Jan
27
2012

Caution, slippery when cold

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Salted sidewalk outside the Radio Sweden studios in Malmö.

Old Man Winter‘ has finally decided to make an appearance in southern Sweden, in terms of temperature at least. It’s been below freezing off and on for the better part of a week now, prompting street crews to lay down pretty patterns of salt overnight on what I presume are walkways that are known to give pedestrians trouble when the temperature drops.

I say *presume* because quite frankly, I cannot see any rhyme nor reason as to how the sidewalks that get salted are selected.

For example, on my walk to work this morning, there was plenty of salt on the walkway outside the Malmö studios of Radio Sweden, which is under a portico (hence, completely DRY) that stretches for almost an entire city block. Yet the wide, slightly elevated and much-used pedestrian bridge over Södra Förstadskanalen (one of the city’s many canals), which is fully exposed to the elements all night long, got zero, zip, nada, NONE.

So now I’m wondering if the street crews responsible for salting the sidewalks of Malmö are incompetent, or just have a really evil sense of humor.

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Jan
21
2012

I’m such a sucker for a man who can sing

As far as I’m concerned, President Obama deserves a second term for this performance alone.

Jan
19
2012

Do not mess with Sir Richard Attenborough

I was SO looking forward to watching the latest series of  world-renown BBC nature documentaries, Frozen Planet.

Presentation to BBC/Frozen Planet

Image by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr

We were mesmerized by the original Planet Earth series, to the point that we could not pull ourselves away from the TV one winter Saturday when the Discovery Channel showed all 11 episodes back-to-back. We also enjoyed Blue Planet, which focused on the natural history of oceans. Frozen Planet would surely live up to its predecessors, and we were especially excited to experience the always remarkable cinematography in high-definition on our (relatively) new flat-screen TV.

So when the program showed up on SVT2′s schedule, we set up the DVR to record every gorgeous minute of it. The following conversation took place tonight as we sat down to watch the first episode.

Shazz: It’s in Swedish? Oh crap. The narration is in SWEDISH,

Dr. Daring: (a native Swede, no less): You’re kidding.

Shazz: I wish I was. Why the hell would anyone over-dub Sir Richard Attenborough?!  He’s the voice of the series! This is a freaking travesty.

Dr. Darling: Maybe they thought subtitles would take away too much from the picture.

Shazz: They were wrong. The over-dubbing has totally flattened the music track … the levels are completely off. And the guy doing the Swedish voice-over sounds like he’s bored out of his mind. I cannot believe they over-dubbed Sir Richard Attenborough!

Dr. Darling: We’ll probably be able to catch the original version on the Discovery Channel, eventually.

Shazz: Let’s hope so. This is un-watchable as far as I’m concerned.

Dr. Darling: You’re really unhappy about this, aren’t you.

Shazz: ‘Unhappy’ is not the word for it. I’m completely mortified. Offended even. It’s a BBC nature documentary, for crying out loud, and you don’t screw with narration done by Sir Richard Attenborough, EVER.

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Jan
17
2012

AbFab Fan Certified

And you know it’s official because I got a diploma!

AbFAb Fan Certification

I must tweet this to Jennifer Saunders immediately!

(You can take the quiz yourself here.)

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Jan
12
2012

Jolie 2016

As an Obama supporter, this edition of the Gratuitous Angelina Jolie shot (a regular feature of this blog) pings several of my brain’s pleasure centers at the same time.

Brangelina at the White House

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking my beloved AJ looks really comfortable in the series of pap photos shot during her recent visit to the Oval Office.

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Jan
10
2012

Guess what? Girls beat guys in gadget-buying

One of my favorite tech blogs, Mashable, is reporting a recent consumer study showing that when it comes to mobile phones, laptops and tablet computers (three of the top four consumer electronics categories), women are more likely than men to be making the purchase. Not only that, but ladies use the gadgets they buy much more often than dudes do.

While this doesn’t surprise me at all (based on the obscene number of laptops in regular use at The Penthouse Nordic alone), I share my favorite Gawker blog Jezebel’s snarky take on the fact that this information is will likely continue to be ignored by tech marketing wizards, even though the results of the survey were released at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. Unless you count making gadgets pink, which will pretty much guarantee that 95% of women will hate them.

Oh, and for those of you wondering in which top consumer electronics category men are more likely to purchase products than women, it’s flat-screen TVs. You know, the one where size really matters.

Jan
09
2012

New Year’s Resolutions I might actually keep, continued

English: 1943 USDA nutrition chart showing the...

Image via Wikipedia

Previously on ShazzerSpeak, I mentioned both my renewed commitment to blogging original content and the first of my three standard New Year‘s Resolutions (improving my fitness level) as promises I have a realistic chance of keeping for 2012.

Standard Resolution #2  is to eat healthier and smarter. Why do I think this will be more do-able this year than in previous attempts? Well, for one thing, I find it much easier to be disciplined about what I eat when I’m exercising regularly (See Standard Resolution #1). And for another, my Swede is equally committed to this particular goal.

Which is not to say we’re total junk food hounds by any means. The meals we plan and prepare together almost always contain a majority of the four major food groups! But we both have a well-documented addiction to chocolate that makes it really tough to be strong when only one of us is trying to cut back. This year, I won’t be alone!

Plus, until recently, Dr. Darling‘s job was very physically demanding and that impacted our food choices. Now that Denmark‘s new postal regulations have eliminated the need for mail carriers to climb mountains of stairs every day, I don’t have to serve a heaping helping of pasta or potatoes with dinner every night.

Now I realize that this could read like I’m blaming the Swede for my previous failures in this area (Dr. Darling will most certainly read it that way), but that’s honestly not how I feel. I’m merely acknowledging that my own will-power SUCKS.

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