You can't believe everything you read

Scanning the internet, I discovered the following description of Sweden. Talk about the internet being a great way to spread false information! You can't believe everything you read!

'Sweden is the homeland of the great Moose and the majority of Swedes are dependent on it for their survival. Don’t go to Sweden for business purposes in September. It is most likely that the firm you’ll supposed to visit is closed down because of flu which is a swedish nickname for Moosehunt.

The yearly moosehunt, this is Sweden remember, is a folk feast heavily regulated by govermental legislation. Each county, every village, down to the very individual landowner gets a statistically based yearly quota on how many moose they have the right to shoot. For the average landowner this counts down to 0.0342 moose. Now how do you shoot 0.0342 moose? The best way is to team up with other hunting neighbors until you reach score one and then hump off to the woods with walkie-talkies and hope that you not shot each other or even worse – more than one moose, a catastrophy that could prevent your hunting rights for decades.

Swedish hunters always use the latest weaponry when hunting. However after an incident in 1912 when a tactical nuke accidentally killed some polish lingonberry-pickers, hunters were banned from using anything more destructive than paper airplanes. The ban was lifted 19 years later after country-clown Markoolio had been successfully assassinated with a flame thrower.

Now direct hunting is not the most important way to survive on the Swedish moose. More profitable is either to sell hunting rights to germans or moose related souvenirs to everyone else. The Swedish Moose Souvenir Industry is surpassed in the field of cheap mass produced gizmos only by toy production in Taiwan and lately the Wal-Mart’s Republic of China.

Even if the demand for Swedish moose puppets has rocketed on world market, business analyst believe that the sign of the future is export of the Moose warning traffic signs.

Moose manure paper is a huge profitable industry. Recently the paper quality has been good enough for printing dollars on, something that greatly has improved Swedens trade balance with the US.

Another successful product related to moose is the popular drink Tomtebloss, served at all nightclubs concerned of their reputation. The ingredients are: 1/3 home made booze 1/3 blueberry juice 1/3 lobster broth and a dash of Moose piss. This drink usually occurs together with Surströmming.'

Are you an Extreme Swede?

We're participating in a trade show called 'Personalmässan' today and tomorrow. After Day 1, it's looking promising. The theme that we have is 'Are you an Extreme Swede?'. We held a lecture on the subject which was well-visited and popular and we also have a quiz card with 4 simple questions to help people analyse if they are an extreme Swede.

So the question is.....are you an Extreme Swede?

Here are the questions, answer 'yes', 'maybe' or 'no':

1. It is ok to call the boss by his/her first name
2. I have the right to give my opinion on matters that affect me
3. Religion should always be considered in government decisions and policies
4. I am irritated if people are late without letting me know


If you answered 1. Yes, 2. Yes, 3. No, 4. Yes - then you are, according to research and Extreme Swede!

Congratulations!

Swedish legends by the motorway

Sweden is a country full of myths and legends. Like other rural countries, many of these myths and legends are based around the dark woods, or rugged hilltops or deep lakes. These legends are passed on verbally down through the generations, and some are considered so important that the region builds a statue or another kind of monument in its honour.

One such statue, built in 1969, can be seen from the motorway just outside of Jönköping, in the town of Huskvarna. At this point, the motorway separates the town from the vast lake Vättern. On the town side, on the grass verge, a giant is standing. This giant is clutching a clump of grass in his arms and gazing beyond the motorway to the other side of the lake.

Of all the people who have driven past this place, I wonder how many have seen this giant? And I wonder how many know of the legend surrounding him?

The giant's name is Vist. And the story goes like this. Long ago in the area of lake Vättern lived the giant Vist and his wife. Every day, they would wander around the lake looking for food. It wasn't unusual that on their walks, they would end up on the opossite side of the lake from their home. But this wasn't a problem for Vist. With one giant step, he could stride across the lake and be home in no time. His wife, however, who had smaller steps than him, couldn't manage this and had to walk back home around the shore's edge.

One day, Vist was at home and his wife was wandering the countryside. She ended up on the opposite side of the huge lake. Hungry and weary, she realised she was too tired to walk all the way home so she shouted out to Vist across the lake. She told him to grap a clump of earth and throw it into the lake so she could use it as a stepping stone to get home quicker. Vist grabbed the earth and threw it into the lake and his wife came home.

We know this story to be true because the piece of earth remains today in Lake Vättern in the form of an island. The island of Visingsö - Vis's island.

An announcement that shook Sweden

Recently, the winners of the Nobel prize for Literature was officially announced. This sombre occassion is avidly followed by the media from around the world. Who will win? A Swede? A European? The favourite....?

Yesterday, another announcement was made in Swedish media. Not quite of the same calibre as the Nobel prize for Literature, and not as interesting for international media, but none-the-less it was an announcement that created a lot of reaction in many Swedish households.

Who will lead 2012's Melodifestivalen? Who will indeed be the host for the Swedish version of the Eurovision Song Contest qualifiers?

Late yesterday, the announcement came. Film actress Helena Bergström, singer Sarah Dawn Finer and blogger Ana Gina were the 'lucky' winners. Not many people reacted to Sarah Dawn or Ana, but the choice of Helena Bergström caused a storm on websites, in coffee rooms and on social media networks.

According to one net survey, 32% were angry at the choice of Helena Bergström. Others wrote acidic comments such as 'She's just going to cry all the time', 'she has no business being there' and 'she's probably going to get her tits out like she always does.'

Think how powerful it would be if people could channel all this energy into something meaningful and positive instead of focusing on who hosts a music competition to select a bad Swedish song that never wins the international competition anyway?