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Yet another case of the scandinavian giggles:

I came across this video through a friend of mine this weekend and it just made me piss my pants laughing. 

If you're thinking "this guy looks familiar", it's possible that you've seen him before on another Norwegian comedy video I've shared by the group "Raske Menn", in which the very talented Calle Hellevang-Larsen (the blond guy in the video) is a member.

Enjoy !

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When my beloved grandpa died on the day of his and my grandma's 52nd anniversary, I thought to myself "Men will do anything to get away from an anniversary!"

Sarah

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..and that's his girlfriend talking..

Him: I missed you

Her: How drunk are you ?

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In and around Stockholm: This is Rinkeby

Over the last few days Stockholm has had its share of international news coverage - mainly because of the riots - and areas like Husby and Rinkeby, suburbs with an already battered reputation, took center-stage in this news coverage that showed them under a very unflattering light.

Having lived in Rinkeby for a while now, I figured I'd give a glimpse of what this part of town is really like, so I went out this morning, took a walk around town and snapped some quick pictures.

Every once in a while it's important to challenge preconceived ideas, and hopefully today you'll reconsider the idea that Rinkeby (or any other "poor" or "immigrant-rich" Stockholm suburb for that matter) is a scary place to live.

Don't let the exaggerated media reports fool you, in spite of last week's sad events, life here is still good.

Update: My friend Egle dropped by that day and took some stunning pictures. Make sure to check them out

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The definite "Start your day with a smile" song

I bet that by the end of this song you'll have a big stupid smile on your face, that is if you haven't already started singing along.

Cheers !

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"Story telling night: Eroticism" this Tuesday at Metro Al Madina

Beirut's Metro Al Madina has been hosting a monthly recurring event called "Story Telling Night". For this month's installment, they have chosen Eroticism as the theme of the night and will feature short stories by Lebanese writers and bloggers.

When the organizers approached me for possibly sharing one of my short stories, I thought the idea of the event was so refreshing I couldn't resist saying yes, despite the fact that I wouldn't be able to read the story myself seeing as I'm out of the country.

Thankfully I was lucky enough to find a surrigate reader who will do more than a great job at conveying the emotional and sensual intricacies of the story I wrote for this event.

All this to say that if you happen to be in Lebanon this week, make sure to head down to Metro on Tuesday night for what I'm sure will be a fun night of literature and erotic-themed stories.

Cheers !

[survivalfirst]

The sign

As you look outside your window something looks different.. Through a spot of melted snow you can see the road’s asphalt that’s been in hiding for an eternity now, and across the street right beside some rocks, you can almost make out a patch of grass.

In the silhouettes of the people passing by, faces can once again be seen through women’s now shrunken wool scarves and men’s no longer fully closed hooded jackets, and that’s all the confirmation you need. 

The trees are still bare, but it’s too late to convince you otherwise. You put away your winter clothes and put on a light sweater. As you put your jacket on and prepare to step outside your winter gloves call out to you in a last bid to hold on to their job. You check the weather forecast for one last confirmation that you weren’t mistaken in seeing all the signs of spring coming: Yup, it looks like you won’t be needing gloves after all, the weather is no longer cold, just a refreshing zero degrees. Spring is here !

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And I thought only women used that line..

Her: We're only speaking Swedish today

Him: You mean for the entire date ? I'm not sure that's going to work..

Her: Well, that's the only way your Swedish is going to get better: You're going to have to seduce me in Swedish. And no you can't argue your way out of this one

Him: Alright, but I'm warning you, if by the end of the date I have a headache I totally have the right to turn down sex

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You want to fix public schools ? Get a working public health care system ? Improve public transportation ? How about we make a law that every elected politician's kids HAVE to go to public schools, that their families can ONLY get the government sponsored health care coverage, and make them ride the BUS to work every day ? Maybe then they'll feel involved enough to make some changes !

Just might work.. or maybe we'd end up with sky high prices for everything, since unlike the rest of us they could still afford it..

