if I can pull that up on the right like everyone else seems able to ! Give Ronald some competition !