Scandinavia-related bits: past, present, and future
As of last week we have finished watching Anno 1790, a Swedish tv series recommended (and lovingly ripped off for us from Colorado Public Television) by sealwhiskers. It is most excellent. It's set in Stockholm, in some year which I'll let you guess; main protagonist is an ex-army surgeon now working for the police commissioner, so he's basically inventing the science of forensic medicine. Sweden at this time is a hotbed of seething political, social, and religious movements all at cross-purposes with each other, so there's lots of plotting going on. (Not to mention that the king, Gustav III, who had been a fairly enlightened despot, is now turning paranoid what with all these revolutionary ideas leaking over from France.) So there's lots of larger issues going on in the series besides the hero's love life and his lackey's alcoholism, is what I'm saying. As a costume drama: the late 18th century is not my period of expertise, but the clothing sure looks authentic (the sets look a little cramped, but hey, tv series). The ten-episode season ends with a definite promise of going on for more; I do hope it lasts long enough to get us to 1793 :-) Recommended.
More recently, I have just discovered Scandinavia and the World (thanks to teenybuffalo), and have been reading it almost nonstop since. It's a webcomic whose characters are personifications of countries (core characters are the Nordic five, obviously, but many many more), and whose themes include history and culture, along with sex, bromance, and general roommate comedy. (They aren't always explicitly roommates, but you know, that kind of genre.) The art is interesting: chibi-esque for most strips with joke/dialogue, but occasional standalone panels in a much more realistic style. And like I said, history/culture content. Recommended. Added: I should probably say, Not always safe for work.
We were kicking around ideas for where to go for vacation this coming October, and (possibly influenced by "Anno 1790" above) were considering Sweden. Now we're thinking maybe Sweden is not at its best in October (Söderberg's short story Duggregnet made a big impression on me in my formative years), and besides, if one's going to be thrown off one's diurnal rhythms by jet lag, why not visit in summer or winter, when the diurnal cues are going to be haywire anyway? So maybe next summer instead.
More recently, I have just discovered Scandinavia and the World (thanks to teenybuffalo), and have been reading it almost nonstop since. It's a webcomic whose characters are personifications of countries (core characters are the Nordic five, obviously, but many many more), and whose themes include history and culture, along with sex, bromance, and general roommate comedy. (They aren't always explicitly roommates, but you know, that kind of genre.) The art is interesting: chibi-esque for most strips with joke/dialogue, but occasional standalone panels in a much more realistic style. And like I said, history/culture content. Recommended. Added: I should probably say, Not always safe for work.
We were kicking around ideas for where to go for vacation this coming October, and (possibly influenced by "Anno 1790" above) were considering Sweden. Now we're thinking maybe Sweden is not at its best in October (Söderberg's short story Duggregnet made a big impression on me in my formative years), and besides, if one's going to be thrown off one's diurnal rhythms by jet lag, why not visit in summer or winter, when the diurnal cues are going to be haywire anyway? So maybe next summer instead.