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I told you those Swedes are tricky..

Steve Vai came to perform in Stockholm a few weeks ago and well, we managed to embarrass him a little..

For those who haven't had a chance to watch him live (or haven't heard of the virtuoso guitarist before reading this post), Steve Vai's show involves a lot of active interaction with the audience. So towards the end of his set, Vai decided he was going to play a game with the audience: He was going to play a song so new, he hadn't written it yet. In fact, he was going to pick members of the audience at random, and let them write the song the band would then have to play.

So Steve set out to pick two guys and two girls from the audience and let them onto the stage. And there they stood, side by side, all four of them, introducing themselves at Vai's request. First guy introduces himself, passes on the microphone, second guy says his name, perfect, first girl introduces herself.. wait a minute.. that's a guy's name.. and a guy's voice. That girl wasn't a girl at all! In fact [she] wasn't dressed in a particularly feminine way either. Nope, after close inspection, that's just a regular Swedish dude with long blond hair and the signature Swedish no-facial-hair face.

I told you those Swedes are tricky..

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Honey I love it when you get all hot and bothered and talk dirty to me.. but you think maybe you could do it in a language that wouldn't require me to use a dictionary to understand ?

Multilingual couples are the worst..

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I got my driver's license one third of my age ago.

Geez saying it like that makes me sound old..

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In and around Faqra

While I was in Lebanon, and on our way to celebrate new year's eve in Faraya, we stopped by for a little sightseeing at the ruins of Faqra, and the natural stone bridge (carved by water through erosion). I hear that when the weather gets better, the stone bridge is a prime venue for rock climbers. Now that, I'll have to check out soon !

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In and around Stockholm:

This sign is perhaps one of the first things you see while you wait for your luggage at Stockholm's Arlanda airport. I must say it is not particularly comforting, and quite surprising considering how safe the city is

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There's irresponsible, and then there's.. this

Him: Well there you have it, we broke up

His Friend: What ? What happened ?

Him: Well.. I'm away for the holidays right ? And she figures she'd send me a naughty video as a christmas present

His Friend: Uhuh..

Him: I stopped it halfway through, couldn't watch anymore ! I was so angry.. !

His Friend: Wait wait wait hold up.. what did she do ? Was it something nasty ? Don't tell me she invited another dude into it..

Him: No ! Worse ! She's filming herself taking a shower while taking off her bikini.. five minutes into it she still hadn't turned off the water for a second. I can't be with anyone that environmentally irresponsible..

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Impromptu concert at Istanbul airport

I had a three and a half hour layover at Istanbul Ataturk airport on my way back to Lebanon, and since I didn't feel like shopping (buying a last-minute ticket at a last-minute price will do that to you), I sat at some random gate with music in my ears and a book in my hands thinking that would be the way I'll be spending the rest of my evening until my gate is announced.

Then a familiar sound interrupts my reading: Somewhere behind me, a Oud was playing. I turn around, and sure enough right behind me was a middle-aged man, oud in his lap, plucking away at the strings. Slowly the room's attention starts to turn to this unusual happening, and people start moving closer to the source of the music.

If you ever wondered how to get an accurate estimate of how many Lebanese are sitting at a certain gate at the airport (which by the way wasn't the gate for the Beirut-bound flight, since it hadn't been announced yet), I believe all it takes is playing a Fairuz song like "Hadir el Bosta" and listening for how many people start singing along.

Somewhere in the middle of his renditions of popular Arabic songs, we hear a sound that we were secretly fearing: Not the sound of our gate being announced, prompting us to leave our seats and interrupting the concert, worse, the sound of a string breaking.. And as we worrisome spectators asked if he had any spare strings, he reached into his suitcase and started fumbling around. When he finally took his hands out it wasn't a new set of strings he was holding, but a sort of old flute on which he finished the song he had started, before going back to his one-string-short Oud and play as best he could the many songs we kept requesting.

Happy holidays !